First Day of School

at home; right before opening ceremonies

at home; right outside his classroom

Today is Collin's first day in Kindergarten and Allie's first day in 4th Grade at the American Leadership Academy (ALA)! Last night we did a Back to School FHE and Kevin gave both of them father's blessings (which he does every year before school starts). I think both Kevin and I were feeling a little nostalgic just thinking about how fast time has gone by (AGAIN!) and how much the kids have grown, even just this summer.

The kids woke up on time today and got themselves dressed fast. Collin thought having his shirt tucked in was "dorky" but Allie and I quickly reminded him it was a school rule, and everyone's shirts will be tucked in at school. Collin was so excited to find little notes for everyone from Kevin on the countertop, and felt very special to get a little something from Dad. What a nice surprise!

Allie with her class at opening ceremonies

I juggled my DSLR and mino and Maddie in a stroller at their school. I took Collin in to his classroom while Allie waited with Maddie. Collin quickly found his desk and was happy to see that the desk he picked was still his desk! (we saw some that got moved).

at his desk; telling me not to use the flash!

I was videotaping and taking pictures at the same time, and since I had to use my flash, Collin told me to "STOP taking pictures with a FLASH". Pretty funny! No, I wasn't the only one with a big DLSR - can't miss the excitement of the very first day at school, you know?

Anyhow, when I got out of the classroom, somehow my fingers managed to press just the right buttons to delete all the videos on my mino, so I had to go back in the classroom to re-tape the whole first day experience! Whew, with five minutes to spare to take Allie over to the opening ceremonies.

Wow, I hadn't seen a first day of school opening ceremony with uniformed young men bearing the colors/flag. It was neat and very patriotic!

Now I am sitting here blogging and actually got all the photos off the memory card to post here, while Maddie naps. The quiet house is nice, but I miss the other little voices. But like I said time flies, only half an hour more and I will be going to pick Collin up from school! Time to get the upstairs straightened up.