Tuesday, January 11, 2011

New Schools

When Christmas break was over we got thegirls registered in their new schools. What a difference from the New York City school system. Illinois schools are not allowed to refuse to accept kids.

In NY the school would not even talk to us until we had proof of our address. We had to wait something like 2 weeks for a letter from the utility company. The housing contract wasn't accepted. Anyway, here the school never even asked us for proof of where we were living.




Katie is in 6th grade at Carbonadle Middle School and Abby is in 2nd grade at Thomas School.
School in NY started at 8:45 and went to 3. Here it starts at 8 and goes to 2:45. We miss those later mornings.
When we went to pick up Katie after school there were 21 cars ahead of us in the pick up line.




Abby has done fabulous and had no problems here. Thank goodness. Her teachers would never believe she is the same child as in NY. However, the NY class was a gifted class and doing much higher level work. She is enjoying the break from school work but will quickly be bored. She has already covered the chapters in the math book and is easily getting perfect scores on the other work.
Katie's school is set up the way my high school was. She has a locker and a schedule and goes to different rooms with different kids and different teachers for each subject. Huge adjustment from home schooling and from her previous school. She likes the independence and seems to be doing okay. We are working hard to stay on top of the homework and ensure she makes the transition smoothly.

Enjoying the Yard

In Illinois there is a playground in the backyard!


Abby wearing her new jacket from her New York friend Fanney.





Katie and Lilly riding scooters.

The Last Stretch of the Journey


We set out for Carbondale Christmas morning about 8. Welcome to Carbondale sign.

The first WalMart we have seen since August! They are everywhere in Illinois and no where in New York City.



Abby with her new shirt from Grandpa and Grandma Hickman.






Serena with her new tea kettle.


Lilly and her new truck.








Abby and Katie each got a DS IXL from Papa.




Christmas at Grandma Faye's

Grandma Faye called while we were on the way to get our order and dinner was waiting for us when we arrived.

Grandma and the kdis were to excited to wait so we opened presents right away.



















The counsins Macy, Tyson, and Kinsey came over that evening. The kids all had fun playing together.














Then another fun surpise- snow! GRandma, Lilly, and Abby watch out the window as Kevin goes down to unload some stuff rom the van.




























Lilly got an easel for Christmas from Kevin and both girls got art supplies from Grandma. Kevin set the easel up for the first time and Lilly and Abby had a blast creating pictures.



























Lilly likes walking in the snow, but does NOT like it on her hands!












Alyss and Tiger









On the Road Again

Feeling refreshed we set off again, this time for West Frankfort, about 45 minutes south.


Kevin crams the bags back into the van.
Maddie and Daniel enjoyed the extra space while we were in the house.






We were greeted by the most beautiful sunset ever! Serena took lots of pictures and video trying to capture the moment. We could not see sunrises or sunsets in the city because the buildings blocked the view of the sky.










These pictures were taken over Rend Lake.
















Daniel
















Everyone is packed back into the van. Katie got the front seat and although it looks like she is trying to lick the cat she is actually sticking her tongue out at the camera.












Tiger










Maddie















Nilla fell asleep with her head resting on this pile of blankets and coats.












Welcome to West Frankfort!!!










Illinois

We drove about 1500 miles and this was the first railroad track we saw! Centralia, Illinois. I guess we haven't seen a train since last August either.



We arrived at Grandma Langin's early in the morning Thursday, December 23. We were still on New York time so in Illinois it was actually an hour earlier. We parked in front of her house and all slept until she woke up and came out to get her newspaper.
Abby is covering her eyes from the bright flash of the camera. It was completely dark outside at that time.



The kids playing on the front porch.
What a sight we must have been! Kevin went straight upstairs and slept the entire day. The girls had slept in the van and settled in to play. Serena couldn't wait to get a shower and put on clean clothes. She and Lilly took a long afternoon nap. The dogs slept in a pile of blankets on the porch and the cats slept in the van.
We set out that evening for West Frankfort to visit Kevin's mom.

Kentucky

Like I said. Hard to get a good picture at night in a moving car.

We made it to Kentucky! The worst is over!

Coldest temperature we have driven through yet. It is 24 degrees here.




What a welcome sight- Interstate 64!!!!!