The End of an Era

Today was the last day of summer...and Kayci's last day as a preschooler. I have to admit, when I turned off her light this evening and kissed her sleeping little forehead, I had a very weepy moment. Dear Lord, please don't let me embarrass her tomorrow morning at school...

We wanted to make today a very special day for Bitty. Last week I was reading the new "Family Fun" magazine (a monthly must-read!!) and saw some great ideas for back-to-school celebrations. We gave Kayci the option of inviting her entire class or just a few friends for a special lunch today, and she surprised us by choosing to invite just a few friends.

Kayci and I have had fun preparing for her Kindergarten Kick-Off lunch (Daddy asked why a football theme, and if you know me you know it's because Target had football plates and napkins in the Dollar Spot!). The game plan: hot dogs and/or frito pies for lunch plus pickles and olives to snack on (Kayci's pick), build-your-own cupcakes, then a craft. We picked 1:00 PM to start to give everyone (including us) time for church beforehand and also to not be out too late the day before school. Emily and Rachel and their families were able to make it. Three girls turned out to be just perfect for what we had planned (and we had tons of food left so we were able to provide dinner for two teacher friends and their families tonight, hopefully making back-to-school less stressful for them!). We had a very nice, relaxing afternoon and really enjoyed visiting with our friends--and Kayci enjoyed visiting with hers. We will definitely make this a tradition!

After everyone left, we let Kayci pick how we spent the rest of the last day of summer, and of course she wanted to go swimming. As we were walking out the back door, Noble spit up all over himself and Daddy, so we decided that the two of us would stay home and rest and Daddy and Kayci would go on to the pool (she said, looks like this will be our last Daddy and Kayci date before school starts.) After swimming, she chose McDonald's for dinner (yum. Not so much!) and Scoops for dessert. Our poor stomachs today! Anyway, after a lavender bath and two of her favorite back-to-school stories (Berenstain Bears Go to School and Teacher from the Black Lagoon) it was bedtime for Bitty. I laid with her for a while to head off the bedtime marathon of "but I can't sleep!" and she was out almost immediately (probably a sugar coma). Now James is supposed to be working on a sketch and I'm supposed to be keeping him company, but he's about to be out of luck--all of the excitement today has wiped me out! I need to get some rest before we do it all over again tomorrow...luckily, my fashionista has already selected my outfit so at least that part's ready to go. More tomorrow...