First day of school!

So here are the kids this morning. Actually the first picture is before Meet the Teacher night last week at the Primary School. Then I got a shot of Blake in the car this morning (Derrek was SUPPOSED to get one of him in his class that I may have to post later). Then there's a fantastic shot of Ashley in front of the dumpsters at school. But check out the skinny jeans and sequined converse. Why did I grow up in the 90s? With the bulky high waists and plaid. Yuck. Anyway, she looks ADORABLE. So did Blake, but you can't see the whole outfit. Gayla's parents took them shopping and did a fabulous job.




Me, Derrek & Gayla (their mom) all took the kids together since it was such a big day for both of them. It really just hit me how old they really are. When I came into the picture, Blake had just turned 2 and Ashley had just turned 8. Derrek walked Blake in this morning (because we couldn't really find a spot to park for all of us to go in) and he was like "peace out, Dad." The teacher had to remind him to hug Derrek good-bye. He's READY. Ashley on the other hand, was a little on edge. I have a million complaints about the school already and how they had a "Tadpole Camp" two weeks ago to get the kids ready for middle school and how they learned NOTHING from it. They didn't learn where their classes were or meet their teachers or get to set up their lockers. What did they do for 3 hours? They played games that taught them about the school rules. For. Real. So this morning, she didn't even know where her first class was (but she also wasn't putting it all together that your schedule tells you what room to go to). We left her in a hallway full of 6th graders pushing and shoving to get to their lockers and classes to fend for herself. Find her class on her own. I'm pretty sure we do too much for her and she'll learn and remember much more if we let her go a little bit. But middle school is a scary place! Oh well. Luckily, I get to pick the kids up for Gayla today so I'll get the scoop before they go home with her. I'm sure they're both fine. Right?