back 2 school

on the eve of my big first day back at work i find myself relishing every last drop of our weekend at home together as a family. last week was CRAZY....working long days and going straight from meetings and running around setting up my classroom to swim lessons at 5, then home in time for dinner and samantha's bedtime and up late doing school work. thankfully this past weekend we were able to take our time and enjoy being together. friday we made a new recipe, summer vegetable pasta, yum and i received a special package in the mail from my favorite mother-in-law. (a vera bradley lunch box to wish me good luck). then saturday we cleaned house and played babydolls and then spent the afternoon helping tyler's dad move furniture at his house. that night we went out for my 10 year reunion and had a great time celebrating. today was busy but i was thankful to fit everything in and with all my nervous energy it was good to be busy. i spent most of the day at school, finalizing lesson plans and then to the grocery for slurpees and our normal list and then to my parents for a back-to-school send off dinner....complete with champagne and a beautiful new brighton id/key necklace for when i'm at work. it felt good to get so much done this weekend and to have been with sammy so much. tonight before bed we read The Kissing Hand together. Samantha knew how to hold out her hand and I kissed it many times while we read the story....lots of tears on my end and lots of snuggles as she avoided laying down in her crib. i know its going to be a HUGE change going back to work and being away from her each day. but....i know its for the best for our family and i'm hopeful i can make it all work. thankfully i know the best part is samantha will be just as happy as ever with her family while i'm working. best wishes to all my teacher friends on the first day back tomorrow. here's to sharpened pencils, new backpacks and inspired students....

ps. thanks to everyone's support and positive thoughts!!

samantha's new fall shoes from her Grammy...
reading with Da Da before dinner
sammy's ready for her first day of school...hehehe
oh how she likes to wear her special backpack from her cousin Carly
our first annual back-to-school picture, complete with new dresses and big smiles....ps. yah its staged and really the night before..but really i couldn't picture pulling together a picture so early tomorrow morning. ha!