Fancy First Gradin'

Yup! Here she is - confident and READY for first grade. Kindergarten felt like she still needed me! But first grade - it's a different story - she's way cooler than I ever was, and has no hesitations. Even if she is nervous, she'd never show it. At least I still get to do her hair and pick her wardrobe, although I don't think that will last much longer. I will take what I can get. Here we are...ready for preview night - the night to check out our new school and our first-grade teacher. Mommy was a wreck - turns out we had the best teacher anyone could ever wish for in Kindergarten - Mrs. Pulsa set the bar pretty high. I think I was more nervous about checking out the new school/teacher.

Sisterly Love - These two are nothing if not adorable. Yes, as a mom of two girls, I feel as though it is my DUTY to dress them cute. This is my contribution to the world - two nicely dressed girls. It's that or I am reliving my childhood through them. Either way, they love to dress "fancy" - and again, I'll take what I can get. These skirts were made by Creative Bee - check out her awesome creations - at affordable prices.

Her very first DESK! ;) I don't even think Christmas morning created a smile this wide! For added cuteness - I really love the top teeth gap. ;)

Here is Kenzie's teacher, Mrs. Bohman. Isn't she the cutest first grade teacher ever?

Thanks to our friend Jenna - she suggested a yearly picture by the sign - to watch them grow. Go Mustangs!

Tomorrow is the very first day. I am more nervous about drop off/pick up lines than I am for Kenzie. She is ready to go! As for me, another year home with the RHW and carting her to speech/preschool.

Wishing all of you and your kids a GREAT school year!

Slip N Slide

What you see above would be a lid to a long storage bin. Can you think of other uses? Well, think no further because last week while I was responding to a client email within my "office" - I hear my oldest yell out, "Mom! You have gotta get down here...there is water everywhere!" ....apparently, the RHW decided to create a slip n slide out of the lid....I came down to her covered in water from skidding across the lid like a pro.

And of course in the MIDST of this drama, Mackenzie, my oldest (and more responsible of the two) had a mosquito bite growing faster than I could say "HOLY CATS!" I quickly said, "ALLIE! Change your clothes and we are going to the doctor!".....

Pictured below is what her outfit of choice entailed. This is also exactly when I told my husband about the slip n slide - here is Pete asking her what she was doing. I, too, often get this scolded look from him. Hmmmmmmm....

And for those of you wondering what happened with the mosquito bite - Kenzie is fine, but not without a real scare. The swelling was hot to the touch and had grown considerably in size. Because of her history of infection, they did treat her with antibiotic.

So, moral of the story --- there really isn't any....well, except tell your kids slip n slides are outdoor toys - not to be created on top of a wood floor. :)

Wrap Warp

So, it's summer and every touristy place you find will offer to do a hair wrap for your little girl - often charging upward of $20-$30. Thankfully, I honed my skills as a hair wrapper during my high school years which obviously granted me the title of "BEST BABYSITTER EVERRRRR!"

Fast forward a decade and a half - my two darlings are old enough to sit long enough to enjoy the benefits of my hair wrapping skills - not without whining or "are you DONE yet?"

- Note: I highly suggest swapping children for this activity - find a neighbor with a daughter and swap. Research (personal research done by me) has proven your daughter is LESS likely to whine, fidget or complain if your neighbor is wrapping her hair. I call this entry the Wrap Warp because it does take a bit of time and patience, one would wish time would warp quickly ahead, but the truth is, to ensure a tight well wrapped look, you can't rush it.

What you need:

Embroidery Floss (Michael's carries colors for .35 each)

(I recommend choosing 4 colors)

Scissors

Beads - Optional

Measure about 3x the length of hair. Cut each color to this length.

1. Select a small amount of hair from desired wrap spot. Wrap ribbon around this piece of hair - not a knot, just tie it once. Don't be discouraged if this slips. It will for the first few wraps, you can easily slide this up to the scalp as you gain further wrapping.

Choose your first color - wrap around the hair and other colors - Wrap as long as you wish. Pictured I wrapped around 12-15 wraps. When you are ready to begin a new color simply begin wrapping in the same style with the next color. Continue pattern. As you begin to grow the wrap, remember to wrap tightly and slide the wrap upward - the beginning knot should now be more secure.

At this step the whining will begin. At this stage I encourage distraction. Offer coloring, turn on a movie, do all that you can to distract hair wrap candidate.

What happens if I run out of Embroidery floss!?!?!? No fear, I have figured out a brilliant solution to this. Simply add colors one at a time as needed. Simply tie a knot at the bottom where you have left off and continue wrapping. Again, wrap hair and remaining colors within the wrap.

Optional - add beads... These lil' buggers are feisty - they fall off if not knotted tight enough. The openings within the beads pictured have a large opening, make sure to wrap wide enough to ensure they don't slip off. Tie knot at the end. ;)

All done! ;) Hair wrap will last as long as you wish to keep in the hair...you can bathe with it, swim, and go about your daily routine.

And that's a WRAP! ;)

Just Bleachy.....

As a mom of two little girls we are always looking for things to wear, do, craft and experiment. Today, was unlike no other - but today, we had a playdate with our neighbor, Chloe. Yesterday, Kenzie came home after her playdate at Chloe's with pink/blue hair with glitter and came home raving about how Chloe's house is better than ours and she has so much more to do. That's all I needed to send me into mad mommy surfing the net for something original for us to do - you know, to make my Kenz proud of her old mom... and remind her I can do cool just as well as Chloe's mom. --- after reading up and watching a few youtube videos I decided we would make bleach t-shirts. :)

After posting a few pics today I had some other moms asking how to do this - it was quite simple, fun for the kids and inexpensive.

Here is what you will need:

T Shirt - I recommend choosing a dark vibrant color (blue, red, hot pink, etc)

*I purchased shirts at Target $4 on sale this week - Cherokee brand

Bleach

Water

Squirt Bottle (mix 1/2 part bleach to 1/2 part water)

Stencils (I used fonts I liked on my computer in a large size to create initials and cut out flowers - I used a heavy cardstock) -

Lay shirt flat *unwashed* - I precut out stencils for the girls, older kids may want to do this for themselves or create their own patterns/look. I used basic scrapbook adhesive to adhere stencils to the shirts.

My "studio" - backyard - I placed shirts over garbage bags! Squirt bleach/water on shirt -I've read many ways to do this - you can squirt upward and let the drops fall into a pattern, or you can squirt directly onto the shirt. Doing this the first time I have learned that less maybe more. Next round I think I may be a bit more creative with the bleach process....

Allie's shirt - left side - just after adding bleach - Right side - about an hour later!

Mackenzie's shirt - left side - just after adding bleach - Right side - about an hour later!

The finished product - Mackenzie and Chloe - Shirts were washed in cold

Allie's Finished shirt

And just as I am about to publish this post Mackenzie came upstairs and said to me, "Mom! Wasn't today fun!?!?" -----Yup! This mom is still COOL!