First day of school

As proof that we're all still here despite my recent neglect of this blog, here are some photos from this week of the start of school.

We now have a second grader and a fourth grader at home...

...with a preschooler who sometimes joins them...

...and a "fifth" grader (or, as we say, he's in grade "K" for "Krassi" in a class all his own).

Krassi has discovered the really neat drawer under the small oven full of hotpads and cake pans. I spend my days putting these things into the drawer and he spends his pulling them back out.

Reuben started Kindergarten this year, and he is officially in the public school three days a week and home schooled two days a week. I love living in a district that is open to options like this as we do our best to do what is best for each one of our children. Reuben LOVES school, even more this year than he did his preschool last year, and tonight at supper when we told him tomorrow was another school day he got right up, grabbed his Bible, and tried to head out the door to catch the "buh."

This was the best photo I could get of Reuben's first day of kindergarten - he was so excited to get onto the bus that he was up those steps before I even had a chance to get a good photo of him!

He spends his day in a special ed classroom with a teacher and three paras, and various therapists...and five other students. Not a bad student-teacher ratio for a public school classroom, huh? ;) And he spends some of his time joining in with the mainstream class next door for things like art and music. He told us tonight that he had played drums during music yesterday. At least I think that's what he was saying. "Boom, bum!" "Did you play the drums during music??" "[cluck, cluck, cluck goes his tongue, which is how he says "music"]."

Krassi is set to be evaluated by the school district as well to see what kinds of services they can offer him. I'm much less willing to send him away just yet. He is in so many ways still just a baby, and mostly just needs to be with his mama. But to say he's just like a baby does him a great dis-service. I am excited to begin this process, though, because my experience so far with the district makes me expect that they will do a good job with Krassi at working with us as his family to do what is best for him, even if it is an atypical arrangement.

And Vania's just continuing to find her perfect place in her busy family. She is such a marvel to me to watch grow and learn - "normal" is such an incredible thing! (Though, for what it's worth, I'm the typical mom who deep down thinks she's very advanced for her age, and it doesn't help that at her 4 month check up yesterday, her doctor was also marveling at some of the ways she's engaging with her eyes and manipulating with her hands. Yes. ;) She's amazing.)