Back To School Feast 2013

It's that time of year again! Tomorrow I'll send my big kids off to 2nd grade and 1st grade.
 


Here are some photos from our 3rd annual Back To School Feast. And I use the term "feast" lightly here, since I made frozen costco lasagna and salad. Oh and the best cantaloupe EVER.

Plus donuts for dessert.

The decorations and stuff all basically came from the Target dollar spot. I grabbed a bunch of stuff and had no clue what I'd do with it. At the last minute I had the idea to use the paperclips to make the banner thing. They poked easily through the foam pieces  - ta da!

That's not paper ... it's the napkin! I was pretty excited to find those. Bought 'em in yellow, too. (Target)

Greta's thinking "what's going on and why am I wearing a crown?"

 First Grader Ruby who just had her tonsils removed last week. 

Crossing our fingers that she feels well enough for school in the morning.

 Big bro Max, going to 2nd grade. His teacher is from Slovakia and speaks English with zero accent. So cool.

 Simon was saying "peace out" - for real.
This kid cracks me up. No preschool for him quite yet. Home with mama still (yay)!

 Grandma joined us for dinner, too. Made the long journey from next door.

We talked to the kids about this:

I told them if nothing else, just remember those two things and they'll have a great year.

I was talking with some friends recently about this very topic and we all agreed that kindness really goes a long way. I hope my kids will always remember that.

When Simon was little(r) we'd remind him to be kind and he'd say "yeah cuz Joyners is always kind." I want to frame that on the wall somewhere. 

I best get to bed since tomorrow is a school day! No more lazy summer mornings.

Click below to see our other Back to School Feasts:

 2012

2011

Back-to-School Feast 2012

It's funny how quickly things become "traditions" in our family. My kids loved the Back-to-School Feast last year (see it HERE) so of course we did it again this year. I didn't really plan on repeating the menu but honestly I didn't make it to the store for anything else. And it seems I always have stuff on hand for a spaghetti dinner (besides a loaf of garlic bread but that was a quick grab on David's way home from work).

I picked up a few packs of crayons, some candy, and 88-cent flashcards and that was about all the prep I did. Thankfully it all came together because I have random crafty crap supplies around. Oh, I found the cute crayola cups at WalMart and the polka dot plates from Michaels. The brown paper on the table was a last minute thought as I was cleaning up today. I had just used it to wrap a package yesterday and I was about to put it away and had an "aha" moment! The kids loved it and they colored while I finished getting dinner ready. You can buy a roll of that stuff at the dollar store - so really it didn't cost much to put this "feast" together. The kids loved it, which is all that matters! We even had enough cupcakes to share with some of the neighbor kids. 

 

Good ol' construction paper and a cool pencil font for the "crowns" (?) or hats - whatever we want to call them. edited to add: I've had a few people ask where I got the pencil font. It was from dafont.com and it's called Back To School. <------ I hope that link works.

Max and Ruby wondered why in the world Simon got a hat but I knew full well he would want to be included. Yup - I was right.

The little pictures behind Max say "treat others the way you would like them to treat you"
and "gossip is not kind." There was another one about bullying and being kind. I found them through a random google search HERE. I mainly wanted to talk about the golden rule and being kind, so these were an easy and cute way to do it. I had them read the one on their chair and tell us what it meant. It was a good way to start a conversation about friends/kindness/bullying.

I used the alphabet flash cards to make a simple garland. I particularly liked the "Q" for quilt. :)
Of course what else is there ... Quiet? Quail? Question?
 

Found the printable cupcake toppers HERE.

Sorry, Greta, maybe you'll get a hat next year. 

You just sat there looking adorable in the high chair this time. 

What a little peanut you are!

Aerial view. Tricky to get everyone in the shot! 

Simon upside down = Nowis. haha!

We are all definitely excited for the new school year. 

Max is going to 1st grade (all day now!!) and Ruby will be half day Kindergarten. 

It's going to be great.

Last day of school!

Max and Ruby have successfully finished Kindergarten and Preschool! I found a simple idea  for teacher gifts on pinterest (originally from Family Fun). We used just one hand cut-out and I think they turned out cute. I figured the teachers might get a lot of treats or trinkets, but who doesn't like a new bottle of fragrant lotion?

If you still need a teacher's gift, give this a try. Come to think of it, this would work for any sort of thank you gift. "Hands down, you're the best" and "You deserve a hand" are the phrases we used. But really there are probably lots of options here. It's so easy.. ... no baking or crafting (except the tags, if you want to. I busted out the stamps, but you could do it on the computer). Just remember to trace your kids' hands before they go to bed, because if you're like me, you won't actually put these together til midnight.

The kids had some wonderful teachers this year. I always felt they were in good hands while at school.
Hey - there I go with the "hand" theme again! Didn't even do that intentionally.
I'm so thankful for great teachers and all their hard work!