1st Day of 1st Grade

I have to be honest, I have been dreading this day. It was not only Joleigh's day of 1st Grade, but her first day going to school full day. I guess I lucked out that last year I was only away from her during the mornings. I got so spoiled this summer, not only having Joe home for 2 months, but having all my girls home and to myself. This summer flew by and today was the day I had to send my girl back to school.

Last night, I was an emotional mess. I was reliving the past 6 years and wondering how they could possibly have flown by so fast. Joleigh is such a special girl and those that know her know just how thoughtful, loving and compassionate she is and I am having a hard time sharing her for most of the day.

Well...Joleigh was very excited about going back to school. We prayed last night for sweet dreams and lots of rest to get ready for the first day. When she woke at 6:30, I knew she was excited! We had pancakes for breakfast, her special request, and had her outfit all ready to go. She wanted to wear her hair long and curly. After dropping her little sisters off with our friends, Joe and I took our big girl to school. On the way she told us her tummy hurt a little and I knew she was nervous. As we started walking on campus, we could tell she was getting shy and very quiet. We went to her class and saw her teacher, Mrs. Kucik, waiting at the door to greet her. Joleigh smiled and was excited to go in and find her desk with her name tag on it and even had a special pencil there for her. Joe and I waited until the final bell rang and then kissed our girl good-bye. It was hard to leave her and I teared up for sure. I was so thankful to have Joe there to hold my hand.

The day went by pretty slow and I was definitely a little sad. Noelle and Jaelyn were missing their big sister too. Jaelyn kept asking, "Where's Joweigh?" After nap time we all couldn't wait to get in the van and go get her.

They let parents on campus for today only, so I was lucky enough to wait for her outside of her class. Joleigh and I saw each other through the window and she smiled and waved and my heart melted and I started crying. When the bell rang and the door opened she ran and hugged me so hard. She was smiling and told me what a good day she had and that she made some new friends, I was elated. Her favorite part of the day was music class and getting to play the drums. She can't wait to go back tomorrow. Just seeing how happy she was makes me so happy. I'm not ready to let her grow up, but unfortunately I don't have a choice, so I have to embrace this new stage of life for our family and continue to cherish every second of it!