Elijah's First Day of Kindergarten

What an amazingly fun day!

Nick, Hudson and Emmaline left the house at 4:30 am to fly to Chattanooga for Uncle Chris' wedding this weekend.  Elijah and I leave Friday afternoon, so that he could go to his first two days of school.

He slept through them leaving, but woke up around 5:30 am which is really unlike him.

He's my sleeper, you know?  

He came and got in bed with me, and we started the day off snuggling together.

He colored while I got dressed.  

And to say that it was so easy having only one child to get ready in the mornings (who is old enough to be independent) is the understatement of the year.

We were both dressed and ready with plenty of time to spare.

Daddy made him a video, wishing him a great day, so he watched that a few times.

(That got my tears flowing!)

Then we took our first day pics, of course!

I told him that it was his special day, and since it was just the two of us, he could decide what we would eat for breakfast and dinner.  He chose chocolate milk and donuts for breakfast.  What a surprise!

We headed to Brooks, where they let us walk them into the foyer and say bye there...which was so perfect.  It wasn't quite as "official" as dropping them off at carpool, but we didn't walk them to their classrooms, so it was a perfect middle ground.  

He was really nervous and hesitant; can you tell?

Preschool has done wonders for this child!

(And of course, the Lord has answered many of our prayers.)

He got in a little line with a group of kindergarteners who were also being walked in, I gave him a hug and a kiss, and he never looked back.  

I watched him walk down that hallway with his backpack on 

and he just marched down like a little tiny soldier.

They had "Tissues and Tea" for the mommies in the library, so I met a few new friends there 

while we munched on some goodies.

I picked him up through the carpool line, which was so fascinating to me!

The kids are in the gym area, and there's a man who calls out the numbers on our car and their names on a walkie talkie system into the gym.

Then they let the kids walk up to the curb.

There are Brooks students, who I guess may be 5th graders who stand at each car, make sure the little ones get to the right numbered cars, and open the door and let the children into their cars!  

It was so precious.

As I promised, he got to pick our dinner date spot.

I told him we'd go on a date like Daddy and I do, and he kept talking about how he was going on a night-time date with me.  It was so cute.  (Most of our "dates" have usually been at lunch.)

He wanted to go to a place that Daddy and I would go to on a date; not Chickfila.

So I named a bunch of places that he might like that were sit-down restaurants.

He remembered a mexican place we all went to one time where there's a train that circles the ceiling of the restaurant, and asked to go to the "train restaurant."  

 I mean, you don't have to twist my arm to eat mexican,  and it is close to his school, so I loved the idea!  

Nick commented that he was definitely my son.  Hee.

We got there before it opened for dinner so we sat outside and talked.

The place is really eclectic and junky and crazy so there's a lot to look at.
They were so sweet to put us in a little curtained room where it was just the two of us!

We had so much fun eating quesadillas together, and talking about his day uninterrupted.

It has been a long time since I got to have that kind of one-on-one time with him; it was such a treasure.

I ordered him his first real soft drink; he got a grown-up size Sprite with his dinner!

He was giddy and giggly and didn't stop until he crashed in his bed.

I know he had to be so tired; but he was in such a fun mood.

I'm so proud of my big Kindergartener!