Let the Celebrations begin!

As my kids get older, we get to start new traditions. It's hard, deciding what I'm willing to do every year for the rest of my life. I don't want to go too big, because there will inevitably be a year when I'm short on time or funds or both. So I needed something simple...

Last night we held our first ever Annual "Back to School" dinner.

We set the table beautifully. We had a white lace tablecloth, and we got to eat on REAL GLASS dishes. When I got married, I received beautiful goblets that we used those for the first time last night. And because Thaddeus was the star of the evening, he got to eat dinner on the much coveted RED PLATE.

(See how happy he is?)

I had given Tad two dinner options. One involved lots of prep and cook time, and the other did not. He chose the latter which goes to show how awesome he really is.

At 6 o'clock, I rang the dinner bell. We had "fancy" music playing in the background, and the lights were dimmed. DadGuy and I came around to each person and served them their gourmet dinner of spaghetti and green beans; we even let them sprinkle parmesan cheese on the top all by themselves. (Which left some of us with mountains of cheese.)

For dessert, we had homemade rocky road ice cream.

Then Thaddeus ran upstairs to change so he could debut his first day of school outfit. We oohed and aahed and told him how handsome he looked.

And then it was time for bed...