Back to School

(copying this from my FB post)

We had our yearly Back to School dinner, we officially unveiled our theme/family mantra for the year, and talked about what we'd like to accomplish over these next 10 months. Our theme is based off of the book, 'Way to Be! 9 Rules for Living the Good Life' by Gordon B. Hinckley.

"Be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, be prayerful, be still, be involved, and be positive." Whew!! That's a load! But so worth our while to keep a focus on in all aspects of our life!

Our kids also really wanted to add in one more 'Be'! As if 9 weren't enough!?! "Be a pineapple - Stand tall, wear a crown, and be sweet on the inside." I was hesitant about this at first because I thought, "Wear a crown? That sounds awfully high and mighty -- quite the opposite of Be Humble!" But the more we thought and talked about it, wearing a crown isn't a bad thing at all. Wearing a crown is how you represent yourself. Your crown sets you apart from others. It should be something that people experience, hopefully appreciate, and remember about you. It means that you are YOU. And while we are wearing our crown we can continue to grow and work on being better. So over these next 10 months, we will hold our heads up high and wear our crowns with pride "for [we] are fearfully and wonderfully made." Here's to a good school year...and I am positive that it will be!

In preparation (and for our own personal art as decoration) the kids and I painted pineapples for our "Be a Pineapple" part of the theme.

Allie and Avery started a week before Blake. Kindergarten starts a week later so that things are quite as hectic once the little ones get there and the Kinder teachers use that time to visit their students and parents in their homes. All of our kids were thrilled to start school. Allie and Avery were especially excited and not really even nervous because they both had teachers that they had in previous years! Allie started 5th grade and has her teacher from 4th grade. Avery started 3rd grade and has her teacher from 1st grade. Blake was sooo ready to start school and very excited. A little nervous, but he loves it. And as this is a back post and already know how his year is going, I can say it was a great choice to send him! He is such a little sponge! Eager to learn and we are super impressed with his teacher!

He was very excited to finally get to ride the bus.