Happy New Year!

School was about to start and even though I think they were a little excited about getting into a routine again and seeing their friends, they would never admit it. I heard the moans and groans about school starting, about having to get up early, about reading, about homework, the older ones telling the younger ones which teachers were good and which ones will give a lot of homework and which ones don't put up with anything in class. 

As much as I love summer and was "oh so very sad" to say good-bye to the beach last week, I like September and the fresh start of the new school year. Everyone has new teachers and new supplies and new starts and there is still so much anticipation and potential of a great school year. I just want to shout, "Happy New Year" to my kids. And then I thought, let's have a New Year's Eve party on the last day of summer. Instead of being sad, let's celebrate the New Year. 

I shared the idea with Molly and she loved it. So she and I started planning. 

Molly making cupcakes.

I found these school flags and a few ideas on pinterest. I think I pinned them on my "teaching" board.

Molly made everyone a placemat for dinner.

We used these "cafeteria" tray for dinner to get ready for the "New Year."

 Then we made sugar cookies.

This was the only part that Molly didn't know about, but I had a little gift bag at each of their places when they came to the table for dinner. It just had a few treats in it, their favorite candy, the boys each got a new pair of elite socks, the girls got sweet smelling hand sanitizers and hand cream from Bath and Body Works. They also got a small gift card to their favorite vice...Subway, Starbucks because now that they are older, their boundaries have expanded and they enjoy when I give them a little freedom to walk to the town center with friends to get lunch or another treat.

So we had a great last day of summer, New Year's Eve dinner. Afterwards we cleaned up the kitchen, the kids went upstairs to pick out their clothes and take showers. When I walked back into the kitchen later on, I found this. Even though the kids enjoyed our dinner, they are still thinking about summer vacation.

 Backpacks ready to go.

First Day - Fourth Grade

Eighth and Sixth Grade

Tenth Grade

They all had a great first day and wonderful stories to tell when they got home. But the first thing Molly did when she walked in the door was run to this sign and erase the 3 and write a 2. 282 days until summer vacation...it's hard to let go.