This year marks an important milestone year for my family. My oldest is a senior in high school and my youngest is in 8th grade. Each daughter finishes their respective level of schooling this year and then moves into their next major level of education. My youngest astutely pointed out [as I was gasping for breath trying to recover from this realization] that when my oldest is graduating from college, she will be graduating from high school so we can do this all over again in four years. She certainly does love seeing her mother in shock!

Per usual, I tried to capture photos of the girls on their first day. I then realized how much they had grown and changed even in a short period of time.

My oldest made some changes from her first day of freshman year to her first day of senior year. Not the least of which–she drove herself to school!

Perhaps not all that much taller, she definitely looks less like a kid who just finished junior high and more like a young woman almost ready to head to college.

These years have gone entirely too fast & I am so not ready for our daily lives to change.

The youngest has grown exponentially in a span from 5th to 8th grades. I was shocked when I put these two photos side by side.

I wish I had taken her 5th grade shot in the traditional 1st Day Photo area, but I think it was one of those–“Shoot! We didn’t take a picture! Quick! Hop out of the car and stand right outside the garage so we can grab one and go!” moments.

But it is not hard to see how much taller she is now. She is so strong and she continues to rock workouts when she joins me at the gym. She loves the workout group I belong to and they love her too.

It’s so great to have people in your life who appreciate your children completely independently of anything you have told them about your children. They love them for being their own people and that is pretty fantastic.

Aside from the first day of school, my oldest has already had her first public performance on her dance team as a captain, her last “Meet the Knights” events, her last performance on their school’s practice field, and her last Parents Meet and Greet at her dance team coach’s family business. This year, as a senior, she was able to say a few words about her time on the team and her parents. Her dad and stepmom couldn’t make the event, but my husband and I certainly enjoyed seeing her perform and hearing her say nice things about us.

What I had NOT anticipated was how huge of a difference I would see between a photo snapped on August 21, 2012 and one taken on the same day this year–the night of the Parents Meet and Greet.

It is amazing to me that these girls are not babies, toddlers, preschoolers, or kiddos anymore. They are big girls. I am the mom of big girls. And, I have suddenly become my mother when it comes to seeing babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kiddos. She was not kidding when she said those days would go by too fast. I’m sure it is compounded now that the her big girls’ babies aren’t babies anymore.