{First Day of School :: 2014}

we did it!
we smiled!
first day of school...check!

after our little preschool incident last year we decided to keep the talk of starting kindergarten and a new school year to a minimum. giving her information and answering all her questions but not hyping it up and getting her overly excited and nervous. to help with the first morning jitters and craziness i took most of their pictures the day before. aubrey had a sore throat and the sniffles that you can clearly see in her eyes...but it was all better by the next day thankfully!:)

janey had another worrisome pre-first day night. just like last year. worried about the new people in her class. worried about her new teacher and her new routines. but mostly worried about being away from me. she longs to be little. to stay home. to dress up in princess dresses and dance around the family room...wait...she still does that!:) so we made a plan that she would wear my lotion and perfume again and her favorite heart necklace we gave her. and then...all was well.

riley was super excited about the year beginning. we popped into the middle school a few days early so she could set up her locker and walk her schedule. she has organized and reorganized her binder so many times. so cute.

::aubrey::

kindergarten with mrs. r

just realized i never updated you....we know aubrey's teacher now and she is a sweetie who moved over from second grade. we are excited!!:)

::janey::

5th grade with mrs. p

::riley::

7th grade

**********

...rise and shine it's school time...

oh those lunchboxes!

here we go again!

tara and i are determined to do some research and planning and keep em cute this year!

pinterest here we come!!:)

riley has a love note but it slipped behind her containers as i snapped...loved that they added their own note for each other too.

last minute sister snuggles and riley led everyone in a "go away butterflies" morning stretch.

just look at those sleepy yawn suppressing faces!
but still happy...cause daddy rocked the scones!

i totally know what i did wrong in this shot tara...argh!

here we go...
not sure why i love this shot so much...i see something in her eyes i guess. confidence...with just a wee bit of apprehension hiding in there. sweet

janey was happy i got to walk her in again this year. she had a plan to meet her bff at a special spot but we were there awhile before she arrived. i was worried about getting back to aubrey and getting her to school on time and worried too about leaving this one with tears welling up in her eyes. she told me to go ahead and go...but i could hear her voice cracking...how could i leave. such a tenderhearted little soul. tell me you'll always want me around this much miss jane!:)

but then she spotted her buddy and all was good. even though she did watch me walk away with tears in her eyes.:(

by the time we got to aubrey's school we had to park waaaaaay out in the corn fields!:) see her sea bands...we took no chances this year!:)

she was so excited to see her friend from preschool...and they even sat at the same table!

love this little smile.
taking it all in.
being brave.
feeling happy.
and proud.

after a few minutes spent unloading school supplies they lined up the children for recess so the parents could stay and visit with the teacher a bit. i took several pictures of this moment...this one was my fav. of course i missed the one when she looked back at me and waved as she walked out of the classroom. the last time i would see that face for almost three hours! oh the drama right?!?!:) i wanted to run up there and kiss her and hug her and tell her to have fun and that i love her at least 10 more times but i resisted! she was happy and she was ready to play.

after we left the building i fought back the tears and felt completely lost and restless. i couldn't wait for it to be dismissal time! since she is half day i luckily didn't have that long to wait! i wish i could have snapped a picture of her happy face when i picked her up...but the skies opened up and we were caught in a downpour! bummer!!

we came home and she ate a HUGE lunch and we played and snuggled and played some more! i just couldn't stop staring at her face and touching her...you'd think she'd been away at camp or something!:) haha

then we jumped in the car to pick up the big girls.

it was a perfect first day!

but i'm so glad my babies are back in the nest!:)

*****

day 2 mini update

today aubrey had to walk in all by herself and she did amazing! she was so excited to be the first one dropped off...that meant SHE got to be the one to unbuckle first and climb around giving everyone kisses like she's watched riley and jane do for so long. she said she even needed to go to the back seat to kiss her imaginary little sister ellie.:)

you got this baby!

and...if i'm trying to look for the positive side of things, it was nice having that 15 minutes or so alone in the car with just the big girls. riley goes next then jane. (yes we are juggling three schools for drop off and pick up!) it gave us a chance to talk about their day ahead without the ever present and ever persistent voice of a kindergartner in the back seat!:)

7th, 5th and k here we come!

and i can tell already it's gonna be a great year!

first day of school 2013

first day of school 2012

first day of school 2011

first day of school 2010