First day of 1st and 5th

Well, they're gone.
After much hustle and bustle, my oldest two are safely in their school classrooms learning new rules and new routines from new faces.
The house is strangely quiet.
Ella Kate is watching PBS with her "E" and "chawk-it" milk. She can watch whatever she wants. As sad as she was to leave Rhett at school, she seems happy to be the sole princess in the castle.
The remains of breakfast pizza are in the frig.
The calendar has writing on almost every day.
Just 6 hours until I need to leave to pick up carpool.
Those hours will fly by for I have
errands to run,
laundry to do,
places to clean,
food to cook....
Ready or not, summer is over and another school year has begun!
I'm both happy and sad about that, but mostly happy.
It's good to get back into a routine.
It's so good that my kids have good schools full of good friends and great teachers.
We are blessed.
It just can't be summer all year long.
We need to accomplish things
and grow
and learn.
The seasons of our lives change to nurture us
just as the seasons change to renew and replenish the Earth.
It's a good thing.
So why am I all emotional and teary eyed?

Sometimes I fear these days are going by too fast.
I don't want to miss anything.
I wish there was a way to put the days in the deep freeze, to be defrosted and fully enjoyed later in life when the kids are out of my nest.
But that's just not how life works.
I guess we have to squeeze every ounce of joy out of the minute we have when we have it,
because it will not be here again.
So...
I'm off! I have a baby to rock, a house to clean, and the staple of my life, LAUNDRY!
No matter what the date or season, there is always laundry to be done!

Hope you are having a great day whatever season life finds you in. Happy 8-26-08!
It's the only 8-26-08 we will ever see!
ENJOY!

Oh, and I almost forgot... Here are our traditional first day of school pictures!
Couldn't post without them!

My babies.

My school age babies.

Crazy kids!

Off to the INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL! No more walking her in and getting a picture with her teacher on the first day. Just off she went with her friend Devon! Car-pool on the first day! She is growing up so fast!

At least we could still walk Rhett in and get a picture with his teacher, even though he said we could just drop him off. AS IF! I've only got five years of elementary school with you buddy... I'm not giving up a minute of it!