Back to School

I know, I know, it's mid-September and we're just now starting school. But hey! one of the benefits of homeschooling is arranging school around your family's needs; that allowed us to vacation at a time when there was fewer people. (Always a bonus in my book!)

I left a bag of school supplies on each kids' place mat for them to discover this morning at breakfast; they loved it! You would have thought it was Christmas hearing them squeal over 25 cent glue sticks. It set a really good mood for the morning and they were stoked to start school. This year, I decided to start Eliana in Pre-K. I wasn't exactly sure how ready she'd be. But I found some curriculum books for super cheap that she could use while Diego is working on his book work, and she's thrilled that she has her own books that Diego isn't allowed to touch!

I decided to continue with our picture tradition. Here's last year's. It's amazing how much they've grown. I love how this picture captures their personalities at this time so well. I do not love how grainy it is. Oh well.

Jesse put up our chicken wire wall this morning. The kids are already about to fill it up with stuff. I'm glad to have the space so I can figure out what to do with some of their work. This gives us plenty of room to display at least for a day or two before I take it down and trash it. That's the hard part for me... trashing their work. I'd love to be able to keep every piece forever. That would be a bit much though. I know. Diego insisted that one of his most recent Thomas pictures be in the shot with him. Love this boy!

Eliana, was spinning in circles and was in a really great mood for photo taking. Wish my baby camera would have caught it... but it's all a blur. I finally got her to stay still for long enough for this. She's getting so big!

And Cruz; he was so good and slept during the time we did our seat work. Phew! He stayed in his jumper during story time. Perhaps I should hold him, but seriously, he is known to destroy books within seconds. He's not joking when he says he's here to eat paperwork! And me, well, I'm not joking either. There are times when I think to myself: "What am I doing? Put him in school right now!" But more days are good than not, and this is one of the good ones. I want to seal today in my memory for the days that are a challenge.

Diego: shirt and socks- gymboree (last year); shoes and pants- thrifted
Eliana: shirt- target, jumper- thrifted laura ashley; shoes (are on the wrong feet! ha!); thrifted stride rites
Cruz: shirt- hand-me-down old navy; pants- vintage rustlers shoes- vintage 

Hooking up with Embrace the Camera today:

And Small Style:

And Mini Mod:

Go check 'em out; you'll be glad you did!