First Day of School

Today was two of the three kids first day of school. Abbie was up and eager to start Kindergarten this morning. Kyle, per usual, had to be pulled out of bed just to eat some donuts. He wasn't interested in being in a solo photo or even one with the group but finally agreed and Daisy kindly offered to hold his sign.

Abbie is attending Selma Bartlett Elementary School in the a.m. Kindergarten class. She has two teachers, Ms. Leverence and Mr. Rosensteel (you might remember him as Kyle's fourth grade teacher). She has several friends in her class including her BFF Ruby. Abbie is thrilled to see Rubes every single day now. The girls even chose the same backpacks (just different colors).

A few things about Kindergarten Abbie:

*She LOVES American Girl Dolls. We even started reading the books, which has been a lot of fun for us. She just can't decide which one to ask Santa for at Christmas time....Rebecca, Molly, a voucher for the new 2012 Girl of the Year, Kit (my vote).

*She actually loves anything you can dress up...Build-A-Bear, Snoopy, Barbies. Dressing up is big for her. So not only does she want to get more of those she also wants more and more clothes...our house is only so big!

*She is continuing with piano and dance this year. Dance starts again today and piano tomorrow.

*She has developed a love of singing...didn't get that from me.

*She is picky about what she wears and how she looks...ugh.

*Her heart is still made of marshmallow fluff.

Kyle is going to attend the Horizon Academy in St. George this year+. He really didn't want to go back to Greenspun and after a lot of thought and prayer at our house and his mom's, Tripp and I did a ton of research into alternative schools for him and finally found what we hope to be a perfect match. He will be living there for at least a year, probably longer. It is a strong academically based program that also is grounded in teaching kids about expectations and managing behavior. Many of you know that Kyle has ADHD/ODD and struggles, constantly, with his family and his school, so we are hoping this will be a great fit for him. He has accepted trying something new and is very glad to avoid Greenspun for 8th grade. We just really had a tough time saying "Goodbye" to him today. He seemed happy to go.

A few things about 8th Grade Kyle:

*He likes the funniest things. Right now, he is watching episode after episode of Monk, trying to get them all in.

*He still is an amazing reader and can finish a book within a day or two at most. He and his friend Alora are constantly talking books.

*He loves soccer....it is really his thing.

*Turning 14 last week gave him the opportunity to advance in the Priesthood and he was ordained to the office of a Teacher on Sunday. He also finished all of the requirements for the Deacon portion of Duty to God.

*He LOVES the game The Great Dalmudi. Is insanely addicted. We play it at the cabin sometimes and played it with him on NYE then he asked someone to bring it to the beach and that was it. He ended up teaching Tripp's parents last week and is just seriously in love with it.

*He is just such a funny, quirky, amazing kid. It is breaking our heart to have him gone this next year.