Carlie's First Day

I'm a nerd. (Yes, I know most of you knew that already.) But, this last week has confirmed it. This time of year makes me crazy excited. I love school starting, and I have been dying to get started with Carlie and Kendyll's new school years! I'm planning to update on each one of them, but here is the latest on Carlie first:

Today was her first big day of preschool! She is at Sunshine School, where I have always taught. I've been a little sad about not being there this year with her, but am excited to do the room-mom thing instead and be involved other ways. "Just being the mom" sounds pretty good right now!

Anyway, we got her cute new outfit, her backpack and lunchbox, her napmat, and all the other essentials all ready to go last night, and she kept saying "It's my special day tomorrow?!" I think she LOVED that it was just her going to preschool....no big sister around this year, so she can finally be queen bee! She woke up and just had that look of "I'm so proud to be going to school". We let each of the girls pick out the breakfast menu on their first day of school or birthday, and she picked "eggs, bacon, and canteloupe". So, that's exactly what we had. She got to use the "You are Special Today" plate that I NEVER remember to use! And, she truly did feel special.



We were actually ready early for a change (because I woke up early for a change--one of my new back-to-school habits I'm determined to keep!) and had time for extra pictures. Here's a rare "Daddy and his girls" picture with all four of them actually looking at the camera, on Abby Kate's "playtime quilt" in the floor. They sure do love their Mark Daddy Daddy.
The official "pose" before school on the front porch. Lunchbox in one hand, lipstick case full of pennies in the other. You know---the necessities.
One of my favorite pictures of all time. A sister picture of big sister and school girl. And, Carlie sure was glad to have Kendyll take her to school. She held her hand the whole way from the car to her class. It was so sweet to watch Kendyll take care of her. She helped her put her things away, and then went back in for about 3 extra hugs before she could actually leave Carlie there. I just love those moments!
Here is Carlie's "nervous face" as she arrived, with her teacher, Mrs. Julie. Then, it all changed when Caroline, her very good friend got there. The nervousnes changed to excitement instantly. As I've mentioned before, these two are a dangerous pair....but so fun and so cute! I hope Mrs. Julie still thinks so after the first few months of them being together! They love each other so much. :)After school, we picked Carlie up and headed to McDonald's, the after-school tradition, for a special treat. I should have known from the face she is making and the fact that she wouldn't eat any of her ice cream, that we were in trouble. She threw up right there at our table a few minutes after she had begun playing in the tubes. NOT a good end to our fun first day. (I actually think she had been too hot and played too hard at McD's because she hasn't been sick since and ate dinner like a champ! Who knows.....)

But, overall, (except for the barfing) today was a great first day of school for Carlie. And, Monday, we'll have TWO school girls (I'll blog more about Kendyll's school tomorrow....)