A Day in the Life: Last Day

Today was the last day of school. THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! That means it was the last day my three oldest children will be in the same school together. (And the last day any of them will go to this particular school which has been very good to us.) Which also means it was the last day my oldest child will attend grade school! Soooo, it's been an emotional day for me. Partly because "Aunt Flo" is here for her monthly visit, partly because I'm still tired from spending the last two weekends out of town looking for a house and then attending the Power of Moms retreat. (All moms know what going out of town means - punishment in the form of piled up laundry and papers!) But mostly it's just that these kids of mine keep growing and I don't like it one bit!

That's not entirely true. I've actually had some pretty fun conversations with Kate recently when I could start to see the person she will grow up to be - and I'm starting to think it's going to be nice associating with my children as grown ups someday. Yesterday, we sat up on the kitchen countertop together talking, and she told me for the first time that she had her whole life planned out. (Oh, really?) First, I warned her not to get too disappointed when things don't turn out exactly as planned, but then I had to hear the plan - right? It involved college, missionary work, paleontology, art, and of course - 4 or 5 kids. I was happy to hear she had actually incorporated some of my lectures on choosing to study and pursue interests that would allow her to be a stay-at-home mom. But she even "got it" more than that - she talked about what she would do once her kids were grown and gone. That's the way to think! One of my favorite parts of last weekend's retreat was the "Picking Your Priorities" panel discussion. (It might of had something to do with getting to sit next to Linda Eyre and chatting it up with her like we were old buddies . . .) A big take away for a lot of people was the idea that LIFE IS LONG. We have a lot of years to do a lot of stuff, and we don't have to worry about doing it all right now when our small children still need us so much.

Back to the last day of school and me swallowing my tears all day:

It was the last kindergarten half day for Elizabeth. I've had the two "little girls" to myself half days all year long and haven't relished it enough. It's going to be a little lonely next year for Rachael when Elizabeth is in school full time. Sniff, sniff.

It was also the last time I would walk to that school to pick up Elizabeth from kindergarten. I've thoroughly enjoyed walking my kids to and from school. I think if we get the house we're thinking of in Utah, the kids will be bused next year.

Here's what I was met with when I arrived today, post party:

It was the last "Charlotte's Web" play. Okay, so I only did 2 in the four years we were here, but it was weird for me to push Rachael in a stroller to go attend this little third grade play and feel like it was just yesterday that I did the same thing with Elizabeth to go see Kate as Charlotte. (Will was Templeton and the pizzazz of the play if I can be honest. I hope he does drama when he gets older because he is FUNNY!) Will and I had a discussion this morning over his bagel egg sandwich about the word "bittersweet" - which is what he was feeling about the last day of school. I know how he feels.

The last field trip - ever! (At least, I don't remember ever having field trips after grade school.) The 6th graders all went to a place today with go carts, lasar tag, etc. Right after I took this picture, Kate said she was feeling a little bit sad. We are going to have to do something FUN tomorrow to snap us all out of our post-school/pre-move FUNK!