Friday, July 31, 2015

Hensley's 1st Grade Back to School Photo Shoot

The week after school started we finally got around to taking our yearly back to school photo session. I had a lot of things I wanted to do with this one but it was SO SO SO hot and humid on this day that we didn't last long out there and my camera kept fogging up. However I think the photos turned out super cute :) 



















I love doing these shoots each year before school starts. I love seeing how much he has changed and grown. :) I loved doing the playground pictures :) He insisted on snapping a few on the bus even though he doesn't ride the bus it's always a fun treat to board one for a field trip :)

He is such a tough guy :)


Wednesday, July 29, 2015

First Grade Here He Comes!!!!

It's that time of year again. Time to pack lunches and lay out clothes. Time for 8 pm bed time and back to school shopping. It's time for routine and waking up at the crack of dawn. 
I think we were all ready in our house. The summer was just long enough and it had been extremely hot! We were ready for school and excited because this year Hensley was going to the 1st grade!! 

We had met his teacher, dropped off supplies at school, got a new backpack, lunch box and sneakers. We were set. All organized and feeling really confident. This year was much different come the first day. Hensley and I both had a lot less jitters then last year. 

Our bedtime story :) 

I was worried because we sort of waited until the last minute to start the going to bed early routine this year but after Hensley was up he was too excited to be sleepy. He ate a great breakfast, got ready and snapped a few photos before we were off to his very first day of 1st grade! 




Today you are you, that is truer then true. There is no one alive like you that is youer then you! Oh the places you'll go, today is your day! Your mountain is waiting so get on your way!!!




We chatted on the way to school. I reminded him of his lunch number and his teachers name. We talked about how he was feeling and about the new friends he was going to make. There was one very big difference when we arrived at school this year for the first day....Hensley did not want me to walk him in! Seriously!?!?! I walked him for almost a month last year, and even once that was over he still really wanted me to keep doing it. It made me really realize just how much he has grown. He was so confident and independent and my heart was so sad the mommy side of me was so sad. At the same time I was so incredibly grateful and proud of him and so thankful that he is mine :) 

And I walked him anyway.....of course :) 


Fast forward several hours later and I was picking up a happy little boy who had a HUGE smile across his face! He was beaming when I picked him and he had a lot to report about! He had an amazing first day! I asked Hensley on a scale of 1 to 10 how great of a day did he have? His response...."100!!". I so grateful for this amazing little community he gets to be a part of! 

His new teacher seems so so organized and so sweet. I love her already and I am so excited to see what this year has to offer :) 

   

Friday, July 24, 2015

Summer is over...time to officially remember what day of the week it is!

Last night was Open House at Hensley's school. I had been thinking it would be so much easier then last year because we are so familiar with the school and how it works. We also have met so many new friends there and are so comfortable with the staff so I am totally thinking the last few weeks, "This is going to be a breeze this year. No nerves. No shyness. All smooth sailing." 

Eh. I was a little wrong. 

I was so emotional when it came time to go last night. I have no idea why but my heart was racing and my stomach was in knots. I am such a creature of habit. Change is the worst thing to me. I am that person who would live in the same house my whole life. Always go to the same place for vacation. Etc. So going in to this year not knowing his teacher or who would be in his class I was nervous. 

Everything went great. I did feel a lot more comfortable when we got there. And Hensley seemed very happy to be there again. He couldn't wait to see his friends. Being outgoing like he is he already knew a lot of other kids from the other kindergarten classes from last year on the playground. 








He got the "new teacher" this year which in my gut I had a feeling the past few weeks he would get. She is new to his school but not new to teaching. She has been a teacher for 13 years and has 3 children of her own. We loved loved loved Ms. Spaeth last year but I think this will also be a great year in a much different way. I think the fact that she has so much experience and also has that "motherly instinct" will make for a great school year. She was extremely nice and hospitable and So organized! :) Her classroom is also HUGE compared to the classroom Hensley was in last year so the kids won't be so on top of each other which will be nice. 



We checked out his desk and cubby and of course found out which ones of his friends were in his class. Luckily he got several friends from last year in his class which he was very happy about but the icing on the cake was that his very best friend in there :) I think any nerves he had were subsided when he seen Noah was in his class again! Also this year he got MaryBeth, Magnus, Brandon, James, Patrick and  Vella in his class. All really great kids who he was excited to see again. He was excited to see the principle and lots of the staff :) 



I have prayed that Hensley will be placed in a classroom with a teacher and classmates that will lift him and encourage him. That he will be in a place that is fun yet structured. A place where the can flourish and shine as well as learn and grow to be the best he can be. 

I feel nervous and scared but I also feel blessed to have him at such an amazing school with great expectations and the tools to get him to the top. I think a lot of my nerves and emotions are because it's time for change again. It's time to let him spread his wings a little wider. As a mother you always hear "The days are long but the years are short". I find these words ring true for me. He is off to do great things, I know that, he is independent and smart. He is so funny and people who are around him always have a smile on their faces. 

I am blessed to have a healthy boy with nothing holding him back to succeed. All of that doesn't make it easier to watch him walk down that hall.  

Until next Tuesday we are going to try and have a lot of fun and spend as many mornings as we can just like this :)