Who Would Have Thought?

When Abby wanted to invite all of the girls in her class to her first sleepover birthday party, I figured that there was NO WAY that all of them would come - five or six tops.

Nine girls have RSVPed.

Nine!

And a maybe...plus Abby makes a possible eleven.

Eleven!

Wow. 

Must have been the invites...

(Yep! Abby and I stayed up a bit past her bedtime making these last week to hand out at school. They really only took about an hour to make, but we got a late start.  Idea from the super cute American Girl Snooze-a-Palooza Slumber Party book.)

Or it could be the fact that no one has invited every single girl to a birthday party all year - let alone a spa night/SLEEPOVER. 

Yes, I am crazy.

Wish me luck!

"It's 4:44! Make a Wish!"

...exclaimed my cute boy just a few minutes ago.

I am absolutely sure that he wished for another Skylander. (I tell ya, those marketing people knew what they were doing with that whole product line. Geez...)

Not too long ago, as the kids and I were driving along somewhere (Girl Scouts maybe?), I noticed the clock read 5:55 and told the kids to make a wish!

They were completely fascinated with the whole idea that you can make wish whenever the numbers on a clock are all the same digit.

11:11, 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, 5:55 -

"That's SIX wishes a day, Mom!"

Good thing they never remember to wear those digital watches that Gramma and Papa got them for Christmas!

Guest Post: Teacher Appreciation Week

I love teacher appreciation week. I think it's awesome for the kids to have a chance to think about the things their teachers do for them and express their appreciation for all of those things.

Between the kids, there are six teachers/aides. This year we tried to focus on some inexpensive ways to give to the teachers. Each day there's a theme. These are the first two:

Fruit/Flower Day:
Rather than giving traditional fruit or flowers, the kids drew pictures of flowers on cardstock and signed their names on the back. Then we cut them out and used self-laminating sticky sheets to laminate them. Now their teachers have a pretty bookmark that they can keep.

Gift Card Day:
Instead of doing monetary gift cards, we decided to do gift certificates for a free car wash. We put our phone number and when the teachers need a car wash, the kids and I will go and wash their car for them. The kids are SO excited about this one. What kid doesn't love to play with a water hose and soap suds?

*Jenny is a mom of five, makes the best banana cream pie I've ever tasted, and is WAY more creative than she gives herself credit for. Thanks for posting, Jen! - Kelli

Cinco de Mayo Cupcakes!

Back in the preschool days, some friends and I got together to throw a last minute Cinco de Mayo party for our kiddos - complete with coloring sheets, a cut and paste flag, and cupcakes!

Any excuse to have cupcakes, right?


It was actually my neighbor's three-year-old son who came up with the idea to have "a cake for Mexico's birthday." So we frosted them with white icing and let the kids go to town with the red and green sprinkles to create the stripes.

They LOVED it.

I also added some bean and cheese burrito bites and diced avocado to the mix so they could sample some Mexican food too, but the cupcakes were still their favorite.

Can't say I blame them.



Then it was time for to teach them the Mexican Hat Dance and the Macarena. The dance teacher in me couldn't resist. I pulled my sombreros out of my classroom stash so we could dance around them. Another mom brought some instruments for the kids to play too - including maracas! The kids were really into it. Of course, we had to get a picture of each kiddo in the sombrero - too stinkin' cute!



I wonder if I'd be able to talk Noah into wearing this hat tomorrow for another photo opp - haha! Yeah, I seriously doubt it, but I am sure he'll be all for the cupcakes!

Thumbs Up for This Teacher's Gift!

When it came to coming up with a class gift from my daughter's kindergarten class a couple of years ago, I was all thumbs.

Or I should say - the kids were all thumbs!

Literally.

Armed with a canvas bag from Michael's, fabric paint, and markers, I dipped my daughter's thumb to make the flower petal prints the night before so the bag would be dry. I took the bag to school the next day to get nineteen more thumbprints! I had asked her teacher beforehand if I could pull a few kids at a time into the hallway do help with a special project during center time - wink! wink!  Being that it was Teacher Appreciation week, she was more than happy to oblige.

With fabric paint squirted onto a paper plate pallet (and baby wipes at hand), the kids choose a color and made their mark! They were excited to write their names with Sharpies underneath too. I added smiley faces once the paint was dry and then wrote their teacher's name across the top.

She absolutely LOVED it, and the kids loved having a hand (or thumb) in creating their teacher's gift!