Jasper's First Day of Preschool

Jasper started preschool today! Big day for him! He LOVED it and can't wait to go back. It's going to be a fun year full of many learning and growing experiences for him. The preschool is a co-op, so I will be helping in the classroom once a week. He'll be attending Monday, Wednesday, Friday for 2.5 hours. It seems like such a big chunk of time to me, but I know we'll all get used to it. Jasper and Gid almost always play nicely together, but I could tell that they had really missed one another by the way they played in the afternoon. Gid attended a playgroup with other co-op siblings and had a great time there. All in all, it was a success for the Egbert clan :)

We started off the morning with the usual routine of breakfast, getting dressed, brushing teeth, packing snacks, etc. Before we took off for school, Rob gave Jasper a father's blessing. My dad and Rob's dad gave blessings at the start of the school year when we were young. It is a tradition in our faith that a child is given a blessing by his/her father, to help guide the child through the course of the year. From our religious perspective, knowledge is one of the most important things we acquire while on earth. My dad always asked us before he gave us our blessing if there were particular things we felt nervous about or things we wanted him to include in the blessing. I remember asking to feel confident and make friends easily. I have such a belief in the power of these priesthood blessings. I remember my soul feeling such peace and calm after my father's blessing each year. Rob blessed Jasper with a keen mind and the ability to make lots of new friends and that he might be a good example, among many other things. It was beautiful and a special moment for our family. Of course, as soon as Rob was done giving Jasper his blessing, Gid climbed up onto the chair and wanted one too! Very cute and so very much Gideon- wanting to to whatever his big brother does:)

I had to take the "first day of school" photos next to the front door since that's what my mom always did. You can see the lovely, charming entrance to our apartment complex...





This one is a little better (the view on our front stoop):


We all rode bikes together up to the preschool. It's 1.2 miles away. We've been practicing biking up there so that Jasper would be ready to do it on his first day of school. He did awesome! Jasper is so proud of himself when he is able to ride up (little) hills and loves riding his bike whenever possible. It's going to work out great, until it starts raining. Then we'll probably just jump in the car or I'll try and be brave and pull both kids in the chariot.





Preschool was fun. The day starts off with each kids putting their name up on a big board to show who is there each day. Then we had circle time with a song, story, and talked about our theme for the week. Then the kids had free play time. Snack time was incorporated into the free play time. After that, the kids go outside for about 30 minutes and play- ride bikes, slides, sandbox, balls and hoop, chalk, etc. Then we go back inside and do another circle time with dancing, music, and body movement. At the very end, we sit in a circle and sing a goodbye song. I think we are going to love it.