May's Template Freebie

For the month of may only, you can download this Sahlin Studio template for free! Check it out here. 

Here's my take on this months template:

Miss Madelyn just performed in The Show Must Go On. She was thrilled to get a pretty big role as one of the teachers at the school. She practiced for weeks. She had early morning rehearsals every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 8:10-8:45 am. The rehearsals began in February. 

The last 5 weeks or so, before the play, they also added an after school rehearsal, Wednesdays from 3:30-4:30. She didn't miss a single one. 

Her work definitely paid off. The day of the performance she absolutely nailed it. 

Of course, we all came and watched, as proud as proud can be, from the audience. 

Way to go Madelyn! Maybe you have the acting bug...

First Day of School

Believe it or not, the first day of school came and went this week. It's so crazy, how at the end of June, the summer stretches out before you and seems absolutely endless... I still felt a bit saucy at the beginning of August,with another entire month before me...

And then... The days begin to get shorter as the sun disappears earlier and earlier... The mornings start to get darker too. The air begins to take a bit of a cooler edge to it. The furnace starts to come on in the morning... I said, your furnace starts to come on... Well, if you're lucky your furnace comes on. [If you're not so lucky you have to pay $200 to have someone come in, un-scheduled, to inform you that the electric ignitor on your furnace no longer works... But it immediately explains the cold air blowing in, so it's a relief all the same]

Within 4 days, you're back into the routine of making  lunches, washing all the re-usable containers that the lunches fit into, picking up kids at the bus stop, signing agenda books, nagging at kids to empty back packs when they come in the door, getting supper on the table before all our extracurricular activities began [this week we were back out the door 3 nights with Brownies, Hockey and Cub Registration] attempting to get kids snacked, bathed,  tooth-brushed and into bed at a reasonable hour..

Within 4 days summer is a distant memory... How sad is that? No wonder I love spring so much, there's just so much to look forward to!

I wanted to include a few first day of school pictures, but thought that rather than add pictures, I would just include the layout I did. I got the template for the layout here.

I can hardly get my head around the fact that these two kids are 7 and 10 years old. It seems like just yesterday they were wee. I'm hopeful this will be a terrific year for both of them!

We Did It!

We made it through the first day of school. What a relief. It seemed like utter chaos. I can't for the life of me understand why they can't just let the Mum's and Dad's have this morning, to see their kids start school. But we got shoo-ed out, like a bunch of cattle. Boohoo, so that means absolutely not one single picture of the kids in the school. Plus, this was the first time we had 2 kids going in 2 separate doors, at the exact same time. We had to split up. [I'm very lucky that Barry has been able to come with us, to the first day of school, every first day of school] I know Mason knows what's happening like an old pro, but why Madelyn suddenly seems like a toddler to me, is beyond all reason...

I got up bright and early this morning, to make two lunches... ;-) That's right, two... Of course there were some special first day of school things for each of them.

I wanted them to both know I was thinking about them of course!

I attached a wee little baggie of smarties for each of them. The shocker was, Mason's came back all finished, and hers didn't! [It might have had something to do with the little note I slipped in her lunch reminding her to eat her healthy things first!]

Ready to head to school. [You see, the photo shoot a couple of days ago didn't at all mean I wouldn't be taking pictures!]

They rode the bus home together after school. Miss Maddy was annoyed that they didn't ride it up to the school this morning. When she got off the bus, she was smiling ear to ear. She's also told everyone who asked that "Grade one is so AWESOME!" I certainly hope it will be.

My first assessment is that the class sizes are way to big... Scary big. I'm going to sit back and see how the next few weeks play out. They've made some changes I'm not crazy about. It's hard to let your kids go, and have absolutely no idea what's going on during their day. And the kids just don't seem to be that great at passing along information. For example, when I asked Madelyn who her teacher was, and I named all three, she wasn't able to give me a definitive answer...

There were no tears on my part. And I didn't break out the champagne... I thought it might be inappropriate on school property. I can't believe my baby is in school. Having said that, she seems so much littler than Mason was when he started Grade One. I guess that's because she's the last. She'll always seem younger than Mason. No matter what.

So we all move on, in this second stage, and feel our way, and figure things out.

Back to School Cheat....

I did something the other day. I staged our 'back to school' photos. Why? Because it was 29° and gorgeous outside, and the forecast for Thursday called for 15° with the possibility of rain. Besides, I try to cram so much into the morning of the first day of school, I thought why not just loosen up, and not get all carried away with my camera. [If you believe me right now, have I got something I could sell you] Because of course I'll be snapping pictures like a crazy woman tomorrow morning.

But, it poured rain all day today, and the temperature was at best 9°, so for the time being, I'm patting myself on the back for having these pictures already done!

Two kids are bathed, clean and in bed. [It's 10:27 pm right now, and Miss Madelyn is still talking in her room, she is so excited about tomorrow] Clothes are laid out for the morning. Back packs are ready to go. Muffins have been made, lunch boxes are out. Snacks are ready. Breakfast has been decided [french toast] and tomorrow they start back to school. Phew.

I'm undecided about how I feel... I mean, I know they're ready to get back into their routines [as am I] We had a great summer, and it's time to wrap it up. I just can't believe Mason is going to be in Grade 4, and that my baby will be starting Grade 1. Now having said that, I'm wondering if I'll be the only Mummy there in the morning, that will be ready to pop the cork on a bottle of champagne when that bell rings... I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings.