K is for Kindergarten!!!

Sigh.

The day has finally come!

Bren is now officially a Kindergartener!!

Last night we laid out this outfit for her to wear on her first day.

We snuggled and read three books and talked about how much fun she was going to have this year in school.


She was sooooo excited, she could hardly contain herself!

She was wondering all morning about how her day would be.



I'll be wondering all day about how all the years went by so quickly!




Loaded with all the necessary supplies like crayons, pencils, a folder, glue sticks,

baby wipes, kleenex and graham crackers,

Bren's backpack is almost as big as she is!

Waiting at the bus stop, which is thankfully just steps from our driveway.

This is her friend Tristen.

He lives in our neighborhood.

His house is known as the "trampoline house"

because on warm summer afternoons,

giggles and shouts from happy kids can be heard from his backyard

while all the kids jump on the tampoline.

Tristen is in Bren's class, which makes it so nice for her.

She's already got a friend.

Here comes the bus!!!

After a quick hug and a kiss, Bren didn't even hesitate to climb the stairs of the bus

and ride off to her new adventure.

I jumped in the van and beat the bus to school so I could get some more shots.

I know what you are thinking, but I wasn't the only parent doing that!

There were lots of other mom's and dad's doing the same thing.

Fresh off the bus.

Some other parents and I felt like paparazi as we followed our rookies to their class.

We were like a swam around them clicking our cameras like crazy!

I loved every minute of it!

Waiting in line for Mrs. Butler to open the door.

This little girl plays soccer on Bren's team and they are in the same class.

Yippeee, two friends already!

And there she is! Mrs. Butler!

God bless her!

I stayed long enough to watch Bren and Tristen settle in to their classroom.

And then I was kicked out.

Just kidding.

There was a short orientation for parents that I attended.

I'm glad I did because they needed me!

I'm going to be a year book photographer.

They need someone to come in periodically and just snap candids of as many different kids as I can during the regular school day.

I am going to have so much fun with that this year!
I can't think of a better opportunity for exposure.

Some of you will be proud to know that I did not shed very many tears this morning

and no, I did not start singing "I Hope You Dance" through tear filled eyes as the bus pulled away.

I had a knot in my stomach all day yesterday just thinking about how I would handle today.

I hoped that I would handle it with as much grace as I could muster.

It's not a sad occassion. It's a happy one.

But it does put in perspective the fact that change is inevitable.

She wont always be my little girl.

As much as I'd like to freeze time and be able to enjoy her forever just as she is now,

that's a very selfish notion.

She needs to grow

and experience

and taste

and feel

and try

and fail

and love

and laugh

and cry

and yes,

she needs to one day leave me behind for her own chosen path in life.

This is just baby step one.

And I'm not rushing any step from here on out!!

You know they tell you that time flies and you agree,

but it isn't until milestones like this happen

that you really reflect on how fleeting time really is.

It just makes me want to cling to every single moment and live it to it's fullest.

Time is both a friend and an enemy.

It's a friend when I look at the calendar and see a big red circle on a special day in October which is fast approaching.

It's an enemy when I look at the lines on my face or have to say goodbye to a loved one for a while.

But above all time is a precious gift.

One I hope to never take for granted.