The first day of the next 12 years

And so it begins....

Cole was off to 1st grade this week.  Boo, hoo, hooo.  

When I asked for a smile on the front steps, this is the pose I got.  Hummm....

Kerry stopped by on the way to her internship so say hi and good luck to Cole!  

 Cole refused to wear a collared shirt for the first day of school.  Oh well. There are worse things in life! :)  He was very excited with his new Spiderman backpack and Transformer folder.  He didn't need to bring anything else to school that day.  Oh, and his lunch.  He didn't want to get milk/lunch the first day but he has since got milk the subsequent days....strawberry one day and chocolate the next! :)  He's looking forward to grilled cheese hot lunch next week!

 These two are such good friends and were off and walking to the bus step at least 20 feet in front of the parents.  As long as these two have each other I think they'll do just fine!  I hear already they are both being chased by the girls on the playground.  (Apparently Caden has been put in jail but as Cole tells us he "is too fast for the girls so they stopped chasing me".  I've now heard the ole' jingle, "Missed me, missed me, now you have to kiss me!" from Cole which he certainly didn't know before this week!)  Oh, PLEASE, do not kiss my son yet! :)

It all happened so fast! We got to the bus stop around 8 and the bus came at about 8:15 or so.  The boys both got on the bus and forgot to say good bye to us!  The bus driver had to tell them to turnaround and smile for the photos. We ran to give them hugs and they were on their way.  The 1st graders (and maybe the older kids?) have assigned seats up in front so Cole sits with someone else in the morning, who apparently also lives in the neighborhood. I'm trying to get him to find out where.  

I was fine and smiling and then the bus turned the corner and I found myself tearing up out of nowhere. And then Brendan looked at me and laughed and I cried more!  Lisa laughed at me too but she was welling up!  

 When the cat's away....

We took the younger kids to the playground for a picnic lunch and some fun.  Poor Cora lost her shoe going down this time.

It was hot! So the kids cooled off in the sprinklers.  The pools were too cold!

 Then it was time to pick up Cole. I was so excited!  He got off the bus and was very tired but still talked about his day a great deal.  Oh, how I wish I could be there for him every day as he gets off the bus.  Being a stay at home mom would rock!

 Special day, special treat.  Ice cream before dinner!  

 I asked Cole and Charlotte to pose in front of the sign but then they all ran around with a "take a picture of us here." 

(Charlotte was doing ballet poses.)

Cole likes 1st grade.  He is so proud of the work he is bringing home to show us.  So far the work is easy for him as it is all a recap of kindergarten.  He likes music and gym class the best and is very much looking forward to library day.  Crafts and art has never been a favorite of his and he likes that class ok.  He loves Mrs Goyette (in fact while at the dentist yesterday, the dentist told Cole that his now 18 year old daughter had Mrs Goyette and was her favorite all through elementary).  He's a quiet boy around new people (hmmm, wonder where he gets that from?!) but is loving recess with Caden.    Soccer starts next week and we are going to look into Cub Scouts as well.  This is going to be a very good year!