Zane's First Week of Kindergarten!

Seriously...I can't even believe I'm typing that ZANE IS IN KINDERGARTEN!  Where in the WORLD did six years go?

So, we had already been to "meet the teacher" night and Zane wasn't too excited after that, which left me wondering how the first day would go.  We began by making sure he was in bed at a good time, the same time, each night.  Tuesday night before going to bed Zane informed me he wanted an alarm clock so he could wake up "by himself."  So I found a spare that we had and he was in business!  We set the alarm, read some books (including books about starting kindergarten) and it was lights out. 

The morning of his first day!

Well, that morning I got up and started getting ready, and I heard his alarm go off.  It wasn't waking him up for a while, but finally it did.  He went to the kitchen for some cereal and milk.

Getting "fueled" for his first day!

I continued to get ready, then started getting Mason ready.  Zane asked me to bring him his clothes, then I asked him if he was getting them on.  He said, "No.  Come here, Mom."  So I went out there, and this is what I saw:

All dressed...tying his new school shoes!

I was so proud!  He was definitely determined...considering we told him that in order to go to kindergarten you had to be able to tie your own shoes!  (Note:  I was still holding it together REALLY WELL at this point...stay tuned).  And not to be outdone by his big brother, Mason was in the background saying "Take a picture of me, Mom!"

We had to have a bag of Fruit Loops!

Then we had to take the obligatory first day of school photos...this year with his using his hand to show which grade he was in (a "0" for kindergarten).

All ready for his first day!

And showing off his backpack...

Both angles look great!

And once again, Mason had to step into a photo...



Our precious boys on the first day of school (notice Mason's backpack...and new shoes...has to be just like big brother)!

Mama wanted to pose with everyone

Dad wasn't thrilled but I made him (how cute that Zane put his arm around him).

Mason's bummed...he wanted to go to school too!

We loaded up into our two cars (because we both had to head to work afterwards) and took Zane to his new school.  (Note:  At this point I was STILL OKAY).

Zane in front of his new school...he's a Pirate!

And again, Mason having to have some camera time as well!

The boys in front of school.

We took these photos, headed inside, signed Zane in, and THAT is when I lost it!  All of a sudden it all hit me like a ton of bricks...my baby...at "big kid" school...going in knowing noone and nothing...I sure hope someone there loves and cares for him as much as I do!  Sure puts my job, as a kindergarten teacher, into perspective.  I finally "get it..." those moms who won't leave my doorway with tears in their eyes...I get it!  So I hugged him, told him to have a great day and that I loved him, and I started crying.  I quickly put my sunglasses on and turned away (I didn't want him to be scared or worried or think it was a bad place to be).  Thought I was in the clear...then he put his arms out wide and said, "one more hug!"  Oh man, how could I resist?  So I gave him one more (sunglasses still on) and walked out the door.  Matt peeked in after I walked out and told me he ran off and started playing.  Whew!  Relief!  I think at that point it just all hit me...life is going to be going in fast forward from this point on.  I hope I can stop and enjoy it as much as I should!

After school I picked him up and he had a huge smile on his face and came running with a huge hug as well.  I asked how his day was and he said, "It was GOOD!"  He could barely wait to show me his new STAR folder and show me that he had a GREEN day on his behavior calendar!  I was so excited to see him and to ask him about his first day!  (Weird that I am now the parent of a kindergarten student asking about their day...makes me wonder what the kids in my class say)!  So the best story he could tell me about his day...get ready for this..."Mom, at lunch I had a chicken sandwich.  There was a lady there and she had ketchup.  She put a dot, dot, dot, smile on my chicken sandwich.  She made a smiley face on it!"  "Sigh..."  As a teacher I thought "Really?  THAT is what you remember most about your first day?"  But honestly it really goes to show you that it's the little things that matter to them!!!

Special day = eating off of the special plate!  Never mind that it has McDonald's food on it (Zane's choice)

The rest of the week continued to go well.  Zane had all green days, which made us so proud of him.  I was especially proud when I opened his daily folder and had this note from his teacher (2nd line):

So all summer Zane has been begging and beggin to go to Build a Bear Workshop.  I kept putting him off and putting him off...telling him we'd wait for "this" or "that" or "after school starts and you do well..."  I was so proud of how well he adjusted to his schedule and new school that I decided to surprise him!  So Friday after school we went to eat supper first, then Matt just happened to drop us off by Build a Bear.  Zane and I started walking and I asked him if he saw any places he wanted to go to...he spotted BAB and said "how about this?"  I said "Yeah, let's go" and he got the biggest smile on his face!  We had a lot of fun together!

He chose a tiger...here he is "stuffing" it!

Making a wish while squeezing his heart!

Giving tiger a bath

Zane and tiger...who we named "Pirate"

.Matt and Mason picked us up, so we went to have some frozen yogurt to top off the night.  It was a great night to end a great first week of school!

This weekend the boys and I stayed home (grandparents were all out of town and I didn't really want to try out the races with both of them) while Matt went to the races.  We had a fun time!  We went out to eat, went to Target a couple of times, got a movie, and just hung out at home.  I happened upon an amazing blog...that totally inspired me...and made me want to reorganize my entire house!  It's called IHeart Organizing, written by a mom of 3 boys.  She's inspiring!  Check out here blog here.  All I know is...I want to be her!  I've always thought organizing stuff for a living would be fun!  If only it would all stay that way!  Needless to say...it's all I could think about, so I tackled our pantry.  I must say...it does look pretty good now!  I already have a HUGE list of ideas that I'd like to tackle around here...but in due time...since I don't know that I can afford all I want to do right now!  (Matt told the boys he thought I was "nesting...").