the west of what's around: May 2014

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Last Day of Preschool 2014

I'm just amazed that today was our last day of school for the year.

Two little children who have grown and learned so much since September!

Lizzy's 1st Day

Lizzy's Last Day-May 9, 2014

Jay's 1st Day

Jay's Last Day-May 14, 2014 (I think I like him in navy polos....)

We've had a wonderful year. As I left carpool this afternoon fighting back the tears, telling Jay how excited I am about the summer ahead he said "Mom, I'm excited about my new classroom and I'm excited about my new class-meets, too!".

Well done, Mrs. Phillips. Well done. You've prepared him for the next phase of life excited about the possibilities and given him everything he needs to move ahead confidently. I am ever-so-grateful.

This has been such a fun year to watch my children grow and learn with their friends. Lizzy gained confidence and countless skills and independence that was greatly needed. Jay learned everything from phonics to science and even the Lord's Prayer and 23rd Psalm.

We had a fun little ice cream party with Jay's class to celebrate the summer birthdays today with ice cream sundaes.

Then picked up Davis after his Pre-K graduation and brought him over for a sleepover to kick off the summer. Water balloons, pizza and more ice cream. Nothing says summer's here quite like that.

I couldn't be more thankful for a wonderful school year, wonderful teachers and staff at our school and friendships and spiritual growth they've gotten from preschool this year.

Welcome to summer--I've been looking forward to this one for quite some time.

Next up is sun, sand and soaking up the season with this little family.

Happy Summer Y'all!! Here we go!!

Friday, May 9, 2014

#makeamothersday Some little trick I use....

I saw Courtney DeFeo's post calling moms witth blogs to share their tricks for making parenting easier and thought-"great! I love learning little tips and trick from other moms!!"

Then I realized I might have a few super simple things I can share that I've added to my arsenal for surviving, oh, I mean simplifying.

1. Make a pb and j less messy by stirring the pb and the j together in a bowl (or coffee cup) before spreading on your sandwich.

No more jelly globs escaping from the kiddos grip!

*this does not guarantee that they won't find another way to make a mess, but keeps the lunch box neater!

**this is also my secret dessert trick when we're out of everything else. My grand mommy made this for me when I spent the night at her house and I still love it.

2. When we get a popcorn at Target I always ask for another empty bag before leaving the snack bar. I divide the popcorn among the two bags so they are sharing the snack without grabbing/ripping/hoarding the same bag.

You could do this with lots of thing when baby sister or brother insist on having their OWN snack.

3. Layer the crib bedding. The best unsolicited advice I've ever gotten and so the best unsolicited advice I love to give. When you make your sweet baby's bed put a waterproof mattered pad, then crib sheet, then another mattress pad and sheet. You can do three layers, I did 5 when my babies were babies. If a sheet gets messy, just take off a layer and you're ready to lay baby down on a clean bed! Genius!! Easy! No changing sheets in the middle of the night! Thank you, stranger in the baby store, thank you.

4. In the innermost secret zippered pocket of my purse there are always two ring pops. They are the absolute, SOS, hail-mary, last resort and have saved us when caught in the unexpected hour-long traffic and rural detour while on a trip, dried many tears. No one knows they are there-if they did then this trick wouldn't work.

5. I say yes when I can. Most of the time when the kids want to do something themselves or help me do something and I say no they'll ask over and over, possibly get in trouble and certainly have a bad attitude or melt-down. It can ruin 5 minutes or ruin a while day. By saying yes and letting them try, or help or learn they feel accomplished, we grow closer, and they typically only want to participate for a short while then move on to something else, leaving me to peacefully complete the job task just like I hoped to do in the first place. This is true at our house every day, 10 times a day.

Helping to cook.