The First Days of School 2009

****Warning....this is a long post...feel free to skip most of it, but check out the pictures and video (you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)***



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Well..it's that time of year again...time for early bedtime, homework, and having to get ready in the morning instead of staying in jammies all day!!

Michael started 2nd grade this year. He is so excited and seems like an old pro at this school stuff. He was ready to go back!!

He got to ride in a private bus with his cousins the first morning (alright..you got me...it was Sherry's van! Think anyone's excited much!!)

Michael promised that he would let me take a picture of him in his classroom, but when we got there his nerves got the best of him and he didn't want me to. I took one anyway :) Next year I probably won't even get this much!! ( I just noticed when I posted this that his name is spelled wrong...maybe I'd better go check his folder)

They had a short day but it seemed like forever until the bus got there (it didn't help that it was 20 minutes later than I expected!!

He had to wave to all his friends when he got off the bus, then he saw me and posed for a proper picture :) When did my boy get so grown up?!?!

Thomas was NOT happy that Michael got to go and he had to wait a whole week for his turn!!! He did get to go the next day to meet his teacher. He was so excited, but disappointed that it didn't mean he got to go to school the next day. (I thought it was cute that they both had frogs)



Finally the big day came. He was so excited to start KINDERGARTEN (in fact, in the picture he was saying "I'm going to KINDERGARTEN"



I drove him to school, and he was at least 5 steps ahead of me the whole way there.



He quickly found his hook, turned in his homework folder, and got to work...



It was time for me to leave, then the tears started. They were mine...not his!!! I have been having such a hard time sending him to Kindergarten. By the time I got back to the car I was seriously sobbing!! (I really have been crying for weeks whenever I thought about it)

I don't know if it's that he was my baby for so long, and I have some concerns about him, so I am overprotective...or that I have gone through this before with Michael and I know that this is the beginning of him not needing me so much, or just what it is exactly...

It's hard when their teacher has them for more time during the day than I do!! Speaking of which...I know that part of the problem I'm having with sending him to school is that he is going to an all day Kindergarten class.

When I first heard about it, I didn't want it at all. Thomas still takes a nap almost every day, and I was really looking forward to sending him to school in the morning and having him come home, eat lunch, then take a nap. I didn't even want to think about him being gone all day.

Then it was suggested that it might be good for him, so he was evaluated to see if he qualified as "at risk" (which is why they have the program) He didn't even come close to qualifying...but his name was drawn out as one of the "model" children. (they have some "at risk" kids then other children who don't struggle to be examples for them...imagine my son a "model child") I really struggled with the decision to let him be in this class or not.

After praying, crying, and talking to the teacher about what they did in the class, I decided that it would be good for him. So my 5 year old is at school all day, having 3 recesses, and lunch at school...just like the big kids!!

I hope I've made the right decision (when I found out all he ate today was a trix yogurt, cookie, and milk for lunch...and he was so tired and grouchy that he wouldn't touch his dinner and went to bed sobbing, I'm not so sure!...but that's a whole other topic)

He came home from the first day so happy!!! He LOVED everything about school and LOVED the bus ride!! (he sat by his cousin Katelyn and when the bus started moving he told her "Katelyn...this is going to be AWESOME"

In fact...he didn't want to get off the bus:) but he eventually did



When we went through his backpack, he was so excited to show me what he had done. He had a little folder that said "I Can Read on My First Day of Kindergarten" Inside was a book he had colored and he sat down and "read" it to me.

Here he is "reading" his book


He was so excited to show Daddy that he could read just like Michael!! That made my heart just jump with joy!!

Robert sure missed his big brothers that day though. If you watch the video again and listen in the background, you can hear him laughing...I think he laughed for like 30 minutes after they got home. Everything they did was just so funny to him.

I'm kind of having a hard time with them being gone. Funny how they drive me so crazy I need to get away from them to regain my sanity...but when they're both gone...I hardly know what to do with myself. Hopefully things will smooth out over the next couple of weeks and we'll get back into the swing of things (and hopefully I'll stop crying whenever I think about Thomas in Kindergarten!!)

All in all though, the first day was a success!! I also forgot to mention how thankful I was to my wonderful husband for giving my boys such beautiful blessings on the night before they started school. Thanks sweetie!!