first day excitement

The first day of school is so fun. Full of possibilities for new learning, new friendships, new opportunities. Last year Elliott cried as he left for Kindergarten. This year he was all smiles and hugging his little sister as she prepared to go to Kindergarten and he gets to be the 'big first grader.'

Big brother is thrilled to show Emma around, help her get to her classroom, and he told me several times how he'll say hi to her in the halls and at lunch and recess. SO cute!

Here are their drawings for the first day of school (a little tradition I started for them). It's so funny to me how their drawings encapsulate their personalities perfectly.

Last night we met the kids' teachers and dropped off the school supplies. Last week I had also taken the kids to the school for a little photo shoot (pictures of that coming in a few weeks as part of the Sewing for Kindergarten series) so Emma was already comfortable with her classroom and teacher since we had chatted then.

I just love the creativity of elementary teachers. Emma's classroom is decked out in Dr. Seuss stuff and I know she will have a fun time everyday. The games, toys, and puzzles are WAY more fun at school than at home. (where her mean mom won't let her play with toys that have tiny pieces or anything that resembles a marker...the hazards of having younger siblings)

We have created a tradition of taking each child out on a 'date' to do whatever they want before school starts. I got to go on a date with Elliott. We went out to eat where he was determined to order all by himself and get his own drink. I let him have whatever he wanted and he chose pop. A very rare treat.

Then he chose to go to a movie and wanted to see Despicable Me 2. We love the first movie and were thoroughly enjoying the second...until...Elliott started crying loudly and got so upset he couldn't calm himself down. He said he was scared and we had to leave. I tried to get him to stick it out so he could see that the good guys win in the end and get some closure on whatever was scaring him. But nope.

I thought that was a pretty terrible way to end a date so I tried to get him calmed down by going to a local arcade-type place. We rode go karts, played skee ball and he picked out a prize. Thankfully he left that place very happy and in the end the date made a good memory.

And look at my little gentleman-in-training. I had to stop and get gas and he offered to wash the car windows for me. What a sweetie pie!

Emerald got to go on a date with Daddy. She got all dressed up and was SO excited. She wanted a 'meat and cheese sandwich' from a restaurant so off they went. She also chose a movie and wanted to see Planes. Daddy even took her to Starbucks and let her pick out roses (which she gave to me...awwww). The much-talked-about part of their date was driving through a car wash. Ha!  I hope she'll always be that easy to please!

It's been one hour since these two left for school and I'm already missing them. But I'm excited about everything in store for them this year. Emma will learn to read, Elliott will be spelling bigger words. They both will make friends and have a ton of fun and new experiences.

Cheers to a new school year!