Karen's Clan

Today, Belle began her first day in the Tiger's Class....

...complete with a hand me down Tiger back pack which she was thrilled with! Belle's report on her first day? "Mom, I had an awesome day!"
(Oooh, she also had her first ballet lesson which she just loved!)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, ...

(I actually took this :))

I will never forget King Arthur's face when he returned from his morning ride, came around the door and saw this sign - his face lit up and he beamed...from ear to ear. I'm so pleased I followed through with the inkling I had, because it seemed almost a silly thing to do...but it's those small things, the things we can so easily brush aside that speak loudest to  our kids, and even those around us. Somehow, this little sign and taking the photo affirmed them and boosted their whole day (they were so eager to show Dad when he came home too). Aragorn? That boy has been excited for weeks, and his enthusiasm was at an all time high the whole day!

Our day went well. Strike that. The first hour and a half of our day went swimmingly. Braveheart has kindly agreed to take Belle to school on the way to work, which has transformed my mornings. Now without me leaving the house in the mornings we gain so much time. Morning chores were done by 0730, and school started at 8. We got so much done....

Then I decided we would take a break and go off and get our puncture fixed. Well, the day went downhill from there. Let's just say, a Toyota Verso's wheels confound my local fitment centre; it took longer than expected; Braveheart still had my debit card; my new credit card didn't work and then after yet ANOTHER walk to the mall, it failed to work altogether. My day was HIJACKED. By admin. Grr. I had a good cry and a blow out, and said goodbye to the two and half hours of stress, spent the rest of the afternoon doing co-curricular lifting, and then finally got home to make our traditional "Back to School" cake (ahem, this was disastrous, just to top off the day)!

The kids love sticking their toys on a Back to School cake!

 Anyhow. So here I am. Holiday? What holiday?! I know that today will pass, that tomorrow is another day, but seriously, what a way to start the term!

The only thing that keeps reverberating in my mind is (for all your Friday Night Lights fans)


And I may just have to print that out very big and stick it in front of my desk!

Hope your start of school has gone well!