Emma's First Day of Kindergarten!

It's official: Emma is a kindergartener! She's been waiting for this day for a long time! She's been so ready for a while, as many of her older friends have been going to school for a couple of years or so. She has always longed for the day when she could grab her backpack and say she was going to school like Daddy! Emma woke up bright and early, at 7 a.m., which is not like her. Which is exactly why we chose afternoon P.M. kindergarten. She's not a morning person! Let's just say she was excited! The night before, she picked out her outfit and wanted her hair crimpy, so we put it in a bunch of braids the night before. The night before (and several weeks leading up to school), we also read "The Night Before Kindergarten," a book that Grandma Sue gave to Emma. It's a cute book, and helped Emma get a feel for what would happen. Emma asked for crepes for breakfast, so we made strawberry crepes, yum!

I always loved the first day of school and all of the new stuff you get that comes with the first day! Emma does, too! As I mention, Emma picked out and sported a pink Hello Kitty sparkly graphic tee, some shorts, and her pink converse sneakers. Her backpack is a pink sparkly Disney princess. Her hair, as I mentioned, is crimpy, to which she stated, "Aunt Amy would be proud!"

Here we are at Shiloh Hills! We drove the first day, but usually walk, as it is a close distance to our house.

We thought it would be fun to go get a little more familiar with the school before we dropped Emma off, so we went to the school and explored and went and had school lunch. Emma was already doing more playing than eating with her cafeteria food. That's what you do, right? Here she is making an E with her fries.

Cal had a great time in the cafeteria! I don't know if he had more fun eating or more fun trying to run along the benches before I pulled him off!

Miss Lucy ready to drop her sister off at school!

Going to her class, what a big girl!

Emma got Mrs. Campanella, or Mrs. C for a teacher. From what we understand from all of the neighbors, she is the best! And we believe it! We were impressed at Back To School Night, and Emma just loves her!

Emma went in, found her nametag and put that on, and began playing with playdough. She was put in the Green Family with three other kids. Each day, they rotate and sit by different kids. She walked right in and started talking to her classmates, and her teacher. That made me happy, because previously, she could get really shy and not talk at all. But we've been working with her, and I think enrolling her in dance, and doing some other things really helped her break out of her shell. When I go to pick her up, she'll be talking to the other kids and saying goodbye.

Cal thought kindergarten, a.k.a. "Emma's school" was pretty cool. He especially liked the reading loft! He wished he could stay! But we have a good time with the two of us. We play a little while together outside, or ride bikes, or play with toys, then I read him a couple of books and put him down for a nap. It's good to have some one-on-one time with him. I'm trying to get on this new schedule now with school. But it seems if Cal's asleep, Lucy is awake and vice-versa. Plus, it's hard because by the time we get Cal down, we have to go get Emma soon after. So we've gotta get used to this. It will come, I'm sure.

Goodbye, Emma! We'll see ya in a few hours! I must say, I was very brave, and didn't cry or all-out bawl like I thought I would. I kept it together. I got a little emotional and teary-eyed, but didn't full on cry. That's pretty good!

When I picked Emma up and asked her the classic question, "How was your first day of school?" Emma enthusiastically replied, "I love kindergarten, Mom!" (:

Of course, now that she's in school, we need after-school snacks! The first day, it wasn't a very healthy snack, but they were good! I made these apple pops, using Oreos, red candy melts, green gummy candy, and M&Ms. Emma and the neighbor girls who came over to play after school were delighted!Happy apple!

I think this picture she colored pretty much sums it up! Emma has enjoyed her first week, and loves going to school, feeling so distinguished and grown up! "I go to school like Daddy and Uncle Marko now," she tells me. "I've got to go to school now, buddy, but we'll play when I get home" she tells Cal. She also thinks it's pretty cool she gets to do homework. She has a folder that has a couple of things to do each night, like count the steps in your house, write your name, draw a picture of your teacher, count to 20, find something in your house that begins with a certain letter, etc. I wonder how long she'll enjoy doing homework? Hopefully, she'll continue to develop a love for learning all of her life!