Preschool Holiday Party 2013

Ah sickness. 

It got the best of K again tonight....but luckily it didn't hit her too bad until shortly after her adorable school holiday performance - another 'last' at this school.

I remember her first there, when she was only 2.5 years old...little bitty compared to now!!

2011, 2012 & 2013

Since it was her last Holiday party at this school, we invited my mom, sisters and James' mom & her husband - sadly, because she felt really poorly right after performing, we didn't get any other group/fam pics with her other than these :-(

But we did get some good video of her singing & dancing SO well....beyond proud of her for coming out of her shell and overcoming her shyness little by little!

Preschool Thanksgiving Breakfast

Time for the Annual Thanksgiving Breakfast & mini performance at K's preschool!! Cannot believe this will be her LAST here, with Kindergarten just around the corner.

James & I were soooo super proud of her for overcoming the little 'stage fright' she'd had during most prior performances. In the days leading up to this one, she was so excited and ready to sing. We just kept telling her to do her best, and that though it'll seem like EVERYone is staring at her, really those other parents are watching THEIR kids...and that we were the only ones watching her, haha.

Great job toots, I could listen to you sing every day the rest of my life!

BOO! Happy Halloween

K's outfit selection this year....I mean, could she BE any cuter as Alice in Wonderland?!! I think not.

It's freakin adorable....and see those cute black & white checkered leggings that it came with - super stylish.

She'd tried on a few butterfly outfits at Party City... then kept pointing to this dress. As soon as she tried it on I was so happy - it was perfect! I was thinking it'd be funny for me to dress up as the white rabbit (almost did, bought the ears and tail!) and have James be the Mad Hatter - but that didn't happen (she carried a brown rabbit instead, ha!)... maybe next year we'll plan better and find coordinating costumes!

Halloween morning we took K to school, where we got to see all the other adorableness of kids dressed up. That night we went to downtown Encinitas and had a super early dinner...and after we cruised along Hwy 101 - where a ton of the businesses were open and handing out candy. LOT of adults dressed up too...which was a nice change of pace form our standard trick-or-treating around our pretty quiet community. Definitely a better vibe!

Even the place I work out daily on my lunch breaks got into it.... Totally Rad 80's Fitness! The owner, Danny, I had told he should come dressed up as Richard Simmons....he totally did and rocked those mini shorts & wig, hahaha!

I scored the hot pink shorts ($6) and shoes ($20) at ROSS, and the teal leg warmers ($10) at Target....the grey shirt I had made months ago, from a men's XL and created a sort-of 'dolman' style tee from it. It was the most comfortable costume EVER!

PreK Ceremony 2013 {Teacher Gifts & Potluck}

Another 'school' year has flown by... and Kapri was so excited for this year's preschool graduation performance. Last year year she was SO shy, didn't sing, dance...barely moved basically.

Happy to report that this year she was clearly much more comfortable & did a stupendous job in her part of the "Peter Rabbit" performance. She was a raddish, haha! All the 4/5 year old kids that are heading off to kindergarten have a lead role, while all the younger kids have side parts. I can't believe next year she will be up in front...hopefully coming out of her shy-bubble even more!

For teacher gifts I found an idea on Pinterest for little tumblers with a Jamba Juice gift card inside, and a note on the outside that read "Thanks for sparking my creative juices this year!". I thought it was adorable & so perfect! So I made my own version of the note card on PicMonkey, secured by some twine around the tumblers....just love how they turned out!

Gotta put my own twist on things, but you're welcome to save this image to your computer & use it as well ;-)

For the Potluck, I decided to finally try out the mini spinach-artichoke bread bowls that I first pinned almost 2 years ago...here.

How adorable are they??

And they were DEEEEElish! Definitely making these again soon.

I just love her little school, prepping her for a successful future at "big kid school" as Kapri calls it! I can't believe next year she'll be in the lead group of the graduation performance, ahhh!

Happy Day of Love!

My sweet Valentine was a step ahead and sent me some beautiful flowers yesterday to enjoy at work... such a loving hubs:

A little photo editing fun in PicMonkey of me & my love:

Woke up a little early today to make my loves some banana heart pancakes...like last year - only PINK!

Then I dropped her off at school with her valentines & cookies to share... I love the little hair clip I made her... red & teal ribbon - such a pretty combo:

I snapped a few pics of the Vday crafts she's been working on, so cute!

And I'm freaking loving my new orangy-red, lace-back shirt I scored at Kohls... by Lauren Conrad, on sale for $18!!

HAPPY DAY OF X's & O's!!

Sprinkled with Love {Vday Cookies}

Since I'm sending K to school with a non-sugary treat with her Valentine cards...I still wanted to give the kids a batch of yummies. Check out my Pin-spiration  :-)

"Love" the way mine turned out...even if a few were a little overcooked!

All I did was make the dough as directed on the sugar cookie package. While chilling the dough in the fridge, I unwrapped all my chocolate hearts. Then I used a tbsp to scoop out each cookie from the dough, rolled it into a ball, rolled the ball around in sprinkles (found mine in the dollar bins at Target), then baked for 10 min. 

After they were done, I let them cool for a few minutes, then transferred them to a wire rack.

Then I lightly pressed in a chocolate heart into the middle. The cookies were still very warm, which melted the bottoms of the hearts just enough to act as a 'glue'. Then leave them completely alone & let them cool for an hour or so, before putting them in a plastic container...you don't want a big melted mess!

BE CAREFUL... if you press on one again to check if it has cooled & re-hardened...you'll end up with this...a very smashed heart {whoops!! haha}:

ENJOY!!

Fishy Preschool Valentine Cards

This year I decided to toss the usual go-to idea of a sugar-y treat along with K's valentine cards... and with all the creativity on Pinterest, I knew I could whip something up! There are SOOO many adorable alternatives to candy...just do a simple search & you'll find ideas like these:

Or check out this list of 40 'non-candy' Valentine ideas from Jolly Mom!

When I saw this: "You o'FISH'ally have my heart!" Valentine pin ...I knew I could recreate it to my own style preference - using my FAV photo editing site: PicMonkey!

I wanted an actual "Nemo" image, instead of just a fish...since I figured the kids would recognize it & may enjoy that more...who doesn't love Finding Nemo?! It's one of my favs. I also wanted a red/white chevron print instead of just stripes for the background.

Though I didn't size them right width-wise, as they are a bit short on the sides to accommodate the length of the snack zip-lock baggie, but I'm sure the kiddos won't care one bit... I think they turned out pretty awesome!!

These are just too cute!!

K helped pour in equal measured amounts of gold fishies (a whole large, 33oz. box was just enough to fill 24 snack bags with 1/2 cup of goldfish each...phew, just barely made it!). She also helped staple them to the bags with mamma's assistance of course!

Though since Valentine's is primarily a 'sweet' holiday, and I love baking... I'll still send her to school with some yummy cookies to share (1 each!)...that'll be in the next post ;-)

2nd Annual - Preschool Holiday Party

This year's holiday party at K's school was a bit different than last year...because K actually SANG - a little, haha!

found her adorable cream/black lace dress at a local upscale resale shop for only $8.99!!

They have 3 performances a year... one at Thanksgiving breakfast, one at the Holiday party and one at the Graduation ceremony. Last 'school year' - she was still new, so I think she wasn't very comfortable with all the singing in front of allllll the parents.

So when this year started, and we attended the Thanksgiving b'fast, I thought for sure she'd belt out the tunes with the rest of the kids - she always watched the video on my phone from last year, she knew & sang all the songs brilliantly at home...

Preschool Thanksgiving Breakfast - 2012

Butttt, a little 'stage freight' got the best of her...bad! She suddenly didn't want to sing, didn't want to leave our side. When we managed to get her to stand up with the other kids... she was so sad. She didn't sing. Didn't dance. Didn't move a muscle... except to hold her hands nervously in her mouth the entire time. Poor little thing. We were sad that she didn't sing, she's so outgoing normally - so it was odd to us. She knew we were a little disappointed...

So for the 2nd performance of the year, we made sure to tell her that we'd be SO happy if she sang & danced... but if she didn't feel comfortable and didn't want to - than it was okay, and we love her no matter what!

To our surprise... she SANG! Oh I was so happy to see her join in with the rest...Jingle Bells is just such a fun song to sing, among the others...how can you not have fun?! This video was only a small moment of their 10-15 performance:



And of course after came Santa, the highlight of the night for all the kids :-)

Can't wait til the next school performance!! Happy Holidays!

PreK Grad Party & Teachers Gifts

Of course Kapri didn't graduate from preschool, but she did "participate" in the little grad show they put on for all the parents. And when I say "participate" - I mean, she stood there, dressed as an adorable little carrot, doing absolutely NOTHING!

There was singing, there was dancing...by alllllll the other kids, both older & a few younger than her...and she stood there, with one finger in her mouth most of the time - staring at the crowd of proud mammas & daddas....and occasionally at us, while we acted like total pageant-parents...mouthing to her silently "sing"... "SING!"..."dance Kapri, DANCE!!" over & over.

Humm...maybe next time I'll bust out one of those lolly pops in the depths of my purse & waive it above my head - then she'll sing! LOL:

LOL - it was cute & frustrating at the same time. Because she is soooo not like that at home...singing & dancing is a fav activity in our household - so what gives?!! I'm just gonna sum it up to stage-fright in front of so many random people whom she'd never met! haha

Anyway - after the 'performance', we got to hug our little munchkins, then go to the back patio for a yum potluck & drinks, while the kids either played in a huge bouncy and/or trampoline...said trampoline is IN the ground. Yes - IN the ground... like, they must've dug a HUGE hole, the exact height of the trampoline, so that the grass is right there next to the jumping part! Genius!! Totally prevents those mega high falls...love. K had a blast with her BFF:

We're seriously so grateful for K's school & teachers - she's learned so much over the past 11 months... including the potty training bit...oye. So to show my appreciation...I hit up Pinterest to test out my version of THIS, which I pinned almost 8 months ago, knowing that I would most definitely do it!

"Thank you for helping me grow" ... awww

LOVE how they turned out...and using an actual 60" dressmaker's tape measure, cut evenly into 4 pieces was MUCH easier than painting the top of the pot yellow and making black lines for every 1/4" - that honestly would've taken me forever! I just hot glued it to itself, very snugly...that way the teachers can remove it if they want. Also - chalkboard SPRAY is much easier/faster than the paint kind. Save yourself the hassle - spend the $8 on a spray can! haha

Happy Day of Hearts!

Love is in the air...and flowers, and cards, and kisses, and yummy treats...yes, it's a "Hallmark" holiday - BUT - it's a day to simply appreciate those around you & make sure they know how much you love them. Really you don't have to 'buy' anything to express this - but hearing or seeing that expression of feelings is nice to have, regardless of who you are.

James is always good about sending me some flowies...not that I ask...he just does. This is the one 'holiday' I receive them... sometimes my bday too. But I'm not a huge "buy me flowers for every occasion" kinda gal...they're super expensive and die within a week.... 2 weeks TOPS if you treat em good. Here's my lovies:

So I took the day off from work to spend time with the fam. I wasn't planning on it, but because my running group meets Tuesday nights and because Kapri had a Valentine's Day party scheduled at preschool, I decided it was best.

Last night I actually made red velvet cake pops to take to K's school...she helped with the mixing...mamma did the rest. Cannot wait til she's hold enough to help with this whole process, haha!

wine is recommended to drink while cake popping...

Then first thing in the morning, I got up with Kapri and we made heart-shaped banana chocolate chip pancakes, courtesy of this recipe...SO. GOOD!

After eating, we got ready then gave dadda his Vday Cards...and snapped a few cute pics....

And dropped off K at school with her Valentine cards for all the kids and the cake pops:

Kapri's BFF, Chloe - only 2 weeks apart in age!

Then James & I went out for a little lunch date at a place we'd never been to before...Ki's Restaurant - in Cardiff, on 101, right across from the Charthouse. This place had awesome reviews...and the view was picture perfect...just what I wanted!

perfect day

After that we picked up Kapri, came home...and K & J took a nap...which gave me time to finally do my sister's 4 pillowcases she'd asked me to do for her new studio. She bought adorable coordinating fabrics, so I was super excited for the final outcome. Pics and a super-simple 'how-to' in my next post!  ;-)

Finally...I met up with my sister for our 50 min. group run & core strengthening session down in Mission Bay. Wow...what a packed, productive, love-filled day!

Holiday Party at Kapri's Preschool

Tuesday night we headed over to Kapri's preschool to mingle with other parents, drink wine, eat tons of yummy potluck food, and of course...watch all the kids sing and dance - they even got a visit & a toy from Santa!!

I'd post the vid...but it's literally 10 minutes of kids screaming holiday songs and crazy jingling bells (they each wore a bell-filled bracelet). K didn't do much since there were only 148974 parents, grandparents, & other children staring at them... with all their flashing cameras & camcorders - but it was cute regardless!

Of course she sings all the songs in the comfort of our home - but there she got a little stage fright. Ah well, I bet next year when's she's used to it all, she'll know the drill ;-) After all, she's only been there 4 months, and goes only 2 days a week.

There are 4 teachers at her school - all of them are just amazing. They're so kind, patient and caring - as a teacher should be. In the short time that K's been there, she seems to love them all and thoroughly enjoys going to school. She's been learning SO much and comes home everyday with beautiful artwork and tons to tell me.

To show my appreciation, we brought little homemade gifts for the teachers to the Holiday party. I love these so much, I made myself one...just so cute, and practical, and unique (inexpensive is nice too!). I got the idea from Pinterest (here) of course!

They are big on puzzles at her school too. The other night (while making my delish Santa Hats), Kapri called to me from the living room... "mamma, come here mamma, come see mamma!!!" To which I replied, "one minute honey, mommy's trying to finish these yummy treats!". Then James piped in... "babe, you should come here...look really quick."  Alright alright...

When I stepped in the living room, I found this:

That is a fully completed princess puzzle...a 46 PIECE puzzle to be exact.

She was so excited. I looked at James & said "you helped here didn't you?" No. "Seriously, why are you lying to me?? I know you helped her!" No.

She did it HERself!! I couldn't believe it. That's a LOT of pieces!!! hahaha...normally I have to help her, that stuff gets complicated.

But not this time - here's a little vid of my surprise...so proud of this kid:

Anyway - I credit her school and amazing teachers for that...among other things... Yay for preschool!!