Goodbye Summer, Hello School

So, it has begun. School, that is. Our days of doing this pretty much everyday...

and seeing my kids wear these constantly...

...are over for a season. It's a very sad thing to say goodbye to what was probably our best summer ever! (More on all that coming). However, we are now ready to begin a new school year meeting new friends and putting new routines into place.

Here is a look at our new FIRST grader!

And her new haircut (see below) .

(Thanks to our beautician, Julie for doing such a great job!)

We took a few shots before school and before dad had to go to the second week of his new JOB (#1 reason our summer was so much fun. Like I said, more on this coming).

Next year this little guy will be joining her! But for now, we've got another month or so before Spencer's preschool begins.

We saw Austin who was in Sydney's class last year and who also goes to our church.

Here is where she will be spending most of her time during the day. She was excited to find out she gets to sit next to a little girl that lives down the street and who was also in her kindergarten class.

I think she was most excited to show her brother and sisters how big she is and the big things she'll be doing. She wasn't showing any signs of nervousness, at all! We even got so busy this morning that I wasn't able to play our Sound of Music "I Have Confidence" song until later. (I think it's mostly the title I love so much anyway).

Here's her new teacher, Mrs. Anderson who was about to deliver any day. She had her baby just 2 weeks after school started so we'll see her back in a few months.

One of the highlights was being able to pop into Mrs. Buerger's classroom to say hi. She was a great teacher last year and did an excellent job helping Sydney have an enjoyable first year of elementary school experience.

Here's to another great school year!