Marci Coombs

Lifestyle Blog

The Coombs Family Back to School Dinner.

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Sunday night we held our annual 
Coombs Family Back to School Dinner.

I {LoVe!} this little tra-dish that we’ve created with our kiddos.
My kids were GLOWING the entire evening.
We served spaghetti with meatballs {the kids’ favorite!}….
….and we toasted the new school year with some bubbly Gingerale.
The main focus and reason for our dinner was to explain to the kids what our
  FAMILY MOTTO for the school year was going to be.  
Joe and I spent a lot of time thinking about this.  We knew that we wanted to create a MOTTO based around a SCRIPTURE VERSE and this is the one that we chose:
Joe taught a little lesson about being STRONG and COURAGEOUS.
We wanted the kids to recognize that WHEREVER and WHATEVER  they did this year…
the Lord was going to be with them.
We showed THIS cute video clip about what it means to be a TRUE hero.
It exemplifies Captain Moroni and explains COURAGE and STRENGTH.
{AND brings a tear to your eye too}.
{The video has a second part to it as well}.
I wanted to give the kids a little present for the evening…
 Something to remind them throughout the year of our Family Motto.  
I decided on making them keychains to hang on their backpacks.
{And when I say ‘make’ I mean…
I bought everything and my talented friend Chanda put it all together for me}.
Each charm on the keychain symbolizes something from our motto.
Each charm is also something we talked about that evening as well.
Lion – represents Daniel in the Lion’s Den.
Daniel had COURAGE.
The Color RED – stands for COURAGE.
2013 – the year
ARROW – the arrow used by Captain Moroni to defeat Zerahemnah.
{Joe also pointed out that ARROWS are STRAIGHT and NARROW.  Just like arrows..we encourage or kids to stay on the STRAIGHT and NARROW path in life..and not be swayed by temptation.
Each keychain also included the charm from childrens story…representing someone who had to show COURAGE and STRENGTH.

 It was SO fun watching how excited my kids were when we placed these on their backpacks for the year. 
I decorated our kitchen table and family room with printables found online from HERE and HERE.

I printed out the scripture myself and then purchased a RED {courage} frame.
We’ve placed this now on one of the bookshelves in our family room where we can see it ALL the time…in hopes of always remembering what our motto is for the year.  
We’ve also challenged the kids to memorize this scripture as well, which we’ll work on throughout our Family Home Evenings this year.

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Comments

  4. I was on looking for a motto for this year and came across yours and I love it! I have one boy starting 1st (all day!) and another starting kindergarten. So it's a big year for them both and neither of them have friends (that they know already). So this will be perfect!! Would you mind sharing the document with me? I love how you have written and put yours together. jennluce85@gmail.com
    Thanks so much!!

    Reply

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  23. I love this idea! Would you mind sending me your scripture document also? I'd like to do a back to school FHE, and this scripture is perfect! Thanks so much! You're so creative!

    Reply

  25. Darling idea! I will be doing this exact evening for my family on Monday evening. I have 2 boys that really struggle with going back to school. Lots of fear, lot of "missing mom", etc. This scripture is perfect! Any chance you would share your scripture document? I want one for each of my boys room and your is perfect!

    Reply

    • Thanks Melinda! The striped napkins are from Ikea. The 12×12 scrapbook paper that I used for place mats were from Hobby Lobby. Let me know if you have any other questions! xoxo

      Reply

  30. I just found your blog and I am LOVING it!! Every January as a family we come up with a word for the year but I am liking the idea for a family motto for the school year. I always have some sort of back to school dinner or breakfast and I got some new fun ideas from this post.
    I am excited to check back soon!
    Have a wonderful Wednesday!

    Reply

  31. Loved this post!!! Thanks for all of your brilliant ideas! I especially love the idea of having a family motto/scripture for the year. Where did you purchase the red frame?

    Reply

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  33. Absolutely adorable! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog. I admit I check it every other day, hoping to see a new post or idea.

    Reply

  34. I found your blog when I was looking for girls camp ideas (I was called as the replacement director 1 month before camp!) Anyway, I am now hooked on your blog. I just LOVE the feel of it and the great ideas you share. Thanks for sharing your creativity with us! I'd love to start this tradition of a back to school dinner with my kiddos. They are starting 1st and 3rd grade in two weeks- are they too old for a new tradition? 🙂
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    Reply

  36. I love, love your ideas. I might have to steal this idea too. Where did you get your charms for your backpack keychain. You are amazing.

    Reply

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