Catching Up: Back to School Edition

This summer really has just flown by.  I meant to do so much and post things like my first ripe tomato and how I chose to plant succulents this year instead of flowers, but I never seemed to get around to it.

I wanted to show off my little fishergirl Quinn with her big catch of the season.

But I just kept putting it off until it seemed almost too late to bother.  But, last week a wave of nesting, along with the OMG school starts for everyone this week, sort of hit me and finally gave me the energy to do a bit more than just my day to day things. 

Back to school is often portrayed as something moms are really excited about.  The kids are out of their hair during the week and it comes across too that the mom will have less work to do than over the summer.  Hmmmmm.  It seems to work in the exact opposite way in our home.  Summers are all about the kids just getting up whenever they want.  Sure, they need to get to things like swimming lessons or tennis lessons, but those are never as early as school.  They don't come home every night with 82 sheets of paper I need to read over plus 4 forms I need to fill out.  I don't even really need to keep too close an eye on their activities because although I plan them, once planned I hand over the details to the husband who makes sure they get where they need to be.  Ahhhh, summer really is like a mini-vacation for me even though I work full-time through it.

Shannon started school a week before Quinn and Sully so at least that helped me to sort of ease back into things.  Who needs a lunch?  When is your spelling test?  Did you remember to put your library book in your bag?  Which day is free-dress day?  And on and on and on.

In an attempt to somewhat streamline things and help my own severe lack of memory, I hung a calendar on the fridge that instead of being monthly of everything that's going on for everyone, is just a set weekly calendar of what each kid has on each day.  So, Shannon has gym on Mondays and Wednesdays and Quinn has gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they both have library on Thursday, and Shannon has math tests on Thursday but spelling tests on Fridays, etc. and now I don't have to try and remember all that and instead can just glance at the calendar.  I can also tell the kids to check it each morning to make sure they have their gym shoes on if necessary and that they've packed everything they need for that day.  Right underneath that calendar is the school lunch menu which I have them mark at the start of the month each day they want to take the hot lunch.  It's their job to check that and remind me if they need a lunch.

I also wanted to help them be a bit more independent at breakfast and snack time so I created a little quick breakfast/snack station.

There are trays of breakfast bars and easy to grab breakfast biscuits (which Quinn loves), along with a basket of applesauce in a pouch and another of small bags of pretzels and other snack crackers.  Up on top of the bookcase is a cereal dispenser which the kids find fun to use but I find annoying because it creates a lot of cereal dust/powder.

Tuesday was the first day of K5 for Quinn and I actually managed to get a good picture of Shannon and Quinn together that morning.

For some reason it's easier for me to believe that Quinn is five than it is for me to wrap my head around Shannon turning eight in a few weeks.

Sully's school has a staggered start for the first week so he didn't have his first day until Thursday.  He was pretty excited to show off his Geo shirt, along with his Team Umizoomi backpack.  I can't wait for the day when Shannon and Quinn start to question why they have to wear a uniform and Sully doesn't.  Sully was just so cute that I wanted to squeeze him and not let him go!

This week wasn't even a full week and yet I'm worn out.  Tonight is a school meeting for the K5 class and then an ice-cream social which I know the kids will enjoy but honestly, I'd rather just go home and sleep.