back to school?

The children returned to school last week.

Can that be right? I still haven't posted the summer.  Glorious summer. Where did it go? Every year it slips away faster. It's frightening. Seriously, I'm scared.  I've said it before, I'll say it again.  Time is not my friend...

The Boy started middle school last Tuesday.  Middle school.

Sixth grade.  Wasn't he just in kindergarten?

Yes.  Yes, he was.  Look, here's proof.  This photo is still on my hard drive.  I believe this was taken yesterday.

Same tree... same boy?  Right?

Throwing this one in for good measure.  Can you stand the cuteness?  Look at those cheeks!

Ahh... memory lane.  Look how little Cha-cha is.  Do you see this Laurel?  Does this configuration look familiar?  Kindergarten today... middle school tomorrow.  It will happen to you, too!

Anyhoo *sniffle* middle school.  The Boy's going to a science and technology magnet school.  Experiments, robots, legos even!  So far he loves it.  Uniforms.  I love it.  He's always been a polo and khakis kind of boy anyway.  Now it's just like garanimals.   Four shirt colors, three pant colors... mix and match... easy peasy.

Princess and Cha-Cha had a one day reprieve.  Their school didn't start until Wednesday.  They slept late while the Boy waited for his bus.  No bus photos for the Boy.  I don't think that's allowed in middle school.  No waving either.

The girls enjoyed their extra day of summer and then they were good and ready for their first day.  I wasn't, but they were.  Fourth grade for Princess and first grade for Cha-Cha.  Wow.

 

They're growing up too fast, too.

Look how tall Princess is getting.

A pretty, smart 9-year old girl.  The chubby baby cheeks are gone.  Only two more years in elementary school.  Let's not talk about it.

Cha-Cha gets to go to school all day now.  She's thrilled.  No more half-days with Mom racing home to catch the kindergarten bus.  That part is nice but I miss her happy chatter in the afternoon.

Her only complaint is that "they still treat us like babies, Mom."  Can't blame them, she was just a baby yesterday...

Look at those sweet sisters.  Big girls.  And of course, their must-have new shoes for the new school year.

There's Pinky.  At least she's not going to school yet.  She really is still a baby!  A baby who plays in the dirt while she waits to wave goodbye to her sisters.  She loves dirt.  Perhaps I need to get her a sandbox before she heads off to middle school.

See she's still a baby.  Rolie polie wrists, smooshy cheeks, nibble-able toes.  A baby.  No school for her.  See the chubby baby feet in her big sister's flip flops?  No baby feet in flip flops allowed at school.  I think that's a rule.

Note the averted eyes.  She's tired of me taking pictures of her.  I'm sorry baby, I can't help it.  You've got a lot of photo ops ahead of you... just look at all the pictures your siblings endure.  Buck up baby.

Uh-oh.  There's the bus.  Taking the last moments of summer with it.  Whisking my big girls off to another school year.  A school year that will likely pass too quickly.  Anyone know how to freeze time?  Just for a little while...