Kindergarten!

It was a very special day at the Bowers' house!  Big changes happened today, which began with J's alarm clock going off at 6:45.  He woke up excited and cheerful!

This was a pleasant surprise, no doubt a God thing, as he's been ho-hum about the whole school thing, telling us yesterday, "I don't really wanna talk about it."

Family breakfast was first.  We had waffles (one of J's faves), eggs, and fruit.  J used the red plate-a high honor and long-time Bell family tradition.  :)

Introducing our Kindergartener!  (Is it just me, or does he look 12 here??)  All suited up in his new school duds with his snake (Eeeeek!) backpack and lunch box.

We had a family prayer time before we left and all was good until Daddy teared up.  :)  We pulled it together, high-fived our boy, and headed out.

He loaded up in Daddy's truck for the ride to school; L and I followed in my car, J waving and blowing kisses to me from the truck at every stop.  So sweet!  

And...Cue L's Epic Meltdown #1. ALL THE WAY TO THE SCHOOL.  He wanted to "wide wiff Daaaaaddddyyyy!"  His eyes were still red and I was looking into full time daycare when we arrived.

Walking along the sidewalk at his school; he was so excited that he even skipped a few steps

Daddy and L leading the way

Big boy  :)

Little bro toted the class snack.

When we arrived we were greeted by name by every single staff member who were so enthusiastic and excited to see the kiddos.  I think this is one of the main reasons I was so chill about the whole thing.  That and having been covered in prayer by a few peeps.  :)

First things first; a family pic in front of the Hawks logo.  (An actual family of hawks nests in one of the trees in the school courtyard.  How cool is that?!)

Checking out his seat and name tag...L is not too sure about all this.

 

 One last pic

L and I left, not sure what to do with ourselves, so we decided to go to my least favorite place on the face of the planet-Walmart-to get a Lego set.  It was the first thing to come to mind as we drove away from the school.  I should've had a plan, but it worked out since the best time to go to Wally World is 8:30 on the first day of public school.  In and out without an incident.   

Shortly after leaving the school, I said, "Whoa, boys!", as I often do when we hit a bump or a dip in the road.  "You can't say that, Momma," L said, "There's only one boy in the car."  So not used to that.

L & I went home and built stuff with his new "Wegos".

Then we got an invite (or I invited myself...details, details) to Ms. Dawn's house so that we could wallow in self pity about losing our first born to school forever together since misery loves company.  

Or maybe the actual purpose of our little get together was to help out our two recently big brotherless little brothers because two boys are better (and far easier) than one.  Trust me on this one.  

They played together marvelously and quietly-that part was weird since we're used to the opposite of quiet-for a good two + hours. 

Then it was time to leave.  Cue Epic Meltdown #2.  And, home for a nap.

Finally, after a day that passed surprisingly quickly (no thanks to L's meltdowns), it was time to pick our boy up.  I woke L from his nap.  Cue Epic Meltdown #3.

His loud sobbing had softened to sniffles when we fell into line right on the outside of the school zone.

Sweet L excited to pick up his "bwudduh."

And here he is!  All in one piece and super happy about his first day.  "My school is fun!" he reported, and then we talked about his day all the way to...

McDonald's for a treat, where we talked about it some more.  I didn't know how chatty he'd be and tried to soak up all he said.

His teacher is "nice," he made new friends, but still doesn't know everyone's name, "helped my body in the gym because working out helps us be healthy; we played Bear Hunt," and sang some songs in Spanish, but didn't learn how to read.

Because you can't have ice cream without fries.

And this is my FAVORITE pic from the day-finally a genuine smile!  

I am so thankful for a great first day.  To those of you who prayed for us today-and there were many-thank you!  I felt so peaceful and know that is why.  :)