School days

Yesterday marked a day that I have been simultaneously dreading and looking forward to: the boys' first day of school. They are going to pre-K3 at a nearby church school two days a week (Tuesday/Thursday from 8:30-1), and while I'm so excited for everything they will learn and all the fun I know they're going to have, I can't believe they're old enough for this. 

After I basically cried myself to sleep the night before, I set my alarm for 5:30 to ensure I'd have enough time to get myself ready, pack lunches, fix breakfast, get the boys ready, and squeeze in a first-day photo shoot before we had to leave at 8. Their daddy stuck around for the festivities too, so that was a big help. 

Here's big-boy Reid:

And big-boy Grant:

And my sweet, sweet school boys together:

There was a giant slug on our sidewalk while we were taking the pictures, which actually helped keep the boys interested for a few minutes. They begged their daddy to pick it up, and of course he happily obliged (while I gagged).

Then it was off to the school! They were excited to get back into their classroom to see the frogs and fish, but they also kept saying "You going to stay and play wif us, right Mommy??" and "You going to come back and get us, right??" Oh, my heart.

We arrived early, so we had time for a couple more photos. I really can't get enough of them in their precious "pack-packs."

They walked through the door like pros, and stuck close to their daddy as they marched down the hall toward their classroom.

We got one more picture outside of the room:

And then it was time to go in. Apparently their teachers wanted all the kids to go into the class without their parents, but that wasn't happening for these two. So we escorted them in, showed them where to hang up their pack-packs and lunchkits (and nearly cried over how grown-up they were)...

And then they took off across the room to start checking everything out again. We took that opportunity to sneak out, and it took about 20 seconds before they noticed we were gone and the crying began (both them and me). Reid darted out of the room and was caught by a teacher, and I quickly put on my sunglasses to hide my tears. I made Ryan go back a few minutes later to see if they had calmed down, and thankfully they had (or at least that's what he told me!)

I admit I was a wreck -- I may have cried all morning -- but pick-up time came soon enough and I was so excited to hear about their day. They came busting out of the classroom and the first thing both of them said was "Where's my daddy??" Gotta love that! They couldn't wait to tell me what they had eaten for lunch (as if I didn't pack it), what they played with on the playground, and who didn't share toys with them. 

Mrs. H said one brother had a little bit of trouble with being told what to do (no surprise there), so we had a talk on the way home and I'm crossing my fingers that Day 2 will go a little smoother for him. So far they haven't said they're not going back, so I'm taking that as a good sign. We'll see what Thursday brings...

I love these wild things so much and I know I'm going to blink and they'll be in kindergarten, middle school, and eventually college... someone make it stop!!!