back-to-school dinner

Last year was our first year having a back-to-school dinner the first Monday night of the school year...the kids loved it!  I am not nearly has creative and cutesy as some moms out there when it comes to these dinners (there are so many cute ideas on pinterest) but this worked for me...using things I already had around the house...and even just a few little decorations make a normal dinner feel special!  This is one of my favorite family night activities too because we talk about how we should treat other kids and adults we meet and interact with at school, how we should dress and behave, the words we should say, etc. to be good examples of Jesus Christ.  I think this comes easy to younger kids, at least I hope so, and it is so important to teach them these things, to be aware that how they act, speak and dress can influence others and say a lot about who they each are.

I've seen so many families do it and we just never really made it happen (mostly because we have young kids), but this year Mike and I introduced our first theme for the school year...

"kindness begins with me"

We asked the kids what it means to be kind and talked about how when we are kind to others, we are more likely to receive kindness but more importantly, being kind shows respect and love and encourages service.

For dinner, we ordered pizza and I made a salad.  We used our "nicer" plates and glasses and Jillian even had her own little place setting ;)

After dinner, we came up with goals for the fall and it was so fun to hear the goals Drew and Susanna came up with.  Susanna need some serious guiding but she came up with "sharing the gospel with kind people" all by herself...it was kind of hilarious to hear her ideas.

Once we posted our goals up in the kitchen, we had a treat for dessert...isn't it nice when you just have Groupon lying around?...and the kids were pretty much in heaven over that cookie!  And if I'm being honest, I snuck a few more bites last night before bed!

This morning on the way to bring Drew to school, we talked about our motto again and reminded each other to be kind today.  It was a little harder dropping him off in the car-line this time instead of walking him in...he looked so little in front of that big school, although he didn't seem nervous at all, and I worried and worried that he wouldn't know how to find his class.  Luckily, a sweet teacher took his hand and guided him in, just as I was starting to get nervous for him!  Praying he has a great day and that we can get the hang of this!  I'm so grateful for the time I get to spend with them doing fun things that hopefully they will remember and cherish!