Ying and Yang

I'm so proud of Grant. He came home from school today, had a little snack and went straight to doing his homework.

And while he was doing his homework like a sweet angel, someone got caught coloring on the walls with a dry-erase marker. (NOT a good picture of Rhett. Sorry.)

Just another day at the Kilgore house.

He loved it!!!

This picture was taken AFTER school. Wouldn't you know my camera's battery died this morning, so all school pictures had to occur AFTER the fact. Oh well - not much difference, I suppose.

Rhett really wanted to be a part of the action...

A little bit of a smile... (or is that an evil grin?)

Grant woke up with a smile on his face this morning = the morning of the first day of KINDERGARTEN. His first words were, "I am so excited!" Thank goodness! The morning went off without a hitch, for Grant. For myself, however, the morning was a bit harder than I expected. I did well when driving him to school, I did well when walking him into the school, but the tears started to form when we turned left to go down his hall - the Kindergarten hall. I just couldn't swallow that The Day had finally come. The Moment had finally come. We were there. I was there. No turning back. I was able to gain control of myself because Grant was still with me, and I didn't want him to see my cry. I was afraid it would throw off his whole morning, his whole happy-with-the-day morning. I put the sadness out of my mind and followed, yes, followed Grant into his room. (He led me in. I was afraid I'd have to drag the child in. It was as if he couldn't get there fast enough.) He entered the room on his own, walked directly to Mrs. Williams and touched her hand and said, "Hi, Mrs. Williams." It was his way of celebrating that he had arrived at school - his FIRST day of school. She patted his hand and bent down and said that she was so happy to see him. So sweet! I gave him a kiss and hug, took him to his seat and walked away with one child instead of the two that I came into the school with. He waved goodbye from his little chair, and that was that. I rounded the corner to enter the hallway, and I felt the tears coming again, but Rhett came through. He threw a fit because he didn't want to leave Bubba!! I am not usually excited about two-year-old fits, but this one quickly took my mind off the sadness of leaving my baby, so I welcomed it with relief. I was able to make it out of the building without crying. Matter of fact, I haven't cried at all. I've started to a couple times. You know the feeling of your throat tightening up? Ya - that's come a lot today, but I've been able to push it aside because deep down I know he'll be fine. He'll have fun. I also gain peace because I know the school district and its policies, as well as the school's layout, like the back of my hand since I used to teach in this district. The school I taught in is almost a carbon copy of Grant's school, so the fact that I know where every closet and hallway and door is gives me reassurance. But probably what makes me feel the most comfortable is that my father-in-law, aka Dude Dad, is an administrator in the school district. It's not that I ever plan on using that leverage, but it is nice to have it in case it is ever needed...

I will admit the day was lonely and s-l-o-w without him. I began to think that 3 o'clock would never roll around. But, it eventually did, and I picked up a very happy kindergartner who said he had a great day and was sad that it had to end. Thank you, Mrs. Williams! He did report that the playground was not as cool as he had hoped, but he seemed to have decided that all was not lost and the year would still be okay. He also mentioned that he made a lot of friends and that he had had the BEST day EVER.

We celebrated the day with ice cream. Unfortunately, so did half of Sugar Land. Grant had two scoops - vanilla and cotton candy. He ate every bit of it.

Here's to a great SECOND day!

Kindergarten, Here We Come!

Now that Grant is tucked soundly into bed and off in Sweet Dream Land, I wanted to take a few minutes to share in some special events that happened today because it helps me to ignore the conflicting storm of emotions rolling through my heart and head right now. I have to keep it together. I can't give in to the strongest emotion that is pounding at my heart that keeps crying out, "He's not a baby anymore. It's time for him to go out into his little kindergarten world." I mean, wasn't it just yesterday that I was lying in my hospital bed and watching him - falling in love with my new baby - and listening to his quiet and gentle breathing... Nope. I'm NOT going there right now. Lord, give me peace.

Moving on. So during Bible class today, the kiddos that would be heading off to kindergarten tomorrow had a special event in their honor. The kids were blessed and prayed over for their upcoming first day of school, and they were also presented with a Bible that had their name engraved on it. It was a big hit with the parents b/c, well - DUH! Who doesn't love their child being prayed over and celebrated? And it was a big hit with Grant because there were donuts, and his future wife, Hanna, was there.

Ms. Kathy is introducing Grant and presenting him with his Bible. He's so serious! Where did he get that from???

When Ms. Kathy asked him what he was looking forward to the most in kindergarten, he replied confidently, "The playground." We might be in for some trouble.

Hanna and Grant with their new Bibles. She's not that short. She's sitting and he's standing.

And now that night time has come and the first day of school clothes have been picked out and his lunch has been made, I have to share what we did at bed time. Mrs. Williams, Grant's teacher (whom I already love), gave the students a bed time poem to read that wished them sweet dreams for the night before the first day of school. It was a very sweet poem that Grant really seemed to appreciate. The words were precious, the encouragement was kind, but the CUTEST part of all was that the poem told him to put a star (Mrs. Williams gave them each a star at Meet the Teacher last week) under his pillow to help him sleep on this what was sure to be an anxiety filled night. Too bad she didn't give one to the mommies to put under our pillows, too. The poem said she would sleep with the star under her pillow as well while she dreamed sweetly about their upcoming year together. Now HOW precious is that??? HOW wonderful Mrs. Williams ALREADY is! I just don't think of things like that. I teach 3rd - 6th graders. I don't know about these cutsie little things kindergarten teachers know about. God bless them! They are true gifts to our children.

After he placed the star under his pillow (he's sleeping with me since Kerry is in Boston on a business trip), we read his favorite book, said a prayer, and then I snuggled with my kindergartener, my sweet baby boy, just like I did the night he was born. I held him close and smelled his hair, felt his soft skin, and listened to him breathe. Oh, precious Grant, I love you so! (Even though you refuse to smile for pictures.) I hope you have a GREAT first day tomorrow and that you aren't nearly as nervous as I am!

Who says the groom can't roll down the aisle? (which he actually does, by the way)

Now this is the kind of wedding I want to go to!!! Now, why didn't I think of something like this to do at my wedding??? (Which would certainly be to the horror of my mother and father.) Not that I would completely go back and change my wedding. It was perfect. But I mean, how TOTALLY awesome this is! Sure, I had a dance competition between the bridesmaids and groomsmen at my wedding reception along with karaoke - which was TOTALLY fun by the way. But this... You can't beat this! This wedding party practiced this stuff, people. You gotta watch it! It's the most fun you'll have all day. I found myself wanting to get up and dance along with them, but I didn't because that would be odd and possibly freak someone out if they walked up and saw me dancing along with my computer... Maybe when Garrett gets married I can talk him into doing this... Come on Garrett and Dani... You KNOW it totally ROCKS ON!

17 Truths

My sweet friend Kandy recently posted a list of ten truths about her. It was really fun to read, so I thought I'd give it a whirl instead of blogging about life tonight. I've been sitting in meetings for 8 hours a day for four days in a row now, and my brain is just GONE (sitting all day tends to do that to me - imagine that). I have no capacity in my memory or creative file to write about the boys, this week, or the exciting fact that Kerry and I celebrated our 9th anniversary Wednesday. I'll get to all of that later. But for right now, I give you an extended version of Kandy's...

17 Truths About Amanda Brooke Martin Kilgore

1. I want a handgun for the sole purpose of protection when Kerry is out of town.

2. I secretly long to write and publish a children's book someday.

3. I hate traffic lights.

4. I did not like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". It was so unreal, it was stupid. It did not meet the criteria for "fantasy" in my opinion, so the only option left is that it was just a dumb idea for a movie. Sure, it had beautiful cinematography and good 'ole Brad, but that's not enough to get five stars from me.

5. I do not like scary movies.

6. I REALLY want to get a spunky haircut and fun highlights.

7. I think Gifted and Talented programs are a joke.

8. I can't stand the way salt water feels on my skin.

9. Germs totally freak me out, so I have very specific public restroom rules that I ADHERE to (among many other daily rules I go by that I'll have to share later). I never sit all the way down on those dirty, nasty toilet seats. I flush the toilet with my foot. Once I've washed my hands, I touch NOTHING. This means I turn the water off with a clean paper towel, and I open the bathroom door with a paper towel as well.

10. I fear my boys will someday have to go off to war.

11. I enjoy paperwork = paying bills, doing lesson plans, grading papers - Yip - I'm a dork.

12. I believe people should sanitize the doorknobs in their homes (including the steering wheels in their cars).

13. I ABSOLUTELY love that you should pull your car over when a funeral procession approaches you.

14. I miss going to my late grandfather's farms to feed the cows and ride the horses.

15. I check my mail about once every ten days.

16. I do not like pie.

17. I've never been on a roller coaster, and I never plan to be on one either.

YOUR TURN!

Home again, home again; jiggity jig!

We are all finally back in Sugar Land. Since my last post, Kerry has been to Japan to visit his brother, the boys and I have been to Granbury to visit my my parents, then to Ruidoso, New Mexico, to visit my mom's side of the family, and then to Grapevine for a last quick vacation to Great Wolf Lodge before the summer ends. We've been gone for about three weeks. Although it was hard to come to town b/c it was like waving goodbye to summer, I am quite shocked that I am actually looking forward to my school starting (Tuesday, August 11) and Grant starting kindergarten (Aug. 24). Summer was fun, and certainly a healthy break, but it's time to get the pencils sharpened and the dictionaries dusted off, and I'm chomping at the bit to do so. I miss my students. I miss my coworkers. I miss doing something other than housework, errands, and keeping the peace between my two little monkeys. That brings me to another great point about the summer ending = Grant will be gone every day, and Rhett and I will be able to be together on my off days (M, W, F). I can only imagine how much I'll be able to get done with Grant being out of the house. I don't mean that rudely. But I DO mean that my five-year-old keeps me busier than my two-year-old, so getting a slight break from that is undoubtedly the most exciting thing about fall coming. Well, that, and I only work two days a week for the BEST school EVER!!

I am pumped about buying school supplies for the first time. I think I am going to make a special day of it like Jordan did - GREAT idea, Jordan. Grant and I were pumped when his monogrammed alien lunchbox arrived in the mail yesterday, and to top it off, ACU sent Grant a surprise backpack to celebrate his starting kindergarten. I've got two more weeks to get him a back-to-school haircut and his supplies, but we do have the new clothes and shoes, so all in all I feel prepared. (knock on wood) He gets to meet his teacher and classmates on the 20th, and he will also be able to take a tour of his school that evening as well. Gosh! I really can't believe I'm typing about preparing my little baby for kindergarten!!! Where did the time go? This truly is bitter sweet.

I'll post more about our three week long trip another day. Right now we're headed out to run errands. And by the way, did you know that two little boys and errands could easily be compared to adding grease to water?

On a side note = I would like to share what husband told me at lunch today because it is in every way unfair. Get ready to be annoyed: "Man! I lost 8 pounds this last week!"

La-ti freakin' da! Can I get an Amen from the gals?

Must be nice to be a guy!

You do look really good, honey. The pounds are just FALLING off you. I am very proud of your hard work.