Friday Favorites – Back to School

We wrapped up summer and headed back to school yesterday. I don’t know about you but starting on a Thursday is a much easier way to ease into the year. It’s just crazy how exhausting the first few days back can be for teens who are definitely accustomed to more sleep!

This will be Dillon’s senior year and Carly will finish up middle school in 8th grade. I’m not super emotional about milestones typically but did tear up just a tad when I took this picture and realized next year I’ll be down to one!

Of course taking a walk down memory lane can usually que some tears as well and how could I not get a little teary seeing that sweet little face on his first day of kindergarten!! So much has changed but his sweet smile is one of the things about him that has always been constant.

I mean, just look at that sweet little face!! My oldest two grew up quickly but these last two babies seem to be growing at warp speed.

For those of you who don’t know, Dillon is planning on being a Rice Owl next year. I have zero clue if this hand sign is really a thing or if he just thinks it’s funny.

My letterboard was still set up for the picture I took on the last day of school in May so I swapped out a few letters before going to bed on Wednesday night and of course rushed right through taking these pictures. Thankfully before I posted the first one I realized I had never changed the 7 to an 8!!! So, I just popped on PicMonkey and did a little photoshopping.

This little oversight will probably not be my last this school year but let’s hope all are just as easy to fix. As we head into the school year I always like to remind myself of one of Lysa TerKeurst quote “Don’t take too much credit for their good. Don’t take too much credit for their bad.”

While it is really easy to be super proud when their decisions are lining up with your hopes, dreams and values, it’s those times they are not that can really cause us to question our parenting skills. I think it’s always a good idea to remember no matter how well we think we are at parenting, their decisions are still their own. Continuing to give them a good foundation will be something they lean on as they battle their way through life.

Plus, sending a child off to college who has not made a few mistakes under my roof scares me honestly. While they are still here I at least have the ability to mentor them through some of the tough stuff like peer pressure, dating, time management, humility.

Hoping all of you have a wonderful school year whether you are a teacher, a mom of school age kids, sending one off to college or just a human having to navigate more cars back on the road! The transition of back to school can be a crazy one.

Happy Friday!