A middle schooler, a 3rd grader, a 1st grader and a lonely little brother

Back to school.  Look how much they have grown since last year!

Since Will leaves an hour earlier than the other boys now, we did pictures separately.  Oliver seems a little stunned at the silence in the car and in the house.  I feel the same.  

And another pic of Ollie with his dad because I love it:

I love how Ollie is just chillin' there, arms hanging down with his rock star glasses on....

Back to School = Mama is broke

I am feeling amazed at the moment.  Amazed at the sum of school fees, school supplies, music group fees, not to mention those nebulous sports fees, the ones I always think about springing for but rarely do. Education can be expensive!  Which is why it is unlikely I will ever buy any of the following for my children.  Still fun to look at though :).

Check this out - OOTS! Eco friendly lunchboxes.  Yes, they are BPA free and all that jazz.  Mostly, they are well designed and good lookin'.  I would buy these for the kids and probably use them myself :).

Next back to school item of my dreams is a cultural icon in Japan: the Randoseru backpack, by Hideo Wakmatsu.  I can really see why it has achieved icon status!  Of course, I love it but I would be surprised if my kids would like it.  

I also found this navy color and I just had one kid vote yes.  Too bad!  Too expensive!  ;)

Now these are too cool not to share.  These are actually mechanical pencils, though they look like wood.  Even cooler?  They are different colors.  Loving it-

Maybe I could do the pencils.  

Maybe ;)