We have a 2nd grader!

School started back up on Monday and Madeline is now in 2nd grade. So far we've had a wonderful experience with her elementary school, with awesome teachers. I think this year will be no different, her new teacher seems very nice, upbeat and fun. 

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Since Madeline started kindergarten only a few weeks after we moved into our new home, I decided to start a tradition of taking a photo of her (and James when he starts) in the same spot by our front porch every year on the first day of school. It's crazy to look at the comparison and see how much she's grown over the years.

She rode the bus to school. I met her there to walk her to class.

Her classroom is now on the other side of the school by the bigger kids in 3rd, 4th & 5th grade.

Her new classroom is decorated nicely with a warm and fun environment to learn in. They even have a class aquarium.

This was the first year Madeline was a little embarrassed that I was taking so many pictures of her and told me it was okay that I go now. Miss Independent! 

This week Madeline's friend is riding the bus home with her to stay at our house after school. Here are the girls after they got off the bus. They said they had a great first day of school!

In these first few days Madeline's class has gone into depth to discuss the Pledge of Allegiance they say every morning. I thought I must post this cool tid-bit. It's no secret America is turning more secular, the world is for that matter. Which makes our job as Christian parents more challenging, God has entrusted us with our children to teach, train, nurture and discipline them. It's imperative they know His Word, how to use it in their daily lives and to continually trust in Him. We have some family & friends who have chosen to homeschool so they may teach their children academic subjects through a biblical worldview rather than a secular one. I think this is definitely a great way to avoid spiritual battlegrounds that can occur in public and even private schools. But since we have chosen to send Madeline & James to public schooling and teach them to be well-versed in our Christian principles when they are home and also through our Church's religious education program, I pay close attention to what they are learning and picking up at school. After all children tend to adopt values of those with whom they spend a lot of time with, and "bad company corrupts good morals" 1 Corinthians 15:33. So I was pleasantly surprised when Madeline showed me this paper explaining our "one nation under God" and that God is the one we worship. We're thankful our school is still teaching the principles Lincoln gave us when he said, 

 'that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom.'  

So far this back to school week has been great. I'm a little tired from getting up earlier, but I'll get used to it again soon. And even though school has started it doesn't mean that summer (or shall I say our summer weather) has left. Pool time after school sounded like a great way to cool off!

Yahoo!!