Melanie Goes to Kindergarten

 Melanie started kindergarten last month, and is loving every minute of it!  I had my first ever parent-teacher conference with Melanie's teacher yesterday since they're already halfway through the first quarter, and I was so proud of everything her teacher had to say about our Miss Melanie!  It inspired me to finally get on the ball with posting her first day of school pictures, you know, before the last day of school rolls around ;)

 Finding her cubby on "Meet the Teacher" night

 Melanie was very excited to see a play kitchen, she actually asked me to take a picture of her playing with it

 With her teacher

 Melanie's kindergarten room is actually the same room I was in for kindergarten when I went to school many moons ago, and this bathtub couch was also a fixture in the room back then.  So much nostalgia being back there and seeing a few things that haven't changed.

 First day of school breakfast - pumpkin pancakes with a few cinnamon chips sprinkled in for a special treat, along with strawberries and blueberries, a few of Melanie's breakfast favorites!

 First day of school gift for Melanie's teacher.
You can see the tiny strawberry she drew in the middle of the flowers on the card to tie in with the "berry excited" line and the jam. She was pretty tickled by the pun :)

 All ready to go!

 As a very last-minute idea, I decided to have Melanie make a sign, writing her name and what she'd like to be when she grows up.  I thought it would be fun to see how her penmanship and answer to what she'd like to be changes each year on the first day of school.  This year she said she wants to be a mom when she grows up.

 I love Claire's cheesy grin in this one!

 My big girl, all ready to go in!
(And no, I didn't cry.  Not even close.)

 Seated and all ready to get started!

 One last hug for her sister.

I'm cherishing these sweet moments and storing them up for the teen years that are yet to come. 

 End of the first day, and still all smiles!

 Another sweet sister moment

 Continuing with our first day of school tradition with Melanie, Matt met us at a nearby pizza place for lunch.  The girls are like their parents, they really like the white sauce pizza (salty deliciousness!).

That was some lip-smacking good dessert pizza, too!

When I asked Melanie if she had a dream one morning a few days before school started she said yes. I asked what it was about, and she responded "I dreamt about how much fun I would have at school!" I sure hope it lives up to her expectations and that she'll always be this excited about learning.