...home alone...

well, kinda. i suppose i have the ability to be home alone but unfortunately my to-do list doesn't allow me the luxury. i will say, though, that after i took the girls to school yesterday for their first day at school, i came home, climbed back into bed, and laid there for 3 hours. YES. i think i might enjoy wasting my life away in bed every day...

so it's official. i'm an empty nester during the day. sara is now in kindergarten and anna katherine is now in first grade.

as far as first days of school, yesterday started out pretty well. the girls were excited to go to

school, and so they were laughing and playing while we got ready. unfortunately as soon as the photography began, sara shut down. it was a bit reminiscent of anna katherine's first day of

kindergarten last year. here are the pictures on the front porch before we left.

and here is one of sara hiding behind the column... nice..... (by the way, check out the smocking on the bottom of her shirt.. isn't it adorable?)

i insisted they pose in front of the school, and at least got a fake smile from sara. much better than a frown...

here is one of sara with mrs.parris, her speech teacher. THIS is a real smile. we love mrs. parris!!

we dropped anna katherine off at her class first, because i figured i would be able to keep it together dropping her off. heck, she's an old pro at this now...

her teacher this year is mrs. bullard, and we are praying she'll be a good fit for anna katherine.

we don't know her at all... funny thing-- there are THREE pastor's kids in her class! the other two are boys, and their parent's are church planters in the area as well. they might just have some church in that class :)

here is mrs. bullard with anna katherine

it's always a bit uncomfortable leaving your child in the care of a complete stranger. the truth is she'll spend more time with her each day than we will. yikes. i'm praying she falls in love with anna katherine and the year is a positive experience for anna katherine!

after we dropped off ak, we headed down to leave sara in her kindergarten class. she doesn't know anyone in her class, and i'm praying for a best friend for her. i have no worries about her teachers because i know and love them both! mrs. pulley and mrs. roland were anna katherine's teachers last year, and i did everything i could to get sara in their class this year. i'm incredibly grateful that sara was placed in their class and know this year will be awesome for her!

here's a picture of her with mrs. pulley.. i'm sad i wasn't able to get one with mrs. roland too!

look closely folks-- this lady right here is the all time best kindergarten teacher EVER. jealous?

so we dropped her off and left. and my voice was shaky and my emotions were jumbly. i made it, though. and i have to say i enjoyed that three hour nap i took when i got home.

so how did their day go? pretty well as far as i could tell. sara said she likes preschool better (wake up kid- no more ruling the roost in class- you are now in KINDERGARTEN- a place of rules and responsibilities), and anna katherine loved it and met a friend.

here are a few pics of them getting off the bus.. anna katherine is always the poser, and sara not so much. she wouldn't even think about standing on the bus steps for a photo.... i had to snap a photo of her in mid-air...

so it's done. my girls are practically grown. what adventures can i embark on from 7-2:45 each day? hmmmm.. we'll just have to see about that.