She's a Kindergartener!

Today was the first day of kindergarten and Courtney could not have been more excited!! She was up bright and early this morning ready to go. They use the first two weeks to learn their colors, so she had to dress in red today. She had it all picked out last night and ready to go. So this morning was easy to get dressed...no fights!! Then we did her hair and she had some breakfast and was ready to go to the bus stop at 7:00. Too bad the bus doesn't come until 8:21.



Bryan came home from work to see her go off on the bus and they played tag while we waited for the bus. Courtney had her place at the first of the line, but she doesn't like having people lined up behind her (usually) so she let everyone go ahead except for a few kids. The bus pulled up, she climbed aboard (pretty fast because Bryan didn't get a photo of her) and they took off. We ran to the backyard to wave goodbye again but I don't know if she saw us. She was off!!




I got in the van and drove to the school. I wanted to be there to show her where to put her bag and to wait with her until her teacher came the first time so she wouldn't be nervous. She wasn't nervous at all. She put her bag down where Ethan always did and ran to the playground like a pro. After a while, Luke (a boy from our neighborhood who is in her class and who we carpool with) showed up with his mom. He put his stuff by Courtney and then Courtney took charge. Now the poor kid has a school mom on top of his real mom! But his mom felt better knowing that Courtney would be taking care of him. They played for a while and then stopped to wait for Lia (another friend from our neighborhood in their class and who we will carpool with). Then the bell rang and they grabbed their bags to wait for their teacher to come out.

Getting off the bus:

With Luke:

Luke, Lia and Courtney:


When she did come out, she taught them to line up on the white line so they could all walk in together. Courtney got at the front of the line and was very happy to be with her "favorite teacher in the whole wide world, Mrs. Clayton!" (If she was older I would think that she is kissing up to her teacher, but she's young so it's just sincere admiration!) Mrs. Clayton had them all wave goodbye to their moms, which I was grateful for because I didn't even get a goodbye, and then they all walked into the school as happy as could be.

Getting in line:

The wave I got (can you tell she didn't miss me at all?!):


I felt a bit guilty because all the other moms were crying and so sad that their kids were in school. I was a bit sad, but Courtney was so excited to go that I was just so happy for her. I was more thrilled for myself because we didn't have a crying-hanging on the leg-screaming episode. She is a confident girl in the class of her favorite teacher ready to do what her brother does all day and she is happy. So I am happy for her!

At 11:10 I ran back up to the school to take some cupcakes to celebrate her birthday. I have my cake business license so it's okay for me to take homemade treats to classes so I take advantage of it. I made cupcakes in ice cream cones and Courtney helped me decorate them. I got there while they were in music class so I put them on the desks and debated whether or not I should wait and say hello. I waited but Courtney just gave me a little hug and told me "you can go now, Mom." So I left. But here are some photos from her room.





She rode with the carpool home and was ready to tell me all about it. She said she had a great time. They sang happy birthday to her and recess was her favorite thing of the day. They sang tongue twisters in music class and got to do centers where they colored a rainbow. We had a little tea party to celebrate (milk and sandwiches on nice china plates) then she went to play "swimming/water party" with Hayley. Ahh, to be 5!