Kindergarten, Day 1

The day finally arrived...August 27th, 2012.  It was a day the ZuZuBe had been waiting for all summer long.  The first day of Kindergarten.

She came running into our room at 6:30am ON. THE. DOT.

"Daddy, Daddy, how many minutes until we leave for school???"
"90." he said through a half smile and closed eyes.

He pulled her up into bed with him and tried to snuggle with her, which lasted for about .9 seconds.  "OK, I'm going to go get dressed now!!" She said, and ran out of the room just as quickly as she had entered it.

 Hubby Lovey rolled over, squeezed my hand, and smiled at me.  I smiled back as reassuringly as possible, but I was already fighting back the tears.  It's not that I was sad, in fact, sadness was the furthest from any emotion that I was feeling.  I was just...emotional. Everyone tells you, "They grow up so fast," and of course you always shake your head and say, "I know."  But on days like today, the reality of that statement really sets in.

Our girl is in Kindergarten.  KINDERGARTEN!  Wasn't she just learning to walk yesterday?

I threw my feet over the side of the bed, grabbed my phone and tip-toed to her bedroom door.

Uniform on!

There she was, putting her socks on, looking like a really big girl.  I ducked behind the door and gulped back the tears again.  By this time Hubby Lovey and the Love Bug were out of bed and the house was hustling and bustling with all the morning activities.  I quickly got dressed then ran downstairs to get breakfast started and lunch packed.

ZuZu was right on my heels but informed me, before we reached the kitchen, "My tummy is too excited for breakfast."  I gave her a bagel and a slice of cheese.  She ate half the cheese and one bite of the bagel.  I wasn't too worried, I knew the adrenaline of the day would get her through despite the lack of calories (at least that's what I told myself).  Then I started to doubt that train of thought, so I made her drink a glass of milk (that's filling...right??).  So with her "excited tummy" filled with as much food as it could handle, I shooed her upstairs to put her shoes on.

And that's when I saw it...the lunch box.  I had set it out on the counter last night to remind myself to pack her lunch (Hey, when it's your first time ever packing lunch for your kid, you want to make sure you remember to do it!).  Something about that lunch box made me completely loose it.  The floodgates opened.

With tears streaming down my face I grabbed the string cheese, fruit cup, yogurt and sandwich fixings out of the refrigerator and began packing her lunch.  I don't know what it was about that lunch box.  Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't stop visualizing her sitting at the school picnic tables eating her lunch...would she be eating alone?  Would the other kids sit next to her?  Maybe it was because this is the first time I had ever packed her a lunch that she wouldn't eat with me.  Would she eat everything?  Would it stay cold long enough?  Maybe it's because I knew this was the first of many lunches I would pack during the course of her school years.  Whatever the reason was, I stood there by myself in the kitchen crying and praying.

First ever school lunch.  Yogurt, string cheese, fruit cup of peaches, Wheat Thins, and a butterfly shaped turkey and cheese sandwich!  Complete with a note from Daddy and Mommy.

As I dried my tears and finished packing her lunch, the whole family came downstairs.  We still had a few minutes before we needed to head to school...just enough time for a little photo shoot.

She did this pose on her own.

Had to get the Ariel backpack in there

With Photo Shoot #1 taken care of, we headed to school....for Photo Shoot #2.

The Daddy and his oldest

ZuZuBe and Mommy

Sisters

Us.

Then she saw her teacher...

Cuteness

A whistle blew and all the older students quickly assembled into single file lines on the blacktop.  ZuZu's teacher directed her new Kindergarteners, as well as their parents, where to stand.  Then, they walked over to the flags for the pledges and prayer.  All the parents stood there snapping thousands of photos as we captured the first moments of the 2012/2013 school year.  With the pledges and prayer done, we were invited into the classroom for...you guessed it...Photo Shoot #3.

At her desk!

Sissy

Mommy and Daddy with our biggest girl

As we snapped this last picture the teacher said, "OK Mommies and Daddies say your goodbyes, we've got a busy day ahead of us!"  That's when it happened again.  Tight throat. Eyes burning.  Nose tickling.  I felt them coming.  The tears.  I grabbed my purse and threw on the biggest pair of sunglasses I own.  I gave my daughter the biggest hug and kiss I could and choking back tears I said, "Have the best day EVER!  I'll be back to pick you up in a few hours.  I CAN'T WAIT to hear about your day!"  She squeezed me back and said, "OK, Momma.  I'll remember every thing so I can tell you all about it!"  Phew, she didn't notice I was about to do the ugly cry.  (The ugly cry is when you fall into hysterics.  You know where it's not a cute single tear rolling down your face.  It's a furrowed brow, snot running down your face, and mascara smeared every.  You know the one...it's ugly.)

With that, I ran out the door.  Poor Hubby Lovey and the Bug weren't quite sure what I was doing but they said their goodbyes and met me outside.  By that time I had composed myself.  Hubby Lovey gave me a big hug and said, "Good job, Momma!"  (He knows my emotional tendencies.)  I squeezed him back, took a deep breath, and hand-in-hand we walked away from her classroom and off the school campus...

6 hours later, I returned with the Bug and Auntie Kissy in tow.  We saw her class in a single file line, walking to the pick up area.  When we picked her up, the Bug ran straight up to her, threw her arms around her sister and exclaimed, "I missed you!"

A little blurry but still sweet.

ZuZu was SO happy to see Auntie Kissy (silly Mommy forgot to take a picture of the 2 of them).  We piled into the car and off to 7-Eleven for some First Day of School Slurpees!  After we dropped off Auntie Kissy, the car got really quiet...ZuZu was tired.  But I couldn't help but sneak in another question before she fell asleep on the way home.  

"So my Love, do you think this will be a great school year?"

"Yeah, Momma, this is going to be a great year."

"Are you excited to go back tomorrow?"

"I'm super-de-duper excited to go back tomorrow."

And there it was.  First Day of Kindergarten.  Done.

Scissors and Glue Sticks and Paint, Oh My!

I've been in a project kind of mood the last week.  I've completed 3 fun projects that have made a big difference in my kitchen, so I thought I'd share them with all of you.  The first 2 projects are fairly simple, so I will just describe how I did them.  The last one was a little more involved so I will give more of a tutorial on that one.  Hope you enjoy and maybe get some fun ideas for your kitchen too!

Back to School/First Day of School Countdown:
With school starting in just a few short weeks, I found that my girls were constantly asking, "How many more days until school?  Now, how many more days until school?"  My hubby and I are super blessed to have 2 girls who LOVE learning and LOVE school!  (We pray those feelings last!)  I thought making a school countdown would be a good visual example of how many days are left until school begins AND I knew it would help with my patience level as it makes for one less question I need to answer during the day (mommy confession).  This was a SUPER simple project.  I choose 4 different sheets of colored paper, cut them into strips, and taped them into a ring in an alternating pattern.  I made as many rings as days that are left until school begins.  I then chose one of the pieces of paper, cut it in half and wrote their own title of the countdown so they each had their very own.  Here is the finished product!

Our oldest is heading BACK to school, but our youngest is heading to school for the FIRST time!

Each night they take one ring  off the chain.

Menu Board:

The next project I tackled was creating a Menu Board.  I've been wanting to get one for quite some time but was a little shocked when I searched for one on Etsy, and couldn't find one for less than $25 (at least the type/size I wanted).  I decided this was definitely a project I could handle on my own.

I started with purchasing 3 coordinating 12x12 sheets of paper, letter stickers, and a fine tip Dry Erase Marker.  I already had an extra 11.5x13.5 black frame lying around the house so I didn't need to purchase one.  I then arranged the paper in a way that I liked, cut it down to size and glued the pieces of paper together.  Then, I used the stickers for the wording.  The whole thing ended up costing about $12.50, so I saved half of what Etsy wanted, and I got to customize it just the way I wanted!  If you wanted to save money, you could forgo the stickers and hand-write on the paper the days of the week.  I love the way it turned out and I know this is going to help me be even more coordinated with my meal planning.

Up close - the finished product

Use the Dry Erase Marker directly on top of the glass.  Easily erases for changes in your weekly plan, or to begin a new week!

Refrigerator Frames:

The final project I tackled was a cute idea I, of course, found on Pinterest.  I thought it looked so charming that I decided to try it and I have to say, I'm kind of obsessed with how it turned out!  I will first start by stating (rather, showing) the problem. I give you exhibit A...my messy refrigerator:

Messy, cluttered refrigerator!

And now, I give you Exhibit B...the finished product...

Clean, organized, and cute refrigerator!

Ok, so how did I get from Exhibit A to Exhibit B?  Well, let me show you!

The project started with a trip to Goodwill.  I was in search of some light-weight wood frames.  It's very crucial that you get LIGHT weight frames (I will explain later why this is important).  I was pleased to find EXACTLY (even down to the color) what I was looking for at my local Goodwill.  The most I paid for any of the frames was $2.99.

These frames came exactly like this, with no glass or backing to them which is exactly what I was looking for.  They were also very light weight AND in the colors I wanted...thanks, God!

There was only one frame I purchased that I needed to change the color on.  So I picked up some acrylic paint from Michael's and went to work painting the frame...

Changed this frame from Gold to Grey...took about 30 seconds.

While my newly grey frame was drying, I began working on the next step...adding magnets to the back of the frames.  I picked up these magnets from Michael's.  These are awesome because they come with a sticky side so you can apply the magnet to whatever you like.

Purchased at my local Michael's

I started with one of the larger frames.  It is important to remove the metal bracket from the back of the frame before proceeding.  They come off with just a little tug...

Pulling off the metal bracket

Then, measure the width of the back of your frame and cut strips of the magnet accordingly.  Peel off the protective strip from the sticky side of the magnet...

Then, firmly apply the adhesive side to the frame.  Continue to do this around the entire back border of the frame and....Voila!  You have a frame magnet!  Here's an important tip: the reason why it is crucial to purchase light-weight frames is otherwise, the magnets will not hold the weight of the frame.

I wanted to make one of the frames look a little different than the rest.  So I decided to use some rope I had lying around the house to string from opposing sides of the frame in order to hang birth announcements, flyers, invitations, etc. from it...

Some extra rope I had from a previous project.

Cut the rope down to size and use a stapler to attach the rope to the back-side of the frame...

This is what the back of the frame looked like once completed...

I found some mini clothespins (also at my local Michael's) and put them on the rope in order to hang things from them.

Mini Clothespins

After applying the magnets to the back of all the frames, I re-arranged our refrigerator and came up with this!  Like I said, I love, love, LOVE how organized and clean it looks!

Finished product!

So, I hope you enjoyed these projects and ideas!  Do you think you'll take a stab at any of them?  Let me know if you end up trying any of these projects out and please send pictures if you do! <3  TTFN.

Lessons From a Widow

In my previous post, I mentioned that my Bestie was on the trip of a lifetime in Israel...well, she wasn't alone.  She was there with her husband, my sister and brother-in-law and 200 people from our church!  Several of our pastors took this gargantuan group on a tour of Israel, seeing some of the most important places described in the Bible.  My husband and I were pretty bummed we couldn't make it this time around, but look forward to going in the future should the Lord will.

Upon their return, my Bestie and Sis let me know they had brought me back something from Israel.  They wouldn't give it to me until they were both present (which took almost a week for all of us to get in the same place at the same time), but when they did I was (and continue to be) blessed by their gift.

What is it?  Oh, I'm so glad you asked!

Inside this necklace sits a mite, a small copper coin, and there is a pretty phenomenal story about a coin like this in the Bible...

Luke 21:1-4 

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.  And he said, "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.  For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

Did you catch that?  She put in all she had to live on. ALL SHE HAD TO LIVE ON! Wow.

I think there are a couple important things to note about this passage of Scripture.  First, the Bible describes this widow as "poor."  The Greek word used here expresses extreme poverty...not the kind of "poverty" that we see here in Orange County...real poverty. Completely destitute.  Utterly and completely poor.  Surely, someone in this extreme situation is not one we would normally see in the position of giving.

Second, Jesus says she gave more than all of the others.  How does that make sense?  Monetarily speaking, there probably wasn't anyone who came close to giving as little as she did.  She gave what would be considered about 1/4 of a penny.  She gave practically nothing.  And yet, she gave everything.

The poor widow in this story demonstrates a complete reliance on God's provision.  She knew who allowed her to have the copper coins to begin with, and she gave them back to him out of a heart of obedience, worship and sacrifice.

I know that everything I have belongs to the Lord and he wants me to use all that I have to serve him and his church. While I may not ever be in the position where I have to give my last 2 pennies,  Paul said,

I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. 2 Corinthians 12:15a

Paul was willing to spend his financial resources and be spent (physically and emotionally) for the sake of the Corinthians.  As my husband and I prepare to enter into the Fall, which for us, is a busy season of ministry, the widow and Paul challenge me to spend and be spent for the glory of God.  I want to have a faith like the widow's: a heart that trusts God completely, obeys him wholly, and sacrifices all for his glory. I'm so thankful for the coin hanging around my neck that reminds me of her example.

From left to right (my Sis, my Bestie, and me), wearing our Widow's Mite necklaces.