School Days!

It's only August 2nd and my baby started off to school today!!!! She was SOOOOOOO excited about starting school and RIDING THE BUS! She was up and dressed at 6:50am - before me. She has been looking forward to this day since before she finished Pre-K. She knows her numbers, is doing math on her own and reading up a storm all by herself. She's more than ready. She picked out her clothes, I made her backpack, she got brand new tennis shoes, and she was ready!! She wasn't nervous at all. She just wanted to GO!

Here she is scarfing down breakfast. No butterflies in her tummy. (The thing on her arm is a glitter whale tattoo from the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.)




Her class has PE all this week, so she had to have non-marking, non-black soled tennis shoes. She's wearing a size 1 because her feet are wide, so these looked huge on her feet (thanks Grandpa Howard).

I had to wake Brooke up so that she could go to the bus stop with us. She was MAD. (She's gonna be one of those people who can't function without her morning cup of coffee..) Here we are heading up to the stop with the neighbors and their two kids.

The bus gang. Tick, tock, where's the bus???????

This is Olivia's reaction when the bus drove into view. She was ready to "leave mom behind", as she's been saying all summer. And she REALLY was!

Then she was onto the bus. No hesitation at all. No tears, all confidence.

You can barely make out her face in the very first window, behind a little boy who looked fairly terrified. (She sat with him on the way home too, but he still would not tell her his name. He was very upset and cried all the way home at the end of the day.) I thought I'd probably get a little tearful watching her drive away without me, but it was fine. She was so excited and confident that there was no reason to worry or sniffle. I think she forgot all about me as soon as the bus took off. That's good. I want her to be confident and independent (especially when puberty hits and when it's time to pick a university).

Last Friday we attended the Meet and Greet at Olivia's new school. Here's most of her classroom. Her teacher seemed to be really great. We have heard wonderful things about her, so it should be a really good year.

There's a bank of 6 computers for the kids to use. Computers for kindergarteners! Wow - things sure have changed since I was that age... They'll use them for independent math and reading lessons.

And then, in the hall, who did we see???? Yes! Her old beau, Ryan!!! They aren't in the same class, but they'll see each other on the playground and in the halls, I'm sure. He was in a suit with a flower - left over from a wedding he was in the past weekend. You gotta give him credit for being a snazzy dresser! Jack is in a different class, too. Whew!

After the Meet and Greet, we went to lunch with Aunt Lori and Uncle Chuck. They brought balloons and flowers for both girls and a Good Luck card for Olivia that plays music. What a great time!

Brooke starts pre-school next Wednesday. She'll attend Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings. She's not all that excited, but she doesn't really know what pre-school is yet. I think she'll love it once she figures it out. She wants to be just like her big sister, so I don't forsee any problems. And then I can go back to bed and eat bon bons!! HA!! HA!! HA!! And then I can start on some over-due projects that desperately need to be done. No rest for the weary!! The fence guys come tomorrow - I can't wait! Then I'll post before and after pictures of all the work we've had done.