Pack the backpacks and lunches, it’s time to hit the new school year with the ground running.  I am sooooo pumped about this year.   Could it possibly be because my youngest will be THREE!   Life is moving fast and I’m all about keeping up with my ridiculously high expectations I set for myself.  What does that mean for this family?

1.  The summer mountain of dishes is GONE.  Why a mountain?  A normal summer day in our house is breakfast, second breakfast, snack, lunch, post lunch snack, pre-dinner snack, dinner with a few additional snacks filled in.  I have heard “I’m hungry” at least 10 times an hour all summer long.  Maybe it was the sunshine, maybe it was the swimming but whatever it was I can finally see my sink again.
2. Do you hear that noise? Or should I say lack of noise?  With only two kids home now I can actually hear myself think. EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!  Awww buddy you are so close ❤  Next year I promise.  
3. My general rule of thumb when I was in Ohio meant I didn’t workout if it was over 80 that day.  Now in Florida I had to adjust that to the 90-100 range which means it’s finally time for me to get back in shape. “Oh you look fine.”  Frankly I don’t care how I look.  This is how I feel. Sooooo squishy.  At least that’s what my kids tell me.  
4. One thing I never anticipated when I became a stay at home mom was the sheer beating your house takes when everyone is in it ALL THE TIME.  I used to have a really pretty house when I worked.  Because no one was ever there.  My house is slowly morphing from a ninja dojo/wrestling arena/nerf gun course back into what normal people call home.  Bye Felicia!
5. If I had to say one more time “Be quiet your dad is on a conference call!” I was ready to shiv myself.  Major props to Matthew because he gritted through the few weeks we were all at our house this summer with me continuously encouraging my kids to be quiet – by plunking them in front of video games.  We visited every park, pool, playground we could but by the last week of summer I gave up.  I could have just played this phrase on loop at my house….
6. Let’s just call a spade a spade.  School year = way less sleep for me.  I’ll go from 7-8 hours in the summer to 5-6 during the school year.  Not a coincindence that I spend roughly 2 hours a day in the car doing preschool and grade school drop offs/pick ups.
7. The purge is coming.  Pre-kids my spring cleaning consisted of me gathering up a few clothes items to donate in about an hour and giving myself a hearty pat on the back for a job well done.  Post-kids it seems we’ve got the spring cleaning purge, the pre-fall purge, the pre-Christmas purge and the post-Christmas purge.  Clothes, toys, changing sizes for each of the boys…it’s all just one giant shift.  Less is more.  Organizing makes me so happy and calm ❤ ❤ ❤
8. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY – our slate has been wiped clean.  Right now we have ZERO tardies at school.  My kids have done their homework efficiently (one day down!), and the structure and discipline we worked on last year will continue to be modified in the hopes that we make it out of this school year alive.

This was the first year there were no tears on the first day of school!  I’m talking about myself of course.  The past few years were filled with new schools and waiting lists each year and this was the first time we could just enjoy the excitement!  It’s going to be a great year!