First Daze of School

We have officially started school. It is always an exciting adventure to begin another school year. New teachers, new friends, new experiences.... I love it.

This is a picture of them waiting at the bus stop with the other neighborhood kids. So cute.
It was a very special, very pivotal day for Adrienne as well.
Adrienne to began the adventure of preschool....

Of course, no little girl is really ready for preschool unless she has a pretty princess backpack, picked out all by herself!

She put it on first thing in the morning and wore it until I dropped her off. She even brought it to exercise to show her special friend there, Fred. Unfortunately, Fred wasn't there, so I had to reassure her that we can take it back next "preschool day" to give him the opportunity to see her beautiful princess backpack.

This is her trying to hang up her giant backpack on the peg way over her head.
Maybe I was a little bit photo-happy.
She had a little friend from her dance class who happened to be in her preschool class as well. She was very happy to see someone else she knew.

It was definitely a strange sensation to know I was in the house alone. Alone in a way I haven't been for 10 years.
A little bit liberating, a little bit lonely. I am sad that my babies are all gone, but I am excited for the new stage we are entering as a family.
I haven't gone anywhere with a diaper bag for nearly a year. I don't have any bottles, and my sippy cup supply is dwindling. I just gave a bag of baby clothes and shoes away, and when I go out, I generally know where all the public restrooms are within a 100 yard radius.
It is fun to be able to joke around with my older kids, and have them joke back. It is fun to be able to have a thoughtful conversation during scripture reading and answer thoughtful questions with equally thougtful answers.
My babies are gone, but I am happy with the children I have found myself suddenly surrounded with.
It is an amazing, joyful, sorrowful, worrisome, exhilarating, exciting, and educational experience to be their mother.
Adrienne's preschool teacher sent a sweet poem about shedding tears on the first day of school, but that is not me. I side with a missionary mother in my ward who told me she has sent three missionaries out, but never cried at the MTC. When I asked her how she kept her emotions under control, she told me she didn't feel sad, just really excited for her children and for the knowledge, experiences, and growth they would see during their missions.

I believe that is pure mother's love. Always loving the stage that has passed, and joyfully entering the next.