Well, today was THE day. We've sent our oldest little rascals off into the big, wide world of school. This whole past year, they've been excited, and nervous, and excited again. Most recently very excited and very ready.
I guess I should have gotten Nuala some new shoes. Well, she has new tennis shoes, but wow! Look at the state of her summer sandals! They're supposed to be about the colors of her shirt and skirt. Yeah...
Hugging Daddy goodbye!
I love this one. Maeve, of course, needed her picture taken, too. And needed her backpack on. And Bran... he put his tse-tse (blankie) down for the other pictures, but we were getting ready to head out to the bus stop and he knew he had to leave it, so he was getting in some last-minute thumb sucks. Poor guy. He loves that tse-tse. He was just explaining to me the other day, about how he holds it just in a particular spot (the little embroidered animals), and showed me where he likes to hold it up to nose to smell it (sometimes he smells the toucan, sometimes the giraffe...it all just kinda smells stinky to me. But he loves it!). It was really cute.
Their teacher gave them little visors to wear getting off the bus so she or her assistant can spot the kiddos in their class easily. Yet another cool and exciting thing for them!
They're so big! And now they will not ever NOT be in school again. For a very long time. Summers don't count. They are officially school-children. Sigh.
Poor Maeve. She really wants to go, too. I mean, she's resigned herself to not going, but she talks a lot about when she is "bigger." Then she will get on the bus, and "you will stay home by yourself, Mommy!" Poor Mommy.
Yet another picture of the KINDERGARTENERS.
This is bus 13, and it comes a couple of minutes before Nuala and Bran's bus, #2. But they look the same.
Heeeere it is! Kindergarteners get on and off first. Oh, those rascals were excited! Their very first bus ride all ALONE!
And there they are, having already gotten ON the bus...
And poor little Maeve, NOT on the bus. Just a-watchin' from the bench.
I'll admit that it was difficult to send them off, but they were so excited that it was hard not to catch that, you know? I sure did miss them! But... it sure was nice, too...
Muffin man! He behaved so well this first day that he got to be the little class leader in lines, etc., most of the time. Nuala was in awe. She said, "I think he was even gooder than ME!" And that's saying something.
Nuala. It's hard to see her, but she's there. Like one of those 3D posters that were so popular 10... 15 years ago. Her teachers LOVE her name: Fionnuala. They kept calling her that when they visited. I told them she likes to just go by "Nuala," but they kept gushing about her name and using the full version. I told Nuala that she could tell them what she likes to be called, and that if they call her the other name I will tell them again for her, but today she came home and said that she DOES want them to call her "Fionnuala" and that WE can call her "Nuala." Hmmm... I'm envisioning 1/2 her friends calling her Fionnuala, and the other half (church, etc.) calling her Nuala. Oh well, it'll all work out.
Maeve was asleep when I picked them up from the bus stop. It's just a house or two down the street, so I felt comfortable leaving her inside for a couple of minutes. She woke up after they'd been home for a little while, and it was so cute how happy they all were to see each other. Nuala was SO nice and sweet to Maeve, and vice versa. It was pretty adorable. After a little while it went back to "normal," which isn't terrible, but these rascals definitely do their share of getting on each others' nerves...
But, awwwww!
And just for the record, here are Nuala and Bran with Ms. Parker, their teacher, and behind Nuala is Mrs. Poindexter, the teacher's assistant. The kindergarten teachers all did home visits, which was just plain awesome. N&B's teachers are super nice, and are so well organized! It should definitely be a great year...
Let's go Pandas!! (Oh, and they go to Bob Hope Primary School. I love Bob Hope!)
