The Lee Family: First day of School!

Today was the first day of Kindergarten for Olivia and fourth grade for Sofia. Summer seemed to have zoomed by! I decided to make the girls their own "first day of school" chalkboards on a blank canvas. I used pinterest as a model, but it didn't quite turn out as cute as what is posted (of course). It was fun and I enjoyed asking the girls what they wanted to be and what their favorite things are. I had the girls pick out their outfits the night before and set out all the lunch and snack containers, filled their water bottles and got mentally ready for the early rise and departure. This school year, the bell rings at 7:40am instead of 7:45am and they get out at 2:55pm instead of 2:45pm! A very long day for the girls. We got the girls to bed a little later than we wanted, but early given their bedtime over the summer. They were both in bed by 9:00pm, although Olivia was beyond tired and got into a crying fit about wanting her sister to act out her stories, which she finds hilarious. She finally calmed down when I told her that Sofia would act out her stories tomorrow night and she settled into bed.

We set Sofia's alarm for 6:15am, although she wanted to set it for 5:50am so she could ride the bus with Antonio. I told her that Antonio would be driven to school the first day so she could "sleep in" until 6:15am. Sofia was downstairs, dressed and ready for her day by 6:30am! Of course, she had her book and wanted her old standby: toast with chocolate milk. I also braided her hair and pulled it back so she "looked like Artemis." I'd completely forgotten to have the girls check and make sure their tennis shoes fit, since they would both need them for P.E. Sofia brought out her three pair of tennis shoes and two didn't fit while the 3rd would work for the day. I told her I'd take them to Academy for new shoes after school, and we'll need to decide if their soccer cleats fit too. I got the girls' snacks and lunches ready. I packed both girls pretzels and carrots for their snack and a PB&J sandwich with strawberries and tangerine slices and apple sauce for lunch. I also included a chocolate chip cookie in each of their lunches. After packing their lunches, I was ready to wake up Olivia. CK actually went into her room and tried to convince her she needed to get up. She wasn't buying it at all! Finally, CK got her up and tried to get her dressed into the dress she chose, but she changed her mind and wanted to wear a "new" dress. Thankfully, I'd bought her a striped dress that matches the dress we gave to Sofia for her birthday. It's a size 5-6, so a little big on her but really looks adorable on her and she was happy. She also needs to wear tennis shoes, but she wasn't having anything to do with it. Instead she put on her favorite flower sandals and I put her shoes and socks into her backpack for P.E. Her teachers can deal with that! I also braided her hair just like her sister's, as she requested.

Once both girls were ready, we took them out front with their "first day of school" chalkboards and took photos. They both kept yawning, which was actually cute and I tried to get a photo of them both yawning at the same time. The girls were great sports given that it was 7am and they were both tired. After photos, I offered a few options for Olivia to eat for breakfast, but she kept insisting that she wasn't hungry. She's my kid who prefers eating mid-morning rather than just after she wakes up. She did drink her morning juice though. I grabbed a bowl of cheerios and we headed to school for their first day!

We parked by the church next to the school and walked in with Pritha and Shivani and said "hello" to so many great parents! Sofia and CK held Olivia's hand as they walked down the hall toward Mrs. Schultz' class. Mrs. Schultz was standing outside her room and gave both girls a big hug (Sofia had Mrs. Schultz for 1st grade and she remains one of her very favorite teachers). We were actually the very first family to arrive in Mrs. Schultz' class which will definitely never happen again! It was great to have a few minutes of her time though and she showed Olivia her cubby where her backpack will go and told her to put her lunch box near the front door. Olivia was a little shy but excited to be in school. Antonio, Stacy and Marco were actually the next ones in the classroom and Antonio looked really excited to be there! The rest of the class started arriving and Olivia got less and less sure of herself. She didn't actually cry but said she "didn't want to go to Kindergarten anymore." I finally told her that I needed to check on Sofia and meet her teacher, Miss Murray, since CK took her upstairs a few minutes earlier. To get her to agree, I told her we would stop back by to give her another hug.

I made my way up to Sofia's classroom and met up with her and met Ms. Murray. Sofia was pretty much the exact opposite experience. She gave Ms. Murray a huge hug and found her seat. As we were walking toward the school, Sofia told me she actually ran upstairs and added Green Beup Beup to her backpack before getting into the car! So sweet! I love that she's maturing into a wonderful 9 year old, yet still needs her lovey on her first day of school. We said goodbye to Sofia and wished her a great first day! She was happy as a clam to be in class and looked ready for her day (and the year ahead). Then, we headed back to Olivia's classroom and gave her one final hug. She seemed to be ok and I told her that we looked forward to hearing about her very first day of Kindergarten! CK and I walked back to our car with mixed emotions, but definitely not as sad as when we dropped Sofia off on her very first day of school. We hope they both have a great day and a terrific year ahead! Still can't believe school is back in session.

Olivia is "almost" 5. She loves to have fun, laugh, swim, read stories and fly in the Stearman. Her favorite colors are purple and pink and she loves cows and dragons. She wants to be an astronaut/author when she grows up.

Sofia is 9 years old and loves reading, swimming, laughing and playing with Olivia. She loves all colors, peacocks and dragons. She wants to be an author and screenwriter when she grows up.