First day of school

Today was Dima's first day of school, orientation (a little over an hour each) for Zhenya and Danielle, and almost a full day of preschool for Emily.

I was on edge all day. When my cell phone rang, I jumped about two feet. :)

Mark went to orientation with the two middle kids which is why Emily spent most of the day in the preschool. She's apparently trying very hard to learn how to ride the tricycles that they get to play with in the gym and she's having a great time. She had a great day at preschool and only had one accident--as they were walking to the bathroom after nap. One accident with being in underwear all day is fantastic in my book (especially since she was wearing actual diapers until 3 months ago)!

Zhenya's class currently has 18 students which is better than the 21 Dima had during part of the year, although it's still more than we would prefer. Zhenya's teacher got a heads up (from his previous teacher) and put him at the front of the class. Smart woman! LOL

Danielle had a good time at orientation and Mark has now informed me that none of our children whine. Apparently he got a pretty good vision of what a real whining child looks like from one of the other students in Danielle's class that made the minor whining we deal with look really minor. :) I'm hoping Danielle does not take any lessons on improving her whining technique from the other child.

Dima had a great first day of first grade--and he apparently didn't chew on his fingers at all! :) :) He said he didn't obey in the hall...he was "'rupting" (interrupting) but when I tried to figure out what exactly had happened I got confused and gave up. He also said the class got in trouble for being too loud a few times during the day. Knowing the class from last year, I was not a bit surprised. They were a loud kindergarten class! The best part is that he liked it and he wants to go back. Yay!!

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I forgot to mention one thing from back-to-school night. Mark knows better than to send me places on my own, because...I volunteered him to coach the K/1 boys' soccer team! LOL I knew he would want to do it and they were desperate for someone who knows something about soccer. Mark played soccer through college and then in various leagues since then, as well as being a referee for several years. Plus he loves coaching the little kids. So it looks like we've added soccer practices and games to our schedules. :) Since it's K/1 boys' soccer, we're going to let the boys decide if they want to play. Even if they don't Mark will still coach, but we're betting at least Dima will want to play.