back to school :: make it fun!

super cute binder pouch!

FuN reusable lunch bag from bend the rules with fabric! tutorial includes instructions to print your own custom fabric!

lunch box love notes :: a free printable!

good morning and bedtime checklists to download from children inspired designs (we LOVE CID!!)
we printed these out and slipped them into plastic page protectors - the kind that slip into a binder. the morning checklist is on one side and the bedtime checklist is on the other and they can mark on them with dry erase markers then wipe them clean for the next day. i would prefer one with pictures for harper since he doesn't read just yet. i have plans to create one for him soon. and when i do i will be sure to come share it with all of you!

button flower headbands! adorable and so easy. go ahead, make one for every day of the week!

and lastly i stumbled across this flickr group with tons of photos and lunch box inspiration :: lunchbox recipes

so friends, what are some of your favorite back to school projects, ideas or websites? please share!

small style :: back to school edition

i can hardley believe that summer vacation is over. didn't it seem to last forever when we were kids. this year we sent two kids to high school (!!), one to third grade and still have two at home. since it is still super hot here we put off buying new clothes for a few more weeks when it will be cool enough to wear jeans.

'cept the big kids are already that cool and they wear jeans even when it is 100 degrees...

here is what they wore for their first day back ::

on esme ::

striped sweatshirt by old navy

polka dot gray tee by target

ruffled rainbow skirt by old navy, a hand-me-down from a special friend

and brand new, pink plaid NSS shoes with ribbon laces.

on riley and niko ::

they both wore old tee shirts and old jeans. they try to deny the fact that they are a bit alike but i think these photos say otherwise...



and here are the little cuties who stayed home with mama.

on harper ::

we are encouraging him to choose his own clothes and i pretty much just go with whatever he picks out as long as it is weather appropriate and fits him. this day it was a brown polo shirt and brown sweat shorts. his summer sandles are, you guessed it, brown. can't go wrong with all brown, i suppose.

on luca ::

short overalls by babyGAP

ooga booga tank top by mama ♥

laguna sandles by soft star shoes

today i am linking up with morgan at mama loves papa. if you love small style like i do be sure to pay her a visit!

oh hey, a new season is approaching....

...affectionately referred to as BACK TO SCHOOL!

which means i have a new back-to-school project queue keeping me plenty busy. let me share.

i plan to sew this lunch bag for esme ::


i have become obsessed with bento boxes.


i want to sew some little snack bags like these, but i still need to find a food safe liner that i feel comfortable using. any ideas?


this dress is super cute and will be a fabulous project for the yards and yards of michael miller knits that i acquired this summer.

i found this adorable mushroom lunch bag tutorial this morning and when riley saw it he said "i want one!'


why, you ask, would a sixteen year old boy want a mushroom shaped lunch bag? his answer- simple. i'm a fun guy. enough said.

firsts

monday was the first day of school and the first day of 1st grade for esme'.

tuesday was the first day she rode the bus to school (that is her, climbing aboard!) and then back home. i was terrified that she would not be on the bus when it pulled up to our stop that afternoon. but she was. in fact as the bus was slowing to a stop in front of us she was calling out the window to me. she did it! she got on the right bus and made it home safe and sound. all is well.

and today was the first day that harper succumbed to the sleepy afternoons that a new early morning schedule brings and he napped. not for long, but he napped. it took me nearly an hour to get him to sleep, but he napped! and so did mama....

while you are here check out the celebrate autumn swap! there are still a couple days to join!

six

she asks every single evening if she goes to school in the morning. no, not yet. then we talk about how many vacation days we have left and look at the calender, and she seems to understand. then the next night, as i am tucking her into bed, she asks again. i think i will make her a paper chain or something to help her count down. first grade! she simply cannot wait and i can already feel the lump forming in my throat.

22 days and counting...

itty, bitty graduate

we celebrated the first day of kindergarten in august ::

and today we celebrated the last day ::

we are proud beyond words, sad to say good bye to kindergarten, missing mrs. mortin, excited for summer, and looking forward to next year all at the same time.

we said our misty eyed farewells, came home, put play clothes on, passed out popscicles and went outside to play. it is officially summertime... bring it!

full disclosure

yesterday i blogged about our first day of school. i wrote about how bittersweet it was to send esme' off to kindergarten and how nice everyone looked in their new clothes. what i didn't reveal was just how absolutely over the top crazy our day was.

i dropped the big kids off at 7:30 am. riley had football practice immediately after school but niko needed to be picked up at noon. esme' class started at 11:30. we dropped her off, said our tearful goodbyes and left. we then stopped for coffee. then we came home. i knitted a little, nursed and cuddled harper and it wasn't until i went to get him a snack from the kitchen that i suddenly realized that we had never picked niko up! it was now nearly 1pm. a full hour after her school day had ended. i rushed into the garage to inform tony that we were terrible parents and that we needed to leave... NOW!

the whole car ride over i was anxious. i felt bad for forgetting and i was also worried that she would not be right out in front of the school anymore. i worried that we would have to look for her and as a result would be late picking esme' up at 1:15. finally we were approaching the school and as tony turned into the parking lot i notice riley walking down the street with his friends. what the heck is he doing??!! we pull up to the front of the school and grab poor niko then quickly turn the car around to confront riley.

me: what are you doing?

riley: (very surprised to see me) we walked to the store because i was starving.

me: what time does practice start?

riley: 12:30

me: it is 1pm!

riley: it is?

okay, you get the point. apparently he was starving and had to walk to store to buy a 1/2 pound box of mike and ikes before he could possibly even think about football practice. but there is no time to deal with this now, i have a kindergartner to pick up. i tell him to get his behind to practice and off we race to esme's school.

we got there in time to see her come out of the classroom with all the other brand new students in a perfect single file line. she was grinning from ear to ear and i could immediately tell that she was changed forever by the experience of school. she had had a perfectly wonderful day.

we buckled her into her car seat as she told us all about her teacher, the other kids, the playground and everything else about her day. when we got home tony took harper out of the car and asked why he was soaking wet. upon further inspection we discovered that in the frenzy of after school pick up i had pulled on his shorts right over a cotton fitted diaper. no waterproof cover. yes, it was just one of those days...

a day of the new

today is the first day of school. riley and niko were up early and dressed in their school uniforms. i loaded them into the van and dropped them off at the newly built junior high. they looked a little like fast food restaurant employees!

then, this afternoon, right after lunch, we took miss esme' to her very first day of kindergarten.

i was prepared for some tears, maybe she would be shy and try to hide behind myself or daddy. perhaps she wouldn't want harper to leave. but no, none of that, she was ready.

however there were a couple tears shed by her daddy and i. proud tears that sat lumped up in the back of our throats until we were out the door and in the car. those bittersweet "where has the time gone" tears.

and, because we know he wishes he were here...
Papa is in washington visiting my brother and his wife. we miss you Papa and can't wait for you to get home!

resume

tonight is our first official "school night" of the year. brand new outfits are laid out, full back packs are lined up at the front door, alarm clocks are set and bedtime came an hour early. everyone is looking forward to new schools, new friends and brand new adventures.
until tomorrow...

anxiously yours,

erika

summertime... i'm already missing you

i am afraid our easy livin' summertime days have come to an end. a screeching halt more like it.

i spent 2 hours at the new jr. high (yes, i have jr high aged children!!) registering riley on tuesday and another 4 hours there registering niko this morning. monday evening was parent orientation at esme's school and this coming monday we get to go and see her classroom and she will meet her kindergarten teacher for the first time. tomorrow is riley's first football practice and i will need to have him dropped off at 8 am and picked up at 1:30 pm. school starts on august 25th for all of them so i am trying to get all of us back on schedule. i have also been working very hard to get things ready for my shop. i have some very fun things in the works and am hoping to stock tomorrow so be sure to check in!

yes, i am already mourning those lazy, sleep in way too late, living for the moment summer days.

i didn't post any garden updates or photos this year. everything grew big and fast and we have been enjoying fresh veggies for a couple months. we have had tons of cucumbers and even more zucchini. as soon as our tomatoes started turning red a little squirell started stealing them. just when i thought he was going to eat every single one he stopped. we have several pumpkins including one that is already big and bright orange.

here is the last bunch of rainbow carrots. we usually do not plant carrots because i find them hard to grow and they are actually pretty cheap to buy. but we couldn't resist these colorful carrots and they really were alot of fun. and we had the prettiest summer dinner salads ever!