And just like that, the first day is in the books and she LOVED it!! Thank you Lord, it was a great day and I've got some darling pictures to share with you. My real camera battery died just before we left the house this morning (insert a crazy, sad face from me, here) so I had to substitute with my less than par iphone, but at least I got a few with Trav and I before we sent her off.
There are more pictures here than things to say, but I can't help myself.
I'm just saying, she is the cutest Kindergartener I've ever seen!!
This sweet thing was up at 5:30 am this morning with a "bad dream" and I don't think she got much sleep after we tried to put her back to bed. She had a one track mind today and it was laser focused on her first day of school! She got dressed, ate breakfast and brushed her teeth in record time. I should have timed her, it was practically miraculous!
No nerves, no anxiety, and no apprehension from Miss Ava, just pure joy!
Although our hearts were feeling all of those things above, we were so thankful she was excited and ready to go. That honestly made this whole morning so much easier.
For the scrapbooks, people.
While photographing these, poor Carter was just beside himself, crying and whining over anything and everything. I totally understood him! I sort of felt like doing the same thing. We were both extremely conflicted, on one hand so happy for her and on the other hand, so sad for us. I knew I'd be losing my best helper during the day and Carter knew his little buddy was about to head out the door for the day.
But clearly Miss Ava was totally un-phased by the wheels falling off the bus all around her!
Can't wait to see how much smaller that back-pack looks in the Spring!
Poor Walker, we woke him up to take her to school and from the look on his face you can see he had no idea why! This early morning thing is going to take some getting used to for all of us.
See what I mean about Carty?? He was having NONE of this "first day stuff" this morning.
Change is hard buddy, I totally get it!
I love this pic of these two! She looks like she's 15 to me here...I suppose I'll close my eyes and that will be true soon, as well! My goodness this all goes so fast...I never thought that when I was up in the middle of the night with her or when her princesses were strewn all over our house. But here I am now, saying what I didn't understand all these years...it's just a BLINK of an eye that they are home and in our full-time care.
I'm so, so thankful that I've not taken these years for granted or missed out on it all. I have truly loved and cherished the last five years with Ava, and I'm looking forward to a new chapter in our journey together. I LOVE being her Mommy, even though I cried my eyes out today!
What an incredible gift she is to her Daddy and I. I know what a privilege it is to stay home and I suddenly see it so differently today. The days can be so long but the years are so short.
With a kiss and a reminder from her Daddy about who she is, how much we love her and how we've prayed over her, her school and this day...
...she jumped right into that line and smiled back at me, while I stood there with a huge lump in my throat and hot tears in my eyes. So good and so hard!! I won't go on about leaving her again, but seeing this picture just brings all those emotions right back. How I will ever let her go to college I don't know, but I do know that I have to start dealing with those emotions now because if I don't, I will hold her back from all the God has planned for her.
The boys and I did a whole lot of this today. I just didn't have it in me to be the activities director, I was better suited for hugs and indulgences today!
I did get a sweet glimpse into what it will be like with just my boys at home and I know I'm going to love that too. Carter aged a few years today and stepped into the role of a helper that his big sister usually does. I've got some fun plans for him tomorrow and we will not spend every day in bed like we did today. But I have to admit, even that was so nice and totally necessary.
But before we knew it, it was time to go get our girl!! Thankfully we got a break in the rain and we were able to walk to school. I thought I might burst into tears again as soon as I spotted Ava, I've never been so thrilled to see those striped legs as I was today!
And Carter? Well at the sight of his big sister, he jumped out of the jogger and said...
"Oh Ava, let me give ya a hug!" How sweet. He was just as happy to see her as I was.
And every bit as relieved to hear it was a great day!
So Ava, what did you really think of your first day??
It took her all of 5 seconds to immediately begin gushing and filling me in on every thing she could remember. She seriously talked non-stop for the next hour and told every neighbor that we saw, she just came home from her first day of Kindergarten! Hilarious!
The bullet points?
-She loves her teacher
-She made a new friend at lunch, she thinks her name was Anastasia (like in Cinderella) but she can't remember her clothes she had on (CLASSIC Ava comment)
-She didn't have time to drink her water at snack time
-She hurried so much to get her picture colored
-She liked the breakfast she got to eat in her room
-She got to go to the library for a tour and picked out a book that some grown up paid for (ha ha! I believe she was referring to the check out process)
-She had lots of fun
-They read the Kissing Hand book
-They couldn't go to the gym because the new paint on the floor was still wet
-She wishes we could move tomorrow so she could be in the fun club that rides the bus (!?!)
-She loved the note I sent her in her lunch and said maybe I could do that again?
And the storm?
She told me that it was raining and raining so much and she could hear "funder after funder" but when I asked if she was scared or nervous about it, she confidently said "No, I was ok."
Of course she was.
I'd say the first day was a big success!
Before I could get Walker out of his car seat, she was suddenly dressed in a new outfit and ready to play with Carter again. And suddenly life seemed a little more normal for all of us and just as it should be.
But then she spotted me and my camera and did this.
"Mom!! This is how we ask a question at school!! We raise our hand, isn't that cool??"
Yep, it's a new day over here but I think it's going to be a great one. Thank you for checking on us, for praying and asking about her first day (and mine too). We are good and ready for another one!
And now I'm so glad this day is over because I'm exhausted!
Maybe I'll raise my hand and see if Travis would like to put me to bed too?? It's worth a shot :)
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