All By Myself

I'm slowly getting a glimpse into what life's like when you're home with no kids.  I'm not sure if I like it, ironically enough.  This is what I always imagined it to look like:

I'd get up, get the kids ready for school, drop them off and head home, after hanging out talking to the teachers (and my mom) and the other moms.  Then I'd stop at Starbucks for coffee and then return home where I'd lounge around all day, not a care in the world.  I'd catch up on my soaps and other DVR'd shows that the Hubs refuses to watch.  I'd occasionally do a chore or two.  I'd bask in the silence, a sound that never is hear in my house, ever.  I wouldn't have to watch a cartoon, kid show, or movie that I didn't want to watch.  It would just be lovely.

Tuesday was the day.  I got a few hours to myself after dropping the kiddos off (it was a 1200 dismissal).  I did a few errands for my mom, stopped at Starbucks (got my 30th star...Gold Card here I come!!!) and came home.  I got caught up on Days of Our Lives (yes I still watch soap operas).  I did some laundry.  I lounged on the couch, basking in the silence.  There were no cartoons, no fighting, during these few hours.  And you know what?  I hated it.  I did not love it as much as I imagined.  I felt lost not hearing someone call "Mommy" every 5 seconds.  I found myself clock watching, just waiting until the moment I could go pick them up from school.  I was emotional all day.  I felt like a part of me was missing.  It was at that very moment it finally dawned on me.  I'm a mother.  Plain and simple.  As much as I try to define myself as other things first, I'm a Mom.  My kids are my life.  My world revolves around them.  Yes, I've known this and have said these things over and over again, but for some reason, not having them around, even for a few hours, made my world turn upside down.  And you know what?  I'm okay with that.  I'm okay being that silly Mom who gets emotional over seeing their daughter's first school work or being sad when I leave the classroom and they are totally okay watching me walk away.  I'm okay being that mom.  I'm okay with it because it's just who I am.

So what's my solution to dealing with the lonely hours?  Switch my work schedule so that I'm working five hr days a week instead of four 10hr days.  That way I can avoid it all together!   Isn't avoidance the best solution for anything?!?!?  It's my favorite coping strategy.  Just ask the Hubs ;)

I can't wait until I get home from work so I can see these two lovies:

First Day of School

I don't know when it happened but my kids have grown up.  They are no longer my sweet little babies (no matter how much I tell them that).  They are kids now.  Like actual people.  Noah has become so independent and Em is following right behind him.  I guess it took today for me to realize that there's no turning back.  That they are going to grow up, no matter how much I wish they didn't.  And this is where I start crying, almost ugly crying.

Noah has been looking forward to today for weeks.  He has been so excited about starting Kindergarten.  It didn't matter that he's going to the same school he's gone to for 2 years.  He's wearing the same uniform he's worn for 2 years.  None of that matters.  All that matters is that he's in Kindergarten now and he'll be 6 (in January).  Em had a little bit of convincing when it came to school.  She was excited but didn't want to go.  Last night, she kept saying she wasn't going to school.  That I couldn't make her.  What was the first thing out of her mouth this morning???  "Momma you have to do my hair.  I have to have my Tangled braids."  Guess she was on board for school today.  It was a little surreal for me.  I've done the first day of school for 2 years now.  The first one was hard.  I couldn't believe I was sending my baby to school.  I'm still having a silent panic attack with this one.  This is my last "First Day of School."  Sure I'll get to have a 1st day of school every year but this was Em's first day ever.  The first day she put on her school uniform.  The first time we left her in the classroom and weren't a room away.  I'm tearing up just writing this.

So anywho....after I finished Em's hair, she instantly said "Bye Mom." I almost died.  She was so ready to go.  She wasn't even in her uniform yet and she was already saying goodbye.  I knew at that moment, no matter how much I wanted her to not want me to leave, that she would have no problem today.  So we got dressed, she said "Bye Mom."  We got into the car.  She said "Bye Mom."  We pulled into school.  She said "Bye Mom."  And when it was time to leave, we pretty much had to pry her away from playing to say goodbye.

Noah didn't even want us to bring him to his classroom.  He was so ready that he didn't need us.  He was totally let down when I said that wasn't an option.  He practically pushed us out of his room.

So once we said our goodbyes and did a last minute peek into Em's room, the Hubs and I went to breakfast, wandered Target and KMart, went grocery shopping, and took advantage of the quiet that filled our house for the few short hours we were home without the kids.  Then we headed to pick them up and take them to lunch.  Both kids loved school and were ready to go back.

Of course I couldn't make it through the day without taking a picture.  What kind of Mom would that make me?  So here you go!!! And I just figured out how awesome PicMonkey is!!!

I can't believe how much he's grown in 3 years.  We had to recreate the backpack picture today!!!

Em wasn't as excited for pictures as I was.  Check out her crazy face in all of them!

Noah was very excited for today!

I'm so proud of my kiddos (and the Hubs for not crying).  I can't wait to see what this year has in store for us!!  Hope everyone else had a great 1st Day of School!!!

We appreciate Teachers in our house!

Happy Teachers Appreciation week to all the teachers out there. Noah's school had a very special teachers week this week that we participated in. I might have gone a little overboard but why not? These special people are shaping my 4 year old (and dealing with his tantrums). I was really bad about taking pics of each day's gifts so I'll recap as best as possible.

Day 1: How You Help Us Grow
This day Noah was supposed to bring in flowers, a plant or something for the garden. I had seen these great seed packet wrap-arounds over at Hello, Good Gravy! and knew I had to use them. Well, when it came time for it, I never printed them out. (we don't have a printer at our house....shocking I know...how do I survive?) I forgot to send them to the Hubs so he could print them out for me. So I improvised. I made my own with the same little saying...not as cute but works all the same. I placed the seed packet in a clay flower pot and there you go....2 flower gifts.

Day 2: Take A Moment to Relax
This day was all about the teacher's favorite hobby. Noah's teacher loves the beach and playing sports outside. The aide in his class loves reading and cross stiching. I found a cute straw tote in Target's Dollar Section (for $2.50 but she's worth it), tossed in a cute beach towel, a pair of flip flops and some tanning oil. Perfect little beach pack! I actually wanted to keep it but I didn't. For his aide, I found a really cute cross stich kit that said "Laughter is an instant vacation" How true that is!!! I also put in a really nice bookmark. I forget the quote on it but again, I thought about keeping it.

Day 3: Teachers are especially SWEET
You guessed it....candy day! I knew what Noah's teachers' favorite candies were but I thought I'd make something fun for all the faculty and staff of the school. I made mocha truffles for Christmas gifts 2 years ago and they were a big hit. So I decided to make them for the teachers. How could the combination of chocolate and coffee be a bad idea?  They are super rich though...like diabetic coma rich.  But they are yummy!  I was making them late at night and got tired so they ended up being HUGE truffles but I hear they are the talk of the school, even 3 days later!  The recipe is super easy.  I haven't figured out how to appropriately chocolate coat anything so mine didn't look as pretty as the picture with the recipe.  But really, you should make them.  They're awesome!!!

These are NOT mine.  These are from the recipe and are what mine were supposed to look like if I could correctly dip things in chocolate

Day 4: We Flip over our Teachers
This is the day I am most proud of myself!  For this day,  we were supposed to bring in a pair of flip flops or anything that has to do with flip flops. Now PreK has 16 kids.  There was a potential for them to receive 16 pairs of flip flops.  Granted Noah's teacher LOVES flip flops, I wanted to be a little different.  The Hubs and I found the greatest gift on the entire planet (and this one wins the best flip flop gift in the entire school)



Flip Flop Wine

 I about fell over!  How perfect is flipflop wine for flip flop day?!?!?!  And I just learned today (when I was looking for this pic) that flipflop wines partners with Soles4Souls.  It's an organization that provides shoes (new or gently worn) to people who are in need all over the world. I also learned that flipflop wines will donate 1 pair of shoes for every bottle of wine sold in the first year.  So I donated 2 pairs of shoes to a person in need.  How awesome is that!?!?

Day 5: Our Teachers are Special
This is the wrap up of Teachers Week.  We were to bring in something in her favorite color or something that every teacher can use.  His teacher's favorite colors are pink and black and the aide's favorite color is blue.  I had seen this amazing idea over at eighteen25 a long time ago and I just had to make them for this week!  I found office supplies in pink and blue (and purple) and ran with it.  I actually took pictures of this project so here is the final result!!!

The finished products

A view of the inside.  They are exactly the same except everything that's pink in this one is blue in the other one

They loved their boxes and loved their teacher week.  I credit them for how much Noah's grown over the past year.  He's adjusting to routines, learning to follow the rules, he can write his entire alphabet and is already spelling words on his own, and he's learning about God, Jesus, and his Catholic faith. 

Thank you so much to the teachers at his school for being wonderful angels in our lives!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

So I was going to do a big long update on all the fun (both real fun and not so fun) that's been going on in the Crimella house but I couldn't pass up sharing the St Patty's Day gifts I made for Noah's class (he goes to St Patrick Catholic School...its only appropriate his class get goodies on this day!).  Noah's been out sick all week so I definitely wanted to send these in to let all the kiddos know that he's still thinking of them.  I wish I could claim this fabulous idea as my own but I can't.  I stumbled across it here.  A great idea AND a great printable....how could I go wrong?!? 

Drum roll please........

Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

Supply-wise, all you need are rainbow Twizzlers (I had the hardest time finding these.  KMart was the only place that had them), chocolate coins, treat bags and the amazing tags found here.

Yes I'm OCD and separated them out by color

Gold coins courtesy of Party City

The rest is easy.  All you have to do is create your Twizzler rainbow, place inside a treat bag and throw some coins in. 

I wish I had put more coins in but it was for a group of 4-5 year olds.  I want their parents to still  like me after this

Now add the cute tag (with Noah's name, of course) and there you have it....an absolutely adorable way to spread some St Patty's Day cheer

The finished product

I wasn't there to see how the class responded to their goodies but my mom filled me in.  It seems that most of the teachers were head over heels for these tasty rainbows.  The Kindergarten teacher said she couldn't wait for Noah to be in her class so I can make cutesy things for her! 

Happy St Patrick's Day to everyone!!!

~JRC~