Back To School, Part 1

It's a happy day! Tinged with a little sadness that my baby keeps growing and time keeps passing, but I think I'm more happy than sad this time around.

School is back in session! Katie started first grade today. She was obviously excited, because she came bursting in to our room while Dan and I were still getting dressed this morning. She didn't even wait for me to wake her up! We got her dressed in the outfit she picked out for her big day, and headed downstairs. She excitedly reminded me that she needed to do her "chores" before school.

Last night I wrote a list of her jobs to do every morning, afternoon and evening. The morning consists of packing her own lunch and then eating breakfast. Afternoon is the coming-home-from-school routine of giving me her folder, washing hands, eating snack, etc. The bedtime jobs are brushing and flossing teeth, the bathroom routine, and setting the table for breakfast the next morning. We did a dry run through all the routines last night before bed, so she knows what to do. I hyped it by telling her now that she's a first grader, she has more responsibility. And I also told her that if she doesn't do her jobs and I have to do them for her, it'll cost marbles from her marble jar.

So back to this morning. Katie raced downstairs and packed her lunch with pride on her face from getting to do a job by herself. Then the three of us (Jackson was still in his crib) went to the bus stop for breakfast with the neighbors. We brought the muffins Katie and I made together yesterday.

Everyone ate, chatted about the new school year and took the obligatory photos. We have a new Kindergartener on our street, who was a little nervous about her first day. But the other kids were pretty excited to get the school year started.

Dan and I took photos with our big girl. Don't you just love that in every picture of her lately, she is baring her teeth and showing the missing tooth in front? She loves that.

The next thing we knew, the bus rounded the corner and the kids were off to school.

A new year full of new beginnings. A new journey, just one step closer to graduation day. Ouch. My heart just seized in my chest!