John's in Hindergarten!!

Today was John's first day of Hindergarten!! John's been calling it Hindergarten and that's made us all smile. We were all so excited! We have been talking about Kindergarten for quite awhile in our house and the big day finally arrived. Last night was a little tough for me; packing his lunch (I know I'll get over that!) and getting his backpack ready. Before bed he was looking at a picture of a car with glasses he thought looked funny. In his classic John laugh he said, "He looks just like Baby Einstein!" that made me pause wondering how much longer he'll talk about stuff like that. He's getting so big, old and independent.

The first morning we were off nice and early. Louis took a half day today so he could join in the excitement. John posed for a few pictures for me. He was SO excited about his shoes, backpack and lunch bag. He thought that his backpack was too heavy with the lunch bag in it, so he decided it was better to carry it... I think he just liked looking at the picture

My smiley boy!

I tried to get one of them together, but Ry was ready to start walking!

OK, one more Mama

Starting out on our walk. This will be some good exercise for us. According to my GPS, it's .5 miles from our front door to John's classroom. That's some good mileage for me a day. It's a good way to get the blood moving for John too every morning

We're all so excited for John!

Taking a little pause up the hill for another picture. He just looked so cute! And so grownup! He got so excited seeing the streets named Highlands "Just like my school!"

Here he is in front of the school sign. This is the same school Eric and I went to. It's fun being back on campus. He's actually in the same classroom Eric had for Kinder.

When we got in the classroom, he had his very own desk with all kinds of goodies with "John" written on them. He liked seeing his name tag and his very own water bottle

John is not nervous or shy at all! He said hi to his teacher right away and started telling her stories. He showed her his backpack (with 3-D FX) and told her all about his new shoes that glow in the dark. Every time she walked by, he had something new to share with her. Most of the kids came in quietly and sat and colored quietly. John was making us laugh since he had all kinds of ideas and things to share with her.

Here's an over all view of the classroom as the students were getting situated... There's John in the front right with the gray shirt on.

The classroom is such a happy place! It's so colorful and friendly with all kinds of little spaces for the kids to get comfortable. There's a fake fireplace to read in front of and a little kitchen. It made us happy just walking in there!

Here's the door to the classroom. John had a BIG smile on his face when we saw his name on the door (he's the only John this year :) )

We were there while Mrs. Sever took roll. John was a good boy and followed directions. Mrs. Sever had to tell him to save some of his stories for later though...

While they got situated, the parents were taken to the auditorium to have an orientation with the principal. It was a great way to hear about the school and learn how things are done. After that orientation, the kinders were all taken to one classroom together and then we had another orientation with just Mrs. Sever to hear about the class and her own individual rules and procedures. This really was a wonderful way to hear about the year and get a good start.

Here's John and Mrs. Sever walking back to the classroom after our mini orientation in the classroom.

It was already time for recess then! They had the Kinders sit and eat a snack while the teachers told them the recess rules.

I think she said there are 63 Kinders this year.

Miss Ry had a fun time seeing all the kids. She was getting tired and grumpy since it was her nap time. Once she saw everyone playing though she just walked right over and started playing too! She really seemed to enjoy school. I know she's going to be sad seeing John go to such a fun place every day

There were all kinds of fun things, shovel and pails, slides, trikes... John was having a ball! We took off after this, so we're all very excited to hear about the rest of his day.

It sure is strange knowing that he'll be gone all day every day. We've been together almost every minute for 5 years now. I miss him, but know he'll love this! I just can't believe my Baby John is in Kindergarten!!