Kindergarten, What!?!

I can not believe our Ellie is old enough to go to Kindergarten! The time has flown by! She has been waiting with eager anticipation and we have been so excited for her. It sure is quiet around here with just her gone during the day and a month in Quinn, Mia and I are finally getting into a good routine. Ellie has an amazing teacher and is doing awesome! Her teacher has sent some great emails and a voicemail about how wonderful she is and is doing. She is showing some wonderful traits that I am so proud of her for. Every time I get a sweet email or phone message I tear up a little about realizing how big she is getting and how much she is coming into her own.  I told Ben the other day, so far, we didn't do bad after all ;)! It is completely with God's grace and guiding hand that our girls are who they are. Ben and I are charting a new course in many ways in creating our family, with God's leading on raising our little ladies, and experiencing many new things with our culture and family dynamics that neither of us experienced. It was a very different world when we were young, and that is made more clear to me every day, and neither of us were raised in a home with all girls and 3 children. Those are only a few differences with many more that impact us and the direction we are leading our little ladies. I am so grateful God has given me these little ladies!

Ellie is loving every bit of school! The girls and I walk her to school each morning and walk to pick her up. A couple days it rained, but for the most part it has worked great. She goes later, so she gets to sleep as late as she wants, but the trade off is she gets home later. We will walk until it gets too cold and then she will have to be dropped off until it warms up again. I volunteer each month, so I have been able to do that twice and have loved getting involved in her room and at her school. It is the beginning of a new phase of life for us, but one we are excited about!

 First Day Pics! And of course, we all had to get one with her!

 Quinn did not love that Ellie left her! She was confused as she kept thinking we were going to get her any minute. She just clings a little more to me, but that is her personality anyways. She loves to "nuggle" me and I don't mind one bit! I am soaking it in while I can!

 Quinn, Mia and I went to the zoo on Ellie's first day!

 We wanted to see the baby giraffe before they put them inside for the cooler temps! Giraffes are my favorite animal and Quinn has decided it is hers too!

 Welcome Home Decorations!

So glad to have her home! On the first day you drop them outside with their teacher and don't even walk them in. On the second day they have to go in on their own! They cut the ties early, but her teacher's sweet spirit and kind emails have been comfort to my Momma heart! I totally understand their methods and as a former teacher wish they would have done that at the school I taught at, it definitely makes for a smoother transition!