Back to school part 2

Today is Alexander's first day back at school. As predicted, he was not too happy to get up early but, once up, didn't complain too much about not being allowed to sleep until 11am ;) He was even in a good enough mood to let Andreas and me take a picture of him before he left ;) I have noticed already that Nicka and Oliver are less tolerant of pictures than when they were younger but- let me tell you- Mr. Teenage Alexander is really a hit or miss for picture time. Luckily, today was a hit and we got him ;) Maybe it was because I bribed him with lunch money ;)

Here is the first day of grade 9!

Back to school part 1

Today was back to school for both Nicklas and Oliver. I can hardly believe it: grade 6 and grade 3! This morning's routine was a bit rough because it seemed so unfamiliar... and early.... and without enough caffeine (for me... not them) ;) They boys, even though they were denying it, seemed excited to see their friends again and to meet their new teachers. We even made it out the door 20 minutes before I had expected to leave. It was a good start! Let's see what happens tomorrow when Alexander starts. Getting that kid out of bed is a much bigger challenge ;)

See you tomorrow for part 2 xox

The usual "First Day Back at School" picture

Grade 3

Grade 6

The kid that is still sleeping behind this window will be in grade 9 tomorrow ;)

My (not so) secret addiction

Soon, it is back to school time. All my life, I loved this time of year. Sure, part of it was because I missed my friends.... another part was because I was always excited to see who my new teacher was.... and another part was because it was always exciting to start something new. All those, together, might have accounted for about 25% of my love for back to school time. The remaining 75% was- and still is- school supply shopping. My not so secret addiction is school supplies :)
I LOVE school supplies... the feeling of being able to (haha!) get organized... the new-ness of the pencils and pens... the fluorescent highlighters... the sticky notes... the clean binders... the endless possibilities of a new agenda ;) I can spend hours wandering in the aisles, just looking at (and buying) supplies ;) My boys think I am strange... but, maybe, that is why I ended up a teacher ;)

Happy school supply shopping :) xox

Slow back to routine

Today is my first day back at work. To be honest, I am not quite sure how I feel about it yet. The return to routine is always a mix of relief and panic at the same time. The boys still have a little over 2 weeks left of their summer breaks but already you can feel a sense of winding down... no more swim meets... tennis ending... fall football starting... school supply shopping... the mad dash to get that last minute dentist/doctor appointment... soccer playoffs.... school shoe shopping.... seeing whether last year's school clothes still fit.... starting to think about the return to school lunches. As much as I feel the summer is a non stop whirl wind of activity, it seems so short when it is over.

Happy Monday! xox

Sucker!

I am a sucker... and I am fully aware of it. I am the type of person who, no matter how much I don't feel like volunteering or taking care of something, always ends up with it on their plate. You know the kind? The one who tries not to make eye contact with the person asking for help, yet always seems to make eye contact? The person who can see red flags coming 500 miles away, yet ends up doing it anyway? The one who loudly tells everyone that they will never do it again, yet does it anyway? The one who thinks to themselves "What a dumb project!", yet finds themselves in charge of it. Well, that is me. Sucker... su-cker! All of my friends are either just like me (you know who you are!)... or spend most of their time laughing at me (you also know who you are!). The thing is that I don't need thanks for it, nor do I need to feel needed... I am just a sucker ;) Plain and simple!

So, in honour of the fact that I just spent most of the day doing something that I really could have felt better NOT doing (and no- it was not laundry), I will now sit on my front porch and have a coffee... and let go of my sucker-dom for a little while ;) Ha!

Wishing you all a great rest of your day... being sucker free, I hope ;) xox

Yups... that says it all about me ;)