Back To School 2014

 

 

It's that time of year again....Back To School! We survived  enjoyed our Summer, but all good things must come to an end. Yesterday was our kids first day of classes.

 

I always try to get photos of the kids before they head off to school for the first day. I tried to make it as quick and painless as possible yesterday and had them post in front of our chalkboard again this year. (You can check out last years pictures HERE.)

 

I have to admit, since we had our Summer List up on the chalkboard, I got a little lax about doing a calendar. August never made it up there. So I decided to make a little 1st Day Of School graphic for our photos before the list gets erased for this year and September (gasp!) makes it's way up there.

 

I took each of the kid's photos as they were ready. First up....our middle guy.

 

 

He was so excited for his first day back! He actually did five weeks of Summer school, but he was still happy to return for the school year. He couldn't wait to see all his friends. What a blessing! I remember the days back in Kindergarten and First Grade when I had to literally push him on the bus every morning. It was traumatic for both of us! Now he tells me all the time that he loves school. He's come a LONG way Baby!



 

I especially love this photo. I may be a little prejudiced because I'm his Mom, but I think he has the best smile ever.

 

 

Next up was my daughter (She and above son are both in 8th grade this year.) She REALLY dislikes getting her picture taken. Always has. In her first couple baby photo shoots she has tears streaming down her face. I cried too....and we bought the pictures anyways.

 

I reminded/warned her the night before that we would be taking photos before school. She said she would only cooperate if I promised to put them on my blog.

 

Here you go funny girl!

 

 

I love her cute boxer top from Target. So cute! She insists on carrying this huge binder case for school. It cracks me up!

 

She had a lot of ups and downs last year, but I am excited to see how 8th grade goes. She has a new teacher this year and I think it will be a good change for her.

 



 

 

And last, but most certainly not least, is our oldest son....a.k.a. The High School Guy. Yep, this one headed off for his first day of High School yesterday. He was cool as a cucumber. I think I'm a little more excited/nervous/terrified than he is.

 

It takes a lot of planning, work, brainstorming, and communicating to make sure everything comes together for him at school. Sending him to a new school with different staff always makes me kind of nervous as his Mom and advocate. But I am really excited to see what high school holds for him.



 

 

And what other child do you know who is most excited because he has Geometry first period of the day? Seriously, he loves Math!

 

 

We had a super busy afternoon since my daughter also had a cross country meet after school (who schedules these things on the first day of school?), but it was fun hearing all their stories and excitement about their day.

Here's to a GREAT school year!!

Have your kids gone back to school yet? Do you have any First Day traditions or special photos that you take?

Back To School, A Transformation, And Making Memories

Have your kids gone back to school yet?  Yesterday was the big day for my kids. It's always a little bittersweet for me.  In all honesty, I'm usually ready for them to go back (and they are too.)  But it means that the last bit of Summer is slipping through my hands.

Back in the Spring, I painted a large chalkboard wall in our kitchen. (Stick with me, this will all come together and make sense in a minute, I promise!)  It was a huge leap for me, but now that I've done it, I love it! It's added a lot of character to our kitchen and, well, it's just kind of fun.

 

Here is that part of the kitchen "before."  Pretty boring, huh?

I was a little concerned after the first coat. It wasn't looking good. But after another couple coats, I was really pleased.

After the paint had dried for 24 hours, I seasoned the chalkboard by rubbing chalk all over it. This helps the chalk to "stick" better when you write on it and also prevents a ghost image which is when you can still see your writing after you erase.

Then came the fun part. I doodled around for a while and then decided I would do a large calendar for the month.



So back to Summer coming to an end.....

A couple years ago, I got really discouraged because it seemed like Summer was passing us by. I must admit that because my kids have special needs, it's often difficult and frustrating to try and go places with all three. I decided that if we were going to have any fun and make any memories, we were going to be very intentional about it. The Hubster and I sat down with the kids and made a "Summer List."  We allowed them all to choose things they would like to do or accomplish. We told them to dream big. We couldn't guarantee them we would complete everything on our list, but at least we would have some goals. Our first year's list was written on a piece of notebook paper and put on the front of the fridge and we checked things off as we completed them. Our lists have included everything from a vacation at the beach to visiting friends, a long car ride, eating at our favorite restaurants, and getting ice cream.

Now back to the chalk board.....

This year, as the kids spouted off things they would like to do this Summer, I wrote them on our new chalkboard. It was fun to have it right there in big letters in front of us all Summer. Many dinners around the table were spent talking about our list. And this year we did a pretty good job and accomplishing things on it. It's been fun to have this little family project and spend time together as a family, making memories.

So I thought it would be great to take a back to school photo in front of our chalkboard showing both our Summer List and the August calendar.  I think it was the perfect way to look back at a great Summer while also looking forward to an exciting new school year.