The Sounds of Silence . . .

Ok, I live in Florida and this year, August 22nd brings "the most wonderful time of the year" - back to school and back to the car line!! My girls both started school this morning. My oldest is starting 8th grade and is so excited about being BWOC (big woman on campus)! My youngest is in 4th grade and has 2 teachers (one for math and science, one for reading and English) which will be a big adjustment for her. School for our oldest (Caitlin) used to start at 7:20 but changed this year to 9:30. Many parents protested the time change and appealed to the School Board time after time, but to no avail. In our house, we all feel a little bit guilty because we are a family of sleepers and are all happy to have that extra time to sleep-in in the morning!! Now mama likes her sleep but I was wide awake at 6:00 a.m., so what did I do with my time you ask, I played like Martha Freakin' Stewart! I made a breakfast casserole (if you want a great recipe, go to my Pinterest site, under Looks Delish, it's the Amish Breakfast Casserole and is a family fave! Those Amish sure can whip up a mean casserole!) with fresh cut fruit and milk and OJ. Now don't be fooled by this. There will come a day (probably sooner than later) when we are running out of the house late, throwing stale goldfish in a plastic cup and grabbing a "past it's prime" banana but today was one of those perfect mornings. Everyone got up when asked the first time. Big sis helped 'lil sis straighten her hair. Backpacks were filled with new school supplies and sitting by their new desks last night. Fantastic lunches were packed last night topped off by a napkin note from all the other members of the family. It's a little dream world and if we can continue like this for the next 2 days, I will be totally amazed! Both girls were so excited about going to school and looked great!

Caitlin ready for the first day of 8th grade.

Olivia can't wait for school to start and has a new feather hair accessory!

Now my daughter's elementary school is the best! It's small, only 350 students, it's old, been there since 1925, and I just love it! Every year, we have taken a picture of the girls in front of the school sign. It's tradition and the girls know better than to argue with me! Just smile for the birdie and it will be over before you know it!

First day of school 2006.

First day of school 2007.

So I am currently sitting on my sofa with a large Coke Zero (I am not a coffee drinker but still love me some caffeine!) and hear nothing but silence. This summer has been packed for us, dance rehearsals and dance recital, week-long vacation to South Beach and then to Curacao for some R&R, Eckerd College Watersports camp, Warren Willis camp, Tampa Bay Watch camp, visits with cousins, grandparents and Aunts and Uncles, making a quilt, sleepovers with friends, meeting Selena Gomez and attending her concert, 4th of July party, heading to the beach with family to watch the last Space Shuttle launch, Back-to-School party with a live band in our backyard, completely redoing two rooms, celebrating several birthdays, attending Rays games, getting a new hamster and 5 days later realizing that hamster now is a family of 10. No wonder I am so tired!

My entire family loves the seasons as much as I do, so they convinced me to start decorating for Fall (it didn't take a lot of begging!). It usually takes me about 2-3 days to pull it all together (I started yesterday) so as I look out and see "Fall" sitting on every surface in my house (Martha would now be cringing), I realize it is time to get off the couch, grab another Coke Zero, light my Autumn Yankee Candle and pull this house back together. Maybe if I can clean off the breakfast dishes from this morning (I knew there was a reason I didn't usually cook in the mornings!), I can bake some cookies for when the girls come home from school (back to Martha smiling at me)! But that will be for another post!