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Today was Leah's last day of school at My First School. Ms. Deb has been a wonderful teacher. Leah has a bit of a stubborn streak in her (ahem, not sure where that comes from!) and early in the year, Ms. Deb's spin on it was that Leah would make a great leader one day. Ha! Leah has loved school and would always insist on giving her teachers great, big hugs every day. She'd even run back in if she forgot.

We're so ready for preschool at ECP this Fall. Leah's super excited to go to "Molly's preschool" and I'm eager to get back into the classroom with Ms. Carol, enough that I even volunteered to be Leah's class coordinator!

In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, the Kindergarteners at Molly's school had a Wacky Wednesday. Molly was so excited to participate. Not only did she wear mismatched socks and shoes, I gave her a wacky hairdo too. She's got two cupcakes on her head to match the cupcake on her shirt.

Off to school and ready for a wacky day.

The kindergarten classes at Molly's school have a Thankful Feast every year which they invite their families to come to school for. There was a good turnout, including our whole family.

Molly's friend Catherine - not sure what this expression was.

Kaylin's giving three cheers for the Thankful Feast!

After the feast, the kids went back to class for 30 minutes. We were invited to stay if we liked. Leah immediately jumped into the class (Ms. Colella said it was ok). Here she is dancing around the circle, loving being a kindergartner for a few minutes.

I had made the girls new Fall outfits earlier in the week, which they requested to wear to the Thankful Feast. Molly's Music box jumper was my first Oliver + S pattern. Leah's skort was the same Isabella pattern I made for her birthday. She loves the shorts underneath!

Molly's school held an International Day where they had lots of special activities during the day highlighting other countries, and then a special program in the evening for students and their families. They asked Chad to be the official photographer of the event, so he spent the day at Molly's school photographing class activities and assemblies. Here's Molly's class doing the Mexican Hat Dance.

Nice dancing!

Baba Jamal Koram put on a show at a couple assemblies. He's a storyteller who was really engaging. The kids loved the stories and songs.

The afternoon assembly had all of Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade. The cafeteria was completely packed, but he had no problem holding their attention.

Molly's class also made maracas, but Chad couldn't get back to photograph the action, so she gladly posed after school with her tiny instrument.

Molly's school held a fun run on Saturday morning to promote active lifestyles. We brought the whole family to participate. Chad ran with Molly and I ran with Leah. Molly and Chad got ahead of us off the bat, but he turned around to get a picture of us before they pulled too far away.

Here's Molly and her friend Catherine at the finish line after the run.

Leah loved the finish line with all the people cheering.

The girls loved their medals, and they definitely deserved them. Molly ran the entire mile without stopping. Every other kindergartener would run a bit and then walk a bit, but Molly kept on with a nice steady pace. Leah did great too, though she switched between walking, running, and having me carry her throughout the mile.

After the race, they had lots of other activities to promote healthy lifestyles. Here's Molly climbing the rope at the beginning of the obstacle course (she didn't get very far).

Molly continued the obstacle course on her belly.

They also had other fun activities, and surprisingly both our girls wanted their faces painted.

Leah, like Molly, opted for a flower on her cheek. Such a sweet little face!

We were impressed at how well this event was run. In addition to all the activities, the cafeteria was packed with healthy snacks (including Smoothie King samples, Yum!) and every child went home with a t-shirt and a prize. Thanks Talbott Springs for a fun morning!

Leah's been watching Molly head off to school for years now, so she was more than excited to start school too! Yesterday was her first day at My First School. It's two hours twice a week through Recreation and Parks and is the perfect way to ease her in to school since she won't start Kindergarten for three years given her mid-September birthday.

Before we even entered the classroom, Leah was asking if I could leave. Ha! She ran right in and immediately sat down to start working with the playdough.

She definitely had a fun first day at preschool!

Molly and I had a birthday party to attend last night, so Chad and Leah decided to head out for a sweet treat after dinner to celebrate the day!

Molly started Kindergarten today! She's wearing the same dress that her Aunt Caroline wore on her first day of Kindergarten. Grams made it, and the smocking plate is even called Kindergarten Scissors.

Walking to the bus stop. Thankfully, it's at the end of our street, so it's not a long walk.

Molly is not scared of this one bit. She's so ready to go!

A quick photo op with Mom and Leah while waiting for the bus.

Molly said that she was very excited, and that her friend Kaylin was so excited too that she was jumping up and down. Then, she demonstrated for us.

The bus is here! She was very eager to check out her bus and find a seat.

Off she goes, in her seat grinning from ear to ear as the bus pulls away. I held it together until waving to her on the bus, then walked home in tears.

At the end of her first day, Molly got off the bus, ran to me exclaiming, "Mom! I had so much fun!"

We're off to a great school year!

When Chad and I came home from Back to School Night on Thursday with news that Molly's friend Kaylin will be in her class, Molly squealed and danced. She is so excited to have a friend in class with her. On Friday, Molly was finally able to meet her teacher, Ms. Colella, at Kindergarten Open House.

Molly toured her new classroom, finding her name at several stations around the room.

She also had to say hello to the class fish. She still has her own way of speaking to them.

We are all excited for school to start, especially Molly. She was hyped on adrenaline all day on Friday. Tomorrow is the big day! We'll be back with more pictures then.