Emmy's Preschool Orientation

Yesterday Emmy, Aoife and I went to Emmy's preschool orientation. She's going to start tomorrow and go Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings for 3 hours. The preschool is at our church in downtown Clarksville and it's the only preschool in the area that is an actual preschool instead of a daycare. I'm really happy that Emmy got in because I know there is now a waiting list.
I was a little worried going in to this because Emmy had a horrible time adjusting to her school in England. If you've been reading this blog for a while you probably remember this. She did eventually love school in England but she is slow at adjusting to change so I thought she might not like it at St. Mary's initially. I don't think I could have been more wrong. As we were walking in she was skipping and chattering away and telling me that I needed to go home and then come back after she had played with her friends. I kept trying to tell her that we were just going for a short visit and that all the parents were staying today but she didn't believe me until we were in the classroom.
It was very crowded in the classroom - most kids had 2 parents there and for once I felt like one of the older parents. Emmy hopped right up onto a seat and started doing puzzles and then walked around and played with the other kids - at least the ones whose parents were letting them play. I don't remember if I was such a helicopter parent with Aidan - I hope I wasn't!! Emmy discovered that there were 2 fish in a bowl and was thrilled with this - she spent lots of time going back to check on the fish and watching them swim around.
We stayed for an hour - much longer than I had planned on - and Emmy left happily but only with the promise that she would be back on Wednesday and that I would leave her there after giving her a good-bye kiss. When we were driving home she was talking about school the whole time and she even said, "You know my old school had Mercedes and Brigo (her two best friends), but my new school has FISH." I asked her what was better - answer? "FISH!"

Aidan's first day of Kindergarten

Aidan started Kindergarten again today. This year seems a little more real than Kindergarten last year in England seemed. Maybe it's because he's in the regular elementary school instead of a separate Kindergarten building and he takes the bus this year because we live so far from the school.
The neighborhood that we live in is brand new and the schools aren't ready yet so he'll go to Jackson school until Christmas and then switch with his class and teacher to the new school after the new year. Once he's at the new school he won't ride the bus because we'll be so close. I'm going to enjoy the bus while we have it!
We took some pictures outside this morning but the lens promptly fogged up when we went outside because at 7:45 am it was already 90 degrees and 90% humidity! It took a few minutes for the camera to even out so I apologize for the foggy pictures!!
Here are the kids sitting on the front step - is there any way to get all 3 looking at the camera at once??
I like this one because Aoife looks like she's doing a jig!
Waiting for the bus!
Getting on the bus - I told Aidan to look at me and give me a big wave while he was getting on the bus - it's a good thing I didn't hesitate because he almost ran onto the bus. He's been looking forward to taking the bus for ages!
Getting off the bus - we drove and met him at school for the first day because we wanted to walk him into school. I'm glad we did - it was CHAOS!
Aidan in his classroom - he was so happy to be there and wanted us to leave! It's nice that he's so confident but I'd like a hug!

Aidan's Kindergarten Orientation

Aidan had Kindergarten Orientation today which consisted of visiting the classroom, meeting the teacher and 3 of the other kids that were there. Honestly, it didn't make me feel very confident. School starts tomorrow morning and the teacher didn't even have a classlist! They were taking OUR names down because they didn't have any info.
So Aidan will be taking the bus to school in the morning and Brendan, Emmy, Aoife and I will meet him at school to walk him to the classroom. Then he'll take the bus home and I'll pick him up at the bus stop! Crazy! Even though he'll be doing Kindergarten again this year, somehow it seems a little more real than it did last year in England.
Aidan's very excited for tomorrow morning - he wanted to stay today!

Emmy's new hair

Emmy has been in need of a haircut since we got here and the humidity has made her curls difficult to deal with. I took her to get a haircut yesterday and it is a LOT shorter than I thought it would be. We had to go and get her a headband to dress it up a little. The good news is that she LOVES it - I think it's cooler and her hair isn't sticking to her anymore.

So HOT!

It is so hot here. You'd think I'd be relatively used to it from living in Virginia for 2 years but being in England must have made me weak! It is near 100F most days and sooooo humid. Today there is a heat advisory since it's supposed to be 106F with a heat index of 116F. Seriously?? Maybe this is just to prepare the soldiers for Iraq!
It's so hot that we really can't leave the house during the day but once it gets down to the low 90s after dinner we venture out to play in the blowup pool and have some ice cream. Here are the kids enjoying themselves!
Here's a turkey that was in our backyard a few days ago. Brendan says there are lots of them out in the early morning but I have yet to see another one.

Aidan finishes school

Aidan and Emmy left school a week early so we could get to Ft. Campbell in time to get a house and get the kids registered for school. Aidan starts August 5th and he couldn't be registered without a permanent address. Here's a picture from the morning of the last day of school. The kids are so much bigger than they were in September!!

Here's Aidan with 2 of his teachers, Miss Hunt and Mrs. Humphries:Aidan's end of the year assembly:


Aidan and Charlie talked about "mind mapping". Aidan has no fear of speaking in public!!



Sitting in the assembly:


visiting Aidan's class after the assembly:

Aidan's interpretation of Monet's Waterlillies:

And we're back!

We finally got internet in the house! Yeah - so sorry that it's been so long. We moved into the house on Ft. Campbell last week and have been living in an EMPTY home since then. We have blow-up mattresses, table and chairs, the clothes we brought in our suitcases, dishes and a few pots and pans. The kids are bored out of their minds so it's good that Aidan starts school on Thursday. Emmy will start preschool 3 mornings a week the next week. Brendan has just started work but his job is still a little up in the air. I'll be really happy once we get our household goods at the end of August. By then our routine will be a little more settled. It'll be nice to feel a little more normal again after 3 months of being in the moving process.
Here's our house on Ft. Campbell:
Our road:
Playing with a sprinkler ball in the backyard - it's soooo hot here. Most days have been over 100F and so humid.
Emmy and Aoife cooling off - notice that Aoife is walking well now!
Clarksville, TN - not exactly the English countryside:
A visitor to our house the other evening. It's mother was around too. We also had a wild turkey come by the other day!