Melt My Heart...

Sending my firstborn to all day Kindergarten was a pretty big deal to me. It has it's pluses and minuses, but overall, I think it's been really good for both Daniel and me. It's also led to some tender moments that just melt my heart. Yesterday as I drove Daniel home* from school he asked me if I could give him a picture of me to take with him to school. He said "Mommy, I just miss you so much when I'm at school and I want a picture of you to look at so I won't miss you so much" Then this morning we were about to leave the house when I gave him a kiss goodbye on his cheek and he said "oops, I think I missed ya there" and then gave me a smooch on the lips. LOL. He's too too sweet. I know he won't be giving me kisses much longer, but I hope he stays this sweet while he grows up. These are the moments Mommies live for.

*Daniel rides the bus in the mornings, but I pick him after school because the bus takes 2 HOURS to get him home. We live .2 miles from the school! (we unfortunately can't walk because of some raised train tracks and no sidewalks, etc) Pretty crazy, huh?

Cool Site

I found this site the other day that I'm really excited about. I've been wanting to work with Daniel on his penmanship at home, but haven't had a great way to do it. With this site you can input what ever words/letters you'd like to work on and it will create a worksheet for you. I just thought this would be perfect for my friends whose kids are just starting to write, etc.

Daniel started full day Kindergarten! I can't believe he's old enough to go, but I guess they have to grow up sometime. :( Daniel was thrilled with his new lunch box. This was the only picture I was able to get with him not holding it in front of his face. lol.

At his school they have to wear uniforms, so we spent a week shopping all over for both supplies and clothes! I ended up getting an awesome deal at Old Navy where things were on sale and I had a 30% off coupon. Gotta love those sales!

As I dropped him off he was nervous and I kept having to remind him to answer the "good mornings" all the teachers were sending our way. His anxiety lasted until we reached the door of his classroom and then he didn't even look back. sniff sniff. I had very mixed emotions as I walked to the car. I was excited for him, but sad that our endless days together are over. I don't know if he'll ever stop being my baby.

After I dropped him off I ended up running a bunch of errands and marveled at how much easier they were to do without a 5 yr old. I think I'll be okay after all. ;) When I picked him up from school he hopped into the car and said, "That was awesome!"

Life is good.

Playing catch up. I have had such a hard time getting anything up on this blog! I have been through a billion hard drives and I swear the Geek Squad knows me by name. (not a good thing!) I'll never again buy a brand of computer I've never heard of, no matter how nice it is. Anyways, on to life! We've done a lot of traveling this summer (again) and have done a ton of fun things. One of the milestones we passed was Daniel lost his first teeth! The two bottom front teeth. Each time the tooth fairy brought him a crisp, brand new dollar bill. After the first tooth fairy visit Daniel crawled into my bed in the morning crying and angry. I said, "what's the matter honey?" "The tooth fairy took my tooth and didn't leave me anything! She just stole my tooth!" I told him to go back into his bedroom and look around a bit, that I was sure the tooth fairy would never steal. ;) I heard him whoop in joy and he ran in to show me his loot. Then he got thoughtful and quiet, I asked what was wrong again.... " But Mommy! I really really wanted a 3 dollar bill!"

What made it even more fun was that Sam had just gotten his first two teeth, the same ones Daniel lost. He had a lot of fun pretending that Sammy had taken his teeth. We were VERY happy when Sam's teeth finally broke through. He is a very mellow, calm baby, except when those first teeth came in! Boy did we hear it! I've never seen a baby scream like that! As of now he's gotten 8 teeth in the last 3 months! (the last 4 have been SO much easier, thank goodness!)

Easy Boy's ties...

I promised I'd share a link and a tutorial about my boys' ties, so here it is! While what I did wasn't the cheapest way, it was definitely the fastest and easiest. If you've got more time (and patience!!) here are some good tutorials to sew your own ties: purl bee:little boys tie, purl bee: Father's day tie, necktie ages 4-7. Since I decided to do this project the day before Father's Day, I had to do what was quick.

 I used the tutorial on this site: seilifestyle  , with some adjustments, for Sam's (the baby's) tie. I left the back tail of the tie longer and didn't stitch it into the knot. This made it so that I could slip it out of the knot and wrap it around his neck instead of trying to shimmy over his head each time. Once it's around his neck I just tuck it back through. The elastic ensures that when he tugs on it, it doesn't come undone. I hope that makes sense?

For Daniel's tie I kind of winged it. I took what was left over from making Sam's tie and went to town. I used the SEI tutorial as the basis, especially for how it gets tied and refitted with elastic. I wanted the tie to fit my 5 yr old (who's a bit tall for his age... so think 6 or 7 year old size) and the large end of the tie was too big, but the small end of the tie was too small, so I decided to alter the size of the large end (what was left over from making the baby's tie).
The first thing I did was to open the tie by snipping and pulling out the thread that was holding it closed on the back. (isn't that a snazzy ironing board? I'm trying to make due with it until we move...although I'm considering making a new cover for it anyways. Just pretend you can't see it :)

Then I pulled out the stiff inner lining (this is what gives the tie it's shape) 

Because I was in such a hurry and Daniel was already asleep so I couldn't measure him, I took one of his ties that already fits him well and traced the width from bottom to top.

Trim along the lines and insert it back under the outer lining of the tie.

Pin it in place using an all metal pin. (all of this fabric is super slippery!)

Fold the sides of the tie back up snuggly against the stiff lining and iron it in place. Remove the pins. (don't forget!)

Once you're happy with how it's ironed into place take a needle and thread and secure it using a hidden stitch. 

Follow the rest of the tutorial in the link to finish the elastic around the neck and you're done!