Heritage Children's Center

As our time in Fort Worth comes to an end, I want to post about something that we will miss very much. Ava and Macy's home away from home, Heritage Children's Center. They started attending this sweet little Christian daycare/preschool when they were 13 months old. I was lucky enough to be able to stay home with them until they were 8 months old. When we moved to Fort Worth, I started back to work so we had two college girls (one was actually in grad school) keep Ava and Macy on alternating days. After the first semester, we decided to ease them into daycare so they went to HCC 3 days a week and one of the girls, Marianna, came to the house 2 days a week. When they started HCC, Macy wasn't even walking. They were in Ms. Jehnny's 1 year old class and soon fell in LOVE with  Ms. Jehnny. She cared so much for each and everyone of those babies in that class. I felt so comfortable leaving my girls in her care every day. Then they moved on to Mrs. Jennifer's 2 year old class. They learned SO much from Mrs. Jennifer and Mrs. Andrea. They could name all of their letters by March of that year when they were just a few months over 2. They also learned the days of the week, months of the year, and counting to 10. This past year, they moved on to Mrs. Norma's class. This was the 3 year old class and Ava and Macy were the youngest ones in the class but I really pushed to have them move on up to that class even though they were only 2. I felt like they had learned so much from Mrs. Jennifer and were ready for the next step. In hindsight I think it was the right choice. They had a little bit of trouble adjusting to the high expectations of a 3 year old class in the beginning, but ended up doing really well in that class. They learned how to write their names and how to color within the lines (Ava can color within the lines really well, but Macy doesn't quite have the patience for it). They can name all of their letters and the sounds that the letters make. Mrs. Norma had a really great preschool curriculum where each letter had a character associated with it and Ava and Macy were so receptive to this and learned so much about letters and sounds. They came home every week singing about Apple Annie, Benjamin Bunny, and Cathy Cook.

I think I have found the preschool that I want them to attend in Frisco and it seems to be similar to Heritage, but we will still miss the familiarity and comfort of their home away from home. Here are some pictures from their time at Heritage. Most of them are from this year but there are a few others from the past couple of years.

This is a picture of Ava before their very first school party. It was Valentines Day.

This is the "After" picture. This is Macy, but notice the crazy hair and jelly all over the arm of her shirt. I think they found out they like  to party!

Fourth of July Parade. July 2009

Western Day in 2 year old class. January 2010

First day of 3 year old class. August 2010

Preschool wears Macy out. Her teacher sent me this picture. Apparently she just fell asleep in the middle of the floor. It wasn't even nap time!

Thanksgiving Feast. November 2010

Macy at the Christmas Performance. They sang Happy Birthday Jesus. December 2010

Christmas Party. December 2010

The petting zoo came to visit the school.  January 2011

Valentines Day 2011

Shaving cream fun!

Silly hat day during the last week of school. Notice the hats in the background. We went through fireman hats, cowboy hats, and fancy church hats before they finally decided on Tiaras.

Mix Match Day during the last week of school

Macy and Ava with Mrs. Jennifer. She was their teacher in the 2 year old class.

Besties. Macy, Ava, Mackenzie, Brylee, and Savannah. These girls have been together since the beginning. They love each other!

Ava and Macy with Ms. Sarah. We will miss her SO much. She is amazing with kids. We have used her as a babysitter this summer, but she is moving to Africa (today actually) to work in the Peace Corps and make a difference in the lives of children on another continent. She will be there for 2 years! What an amazing commitment!  Funny side note... one of our other babysitters, Marianna, moved to China. Apparently after spending some time with Ava and Macy, these girls feel the need to pack up and move half way around the world! Hmmmm.....