Class Valentines

I've long wanted to get in on the melted crayon mold fun that's all over Pinterest and the blogosphere and we've finally done it for Valentine's Day!

Lucas has been saving up broken crayons all school year (and perhaps breaking a few on purpose--that silly kid!) and I purchased a silicone heart pan. The hardest part was peeling all the little papers and after that it was a blast to arrange the crayons in the hearts, bake and admire the creations!

Then I discovered this awesome free printable from The Long Thread. They say "Have a colorful Valentine's Day" at the bottom! I'm the queen of enjoying all the wonderful free printables that designers share on their blogs. My trick is to upload them to Staples.com and have them printed in color on card stock. It's cheap and so easy--plus the quality is always great.

Over the past few days, Lucas has been writing his classmates names and his name, then we taped the card to the front of little treat bags, dropped in a crayon heart, tied them up and viola! Fun Valentine's for his class!

 

I'm pretty sure we're all looking forward to having enough crayon nubs to make another batch!

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Spelling Practice

We've had this magnetic wall and alphabet magnets for several years, but other than the magnets getting batted off the wall at every opportunity, they don't get much use. You see, although we followed the directions and put at least three (or was it four?) coats of magnetic paint on the walls, they barely hold lightweight magnets and you can forget holding up a piece of paper.

Recently, as I was struggling to engage Lucas in the practice of his spelling words (homework is a huge struggle every. single. day.), a light bulb went off.

We ran downstairs and pretended to be on the Electric Company -- pulling the letters down to form words. Yay for our magnetic wall! Yay for alphabet magnets! They certainly make spelling practice a lot more fun -- for both of us!


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

GMC Road Trip + Holiday Kindness

I was offered such a fun opportunity over the holidays -- GMC's Northeast team lent us a brand new and totally decked out GMC Terrain Denali for about a week. And, for a bonus, the offered me $50 to spend on random acts of holiday kindness while we had the vehicle.

Lucas and I picked out various snacks and I found these awesome Road Trip Survival Kit printables (agh! I am so sorry, I can not find my source for these!) (double agh! I can't get the image to flip!), including the cute outer label, a license plate game and a roadtrip checklist game (to check off items as you see them). We also included a bonus for the parents -- a gift card for gas!

Lucas enjoyed helping me to assemble them, but was pretty dismayed when I told him that none of the bags were for us to keep. Rather, we were going to give them out to other travelers at a rest stop.

He was pretty bummed out about the news that he wasn't going to get to enjoy any of the goodies and I was a little nervous that our random acts of kindness were going to totally backfire with some spoiled behavior.

But, when we pulled into the South Mountain Rest Area on 1-70, Lucas was nearly accosting folks in his excitement about giving out the packages. In fact, after we'd given them all out, he exclaimed, "I wish we had even MORE to give out!"

Score one for kindness being infectious!

Back to the Terrain, we LOVED it! The pick-up (hello Detroit muscle power!) and inside amenities were incredible (I'm still missing those leather, heated seats!). As you can see, we encountered a snowstorm on our road trip and Abel and I were incredibly impressed with its handling in some pretty slick and rough weather.

Perhaps the best part, though, was when we unloaded the car seats into my parents car and headed back to Maryland to enjoy New Year's Eve without kids! The SUV was a little too small to be our main family vehicle since the kids are still in a car seat and booster, but Abel and I would love to have it as our second vehicle, where that lovely interior would have a chance at a crumb-free existence!

Goodbye lovely Terrain! We miss you already!

The GMC Northeast team loaned me a GMC Terrain Denali and a full tank of gas. They also reimbursed us for the $50 we spent on our Holiday Acts of Kindness as part of a promotion with TheDCMoms. I was not compensated in any other way for this post. All opinions and ideas are my own.

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Gift Idea: Seed Bombs

Last weekend, Lucas and I spend about 30 minutes making seed bombs to give out as Christmas gifts. It was inexpensive and fun and I think he and I are both excited to make them again soon.

There are numerous tutorials around the interwebs and you can even buy them on Etsy, but they are so fun to make, I can't imagine buying them!

  The ingredients are simple:

• Air dry terracotta Crayola clay (I also read that if you have clay soil, you an dig down and use that. We do have clay soil but didn't want to get that DIY in our first attempt!

• Potting soil or compost (we used potting soil we had on hand)
• Seeds -- native perennials are best; we used a perennial wildflower mix
• Water

Our process was highly scientific: we combined several small garden spade scoops of potting soil and clumps of clay until it looked like about 2/3 soil and 1/3 clay. We added enough water to get it all nice and squishy (maybe one cup?). Then we dumped in the packet of seeds.


Next comes the fun part when you're a 6yo boy -- squishing it all up!

I believe it was right about now that Lucas proclaimed, "Dirt is my middle name!"

Once it was sufficiently squished and mixed together we formed round balls. You can make these any size you want. Most of ours were a little smaller than a ping pong ball.

I carefully loaded them up on a sturdy piece of cardboard and put them on the only flat surface in our house that is safely out of reach of Nathaniel "hurricane is my middle name" -- the top of the fridge! Within about 48 hours they were dry and completely hard.

Warning: You may want to let anyone in your house who can reach the flat surface you are drying your seed bombs on that they are little balls of dirt, clay and seeds.

Abel -- who knew we had done this project but had not been around for it -- mistook the seed bombs for truffles (which I've never made in my life!) and apparently took a big bite. I SO wish I had been there to see it! I think I laughed harder than I have in a year when he told me that story!



I packaged them up six per bag with cute labels that said:

Seed Bombs -- Handmade by Lucas 

Drop a seed bomb anywhere you think needs a little beautification!

Ingredients: Potting soil, clay, perennial wildflower seeds


It's my understanding from reading other tutorials that the clay protects the seeds from being eaten by birds or other animals. The clay will continue to protect the seeds until they sprout and break the clay apart on their own. We made about 30 this round and will be giving them all away, but I think it would be fun to make a batch for us to keep in the car and use for guerrilla beautification!


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

The True Spirit of Christmas

This is one of those stories that I'm blogging about because I never, ever want to forget it....

Lucas and Nathaniel spent this past weekend with my parents and attended a Christmas party after church on Sunday. Santa was there and while Nathaniel wanted nothing to do with him, Lucas happily sat on his lap. He whispered a wish to Santa who replied, "I'll do my best."

Lucas didn't breathe a word of his wish to my parents and so for part of the drive back home, Abel and I tried to get it out of him. Mostly, I was worried that there was one toy he hadn't mentioned to us, but only to Santa, that he really, really wanted.

We learned that the "thing" is invisible and that only "good guys" have it. Despite many, many guesses, we never figured it out.

At bedtime, in between books and songs, Lucas told me his secret wish, the one thing he really wanted for Christmas. I waited with baited breath as he took a few moments before whispering it to me.... He said, what I really want is "the true spirit of Christmas."

I thought I was going to cry right then and there.

I told him that if that was his true wish then it means he already has the true spirit of Christmas inside of him.

We sang songs and moved onto prayers. After reciting the memorized Our Father and nearly-memorized Hail Mary together, he said he wanted to say another prayer. He folded his hands and squeezed his eyes and prayed to Santa* to please, please bring toys to all the poor children, too. Lucas went on to say that he'd help but that poor children and homeless children needed presents, too, and please, Santa, don't forget them.

Oh my goodness. Could a mother's heart melt any further?

Lucas knows that we buy gifts for other children via the church's giving tree each year, and this year I talked to Lucas about putting some of his own money toward a gift for a child (he's got a whopping $7 saved at the moment!) who "might not get any other gifts." I didn't think about the fact that, in Lucas's mind, this would mean that Santa was skipping these children as well.

Heartbreaking.

I am so proud of my kind and generous boy, my boy who truly does know the true spirit of Christmas.


But, now, how do I re-explain all this so as not to make Santa sound like the bad guy who leaves poor children off his list?



*Yes, apparently some slight confusion here but I didn't mind, considering the content and spirit of the prayer.


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Halloween 2012

I feel like we did barely any prep for Halloween this year. Basically, Abel opened up a bag of hand-me-down costumes from my cousin and Nathaniel fell in love with Spiderman while Lucas was pretty psyched about the skeleton. Done and done!

Spiderman was missing his mask, which was fine because we're certain Nathaniel wouldn't have tolerated it anyway. It was nearly impossible to get a photo of this adorable little guy because he loved loved loved his costume and was a ball of energy in it!

We had impulse-purchased this awesome hat for Lucas when we bought his new batch of uniform pants over Columbus Day. The band is hard to see, but it's skulls inside of paisley. It's super-cool and we weren't even thinking of Halloween when we bought it. We painted his face for the Saturday town parade, but Lucas really didn't like it.

So here's the crew last night. Lucas went without any make-up and, in my humble opinion, was a super-cool skeleton. Abel jumped in on the fun this year, too.

 

Here's a close-up of the clown that surely terrified children all over town last night. 

Creepy or what??

 

The boys trick-or-treated for about an hour while I handed out candy. Then, Abel and Nathaniel stopped by a friend's house for some adult libations (and juice boxes!) while Lucas came home to help me hand out candy. I honestly think he had more fun handing out candy than anything else. He was freaking adorable! He even gave a lollipop to every adult who had even a bit of a costume on, saying in a grand voice, "My rule is you have a costume you get candy!" It was hysterical! That kid has a joie de virve that I pray he never, ever loses.

As for me, in raiding the loot, I have rediscovered how delicious Baby Ruth's are. Yum!!




Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Dream Building

LEGO heaven!

When was it that the Mega Millions was up so ridiculously high? I have no idea. But I do remember that I bought a ticket. Two, actually. Because when your chances are infinitesimal you might as well make them infinitesimal times two, right? Anyway, like most, I got my full $2 worth by day dreaming about what I'd do with the millions.

#1 was take a long vacation (perhaps rent out a cruise ship?) with everyone I know and love. Also high on the list was a new home. We live in a very modestly-sized (read: small!) 1940s colonial. Oh what I wouldn't give for a master bath! A bigger kitchen! Heck, even an entry way and coat closet!

But we adore our neighborhood so much, I could never leave it. I don't even think I would want to leave our block. So, I decided, as a multi-hundred-millionaire lotto winner, I'd just buy out one set of neighbors and build our dream house on the new double lot!

Of course I promptly forgot about that dream after I was, indeed, not the winner. But I remembered it again on Sunday when we were invited to a special event held by the Gulick Group at the National Building Museum.

OMG. Their houses are stunning! (And let me tell you, they know how to throw a family-friendly event!!).

We arrived and were treated to breakfast, including many kid-friendly options AND some adorable LEGO-inspired krispie treats.

Donut + Stick = 2yo heaven!

It's an 8 block! No! a six block!

Then we had the opportunity to explore the LEGO Architecture: Towering Ambition exhibit. I've really been wanting to take the boys to the exhibit and the LEGO playroom but just hadn't done it yet. Folks: this is a MUST DO!! We had so much fun!

Plus, you can check out one of the Gulick Group's signature homes built in LEGOs! (Seriously, if I owned one of their stunning Winthrop homes and was indeed that multi-hundred-millionaire lotto winner, I'd totally commission my home in LEGO, too!)

Nathaniel, newly obsessed with Bob the Builder, was in love with his new yellow "hard" hat. He was completely engaged with the LEGOs and kept saying that he was "building like Bob da Builder" -- it was so adorable.

Even with a blurry photo have you ever seen a more adorable builder?

Meanwhile, Abel and Lucas went to town on a dragon/tunnel/pagoda and kept requesting that I get them more bricks!! more bricks!!! more bricks!!!!

Please won't you click over to the Gulick Group's FB page and give this awesome creation a "Like"? Lucas is super-proud of it!! And, you know, I do have that competitive streak! :)

Just a quick break after so much work! (Union rules, after all!)

Disclosure: We were offered free admission to the National Building Museum and exhibits as well as a delish breakfast but were not required to blog about it. All stories, opinions and comments are my own.



Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Sunflower Fort

After we spent our first three years focusing completely on the inside of our house, Abel has spend the last three years completely obsessed with the outside of our house! He's completely re-landscaped the front yard and has done amazing things with the back yard! (Think: stunning stacked stone wall, beautiful laid stone patio and a hilltop retreat!) Although I often get annoyed about the amount of TIME he's outside working and MONEY we've spent on landscaping supplies, we really do have a beautiful and relaxing outdoor retreat.

His latest project is a sunflower fort. Since I'm horrible at remembering before photos, I'm thrilled that I had the foresight to snap these quick pics the other day. The photo above is the footprint of our eventual fort -- Abel planted seeds for giant sunflowers in the square shape, leaving room for a door.

Here's one of the little sprouts:

With some luck, watering and stakes, we should have giant sunflowers later this summer which will give the boys an awesome hideaway fort!

I can't wait!

P.S. This project fits in perfectly with this awesome Etsy print from YellowHeartArt. Making forts is my go-to rainy/snow/boring day project for the kids!

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Happy 6th Birthday Lucas!

Dear Lucas,

It is nearly impossible for me to believe that my baby--my first baby--turned six today! You awoke this morning to balloons filling up your bedroom and your dream of dreams came true: Dada carried you to our bed where you opened gifts, watched Phineas and Ferb and ate breakfast in bed!

You amaze me and melt me and challenge me every single day, Big Boy. You are an emotional being and you feel--deeply, deeply feel--every emotion with every cell of your being. Your joy and excitement escapes from you in leaps and grins and cheers. Your anger and frustration comes out physically as well. But your love, your love and kindness and warmth, it exudes from you and I am so, so grateful to often be the recipient of your love and affection. Ever since you could say the words, you have taken the opportunity (often many, many times each day) to tell people you love them. It comes out equally in the middle of a quite moment or in the middle of chaos...

Mom?
Yes buddy.
You know what?
What?
I love you.
I love you, too.

My heart melts each and every time.

In the morning when I leave for work and at night when I leave your room, you always need one more hug and kiss, often following me out of the house (a few times sans pants!) or into the hallway to get one more hug, one more kiss, to yell out one more I love you. As exasperated as I get sometimes (especially when I'm running late!), I cherish every one of those hugs and kisses and yelled-out good-byes. I hope and pray that there never comes a time when you don't have another hug and kiss for me.

As it has been since the moment Nathaniel became aware of you, you are his favorite thing in the world. And, Lucas, you are an amazing big brother. I know it is so hard when he plays with your toys (especially if he ruins something!) and I know it hurts when he hits or pinches, but your Dad and I are so grateful for how kind you are to him. He is a lucky boy to have such a great big brother!

You tell us that when you grow up you want to be an engineer or an artist. I have no doubt that you will be both. You are very creative and have a beautiful singing voice. You also are constantly thinking of new inventions and creations--your ideas always impress me!


Happy 6th Birthday, Big Boy. Your Dad and I couldn't be any more proud to be your parents and grateful to have you as a son. You'll always be my best Christmas present ever.

Love always,
Mama

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Birthday DIYs

Poor Lucas! Our just-before-Christmas baby is having his first year of being totally slighted for his school birthday: because they'll be out of school on his actual birthday, he's sharing it with the class holiday party this afternoon!

(But honestly. as a summer baby, myself, I think I rarely if ever got to take cupcakes to school on my birthday so I'm trying to remember that I haven't been scared for life. Or, have I?)

His big request was a monster truck birthday, which in his mind = monster truck themed plates and napkins. Easy, right? Well, when I realized that his cupcakes would be served during the class holiday party and the teacher had already requested a donation of holiday napkins, plates, etc., I had to get more creative.

Inspired by cupcake toppers I had seen on Etsy, I put these little guys together. I just grabbed two monster truck clip art files from Microsoft, printed them out 12 to a sheet, cut them out and glued them to some orange card stock. I had the plastic tooth picks on hand as well as the flame duct tape. (Heads up to all my friends who have recently had boys: in just a few short years, you, too, will see flame duct tape and think, "Wow! I've got to have that!") The tape secured the toothpick and added some excitement to the backs of the toppers.

Abel's heading over to the school this afternoon to help out with the par-tay and so will insert the toppers into the (mandated!) store-bought cupcakes before they're served. Lucas hasn't seen them yet so he'll be surprised. I'm pretty pleased with this quick project and hope he loves them, too!

 
Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Guess who visited us last night?

The tooth fairy!!

Lucas's tooth had been loose for several weeks and it finally came out last night. My mom had given me the great advice of not pulling it out because if it hurt he'd be scared/worried about future teeth. So I just made a game of having him wiggle it 10 times whenever I thought of it. Last night we were working on his homework (yes, kindergarten homework!) and it seemed SUPER loose. I suggested he push it back instead of pulling it forward and out it came!

He was SO excited!

The tooth fairy left four quarters, an Avengers activity book, a small magic kit and...the tooth!

Apparently Lucas had taken the tooth out of his tooth turtle pillow and hid it under his regular pillow. The tooth fairies couldn't find that tooth for the life of them! As Lucas raced out of his room with his gifts this morning, he also exclaimed, "She left my tooth!"

Abel and I were quick to suggest that maybe she left this one because it was his first and therefore extra-special! We also let him know that probably he got extra gifts this time for the same reason (with 19 more to go, the tooth fairy will be broke if she keeps giving so much!).

Then I casually asked where he had put the tooth and got the full story!

Oh that boy. My baby boy. How is this possible? I remember so well when that first tooth broke through. That itty-bitty baby tooth. It had already gotten way too small for my big boy's mouth but the one coming in behind it seems impossibly large. He's still my baby after all, right?


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Birthday Expecations

Lucas's first day of "winter break" is his birthday but I'll still be working that day. So the other evening I suggested that on his birthday dad could bring him and Nathaniel to my office and we could all go out to lunch and get special cupcakes.

I expected excitement.

I got, "Mom, I'll be busy celebrating. You know, with a pinata and stuff."

Hmmmm.....


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Christmas Books

Lucas has been asking to break out our many Christmas books for more than a week but I've held him off because I wanted to start a new tradition. Last night I wrapped our 23 Christmas or winter themed books and loaded them up in this basket. Starting Thursday he'll be able to select and unwrap one each night as part of his bedtime stories. Yes, we need a few more to make it until December 25, but my parents traditionally give each boy a Christmas book for St. Nicholas day on December 6 so we should be all set after that.
By the way, if you're looking to start or supplement your own Christmas book collection, I highly recommend Humphrey's First Christmas. (One of last year's St. Nicholas day gifts!) It's the specific book Lucas has been asking for. Not only are the illustrations absolutely stunning, but the story is very, very sweet. We all love it!


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Superpowers

Last night Lucas and I made a quick little fire in our fire pit to roast a s'more each before bedtime and then we hung out by the fire for a bit to ensure it was out before we went back inside. After we gobbled up our s'mores, he used his amazing imagination to start a game -- I was the captain of the ship and he was my first mate, all kinds of fish started attacking and he speared them with his bamboo. At one point a whole school of piranhas attacked and Lucas started telling me about his super power: his brain can divide into 1,000 Lucas's to make a Lucas army.

I tried to play along and said I'd make a Mama army, too. He came over, really close to my face and said, "Silly, Mama, that isn't your superpower."

"What is?" I asked.

"Sweetness and kindness and putting people on the naughty step when they do bad things."

Being able to divide into 1,000 me's would be pretty useful, but I'll happily take those three instead.

 
Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Free TinyPrints Card from Santa for All PLUS Giveaway!

Lucas has already started hoarding holiday toy catalogs and is circling and pointing out ALL the toys he wants (note: just about every single item in the catalogs!).  And Monday night he wore his robe to bed "to be ready in case the Polar Express comes tonight."

So while I may not be ready for Christmas, HE certainly is! One of the absolute best things about his age (he'll turn six right before Christmas!) is that he's so smart and grown up in so many ways but still has this amazing sense of wonder and excitement. I mean, he was really and truly serious about the possibility that the 'ole PolEx might rumble in front of our house that very night!

So imagine how excited he'll be to get personalized card from Santa in the mail soon!

Today only, visit the Tiny Prints Facebook page to find out how to personalize either the Checking It Twice or Santa’s Scroll greeting card for FREE!! {Hurry! Offer ends 11/9/11 at 11:59 pm (PT).}

And...even better...one lucky reader will win 50 free TinyPrints cards this year! Just head over to http://www.tinyprints.com/shop/picture-christmas-cards.htm to check out this year's selection and leave me a comment with the one you'd choose! (I know it's hard to narrow it down, so feel free to mention your top 3!)

The giveaway will close in one week, on Wednesday, November 16. One comment per person, please and I'll randomly draw one winner.



Disclosure: I was offered free address labels for giving away 50 free cards to a reader. Sounded like a win:win for all of us! All opinions are my own.

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Halloween 2011

We had such a fun Halloween this year! As always, it was a little hectic (especially since I had to get home from work!) and there were a few minor costume incidents, but overall, it was fabulous!

I took a picture of our treats this year (above). I was totally RADICAL this year and didn't give out ANY candy. None at all. Only one child yelled back to his friends, "There's no candy here!" But I got lots of "wow!" "awesome!" "look mom!" comments, so that was very cool. We gave out boxes of temporary tattoos which I got on clearance last year, glow stick bracelets (15 for $1 at Michaels!) and, Halloween comic book samples which the comic book store gave to Abel (literally about 100 of them!) for free when he and Lucas stopped by to pick up some new kiddo comic books earlier that afternoon. (If you don't already know, there are some really neat kid comic books out there--Lucas really loves them and they're the first "books" he's sat looking at for long periods of time.)

But of course you really just want to see the costumes, right?

Nathaniel was an adorable fire fighter! I picked this expensive costume up at the thrift store last September for about $15. It's really nice material (heavy canvas with reflective strips) and we already had the hat. Nathaniel spent our town holiday party on Saturday trying to strip out of it (and succeeding!) but didn't try to wrangle out of it last night.

This cutie pie LOVED trick-or-treating. He loved running after his big brother from house to house, loved saying, "HI!" "THANK YOU!" and "BYE!" to everyone. He did get quite spooked at the scariest house in town, but quickly got over it when Lucas ran on to the next house!

Lucas made an awesome Captain America. As you can see from the expression below, he was quite serious about it! His poses were awesome! Abel (aka The Best Dad in the World) hand sewed that star, the red and white stripes and the arm bands. And, he even shortened the fingers on those long red gloves so they'd fit perfectly. The coolest thing is that Lucas can now wear his Captain America sweat suit all fall and winter! And, of course, the mask and shield will make for fun toys.

(In this last picture you can see that Lucas still has his saber tooth tiger face painting on from earlier in the day! He didn't want to wash it off but also didn't want anyone to see it and be confused! Too cute!)


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Launching cake to heaven

Lucas asks and thinks about my death quite a bit. I'm not sure why but I always try to reassure him that I plan to be around for a long, long time. Mostly these questions/comments come about in reference to something of mine that he wants. For example, he knows/believes that when Abel and I die he'll get our house "for free." (I do try to remind him that he'll have to share with Nathaniel!) He's also looking forward to getting my wedding rings "for free" after I die. (He's always desperate to wear them but he's lost/broken so many pieces of my jewelry over the years that I won't ever let him.)

The other night, after books and songs and snuggles, Lucas told me that after I die he'll make me a birthday cake every year and put it on my shrine. (Yes, he used the word shrine...where does this kid get this stuff?? Did Phineas and Ferb recently build a shrine to someone?) I told him that was very nice, but since I know he loves cake SO much, he should just go ahead and eat it. He quickly agreed... very quickly. But, he also told me that he'd save me one piece:

"I'll save one piece for you and I'll put it on a rocket ship and send it up to heaven. But I'll put a really tight lid over the plate so the cake doesn't fly away and I'll write your name, Aimee, on it so that God knows it is for you."

I can't stop thinking about this conversation for several reasons.

1. So, so sweet.
2. How quickly he agreed to eat the cake. That boy does love cake! (Maybe even more than his Mama!)
3. So smart -- he knows all about gravity.
4. That God would need to know it was for me via a name tag and that he would write "Aimee" on it instead of "Mama."

Man, I just love that kid.


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

1st day of Kindergarten

Lucas was so excited this morning! From the moment he woke up, he was raring to go.

He was in his classroom, had his book bag hung up and was sitting in his seat before Abel, Nathaniel and I could even get into the room.

Immediately before I left, I heard him introducing himself to one of his table mates and asking her if she wanted to be friends.

I'm pretty sure this kid is going to thrive this year. And I'm so excited to watch it happen!

{Yeah, the apple is for his teacher! It's a fun little tradition I started last year with his nursery school teachers. It has a brown paper leaf on the stem that says, "Happy First Day of School, Ms. T!"}


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Prep (for) School

Lucas's kindergarten orientation was Thursday morning--we found out his teacher and got to spend some time in the classroom. I couldn't be happier about his teacher, and neither could he.

His school supplies are purchased and uniform shirts and shorts are neatly folded in his room. He's thrilled about his new book bag and his beloved and very durable (going on 2.5 years of use!) lunch box has been given a good wash and his name re-applied in Sharpie.

We're all set for Monday morning!

On one hand, Lucas's first day of kindergarten can't come soon enough. On the other, I think it should still be a few years away!

{Do you also get a school day report of approximately five words? Check out this adorable--and useful--School Notes Free Printable from Living Locurto. I'll be printing several copies this weekend!}


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Three Weeks to Go!

I can hardly believe that my baby boy will start Kindergarten in THREE weeks. How is this possible? I'll admit that I was excited for this day for months but now that it is almost here, I'm getting a little nervous and weepy at the thought. He was in a full-day nursery school for two years so this really won't be much different. And yet it IS very, very different.

Honestly I think my weepiness has more to do with the big change in my life than this upcoming change in his. (Yes, that is a total teaser for a future post!!!)

I'm in love with this morning checklist FREE download from Children Inspire Design (one of my favorite Etsy shops and the source of the adorable counting cards I enjoy daily in Nathaniel's nursery). It won't really work for Lucas because he can't read...yet...but I think it would be fun to display nevertheless.
 
Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!