...just enjoy the ride: Back-to-School

This year summer flew by way too fast. I was not ready to return back to school. I feel like most of my summer was spent recuperating... oh wait, it was! No wonder school came too quickly for me this year. However, for my little girls it was a completely different story. The very first week of summer they were asking if it was time to go back to school. Well, after a long summer for them this is what back-to-school brought for them...

Something this summer happened to me, and I began looking at my children as little people that were not going to stay little for long. I realized I wanted to create memories for them that would last them a lifetime. With that, I came across this blog thanks to the help of Pinterest. I decided I wanted to begin some new traditions that would help light the spark of childhood and could even be carried out by my children if they wish.

The first tradition I started was the back-to-school fairy. This sweet little fairy brings the kids a few little gifts for the beginning of school. My intentions were to have the fairy ring the bell sometime during the evening right before the first day of school. It didn't quite work out that way as my two little curious girls found the packages outside the door before the bell rang. But, that's okay, there was still excitement and wonder as to where the bags came from. Each bag had a letter on it for each girl and a few things inside.

The second tradition I wanted to try out was making a gift for each teacher at the beginning of the year (in addition to the small gifts I created in previous years for Christmas and end of the year). Each gift had a tag that said the teacher's name and I hope you have a colorful year. The girls gave them the gifts on the first day of school.

This was the before shot.

Here is the after shot minus the tag.

Again, the before shot.

And, the after shot minus the tag.

The final tradition I wanted to start for back-to-school was a special breakfast for them. Because they started on different days, it worked out perfectly this year to have their own special breakfast on the morning they started school. They got to sit in mom's seat and have some fun things around them.

The sign I made for my kindergartener. We took pictures with it the next day before school. The overall view of what she saw the next morning when she went to eat breakfast.

The fun framed sign I made for decoration. I used it for both girls.

This is what my preschooler saw the morning she got up along with the what I want to be sign for her. I wrote each "what I want to be" in the girls' favorite color. The oldest was pink and the youngest was purple.

Although it was a little rushed in the morning and filled with anxious jitters, it was a good way for each girl to know that they were special and enjoy the thrill of going back to school. I wonder how long the desire to return to school each year will last? :)