How can it be that we’re here?! I know everyone says that, but it’s SO true!! It seems like just yesterday that we were taking care of this precious little thing:
And now we’re sending off this big girl to the care of others 5 days a week!!!
We started by going to Meet the Teacher night on Friday night. The classroom was chaotic with all those parents and kids, but we did get to meet her teacher, Mrs. Nycz. (Tough last name, right?! It’s pronounced “Nich”, though, so not so bad once you hear that.) Ellie did a great job meeting some of her new friends, and she seemed to take to Mrs. Nycz quickly. We got her school spirit shirt that night as well.
And then the preparation began. Backpack? Check. The one we got her for preschool last year was super cute, personalized, and still in good shape, so we washed it and got it ready for another year. First day of school outfit? Check. I made both girls cute little pillowcase dresses for their first days. Ellie picked the flower trim at the bottom, and Emma picked out the fabric. Teacher gift? Check. Thanks to my new hobby Pinterest, I got a great idea for a cute little Teacher Survival Kit box that Ellie could give Mrs. Nycz on the first day. Here’s how mine turned out:
“You are blessed to get to teach and influence the lives of many… I am blessed to have you as my one and only Kindergarten teacher. I’m looking forward to a great year! Love, Ellie”
We decided that one of our traditions will be to decorate the front storm door for whichever kids are starting school and the grade they’re going into. Then, we’ll take their photos by the decorated door. Here’s what we came up with. (Note that James did the “Ellie”, the sticker area below that and the rainbow – LOVE that man!!)
We packed her lunch the night before, went through what our first day morning routine would be (Can you believe school starts at 7:50?!?! SOOO early!), and had the girls in bed and asleep by 8:30 – sweet!
Our morning started at 6:30 – ugh. Hopefully, that’s just a first day start time. Here are those precious faces we woke up so early:
Post shower with hair braided and ready to go. She LOVED the door and thought it was really cool. Emma’s exact words were “Oh my gosh!” (Not sure I really even want my 3yo saying that, but it was still funny this morning.)
Here’s the braid I did on her hair. She’s all into braids these days which is fun for me:
With the backpack and sister by the tree:
Next up was our first annual first day of school donut breakfast tradition:
Next it was time to drive over to school! The school is about a mile or so from our house. Just long enough that a walk or a bike ride in this Texas heat is too far. Our school doesn’t have buses, so we’ll be driving her 90% of the time. I can see myself taking a walk once the weather is nice, but with little man on the way I may not be up for that for a while. We parked and started walking in. I’m doing well, and then I see the spot where they line up for pick up by class. I start pointing out to Ellie where she’ll be when I come to pick her up and the tears are there all of a sudden. :) I couldn’t even finish the sentence…
Emma and I joined some other Momma’s and their littles for a breakfast to talk about our big kids going to school. (Thanks, again, for hosting, Brittney!) It was fun to get to see some other Mommas and pictures of their big kids. Then it was off to the OB to see Baby Jerry! (That will be the next blog post.) That was a good distraction. Then, believe it or not, I got some work done while anxiously awaiting 2:50 to arrive. I made my first annual first day of school chocolate chip cookies right before leaving to go pick her up. I was so excited to see her and was quite stunned to see the crazy carpool line! Turns out I was stuck behind a car that had been left unattended and the #2 person behind them wasn’t paying attention to that fact. Finally, we all go around and get to our kids. I teared up AGAIN when Ellie spotted me and I waved and she jumped up and down all excited to see me. After a few more minutes, she was finally back in my care and was SO excited about her day. We went home and had our milk and cookies:
We didn’t get a TON out of her, but she made a new “best friend” named Brooklyn, she likes Mrs. Nycz, Mrs. Nycz read her a book, she listened well, enjoyed lunch (“awesome”) and recess and did some sort of craft. She had a blast and can’t wait to go back tomorrow. What more could a Momma want?
I'll leave you with our last annual tradition - an interview of the school girl. This is mostly for her journal that I'll give her someday, but I thought it would be fun for the blog as well:
What is your favorite breakfast food? Pancakes (with M&Ms)
What is your favorite lunch food? Peanut butter and honey sandwich
What is your favorite dinner food? Snack dinner (goldfish, yogurt, fruit, etc.)
What is your favorite dessert? Vanilla ice cream
What is your favorite toy? Dress-up clothes
What is your favorite TV show? Spongebob Squarepants
What is your favorite movie? Disney Tangled
What is your favorite game? Duck Duck Goose
What is your favorite book? Disney Princess Book
What is your favorite restaurant? Taco Bell
What is your favorite holiday? That thing that has a heart, I guess? (Valentine's Day)
What is your favorite animal? A pony
What is your favorite color? Pink and purple and gray and yellow
Who is your favorite friend? Jade and Jasmine
What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor
If you could change your name, what would you choose? Isabella (??!)
What do you love most about Emma? That she's funny.
What do you love most about Momma? That you tickle me a lot.
What do you love most about Daddy? That he tickles me a lot and that I'm funny.
Where would you like to go on vacation next? Colorado with Aunt Pen and Uncle Bill
What are your most excited about this next year? Halloween (ha - forget Baby Brother!)
Where is your favorite place to go? Church
3 comments:
what a big girl!! i like all your traditions. it looked like she had a blast. the teacher survival kit was super cute, too. i might steal that idea...
Great post! And, you know I LOVE the traditions!!! :)
awe Amy just precious I love all the speacial things that you do all the little traditions, you just make your girls feel so special thats just so awesome to see !
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