Show Us Your Life - Back to School Traditions

On the 19th Kelly was hosting Back to school Traditions week with Show Us Your Life.  This year we have not been able to do some of our back to school traditions like we have in years past, because we took a long overdue trip up north to see my husbands family that we haven't visited in three years.  However, I thought I would share what we would have normally do and what I have done this school year to prepare in the shortened time that I had due to our vacation.

We normally kick off the school year prep with a back-to-school shopping trip with my sister and nieces in Wilmington, NC which is three hours south of us, on tax free weekend.  We can find some good shopping around us, but Wilmington has a really big mall and some other great shops that we always like to go to that we don't have around here, so we fill up every available seat in the van and head down the road.  It is really a fun day and it is filled with lots of memories for me, because I have been BTSS with my nieces since they were my kids ages and now they help me do the same for my children, I really missed going with them this year.  I guess next year we will have to take two cars, because I now have Rachel in the car too, so I can't fit the four extra people in my car I normally take.

After back to school shopping is all out of the way and the supplies and clothing is where they are supposed to be, it is time to think of the 24 hours before the first day of school and what the boys would like to do with their last 24 hours of summer.  The day before school I usually like to so something fun with the boys outside if the weather allows for it so that they can really burn off the summer energy and they will fall into bed ready for a full night of sleep and a full day of school.  In the past I have taken them to the aquarium or the park, but with us just getting back from vacation and preparing for a hurricane, I thought sticking closer to home was a better idea.  This year the weather was perfect and the boys and I played with bubbles in the back yard and then enjoyed an indoor picnic watching one of their favorite movies on the living room floor.

Then when Dad got home we had a great family dinner, the kids had baths, and we read with the boys, the boys said prayers for their teachers and the school year, all before tucking into bed.  Before the kids were asleep, I pulled Davey's new outfit for school and laid it out along with his backpack and then after I knew the kids were asleep, I prepared  his lunch and made a special note for him to find in his lunch bag  it's just a note to wish him a good day, and pray God blesses his school year and it usually has a little sweet attached to it for him to have when he gets off the bus.  I will do the same sort of thing for Jon when he goes off for preschool in a couple of weeks.

I can't wait to read other back to school traditions and maybe add some to ours for the future.