it has begun.

school started wednesday.
i now have a 2nd grader, a kindergartner, and a wanna-be-school-kid.

ok, i must say that i love, love, love the above photo of my 3 treasures.

they were all up by 6:15 & ready by 7:00!
(my favorite little mister & pumpkin-poos have been up this week btwn 5 & 5:30 a.m. - oh joy!)

my favorite little mister got a fresh hawk from daddy the night before.

he is somewhat ho-hum about school this year,
as it will cut into his lego time you know.

here is sunshine girl (the big kindergartner!)
with the backpack i kind of talked her into.

it is very practical, with a million pockets & zippers that she loves, and it is mainly black, which means it should last her through elementary school (i hope) & then we accessorized with a name bracelet and monkey hanging from a zipper tag.

she told me as we were waiting, "mom, do NOT walk me into school. i don't know where my classroom is, but i will find it myself!" (oh my. funny & sad at the same time... my independent girl with no sense of direction would have been aimlessly wandering the halls without mommy to guide her!)

and this is the book that she almost has memorized. she has decided we will read it every day before she goes to school. (i almost have it memorized already also).

i love the author & illustrations!
all of karma's books we've read so far are GREAT!

and, here is the point when my eyes suddenly
& unexpectedly welled up with tears.
wow. just look at her. my baby. so old.
so ready for life without me. i just suddenly looked at her in a whole new light & will treasure that moment forever.

she's been looking forward to kindergarten since last spring, when preschool ended & so we've talked about it a lot all summer & i was just so happy for her. and then, all of the sudden my heart kind of broke.

when i told sam that night, he said, "well, yeah, you cried because you will never have this much time with her again in our lives. now, she will be in school so much of the time, without us."

(ugh. thanks babe for helping me feel better... not.)

and, finally, our little pumpkin-poos, who thinks she is going to school with the big kids (& may be going when she turns 3 next month!) as she waits for big brother to come out of school.

if anyone needs any great teacher art to get on your teacher's good side from the get-go, here you have it :)

hope everyone & their kids had a great first week of school!

grace & peace,
julie