Good news! Mads is not only is going to the Elementary school we had hoped for in the Fall, but also he will have one of the two teachers I was really wishing for and he's on the morning schedule!!! Praise God!!!

With him on the morning schedule, I will be able to take him to school and pick him up afterwards - as long as I continue to work the night shifts. Even working at 3pm, I'll have time to pick him up, get lunch and reconnect for a bit, take him to a caretaker's and then head to work. Once school starts though, I am going to put in that I prefer to work the last shift (it starts at 6pm), so that there will be as little need as possible for a caretaker between when I have to leave for work and when Kei gets home.

I'm so looking forward to kindy! Mads seems to be too. We talk about it often, so he's very comfortable with the idea. I'm hoping to join the PTA and do as much classroom help as I can. Mads has met the teacher he'll have once already, and the man is so gentle. He comes off as a mix between the Farmer in the movie "Babe" and Mister Rogers. When we went to the school Art Festival, we showed Mads the rooms and he got a good look at the classroom he'll be in. (Though, at the time we had no idea that he'd be assigned to that class, lol!) I think most of all though, Mads loves the idea that he won't have nap time anymore - poor bug hates that part of his preschool days.

Speaking of which, his last day of preschool is going to be on the 30th of this month. We have family with younger children coming out for a week visit then, so it will be a good time for our days to open up. Plus, I want as much time for us before he starts kindy! It's a bit sad to be leaving the teachers and place that he's learned o much from and grown so much at. The other kids that are his age have all moved on already (there might be one or two left besides him, but no one that he mentioned regularly) and I don't want his learning and social growth to lag at all before kindy starts, so Kei and I feel that this is the best thing to do. (Besides, who's to deny that the extra $$$ each month will be a God sent gift?!)

Mads and I both have some adjustment to make once he's out of preschool. For starters, we have to get used to getting up early and out the door by 7:10am. Oi. Also, just because he's out of school, doesn't me an I want us to be lagging around the house every day. I've already been looking into day time activities for us to go do, such as events and museums. I've got to look more into some things that the local theater and Lego store do, and I fully plan on us walking to the park in the early mornings. I'm armed with homeschooling-type materials too; we have enough workbooks and educational activity ideas to teach a small army of pre-Ks. I found a couple of great unschooling and Montessori books at the library the otehr day and have been thumbing through them for daily ideas too. Don't get me wrong, every day is not going to be planned down to the minute, nor will I place such stress on filling our days that I lose sight of the fun. I'm figuring if I plan to set high expectations for our days, then when I realistically end up at the park all day with him, or spend hours organizing his room and pulling out every box game that we have - it will all be good.

On another subject, Mads went to soccer camp last week. Each morning for 2 hours, he kicked, dribbled, danced, and ran around a section of soccer field with three coaches from Britain. The coaches were great. They each had their own way of doing things, but they all worked well together at the same time. The kids all loved it, and Mads gained a lot of confidence as well as soccer skills. He was very proud to show my parents his evaluation card when they came over today and has had me read it to him a few times already. I'm going to sign him up with a league this week or the next. He isn't the best player (yet! haha) but he picked up on things quickly and has a real love for the game. He makes me so proud! I loved watching him run around, do the silly little drills, and score goals (he scored 2 in one game, I was overjoyed!!!).

There's more I want to post about - namely how Father's Day has been (we saw "Up"! It was so heartwarming!), I want to post a few photos from Soccer Camp, and there's been a bit of drama concerning K and I having a relationship but I think things are on the right track with my family now (they are not supportive of my being with him and it's been a very sore, undiscussed subject for sometime now) and the fact that I have discovered the joy of Facebook and get what it's all about now. BUT...Kei is sitting on the couch, waiting to start CSI for me, so my current crocheting project (three-leaf clovers) and I are heading over there. (^_^)