First Day of Pre-K

Sally had a great first day of Pre-K. I cannot believe that my baby girl will be starting Kindergarten next year. To prepare her for the transition (and to get her lots of friend time since having to share mommy's time with baby brother is hard) we decided to send her to

 school 5 days a week. It has been a transition but she only stays a whole day 2 times a week. One thing that has been a HUGE help has been teaching her to do her "routine" in the morning when she wakes up. 

The routine goes something like this:

wake up

go potty

brush teeth

get dressed (we lay out clothes the night before)

make bed

come downstairs

It took a few days of modeling but she has learned how to do this by herself and it makes the mornings so much smoother. 

I wanted to start the year off right with a fun "First day of School" breakfast. 

I added a few decorations to the breakfast nook :)

 

We made cookies for her teacher and tied on some cute tags. 

New lunchbox and water bottle!

The obligatory first day of school picture!

She was so excited to see her new classroom!!

Me and my girl!!

Happy First Day baby girl!!

10 Back to School Traditions

{one}

Set up Back to School mantle

I love the idea of decorating the house up a bit to celebrate the new school year. It's no surprise that I'm drawn to everything vintage. 

Here are some of my favorites:

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{two}

Special dinner the night before 

My idea is to either let the child choose where they would like to go out to dinner or to cook their favorite meal at home....just something to make them feel special.

Love this set up found here.

{three}

Read books before bed

There are so many great books, but these are my favorites for little ones starting school for the first time. 

{four}

Pick out Back to School outfit

We ordered ours from Eleanor Rose

{five}

Special back to school breakfast

Set this up the night before and surprise your kids with a special breakfast. 

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{six}

Take Picture of First Day

You have to take a picture on the first day of school and these printable signs make it so much cuter!

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{seven}

Happy for the teacher

When I was a teacher, I really appreciated the creative parents who took the time to let me know how excited and grateful they were to have me teach their child. I love these ideas. They are cheap and easy!!

Fill with cookies or candy

Get the printable here. 

Speaking of cookies, make your own or heck, go to Costco and get the yummy chocolate chip cookies, bag them up and add this free printable found here.

Grab a set of highlighters and add this cute free printable found here. 

Wrap up an apple and a little jar of caramel sauce and the cute printable found here. 

What teacher doesn't love lip balm? Get the printable here. 

{eight}

Fun Lunch

Take the time to pack a special lunch. 

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Of course, its always fun to add cute printable notes in your childs lunchbox. I love these:

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After School Snack

You really cannot go wrong with fresh chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk!

{ten}

Back to School Interview

I love this one.

Printable found here. 

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School's Out For Summer!

Knowing I was going to have Baby Henry any day, I tried to be prepared and get things ready for the last week of school. 

I always love seeing the difference between the first and last day of school. Sally learned so much this year...everything from the pledge of allegiance to letters, numbers and all kinds of social skills. 

Free printable found here

We made the cutest bubbles for her class. The idea and free printables came from Dixie Delights blog here.  The bubbles are from The Dollar Tree. 

The free printable to put with the book found here. 

Sally and her sweet teachers. We had such a great year and will miss our Hope Preschool family next year since Sally is going to big girl preschool. 

On the last day of school I presented Sally with a Summer Fun bucket full of lots of treats: bubbles, sidewalk chalk, a new beach towel, art kit, coloring books, stickers, etc. She loved it!!

First Day of School Fun!!

Well summer is over and Sally started her pre-school last week. She will be going 3 days a week and let me tell you..she was SO excited!!!

A few days before school started a decorated the mantle using vintage flashcards, game pieces, books, an old globe, etc. 

On the morning of the big day, I woke up early and decorated the breakfast table for her. I glued two paper leaves into a red plate....apple plate!! She thought she was such a big girl using a glass bottle and paper straw to drink her juice. 

I packed her lunch in her new bento box from Sugarbooger.

Here is what I made for her: pepperoni and cheese, yogurt raisins, sesame sticks, ABC cookies (from Trader Joes), carrot sticks and snap peas, strawberries and grapes, and cheese crackers. 

We made these treats for her classmates. I found the printables on Pinterest. 

We also made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for her teachers. 

She had a great first day and couldn't wait to go back!!!

End Of School: May 2015

The last week of Mothers Day Out was last week and it was crazy busy. I started out by making her a Mickey themed lunch.

I also made goodies for her classmates using the super cute free printable from Dixie Delights. I got the ice cream bubbles at Dollar Tree. I think they turned out so cute and Sally was so excited to give them to her friends.

Of course I have to show you the first and last day of school pictures side by side.

Just for fun, here is last years comparison. She was so little!

Unfortunately, Sally woke up the night before the last day with a 103 fever. I was soon sad she had to stay home on the last day. She was sad too. I had to run up there to deliver the ice cream bubbles and gifts for her teachers (monogrammed beach towels). Luckily she was feeling better later that day so I let her take a bubble bath in my bath tub and I made her a Shirley Temple with paper umbrella. She thought she was hot stuff :)