Oh Happy Days!

Growing up, the first day of school was one of the greatest days ever.  Square topped crayons, fresh glue ready to be colored via crayon color of your choice, new outfit, cool Kappas with super cool wide laces.  Ahhh, those were the days.  Now, as a parent, the first day of school is equally fantastic.  No sign of Sponge Bob playing from another room, no fights to break up, no "mom, there's nothing to do" comments, no request for friends to come over, and all the time to get some real work done.  Perfection, at least for today.

This morning Abbey woke me up at 7am completely ready for school.  She was ready.  With a closet full of new clothes, she chose to wear a hodgepodge of old mismatched clothing.  She also chose to do her own hair.   Armed with her own can of hairspray, she apparently let loose.  She had somehow created a protective helmet of hair with a single can of hairspray, but I thought she could not be any cuter.

It was time, or really past time, to head out.  The scramble to get out the door by 8 was crazy, and will persist for the next 9 months.  None of us are really morning people.

This is pretty much the story of my life.  One poser and one painfully difficult child.  I've decided to photograph what I get, so I have proof when she gets older that I really did try to document her too.

As we were sitting at a red light, we saw HIM.  She said "Look, there's Johnny!....and Caden....and Johnny!!"

Johnny is the one in all black.  I've called him Grape Johnny since K.

 As we got onto campus, I tried to steal some shots.  She was not going to make this easy.  Of course the only decent one I got of her, she was blinking.  Totally figures.

My little poser in the back is smiling, of course.

We walked in eagerly to find a couple of her friends.  From across the playground we heard "Abbey!"  It was Bella.  They spent almost everyday together this summer, but embraced like they had been apart for years.  I also realized that my little tootie would smile at me if she had a friend.  Note to self.

Here are some shot of Abbey with my boys.  Andrew wanted to make sure she got to the right spot.

Here is what her face looked like when she discovered she was sitting at an "all boy" table.  Thrilled.

OK, one down and one to go.  Good luck Ab's!  Now, it was time to take Andrew to his school.  He is still going to the gifted academy at Esperanza.  With my baby in the 5th grade, we were really pushing our luck getting him to let us walk him to class.  Pretty much as soon as we got our parking lot kiss, he was off.  If I did not know better, I'd say he was trying to loose us.  Nah. :)

Not sure if he was trying to blend in with his camo mix.  I'll choose my battles and let this fashion disaster #2 go.

He was pretty anxious for us to leave and stop with the stalking, so I made one fatal request.  That's right.  I did it.  I made him pose and smile next to his teacher.  That's right, I'm THAT parent, and I'm totally ok with it.  Yes, I will have to answer for that on the way home.

Ms. Barnes was his teacher last year, but graduated up with all of her former students.