First Day of School and Finished Projects

 

Yesturday morning I woke up and saw this little big boy up, dressed, with backpack, morning chores done and drawing using our new writing center (I'll tell more about that below).  I can't believe how grown up he is getting, and it was fun to see how ready and excited he was to start school.

 

 Ready for First grade!

 

A little note about the backpack.  Yes, I know I home school and really Handsome doesn't need a backpack, but I have wished we had a big backpack (we have little ones) a few times with traveling and such and thought, the best time to get one is when they are 50% off.  So I picked one up for Handsome as a special thing, and he LOVED it.  (It still has yet to have anything put in it... but I'm sure it will get used soon).  The kids have both really wanted lunch boxes, especially ones with their favorite characters on them.. but I just couldn't justify the cost when we just eat at home and don't need them at all.  But a backpack, that I could do. :)   So Handsome got his first school backpack.

I can't believe I have a 1st grader!  So grown up!

 

 



And we told Gorgeous that she was starting Preschool this year.  Really, I've built my schedule to work in teaching her the letter sounds and doing fun drawing.  She also joins Handsome and I for read alouds, science, and social studies.  Mostly, I felt it was important to let her know she had her own time with mom to learn.  I've also put in time for Adorable to cuddle, read and/or play one on one with mommy.  (As for the picture...  I'll just say, she's not a morning person) 

 I let the kids pick their "First Day of School Breakfast."  The choice was pancakes with whip topping and sprinkles.  YUM!

 Handsome got a little too carried away with the sprinkles and ready to dive in. :)

 

Now, on to my projects.  I had three major projects I wanted to finish before school started.  A writing center, a mailbox station, and a beanbag chair/stuff animal storage.

 

The writing center was finished the night before school.  It is just a pocket chart I made that will hold blank paper, paper with lines to prompt letter writing, envelops (I save all the ones that come with the junk mail), and blank books for the kids to write stories in.  Then the next row of pockets hold markers that are organized according to color.  I love for the kids to see all the variations just within one color.  Also, color pencils and regular pencils are found there.  I came up with the design myself and used the fabric I had on hand.  With only one major mistake (I had to do some hand sewing because I missed a step).  I am very happy with how it turned out, and more excited for it to be used.  

The mailbox station was made first this summer.  The kids loved to write notes to family members and I thought it would be great to have mailboxes for all of us.  That way the kids could write a letter and the receiver could then write them back a letter.  I even made a mailbox for outgoing mail, which has already been used to due to President Monson's birthday.

After spending time looking around the web and Pinterest for mailbox ideas.  I tried to think of the crafty people I know and what they would make.   In the end I used a pattern from a book that I have, and made changes to it in size and added elements to make a mailbox.  I like the fabric look.

 

The only tricky part about the mailbox station and the writing station is the fact that I have 2 one year olds hanging out at my home.  Although the markers are washable, I didn't want to have to put them to the test, and I didn't want all my hard work ruined within minutes.  So I had to put them up high out of the reach of little fingers.  So far so good, but I see those smart one year olds minds' turning to try to get into it (especially the markers).  We'll see how long it takes them to figure out how to get to them.

 

And a project not so much for school, but for organization.  I've always wanted a beanbag chair for the kids, but didn't want another thing to take up space in our little home.  Then on a blog I saw a beanbag chair that held stuff animals.  What an idea, I needed a place to store all the stuff animals and a beanbag chair would be PERFECT!  On that blog it said I could buy one for a lot of money or it was suggested that someone could make one up.  So the challenge was on and I decided to make one myself.  I found a pattern of a beanbag chair on line for free, changed a few elements like added vinyl to see through and a zipper to easily access the stuff animals.  I used the fabric I had on hand, which turned out to be minky (so soft!).  I LOVE how it turned out.  I thought I would have to make two, but apparently it was big enough to fit all the animals, and still have some room so it was comfy for sitting on.  I love the new addition as it cleans up and organized our toy/library/school space. :)

 

Well that was a LONG post, but I had to make up for all the ones I missed during the summer.  I may or may not post about vacations, depending on the time I have after schooling is done. :)