Back to School Dinner

I will go ahead and just admit it. I am a complete dork. Surprising, I know. I have been (no joke) waiting in eager anticipation for our first "back to school" activities since there was the potential of school on the horizon. So basically since the moment I locked eyes upon my daughter. ;)

Okay I'm exaggerating. Just a little bit, though. I'm not joking when I say that walking through the school supply section of the grocery store makes my heart beat in anticipation. I may have let out a little scream of excitement when Clara's class list arrived in the mail. Don't even get me started on what the smell of freshly sharpened pencils does to me. Or the moment of adding all the school dates to the calendar. Or finalizing the decision of the first backpack and opening the package when it came in the mail.

I know, I know. I'm a little bit over the top. 

But I know it boils down to the fact that I love school and I really want my kids to love it too. They may not adore it in every season of life - but I can at least do my best to pump them up about it, right ? ;)

Many of my friends who are a few steps ahead of motivated me in the idea of a back to school celebration. I'm not sure ours will look exactly the same from year to year, but this year we celebrated by eating one of Clara's favorite meals (spaghetti, green beans & bread) and making pink cupcakes. After dinner we gave her the much-anticipated first backpack. This child has been asking for a backpack for probably a year. Early on I told her she'd get one when she goes to preschool and we just stuck with that plan, even though we could've gotten in for her long ago. It's been fun to hear her anticipate the big "backpack moment". Thankfully she wasn't disappointed with our choice: a giraffe pack.

Here is our little "preschool 3's" girl...