A look back at "First Day of School" in pictures

BACK TO SCHOOL ~ Pictures from 2002-2012, and a GREAT T-SHIRT SALE! 

2002
Not actually 1st day of school, but my favorite picture of the 2 oldest
right around when we started our homeschooling journey.
I just love everything about this photo. :) 

I know some of you have started back to school already, and some are going to be starting back soon. We won't start back in earnest until at least the 2nd week of September, especially since my kids have been doing "Review School" (various Old Schoolhouse Review Crew Curriculum) this summer.

2003 ~this WAS the first day "back-to-school"~
Eldest was officially "Reportable" as a 1st grader. 

However, I wanted to share some of our "back-to-school" photos through the years, 

just because it is fun! 

2005 ~ Youngest(At the time) was "K" age!
(Don't know what happened in 2004... gone missing... :/) 

I also want to get the word out about a great "back-to-school" sale that I have taken advantage of MANY times, as you will see in the photos to follow.

2006 was the first year I heard about Great Products  and their $5.99 "back-to-school"
t-shirt sale. What a great way to "advertise" that my kids weren't skipping school when we were out and about, but actually IN school!

I decided to purchase tote bags to coordinate with their shirts. I put some new school supplies in the bags, and something of a tradition was born...

Although Eldest didn't wear her shirt that day (She had already chosen her 1st day of school outfit with care... and didn't know about the surprise), it did make an appearance at our first Homeschool Field Day!

This has now become something of a tradition whenever I have the cash available (and my bad, sometimes when I don't!), to pick up new t-shirts for the kids for the first day of school. I figure that it it's a lot cheaper than most "back-to-school" clothes shopping, and it has always been fun to surprise them with a fun new design.

In 2007 I purchased a matching purple shirt for myself (Not pictured...).



2008 brought our first "When you're homeschooled you never know WHERE you'll end up" shirts...

2009 

We didn't get all new homeschool shirts (Because we happened on a cool stripy cotton sale with appropriate sizes for all), but littlest wore his all cotton "homeschool wanna be" at our fall field day.

The bane of mom's 1st day of school~ the sun is too bright! No one can handle it except the youngest. :) 

A little bit of information for you all regarding the Great Products t-shirts:

Most of the designs are on a poly-cotton blend, with the exception of the "cream" color option, the tye-dye shirts, and and the new Ladies v-neck shirts. 

If you prefer 100% cotton to a cotton/poly blend, you will be happy to know that you CAN order shirts in 100% cotton. However, it does cost a bit more ($2.00) and you have to either email or phone the order in. It is totally worth it to me to take the extra steps! 

2010 brought one of our favorite sets of shirts, and some fun bags for the kids~ 

I love these shirts, and so do the kids~ they get worn with great regularity! I don't have a picture of MY shirt, but it is a matching Tye-Dye color, with this graphic on it... way too much fun!

2011 was one of those years where the cash flow wasn't optimal, but there were still great homeschool shirts being worn~ (Littlest is in the hand-me-down purple shirt that his brother wore in 2007...)

2012 brought the new "Homeschooler by Day, NINJA by Night" shirts and bags. Unfortunately, everyone was feeling crummy and not terribly photogenic on the first day of school, so I didn't get a photo of THEM, but I do have a photo of the bags, and a later "park day" where Middlest wore his Ninja shirt. BTW, we still need to take a family photo, because we have the "homeschool mom by day, and homeschool dad by day" shirts as well.

Just for the fun of it, here's that "first"  first school year photo again... my haven't they grown?

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this little time capsule of our first days. And now, for the first time ever, I'll be able to do more than share about the sale (As I have done in years past... simply because we love the shirts and bags so much). It runs from August 15th to September 15th. All regular T-shirts are $5.99, and the tote-bags are $4.99.

Keep your eyes open for a giveaway for a free t-shirt here on my site, and in the mean-time, you might want to browse around the Great Products website, visit the Great Products Facebook page, and even follow the Great Products Twitter page.

Blessings~

Disclosure~ I have received nothing from Great Products for this post other than "Exposure" for my blog. I have purchased products from Great Products since 2006, and plan to continue to do so. Great Products simply offers "Great Products" and with the $5.99 ($7.99 for 100% cotton) T-shirt sale, they are available at a very reasonable price. This is especially helpful for those who are on tight budget. Enjoy!