Simplify your School Year

We have a week to go before the kids go back to school. In some ways I'll be spending this week trying to hold on to the last remnants of summer. In other ways I am craving a return to our routine. I've been running the kids around all over the place this summer. Part of the reason is to give them a fun and enriching summer, but honestly it's mostly to keep them occupied because Ken and I both work full-time.

This school year will be an interesting one for sure! We are going to have a kid in elementary school, one starting at a new middle school, and the oldest starting high school. I've already had a taste of the juggle that will be involved with the registration appointments we had last week. It's a fairly small school system, so you'd think they could coordinate things a little better, but NOPE!

I know it's going to be a lot to keep track of, so I'm setting myself up for success by trying to be really organized before we even get started. And when I saw our August theme for Blog With Friends was "Simplify Your Life," I knew exactly what to do.

In years past I've created some other ways to stay organized during the school year: a pencil can for Frances, a binder with all the important information in it, and a cubby system to keep all the stuff organized. This year, however, what we really need is a way to keep all the important dates organized in an easy to see place.

I've used an online calendar app called Cozi for a while now. It's great because Ken and I can both see it on our phones or computers and it syncs automatically. We have now reached the point where the kids need to see what's going on, but don't have ready access to smart phones to check on things.

While we were at Staples doing some school supply shopping, my eyes were drawn to a big dry erase calendar. I chose one that had space next to the calendar to write in, as well as a cork board underneath. I picked up a few other supplies and an idea was born.

I put the calendar in the foyer so it's easy to see as we leave the house. I wrote out the dates for August by checking the Cozi calendar as well as all those stray papers that have been getting sent home lately. Each kid picked out a color scheme and I labeled their events with magnets in that color. I also found some "cubicle clips" that have pins in the back to stick to the cork board and a clip in the front to hold papers. The cubicle clips and the magnets come in the same colors, so each kid can tell at a glance which things pertain to them.

The day after I put this up on the wall and showed it to the kids, Frances came home from her camp and clipped something to my clip underneath the calendar. "What's that?" I asked her. "It's a paper you need to sign for tomorrow," she replied. SUCCESS!!

Need some other ideas for how to simplify your life? Check these out!

Karen of Baking In A Tornado has Skillet Cordon Bleu Dinner. Start with a packaged rice mix, add leftover chicken, ham and vegetables for a quick and simple dinner in no time.

Dawn from Spatulas On Parade presents Parmesan Ranch Chicken. Simple easy recipe that doesn’t complicate our busy lives

Tamara from Part-time working Hockey Mom shows us her KEEP - DONATE - TOSS Buckets. Declutter areas of your house by using the tried and tested method that she calls keep, donate or toss.

Lydia from Cluttered Genius has a Simple (On-a-budget) Laundry Room Update. The house is from the turn of the 20th century, but the decor doesn’t have to be. An easy and on-a-budget update that even *I* could manage!

Jules of The Bergham Chronicles listsEasy Ways to Keep Your Family Organized and on Track. A list of ways to keep your family running like a well oiled machine, especially during busy times.

Random Thoughts While School Supply Shopping

It's the last week of summer vacation! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

Also...

It's the last week of summer vacation! YIPPEEEEEEEEE!

I can't totally decide which.  On the one hand, I've enjoyed having more time with the kids and not dealing with things like homework, conferences, homework, PTA meetings, and homework.  On the other hand, the kids and I are craving a little bit more structure than we've had the past 8 weeks.  I think we're all ready to get back into the swing of things. And we all need a break from each other!

Last week I took my kids back to school shopping. It's always a little bit crazy when we try to get that accomplished, but it was tax free weekend, so I figured I should mark it of my list.  Back to school shopping is it's own special kind of crazy, though, isn't it!

These are my random observances (in no particular order):

1. It's tax free weekend, but how much tax do you actually save? The notebooks and pencils I bought cost less than a dollar anyway. I'm not saving massive amounts on the taxes, but I'm stickin' it to the man, right!  So that counts for something! Never mind that tax free weekend brings out all the crazies at the same time!

2. Why are the lists both minutely specific and considerably vague?  One item on the list tells me the exact size and brand of notebook to buy. I was very worried they wouldn't have that one, but luckily the list had a picture!!  Further down, on the same list it says "2 boxes of pencils."  How many per box? Pre-sharpened or not?? Can they be fun pencils or do they have to be boring yellow ones?? I want to know!!

3. Why am I buying new marble notebooks when they only used 12 pages out of the one from last year? Can't I just use some fun duct tape to tape those pages to the cover and finish using the rest of the notebook?  Are my kids supposed to be using the whole notebook? Is there a Pinterest project about filling up the rest of the pages??

4. So many tissues!!  Can't I just teach my kids to use handkerchiefs? I've already got a ton of laundry anyway and those don't take up much space. It's not like I'm going to iron them!!

5. Speaking of massive numbers of items...what are the kids doing with all 36 glue sticks??  Are they using them as chapstick?  Eating them for snack?  Leaving trails of them behind in the hallways so they can find their way back to class?  Seriously! Is it just me or is that a lot of glue sticks?

6. What is with all the clothes shopping? Do kids suddenly have well timed growth spurts right at the end of summer? I've never had a reason to buy my kids all new wardrobes while back to school shopping, but from the looks of all the other shopping carts, I'm in the minority.  What did these kids wear last week that is suddenly not going to work for school? I understand catching things on sale, but how many pairs of jeans does one kid really need??

When do your kids start back to school?  Do you have any of the same questions while back to school shopping?

STEMville U.S.A

I've mentioned before how much I love my kids' school, and last week they had an amazing event that made me love them even more. You may know that many school are focusing on I-STEM activities. I-STEM stands for Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The purpose of I-STEM is to get kids thinking and using these sceinces in a fun and interesting way from an early age. In my kids' school each grade level has a different STEM activity they work on each 9-week grading period. These activities are designed to challenge the students, teach the SOLs (Virginia uses Standards of Learning, which I believe are fairly similar to the Common Core Curriculum used in many other states), and allow the kids to work together in a fun way.

The activity we attended last week was a family-centered STEM activity night. To begin the evening, we were all served lunch from the school cafeteria. The school system nutritionist was on hand to explain that the beef for the hamburgers we were eating had come from cows 30 minutes down the road in Dayton. She also shared that the lettuce for the burgers was from a farmer in Lexington, VA. The school system works very hard to provide fresh, local meals for the students. I was pretty impressed with our dinner.

So did the guinea pig who got to eat strawberry leaves

 

As we were finishing up, the principal and STEM coordinator explained the activity we would be doing. We were to create a town, called STEMville together. Each student had a different assignment based on their grade level. Kindergarteners were to create community helpers, first graders created housing, second graders provided the transportation, third grade created entertainment, and fourth grade designed the industry.

Along with each category came certain design requirements, again based on the student's grad level. For Henry's housing structure he had to build it so it was at least 10 paper clips tall (non-standard measurement is a first grade SOL), used three different types of materials, had a door that opened and shut, and had at least two windows. Frances' industry had to be more than 6 inches long, had to have a simple machine, had to be useful to the local industry (farming).

Henry and I designed an apartment building using some cereal boxes, the plastic trays from our strawberries at dinner, some construction paper, and masking tape.

Frances created a hospital with a handicapped ramp (inclined plane) and a popsicle stick/pipe cleaner sign on it.

 

Ken created a box truck even though he's not in second grade. I think he was just having too much fun at the event!

 

As each family finished their pieces, they added them to the stage which had been set up with roads and grass and a river. The town looked pretty incredible when it was all done!

Do your kids participate in STEM activities?

 

Posted with Blogsy

Calling It In

Three day weekends!  Three days of glorious nothingness.  An extra day in your weekend to relax and recoup.  Who am I kidding!?!  The kids are out of school and I've taken the day off for child care duties and catching up on all the other stuff I never seem to have time for.

And I should admit that I cheated a little bit, because I sent Benjamin to preschool and just have Frances and Henry home today.  So far we've doanted old tennis shoes to the PE teacher at school, dropped off three bags of clothes to Goodwill and cleaned out a bin of junk in the living room.  I promised the kids that if they helped with a chore they could earn a TV break.

We've got a lot of other stuff to get taken care of because some nincompoop (me) invited Frances' teacher over for dinner tonight and now I've got to make the house presentable.  Even better: Henry told me this morning that he had a dream that his teacher came over for dinner, so I guess I'll be extending that invitation sometime soon!

I am hoping to balance the work and the relaxation today and get my house and my head in order.  If you don't see a post from me tomorrow, though, please send help! I'm likely to be buried under a pile of laundry in the living room!

International Walk to School Day: 2013

Today is International Walk to School Day.  It's a fun day to promote health and wellness as well as giving kids a chance to meet their neighbors and get to know their neighborhoods a little better.  This is the fifth year that we have participated, seeing as how Frances has been in school for five years!  This is likely the last year that she will be able to participate fully because the Middle School is too far from our house.  But the fun thing is that all of the kids at our elementary school get to participate no matter how they would normally get to school!

Kids who live close enough (and have parental assistance) can, of course, walk from home, but some kids don't live close enough or don't have parents who are able to help them out. So the school does the next best thing! The bus riders all get dropped off around the corner from the school and all the kids get to walk in together from there. There are teaches and community volunteers who meet the kids and walk with them, as well as police escorts along the way.

This year we even had another special helper!  I honestly have no idea who he is, and the kids didn't seem to recognize him either, but he walked in the whole way with us. (I did ask him why he was walking and not running and he told me it was his day off!)  He did do a couple of funny little runs up to a tree and back and got all the kids laughing.  He seemed like a really neat guy and the kids ate it up!!

After we walked Frances and Henry to school, Ken and I continued on to Benjamin's school.  Then Ken walked to work, while I headed back home to get the van and drive to work.  In my defense, tonight is soccer/ballet night and I had to pack up dinners and still get to work in time to not have to use extra time off.

For the record, this is the first time we didn't use a stroller!!

How do your kids normally get to school?  Does your school participate in International Walk to School Day? Would you dress up in a costume to escort kids to school just for the heck of it!?!

International Walk to School Day 2009 and 2012.  Shockingly, I must not have blogged the other ones!!

School Routines

I am bound a determined to make this a good school year. I start every year with good intentions and things fall by the wayside.  This year, I have more than good intentions.  I have A PLAN!! 

It started out because the kids kept colliding with each other and fighting over the bathroom in the mornings.  So I started telling them they each have five minutes to go potty.  And while they are waiting they should be getting dressed and making their beds.  With three kids and three potty breaks I decided that all three of those things could be accomplished within 15 minutes. 

That means that 15 minutes after they wake up they should be ready for breakfast, right?  So that's the next thing I scheduled.  I decided to allow 15 minutes for breakfast because that would get us to 7:30 and it would be time to brush teeth, get backpacks and get ready to go to the bus.  I need to leave the house by about 7:45 with Benjamin, but Frances and Henry's bus doesn't come until 8:05ish, so that would leave a little bit of wiggle room and even some free time in the mornings.

The next thing I did was take this schedule in my head and step myself out of it.  The kids have been using my iPod for night time music since they've burned through another CD player, so I decided to set up alarms on that device since it would already be in their room.

I set a wake up alarm for 7:00.  It plays Reveille. Repeatedly.  It turns out that annoys the kids.  So I said, "Good! Get dressed and get out of your room!"  Then I cackled.  Well, not really.  Just inside my head.

The next alarm is set to play Mandisa's "Good Morning" at 7:15.  That's their clue to get to the table.  It's also a subtle reminder to make it a good morning.  That song always gets me pumped up and moving when I hear it.

The kids and I have been able to sit at the table and eat breakfast together each day this school year.  We have lots of different choices for breakfast, but most of the time we go with cereal or yogurt. Those are quick and easy and don't take up prep time I don't have.

At 7:30 they hear "Get Up and Go Go" from The Fresh Beat Band.  I am slightly ashamed to have paid for this song, but it does the trick and I have it on several different play lists for them.  This song means it's time to clear the table and get cleaned up and ready for the bus. 

After we are all done running around getting last minute stuff together, I have the kids sit on the couch.  We pray for our coming day and I stick in some gentle reminders about respect, behavior and being good friends.  Then Benjamin and I load up in the van and the older two get a moment to themselves (or with Daddy) before they go to the bus.

The most important part of this whole routine is my attitude about it.  I like the alarms because they keep us on track, but they also allow me to stop harping about what they should be doing.  They know, based on which song is playing, where they should be headed.  Also, it is essential that I am 95% ready for the day before they get up.  As much as I would like to stay in bed a few extra minutes, it is not worth the grumpiness that it causes in everyone to do so.

At first I was worried that our morning routine sounded so regimented, but this method has really taken a lot of morning stress out of the equation and I think it has been totally worth it. 

Do you have a morning routine?  How do you handle getting the kids out of bed and ready for school on a tight schedule?

First Day of School 2013

I am so excited for school this year for my kids!  Benjamin is starting his second year at an amazing preschool and he is thrilled to have his best friend S back in his classroom.  (They were separated at the beginning of the summer when S moved up early.)  The teachers at his school are great and very child-focused.  They really know what they're doing, and that comes from someone who used to do what they are doing for a living!

Frances is starting her last year of elementary school (just saying that gives me hives!!) this year with 4th grade.  She has had great teachers in the past, and she does again this year; but the cherry on top is that this yer her very best friend in the whole world, R, is in her class this year!!  She's got a lot of other friends in her class as well, and the boy that gave her so much trouble last year is not in there. 

Henry is starting first grade and he loves it so far!  He thinks his teacher is great and he's got some good friends in his room as well.  Again, one student he had issues with last year is in a different room, so I am thankful for that too.

I am really excited about all the things coming up for them this year! I can't wait to hear all their stories.

You can see last year's pictures here. Before that I was a slacker mom and didn't post such pictures! 

'Twas the Day Before Kindergarten

I used to be a teacher. Like "paid in a classroom with students" kind of teacher; not "guide my children through life instilling lessons and virtues in them" kind of teacher.I'm still that. The second one. Anyway, I used to be a teacher.  I taught second grade.  Then I had Frances and I discovered that I was not good at juggling.  I quit teaching in the public schools and went to teach in a pre-school.  Frances was with me every day.  She was just down the hall and I could see her and hear about her anytime I wanted.  Then she came to my classroom.  And because of her birthdate, she was in my class for two years.  There were some ways in which that was hard on me, but honestly I don't recall many of them.  I was her teacher at home and at school.  We spent all our days together.  

When she went to Kindergarten it was hard on me.  Actually it was HARD!  I hadn't been away from her this much before.  I hadn't placed her in the care of others for such long periods of time.  She was having experiences that I didn't know about and had no awareness of.  My classroom seemed odd without her.

Henry was down the hall from me at this point.  But that was different.  He is the second child, and good or bad; there are things that are different about the second child.  I'm not saying it was easy to send him off to Kindergarten a few years later; it was just different.  And honestly, he and I never meshed when I was his teacher.  Frances understood the difference between "Mommy the mommy" and "Mommy the teacher."  She gladly shared me with her classmates.  Henry didn't.  He wanted all my attention all of the time.  He didn't like it when other kids gave me hugs, or sat in my lap, or got called on at the carpet. It was stressful to have him in my classroom; for both of us.  We were both glad when he got a new teacher and went off to Kindergarten.

I digress.  This poem is one I originally wrote when Frances went off to Kindergarten.  I think of it every year around this time.  At this point, we know who will be teaching the kids this year.  We've started adding them to our nightly prayers.  The kids are excited to go back to school and see their friends.  But I still get a little misty when I get ready to put them to bed the night before the first night of school.

Enjoy. Today, the bigs and I are spending the last day of summer together.  Hanging out and making memories!

"Twas the Day Before Kindergarten" 

(My apologies to Clement Moore.)

Originally posted August 2009

'Twas the day before Kindergarten
And all through my house
Both my children were stirring
But there'd better not be any mouse!

The supplies had been purchased
And taken to school
New crayons and glue sticks
The Princess backpack was cool!

Frances was excited
And giddy, for sure
Tomorrow will be
A big day for her

Mommy and Daddy
Seem excited too
But nervous and anxious
About something so new.

We'll lay out the clothes
Before we go to bed
And take a good bath
For a squeaky clean head

In the morning, it's breakfast
And rushing to dress
Our fingers are crossed
Her hair won't be a mess!

We'll take the whole family
We'll walk up the street
She'll get on that big bus
She thinks is so neat

I'll probably follow
Like a humongous dork
To watch her get off it
'Fore I go to work

She'll walk in that big school
By herself, All alone
She'll take my heart with her
My big girl, my own.

She'll go to her classroom
She'll make lots of friends
And I'll be there to meet her
When her day ends

I'll hear all the stories
'Bout lunch and her class
I'll ask lots of questions
Of my sweet little Lass

I pray God's protection
Around her all day
That He will be with her
Since I can't be today

The tears will start flowing
I'll cry like a fool
'Cause my sweet little baby
Has gone off to school

Frances going to Kindergarten.

End of The Year Teacher Gift: Fill In The Blank

It's the end of the school year!!  My kids get out early on Friday and then that's it for Kindergarten and Third Grade.  I have been trying to figure out what to do for the teachers to show our appreciation.  I recall getting an odd assortment of gifts, some of which were nice and some of which were...well, odd.  I have a lot of coffee mugs and candles from that era of my life.  And while I always try to appreciate the thought behind the gift, I don't want to clutter up someone else's desk. 

When I was teaching, one of my favorite holiday gifts to make for parents were kid interviews.  I would make a cute little story and leave blanks in it for the kids to fill in.  I'm sure you've seen them for Mother's Day or Father's Day.  So I made one for teachers and thought some of you might enjoy it as well.

The picture is a bit small, but it should link you to a PDF version you can use.  If you want me to email you a copy as a Publisher file, just email me and I'll get it out to you.  We filled them out last week for the kids' teachers and Henry's teachers said she loved it and was planning on framing it.

Hope you parents out there are surviving the last few days of school!  Have a great day!

Read to Dream

I had my second PTA meeting last night at the kids' school.  We had a bunch of different stuff all going on at the same time, so I had asked a student of mine to take the boys out to dinner while Ken had Frances and I was at the meeting.  I had talked all week to the boys about Miss Deserae coming to take them out to dinner.  They were really excited to go to McDonald's.  I had even told them that Deserae was going to take my car so we didn't have to move car seats. I was slightly worried that Benjamin wouldn't want to go, so I kept going over the plans. I thought I had been pretty thorough, but when we pulled up next to Deserae's car in the school parking lot Benjamin looked out the window and yelled, "Dis not McDonnels!!!" and started crying!  Thankfully Deserae said he calmed down as soon as he saw a "skoo bus" on the way to dinner and he was fine the rest of the night.

Henry is a full head shorter than all of his classmates!

The kids' school is a Title 1 school which means that they receive federal funds for their programming. In return for the funds they are required to put on several programs during the school year for parents. Thursday was the first one, entitled: "Read to Dream Literacy Night."  The kids and teachers all wore their pajamas along with bathrobes and slippers.  The kids sang some songs and recited a story and the principal read everyone a bedtime story. Then students were invited back to their own classrooms to do some "make it/take it" projects.

First we went down to Henry's classroom where the kids got to color two snakes with the alphabet written on them. One snake is the game board and the other you cut out to create a letter or sound matching game. The kids shared the coloring responsibilities.
Then we went to Frances' classroom where they kids each got to make a bookmark and decorate it with yarn and stickers.  Benjamin went to town with the stickers!

The kids also got a free book as they were leaving. We were among the last to leave (SHOCKING!!) and I vaguely remember rolling my eyes as I heard one of the teachers telling Henry, "Yes. You can have two books."  In the car he showed me both of his books.  

"Look, Mommy! I got the attic book and a Robin Hood book!"

As we were driving home, I told the kids we would finish up one story and go to bed (BONUS: They were already in their pajamas!)  Of course, Henry had to push things, "Can we read my attic book too, Mommy?"  I said, "OK, fine. We'll finish the monster book and read your attic book."  And he says, "What about Benjamin's book?" But I don't remember Benjamin getting a book, so I'm not sure how I can read it.  Henry says, "He has the Robin Hood book!"

The jury is still out on whether Henry tricked everyone into giving him two books by saying one was for Benjamin, or whether he really did get the book for Benjamin.  I'll leave it up to you to decide.

Walk to School Day

Every year the kids' school participates in International Walk to School Day.  We first joined in when Frances was in Kindergarten, and have happily walked to school every year since then.  This year, Ken had to go to Ruckersville early in the morning, so I was on my own.

 Ken snapped a picture before we left. I took my JMU pompoms to work with me because I need them there for a secret project. We used them on the way to cheer ourselves on!

As we went up the street we saw some other neighborhood kids walking to school, so we invited them to join us.

They walked with me while Frances and Henry ran ahead.  Can you see them in this picture?  Henry is next to the middle tree-you can barely see the blue of his backpack.

 

We dropped the kids off at school and I started walking back with Benjamin in the stroller.  The best part about this event is that all the kids at the school get to participate-even if they normally ride the bus-because the buses take the kids three blocks down the street and drop them off.  On the way home, Benjamin and I had to swim against the tide of all these other kids walking to school. It was great!  The police were out there directing traffic and high-fiving kids.  All the teachers and principals were out there along with community volunteers and other parents.  It really is fun and I'm glad we got to participate again this year!

First day of School

Last night I was worried about the kids getting up on time for school, since we were out late.  Nope! They were up at the crack of dawn! Excited and ready to go!! We all got ready, I packed the kids lunches, they brushed their teeth and hair and we even had time to sit down at the table to eat breakfast together!  After all that we went outside to take some pictures.  I got some of the kids individually and a few of them all together.  Frances looks so big compared to the boys! I think she has grown quite a bit lately!!

 

After I took as many pictures as they could stand, they wanted to walk up to the bus stop.  25 minutes early!! I couldn't really stop them, so off they went!

 We hung out at the bus stop and played around.  Frances sneezed and I caught it on camera!! LOL!

 Benjamin showed me his new shoes with dinosaurs on them.

 Then he started walked away back towards the house. I called after him and asked him what he was doing. I though he said something about picking flowers, so I asked him to come back. He kept walking, so I had to go after him. He stopped at one point and said something else I didn't quite understand. I must have looked confused, because he looked at me and yelled "I POOPED!!"  So I called Frances and Henry and we walked back home. Then I was concerned that we would be late for the bus after being so early before.  It all turned out okay and Ken was able to get enough of a break from work to come see the kids get on the bus.

He took a picture of me with Frances and Henry.

 I took a picture of him.

 Henry found some sticks and pretended to be a buck while Benjamin chased him around the road.

 Then finally, after all our waiting, we heard the bus! It drove up the street...

 and the kids got on and went to school.

And then Benjamin cried all the way to preschool, "I want them! I want them!!" Not sure if he was more upset about Bubby and Sissy leaving or if he just wanted to ride the bus.

First Days

I'll post some more thoughts later, but I wanted to get these pictures up because I think they are cute!

Last Day of Summer

Benjamin started his new preschool today and the drop off went very easily. He saw lots of cars and trucks to play with and that distracted him enough that he wasn't upset when I left. That and the fact that there were only three other kids in the room when I dropped him off. I think he's going to like it there.

First day at his new preschool!

I took the day off to spend some time with Frances and Henry.  When you have one kid things seem hard; then when you have two, doing things with just one of them seems so easy! When you have three and you spend the day with the two that can get in and out of the van by themselves, talk to you about things and (mostly) follow your directions; it's cake! You might even think it was fun!!
First we headed out to Target and got Henry a new car seat! He LOVES it!! (And it was on sale and in his favorite color.)  Now he just needs to learn how to buckle it. Good thing he has Frances there to help!

 

After Target we walked around in the Mall for a little while. Frances wanted to go to Claire's, so I let her and she had a good time looking around at everything.   We walked around the rest of the Mall and I found a pair of shorts for myself.  I don't wear shorts very often and apparently most of the ones I own are 5+ years old and don't fit as well as I would like.

After our browsing trip, we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. I had my "year supply" coupons and I also had some coupons the dentist gave the kids.  After upgrading our meals and adding lemonade, lunch for all three of us was $2.41!! Can't beat that!!

Next we went over to the JMU bookstore. I have been wanting to get the kids some JMU stuff ever since I started working here, but have just never made the trip over there. I figured it was a good day to try since the JMU Faculty/Staff picnic was tonight!

New JMU gear!

Chowing down on an ice cream sandwich.

We went home for a bit and then went out to pick up Benjamin, drop off a JMU shirt for Ken, pick up Benjamin and then get our CSA basket.  Then we headed to the JMU picnic. Thankfully I met some friends from church there who offered to stand in line with me and help me out since Ken was still at work. Then Pete had the brilliant idea to get the kids dessert first!  Once in a while, it won't kill them, right??  Well it did keep them pretty quiet in the line and Benjamin doesn't eat dinner anyway.

We got home later than I had wanted to on the night before school started, but the kids had already gotten their backpacks ready and picked out their clothes, so it wasn't too bad.  Tomorrow is a big day!!