my oldest started kindergarten on monday and it is hitting me in so many different ways. i actually did not shed a single tear, although i fought it hard and many welled up despite that. she couldn’t have been more excited, no nervousness or apprehension.

so, i realized that this day was the mark of a new era not only for grace, but for me and my family. no longer are the days when we can skip school if we really don’t feel like going, showing up late wasn’t a big deal, leaving for a trip whenever we want, letting the kids stay up late, never living by much of a schedule. now we have to rush in the morning, have things prepared the night before, always look at the schedule and calendar. these are HUGE changes! they don’t seem to be too big of a deal, but now i realize that this is never going to change, at least not for another 18 years or so. i stepped out of a life of relative laziness and relaxation (as far as a schedule goes), and now i have to live by my calendar.

to ease the pain on my part a bit, one of my very best friends is gracie’s teacher. it couldn’t be a better fit!
here’s gracie with her best friend, first day of kindergarten 2008

and here they are on their first day of preschool, 2006. so cute!

and of course i had to do a little something to her old backpack. it was in perfect shape, so there was no sense in buying a new one just to have a new one, so i thought i’d change up the old one a bit. i tied strips of scrap fabric to the handle (for “flair”, as my husband calls it), and tacked down some scrappy petals to the pocket. a little better.

we also started homeschool on tuesday. remember, we go to a school where they meet in class on mondays and wednesdays, but homeschool the other days. it did not go as i had hoped, but i’m not too disappointed because i know i need to leave room for lots of failure and learning (on my part, too). i found it is really hard to try to give gracie all my attention while also “doing school” with my 2 1/2 year old, and trying to entertain a 1 year old. he was definitely my biggest struggle. i really need to figure out how to work better around his naps, and schedule the things gracie really needs my attention on at nap times. lily is also so into this whole process, which is great and fun, but more of my attention really needs to be on gracie, so i just need to find a balance. my first day i was a bit discouraged, but not terribly, then we went to school on wednesday and i hear from all the other moms how great their homeschooling day was, how quickly they finished, and how much fun it was. uh…. yeah… me too. i’ll get there, just slower than the rest. i just need to be ok with that.

i also am having to find a balance between working and teaching and momming and sleeping. definitely not doing enough of the sleeping. i’m staying up waaaay too late sewing or cutting or gluing (or a myriad of other things i do not need to be doing), only to be woken up right after i lay down by a poor baby who is teething terribly. but he only has a few more teeth to go. yay!

we’re up at my parents’ house again for the rest of the week and weekend with a bunch of family and friends (i think we’ll max out at 26 of us!), so i hope to come back with some great pictures for you.

also, i’ve been updating the pleated poppy like crazy, and plan to add more over the next day or so. and my in-laws are going to be slave labor for me this weekend, too! he he! more to come…

-lindsey