Friday Faves- Schools Out Edition!

They say childhood passes in the blink of an eye.....

If the rest of her schooling is anything like this year,  then I truly believe it!

I cannot believe it's summer break around here already

 and my first little baby girl is now going to be a first grader!

First Day

Last Day

Today's Favorite #1 is this big girl and all her Kindy accomplishments:

Kinsey did phenomenal during Kindergarten. No bad behavior days, no trouble being at school all day, she made lots and lots of friends, and she mostly ate her lunch :/

She's now reading at the 18-20 level (which Scholastic's website says is second grade!) and currently obsessed with the 'Magic Tree House' series of chapter books. She's come a long way- barely knowing but a handful of sight words at the beginning fo the school year!

Her penmanship is great- she even practices cursive at home because she 'wants to write pretty like mommy does'. I think the area she most needs to work on is spelling and sounding out words when writing. That's one area I plan to focus on withe her during summer homework.

We sent her off this morning fro her last half day of the year! She wanted to wear the same dress as her first day...which makes for good comparison pictures, too. (mama-razzi approves!)

Favorite #2 was part of her teacher gifts:

She took some necklaces for her teachers, along with a handwritten card including drawings of their favorite things by Kinsey.

I know plenty of kids still have a few weeks of school- so I'm attaching a link to this cute little notecard I designed for her teachers. It's FREE and prints two to a page.

click here for MediaFire Free Download

Favorite #3 is this FREE printable Summer Schedule from my last post!

Favorite #4 is one simple word: SUMMER

We will be making our summer bucket list soon- the girls and I are ready for days spent in swimsuits, barefoot and eating popsicles on the porch!

Linking up:

A Little Bit of Everything Blog

Grace and Love Blog

Momfessionals

As always- please leave a comment or pin my blog image if you download the FREE printables! Thanks!

Free Printable: Summer Schedule

Summer with kids out of school. You either love it or fear it. 

My plan is to love it this year, so I've got some tools up my sleeve to help summer be smooth sailing. 

Plan #1 is simple- a 'daily theme' to give each day something to center around

Don't worry- it's not anything crazy that requires loads of planning, effort or stress. Just a basic theme for each weekday, so that the kids can look forward to a certain activity daily. 

Here's the summer schedule I came up with for our family.

It's filled with pretty low key, cheap and flexible options for each day. 

The best part is- I have 4 different versions available as a FREE download today!

Anchors                                                                                   Arrows

Scalloped Teal                                                                           Scalloped Grey



Just click on the link under the version you like to be taken to the MediaFire download!

I'll keep ya posted on how this works out for my little tribe of gals.....only 3 more days of school!


I'm also working on a daily 'timeline' of events to help our days run smoothly. 
Hopefully I'll be back with a peek into that soon.

Do me a favor and Pin or comment if you download! Thanks!

Friday Faves- What I Want Edition

Today I'll be sharing 'Just A Little' rambling assortment of my wants, wishes, and desires lately.

    

#1 Tombow Dual Brush Pen: I've been trying my hand at lettering things lately. Mostly for fun, although I decided to add a few prints to my Etsy shop to see if there was any outside interest in them.  Right now I have this Faber-Castell Pitt Brush pen, and it's ok, but I don't feel like it is super fluid and can't get the downstrokes as thick as I would like. I've been reading blogs and reviews and the Tombow seems to be a pretty well liked choice. I've yet to pick one up, mostly due to the fact that none of my local craft supply stores sell this brand. I need to bite the bullet and just order one online already!

Here's a peek at some of my current practice:

'

Switching gears to a fashion desire:

Spot the common item in these cute outfits

 

Did you figure it out? 

#2 Converse - I know these are nothing new, and possibly I'm just being influenced by the current trendiness of them, but I'm pretty sure I NEED some in my life. Soon. 

As I get older I am finding the need to be pickier about the shoes I wear. I need support, I need function. But I still need cute! (What gal doesn't?)

I tend to wear pretty comfortable, yet polished looking outfits on the daily.

 I would wear any and all of the above outfits any day of the week.

I love to be comfy,

 but I just don't feel my best when I'm wearing yoga pants and a frumpy t-shirt all day. 

Therefore, regular sneakers are in my closet for  workouts and yardwork only. 

I wear flats or sandals all. the.time. but I've been finding a need to wear something casual on my feet without wearing actual tennis shoes....

Enter my desire for some converse kicks. 

I'm thinking white? But my oh my how I love grey, too.

Decisions!

(BTW, love the blogs of those last two women)

The Pleated Poppy & One Little Mama

Totally Random- but everytime we read this Pete the Cat book I think of my desire for white converse and how they might not stay so white. 

We love Pete the Cat around here, and apparently he has some lessons for a mom that wants white converse to learn, too ;)

#3 Ampersand Pillow - I think this would look nice on our bed, 

 currently we have all white bedding that needs some accessories.

 Roy might think otherwise when he has to move another pillow to get into bed at night!

I'm on the fence if this is a good one to DIY or just go ahead and buy.

Burlap/Linen Fabric + Fabric Paint + Freezer Paper + Pillow Form or Batting + TIME

or Just $$$ and wait for UPS ;)

I'll keep ya posted.

#4 Vinylux Weekly Topcoat or Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat 

Not sure who will win in a down and dirty test of changing diapers, washing dishes,

 mopping floors and general mom duties. 

But I want to look polished doing all those chores without constant chipping!

I love the look of polished fingernails, but I'll admit I have given up the fight since having kids.

Actually, I gave up the fight pre-kids when I was a Veterinary Tech.

Miracle workers or all hype? 

I'm not sure which to try first. 

#5- A Beach Vacation- Need I say more? 

I'm going to go ahead and say this one is a total wish that isn't going to happen anytime soon,

 but a gal can dream!

Warm sand, blue water, a cold margarita in hand. 

I'll drift off to sleep tonight with that mental picture!

What do you think of my wish list? 

I'm sure we could all use a little of #5 during these last weeks of school!

 Linking up with Friday Favorites At these fun blogs!

A Little Bit Of Everything Blog

Grace and Love Blog

Momfessionals

*Post contains Affiliate links- you click & I might get a little reward ;)

Life Lately- Spring Edition

Life this Spring has been pretty busy. But isn't it always? 

We've all had countless colds (thanks Kindergarten germs!) 

plenty of sleepless nights (thanks teething!) 

hours of yardwork to tackle

and lots of trips to the park when the wind isn't trying to blow everything away.

Here's a peek at the hightlights 

(I'll spare you all the details of the 2 costco sized

 kleenex packs we've gone through in the last month!)

Savannah's first taste of Krispy Kreme on a Sunday Morning in our jammies-

 she loved the little bit of blueberry cake doughnut she go to try!

After doughnut snuggles- these sweet sisterly moments are the best! 

Baby doesn't want to take her nap....then lets take some selfies! #whynot #shessovain

Someone has been SUPER helpful with chores lately.

(Note: I was loading the wet clothes IN the dryer at the time)

We celebrated the awesome guys big 3-5!

 It seems like yesterday I was just throwing his 30th birthday bash....

I sure am grateful for this man!

I attempted making classic tiramisu for the first time (his favorite), and it was delicious!

Tiramisu on a paper plate #classy

Recipe can be found here 

We had some warm weekend mornings before the wind and thunderstorms rolled in, so we broke out the water table and sprinkler while the girls cousins were visiting.

Savannah LOVED her first water table playtime, 

but that's no surprise since she loves all things with water!

 The kids begged for otter pops, so....another first for Miss Vanni- 

don't worry, she only got a few sips, then mommy took the rest 'away' ;o)

Kinsey had her Kindergarten Musical- it was an Under the Sea theme

(she's in the back row)

Her class was the Jellyfish, and they did a cute little song and dance to the "Jellyfish Jump", and Kinsey even got to say a fact about Jellyfish!

I cannot believe that she will be done with Kindergarten in less than 2 weeks! 

Makayla had her two week Post-Op following her Strabismus Surgery

Her vision is still 20/20, but her Dr recommended she continue to wear her glasses to hopefully correct the last little bit of crossing we are still seeing. 

He's hopeful that in 3-5 years she will outgrow the need for glasses to correct the lingering crossing. Since the RX she wears is very weak there's no real concern for her becoming dependent on the glasses either.

She got to pick some new frames since her last ones were broken and no longer available. She picked these all on her own- so adorable!

We celebrated Mother's Day with a quiet day at home,

 a BBQ lunch and mommy having a cold (boo!)

 But at least I got some pictures with these three beauties that call me mommy. 

I'm forever grateful for the blessings that I have received in these three girls.

 Motherhood is something sorta crazy, but also really beautiful.

On a final, and somber, note.

 My childhood pet, whom I adopted as a kitten in 1995, 

passed away this weekend at my parents home. 

He was just shy of 20!

Cinnamon was a wonderful cat, my first 'baby', and I will forever cherish the memory of him.

 He was so smart, I taught him as a kitten how to open the treat container with his claw

 and get one at a time out.....to his last days he loved his treats!

 Hopefully there's plenty of them to go around in Heaven,

 along with bunnies, birds and lizards to chase all day. 

Top- 1996, bottom L- 2000's, bottom R- 2013