Bella's first day of school

Let's go back a few weeks. We had returned from Texas and were settling back into a summer routine. I was so looking forward to long days of summer with the kids. Going on a run, scavenger hunts, gardening, playing in water, taking a bath before lunch before we're covered in mud, lunch, nap, movie, and dinner...aww, un-busyness of summer time!

But I digress, let's go back to a few weeks. I was in church getting ready to go home when a friend nonchalantly asked Bella if she was ready to start school. I laughed because we had more than a month left of summer. The said friend looked at me and then I knew and remembered. Uh oh, I forgot her new school was year round! So, that meant Bella did start in a week. Cue the tears and freak out moment right.in.the.foyer.at.church. Cue another freak out when I told Mike about it when we got home. And cue many tears that week.

We lived it up that week with "girl dates", as Bella likes to call them. One week passed, school supplies were bought, and out sweet Bella started school at her new school! She was still too young to enter first grade, even though she completed Kindergarten last year, and was enrolled in Kindergarten again. She would stay there while the school completed testing on her to gain insight on her readiness level for first grade. Turns out, she's more than ready academically and socially based on her high scores. But Mike and I decided, after many conversations and research, to keep her in Kindergarten again. We thought more long term, you know - the middle/high school years - and wanted to give her the biggest advantage for maturity. Plus, that means she's at home for longer with us before college. =)

Without further adieu, here is our sweet little gal on her first day of school.

We celebrate the first and last day of school with ice cream.

Then we came home and gardened and cooked and did a craft! I was happy to have her back home.

This momma cried all week long when I dropped her off. Hence, lots of cuddle times!