First Day of School

First day of school! All the kids were really excited. Here is Cade, who is starting 2nd grade this year. Most of his class is the same as last year, and his teacher seems really great. The biggest change for him this year is that he'll be the older brother at school now. With Carson at the Academy, Cade is the big cheese at Noah Webster, and he gets to watch out for his little sister this year. Cheyanna is starting Kindergarten!! It is a full-day program, so it's going to be a huge change from last year's preschool (two mornings a week). But she has been watching her brothers go off to school all her life, and has been looking forward to this day for a long time. It is so fun to finally have a girl to send off to school--to be able to do her hair, and to have her actually care and get excited about her new clothes and shoes. She was so excited to pick out which outfit to wear her first day, and she loves her froggy backpack and her iCarly shoes. I love it!

Here they are, all ready to go. I've been waking everyone up early for a week now, so they both were up bright and early, all excited! I drove them to school this morning, and I walked Cheyanna to the Kindergarten playground, and asked her if she wanted me to stay until the bell rang and she got settled in her classroom, and she said, "No, I'm fine. You can go." I was surprised, but happy she was confident and ready to be on her own.

Here is Cade by his classroom.

Here is Cheyanna by her classroom.

Here's Carson looking spiffy in his new (hand-me-down, but new to him) Academy Uniform. I think Carson was a little stressed about starting a new school, having so many different teachers, and staying organized. Carson is a smart little brainiac, but his organizational skills are a little lacking, and keeping track of 7 different teachers/assignments is not an easy thing to learn (especially for a 5th grader). Carson actually forgot to bring his schedule the first day (totally my fault!), and he went to a wrong class, and then got lost before getting a replacement schedule at the front office. Poor guy! He survived OK though, and I think having such a rough first day will make today much easier to handle.
Charlie is in Junior High this year!! Crazy that he's a 7th grader! But he's still at the Academy (it goes 5-9), so it isn't a huge adjustment for him. He's with the same friends and classmates, and he's already used to changing classrooms for different subjects. The main difference is that his school is now an hour longer, so he doesn't get off the bus until a little after 4pm, which makes for a long day. I think he'll do great though!

Charlie is 12, and is starting 7th grade. Carson is almost 10, and is starting 5th grade.

When I picked them up from school, both Cade and Cheyanna had so much to tell me. Cade tried to be patient and wait his turn to talk, but every time he started to tell me something, Cheyanna would think of something else to say and interrupt. Finally, Cade yelled, "It's my turn to talk!!" He had a great first day.

Cheyanna was happy when I dropped her off, and happy when I picked her up, but she said she got sad and cried at lunch time because she was so hot, and really wanted to come home. I guess she made it through OK, because she was smiling when I picked her up, and couldn't wait to tell me all about her first day.

I have been kind of dreading this day for a long time--when all my kids go off to school. I have been a stay-at-home mom for 12 1/2 years now, and that has been my whole life. I thought I'd be a basket case when I sent my baby off to school, but I wasn't at all. It just felt right, and I know that even though it is the end of an era, it is the beginning of a new stage of my life. I'm glad that I am heading back to school myself in a few days, because I think that is making this transition easier for me. I have something new and challenging to focus on while my kids are at school. It is still sad to say goodbye to those precious years of having my little ones home with me every day, but life is about change, and kids grow. I feel so blessed that I have been able to be at home with them all these years, to take care of them and watch them grow. They are still my top priority, and they will continue to be my top priority even though my life is changing, and I will be busy focusing on my education for a while. Chuck and the kids will always be what matters most to me, and where my heart is.