First Day of School!

My sweet girls were back to school today!  My eldest (who is now 5'7" and taller than her mother!) is in the 6th grade and my "baby" is in the 1st grade and in school for full days now!  (Mommy seemed to have a harder time adjusting to that than she did!)  They looked lovely in their new dresses -- they both like to wear dresses for the first day -- so glad that they appreciate getting dressed up for the first day of school!  When I drop my eldest daughter off at school or pick her up some days, there are kids that look like they came to school in their pajamas...  Yesterday we were all home for the day and with rain pouring outside we opted to clean closets!  I had meant to do it this summer, but time got away from me.  I always like the girls to start the school year off with a clean, organized room, and it certainly helps us to get ready faster when we know where everything is, and the dressers and closets are only full of clothes that fit!  Once they were in bed, I gathered up pictures for them to put in their lockers -- my little one has a locker this year too -- that is very possibly her favorite part about school this year!
 
Daddy, Grandpa and I were all there to walk them down to the bus this morning -- videotaping and cameras flashing away!  We were like the paparazzi...  Thankfully, my girls don't seem to mind!  (I figured if anyone said anything to my 6th grader about the fanfare at the bus stop, she could blame it on her 1st grade sister!)  I'm so happy that they get to ride the same bus to school in the morning -- it's nice for my little one to have her big sister there to watch out for her!  They have different buses in the afternoon (not sure why...) and this afternoon I took some time off from work to get home in time to meet them.  Of course, they were each late (always happens on the first day) -- my eldest daughter's bus was about 15 minutes late and my little one's bus was 30 minutes late!  I sat out on the front step for about an hour total waiting for both of the girls -- armed with my video camera again, of course!  It was so nice to be home early and to be there to greet them and hear about their days.  We went through their book bags, pulled out the things that need to be signed and sent back tomorrow, cleaned out their lunch boxes and got them ready for tomorrow.  Then we went upstairs so they could change into play clothes and I sat on the floor of my little one's room and cleaned out her dresser (hadn't gotten to that yesterday!).  We bought her a set of hanging "shelves" for her closet -- one of those soft-sided organizers that hangs from the curtain rod and has 6 shelves/cubbies.  She and I picked out outfits to get her through the rest of this week and the beginning of next -- outfit, underwear, shoes, etc. all set!  What a time saver that will be!  We had dinner a little earlier tonight, we read a book together before bedtime and we said our prayers and they were all tucked in on time with no running around and no chaos.  The dishes are done, the house is straightened up and we're ready for tomorrow -- oh, how I would love to get home early every day!!

Pencil Vase

To brighten up the breakfast table for the first day of school, I put together this little pencil vase with some sunflowers -- I tried to do this last year and didn't have enough pencils.  I bought 2 more packs when they were on sale this summer, but could still use a couple more to really fill it in!  I took an empty soup can and taped the pencils into place and then tied a sunflower ribbon around my "vase".  I think I'll look for some cute "school-themed" ribbon for next year!  I like to do a little here and there to make things special for my girls, and I love that they take notice!  My little one asked her sister this morning, "Are those PENCILS?"  And my elder daughter said, "Yes" and my little one said, "Are those pencils with their NAILS CUT?"  What a cute, funny way to look at it!