my heart is happy.

there were no tears from this little girl this morning as she crossed the street and got onto the school bus.  after she found a seat, her little face peered through the window and as the bus drove slowly away she waved goodbye with a slight smile.

it made my heart happy.  it was a true moment of my little one's growing independence that i never want to forget.

back to school.

 

this morning slade, elle and sia were all up very early getting ready to go off to school for their first day. i loved their excitement for another school year, as they were all beaming with bright smiles. especially sia, who is riding the school bus this year and going to kindergarten at the elementary school.

i truly tried to hold it all together. i tried to smile as much as i could. i tried not to be nervous. yet seeing all of my children leave me this morning, getting on a school bus (with no seat belts) and leaving home for an entire day was not easy. i know they will all do great and they will have a fantastic day. school is wonderful place to be. but truthfully and honestly, i am sad. they are all growing up so quickly and right before my eyes.

during the past few weeks, so many people have asked me, "what are you going to do now that all of your children are in school?" i do know what i am going to do- i will continue being a mom. the mom i always dreamed about as a little girl. the mom who loves her husband and children immensely. the mom who loves being at home taking care of her family. the mom who loves to bake and cook. the mom who doesn't mind cleaning and laundry and actually enjoys organizing drawers and closets. the mom who has a passion for creativity. the mom who enjoys volunteering at school. this is what i've always dreamed about- being a wife and a mother.  this is what i will continue to do, even now that all of my children are in school all day. perhaps, i will be a little more organized and have a few more quiet moments alone, but truly what i am going to do is not going to change.

and so, although i am a little sad today, i was very happy to see all of their smiles and excitement as they started back to school this morning. i truly do look forward to seeing my children grow and flourish and learn throughout yet another year.  happy first day back to school!!

bento box lunches.

tomorrow marks the very first day of school for us. and, as my children are extremely excited with anticipation of their first day back, i am keeping myself busy prepping and packing lunches. i have found some inspiration here at another lunch and at bentobloggy.

i have one very picky eater heading off to kindergarten this year and i'm trying to find ways to make lunch fun, while hoping she'll try some new things. i love the idea of packing bento box lunches.

 

{images via another lunch}

washing the car.

taking a break from a day at the pool, my children were very excited when i suggested that they wash my car.  as for them, it didn't seem like work at all, but a good reason to make lots of bubbles in our driveway and a really good chance to use the hose to spray one another.

 

or, as it ended up, slade taking great pleasure in spraying his sisters every chance he had.

 

but, in the end, they all worked very hard, my car was very clean, and they had lots of fun!  it was a great day!!!

the weekend.

 

what are you doing this weekend? now that we are settled back in at home from some time away, i am ready to start thinking about heading back to school. my kids go back in just a week and a half. and so, i'd like to spend some time this weekend stocking up on needed school supplies and putting together some back to school outfits. i really don't want the summer to end whatsoever. but, i think my children are anxious and ready to get back. even as i type this i can hear them all playing school together. slade being the teacher and the girls are teenage students. that makes me smile.

whatever your plans are for the weekend, i hope you have a good one. here are some things i have seen recently that i thought i would share with you-

love online shopping here for my girls
cookie dough treats for the kids
love, love, love ikea's new rustic collection
sweet bridesmaid gift
stamps
create lighting from recycled whisks

happy weekend!!

{cute girls' outfits, via garnet hill}

elle turns seven.

  

my sweet elle belle turned seven over the weekend. it still is very hard for me to grasp the idea that she is really seven. how is she growing up so fast?

this year, at her request we celebrated her birthday here at home. in recent years, we have been in new jersey and by the shore. but, she really insisted on being at home this year.

and so, we celebrated on our back deck with some singing and dancing and a simple family dinner. country music is their favorite right now and jeff and i took lots of pleasure in watching them sing and dance and giggle together.

and then, we invited some friends to stop by for cupcakes. also at her request this year- vanilla vanilla cupcakes and cupcakes with an espresso buttercream (one of my very favorites too).

happy, happy birthday my sweet elle belle!! 

 i hope you enjoyed celebrating your birthday here at home!!

post valentine's day.

i love valentine's day. it seems like such a happy day and a great reason to let those know that you either love or really like them. over the weekend, we completed all of our valentines for classmates and teachers. and yesterday, slade and elle went to school with these valentines in hand-

the tag for the u rock valentine is printable here. we found the packs of pop rocks at our local drugstore. and, this year elle wanted to make the same valentine we made for sia last year. it is such a cute idea and so simple to make.

and my poor sia- she missed her valentine party and handing out valentines to her class as she was at home sick. but, we made these sippy valentines to give to all her preschool friends. and, all of the teachers received these chocolate coin valentines.

i hope that you had a very sweet and happy valentines day.

storybook day.

every year our preschool celebrates storybook day and asks that the children dress up as their favorite character. at the moment, sia's favorite book is lilly's purple plastic purse by kevin henkes. 

the story is about a little mouse named lilly. lilly loves everything about school, especially her cool teacher. But when lilly brings her purple purse to school and cannot wait til sharing time, her teacher confiscates it!  lilly's fury leads to revenge, then remorse and she sets out to make amends.

it is such a cute story about apologizing and resolving a conflict and sia absolutely loves it. so, this year, sia chose to be lilly.

breakfast with daddy.

i was so happy to see the excitement in sia this morning as jeff took her to school. today was the annual breakfast with daddy event at the preschool. for the past few years, jeff has not been able to attend. so, this was a very happy morning for one little girl.

my little saint and some tears.

today, sia participated in the all saints day parade at her preschool. as i packed the costume in her school bag this morning, i couldn't help but become a little teary-eyed. this costume has been worn by all of my children. slade first wore it just after he turned three during his very first year of preschool. and, today sia wore it for the last time. next year she'll be off to kindergarten. i am definitely a mama who is sad about her babies growing up.
 

halloween.

hope your halloween was wonderfully fun as ours. we had such a great time with some of our closest friends and neighbors.  and, our subdivision seemed like it was filled with thousands of kids and adults walking the streets in merriment. it was such a great night to be out and about. needless to say, we had a puppy, ladybug and rock star that were quite happy with all of their treats at the end of the night too!

hope your halloween this year was a good one!

now he is eight.

my sweet slade turned eight years old yesterday. 

jeff and i woke him up early with birthday wishes

and surprised with a brand new bike before he went to school! 

i cannot believe how quickly my little boy is growing up!!

happy, happy birthday slade!!

she's got spirit.

   

i love my sia for all the happiness and love she immensely generates everyday. she is always smiling!! she is my one child that i can honestly says beams of happiness all of the time.

she was so excited today was spirit day at her preschool.  and, in honor of spirit day, we re-fashioned her plain preschool t-shirt with a few cuts and stitches here and there and added some iron-on letters, paint and glitter (which isn't showing in these pictures).

 and, of course, she insisted on wearing preschool logo tattoos too!

sia loves her school and totally thinks it rocks! i think she rocks for showing so much school spirit and being the happiest little girl ever. she can totally brighten any day of mine. i am truly blessed to have such a happy spirited little girl.

 

UPDATE:  Sia came home from school with even more excitement.  She won the Principal's Award for the Most School Spirit... whoo hoo!! Way to go Sia!!

weekend craft: birdcage.

{image via honest to nod}

when i spotted this adorable birdcage in a recent land of nod catalog, i wanted to make my own. luckily, the catalog also included a link to the land of nod blog, honest to nod, where you'll find lots of crafty things and things to try. and so, over the weekend sia and i decided to make (our version) of this sweet little birdcage for her bedroom.

although we used an empty 2-liter bottle as the directions instructed, we chose to wrap our bottle with fabric strips (cut from a old baby crib sheet) instead of fabric strapping and used bright pink twine instead of multi-colored embroidery floss. it was what we had on hand and seemed to match sia's room perfectly.

and, sia already had the perfect stuffed birdie she wanted to hang inside, so we chose not to make one, but could've easily done with fabric scraps too. you can find the complete directions and tutorial for the land of nod birdcage and little bird here.

sia decided to hang her newly crafted birdcage next to another birdcage which hangs next to her bedroom window. isn't it sweet? if you haven't been to honest to nod, then please check it out.. there are many things to craft and try.

have you seen this yet?

of course... i seriously want to make this. how very cool and fun! my kids will absolutely love this art project. i first saw it here.

{image via whatever}

just because...

he is soooo cute!!

my little boy slade is playing football this year and he looks so darn cute in his uniform i can hardly stand it. (i know slade would rather me say he looks tough, but cute he is!!)

hello monday. hello happy moments.

don't you just love moments when your children seem so extremely happy and content? when even eating an ice cream cone turns into an absolutely hysterical event. lately it seems, my children have been so very silly and giggly together. they love to make one another laugh and love to see who can be the silliest. i love all the laughter. and i love to remember wonderfully happy weekend moments again on monday. hello monday. hello simple happiness.

back to school: for the teachers.

we gave these giant calculators to the teachers during the first week of school. this clever idea (via eighteen25) was the perfect gift to give, especially since all three of my children are very happy to be back in school and already loving each of their teachers. we found the giant calculators at the dollar store (yes.. just a dollar!) and the tags are printable here.

do your children like to give their teachers a back to school gift?