school days, good old golden rule days

It's that time of year again when the days are filled with the fresh smell of crayons and lots of start-of-school jitters. The girls were excited to go back, although not so much about getting up earlier each day. But the first day, alarms rang and they were off to take the new year by storm. Torrey going in for her last first day of elementary school, Emma passing the middle marker of her elementary school years into 3rd grade and me a little remorseful to see the summer family fun come to an end.

I know I posted this picture in my last photo post, but it went so well with the whole back to school theme, I figured I'd give it a double showing. I always like walking the girls into class on their first day, but starting the second day, they were back to taking the daily fun of taking the bus. They actually really love their super sweet bus driver, and getting the little bit of extra time to hang with their friends.

To keep with a little tradition we started when Torrey was in 2nd grade, we got pictures of their golden school day. Emma on the 3rd day of 3rd grade, and Torrey on the 5th day of 5th grade. (If you're like me you've got the Veggie Tales song whizzing through your mind, too.)

And speaking of the good old golden rule, it's always good to soak in a little extra help from above in that department...

As for the rest, it's all just filling in with the bits and pieces of sweetness we call everyday life. A smattering of hardships and blessing mixed together with a good dose of love.

On a scrapbooking note, keep an eye on the Glitz blog for fun project ideas using their fabulous Glitz goodies. Here's a sneak peek at my next set of projects that will go live on Sept. 28th here.