Thursday, August 30, 2012

BACK TO SCHOOL 101: giant pencils, blueberry muffins, and Apple Baskets for teacher





This BACK TO SCHOOL season is a little bit new for us.  Our boys are going back to the school they attended when they were younger.  For a few of those elementary years I home schooled them.  I have details on one of our home school class rooms in a past post,  HERE called Polka Dots and Crayons, a school corner.  I was super excited to hear that the school they learned at daily when they were little was using my favorite curriculum again, soooo....we made the switch!



I'm a lover all ALL seasons, and what I like best about the transition of long summer nights to clipped autumn days is the fresh routine, almost forgotten during the lazy, easy moments of summer.  I thrive on the newness of organized schedules.  It's like celebrating a HAPPY NEW YEAR twice a year.  We get two chances a year to create a fresh start, make goals, organize, and plan.

The boys transform into ORDER just as our daily lives do: their beachy blonde long hair gets trimmed to frame their adorable faces, their colorful board shorts and flip flops are traded for tidy uniforms and lace up shoes,  and their days are lined with timed routines instead of spontaneous mini adventures.  All seasons have treasures worth celebrating!  I thrive on the mad passion of summer just as much I thrive on the polar opposite season of "back to school" order and routine.  


Back to school breakfasts!




I can't believe I have a son in MIDDLE SCHOOL!  Wait a second, I was just in middle school.  This feels bizarre.  Cameron absorbs every chance to learn and he is the ONE who can't wait to open a new school book and read straight through it five times.  His mind is driven with passion toward learning.



Dakotah, my always bright-smiled, bright-eyed middle boy is excited about every season and every day (just like his mama).  The newness of school causes him to bounce right out of bed.   But soon, the novelty will wear off and he'll be waiting for the next great thing: Christmas!  (again, just like his mama!).



Titus, my baby my youngest, quietly anticipates new experiences with ready expectation.  He knows what he likes and with barely whispering a word,  he soaks up life.




We woke up EARLY-- painfully early, compared to what we're used to.
 I captured a big yawn here.




Waiting for the doors to open...



New shoes?  Check.




As I made Cameron hold still while I snapped pics of his shoes, I noticed how PERFECTLY STILL he was holding.  Then I drew my eyes away from my camera and found out why! He was reading while I took pictures! haha




My grandma (their great grandma) just bought them these CRAZY COOL super-sized pencils to kick off the new school year.  They discovered them in my grandparent's traditional treasure box on a recent trip to Arizona.    








I decided to CREATE A new tradition out of the pencils.  Every year, I'll record their grade and height and a side of each of their pencils.








The top names the grade and the bottom names how tall they are!
I double love these giants!




I spent a day baking dozens of breakfast muffins and freezing them for quick eats on rushed school mornings.  I will be sharing a post SOON on some of the muffin recipes.  These delicious ones were blueberry muffins in a jar.  Recipe coming soon...



1,2,3 muffins...for 1,2,3 boys.






Mornings start new with
fresh blueberries and books


Pencils ready for reading, writing, and arithmetic



Classic goodness in pretty jars




For teacher gifts, I wanted to give something simple and classic.  I told the boys about the pioneer days with one-room schoolhouses in the country.  Most of the students came from farms and the start of school was the prime season of apple harvest so students would gift their teachers with apples.  We still do that today! 



Apple baskets for teachers!



Just a simple apple paired with 100% apple juice, 
not a candy apple on a stick or anything fancy.  



I found these adorable school lined paper printables from Creature Comforts blog
I wrote a little spin off of the "apple a day" phrase:
An apple for each teacher today,
makes your students smarter in every way.





We are ready for a beautiful, brand new school year!
Learning is a gift to accept with grateful hearts.






For more BACK TO SCHOOL posts see:

Sweetly Sharpened and Back to School (with pencil cookies)

PB & J Comfort Cupcakes and eco-friendly lunch box ideas

Be safe, learn lots, have fun BACK TO SCHOOL wishes

Polka Dots and Crayons: a school corner

Hurry Up and Grow Up 

Apple Disc Power snacks



And remember to...






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5 comments:

Jenny said...

Oh my. Your boys are growing up so quickly!

Wonderful ideas as always!

I bet your house is impossibly quiet!

Anonymous said...

This is so cute! What a wonderful way to capture their first day back to school and the start of a new school year! Love the big bag of apples too!! I love classic things! Great ideas!! Also love your attention to detail- the boys' back packs are so cute- same style and different color to suit each kiddo! Love! The huge pencils are such a great idea and I am going to have to spend a day baking muffins in the near future... :) Have a great Labor Day weekend!!

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

You have a way of making everything so special - what a fantastic tradition1!

Sunshine said...

Oh my, I absolutely LOVE the first picture of the boys on this post! They look so smart and SWEET (because they are!).

Jill @ KitchenFunWithMy3Sons.com said...

Cute! We would love for you to share this on our Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday link party...just posted it! Thanks!
http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/2012/09/kitchen-fun-and-crafty-friday-link.html