And so it begins...

Last night we had parent orientation for Mali for kindergarten. Eric had football practice so my mom (yes she is is still here helping, isn't that great?) watched Eleri and Mali and I prepared to go. Mali didn't eat dinner and had a huge meltdown saying her tummy hurt. She then went and layed in her bed. Right before it was time to go she said she felt better but then had a huge meltdown over trying to find her blankie. We finally were ready and walked down to the school. We found out that her teacher is going to be Mrs. Von Netzer. We got to meet her and then sat at her table for the meeting. It was all basic, too boring for a blog, information. They start at 8:05 and let out at 1:30. The principal has been at Sleephollow for 20 years and you could tell she was very invested in the school. Over and over we heard about how academic Sleepyhollow is which makes me very happy. Then the principal had to mention that this is the class of 2023!!!! Can you believe it? I thought I was going to cry right then just thinking about how if I blink I will be at senior year orientation in 2023. Just sitting in the meeting, I talked to three parents that were sending siblings to Mrs. Von Netzer. They had requested her after their oldest had her and loved her. That made me feel really good. Although Mali did point out that she wanted the really young, blonde headed teacher. We also knew one little girl in Mali's class from BSF and another girl in her class is the young cousin of a good friend and Mali has played with her before. I completely feel a peace about her teacher and know that this is who God has for her. Her teacher is not super young (she has a 4th grader and then preschool twins) which I think will be good for Mali. She seems really fun and personable but definitely not a pushover either. Eric said, can you imagine a class of 22 Mali's? Mali had her head down on the table and kept saying how loud it was and that she didn't like it. Looking back, I can so tell her stomach ache and then her behavior at the meeting was nervousness. Poor sweet girl. I just see this beautiful, confident (maybe overly at some point), assertive, incredibly social little girl that has absolutely no reason to be nervous because she will do so great! But then I remember that I threw up in my lunch box the first day of first grade and still ended up loving school as I got older. Eric was able to come to the last of the meeting, which was probably good, because then it was time for PTA stuff, and I had NO clue. Eric signed us up for a family membership of PTA, a year book, and then bought two shirts for Mali. Now I have to decide what I want to volunteer for with the PTA, there is a long list. I really want to be involved but I'm not sure how much I can do with my other two around. After the meeting, we went to Mali's classroom. Her little eyes lit up!!!! She loved seeing her name everywhere. We saw her chair and her box. Mali loved looking at all the posters and the reading center in her room. She really came out of her nervousness once she saw the classroom, as you can see in the different pictures. Once we were in the classroom we found out that another friend from BSF was in Mali's class, Pablo Davalos. He has a twin brother and Mali has played with them at BSF, at the park, and they've been to her birthday party once. I also found out that her teacher is cousins with one of the coach's wives that we know wel. I'm excited about all of the connections that Mali already has and can see how God has just prepared for the way for her. I'm still in denial a little, not really ready to let go of her, but I know behind all that she is going to learn and be so excited. Life is changing and it will be really hard I think, I don't even know exactly how it all will change, but there is so much excitement too! We will go back up there on Thursday to bring her school supplies and sort them.