update

Sarah had a great first day of school today. She was very excited to find out two of her friends were in her class. She marched into class with her little friends and never even looked back at Pete and I. She says that she had a lot of fun today - especially playing computer games. She is her father's daughter!
Thank you for your kind support of my mini nervous breakdown yesterday. I had dry eyes today and really enjoyed meeting some other new parents at the school's Boo Hoo Breakfast this morning.

Tomorrow, already?

Tomorrow morning, Pete and I will walk Sarah to her first day of kindergarten. I can't believe this big day in our lives is here already. I know many people will roll their eyes or laugh off the idea of kindergarten being a big deal. But to me, it really is feeling like a big deal. I have been truly blessed to stay home with Sarah since she was born. I have loved watching the small and large moments of her life unfold. I really can't imagine what life will look like with her away from home 5 days a week.

I know she is ready. She is an outgoing, happy and bright little girl. I know she'll make friends easily. She has a wonderful teacher who is a strong Christian women, I praise God for that. It's her mama who will be a big wreck tomorrow. It's me who will miss our days at the zoo, family lunches on the porch, and lazy afternoon naps snuggled in my bed.

Pete and I have made two moves to get into a great school district, knowing one day soon Sarah would be off to kindergarten, but it's hard to believe that that day is tomorrow.

Back to school ice cream fun …

Although the official end of summer may not be until next weekend, summer is ending for us this evening. School starts up this week and I am back to work at the church. This past week we tried to squeeze in some last minute summer fun. On Wednesday night, we had an ice cream party for neighborhood kids who will be starting kindergarten with Sarah. I sent out an Evite to 8 families and told them to invite anyone they knew who will be starting kindergarten. We ended up with 12 families. It was fantastic. Most of the children did not know each other, so it gave them a chance to meet some new friends before the start of school. I wanted Sarah to have a few familiar faces in the sea of nearly 100 kindergarteners who will be starting this week.

I provided the ice cream and everyone brought a topping. I have to say I was really impressed with the creative toppings we ended up with. There were all the basics plus berries, gummy bears and cute little cookie dough balls (thanks Megan!). The kids had fun eating their sundaes, but even more fun chasing each other around the yard burning off their sugar highs. I really enjoyed meeting some new moms (and a dad) and hearing about the school from the veteran parents. Sarah and I agreed that it was so much fun, we may make it an annual tradition.

Since we are just entering the world of "real" school, I would love to hear your family's back to school traditions.