Teacher Gifts 2012

Somehow, my kids' last days in their current classrooms snuck up on me.  Since they are in daycare year round, it isn't as clear when they will be moving to the next rooms and getting new teachers.  Well suddenly Kate's last day in Junior Kindergarten is tomorrow.  Next week she will be moving into a summer program before starting Kindergarten at the elementary school in the Fall.  Her last day is tomorrow and as of this morning, I had done nothing about gifts for her teachers.  Luckily Jack's last day in his room isn't until next week, but I better solve for that too.  


So I turned to my trusty resource, Pinterest, for an idea.  If you haven't caught on to the addiction of "pinning", I would highly recommend it - an endless supply of amazing ideas.  I saw this adorable ice cream sundae gift box and decided I could do something similar. 


I picked up your basic sundae fixings:

And some cute colorful baskets (on sale) that fit everything.  I had the tissue paper at home.

Everything went in to the baskets.  Easy enough!

Then I made little tags using a stamp and some markers (ignore my messy handwriting).

I used ribbon I had at home to attach the tags and somewhat tie down the contents of the baskets (a thicker ribbon would have been better, but I used what I had on hand).

And voila!  Super easy and fairly cute.  Not even close to the picture on Pinterest but it gave me the idea and that was all I needed!

Now off to bed so I can deliver these in the morning!
  

Camping

For Father's Day this year we decided to go on our first family camping trip.  We invited our good friends, the Schufreiders, to join us.  Not knowing how the kids would do sleeping in the tent, we only attempted one night and didn't head too far from home.  We went to Lake Sylvia State Park which down by Montesano just 2 hours south of us.  


In packing for the trip the night before, I realized that my tutu/dress wearing daughter did not own a single pair of jeans.  So we made a 9 PM run to Fred Meyer and picked out some that she could live with (I had to buy her glittery belts to go with them).  This is the first time I've seen her in jeans in over 2 years - I almost cried!

Hopefully that won't be the last time she wears them!

Unfortunately we did not have great weather for our trip.  But the rain didn't start coming down hard until around 7:30 so we were able to have an enjoyable evening before we started to get really wet!  We arrived a little after lunch and got everything set up.  

 Dave putting up the tent

Jack staying occupied with his cars

Scott & Nancy putting up their tent

Our tent!

After getting set up, we took off on a little hike around the lake.  It was a really nice hike with lots of little bridges to cross and cool moss covered trees.  

Jack, Kate, Chloe & Luke

Scott & Nancy

At the end of the hike we discovered the campsite's play area and had to stop for a bit.

 Back at camp we grilled up some delicious dinner and filled our bellies.  

 Then it was time to build the campfire and roast marshmallows for s'mores!

 And then the rain started really coming down!

And so it was off to bed.  It took Jack a little while to fall asleep.  He wasn't too excited about sleeping in the tent.  He finally drifted off after many books and watching his sister fall asleep.  Then they both slept great all through the night.  I, on the other hand, was up most of the night due to neighbors that were up until 4 AM.  So I was feeling a little less than chipper, not to mention soggy, the next morning!  


But we had some breakfast, wished our men a Happy Father's Day, and then got all packed up.  The only dry spot in the place was where our tent had been!

We had lots of fun and now the kids know what to expect.  So we are definitely excited to go again soon - on a weekend with a more promising weather forecast!

Little Gymnast

Kate has been taking gymnastics classes for nearly a year now at a local gym here in Maple Valley.  Last Monday they hosted their end of school year "Olympics" where the kids demonstrated the tricks they have learned.  

I have felt a little torn about having her in gymnastics.  Being a gymnast nearly my entire childhood - for 15 years, I love being back in a gym and watching her begin to learn the basics.  But after multiple broken bones, stitches, reconstructive knee surgery and more sprained ankles than I can count, my body is definitely feeling the tole that gymnastics took on it.  So I'm not so sure I want her to get fully invested in gymnastics long-term.  Maybe I can get her into cheerleading instead...

Here are some pictures of her first "Olympics":

Stretching

Starting her floor routine

Backbend

On the bars

Watching her classmate on the beam

Doing a scale on the beam

Receiving her award on the podium

With her coach

Our little gymnast!