My new 1st grader!

Well I sent Amberlyn off to her first day of first grade at her new school today! She was SO excited! Last week we went to go meet her teacher. We got to the school, went to the multi-purpose room to get her bus-route, and then into the corridor to find her name on the bulletin board to see who her new teacher was, Ms. Weygand. We met another little boy there who's in her class. I heard his mom tell him that Ms. Weygand was his teacher as well, so I told Amberlyn to go introduce herself to a new friend. Before we made our way down the hall to her room, I checked the board for all the other 1st graders in our ward, and ALL FOUR of them are in the OTHER 1st grade class! But the little boy who lives two doors down from us, Yuuki, is in her class, so at least she'll know one person.

Down the hall we went to find room 421. We signed in, found her desk, and she explored the classroom while I filled out some papers. Her teacher had a scavenger hunt for the kids! They had to say hi to the class pet, Bob (a spiral shelled snail), guess how many marbles were in the jar, have a cookie and juice, and go say hi to the teacher. Amberlyn took notice of the giant alphabet rug, the library center, and all the new friends!

Yesterday we got her backpack all ready. We loaded it with pencils, crayons, notebooks, glue sticks, tissues, hand sanitizer and much more. Then we got her lunchbox ready, a new Hello Kitty bag with a matching thermos. The teacher allows water bottles at the desk, as long as they don't sweat, so we filled the thermos with ice water and set it on the counter for few hours to test it out. No drips! She was so anxious that we got her lunch all packed right then and there, except for her sandwich, and put it in the fridge.

After dinner, she took a bath, cleaned her room, and tried on two different outfits to see which one matched her new pink sparkly shoes best. Such a girl! She got a story from mommy, a blessing from daddy, and off to bed she went.

We woke up this morning on time (a great relief since I'd had a very realistic dream that we were almost an hour late on the first day of school, and I was overjoyed to wake and find that is was just a dream!). She made her bed, got dressed, we said prayers and had a breakfast of scrambles eggs and toast. I fixed her sandwich and added it to the grapes, juice box, pretzel sticks and treat that were already in her lunch bag. Then we fixed hair, brushed teeth, and selected earrings, (white butterflies) and set out to the bus stop. I couldn't find my camera this morning, so I had to use my cell phone to grab a quick picture in front of the house.

I'd debated letting her ride the bus or driving her for the first few days. She was insistent on riding the bus, so I called a friend in the neighborhood to see if she was going to let her 1st grader ride the bus on the first day. She said she would, so I decided to let her go. I told Amberlyn to walk with her friend to class, since her room was right next door.

The bus stops at our corner next to the mail box, then swings around and makes another stop at the park around the corner. The mailbox is a bit closer, but her friend, Cambri was going to be at the park, so we headed over there. We arrived in plenty of time, but Cambri wasn't there yet. I told her to sit near the front so the driver could see her, and soon we saw the school bus circling around to the park. I was getting nervous, because her friend wasn't there yet. I reminded her of where the classroom was, and what to say in case she got lost. The bus stopped right on time at 7:43, I gave her a hug, told her to have a great day, and that I would be here waiting when she got back. Then while fighting back tears, I watched her get on the bus. (sorry, I'll really try to find my camera to take a better picture.)

Denver and I waved as they pulled away, with still no sign of Cambri! Oh no! Thank goodness Yuuki was there too. He went to the school last year, so he probably knows where to go. While Denver headed for the slide, I walked to the bench and let myself cry for just a minute. My little girl is big enough to ride the bus by herself! I have to admit, that I really wanted to get on the bus with her, walk her to her class, and sit outside the door all day.

A few minutes went by, and Cambri and her mom and brother pulled up to the park! She said they'd been fixing hair and taking pictures and didn't make it in time! She was just going to drive them, and she'd have her daughter watch for Amberlyn.

Denver and I headed back home after a few minutes of playing at the park. We called daddy to tell him that she got on the bus okay. I can't wait for her to come home and tell me all about her day!