Back to school!

Today was the first day back to school for the Leger boys- Blake is in 8th grade, Bryson is in the 4th grade and Brady is in 1st grade. It is a day filled with mixed emotions- sad summer is over- back to homework and schedules- but we are excited to get back to see all of our buddies and new teachers and for Brady and Bryson a brand new school! Well in appearances anyway; their school went through major renovations and was closed all last year. We were very fortunate that the entire school stayed together and just met in a different location. The new school is beautiful and the entire neighborhood is so proud of it! I asked them what their favorite part of the day was and Brady said "lunch time". I felt so proud because I had carefully packed a nutritious and yummy lunch, making sure he had the major food groups covered plus a healthy snack. I did good! I went to the grocery store yesterday specifically for that reason! It was even packed the night before! I asked Brady how he liked what I had packed for him and he just smiled real big and said, "Oh Mom I didn't eat what you packed for me I ate something better; I had chicken nuggets and potato chips from the lunch line!". That is Brady for you- marches to the beat of his own drum! Then there is Bryson who supervises what you pack in his lunch box and even if he was starving to death would not eat in the cafeteria at school! Bryson's favorite part of the day was P.E. The school has never had a multipurpose room before so with the addition the children now have a space to have P.E. inside when it is raining outside. Bryson said the room is the "coolest" with lots of things to play with! Blake's first day was also great; although Blake's schedule will be a little different this year. He will be attending New Hanover High School for one of his classes. Pardon me for bragging on my child but he deserves it- Blake took the SAT this past spring part of the Duke University Talent Identification Program and he scored very well. He also scored very high on his EOG tests this year so he was recommended to do a dual enrollment with the high school. He took Algebra last year and is taking Geometry this year so foreign language was all that is available to him this year so he will be taking Spanish 1 this semester and Latin 1 next semester. We drop him off at the high school for the first time tomorrow morning; so please pray for him and me! Well some of you know that I am also back to school- well with two year olds anyway! I decided to go back to work part time as the two year old teacher on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I will be teaching at First Baptist Preschool (which happens to be our church and it happens to be where Ladi Elizabeth will be attending preschool 5 days a week!) I am very excited about going back to work- I haven't worked since Brady was born. But working at the preschool still allows me to have some time to myself and volunteer work and be available for the children when they get home from school. And as for Ms. Ladi Elizabeth, well she doesn't start preschool until next week so she is spending this week with her Phe Phe. Mom took her shopping today (Ladi's favorite sport) and tomorrow morning they are off to the farmer's market. It means a lot to Mom to be able to spend time with Ladi Elizabeth by herself. Also on a bitter sweet note Ladi Elizabeth is not speaking any Russian at all. Only English- except for Momma Cheecka- which we found out in Russian that is a kind, loving and gentle way of saying Momma. Ladi Elizabeth really seems to just want to be like the other kids. She has adjusted so well! But I will write on that next week; after her first day at school! (Ok so maybe I should read what I have written in the previous blog- I have repeated myself- please forgive me? My only excuse is that I have 4 kids ;)

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer!

(Pics from the last swim meet- Brady and Bryson won their heats and Ladi with her "buddy" Savannah!)

Ok I admit it we have been lazy about blogging the past 2 weeks! Sorry- but there are no excuses- we are just having fun and enjoying the rest of our summer! Ladi has really started to use her "English" more in the past 2 weeks. She and I rarely have a time that we don't understand each other. (Although I still have to interpret for others.) I couldn't say exactly how many phrases she knows - but lets just say enough to start telling the boys what to do! Her interactions with them is just amazing to me. She loves to play outside with them running around the yard, jumping on the trampoline, hiding out in the tree fort- being a real "tom boy". And then she comes in with dirt and sweat all over her and insists on taking a bath. She then must put on one of her now many princess night gowns and fix her hair just right. So just that fast she goes from ruff and tuff with the boys to playing princess! OH and her new favorite thing to play is dress-up! I gave her some empty make-up containers and brushes and we bought some pink sponge rollers. She loves for me to come sit at her table in her room and she fixes me up like "Cinderella"! She is so serious when she puts my hair up in bows and then she puts her sparkle lip gloss on me- then she looks at me and says "Beautiful"! And the way she says that word is just precious! (sorry for being so sappy but it is true you just have to hear her!) Another first for Ladi- Last week Phe took her and Brady to Chuckie Cheese! (Phe deserves a medal for this!) They had a blast - Mom said Ladi acted like she knew just what to do- but Brady had fun showing her all around! (this is Brady's favorite hang out!) They had their picture taken and played all the games and rode the rides and yes they got prizes in the end! Of course Ladi picked out plastic jewelry! (Oh just so there are no mistakes when we go to "Chuck Cheeses" we DO NOT eat there- we just go to play the games- then we go eat some place where the food does not taste like plastic!) Anyway- yesterday we had our first visit from our social worker Katrina. This visit is for our 6 month post placement report. The visit went very well and I was so excited for Katrina to meet Ladi. It was a year ago this month that we had our first home visit with her for our home study. Steven and I really like Katrina- she is very kind and understanding and she has worked with many of our friends that have adopted from Russia. She said that Ladi seemed to be adjusting well and she offered us some tips and advice for the future. She will be coming for another visit next month after Ladi has started preschool. Speaking of that- I meet her teacher last week. Oh my- she is soooo nice and very excited to have Ladi in her class. She has taught in New Hanover county public schools for over 20 years as a pre-K teacher so she comes with so much knowledge! And she has taught ESL (English as a Second Language) kids before- although not any from Russia- but still the same concepts! Ladi will be going everyday from 9:00am-12:00. This will be a BIG adjustment for her. She is used to being with me all the time! So we are going to have to practice leaving her - like at Sunday school or at mom and dad's house for a couple of hours. I have left her with mom before but she was at our house and the brothers were with her. I am just praying that Ladi will adjust quickly and learn to love her school time. I will be teaching at the preschool three days a week in the 2 year old room so I will be close by. I am excited about this new adventure for me as well! I haven't worked since Brady was born and I haven't taught preschool since Bryson was born! I have some "homework" to do! But I am looking forward to working with some talented women and having some "me" time on the two days I am off and the kids are in school! Lets see- I think that is all the news for now- oh Steven and Blake were in a golf tournament on Sunday. There first one together and Blake will be in the Junior Club Tournament next week. AS you all know they love to play golf and Blake has been trying to play everyday- even in this heat! The rest of us are just trying to stay cool hanging out at the beach or in the pool!