A New Year at Probadence

Today was Carlie's big day! Her first day at Providence!! (We like to call it Probadence, since this is how Carlie actually pronounces it. ;)

I have to say this was a big transition for us. Last Thursday was the first day of Sunshine School...and it was the first "first day" I have missed since Kendyll was one. :( It was hard to not have at least one of my kids walking the halls that are so familiar to us, and to get to see so many of our friends.

Carlie has had mixed feelings about this change in her life. She has been so excited to finally be with Kendyll, "in kindergarten at Probadence" (yes, we know she is not in kindergarten...but she really just figured that out this week!), but she also misses her friends from church and the familiarity of her old school.

We went up last week for meet-the-teacher, and Carlie was very quiet, checking it all out. Knowing this would be her likely reaction, I scheduled a little playdate with one sweet girl from her class that same day, and she warmed up pretty quickly. She has talked about Abigail quite a bit since then, and we were so glad to see that Abigail sits right next to Carlie in class!

Another small factor that we had to consider in this adjustment, was that Mark was out of town for her first day---for a trip that was unavoidable. She is quite the "daddy's girl" these days, so we weren't sure how she would handle the news. She handled it like a champ, and of course, Mark made sure we had plenty of time celebrating Carlie before he left.

He went with us to meet-the-teacher, and she loved having both of us with her. Then, we had a special dinner at home on Sunday, where she got to model her CUTE CUTE uniform and eat on her "You are Special Today" plate.

This morning, Kendyll woke up singing "Happy First day of schooo-oool to you!", which Carlie actually liked. (Kendyll's chipper morning-mood is not always met with a smile from Carlie!) We got dressed in our uniforms, headed out the door to get Kendyll to school on time, and then Carlie, Abby Kate, and I had an hour to hang out before her school began.

We spent the hour eating breakfast at McDonald's and doing stickers. She was giddy the whole time and ready to get to school.

She got to talk to Daddy for a while too...

She was the first one to the classroom, and her sweet teacher gave her the longest, cuddliest hug. At that point, Carlie was grinning ear to ear. She felt very special and very big. It was precious. She got right to work after a "squeeze hug" for me. And, we were on our way.

We picked her up at lunch, and she got to pick a special place to eat. After going through each fast food establishment (which I vetoed), she picked MEXICAN so she could have chips & queso! (Yes, her mommy might have encouraged that pick too. :) Aunt Cassie was sweet to meet us for lunch, to help her celebrate, and to help me have another adult assistant!

We took time outside for a great "Aunt Cassie" photo shoot too...she's always good to have around for those!

My sweet big girls...Kendyll was so proud to be Carlie's big helper today. She saw Carlie once in the hall and gave her a big hug, and also helped her to the car at carpool after school. Perfect jobs for my little mother hen.

Back to the photo shoot. They had quite a good time modeling facial expressions for Cassie too.

Here's their silly faces...

Their angry faces...

Their pretty faces...

Their cute poses...

And, their shouting faces...

Here is a funny pic of AK, participating in the shouting:
So, we are now officially underway with a busy school year for all. I know it will be a wonderful one, and we are so thankful for "Probadence" and the gifted teachers both of our girls have.