1st Grade in Miami

Well what can I say other than we are starting off a new life as a family in Miami, and Morgyn is going to be starting a new school for 1st grade this year.  The day we flew in, Morgyn had her school physical (spend almost 3 hours at the Dr's office!) and then we went into the school to get her registered. (above)

Morgyn's first day of school was on Tuesday, August 28th. School had started on the 20th, but we got a late start. Her first day was supposed to be on Monday, but due to TS Isaac that passed by Miami, school was cancelled. This year Morgyn gets to wear school uniforms. Wasn't sure how she'd like this, but honestly it's worked out GREAT! She LOVES to wear her skirt everyday and it's never a debate about what she has to wear. On Mondays, it's mandatory blouse and tie day. Since she started on Tuesday, I had her in her polo and almost got turned away from the school secretary cuz she was in the wrong shirt. Ugh. I told them that it was Tuesday, but they said it's "Monday OR the 1st day of the school week." Well thanks to TS Isaac I didn't know that and it was not looking like it was going to be a good morning. The principal came over and gave us a "one time pass" and let her go to class. Morgyn had seen me break down a few times this morning with everything going on, and she was sensing it. When I got to walk her to class (another one time pass, ugh!) she started to cry and all of a sudden didn't want to go to school anymore. It was hard to let go and leave here there upset, this is not like Morgyn. After 5 min of trying to console her, the teacher told me I needed to leave. Sad,....so far I'm not sure how I"m going to like Miami schools in general if they are all so "cold hearted" and strict on different levels. This may take time to adjust....latin cultures in general just don't seem very personable. (Above and below are pics from her 1st day of school.)  I told her after school I would have a gift waiting at home for her for being such a big 1st grader, so now I was on a mission to go get her a scooter.

After the first day and a half of driving, I couldn't stand the short drive (.5 mile) taking me nearly an hour to drop her off and get back home. So we've decided walking was the better option, taking us only 15 min. each way. Daddy stays home with Kheringtyn in the am and I walk Morgyn to school and she rides her scooter :) We leave at 8am for an 820 am start. By about 1:40pm Kheringtyn and I are back on the roads to pick her up at 1:50.

By the time we get home, we 3 are all ready to jump in the pool to cool off! Mommy isn't much of a pool lover, but after all this walking in 90* weather, she's grown to love the pool lately!

Mommy made some chocolate chip cookies and we decided to give alittle treat to all the crossing guards, who stand out there many hours a day in the heat, while keeping us safe on our way to and from school. Morgyn got to hand them out, and I think we are going to do this monthly for them. It's nice to show how much we appreciate them.

This is one of Morgyn's friends, Jayna. I guess she's in her class and they seem to always meet up around the same time in the morning, so they get to walk to class together :) (Above is the furthest point I can go to walk Morgyn to class. A security guard stands there and no parent's are permitted on the campus without a pass from the office. Again, another sigh. I know it could be a good thing, but can't help wonder why things have to be sooooo strict?)

Daddy walked with us to school one morning. Mommy's started walking Chardonnay in the morning too as she needs some daily exercise.

And the first thing we always do when we get home (if it's not jumping in the pool !) is homework. Seems we always have a lot of it, about 1.5 hours a night. This takes a lot of discipline on mommy's part too, to sit there and help me along the way with all my reading and writing.  We are now on week 3 of school, and things are starting to get a little better. We are in a routine now and I've enjoyed seeing how much Morgyn's been learning thus far. We miss all our family and friends back home, and know that one day we'll look back at this time in our lives and realize it really wasn't all that bad. lol Being back as a family again is the best thing for all of us!