Day #2- short lived

OK, so I did not cry today for the elementary departure. It was not until I returned from the middle school drop off that I noticed the untouched and perfectly neat Dora playhouse that the tears began to flow. I was going to take a picture, but it was just too depressing.

I decided I was going to work out (yep, you read that correctly, shocking I know..) and run a ton of errands to get out of the house. I was getting into the tunes on my IPod when the caller ID showed "Fulton Co Board of Education"-- a school. Yep, 9:15 am on Tuesday I was out the door to pick up Sarah. She was having tummy issues, but not enough to lay around and enjoy the tv. So, I had some busy company for the 2nd and 1/2 of the 3rd day of school. So, all this "free time" I was supposed to have was gone. It is now day 5 and I'm wondering where it is.... Due to dr's appointments and Sarah being home, I found myself BEHIND on my chores and errands when I was supposed to be all caught up.... (One cannot run errands when one's child has tummy issues.....)

The big girls. Kaylee is in 7th and Maddie is in 8th (shown with Jamie and Sofia who are also in 8th.) Whew- I bet I'll be a mess next year when Maddie goes to HIGH SCHOOL!

This is when my tears started really flowing.....

Hmm, the kindergartner and 2nd graders are as big or bigger than my 4th graders.... we're working on that!

The big 4th graders- do you believe it?

So the big morning came and Bella decided she would take the bus-- amen to that as I don't think I would have made it through a classroom drop off! I have a few pictures, but missed the "waving from the bus" one because I could not see through the tears. (For the record, Sarah was excited to see friends and Grayson was resigned to go back as well.) We did get the "wave" on video and she had a very big smile-- and that helped mom. Thank heavens we have the best bus driver ever and she has driven all my kids since they started school.

Sadly, summer vacation came to a screeching halt on Monday, August 10th with the arrival of the first day of school. More so this year than any other year, I just dreaded the day. Our summer was so busy and I enjoyed everyone so much that I did not want to turn over my time to the school! Of course, my BABY was starting kindergarten and that just made everything worse! She had had some apprehension over this whole transition-- actually I think she is just old enough and smart enough to realize that she had a good thing going with being home with mom all day. She also realized that she would be one of "them" when she got on the bus each morning and returned home with the masses as well. She made me promise that I would not go grocery shopping or get the car washed until she was home. (To be honest, the thought of going into the grocery store without my pal brings tears to my eyes.)

****This picture is not supposed to be vertical, that is not how it was saved, but that is how it keeps loading. I've spent 20 minutes trying to figure it out and I gave up. If anyone has tips, please share!