Homestead Bound

Surely you've seen them - the kids and parents ravaging the school supply aisle, the buses on the road, and perhaps most importantly - all the pictures on Facebook.  It's BACK TO SCHOOL time, kids!  And more aptly for our Hurlifamily, it is START SCHOOL FOR THE FIRST TIME time - which is double the fun, right?  

(right.)

Yesterday, Tanner Kay had her debut into the world of lunch boxes, recess, and center time.  We have a Kindergartener!

I mean, really.
What is up with that?

And an excited Kindergartener at that:

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Modified Pose 2

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Gurlphrend struck.a.pose, yo.  What a goof.  
  And not to be outdone, The Little joined in the fun:

Oh she's cute.  Luff'er.

Rockin' a backpack, just like her Big Sass :)

Doozle and Daddy, hammin' it up.

I'm not sure I knew what to expect when we got to Kindergarten First-Day Drop-Off, but I definitely didn't think it was an event deserving of all the capital letters.  I thought we'd all get out, get a few pictures, and move along our merry way.  

This is neither "moving along our merry way" nor a lower-case event.
Holy moley.

Once we got Tanner all lined up, we basically stood around for 10 minutes just snapping pictures along with all the other crazy moms and dads.

She looks so grown up!

Lined up and ready to roll!

Off to class she goes!

Just to let you know, I didn't go getting all teary or anything.  I think it's because I know this girl is READY for school to start - and to be honest, I'm ready for her to start school.  As it turns out, sitting around the house for the last month watching mom breastfeed a newborn isn't as much fun as it sounds, and in the last week or so it's started to show.  She needs some sort of outside-the-house brain boost, and I need her to have it.  So yesterday was a good day, and more than anything I am really excited to watch her learn and grow this year.  Mrs. Culbertson better watch out, though, because I can attest to the amount of sassy-ness this little girl can muster if she gets bored - I've seen it first-hand the past ten days! :)

Given how excited she was to go to school, I just knew she would be just as excited to tell me all about her first day.  In fact, she was sooooo excited after what was surely an exhilarating 3 hours at school that when she got in the car the conversation went like this:

Me (hardly containing my excitement):  How was your first day of school?
Her (with a smile):  Good.
Me (bubbling over):  What did you do?
Her (flatly):  I dunno.  Maybe we colored a page.
Me (continuing in excitement):  Who did you sit by?
Her:  I dunno.
Me (hoping for a better response):  Did you have a special seat?
Her:  I dunno.
Me (trying to pep things up):  Do you have to sit in the same seat every day?  Does it have your name on it?
Her:  I dunno.
Me (changing gears):  Did you read a book today?
Her:  I dunno.
Me (becoming a bit annoyed):  Because this color sheet in your backpack says you read "The Kissing Hand" and I'm supposed to ask you about it.  Did you read "The Kissing Hand"?
Her:  I dunno.
Me (srsly?  Throw me a bone, Tanner):  You don't know?  It says to ask you about it.  What was it about?
Her:  I dunno.
Me:  There's a raccoon on the color sheet, was it about a raccoon?
Her:  Ya.

Clearly, she was S.T.O.K.E.D about her first day, right?  

(right.)

Anyway, Tanner's educational unveiling begins at Homestead Elementary, in Centennial, CO.  In case you're wondering where that might be in relation to our house, here's a visual:

That's 22.4 miles, folks.

Now before you go thinking we're crazy people, we had a reason for enrolling Tanner almost an hour's drive in morning traffic away - first and foremost, it's a good school.  A great school, actually.  But there are lots of great schools, so why did we choose this great school?  Well, it is also just blocks from Ellery's (and Tanner's former) daycare, and minutes from John's office.  It is by no means a perfect situation, but it can just be added to the list of imperfections in our life, right?

(right.)

But all the driving doesn't bother Tanner at all - as a matter of fact, she's looking forward to watching movies and eating breakfast in the car on the ride down :)  Frankly, she's quite used to the drive and the traffic, considering we make multiple trips a week down there for this, that, and the other (we may live at point A, but our life is much closer to point B).

So there you have it:  our Little Miss is a Kindergartener.  I've been a mom for 5 years and now have a school-aged child, a toddler, and a newborn.  

Wow, right?

(right.)

:)