Kindergarten

and so it begins, our journey through 18 years of formal education, starting with Kindergarten...and boy were they ready! 

We've been talking with and preparing the twins for Kindergarten for a while now, especially after their graduation from preschool.  They've both been very excited about it all summer.  We attended their "unpack your backpack" night a week before school started in order to meet their teachers and get a chance to tour the school.  It was on this night that it sunk in with Nora that she and Holden wouldn't be together in class.  Where this news didn't seem to phase Holden at all, Nora seemed overwhelmed by everything and shed a few tears at the end of the night.  I was a little shocked, but honestly should have expected it.  New things always throw her for a loop and this would be the first time she went somewhere completely on her own.  

The first day of school for grades 1-5 was actually just orientation day for Kindergartners and their parents.  Nora was emotional on this morning as well but i assured we'd be with her all day and that she would be having fun.  Of course while Mike and I sat in meetings the kids all went off to do fun things like scavenger hunts and art projects.  That's all it took really.  Nora had a good time that day and by the next morning, their first day of "real, drop-off school" she was fine. No tears. Just these smiles you see below.  

And yes, Holden's aspirations at this point are to be a garbage collector.  We can always count on Holden to pick something unique.  When trying to clarify, Holden informed me he wanted to be the person who rides on the back and actually puts the trash in the truck.  Davis of course was listening and told me he wanted to be the driver. So there you have it guys.  The start of our new family business.  Mike and I are so proud. 

 

of course i made them do all the obligatory shots. 

and one last picture with the family before we left out Kindergartners for their first day of school. 

Macky is back there in the car seat...we're really bad about remembering to include him in shots! He's just so quiet and content in there, i promise we love him!  hashtag fourth child problems???

and one last shot of them in their lines 

at the end of the day, kindergartners get released a few minutes before everyone else.  of course i was there waiting on them to tell me all about their day.  This picture of the runs and smiles tells it all though. 

 

this momma was so glad they loved it

and an even cuter surprise was that they were wearing their lunch box notes i left for them!  I couldn't get to my fun papers easily the night before because all of that stuff hasn't been unpacked yet... but i ran across this foam stuff that has adhesive on the back.  I figured it was as good to write on as anything else...but i didn't really expect they'd figure out it was a sticker! Still it made this momma smile to see that they may be in elementary school now, but they aren't too big to think that momma's notes are uncool yet!