I survived the first week of school! How ridiculous must I sound? It should be "Samuel survived the first week of school." Truth of the matter is that it was much harder on me than him.
Exhibit A: The night before the first day of school, I tossed and turned and didn't sleep as if I was the one going in for the first time. Samuel slept like a baby and was calm.
The actual first day of school Samuel got up and dressed and was happy and exited. I spent the whole morning feeling shaky, nauseous and nervous.
During drop off time Samuel entered his classroom with such curiosity and joy. I entered and felt like I was going to have a panic attack.
We said goodbye and Samuel smiled and said "See you later mommy." I smiled but walked out the door and cried my eyes out.
I never thought these emotions would come but I understand a mother's love so much more now.
It's been a great week, we are a little tired but over all everyone is adjusting quite well. Samuel likes his teacher and his school and well I love that tomorrow is a "Stay home day" like Samuel would say.
Here he is on his first day of Kindergarten.
I can not believe that my little boy is now my big boy. I am so proud to be his mommy!
Today was Samuel's first time meeting his Kindergarten teacher and his first time seeing his classroom.
I realize that this year is filled with plenty of Firsts for our entire family. The fact that Samuel starts Kindergarten in seven days indicates a huge life change for our entire family. Here is why;
1. We all are going to transition into a school routine and projects that need to be completed at home.
2. Samuel's school schedule is different every day and that will take adjusting to lunch and nap routines not only for him but for Samara since we need to pick him up from school.
3. Carlos and I are going back to school also. I know that this is just the beginning of homework and research that will be done as a family.
4. Samuel isn't the only one who will be making new friends, most likely I will too. Perhaps with other parents who are involved and share common interests with me.
I have anticipated this moment for a long time and now that it is almost here I find myself being a bit nervous.
I know that it is a normal thing for Mom's to go through and each day that get's closer to school starting I get more and more excited for him. The smile on his face when he talks about school is priceless.
Everything is worth it just to see that!
Samara has been obsessed with watching the Mulan movie since last year. She mentioned to me(last year)that she would like to have a Mulan themed birthday party. (I for sure thought she would change her mind).
NOPE! Her birthday is 3 weeks away and the Mulan madness has begun. It's very difficult finding things in a movie theme let alone a movie that came out in the 1990's!! Anyway we have been lucky and have found a few things here and there but mainly I am making everything for her party from scratch. The other day I watched a tutorial on how to make Mushu and it came out okay, I think I will make it my "please recycle" sign! ha ha
First checked items on the list include: two big birthday banners that says Happy Birthday written in Chinese Characters. Two giant cherry blossom tree's that the kids and I made together so they are cute and totally child like. I have purchased all the decorations mainly Chinese decor such as Chinese lanterns and paper umbrellas. I also ordered take out boxes so that I can make those the "goodie bags".
The cake will be a Mulan cake that my mom is working on and I don't doubt she will do a great job. We are also going to do a craft with the kids making their own Cherry Blossom Tree's.
I need to start working on centerpieces this week, they will be small vases (home made) filled with Cherry blossom flowers. I'm super excited and can't wait until her 3rd birthday party.
We even have a friend who is willing to be our "Mulan" for the party if I can find a costume to borrow or rent at a decent price. I looked into purchasing one and they are over $175 dollars for an adult Mulan costume, that is craziness!!
I love throwing parties and being creative so that the parties don't end up costing a million dollars, I know some people get carried away but I like to stick to my budget and still make it cute and memorable.
I love hearing Samara sing "Who is that girl I see, staring right back at me?" ha ha It's super cute and she love loves Mulan.
Oh and I'm super thrilled because I got her Mulan 2 and a cute vanity for her birthday.
Thank goodness the Mulan Madness is all fun stuff!
There is something about school supplies that I love. I don't know exactly what it is but I love the smell of paper, fresh paper and books period. I'm just a nerd I should just admit.
Anyway, I've always had a love of pens and notepads too and ever since I could remember I would play "office" writing all sorts of notes etc. I'm still a list maker and I still love to write on anything from sticky pads to cute stationary.
Just recently I decided that I missed receiving and writing letters. I love e-mail, facebook and texting don't get me wrong it's a quick way to get information to someone and communicate. However there is something special about a handwritten note from a friend and even better from that special someone.
I love getting letters and it's been a while so I decided to put it out there. (Well on facebook) that I would love to have a pen pal. I had several responses and since then I have received 3 letters. One from a friend who lives in Australia, one from my best friend Tiffany who is all the way in Ontario (wink wink) and one from my cousin Jose who lives in Texas. Not a bad way to get started on having pen pals.
Now it's a matter of making the time to write them back and enjoy the exchange of letters via snail mail. My all time favorite type of letter is a Love letter though. It's the most romantic thing a guy can do for a girl and the best part is that you can read the letter over and over and it's something you can keep for a long time. I miss those the most!
I'm off to write my pen pals back. Yay!
There is a group that I belong to on Facebook called "Kiddie Corner". It's basically a place to sell things that your kids have out grown and a place to find things your kids may want at a fraction of the cost. Most of the stuff is gently used and the price is usually negotiable.
I have listed several things that my kids have out grown and have been able to sell pretty much everything. It's been a few bucks here and there but has been an easy and fun way to make some extra cash. I would rather donate the stuff to someone I know who will need it but If I don't have anyone in mind making a few bucks to get rid of clutter is my kind of thing.
I also decided that since I'm mainly selling the kids stuff that I would use that money to "upgrade" their room. I gave away Samuel's baby Jungle theme room decor to a friend from Church and the room looked pretty bare.
So far I have gotten; a gorgeous desk, laundry basket, wall hanging and plastic bookcase w/toy box storage for the play room. Not bad! Even our Kinect for XBOX broke and I was able to purchase one off Kiddie Corner for about $50. That beats the $80 fee from Microsoft to fix ours.
Anyway I am excited because the next thing on my list is new bedding for both of the kids beds. I have a few sales pending and hoping to be able to get them their new bedding before the actual cold months begin.
It's the little things that make me happy. Sorting and saving though that's my kind of thing.
