meet the teacher/first day of school

They did something new this year and posted the teacher assignments on Skyward (the online portal) a few days before Meet the Teacher.  We didn't know much about any of the teachers, so we were all excited to go and meet them.  

It felt so good to walk the halls of the school and see all the teachers and staff members we love. We first ran into Ms. Stapp, the PE coach, and Mrs. Lamar, the art teacher. 

Mrs. Blanton was Brooke's 2nd grade teacher and we both adored her!!  She is going to be the librarian this year and my kids were both super excited that they'll get to see her on a weekly basis now. 

We made it to Brooke's classroom first and her teacher, Ms. Gutierrez, seemed super nice.  Brooke was allowed to pick her own seat, and then she started filling out the little survey. 

She's also in the same class as her friend Sidney.  They've been in the same class every year since Kinder, but this summer his mom specifically requested that they keep the trend and stay in the same class, haha. 

I took a pic of Brooke with Ms. Gutierrez (homeroom, language arts, and history) before heading next door to meet Mrs. Brown, who will teach math and science.  I can't quite believe that our little girl is gonna be a 4th grader.  This will be her last year in elementary school, which just makes me sad.  

We stopped by to see Mrs. Farwell, her first grade teacher. 

And we most definitely had to go back and see her old third grade teachers, Mrs. Howell and Mrs. Evans.  Brooke has seriously been so blessed with the absolute best teachers at Daulton. They have loved on Brooke and provided such a wonderful learning environment for her to learn, grow, and develop into a girl who thrives at school and loves going every day. 

Then it was off to meet Colby's teacher, Mrs. Byrd.  Colby was really hoping for Mrs. Farwell since that's who Brooke had, but Mrs. Byrd seemed really nice as well and we'd heard nothing but great things about her. 

We organized all of his supplies, took the tour of his classroom, then headed on our way. 

But before we could leave the school, Colby wanted to go down the Kindergarten hall and say hi to Mrs. Salinas.  She really holds a special place in Colby's heart, so I wasn't the least bit surprised that he wanted to go and hug her. She makes Colby feel like a million bucks, and she specifically told him that if he ever needed a hug or to see her, he could just ask his teacher to come to her classroom.   

Love these two!!

One last picture of these cute dragons!!  It was good to meet their teachers and I was confident that it was gonna be another great year at Daulton. 

As we laid out their clothes the night before school started, I noticed that Colby's shoes were different sizes.  I was super irritated because it was too late to do anything about it, but since Colby's old sneakers were literally falling apart, I told him that he could wear his new shoes, but that he should try not to scuff them so we could return them for the correct size, haha. (He did a great job and we eventually got the correct size.)

As we prayed that night, I became a little emotional.  I just love them so much and hope they'll always have the confidence and courage to stand for what's right and remember that they are precious children of God. It took them a little longer than normal to fall asleep, but eventually everyone was sleeping before the big day.  

Kevin is going to wake them up for school again this year, and they did a great job on day one of the new school routine :)  They knew we weren't actually leaving the house until I took pics, so we hurried to the front porch.  There were so many shadows from the morning sun, so I rushed the kids to the backyard instead. 

I didn't necessarily love how those turned out either since I never edged the lawn, so I was the crazy mom who took pics of them when we got to the school as well. It seems silly looking back because all that mattered was their sweet faces, but at least I had a variety of pictures to choose from. 

I love these kids so much!!  I am so grateful that they have one more year together. 

They allowed parents to walk them in on the first day, and I never want to forget that sweet morning. This is the last year they'll walk the halls of Daulton Elementary together. 

Brooke and I dropped Colby off and gave him a few hugs before heading down to the 4th grade hall.

She didn't want any pics inside her classroom, so I took one in the hall as we walked.  I was also in love with her bubble braids, so it all worked out :)

I was eager to pick the kids up after school and hear all about their days.  They both walked out happy, which made my mama heart happy as well.

Brooke and Claire waited with me outside the first grade door, then we all headed to the playground to get some wiggles out before the after-care kids came out to play. 

Here's to a great year!!