A Few Firsts

We've been here in Luxembourg for over two months now- my, how the time flies! Overall, we're feeling pretty settled, but we've still got plenty of new things happening all the time! First, a few weeks ago, Miss H finally made it to 18 months, which means she gets to go to nursery at church!!! Hooray! It feels so weird to sit through the second and third meetings in peace. It's been awhile.... Here are a few pictures of her on her first day.

Next, Monday of this week was Miss A and Mr. L's first day of Luxembourgish school. For breakfast before school we had "Happy Pancakes" as Mr. L called them (pancakes with happy face chocolate chips).

They were so brave! I think I was waaaay more nervous than they were! They both marched right into their classrooms and never looked back. There was even a mix-up with Miss A's class so she got bumped around a couple times on the first day. She was a champ, even though Mom shed a few tears during all the confusion. We're really proud of the two of them and how well they're adjusting. Mr. L doesn't really seem too bothered by the fact that he can't really communicate with the other kids in his class. His teachers speak English, but mostly he just thinks it's pretty cool to get to go play with new toys every day. Plus, there's this really cool playhouse in his classroom. You can see him in the blue polo shirt. Bye Mom and Dad!

He has on the red jacket at the end of the line. This is where the teachers walk them out afterwards to be picked up.

A big hug from Mom after the first day!

Miss A waiting patiently for all the grown-up talking to be over so she can go play. This isn't actually her classroom, but it's the class she was in for the first day of school. She's been moved to a different room since then, which she says she likes better anyway.

The school schedule is different here. For the first three years of school- ages 3, 4, and 5- they can arrive at school anytime between 8:00 and 9:00. After that, school starts promptly at 8:00. Anyway, they are at school for the morning, until 11:40. Then I go pick them up and bring them home for lunch. K walks home from work and has lunch with us too. The kiddos go back to school from 2:00 to 4:00 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday there is no afternoon school. It makes a lot of walking back and forth, but we are so grateful that everything is so close together that we do all of these trips on foot.

K walks the kids to school in the morning, then walks to work. I walk to go pick them up and drop them off. It's so nice to not have to use our car for all these trips! We feel like the location of our house was very inspired. We tried to move into a different house that was much further out of town, but it fell through. I think Heavenly Father really wanted us to live in this house- and we can see why! Also, the first three years of school are taught in Luxembourgish. I bet you never even knew that language existed, huh? Because Miss A and Mr. L don't speak Luxembourgish yet they're being offered extra language support classes. Those start next week, but Miss A is already coming home and telling us the new words she is learning every day. Thankfully, her teacher speaks English pretty well and seems to help her a lot. I can tell she's gonna be a natural. She even says the new words with the right accent. Aren't kids amazing?

Miss A is also doing swimming this year. She has class on Mondays and Wednesdays from now through next July. She's super excited about it because she really loves swimming. I would love to see her turn into a little swimmer! Here she is all pumped up and excited on her first day of class!

Part of the curriculum in school is swimming and gymnastics. One day a week they go swimming and another day is gymnastics day. I packed backpacks for each of the kids with the clothes they change into to wear for swimming day and for gymnastics day. Their backpacks of clothes stay at school and then get sent home to be washed. Miss A was in great shape for both classes, but Mr. L needed a little something new. His first European swimsuit! Wowser! Never expected to buy this for my little guy, but hey- when in Rome.... right?

We are super proud of the kids and how adaptable they've been. No complaints or tears from anyone! Except for last night when it was Mr. L's bedtime. K told him he had to get to bed fast so that he wouldn't be tired for school today. He said, "Dad, I don't want to go to bed. I don't need to go to school tomorrow. Three days of school is enough." You're growing up way too fast, little guy!