Pre-school Graduation

May 24th Jacob had his Kids R Kids graduation ceremony.  The school did such a fine job – the event was held at the Nathaniel Center and there was cake and punch afterward.  Of course we video-taped the whole thing, I’ll have to get it loaded, it is with the real video camera not the camera camera, so it’s a bit more involved.

Anyway – here are the kids’ walking into the center

I had to snap this shot of the back of Bella’s dress- it is so pretty and looked so elegant and grown up.  I put her hair up in a little twist and she wanted to carry her little metal box like a purse. She was adorable that night!

Our graduate -

The sign (since he stood in front of it)

Posing with Daddy. Note the gold tassel signified that he had been a student at Kids R Kids the entire time from Infant Sweet up through Sweet 500.

Posing with me – getting tired of pictures by this point!

Bella found her friend Sophie

Receiving his diploma.  I tried to get a better photo but it was so dark on stage my flash wouldn’t reset fast enough after this shot before he turned to walk back. Luckily it’s on video.

The cake was probably Jacob’s favorite part.

        

They had green and black gift bags for the kids – inside was a book, a class of 2010 t-shirt with all the kids names on the back, a class of 2010 stadium cup, the actual diploma, and a memory book. Each family got to make a page for their child to go in the memory book.

This was ours:  (this should be clickable)

 

Good Times

Our friends the Ege’s came to town and we all met up at Tin roof BBQ. The kid’s love the playground:

 

Bella LOVES Abby Beasley. She calls her “My best friend Abby Beasley”, “My big sister Abby Beasley” and “My little cousin Abby Beasley”.  Whenever she sees her at church or the pool or whatever she has to run and hug her.

 

Last year Will’s Mom got her all these really cute dresses from Gymboree – even though they are 24 m, Gymboree sizes are generous enough that they all still fit her – just shorter this year. 

 

Popsicles on the back porch – something we do most weekends.

 

 

Sunday evenings – we go swimming.

 

Recently I asked Jacob to carry a load of clean towels from the drier into the study where we fold clothes. I thought he would just dump them on the floor or the couch.  Imagine my total surprise when I went in and found that he folded every towel in the pile. And did a great job of it too! He is really growing up…

Updates on the shabby Chic Frame Project

Over the weekend Will added several coats of pink paint to the frame.  It was leftover paint from Bella’s bedroom at our old house so it matches the bedding (and was free!)

Will got a thin board and sanded it and painted it the same color as Bella’s bedroom walls and mounted it where the picture used to be (without the glass). So when the frame is mounted it looks like a floating frame but in actuality we’ll be able to change out the design later on without having to repaint the walls.

Last night William hung the frame. It is so perfect, he did such a fine job. 

I don’t know yet what will go in the frame, probably some type of vinyl letters or decals. I’m loving a set that I found on Etsy that says “Once Upon A Time” and Will likes some Parisian decals on Pottery Barn Kids, so we’ll see. 

 

 

   

Bella loves it! What little girl wouldn’t love her own super-girly fairy princess room!

Busy Saturday

This morning I decided to see what I could make using what we already had in the pantry and all those odd bags of shredded cheese we had building up in the drawer in the fridge.  The results:

Enchilada casserole, lasagna casserole and macaroni and cheese – not bad for 9:14 AM.

Of course, I had help.

I work on the same floor as the Facilities department, so every now and then they leave old extra office decor items out for people to take. This picture sat out with a post-it that read “Take Me” for a few days. Then one day I noticed it said “Take Me – Please”

 

Then I noticed the frame, which was rather nice, although it was very gold and was framing a very 1980’s fake Thomas Kinkaid print. Then I thought about how there’s a big blank space over Bella’s headboard in her room.

Wheels started turning, I thought, hmm, maybe? And emailed a picture to Will. “Take it!” he said. “We could do something like this.”

 

So we brought it home, here it is, sprayed with primer:

Here is the print that was in it, sorry if it is anyone’s favorite, it just ..um.. yeah.

Kindness

Women are preoccupied with kindness, and generally speaking – that’s a great thing! We think about being kind to others and teaching our children to be kind and we also spend a lot of time thinking about if others are being kind to us. 

What about being kind to yourself?

I am not talking about the prevalent world view that is all about telling women that they need “me time” or that “you deserve a break”, you NEED a pedicure, you NEED a new blouse, you DESERVE whatever. Funny how the media (even on Christian radio) selling this message is  usually trying to get you to buy something!

Now, I love a good coffee night with the girl’s as much as anyone and I do believe in resting and getting still and quiet on a regular basis. But when I say “be kind to yourself” I mean practicing discipline and self control in the present, as a gift of kindness to yourself later.

1. Decide not to wear shoes in the house, so you spend less time cleaning floors (or staring at dirty ones!)
2. If your kids can walk – they can pick up their own toys, it’s your job to teach them to do it.  In our house, there are no bedtime stories until all the toys are put away.
3. Take a few minutes before bed to load the dishwasher, clean your sinks and counters, set up the coffee maker, start a load of laundry, set our clothes for tomorrow – anything that makes your tomorrow a little easier.
4. When you mess up your kitchen, make it worthwhile by cooking two or three or more meals at a time.
5. Yes, technique matters, and there are faster better ways to do almost everything. But at some point you have to stop  researching and start working. Do you spend 30 minutes surfing the net for organizational tips instead of actually cleaning something? (I know I’m guilty of that one!)
6. Your future self doesn’t need perfectionism.  Magazines and websites and TV all give us a false idea of how things should be. The reality is that those are all sets – with fake lighting in fake houses, and unlimited budgets, you probably can’t really live like that. Heck, even the lady in the magazine doesn’t even really live like that. And that need for perfectionism either paralyzes us or thwarts our budget.  I can’t organize my closets because I don’t have special shelves, I can’t clean my hall closet because I need folding cloth bins in bright colors with labels etc., I can’t organize my spices because I need special jars, the list goes on…when in truth a diaper box or some index cards or old spaghetti sauce jars would serve the purpose.

I always say there’s two kinds of “broke”.  There’s broke and a pile of debt and bills and then there’s broke but with a pantry and freezer full of food and every bill paid. Trust me one is better than the other! It is the same thing with the view from the couch – there’s relaxing with chaos all around you and then there’s relaxing with all the work done, and one of those is better than the other too!

At times I really struggle, come Saturday I want to play and lounge around and not do much, but I know I’ll sure regret it come Sunday night and I won’t have much holiness on my Sabbath, that’s for sure! So I encourage everyone (myself most of all!) to be kind today to your future self by working a little harder and so that you can rest and play and really enjoy yourself!

“Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”

1 John 3:18

Early Morning Funny

If you read this blog then you know I believe in getting several meals cooked at once, so that I have them ready to go later in the week.  I hadn’t realized the extent to which my children had picked up on this until this morning.

It was 7:15 AM and I was at the sink filling a large pot with water;  Jacob comes up to me and says “Mommy is that for  breakfast or dinner?”