Nate's first day of Kindergarten

We started the day with pancakes & eggs, reading Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten, and having a dance party to Party Rock Anthem - the kids' current favorite song. Then we took a few pictures and were on our way to the first day of school! Nate was very excied and we put on brave faces (well Ramesh did anyway...Gramps and I are the cryin' type), as the whole family took him to his first day.

When we arrived at school, Nate got right in Ms. Cooks' line and turned around and made friends with the boy behind him. Mesh and I squeezed each others hands in relief and mouthed "He's okay-he made a friend!". After about a minute, Nate motioned for me to come closer and I gave him a big hug and a kissing hand (it's from a book of the same name) and then a little while later he motioned me closer again and said, "When are we going to go inside already?". Our boy was ready to get this Kindergarten thing stared!

And then, those precious kinders went marching right along in a straight little line. Parents were crying, stumbling over each other as they tried to capture the moment on video and through photos, and then crowded around the window to catch one last glimpse of our kids walking away. Those big Kindergarteners just kept on walking-confident, excited, ready! And as soon as Nate was out of sight, Riley looked and me and said, "Can I sit in Nate's carseat while he's at Kindergarten?" Ha! Thanks for the comic relief Rileybel, and yes-you can.

Letting your children go/grow is both beautiful and difficult. We let go a little bit today, but we are also holding on tight. We are the ones who get to tuck him in tonight, hear his sweet little confident voice read stories, indluge him in "one last true story" about a president or the solar system, read his current favorite book -Horton Hears a Who, talk to him about his day, and say our prayers. Today was a big reminder that time flies-so we will cherish every moment with our Nate, Riley and Ben.