A Big Day

(Will ready for his first day of school)

Today has been a big day for Will, but I want to mention a little about our weekend first. I drove the kids down to Knoxville this weekend to help Nathan celebrate his 5th birthday. I can't believe Nathan is 5! WOW! The kids did great on the drive up and down - with very little sleeping, but very little whining or crying! We just sang and talked the whole way and I think they even enjoyed it a little bit!

(Will on his way to school with his circle time seat)

Back to today.... Will had his first day of Nursery School (4 year old Preschool). He woke up so excited to go to school and it was hard to calm him down to get him to eat his pancakes this morning! After he got dressed, brushed his teeth, and made his bed, Joe took him off to school. I thought Joe might enjoy taking him this year since he was out of town for his first day last year. Will had a great first day and he learned about patterns today during calendar time. They also sang a silly song about a boa constrictor (Will: "A boa constrictor is a big snake, mommy. It has spots.) and did apple stamping (we all remember the apple painting). The most fascinating thing about the apple painting to a four year old boy was..... "They used a REAL knife to cut the apple!" and "It made a star in the middle!"

(Will with his teacher, Ms. Marsha)
I am so excited about his school year this year. He is required to learn all of his letters and sounds this year (though, he already knows them....) and they are learning sight words, too. He is also working on handwriting through a program called Handwriting without tears. They actually write the letters on paper, but they also make the letters with different shaped pieces, play-doh, magnetic boards (like a magna doodle), etc. This really excites me!!! I just love his little preschool and I am so excited about his year. He learned so much last year and I'm excited to see him learn a ton this year. His school is so organized and well run - it's wonderful. I love to go in there and see how organized everything is.... as a former teacher, I can really appreciate the thought that goes into the program.

(Will hanging out on the field before practice. It was HOT today.)
Another big moment for Will is that he had his first soccer practice today. He loved to play soccer with all the other kids. He is almost the smallest kid on the team. When he gets around all the other 4-5 year olds I realize how little he really is! He learned to kick and run today. He was a member of the pack that followed the ball around the field. He was able to stop the ball from going the opposite direction that his team needed it go and he kicked it in the right direction. Way to go Will!

(Will kicking the ball into the goal)
One of my favorite moments was when a little boy fell down and he stopped and asked him if he was okay. That's my sweet boy! Another great moment was when the littlest boy told his mommy that the other boys were being mean to him and she told him to go stand next to the boy in the yellow shirt because he won't be mean.

(A kicking drill)

(In a team huddle after practice)

(A kicking drill)