Yesterday was the first day of school. It was all new pencils, new classrooms and a whole bunch of nerves. These are exciting times, but they can also be a little scary and uncertain. All the change, all the unknown.
JT literally was holding on to Peyton. He didn't want to let his big brother go, but off Peyton went to seventh grade before the sun was all the way up.
They played together as long as they could before they got ready to go off in their own directions.
It's at times like these that I know traditions matter. I mean I just know it. The making of the first day of school signs, taking pictures...it all means something. Doing the same thing every year provides consistency and normalcy. I sound like a therapist, but it's true (I learned it in therapy). It makes something that might be a little bit stressful, better, more special.
Peyton was a good sport posing with his sign.
Wade helped me get ready for the kids to come home from their first day of school. He starts Pre-K later this week.
I've been making a pencil cake on the first day of school since Peyton was in kindergarten. Some years the pencil turns out amazing, some years not so much.
This year's pencil was maybe not so pencil-y.
This year, I ran out of eggs and butter so I had to go to the store and I was tired and cranky and the I tried to cut the cake before it was cool and it fell apart and the frosting was drippy and the dog almost ate the cake and I might have cried a little bit....BUT the pencil cake got made. The tradition lived. I hope we eat pencil cake every year that my kids have a first day of school. I hope we laugh about the years that it looked more like a fire hydrant than a pencil. I hope it always tastes good. I hope it always makes the first day of school a little more special.
I am a believer in traditions, in making a big deal about things, in making things special, in noticing if people are worrying a little more than usual and trying to help them.
I am a believer in the fact that cake is always a good idea, no matter what shape it is.
Yesterday was the first day. Yesterday, three of my four kids, along with seemingly every kid of every friend I have on Facebook, started school.
First day of school and we're all standing on the porch railing, sign upside down, not knowing middle school had a full day, so nervous none of us could eat breakfast...but it's here & it's mostly all good.
We've been doing first days of school around here for a quite a few years. I'm almost an old pro at it, or something like that. I mean I should be. But yesterday was the first day of middle school for my oldest and the first day at a brand new school for my other two kids. It was new new stuff.
And did all of you realize that middle school starts really, really early? Like stupid early. The bus picks Peyton up at 6:45 a.m. He has been setting his alarm for 6 a.m. for the past two weeks in preparation. Last week, I proudly congratulated him as I rolled out of bed groggily around 8 a.m. Never realizing that I would need/want to get up with him when he actually started school. Yesterday, I got out of bed, turned on the light (because it was that early people) and walked into the kitchen to find Peyton already dressed and ready to go. It was 6:15 a.m. I made him do all the first day of school stuff I've made him do since Pre-K...pictures with the sign, pictures with the pencil cake, etc. He was really into it.
As I watched him walk to his bus stop, I was so glad I got up to be with him on this new first day of school. Because it's a big deal, it's middle school and it's my boy and it's sad/happy/exciting/nerve-wracking/weird/wonderful. By the time the other kids were up, it felt like it was lunch time. It was 7:30 a.m. I was awake and a bit jittery from too much coffee. "Give me a B! Give me an A!," I shouted in the hallway between the kids bedrooms, getting my "B-A-C-K T-O S-C-H-O-O-L" cheer on. "Give me a break," replied Lucy acting like she was heading to freshman year rather than the fourth grade. I didn't let the eye rolls and the groggy grumpiness get me down. I pulled up one of my favorite back-to-school jams on YouTube-- "Back To School Again" from Grease 2--and danced just like Michelle Pfieffer as the kids came into the kitchen for breakfast. We danced and laughed away the nerves. I had more coffee. And we did all the first day of school stuff we always do...pictures with the signs, pictures with the pencil cake, etc.
I waved as their bus pulled away. I said a little prayer hoping they had a good morning in their new school. Because it's a big deal, it's new everything and it's my kids and it's a little scary/happy/exciting/nerve-wracking. Wade and I walked back home to have some pencil cake. I felt proud that we made it through the first phase of the newness. I actually felt really exhausted. We might have had a good start, but damn, it's just the beginning of a lot of early mornings. Most importantly, can we talk about cake? I think there should be cake at every celebration, every new new thing, every anniversary or even just on a really bad day. Cake is always a good idea. We have special cakes for Christmas (a tree), Easter (a bunny) and of course the first day of school (a pencil). So for this week's Pinterest Poser** Challenge, I'm showing off my Back-To-School Pencil Cake. **In an attempt at not being a Pinterest Poser,* every week I detail a new Pinterest challenge whether it be a new recipe or a craft.
*My definition of a Pinterest Poser is someone who is all pins and no substance.
I started making this cake when my oldest went to Pre-K. Waaaay before Pinterest. It was back in the days of cutting out recipes from magazines and stuffing them into a giant folder. But I thought I'd share it, just to show you I'm the ultimate un-poser.
This recipe is simple. The magazine I got this idea from a million years ago used brownies, but we are cake people, so we use cake.
We make this with Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix and we use two boxes because if you know gluten free, you know one cake mix usually makes for a very thin cake. This year, we used yellow, but you can use chocolate or whatever flavor you want.
Bake the cake (in a long rectangle pan (you can tell I'm not a professional baker or even close, because I don't even know pan sizes, but you know right?)) per box directions.
After the cake has cooled, cut along the sides to make the cake thinner and more pencil like. Use the extra cake for the eraser. Cut the tip of the pencil into a triangle to make it more pencil like. Use the extra cake for a mid-baking snack.
Then start mixing your frosting colors. I used Betty Crocker Whipped White Frosting and McCormick food coloring. Some years my yellow is more yellow. Other years my pencil lead is more blue than pencil lead color. But, no worries, just have fun with it.
Then serve and eat.
Eat it before the first day of school for breakfast if you want. We usually make a big deal when they come home (dancing and singing are usually involved) and eat the cake. Do what YOU want.
This Back-To-School Pencil Cake could even be made as a Good Luck On Your Test Cake or You Are Half Way Through Your School Year Cake.
Have you made something from Pinterest lately? Had any great successes? Or advice? Or warning about a project that's a total waste of time? Do tell.
Please share whatever you're working on in the comments here or over onFacebook.Come on over and follow myPinterestboards.
Here are some of the projects I've already attempted, the good and the bad:
Furniture Painting and Bench/Chest Makeover-click here
Thanksgiving-y Project/Gratitude/Holiday Countdown-click here The Smoothie-click here
The Free Printable Turned Artwork in a Boring Hallway-click here
The chalk board-click here Seven Layer Dip in Individual Cups (my favorite so far!)-click here The pumpkin address-click here The Kitchen Dancing Sign--click here
Three of my children are going to elementary school this year. For one son, it is his first day of first grade. His first year of elementary school where he stays all day. For another son, it is his first day of fifth grade. His last year of elementary school. "This is a great year," my oldest son's new teacher told me when we met her last week. "Fifth grade is the year they really figure out who they want to be in middle school. It's an exciting time."
For my daughter it is her first day of third grade.
I hated third grade. Mrs. Hutchins was my teacher, she was a soft spoken, strict teacher. I didn't love her. She didn't love me. But what really stood out from that year are a few bad memories: my hideous perm that kids literally pointed and laughed at, when I misspelled Wednesday in front of the class (stupid D) and it is the year math started to suck (or I started to suck at math, guess it's how you look at it). Each grade helps you figure out who you want to be in middle school and beyond. Each phase, each bad perm (no one perms anymore though right?), each misspelling, each mistake, each first day, each really awesome totally wonderful greatest day ever, each horrible heartbreaking unfair moment--they all add up. They add up to make you who you want to be or never want to be ever again. (That's my kind of math--emotional math.) Every first is important. Every step, phase, whatever you want to call it. My wish list for this day of firsts, and every day from here on out, for my kids is:
I wish, hope and pray that my children learn better coping skills than I possess;
They find people that see potential in them who nurture that spark of something into real amazingness;
They are good to their friends and people that aren't their friends;
They know they are loved no matter what always and forever;
They see the joy in life and for god's sake appreciate it all.
Baby Wade is the only one at home now.
While the older kids are in school, baby Wade and I will be playing with my latest obsession, Instagram. Come on over and play, follow me here:
In case you missed it, here's my Good-bye To Summer video:
