my birds

helen had her first day of dance yesterday - she's now in the 4 year old group!

my four munchkins on the first day of school! (graham - 2nd grade, jayden - 1st grade, helen - preK, jillian -stuck at home with mom!)

helen meets her teacher

helen gives her daddy a big hug (i love the look on her face!)

when i picked her up this afternoon - her teacher said "helen is not a shy girl"... yes, that's my helen

graham in his classroom

jayden in his classroom

miss helen received a special treat from her german friend, david when we visited brachbach this summer ... it is a traditional gift that children receive on their first day of school in germany. they must wait until they get home from school to open up the gift and see the surprizes. david also started school this year and shared one of his gifts with helen for her first day of school.

jillian looks to see what helen got in her present

today my birds flew out of the nest and off to school. jayden and graham said a very quick goodbye and went off to find their classrooms. ross and i dropped helen off in her classroom and it was only a matter of minutes before she was off putting a puzzle together. later i stopped by her classroom to see how she was doing -- she came up to me and said "i've colored 2 pictures, put 3 puzzles together, and now i'm ready for my snack!" jillian spent the rest of the morning walking around our house saying "Helen? Helen? Helen?"