Marci Coombs

Lifestyle Blog

The Annual Coombs Family Back to School Dinner.

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Last weekend, our family of 5 held our annual
Back to School Dinner

This is an evening for us to: 

* Discuss our new family motto for the school year 
{decided upon by Joe and I prior to the dinner}

* Eat spaghetti and meatballs
{a tra-dish and family favorite}

* Go over our goals as individuals and as a family

* And for Joe to give Father’s Blessings to our children.
Father’s Blessings = THIS
I really do love this special evening with my family.
I like to go ‘all out’ and let my kids know 
how important this dinner is.
Decorations were quite simple:

*I used Kraft paper for the table covering
{which served as a dual purpose. More on that later….}
*12 x 12 striped scrapbook paper for the placemats
*Mini chalkboard signs purchased at Michaels, 
stuck right into an apple for place cards
&
*Mini kraft bags with TomKat labels as utensil holders
We served my kids’ favorite meal:
Spaghetti with meatballs, green salad and french bread

Easy!
2014-15 Coombs Family Motto
Joe was in charge of coming up with our family motto this year and he based it off of THIS 10 minute video clip from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

{Such a sweet message. It’s an anti-bullying video with narrative from Pres. Uchtdorf.  At the end, he says our motto and as soon as Joe and I heard these words – – 
we just KNEW we had to imply it into our daily lives.}

We told the kids a couple of personal experiences that had to do with this very subject and then encouraged them to work on EACH of the things listed in our motto:

KINDNESS
FORGIVENESS
Speaking PEACEFULLY to one another
&
Doing GOOD to everyone around us
Now if you know me – you know I love a good pun.
Mainly because, puns can serve as a REMINDER of sorts about something you’ve learned. 

Hence, the head of lettuce in these green vases with our 
‘Let Us/Lettuce’ theme.
{P.S. These cute vases were scored on clearance last week at Hobby Lobby for $2.28!}

These now sit in our kids’ bedrooms 
as a reminder of our motto.
The other half of our dinner was spent coming up with
 ONE WORD that each of us wanted to BE this year.

The kids each wrote theirs down on the tablecloth/paper….
and then we cut them out. 
They now hang on their bathroom mirror as a reminder of what they want to BE this year.
                                                   
Encouraging.
Kind.
Creative.


It was SO fun watching the kids think about and then decide upon THEIR one word. 
I sure do love these kids of mine.
And my sweet husband.

Our family brings me SO. MUCH. JOY.
Oh and one more thing – – 

Our framed motto {used as the centerpiece at dinner} 
now hangs on the back of our front door as YET another daily reminder to think about and never forget what we discussed.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT HERE for FREE!
You can see last year’s
 Back to School dinner HERE.

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Comments

  14. I have been thinking that we need to do something like this with my family. I'm so glad their are smarter moms than me who can teach me to be a better mom. If you aren't burned out on emailing out copies of this, I would love one too. My email is michellepippert@gmail.com. Thanks for being amazing.
    Michelle

    • Thank you so much! I got the printable. I really appreciate your kindness and sharing this! 🙂 I'm looking forward to framing it. This is just what my kids need to hear!

  38. oooooohh, Marci, I have thought.about having a family motto.for awhile this is so perfect, easy, and so.needed!!!!…if the whole world used this motto things would be great!!!!…did u make the printable????…im not wishing summer away, but I can barely.wait!!!!