First Day of School for Megan and Bridget 2013

Look at those shiny, clean white shoes! It must be the first day of school!

Megan started 2nd grade and Bridget started 1st grade. What big girls we have in our house all of a sudden! 

The girls' first day was a bit easier than most. They started at 10am, which made adorable hair possible! I'm not so sure this can be replicated on a typical day. It sure makes for a good first impression on the first day, though. I definitely look like supermom for doing french braids in the morning. I might just have to get up earlier from now on to keep up the illusion ;) And Bridget has magical hair that keeps a perfect curl all day long after sleeping in curlers. She's a more-than-willing participant in wearing curlers to bed. She would honestly do it every night if she could! 

Matt had the morning off and we were all able to send our big girls off for their first day. Mary was even cooperative for this picture :)

Megan was eager to take a picture with her good friend Bryn. They are kindred spirits and I love their little friendship. 

Megan and another sweet friend, Aine (her white-blond twin!)

The girls adore their teachers. Megan's teacher is a bit a on the strict side, but also very sweet. I can tell Megan loves this combination, and may just be slightly obsessed with her. She came home on one of the first days of school, excited about an item she wanted to add to her Christmas list...a blue scarf to wear around her neck. After further investigation, it appears that Miss Marriott is a big scarf-wearer, and of course, Megan wants to be just like her :)

Meanwhile, Bridget is basking in the big kid environment of 1st grade. She now sits at a desk, has her own little locker, and has a bit longer day than she did in kindergarten. She loves it all! She is also making her mark with her new teacher, Miss Stelling, who Megan had for 2 years in a row. It's interesting to see Bridget develop as a student, and especially to hear from Miss Stelling how they compare. So far, Bridget is loving math much more than Megan ever did or does, becoming a more eager reader every day, and often tries to complete her weekly homework packet all in one night. She can get a little discouraged when she sees the books that Megan is flying through, but I keep reminding her that she's actually doing better than Megan was at the beginning of first grade. And she's a younger first grader than Megan was, too. They both get reading time in their beds while we put the little girls to sleep, and their voices reading aloud from their respective bunks is music to my ears down the hallway. Bridget will often ask Megan what particular words are, and Megan will patiently call down the answer from her top bunk. She'll even shout down, "Good job, Bridget! I didn't know that word when I was in first grade!" I love that Bridget is just as excited about reading as Megan is, and that she willingly reads by herself at night. (This is after they're done fighting about something, of course! Don't get the wrong idea that life over here is all reading and roses!)

Bridget is also very good at school! Unbelievably good, especially when compared to her behavior at home ;) Other parents tell me that they encourage their children with, "Why can't you behave more like Bridget?" Ah, if they only knew what they were wishing for! Bridget has devised a system for telling me about her day and what color card she ended with. I should know that if she doesn't say anything about the color, she of course got a blue card, which is the best. And, if she tells me, it will of course always be a purple card, which is the second best color. I wish I could be this confident of her behavior after the school bell rings! I'm thankful that she doesn't have any behavioral problems at school, but sometimes I wish she wouldn't save it up so much for us at home. 

We made our rounds on Back to School night a few weeks into the school year, and I was grinning from ear to ear upon finding the girls' artwork displayed in the halls. I love the little peek into their school days, and especially love their projects! Now, if only I was better at keeping and organizing their things. The humongous pile on our computer desk is not cutting it!