Where did summer 2012 go??!!

Today is/was a big deal for us because today was the kids' first day of school.

I thought I had this whole Hop-in-the-car-to-drop-the-kids-off-at-school thing down packed.  I've certainly done it long enough.

I remember clearly dropping my little 3-year-old Marko off at Preschool with him kicking and screaming and begging me not to leave. UGH!  That was very tough.  I saw some parents sneak out of the room while their little one wasn't looking and I couldn't believe the look of shock, confusion and hurt on the little kids' faces when they realized their parent was gone.  I could never do that, so I sat with Marko for a while until I thought he was comfortable and I kissed him a gazillion times, Lo percine (made the sign of the cross) and told him how much fun he was going to have and that I would be back to pick him up when the other parents picked their kids up.
Since I was always blessed with the opportunity to be a stay-at-home-mommy, this, of course, was even more difficult for me!  I actually had a difficult time driving away from the school with only my 2-year-old toddler in the back seat.  Marko's empty car seat  was a huge reminder that I had left half of my heart at the school.

I got home, gave Gabriella a snack and played with her a while before getting her bath water ready when the phone rang.  Miss Terri called to inform me that Marko wasn't too thrilled to be there and that he wouldn't stop crying.  I remember dropping everything, grabbing my keys, toddler and my purse -- not in that particular order, and driving like a mad woman across town because my son needed me! I remember driving there on two wheels....well, not really, but almost!  I was racked with such terrible guilt, thinking Marko probably thought I had abandoned him or something!
I remember pulling up to the school, quickly unbuckling Gabriella out of her car seat and racing inside.  Marko and I sobbed all the way home.  It was horrible!
We tried again the following week and he did much better.  After that, he loved going because his friend Noah was there.

Here is one of Marko's preschool pictures.  All of his classmates had little siblings, so the photographer took one of the "student" alone and one with siblings. (:

Well, here we are, literally 10 years later on the first day of school.    It's still hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that my Gabriella and Marko are in the 7th and 8th grades, respectively.  This means that this time next year, Marko will be a freshman in high school!!  I know I'm going to have a hard time with that one!

Oh, and here is a picture of the kids today:

The hubs recently surprised me with a couple of new toys.  One of which was my new camera.  When I asked the kids to let me take their pic, they wanted me to take one of them jumping in the air. I tried.  I still have LOTS to learn on it...obviously (:

Here are a few of the out-takes, HA!:

Hahaha.  I very obviously DO NOT know how to even use the continuous shot thingy.  I'm working on it!


So as I was saying, this morning the hubs and I took the kids to school.  Things sure are different now, well some things are the same:  I kissed them both and did the sign of the cross on them both before they got out of the car.

I guess the only thing different is that this time, I was the one feeling a little abandoned and I was the one that had to refrain from kicking and screaming!

I sure missed my kiddos today.