Bloom Where You're Planted

School starts tomorrow, for my two oldest kids (kindergarten starts a week later), and that means it's time for our fourth annual back to school celebration!  (2009, 2010, 2011)  Open house up at the elementary school was today, and we met all the teachers.  It should be a good couple of months.

Our theme this year is "Bloom Where You're Planted."  I've been thinking a lot about this phrase.  We're moving mid-school year (hopefully by Christmas), and so the kids are going to have to say good-bye to their friends, teachers, and classrooms and face all new people and situations. If there is one thing I want my kids to learn--besides to depend upon the Lord and keep His commandments--it is that they are in charge of their lives.  They can choose to be happy no matter what the circumstance, or they can choose to be miserable.  I want them to choose happiness.

While we were eating our gourmet meal of pizza boats, chips, and (of course) apple juice, we talked about making the best of our situation.  Zee told a story about an acorn blown away from the nice, comfortable soil into a rocky wasteland.  Instead of giving up, the acorn chose to dig deep and grown tall and strong.  I don't know how much the younger kids understood, but that's par for the course.

After dinner, Daddy talked about priesthood blessings, using stories from Joseph Smith's and Harold B. Lee's lives to illustrate.  Then he gave each child--even the two pre-school littles--a father's blessing.  It was very sweet to watch all my kids take their turn on the kitchen chair, Bradley placing his hands on their heads.  He even gave me a blessing, for which I am very grateful. 

Dessert followed.  The kids were quite excited about my little creation--brownies baked in jam jars, with crushed Oreo "dirt" and gummy worms on top.  That is, they were excited until it was actually time to eat it.  Gee didn't want any (big surprise, not), Zee took two bites, Em and Hebs ate about half, and Yummy made a gigantic mess.  Sigh.  The desserts looked cool, anyway.

 This summer has flown by, and I'm excited to see what autumn brings us.  Happy Back-to-School!