First Day of School...Round 2

Today was the first day of school for King's Kids, so Campbell and I were "back in action"! Did I take a single picture? NO! I'm the worst mother ever, and my poor second child is completely neglected...judge me.

The day went fairly well overall. We had a "few" criers, and I had to call 2 mommies to come pick up kiddos that just couldn't get themselves together, but for the most part it went as smoothly as first days can go. It always takes a few days to get back in the swing of things and for the kids to adjust to the routine. Hopefully in a few weeks everyone will be in the groove.

Campbell did GREAT! She didn't cry when I dropped her off, she played on the playground, ate her lunch, and TOOK HER NAP!!!! I was so proud of her. She has the same teachers that she had last year, and she was delighted to see them this morning. She adores them, and they are so sweet to her! It made the transition very easy.

I think we're all glad to be back in a routine. The past week and a half has been really strange with Karson going to school and Campbell and I staying at home. She has been a little confused about "where Sissy is", and she's been searching for her all over the house...

Is she under here???????

Nope. I don't know where she is...

When I'm feeling low from missing Sissy, Mom fixes spaghetti and everything is a-okay!

We found her! She was at Steven's wedding...performing her flower girl duties!!! (Like how I fit that in? But doesn't she look beautiful?! )

So there you have it...ALL of the Zumwalts have officially begun school year 2009-2010. Our prayer is that we follow wherever God leads! It's gonna be great!

The First Day of Kindergarten!!!

This morning was a little different. Karson ate breakfast a little earlier than usual.

Then she put on her new outfit, put her new clip in her hair, and grabbed her new backpack.

She hugged Campbell and posed for a few pictures.
We got in the car and drove to her new school. She held my hand as we made our way to the front door.
We found her class, and she showed Daddy where her locker was.

Then she walked right in, got her name tag on, and began her year as a KINDERGARTENER!!!!

There were no tears or looks of desperation. Just a thumbs up and a smile!

My house seems VERY quiet (especially while Campbell is napping). 3:10 seems like forever away. I miss her. I can't wait to see how her first day of school was.

Preparing

I feel as if I have spent much of the summer preparing for the fact that my child will be starting kindergarten. I started the summer worrying about the school where she will be going. Is it the right school? Will she have any friends? What will her teacher be like? I applied for an intra-district transfer to another elementary that would be closer to the church. I thought that would make it better on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday while I'm working and she would be so much closer to me. My transfer was denied. I called her school to request a certain teacher. I was told they don't take requests.

I was trying to do everything I could to make things the way I thought would be best. God had other plans.

I've spent much of the last few weeks praying for Karson's new teacher. Praying that I would let Him be in control. Praying for peace about the whole situation. I don't know why I was surprised when I began to feel better. I don't know why I was surprised that His way was better than what I was trying to work out. I don't know why I'm ever surprised that He always has a plan, and that "plan is good" (Jer. 29:11).

This past week we continued our preparation.

We bought new tennis shoes for school. When I asked Kars if they made her run fast, she informed me that it is the person wearing the shoes that makes you fast or not, not the shoes themselves. Wow. She did, however, pose to show me how fast she was going to be! :)

We also purchased a new flower clip to go with our first day of school outfit.

We then headed to Wal-Mart to purchase our school supplies. Oh my goodness, I think everyone else was there buying school supplies at the same time.

After all of our shopping, we headed to the nail salon to have our very first Mother/Daughter pedicure. Oh my goodness...this was fun! Kars loved it! She picked hot pink polish and had them add white polka dots to it. Too cute!

One of our final preparations was tonight. We got to go to the school for "Meet the Teacher". It was very crowded in the hallways, and we had to wander around to find the kindergarten rooms. We finally found them and entered Mrs. Plum's room. On our way to the school, Karson and I had discussed what we thought Mrs. Plum would look like. Karson was delighted to see that she had pictured her perfectly except for her hair color! We dropped off her school supplies and looked around the room a bit. We then made our way back through the crowded halls. We walked back to the front door and then retraced our steps back to the room so that Karson would feel comfortable finding it.

As we were walking to the car, I could tell Kars was getting quieter by the second and I asked her what was wrong. She took my hand and looked up at me with a trembling lip and tears in her eyes. She said, "How am I going to be able to find that room all by myself?"

With these words, my heart broke into a million pieces.

I guess with all of the preparation I was doing as far as worrying about the right school, the right teacher, the right outfit...I totally forgot to prepare myself for the fact that my baby girl is going to have to walk into that big school and find her room "all by herself". Ouch. That hurts my heart.

I assured her that I would be able to walk her in the first day or so and that there would be plenty of people there to help her, but it's the symbolism of it all. It's the letting go. It's the "all by herself".

God has it under control. I know that in my head. My heart is trying to catch up.

Wednesday is the first day of school. I'm planning to have precious pictures to post and a happy story to tell. It's all going to work out. His plans are good...the Bible tells me so.

The quickest way to do this is with a list...

We leave for the beach in less than 48 hours, and I can hardly stand it. I am so excited!!!! We've been planning this trip for over a year, Karson has been counting down the days FOREVER, and it's finally here! I will be sure to take tons of pictures and post them when I get back.

In the meantime...here's what's been going on since May...

1. We said good-bye to some precious friends. The Ingrams moved to Virginia and we were so sad to see them go. They will be missed TREMENDOUSLY! We had a fun filled night with just grown-ups to say good-bye.

L-R: Dave, Kelli, Kendra, Mitch, Melissa, Pat, Rus, Jennifer - these are some of the most precious people on Earth! Thank you, God for friends!!!

2. Karson had her last day of Pre-K. How did she already finish 1 year of school? Oh my goodness, it's like I can physically see her growing right before my eyes. She had an AWESOME year. Her teachers were amazing and she grew so much socially and academically. We couldn't be more proud of her. God truly took control and put her exactly where she needed to be for her Pre-K year. Praise Him! Her last week was full of lots of fun activities including a birthday party for everyone! We took donuts that were super cute!

So yummy!!!

Karson's last day of school. That's Mrs. Pearson on the left and Mrs. Kendall on the right.

3. Karson and Rus took their first fishing trip of the summer. They came home tired and happy. Karson informed us that it's only fun to fish when you catch something. I couldn't agree more!

A self-portrait!

4. I went to Dallas (Rockwall) to teach officer camp. So great to see old friends and work with such fun people. We got to stay at a gorgeous Hilton on the lake. It was an exhausting 3 days, but such fun. I'm so thankful I am able to do this! The girls got to enjoy spending time with Nana and Ma, who were so precious to keep them while Rus was working! We couldn't make it without the best grandmothers EVER!

5. Karson had her 1st official dance recital. (This really should have it's own post, but if I don't do it here, I'm afraid I won't do it at all) Oh my goodness! As we walked into the PAC that Saturday morning for her rehearsal, I had one of my most special mommy moments. I was getting to help my little girl get ready for her dance recital. It is something I have pictured doing forever, and I finally got to do it!!!! I was speechless and on the edge of my seat the whole time she performed. I couldn't have been more proud - nor could the 11 other guests that came to watch her! Is this girl loved or what?! It was so worth getting in an argument with a very rude lady who wanted to take some of the seats I was saving before the show...GRRRRRR!!!

Rehearsal - look at that concentration!

Here's the star!

Two peas in a pod! Addi and Karson - are they not the cutest?

I could not have been more proud!

This was after the show...what a blessed little girl to have all 4 granparents there to see her!

6. This week has been the week for VBS at the church. I have been in Campbell's class, and Kars has been with all of her pals (this is her last year on the preschool side). It's been a great, but very tiring week. I've been amazed at how much Karson has been learning during her Bible story time. She has been able to tell me so much about the life of Peter and how Jesus changed him - amazing! Campbell has been a bit possessive of her mama. She's not so crazy about me picking up the other babies in her class, but it hasn't been too bad. Today, we were taking the babies on a wagon ride around the church. They LOVE to do this! As we were passing the 1st and 2nd grade rooms, we came upon a little boy on his knees praying with one of his teachers. I had to choke back tears as I realized that we were watching someone's life being changed forever. At that moment, as we were wheeling a wagon full of 7 babies down that hallway, angels were rejoicing in Heaven because of a new little brother in Christ! Praise GOD - this is what it's all about!!! It truly made my day. My week. My year!


Okay, that about wraps it up. It doesn't seem like much, but I feel like we've been going warp speed lately. Beach, here we come!

She Cracks Me Up!

At school, Karson has been working on learning to spell and write her last name. Today she came home with this paper. As you can see, she has been doing very well! See the "wow" sticker?

When I pulled the paper out of her folder I was bragging on what a great job she did...

Me - Karson Elaine, look at your neat writing!!! Did you do this in a free center, or did Mrs. Kendall ask you to do it?

Karson - She asked us to do it. We had to write it 3 times.

Me - Did you do it all by yourself (which she can), or were you looking at something?

Karson - I was looking at a card with my name on it.

Me - Well, you did an awesome job! I'm so proud of you!!

Karson - I know...hold the applause.

Oh my goodness. I had to leave the room to keep from bursting out laughing. I guess at parent/teacher conferences next week I won't be asking if we have a confidence issue! :)

Karson's 1st Day of School

***Before I start, let me say a huge thank you for all of the prayers we received during all of our travels. We are so glad to be reunited as a family and all under one roof again! Everything went very smoothly, and the girls did great. We give all the praise to God for protecting us and keeping everything under control. We're just glad those few weeks are OVER!!!




Today was Karson's 1st day of Pre-K.



That sentence seems unreal to me. It seems truly impossible for her to be old enough to go to school. Real school. Every day school. But she went. We drove up, we walked her to her room, and we left. It sounds so simple. But simple is a complete understatement for how I was feeling the entire time.



She is attending afternoon Pre-K, so we had the entire morning at home together. I tried to stay positive and cheery. I tried to spend good, quality time with her, without making her feel like I was hovering over her every move. I tried to not cry every time I looked at her. Thankfully Rus was able to come home in the middle of the day so that he would get to go with us to take her. As we drove up to the school my heart started to pound. Hold it together. I got out of the car and started to get Campbell out of her car seat. Hold it together. As I was unbuckling her seat, it was as if someone sucked the air out of me. It seemed so wrong. I should be unbuckling Karson out of a rear-facing seat. I should not be about to walk her into "big girl" school. Hold it together.



As the air came back into my lungs, we began to make the walk up to the door. Karson and I were talking about what a great time she was going to have and how many new friends she was going to make. Hold it together. We entered the building and found her room. The teachers had her class sitting in the hallway. (As a teacher, I couldn't help but smile at this. In my mind I was singing their praises because I could tell that they were going to teach them from day 1 how to enter the classroom. ROCK ON LADIES!!!). Mrs. Kendall and Mrs. Pearson greeted Kars with a smile and put a name tag on her dress. Hold it together. I helped Karson find a seat next to a friend. I leaned down to give her a hug and tell her how much I loved her. Hold it together. Rus gave her big hugs and we started down the hallway to leave. I could feel my chest tightening and the tears starting to fill my eyes, but I knew I had to give her one last smile. I turned back to look at her, and there she sat. She had those big blue eyes focused on us and gave me a grin. Hold it together.



We reached the door, and the air was once again sucked from my lungs. I tried to maintain some sort of composure until we reached the car, but as I was putting Campbell back in her seat, I could no longer keep it from coming. Out came the sobs. Rus immediately said, "You can't do that, because then I'll do it." Before leaving the parking lot, we both sat there and cried quietly. It was one of those moments as a parent when you just feel it in the deepest part of your heart that things have changed.



Her school day only lasts 2 1/2 hours. It's not the time that she's away from me. Her school building is only 4 miles from our house. It's not the distance that she's away from me. She will be going to school every day. It's not the days of the week that she's away from me. It's the fact that this is the beginning of letting go. It's the fact that next year she'll let go a little more and the next year a little more, and so on. This is what we raise them to do. I know that. I wouldn't want it to be any other way, but it's just so hard to do.



While talking (or should I say crying) to my mom today, she reminded me of the Bible verse that says, "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19. These are the times that I am treasuring. These are the times that I will ponder in my heart. Even way back when Jesus was born, Mary felt the ache of letting go. The Lord understands my heart. He feels the same way.



I picked her up at 3:30 and she was all smiles. She had an "awesome day". I wouldn't have traded that smile for anything. Not even keeping her home with me all to myself.



Tomorrow will be easier.

Big girl posing with her back-pack! She was so ready to go!!!
Here's Campbell trying to look big like Sissy. Daddy's girl!Me and my girls! This was not an easy walk to take, but I wouldn't have let anyone else do it.Waiting outside her classroom. We talked about the sitting like a lady and not showing your panties...ummmmm...I think we need to have that talk again! :)