P's in Kindergarten

Well folks the official start of school has come and gone in this house! P is an official kindergartener :) Her unofficial day was this past Wednesday. It was her assigned testing/transitioning day. There were only a few kids that attended that day with her. The day was designed to help the teacher assess where each kid is level wise plus give the kids a day to get use to the environment. That day was a success! I walked her into her class and she didn't even blink. When I picked her up that afternoon, she couldn't wait to tell me all about it. Then Friday everyone in Kindergarten had their first day. That was another successful day as well. P is settling in her classroom's schedule and adjusting to the long day. She loves eating her lunch in the cafeteria. And Fridays the kids can purchase ice cream for a treat. We are still adjusting to our new routine and life as well. The mornings haven't been too difficult. Thankfully, we are mornings don't start too early and the school is just down the road. We typically need to leave the house by 820 and it takes about 15 minutes in the car rider's line. Henry is getting use to not having his sister to play with during the day and look forwards to picking her up from school in the afternoons. P is really going to get immerse in school this week as it will be her first full week... Monday through Friday... seven hours each day... makes for a long week for a 5 1/2 year old. I feel she will get use to it no time and is up for the challenge in the school year ahead!

P on her first day :)

Catch All Update

Life has been busy around here! Not sure when it got so crazy but it is and there is no sight of slowing down any time soon. The motto for us around here is the days are long and the nights are short :)

• I have put on my FRG leader hat again and am now the FRG leader for HHC in the 3STB. The position has been only mine for about a month but it keeps me busy. Meetings, huddles, pre deployment briefs, etc have all been on the agenda these past few weeks. 

• The Battalion Chaplain hosted a Leaders' Marriage Retreat this past weekend at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. It was a great weekend!! We had never been there and that place was awesome. We checked in Friday night and didn't leave the hotel until Sunday afternoon. There is that much to do inside that place. There was only one session we had to attend on Saturday morning and they provided child care for that. All 3 kids did well and had no issues. Then we had a couple of free hours for family time. All five of us had some yummy lunch at the pizza place in the hotel and did lots of exploring. We rode the boat around the Delta section. That was pretty cool. We also had child care that evening for a couple of hours for all the couples to have date night. That was much needed and very appreciative. Brandon and I enjoyed a fabulous meal. It was nice just to have some quiet "us" time. After we picked up the kids from child care, we sat by the fountains and watched the nightly water works show. P and Henry enjoyed that :) Sunday morning we had breakfast with Shrek and friends at the Hotel. P was very excited about this and enjoyed getting to meet a few characters. We did some more roaming as well as packed up the van and checked out. We grabbed some lunch at the burger joint in the hotel before heading over to the Opry Mills Mall next door to do some tax free back to school shopping. It was a great mini vacay for our family before school and deployment gets rolling!

• Speaking of school, we are down to home stretch before school starts for Miss P. School for the Clarksville Montgomery County started back today but Kindergarten doesn't begin till next Friday. On Monday night, we had Meet the Teacher. We found out the P's teacher is Mrs. Allbert and currently there are only 13 kids in her class. There was a Parent-Teacher meeting this morning for student and parents. Brandon took P and it was a very informative meeting. We have lots of paperwork to fill out and turn in. P will go next week on Wednesday for her testing date. She is getting excited as well as anxious. I think she will be good once she goes next Friday and starts the every day adventures. 

• Brandon also received GREAT news we have been waiting on for some time. The list was published on Tuesday so its now official he has been promoted to CPT. YAY!!! We have been waiting for this for months and are so thrilled and relieved that its finally happening. He will be promoted on September 1 and his promotion ceremony will be held on August 30. I am SO proud of him and all his endeavors. I  cannot wait to "pin" him his double bars in a few weeks. I have missed all of his officer promotions up to this point. It will be a big day for the whole family :)