For posterity's sake... Because we all know I would never forsake posterity.

As my alarm buzzed obnoxiously, bright and early Tuesday morning, my hopes for an excuse not to send my babies out into the big wide world were squelched. Her Highness and Thunder both jumped out of bed and began chattering away. A self-proclaimed dream weaver, Thunder's first words out of his mouth were, "I had a good dream. I was at school and I kept saying to the kids in my class, 'Hi! I'm Thunder.' and then they would say back, 'Hi! You wanna be my friend??!' so I had LOTS of friends!" Laughing I told him that was the perfect dream, because with his bubbly personality, he'd be sure to have a roomful of friends by lunchtime.

Before heading out the door, we forced the obligatory first day pictures on our sweet little students.....

"One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just isn't the same...."

is the song that comes to mind for the following shot:

Growing up too fast.

We dropped off Her Highness first. Her school starts at 7:30. Insanity. Purely.
Her Highness LOVES her teacher, and has several buddies in her class. Our entire family walked her into the classroom, and I was pleased it didn't seem to embarrass her. I love in the following picture how her sweet teacher bent down to make sure and squeeze into the shot, so Her Highness did too....

Next stop was Thunder's school. I will admit, I did a good job keeping it all together until the point where I took the following picture. I was fine until I said, "Hey Buddy, smile for Mommy!" And looking at his young, little face made my eyes well up immediately. So, I did what any (in)sane mother would do, and I grabbed him as tightly as I could, so he couldn't see my face all teary-eyed, and whispered, "I love you and I'm so proud of you. Be a good friend and a good listener. I LOOOOVVVEE YOOOOUUUU!!!" Then, I RAN out the door. Bert stayed one more second, to give hugs and kisses, then met me in the hallway, where I was dripping snot and tears like a leaky faucet.

Sidetrack....Isn't Thunder's teacher cute?? After "Meet the Teacher Night," Her Highness was describing Mrs. Teacher to a my BFF, Lindy, and said, "She's really pretty. And soooo sweet. She's kinda old, 'cause she's taught kindergarten for 16 years. So, she's about the same age as you and my Momma!" I tried to explain that I was only FOURTEEN 16 years ago, but she wasn't buying it. "Yeah, okay. But I still think y'all are about the same age."

In an attempt to lift my spirits, we headed over to our favorite breakfast joint in town. While waiting on our order, I asked Lightning and Hail, "So, what do y'all think about it being just us now??" Lightning looked all around the restaurant, then with a concerned tone said, "Umm, Momma. Can't you see all dese other peoples in dis westawant??"


At pick-up time, Bert won husband of the year by leaving me asleep on the couch, with Lightning and Flash Flood, and taking Hail to pick up the school kids. Tapping my foot lightly, he whispered, "Babe, I'm going to get the kids." Never opening my eyes, I mumbled something like "Thanks." or "Whatever." (but I hope it was thanks, because I did appreciate it very much.)

A little while later Bert called and said, "Where's the pick-up tag?? There are signs that say they won't release your student without the pick-up tag displayed clearly in the window." (A pick-up tag is a security measure Thunder's school takes, to ensure all students get picked up by the right person, and not some crazy stalker.) Still sleepy, I agreed with the signs Bert had read and advised him to come back home and retrieve said tag. "Nah. They know me well enough. Surely they'll give him to me." I encouraged him again, to come home and get the stupid tag. We live all of 4 1/2 minutes from Thunder's school, so it really wouldn't have been too much of an ordeal. Bert, being a typical alpha male, couldn't stand the thought of losing his coveted spot in the hour long pick-up line, and stuck to his guns. Until the staff member stuck to her guns, and instructed him to make his way around to the front entrance of the school, where he would have to sign-out in the office.

Once Bert had Thunder in the car, he called me again. "Hey. I finally got him. But they did make me go around the building, and into the school office where I had to sign Thunder out. Isn't that ridiculous??"

"Nope."

"Do you know what I have on??"

"Nope." (I was ASLEEP, duh.)

"I had just gotten back from the gym."

(Bert always wears old t-shirts, with cut-off sleeves to work-out. Sexy, I know.)
I started laughing at the image I was getting.

"So, I'm all sweaty and stinky. Plus.... I'M BAREFOOT."

"Wait, what?? WHY ARE YOU BAREFOOT??"

"Well, I wasn't planning on getting out of the car! Do you have any idea how hot the pavement is today?? My feet are seriously burnt. And I had to carry Hail because he doesn't have shoes on either."

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAH! OOOOHHHHH! THAT'S TOO STINKIN' FUNNY! You HillBilly!! Why in the world would you leave the house BAREFOOT??? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What if the car broke down? Or you got into a wreck? Or ran out of gas... or..... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! So you walked all the way into the office, dressed like a total redneck, with your redneck baby??!!! Oh, me. My side hurts."

"Did you hear me?? I said my feet got burnt. For real. They hurt real bad."

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry. I'm just picturing you and Hail, with all those other parents and the office staff."

Thank-goodness it wasn't Her Highness' bustling school he was entering dressed like a HillBilly. She would probably have turned around and asked for someone to call her Mother instead.

Singed feet and all, Bert finally returned with my sweet students. Hail insisted on carrying Thunder's backpack and lunchbox, boldly stating, "I'm going wif him to kimbergarden tomowoe. Den I'm going to second gwade wast night." ("Last night" is past, present and future for Hail.)


Flash Flood's face tells exactly how I was feeling. Pretty much all day. Today has been better though. And as much as I hate to admit it, being on a real schedule is helpful. My house stays a little (very little) bit cleaner when school is in session. The laundry is still in a huge pile, but that can totally wait. It will still be there tomorrow.

These last pictures are for my Daddy. Thunder really wanted his Granddaddy to see his new do.
He told the stylist that he had been growing it out to look like "Justin Beeper." She winked at me, got to work, then put a little gel in the front, since "that's just how Justin Beeper does it." she said, winking a few more times my direction.