Back to School: Your Photos

Thank you and thank you for sharing your Back to School photos with me!

Awesome entries, ladies.  I can’t help but share some of my favorites before I announce our grand giveaway winner.

I love that you sent everything from your babies…

to your baby leaving for college with a truck full of ramen.

The whole montage, with everything in between, was a life-flashing-before-my-eyes moment, and one for which I wasn’t fully prepared.

For example, the brotherly love and the missing tooth here slay me,

but it’s big brother’s absolute dedication to silly bands that won me, particularly since I found a slew of these suckers just last night cluttering up my family room.  (Suckers meaning silly bands.  Not suckers meaning my children… who also, and with great relish, clutter up my family room.)  It brings a whole new layer of sentimentality to the rubbish littering my house.  I’ll bet this is exactly why parents can’t ever throw crap away.  Thanks a lot, Julieann; I’m sure this was your intentional and nefarious purpose when you sent me this photo.

And these pics are the reason I got into the whole five kids mess in the first place.

The sweetness!  The bandaid!  Are you kidding me?  With adorableness like this in the world, how does anyone stop at just one?

Self-restraint, you say?

Bah!, I reply.  And I offer this as my evidence:

(Psst… for a Friday afternoon giggle, read little Miss Micaiah’s first day of school story here… teehee.)

And this:

And this:

Oh dear God in Heaven!  These children kill me.  This was the dumbest idea I ever had, and I’d like to publicly apologize to Greg, my family and my friends, none of whom will board the More Kids Crazy Train with me, and several of whom will risk life and limb to bodily remove me from the train.  (But they’re just so cute, guys!)

Thank goodness some of you had the decency to send in the funny and pull me straight out of my Downward Adorableness Spiral.

Like this muggin’ middle schooler who commemorated his first day back by brandishing a fake ‘stache in honor of his own entry into the manliness art of hair growth.

Kid, with a sense of humor like this, you’re set.  If only I’d known in middle school what you already figured out – laughter, especially at your own self, really is the best medicine.

My k’nex hat is off to this creative dude:

But, if a picture is worth a thousand words, and I do so believe it is, then this child has captured the precious Back to School feelings of millions of children around the western world.

Oh, sweet child.  I just want to hug you and slip your mama prescription medication all at the same time.  Marvelous.  This picture is marvelous.

And, now, without further ado, I present the winner of today’s giveaway to you.

This little guy’s mama, Shanna!  Shanna shot this pic of her (CLOTHED) baby while reading this blog, which did not in any way influence the random drawingness of this giveaway, but which did give me a warm fuzzy feeling.  Thanks, Shanna.  Email me at fivekidsisalotofkids@gmail.com to tell me where to send your prize.  Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone who participated.  I WISH I could’ve posted all your photos.

Stay tuned for the next giveaway, coming this Sunday, courtesy of reader Amy.  It’s a good one!