I thought I’d share a bit about our inaugural back-to-school dinner, for those who might be interested! Many others have hosted these before me: Merrick has shared some details, Stephanie’s are legendary, and ours was inspired by the Clarkson’s Family Day, too.
I would not classify our 2021 dinner as legendary – it was quite simple and low-key. I anticipate it will be a family tradition for many years to come, though, so there’s plenty of time to build on what we’ve started! While our decorations were fun (June declared them “fancy!” when she saw the candles lit), our kids are still VERY young and were mostly not interested in our introduction of the family scripture theme, ha. Banking on that part coming with time!
So why have a back-to-school dinner?
First, I’ll take any chance to make some everydaymagic. And a fresh school year is certainly something to celebrate!
Some years, a special dinner may be needed to bolster a kiddo who feels nervous or reluctant (definitely not the case for us this year – June was PUMPED).
But mostly, I think a well-timed dinner like this helps to ground our kids in our family culture, family values, and family unit before they’re sent back out into the absorbing and sometimes cold world of school. It’s one more opportunity to remind them they’re loved, they’re liked, they’re valuable, and they’re capable.
Our back-to-school dinner decorations:
Table decorations may just seem like fluff, but as I so passionately argued for years in the wedding space, the setting sets the tone: it tells the attendees this is an out-of-the-ordinary night. It tells them they’re worthy of some fun and fanfare. And it makes the evening more memorable by being unusual.
This year, I set the table with our gray gingham tablecloth (bought many years ago and still going strong!) and everyday placemats. June contributed the place cards, we sprinkled some sequins and star confetti, and I added tea lights in mini mason jars we had on hand. The piece de resistance was the centerpiece: flowers from our yard in a pencil-wrapped vase.
To make the vase, I bought a mega pack of pencils and stuck them onto a simple glass vase with double-sided tape, then tied on the satin bow. Pro tip: I was worried the tape wouldn’t come off the vase, but if you dab it with water, it peels right off!
What we ate at our back-to-school dinner:
I was prepared to cook a family favorite, but the kids requested our beloved Chinese takeout, so that’s what we did! We had build-your-own ice cream sundaes for dessert (Neopolitan ice cream, peanuts, hot fudge, caramel sauce, sprinkles, whipped cream, cherries) and June talked for days leading up to it about how she was going to make her OWN without any HELP, ha. These little bowls were perfect and we’ve been using them daily for after-school snacks, too.
What we did at our back-to-school dinner:
Mostly, we just chatted and enjoyed each other’s company! Such as it is with a five year old, a three year old, and an infant :) We also introduced our scripture theme for the year (Matthew 22:37-39). I feel like I fumbled through this as I do explaining many things about faith, but reminded myself it’s the effort that counts – hopefully that encourages you if you feel this way, too!
The goal is that we would all memorize these verses and be more likely to bring them up in conversation and teaching moments throughout the year. To help with this, I printed out a copy for each of the kids and let them paint simple wooden frames to display them in their rooms. This turned out to be very popular, and they did such a good job! As for memorization, we’re just planning to recite the verses together before bed for as long as it takes! :)
Other than that, John and I told them about some of our memories from kindergarten, and we talked again through how the next day would unfold.
In future years, I would love to include more words of affirmation between parents and kids and between siblings – either in written notes or just going around the table and encouraging each other in a specific way! I also think a back-to-school/first day outfit fashion show and/or dressing up would be fun additions.
And that’s it! Aside from the little bit of decoration prep (my love language), it was really very simple, but a lovely evening to mark a big milestone. I’m looking forward to seeing how this tradition evolves in the years to come! If you have any back-to-school dinner or first day of school traditions, I’d love to hear.
Happy Labor Day, friends! To mark summer’s unofficial end, I thought I’d record a few things I want to remember from this season, inspired by one of my favorite bloggers. It would be easy to just remember the bigger events (ahem, someone’s birth! someone’s injury!) or to focus on what this summer didn’t include (a trip to the Maine, for the first time ever), so I like the idea of capturing the little pleasures and particulars to look back on. Here’s some of what we’ll remember from summer 2021…
Listening: Leading up to Annie’s birth, I started to crave the worship of strong female voices. (A different kind of pregnancy craving, ha!) I put together this playlist, mostly of Mission House and FAITHFUL songs, and it’s what we ended up listening to in the delivery room. It’s been a calming and strengthening companion after her birth, too.
Eating: All the Meal Train meals, thank you Jesus and friends! Highlights included this casserole (thank you, Libby!) and a picnic meal with this chicken salad, this potato salad, fruit salad, and Garden Salsa Sun Chips (thank you, Ginna!). I hadn’t eaten Sun Chips in years and it turns out they are SO GOOD.
Visiting: We opted out of a neighborhood pool membership last year with all the COVID uncertainty, so it was a delight to get back to it this summer! Even with John’s injury and my very-pregnant self and then a newborn, we made it to the pool several times a week and the kids LOVED it. Our favorite time to go was after dinner – there was something about the cooler temps, the emptier pool, and the proximity to bedtime that made our visits a bit magical.
Wearing: My nap dress was worn 2-3 times a week, I kid you not. The perfect late-pregnancy, post-partum, easy-breezy outfit. I’m glad it was permanently memorialized in Annie’s newborn photos because it was definitely the outfit of the moment.
I was also influenced into a pair of fauxm (faux, foam, haha) Birks for all those pool trips. Two thumbs up.
Enjoying: The company of my parents. Though I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen to have them stay with us for several weeks leading up to and including Annie’s birth, we are so grateful to have had their help and their companionship. Living far apart makes our time together precious, and I did my best to soak it up.
Learning: With all our time at the pool, June’s swimming improved leaps and bounds! She completely ditched her floatie, gained so much confidence in swimming underwater, and even bought these dive rings with her own money :) Lessons with a neighborhood college student were the highlight of her weeks.
Attending: Physical therapy appointments! John’s been going twice a week since he graduated from crutches, right around when Annie was born. His at-home exercises were as much a part of our evening routine as a plate of juicy peach slices.
Watching: Parental leave was the perfect opportunity to indulge in the Tokyo Olympics full force and we certainly did. July also brought the return of Ted Lasso – season two has been SO GOOD so far! (Rom-communism, anyone?!)
Reading: With our other two children, the last feeding before bed was accompanied by total darkness and rustling the sheets under pain of death so as not to disturb their settling. For whatever reason, Annie is tolerant of even a bedside lamp being on as she falls back asleep, and so I’ve been able to sneak in a few pages of reading each night (a HUGE gift to this mama, as my nightly bedtime reading routine is one of the hardest things to give up in seasons with a tiny baby). The first book I read after she was born was The Self-Driven Child, and aside from LOVING it, it was perfect for the moment: engrossing, but not so interesting that I was tempted to stay up for hours :)
What will you remember from summer 2021? I’d love to hear!
August was a great month, but not a great month for blogging or goals :) And that’s okay! I soaked up time with our big girl before she headed to kindergarten, adjusted to John going back to work, and began to feel out new rhythms now that it’s just Annie and me during the day.
This month was wildly fun and tender and sweet and emotional (kindergarten!!), and all of it seemed to require staying present on the ground under my feet in a way that the ever-connected world can make difficult. And so, for example, it turns out I didn’t log into my public Instagram account for about three weeks. Not on purpose! Three days stretched to a few more days to a few weeks as the idea of checking in even with my small and curated group of follows felt overwhelming. Dipping into the world of interpretations-of-current-events and experiences-that-are-not-my-own felt overwhelming. And, to be honest, simply not as desirable as what was right in front of me: a beautiful tiny girl, a funny little boy, and a sweet big girl (and a marvelous big guy!). That world jolts me out of my world, a world that is requiring most of my heart and focus right now.
(It also should be said that while on maternity leave, I’ve simply lost my usual window to check in: full-time newborn care leaves only pockets of time to do as I please during the day, and Instagram proved not to be my activity of choice!)
Just some thoughts I’m untangling at the start of the month :) While part of me is frustrated that I made less progress than I’d like on some things that are really important to me (ahem… June in June), I can have grace for myself knowing that I gave time to the things that are really, REALLY important to me. Our schedule will settle, videos will get filmed and edited, but, alas, babies don’t keep.
On to September!
On my calendar this month: — The first day of fall! We’ll bake apple cider scones for our family and June’s teachers, a tradition we started five (!) years ago. — Our ninth wedding anniversary! — Our thrice-scheduled trip to Florida with John’s family!
What I’m loving right now: — A friend has a random connection to get free Bogg Bags through work (!), and kindly gifted me one. I love that they stand up on their own, and think it will be perfect for the pool, beach, and road trips. — I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there is nothing like Madewell high-rise jeans for a post-partum gal. It feels like there are a million new styles of denim circulating right now, and most of them seem hard to pull off, but I dipped a toe into the water with these demi-boot jeans and LOVE them! My pair is on sale with only a few sizes left, but they have other washes in this style, too. — A follow-up to John’s wardrobe post: now that he is back in the office a few days a week and wearing suits, he is loving these shoes and these shoes, which have the look of dress shoes but the comfort of sneakers! He highly recommends.
You can see all the things I’ve loved in my goal posts over the years right here!
What I read in August: — The Vanishing Half | I thought this book was very good. The plot itself was fascinating, and some of the sentences were just stop-you-in-your-tracks beautiful. — The Family Firm | Emily Oster’s book Expecting Better is my number one pregnancy recommendation, so I hustled to pre-order The Family Firm, and am about 75% through. It is very different from Expecting Better – it is less about data, and more about providing a framework for decision making as a parent. If you feel like you equivocate or have anxiety over making decisions for your kids or household, I think you’ll love this book! P.S. Preordering her book is a good example of my thoughts on being a patron – I love Emily’s newsletter and have relied on her advice for many years, and so preordering her book was a tangible way I could support her work and something I was so happy to do!
My reading list for 2021, if you’d like to follow along! I’m a little out of order but have read 13 out of 24 so far.
Revisiting my August goals: Edit June in June, Volume 6 Lay out 2012 in family album Choose scripture theme for the school year and plan and enjoy our back-to-school dinner (Little recap post coming soon!) Prep for our Florida vacation – first road trip as a family of five!! Take a morning walk with Annie every day the weather allows(This was such a success! A highlight of my month, even though it was hotter than hot most days. We walked together about 75% of days!) Do a Peloton exercise every day(Also a success! I definitely did not do every day, and fell off a bit toward the end for a number of reasons, but this was a great intention to get back in the rhythm of exercise.)
September goals: — Edit June in June, Volume 6 — Film Sheptember, Volume 3 — Lay out 2012 in family album — Write 6-10 blog posts — Finish our master bedroom refresh — Do a Peloton exercise every day — Write a thank you note every day until I’m finished with my backlog. (Eek! Still have some baby gift notes to write…)
As a reminder, many of these are drawn from my 2021 goals!
Friends, this month marks my 13thblogging anniversary! WOW and WHOA! I’m planning a few posts this month on blogging and writing – one will be an FAQ, and I’d love to answer any questions you might have! Please drop them in the comments, if you’d like. (I’ll put up an Instagram question box, too!)
