Monday, August 25, 2008

On the first day...of the first grade...

It has finally happened...my final baby is starting first grade, my second baby is a senior, and my first baby (who I'll blog/brag about later!) is a junior in college. Eli went to bed last night at 9:00. We all followed about 10:30. By 10:35 I was fast asleep. That is until I was awakened from a deep sleep by a flashing light show in my hallway. I went to investigate. There was my wide-awake, bright-eyed boy, turning the lights on and off, on and off, on and off. "What the heck are you doing?" "Getting your attention. I can't sleep! I'm too excited!" So, on the first night before the first day of first grade, he slept on our floor. The photo speaks for itself!

Cassidy, on the other hand, went to bed late, got up at 7:00, and was still 'primping' (her dad's word, not mine!)at 8:00 when it was time to go! Finally, Whitney, who didn't have to go anywhere early this morning (college student advantage) yells, "We know your hair looks perfect, so go already!" And thus we begin another school year. I don't know what I would do without the mad rushes out the door, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, the ticking of the clock wondering how they are doing and the thrill of seeing them come back through the door on their first day of school! I've loved it now for 15 years and I'm glad we will be doing it for a few more! Part of the excitement of seeing Eli come through the front door today involved him lifting up his arm to get something out of his backpack. Am I still the coolest mom on the planet? I don't think so! Note to self...rip off the tags BEFORE you send them out the door!

6 comments:

Judy said...

love eli's excitement. cassidy is still cassidy from what I remember but oh my she has grown into a beautiful young lady. hope phil has his shotgun by the door. you know i have done that a time or two...even on my own shirts. my kids both did go to sleep but up pretty early. when the bus for bubba comes at 7 it's early. glad they had a good first day.

Karalee said...

Yay for the first day of school! I, like you, spend the whole day watching the clock and thinking about what they're doing...and waiting for the beautiful moment when I see them again and get to hear every detail of what happened. And thank you for the pic of the tag...classic!

KJ said...

that's funny! all of it!

Sandy said...

Ahh... the good old days! It's been a few years since I've had a student at home! Continue to enjoy it all. As you know it passes much too quickly!
Loved the tags! ;-)

SHANNON said...

Yes Cassidy we are related to Stephanie Meyer and we own all her books and they are all signed - but wow you have a jr. in college a senior in high school and a 1st grader you are not only cool but brave very very very brave. by the way i have no respect for the rules of the english language - which i am sure you have realized by now. keep in touch - this is shannon bytheway (get it John bytheway) ha ha ha

Nead Family said...

Joy, that is so funny! I can't believe Eli was that excited about school! Of course, Cassidy looked just beautiful! I can just hear Whitney saying that, too. I miss your family so I'm glad we have the blog!