Yesterday was a good day around the Ivey household.  Before 1pm we had conquered Target and finished our school supply list (which deserves a huge pat on the back) (well actually there was one thing I couldn't find for D&A but I was done and it can wait), visited the dentist (2nd time this week), and grocery shopped for the weekend.

Then last night was “Meet the Teacher Night” and honestly I love this night.  It feels like such a sweet moment for my kids to meet their new teachers that they will have for the next 2 years.  (Our school is a looping school, so they spend 2 grades with them.)  We have met all these teachers before around school, but have never really met them if you know what I mean.  I had every intention of bringing them a goodie bag since I'll miss the first day of school, but it didn't happen.  Remember how happy I was for accomplishing all the stuff I mentioned above before 1pm?  Well, the bakery didn't get accomplished!

Anyhow, it's exciting that we're starting a new year with fresh teachers and fresh friends.  I always feel as though there's so much I want to tell the teachers about my kids.  I want them to know about their struggles and insecurities so they can love them well through them.  I want them to know about their leadership qualities so they can help them foster them.  I want them to know about how hard school is for them so that they can nurture them the right way and help them grow to love school and be confident in their learning styles.  I just want my teachers to love my kids!  I think that's what every parent wants from teachers.

Deacon & Amos are in different classes again this year and I'm not sure if I'll ever want them in the same classroom until they are older.  They are so different and on such drastic different levels educationally that I'm not sure it would be helpful to have them together.  I love both of their teachers, but I could have cried last night when talking to Amos' teacher.  I shared all my concerns with his education, I shared his childhood stories, and she looked at me with the most compassionate eyes and said “well he's in the perfect place because those are my favorite kind of kids”.  I could have hugged her right then, but I held it back because we just met and I have two years with this woman so I didn't want to frighten her at first.

Cayden's teacher seems amazing as well and runs the school garden, so looks like I'll be learning about gardening after all!  We went up to his campus earlier in the week to meet her since I'll miss the “meet the teacher night” for his grade.  I'm excited about ALL of my kids teachers and I would say that is a HUGE deal for a momma with four kids in four different classrooms.

Then we raced home for me to make my kids a fabulous dinner.  When Aaron's gone out of town a lot of things stop around here.  Fancy dinners stop.  I forget to shower some days.  My hair is a rats nest.  I've worn make up once this week and that was to “meet the teacher night”.  Things are just lax.  I decided I was going to make a real meal.  Which basically a real meal means that I have to follow directions and there's extra ingredients that I wouldn't normal use like fish sauce, mint and ginger root.

We all flipped through magazines earlier in the day and we settled on Rachel Ray's “Thai It' Chicken Noodles with Lettuce, Chiles and Basil.  Only I didn't buy any chills so we can cross that out.  Let me just say this real quick.  Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals only work if you have no kids in the house, much less hungry kids, no laundry going, and you have someone to help you chop and clean up.  This meal took me one hour from start to finish.  Good thing it was awesome, or I would say it wasn't worth it.  The kids devoured every single bit of it!  If you read the recipe know that I didn't buy ginger, jalapeño pepper, or Sriacha (i don't even know that that is!).  I also used fettucini noodles because they didn't have wide rice noodles.  Anyhow … I recommend this and it was super easy and the kids loved it!

Now today we're getting ready for Nana to visit and I'll start packing for the kids for next week while we're gone.  We're also hitting up the splash pad with a bunch of kids!  Should be loads of fun!

I hope that your Friday is awesome!  Tomorrow's the weekend and that always brings fun around here.  We start baseball tournaments tomorrow – Go Cobras, Dodgers & Rangers!

What are you doing this weekend?  Also what do you do to show your kids teachers how special they are to you on their first day of school?  I'm starting school way earlier than most, so your ideas will help others in a few weeks!  Also I'd love to send something with them even if I'm out of town.  Suggestions?