It’s all too dang fast.

Blogging hiatus?

No.  Just busy.  Life keeps whizzing by and I’m trying to be present in the crazy of it all.

This week?  My firstborn started Kindergarten.

We’ve had a lot going on around here, but I knew I wanted to have a Back to School Eve dinner.

I  knew immediately that I needed to store the idea in the recesses of my brain to use in the future…two years later.

Two years later came faster than I imagined, and in the blink of an eye, I heard myself asking Henry what he would like for his special dinner.

I wanted to decorate a little bit to make it feel special, so I shopped my house for whatever looked fun and would look like a celebration.

A few yards of polka dotty oil cloth, flowers from the living room, leftover colored napkins from a birthday party years ago, and mason jars with cute lids.

I am constantly reminded that kids don’t care if something is worthy of Pinterest.  They don’t care if it all matches.  They don’t notice if there are little labeled flags in all the food.  They just see that something is different.  And for kids, different equals special.

And polka dots.  Polka dots pretty much mean happiness, so you can never go wrong there.

Henry painstakingly picked out everyone’s straw according to their favorite color.

The girls got pink straws.  I also got pink since that’s the closest to red.  Daddy had blue.  And he picked out green for himself.  Of course.

Uncle Ben was coming for dinner too so it was great anguish and consideration to finally settle on yellow…since we weren’t sure what his favorite color was.

These are important things.

Oh, and a bunting banner.

Because nothing screams party like bunting.

This adorable banner was made and given to me by a friend who brought a practically gourmet dinner over after Owen was born…and included this.

I assured her it would get heavy use around here.

Its inauguration at Back to School Eve.

When I first asked Henry what he wanted for dinner…ANYTHING he wanted…his favorite food…his response?

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  And artichokes.

I mean, I know I was supposed to let him pick and all, but seriously…I didn’t really want to eat that bizarre combination.

So I did what any other parent would do: I gently steered him somewhere else.

Thank goodness because he changed his mind and settled on waffles.

My favorite part of having a gigantic chalkboard in my kitchen?

I get to color.

Thanks for the photobomb little dude.

And I am reminded that perhaps I should update the photos of Owen…since he is out of the womb and all.

The next day we headed out to Kindergarten with our new (but look really old already) shoes with neon green laces.

When I instructed Henry to stand for a picture, Lucy jumped in.

“Lu, get out of the picture…it’s Henry’s first day okay?”

“No mom, can she be in the picture with me?  I want her in it!”

These two.  I will never understand them.  Inseparable.  Forever together.  And always fighting.  I can never seem to keep them apart for more than a few seconds…and yet, they can’t ever seem to play without some skirmish or cry or general drama from erupting.

I love the second picture.  Lucy looking to her big brother.  Copying him.

I may lose my mind corralling these two.  But at least I’ll be smiling when I do it.

I thought I would cry.  But I didn’t.  I thought it would be sad.  But it wasn’t.  I thought I’d take a million pictures.  There are only two.

Funny how that goes sometimes.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

jeannett
I'm a mom to four. A wife to one. I believe in story. I love telling you about mine and would love to hear yours. There's really no sense in wasting our suffering and not sharing in each other's joy. We're all in this together...even if it doesn't always feel like it.
jeannett
jeannett

Latest posts by jeannett (see all)

Comments

  1. 1

    Great idea about a back to school eve dinner! And it totally looks Pinterest worthy!
    I did the same thing on our first day, I thought i would take a million pics and cry and all of that. My Instagram pics came out the best and I didn’t shed a tear.
    Happy Kindergarten!
    Megan
    Absolute Mommy´s last blog post ..Football Wife Fashion {Tuesday 10}

  2. 2

    Gorgeous kids. You are blessed! And could you have picked more perfect names than Henry, Lucy, and Owen?!
    Heather´s last blog post ..How to Implement an All-Cloth Kitchen

  3. 3

    I love the back to school eve dinner idea. I’m storing it away so in 4 years when my son goes to kinder I’ll be ready. I know those 4 years will pass faster then I can ever imagine :(
    also, I really want a chalkboard wall/area but my husband is so not into it. he’s a pain like that :)
    kara marie´s last blog post ..family

  4. 4

    ADORABLE!! Thats awesome you didn’t cry! My youngest started kinder on the 14th, and I’m pretty sure that I cried enough for the every mama whose child ever started kinder!! haha
    And I agree anything with polka dots make everything amazing :)

  5. 5

    Cute post and agree that kids don’t care if it is pinterest worthy, they just care about having their friends over to share with and that it’s something different and special. However, you set up looks lovely nonetheless.

    Thanks for sharing my lids with your readers, I appreciate your kindness :-)

    cheers! ana

  6. 6

    What a fun idea!! I think anything that we can do to make big moments special for our kids is huge. And I know he had a wonderful time!
    Courtney Kirkland´s last blog post ..A Bit of Perspective

  7. 7

    Well your two pictures are better then the NONE that I took of Adam’s first day of Pre-K! LOL – poor kid…it was a rough morning though and rough mornings don’t get camera time :)
    I can’t believe Henry is in Kindergarten…that is blowing my mind.
    I love that you had waffles for dinner!
    Kirsten´s last blog post ..Still at it….

  8. 8

    Oh, sigh. It’s just so much goodness, Jeannett! Thinking of your adorable kiddoes and Joy’s little Ezra, and my cuties at their brand new school, and it’s just all so good, you know? GOD is so good!

  9. 9
    Darcee JakovljeviC says:

    Hi Jeanette
    Where did you get that picture in your kitchen with the coffee cup and the word “overflow” on it?
    I remember being on a site that sold them once but can’t remember what site it was.
    Thanks and love your party!
    Darcee