The First Day O' School. Or, The Beginning of the End

Is it melodramatic that I'm feeling like life is over because this is Bennett's last year before Kindergarten?

It may be, but I'm freaking out nonetheless.

It's the beginning of the end. The end of his toddler-hood, the end of being home all day every day, the end of his whole world being our family, the end of him thinking Mommy and Daddy are the coolest people in the world. Pretty soon he'll be moving away and marrying some girl from the University.

I object.

I often voice these objections to Benny-boy.

Me: "I don't WANT you to grow up. Please stop."

Bennett: "Moooom... it's OK! I'll still give you hugs and kisses, even when I'm big."

Sigh.

Do you see now why I refuse to accept him growing up?

Nonetheless, school started today, and I decided to get over my temper tantrum and make it a special day. After all, I do love a good reason to break out traditions!

Like the "Special breakfast on the First-Day-of-School" Tradition.

I made these apple cinnamon muffins. They were amazing (I made mini muffins instead of biggies, just FYI). I served Benny's up with some yogurt.

Along these lines, we also celebrated the "Bring-the-Teacher-an-Apple-on-the-First-Day-of-School" Tradition. Also known as "My-Mama-is-a-Kiss-Up" Tradition.

I packaged up 12 of our Apple mini-muffins in an egg carton. I found this cute idea on Pinterest. Benny was excited to give them to his teacher Miss Mary!

Moving on... to the "Picture-on-the-Front-Steps" Tradition. Our pics were a little sub-par this year. We were rushed, and we have two young children. Enough said.

Still we got a few semi-cute shots.

Getting a semi-decent picture...

When we got to school, it was all craziness and hustle and bustle, which is not Benny's favorite.
He likes it calm and quiet like his Daddy.

He said hello to sweet Miss Mary, who greeted each child outside the door with a big smile and hug. Love her already.

She oohed and aahed over the gift Bennett brought her, and I saw his little eyes twinkle with pride.

Inside the classroom, Bennett found a quiet corner where he played Dinosaurs and "Guys" (which basically means action-figures in Bennett-speak").

For the first 10 minutes or so, he kept asking me to stay, and then all of a sudden, he said very calmly, "Mama, can you please leave me here now? You can go."

So I kissed him (twice) and told him to be good (10 times) and drove away.

When pick-up time came, my buddy emerged from the classroom wearing a green Birthday Crown since he just had his birthday. He had a great first day of school and told me all about the special snack, the toys and the friends.

We then went and celebrated with our final tradition of the day... the "Special-Lunch-After-The First-Day-of-School" Tradition. This was one my Mom always did with me, and have fond memories of the first day of school!

He picked "Pandamania Express" :0), and we had a really nice lunch and playtime at the park afterwards.

After lunch he said, "What a beautiful day this was. I love this day."

Enough with the preciousness, kid. Can't you see your Mom is hanging on by a thread today? Sheesh.

5 years ago today...

...God blessed me with the most amazing gift.

It was this.

And this...And this.

A precious little baby boy who would change my whole life, deny me of sleep for 5 months straight, smear dirt on everything I own, melt my heart and kill me every day with his preciousness.

I like to call it Death by Bennett.

Because I die a little bit every time I look at his precious, little face.

As he grows up, I get to see more and more of the unique, special boy God has made him to be. God has given his such an amazing heart, character and conviction. Just like his Daddy.

Of course I can't sum all of Bennett up in one blog post, but here is a glimpse.

My Bennett is:

The kind of boy who just likes to sit back and watch sometimes...

Imaginative!
Lover of bad guys. He wants to redeem them all so they won't be bad anymore.

Loves to play, play, play!

A quiet and complex little boy. And old soul... He loves to sit quietly and play by himself away from the chaos of life.

Lover of the outdoors...

Lover of adventures...

Always holding a stick or gun... he is ready to defend and protect others!

Sweet and thoughtful... he loves to cuddle and is always telling me he loves me.

Sometimes precocious...
Loves quality time with his family. Here he is with his Bobob.

A very sweet brother to Mallory (most of the time) :0)He melts my heart and he knows it. He is the joy of my life.

Happy Birthday, Benny-boy. I can't believe how quickly these 5 years have gone by and how many special memories we've had. You are SUCH a blessing to me. I am so blessed to be your Mama. I pray that God will continue to bless and keep you and grow you into the young man He has designed you to be.

Summer Learning: Rooty Tooty Fresh-n-Fruity

Those of you who read my blog with scrutiny may have seen that "Learn the Fruits of the Spirit" was one of the items on our family's "Summer To-Do List."

"What is this all about?" you may have asked yourself.

Well, I'm glad you asked, O Scrutinous Blog Reader.

The idea came to me a few weeks ago when I was trying to describe to Bennett how we needed more peace in our home. He asked me, "What is peace Mama?" And while I was explaining it to him, this simple idea was born. I didn't want to overwhelm him or myself with tons of elaborate summer preschool curriculum like I used to. I though that focusing on a new "Fruit of the Spirit" each week could provide some opportunities for spiritual growth for the whole family as well as some arts&crafts, cutting, math and music along the way.

So here's what we did. First we made a big blank tree on butcher paper and hung it on the playroom door. (This is also what I do for my thankfulness tree in the fall.) I'm no artist, and my tree is proof of that, but the kids don't care.

Then, each week, we choose a fruit that begins with the same letter as the virtue we are learning. For instance, a lemon for love.

And a pineapple for peace. I also wrote a simple, easy-to-understand definition on each fruit that I keep repeating to my kids every day at breakfast. The kids get to paste the fruit up on the tree, and this helps us to continue reviewing all the fruits we've learned.

I also choose a Bible verse that corresponds to the Fruit O' the Week and post it on the chalkboard in our eating area. Here's the verse for love.

The verse for peace was "Live at peace with everyone." (Romans 12:18)

Again, those scrutiny-filled readers may notice that we skipped "Joy" on our tree. This is because I did "Peace" early... we've had a lot of fighting around here lately, and I thought we needed some peace ASAP! So I broke the order for the greater good.

And now we're doing Joy this week.

Our fruit for Joy is actually going to be "Jelly" because there are no fruits that begin with the letter J! Jelly counts as fruit in my book. Long live jelly!

And my kid-friendly definition for Joy is: Having a happy heart no matter what happens.

Joy's verse is: Proverbs 15: 13 "A happy heart makes the face cheerful."

Also: Throughout the week, I really try to phrase things using our 'Fruit O' the Week,' so the meaning will really sink in for the kids.

For instance, I use it to lovingly correct, as in, "Bennett, is that a good way to seek peace with your sister? Or are you stirring up fighting?" OR "Mallory, that wasn't a very joyful attitude." OR "Bennett, those weren't very loving words."

Or better yet, I use it when I'm praising the kids for great behavior. As in... "Bennett! I'm so proud of the way you handled that peacefully!" OR "Great job, Mallie! I love your joyful attitude!" You get the picture. This serves as a good reminder of what we are working on.

So there you have it... our Rooty Tooty Fresh -n-Fruity Summer Learning!

DIY Art: Eye Chart

I need to fill the blank walls of my boudoir with some art! I've seen all this super cute "eye chart" art on Etsy lately... like this one and this one. Love them.

So I decided to make my own using a song we are always singing at our house.

It was super easy, and I love how it turned out! I downloaded a font called "Eye Chart" and then just wrote out my text and set to work making lines of descending size.

I think it will look awesome matted in a white frame.

Can't wait to add some personalized love to our bedroom.

Pizza... You Singin'-a My Song!

I love my Dad. The title of this post is an ode to him and all the funny little inside-joke phrases we have together.

I don't really know where the phrase originated, but EVERY time I have eaten pizza with my Dad since the day of my birth, he always loudly proclaims in a pseudo-Italian accent, "Pizza! You singin'-a my song!" It's a silly little tradition that I love.

I hope that when my kids are grown, we have a lot of little family inside-jokes like that. These little things are what truly add up to create tight family bonds for life.

Anyway, back to pizza. I experimented with a few favorite flavors and came up with a pizza that I LOVE!

It was inspired by my favorite pizza from Mandy's Pizza... the Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza!

So, without further adieu, here's the how you make it.

First, take yo' pizza crust. This one is the whole wheat from Trader Joe's. (Love P-Dub's recipe too! ) Spread the dough on your pan, and spread on a layer of ranch dressing... like so:

Next, add your toppings: chopped, cooked chicken (I used leftover grilled from the night before), crispy chopped bacon and diced tomatoes. I would have thrown some green onions on there too if I'd had any. Next... the cheese! I used grated mozzarella.
Then bake it in a 475 oven until browned and crispy!!! (about 8-10 minutes)

Look how delicious!!

And now, before I take my leave, one more time... all together...

Pizza! You singin'-a my song!