On Sept. 1, 2007, they made headlines when they entered the world as Florida's first live sextuplets. Folks watched as the "Byler Six-Pack" were baptized, took to the playground as toddlers, made messes with birthday cakes, were potty trained, fought over toys and vied for their parents' attention.
On Monday, not quite 5, they celebrated another milestone: their first day of kindergarten.
"I didn't have time to cry," said their mother, Karoline Byler, who put her five sons and one daughter in the nine-passenger Dodge Sprinter for the four-minute trip to Double Branch Elementary School.
Karoline woke up about 7 a.m. and roused Brady, Eli, Ryan, Jackson, Charlie and MacKenzie.
The six kids were split between two classes. School officials initially wanted to put each child in a different class, "but that would have been a nightmare for me," Karoline said.
The two teachers, who work in the same pod, promised to coordinate their homework assignments to ease the workload on Karoline and her husband, Ben.
Here's a by-the-numbers look at a first day of school times six:
Lisa Buie, staff writer
$150 Total cost of school supplies and clothes for the sextuplets, thanks to couponing, outlet shopping and a small assist from grandma
90 Percent discount on the plaid shirts the boys wore on the first day
16 Medical appointments to get the sextuplets and their sister, Zoe, 9, ready
14 Packs of crayons
6 Pairs of scissors
2 Showers for the kids: One for all five boys; one for MacKenzie
6 Minutes behind schedule on Monday
1 Number of pre-first-day tantrums
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