The First Day(s) of School!

Both Lily and Skyler have had their first day of school!  Lily started Monday along with the rest of the school.  But in Wake County, Kindergartners have something called "staggered entry" where they only attend one morning or afternoon in the first week in order to get tested and placed.  After they test all the kids, they evenly distribute ethnicities, levels of intellect, genders, etc.  On Friday we should find out Skyler's teacher.  We're crossing our fingers for Lily's previous kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Lockhart.

I was able to talk with Mrs. Lockhart after he was tested and she told me he was super sweet and he knew all the answers to their questions.  I'm not surprised though.  I feel like Skyler's ahead in everything except reading.  He had a fantastic time and was so excited that they even let him play on the playground.

We attended the "Meet Your Teacher" at school a week ago to find out who Lily's teacher was.  All the 1st grade teachers gathered us into the school gym, gave us a presentation on what to expect this upcoming year, and introduced themselves.  Lily pointed to one of them and said, "I want her."  Of course, I told her that we didn't know until after the meeting was done which teacher was hers, so don't feel bad if she's not yours.  Well, it turns out that she was!  Lucky Lily!  Miss Bauer looks like she's going to be just as fantastic a teacher as Lily's last one!  Woohoo!

On the first day of school, Lily was confident enough to find her own room at school that we let her ride the bus.  Lily has been beyond eager to start school all summer.  Basically as soon as she graduated kindergarten, she's been counting down until first grade.

(I couldn't decide which Thad face I liked best.  They're both so Thad.)

Ben thinks it's hilarious that I get weepy about the kids growing up when he loves the fact that they're getting older and trying new things.  So this year he kept trying to induce tears whenever we'd bring up the kids going back to school.  He'd say things like, "Man, they sure are getting bigger," *big stare to see if I'll cry,* or "Before you know it, we're going to be sending them to college and on their missions," *big stare to see if I'll cry,* or "Just think, Skyler used to be just as small as Thad.  That went by fast," *big stare to see if I'll cry.*

The Husband of the Year Award definitely does not go to Ben.  At least not until I'm used to the kids being back in school.

And while I actually haven't cried at all about the kids starting school, I was not ready at all.  We still have so many things left to accomplish on our summer bucket list.  We basically had to throw away the entire month of August since Ben had an appendectomy and we've been sick ever since.  Goodness gracious, we're one of the few people around here who actually gets a whole summer break since most people are in year-round.  I still feel like the break was too short!  Homeschooling next year will be good for us.