First Day of School 2018

The much anticipated first day of school went off without a hitch!  As soon as the alarm buzzed I was down the hall, gently waking the boys for their first day of the new school year.  Not two seconds later I had three boys bounding down the hall excitedly chattering about what their first days in the Lions Pre-K, Mrs. B & Mr. C's 1st Grade and Mrs. M's 4th Grade had in store for them this school year.  Good heavens!!! (I was picturing notes home that my kids just couldn't stop talking and who could these irresponsible parents be?!)

All dressed with faces washed, teeth brushed, hair combed and chores done in record time it was finally time for breakfast.  It's tradition in The Nook to have pancakes and chocolate milk for the first day of school each year.  Our little students were all smiles!

Afterwards we headed out to start our morning rounds of dropping off the littlest pipsqueak first and working our way back to the elementary school.  We got to Lion & Lamb and Dax, to my tearful wave and "I love you" bounded off with one of his little friends and didn't even look back.  My heart actually hurt at this point!

So what does any crazy first day of school mom do?! Why, I relied on the other two to be a little sad I was dropping them off at their first day of course!  No such luck, and in reality I'm glad my kids love to go to school and were excited for today.  I was able to help Carter and Ethan both find their seats in the classrooms, unpack their back packs and plant one more kiss on their sweet little faces.  I'm SO glad I did that!!  Behold the faces of pure bliss...

Though we are 5 years in to this whole school thing the first day of school is always a day of new beginnings for us.  The smartest, funniest kids I know get to embrace a new experience.  I am SO unabashedly proud of my boys for bravely and happily heading off to another great year of school.  And we are all eager to do it again tomorrow!!

Sweet dreams are in order in The Nook tonight!

xoxo - j

Back to School Eve

Well, it's the night before school around these parts.  All at the request of the boys we had Lucky Charms for breakfast, went to church, then had a mellow afternoon around the house, made cookies, jumped on the trampoline and had spaghetti for dinner.

We took the boys up to the school this evening to snap a few pics since I'm quite sure tomorrow will be too crazy or I will be blinded by my own tears (quite likely both).

And now I've packed the backpacks, made tomorrow's lunches and snacks, laid out our first day outfits, chatted and tucked the littles into bed.

Everything is ready for tomorrow...except me =)

xoxo - j

On the Book List {July}

There is nothing I love more than basking in the sun lost in the pages of a good book.  At the beginning of the year I picked 4 authors I wanted to read and printed their book lists.  I am slowly making way through them.

Don't judge me because I am reading a Christmas book in July, but The Trouble with Angels by Debbie Macomber (this is the 2nd book in her Angels series) is just a sweet read about three families each facing their own challenges during the holiday season, only connected by the 3 angels sent to answer their holiday prayers.  The first book made me happy cry, so I can only imagine what the end of this one will do to me!

Amazon says:

A Wing and a Prayer

When irrepressible angels Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy set out for the City of Angels to grant three rush Christmas prayer requests, they are sure they can help without resorting to, er, divine intervention. But they soon find it will take more than one miracle to teach their precious lessons of love—as well as make three special holiday dreams come true!

Happy reading y'all!!

xoxo - j

Fri-Yay

Lord knows my family loves a fun-filled day, let alone a fun-filled Friday.  And just because we are on summer break, do not think for a second that we haven't jam packed our days with activity after activity.  Here are our favorites from Friday...

Mini Golf

Wild Island's mini golf is closed for the season, which was extremely disappointing to discover.  However, Magic Carpet Mini Golf did not disappoint.  Every corner of this put-put boasts loads of fun for the kiddos.

Food Truck Friday

Food Truck Friday is a must during the summer with littles.  The food options are amazing, the live music is so fun to dance to and the time together is like none other.  It's a playground of food and fun!  We got lucky to have our cousins and friends join us this past Friday!

West Wind El Rancho Drive-In

Down in one of the oldest parts our Biggest Little City sits a drive-in movie theater that has been there since my dad was in high school!! 

You cannot go through a single summer here without going to the drive-in movies.  It's just not possible!!  There just isn't anything like laying in the bed of the pick-up enjoying a bucket of popcorn, loads of candy and a good-ole Diet Coke!!  As if that's not enough, we had the pleasure of seeing Hotel Transylvania 3 AND Jurassic World.

Clearly we couldn't see what that picture was going to look like before it happened, so it's pretty silly!!  I'll be missing these fun summer days (my wallet on the other hand....)

xoxo - j

Summer Bucket List

It's hard to believe Ethan and Carter will be headed off to fourth and first grade next month.  NEXT MONTH!!! Yikes time is flying!

Around The Nook, we count down to all things we look forward to...Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Birthdays...you catching what I'm laying down?!  So it is only fitting we would be counting down to the day the boys step foot back on the playground.  In the vein of schooling and learning our 2018 Summer Bucket List is centered around the alphabet.

We have diligently been crossing things off our list as there is less than 26 days left before our first day of school.  There is no reason not to send the boys back to school with 26 fun-filled memories in the coffer!!

xoxo - j

Nights Like Tonight

Tonight we were faced with a lazy summer evening with nothing to do, so we had a grand ole time doing whatever we wanted.

We celebrated Taco Tuesday...

We watched bits and pieces of the BFG...

Then we decided to decorate animal cookies and watch The Greatest Showman...

Now I have "Rewrite the Stars" stuck in my head!!  And that, my friends, is what lazy summer nights are all about!

xoxo - j

Little Supplies

Time has evidently been ticking by, school starts in 4 Mondays from today!!  FOUR WEEKS?!! Twice last week I told myself I was not going to wait until the last minute to get school shopping done.  Now I can just sigh with relief!!

We thoughtfully wandered through the boys clothing section looking for jeans, t-shirts and a special shirt for the 1st day of school.  I love all the colors and geometric shape patterns they have on the boys' t's...yes please!!  They did not have a huge selection of jeans unfortunately, but I do have remind myself that it's the beginning of July!  It goes without saying that Dax has clothes to match the biggest brother and the middle brother.

The last part of our Target run was my favorite.  Get this...I was able to hand E & C a pen and their shopping lists and off they went picking out their school supplies one aisle at a time.  First grade had a smaller list than I remember from a few years back but man how am I already shopping for FOURTH GRADE school supplies?!  It's just too much!!  At least I got them to agree to use their backpacks two years in a row.

Thanks boys!!  We can check this little task off our summer to do's!!

xoxo - j