Archive for August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

Friday 5




Today I will be toasting to family, simple mermaid drawings, finishing Vaughn's furniture, finishing Vaughn's furniture, and oh yeah, finishing Vaughn's furniture.

The Furniture has been a looong process and I am overly excited to announce that it was moved into her room two days ago. Today I will try to get her clothes moved into all the drawers and next comes hunting for the decorative stuff. Stay tuned for a lengthy post all about it! 

The residual rain from Hurricane Isaac has made it our way and I am kind of excited about the idea of being hunkered down for a few days with family. We have plenty of guacamole, snacks, and beverages, which in my book, is the makings of a party. Everything else will fall into place.

Take a look around today and find what makes you smile. Hug someone. Enjoy your family. Laugh. 

These are all the things that I will be toasting to. 

Cheers and Happy Weekend. 






Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Wednesday Randomness

The morning chore chart that I made for the kids seems to be working a little too well, if youknowwhatImean. 


Vance was up and checking tasks off a little after 6:00 in the morning. 

Clearly a sign that I should have made the first item on the list

Sleep until at least 7:00 AM!
Sheesh!

...............

Also noteworthy, yesterday I went to an hour long Cardio Kickboxing class and today I can hardly lift my coffee cup up to my mouth. Walking seems to be pretty challenging too. I thought I could hang with the ladies at the gym, clearly I cannot. 

Today is going to be sponsored by...Ibuprofen! 

...............

Happy Wednesday Everyone!


Sunday, August 26, 2012

Quickie Dry Erase Chore Chart


Truth? I did not want to have to make one of these. In the past, my kids have been "self starters" and were good about getting themselves ready in the morning without constant reminders from me. I am not sure what changed but lately our mornings have been a bit of a struggle so I figured this may help get them back on track.

This project started with the leftovers from another project:


Tired of cleaning marker, crayon, and pencil marks from the kid's table, I bought a yard of vinyl to cover the table. I cut the vinyl to the size of the table top, so I had leftovers. (The vinyl is what makes the table shiny in the picture below.) 


Here we go: Quickie Dry Erase Chore Charts

I started with typing out my list and printing them out onto colored paper. (Handwriting it would work just as well.)  


After printing them, I simply drew squares next to the words to give the kids a box to check and drew pictures for my daughter who cannot read yet. 

Next, I laid the piece of vinyl on top of the paper and cut them both to size at the same time. 


Keeping the vinyl and paper together, I punched two holes on top.


Then I used bakers twine to lace the vinyl and paper together. 


Wanting this project to be a "quickie", I used push pins to stick them onto a bulletin board that I already had. Other alternatives? Using a magnet to stick them to the fridge or glueing the paper onto a piece of cardboard before using the twine to tie the vinyl onto the front. 


Viola! Totally erasable!



I figure when the kids have the morning routine down pat I can untie the twine and insert a new list for them to check off. 

OR...I can just throw them away. That's the great part of a quickie project! I don't feel bad since I did not invest a lot of time into it.   



Pretty simple! Hope this quick tip helps your mornings! 



This week I'm linking up to these parties. 




The Girl Creative
Becolorful








Sumo's Sweet Stuff








Todays Creative Blog

Tidy Mom







Photobucket
Photobucket















apinchofjoy.com
button KitchenFun
Home Stories A2Z


Thirty Handmade Days

Friday, August 24, 2012

Friday 5



Today I will be toasting to not waking up with a migraine, my traveling husband being back in town, a water heater that does not need replacing, a great first week of PreK for Vaughn, and for Vance's teacher phoning us with a great report of his first two weeks of school.

Also? For the mere fact that it is Friday. Has this week has been particularly long for anyone else? 

Cheers! 
What are you toasting to today?

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

First Day of PreK

My babies. Why do they want to leave me?  

Yesterday was Vaughn's first day of PreK. Same school that she has been attending since January, but now she is down the "big kid" hallway, has a different teacher, and leaves me goes 3 days a week instead of 2. Baby steps to get her ready for 5 day Kindergarten next year. 

"Maybe...we should just, you know...keep sending her 2 days a week, instead of 3 days..." That was my stance last week and I tried persuading Justin to agree with me that PreK was a horrible, horrible idea. 

He didn't buy it. And neither did I. She is ready.

 



















Because I want to remember the details, she picked out her outfit by herself, even the shoes and her hairstyle. 

I asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up right after I took her picture and she said, "A blue! No! A PINK shining star!" 

Sweetie, you already are. 

Friday, August 17, 2012

Friday 5



Today I will be toasting to traveling husbands that have returned for the weekend, a great first week of school for Vance, Vaughn's first day of gymnastics class, the Tooth Fairy visiting Vance last night, and last but not least, boot shapers. Yes, boot shapers.   

Have you heard of such things? I had no idea that they existed but as soon as I saw them I threw them in the cart. Perfect for slouchy boots. Kismet at Home Goods, I tell you!



Have a great weekend everyone! 

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Tackling To-Do's


Last week we checked two big To-Do's off of our list and it felt great. 

The first was to have some trees cut down in our backyard, exhibit A:


and the second was to finish painting Vaughn's furniture, exhibit B:


We love trees, but not when they are planted through the heart of our pie-shaped backyard. 

Last Friday, 3 men came to cut down 8 trees and it has completely opened up our backyard. Next up? Stump removal. That crew is supposed to come this week. After that? Non-stop baseball and kickball games. The kids can not wait.  

Vaughn's furniture will get a big ol' post of its own, but here is a sneak peak. This furniture has given me 49 headaches but I am happy with how it has turned out so far. 

What's next up on your To-Do list? 

Happy Thursday everyone! 
   


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

First Day of 2nd Grade? No Big Whoop.

2nd grade is no big whoop.

Yesterday was Vance's first day of school and it came and went with none of the anticipation that the other years had brought. 

No tears, no tummy aches, or no need for special coins to keep in his pocket for good luck .  He is an early riser, so getting up is never an issue for him, we had already met his teacher, brought his supplies to class, and organized them in his desk.  

Thankfully, he likes school. He was excited to see all his buddies at the bus stop, his friends at school that he had missed all summer, and even stopped by to say hello to his 1st grade teacher from last year. 

He even bought his lunch (pizza day!), a first in our first-day traditions, so no secret lunch box notes from Mommy.

So without further ado, here is the Obligatory First Day of School Front Door Picture (OFDOSFDP)

Vance is a Second Grader!



All the kiddos on our bus stop celebrated with ice cream sandwiches afterwards. Nanoseconds after that I had to chase Vance down to make him tell me about his day. "It was good. Can I go play now?" 

So again, 2nd grade? No big whoop. For him and for me. In this scenario, him not worrying means I don't have to worry which is a nice change of pace from a parent's perspective. I am overjoyed to see him so comfortable in his surroundings.

What's it like for you? How are you handling your child's first day?  

P.S. If you're curious to see pictures of years past, here you go!

First day of Pre-school
First day of Pre-K
First day of Kindergarten
First day of 1st

Monday, August 13, 2012

My Intended Post for Today

I did not finish my intended post last night because Vance wanted to play Uno and what kind of monster says no to that? 

I did not finish my intended post this morning because I played remote control cars with the kids then made them cocoa and toast for breakfast. 

I will not be finishing my intended post now because school starts tomorrow and this is our last morning to be Goofballs Without Schedules. (Until later this afternoon when we get to go and meet Vaughn's new teacher.)

Have a great day and make it fun!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Friday 5: San Antonio Edition

It's Friday! Here's 5 things that I am toasting to tonight!

(I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Vance got sick and we had to cancel a trip that we had planned. Thankfully, we were able to reschedule and with fingers crossed and breath held, no one got else got sick and we were able spend a long weekend in San Antonio visiting family.)

1. Cheers to The Alamo!
Unfortunately, I will always Remember the Alamo being 105 degrees outside and crowded. We did a ceremonial walk around then walked straight on to dinner where cold beers and margaritas cooled us down.

2. Cheers to Sea World!
 My favorite part of Sea World were the dolphins 

and the sharks

and the sea lions. Choosing was hard, so I chose not to.
Sea World is the only place that kids will get excited about a pile of dead fish. Seriously, try handing them a dead fish at home and see what happens.  

3. Cheers to Cooling Towels!
Here Vaughn models (and hoards) her aunt and uncle's cooling towels. I had never heard of these before this day but will soon be ordering enough to sew Vaughn an entire outfit made out of these. Vaughn melts at 74 degrees celsius, making summer activities a pain. This idea may buy us a few hours.  

4. Cheers to Family!
We had such a great time on this overdue trip! We executed a perfect balance of sightseeing and downtime, so it never seemed rushed. I remember being little and visiting my cousins on vacation, hopefully we can do this more often so Vance and Vaughn can have the same type of memories. 
However! I am hoping the next time we decide to visit San Antonio that it is in the winter and not in the summer.   

...............

5. Cheers to Everything Else!
Cooler outside temps, tail ends of colds, teacher meet and greet tonight followed by dinner out. It is going to be a good weekend!

Cheers! What are you toasting to?


 

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