School's Out For Summer

It's official.  Today was Chris' last day of class and though he has more work to do at school, we are most definitely in the home stretch of the school year and it feels amazing.  Especially since I am feeling more and more like I'm about to pop.  Apparently the random lady at Kohl's thinks that, too.  We'll name her Rude.  

Rude - "Gosh, is there just one in there?!"

Me - "Yeah."  {in my most calm we-aren't-friends-and-we-are-not-having-a-conversation-about-my-belly-and-why-are-you-so-rude? voice}

Rude - "Sheesh.  Good luck."  {in a tone that's a little sarcastic and communicates no amount of actual good luck could get you through what you're about to go through}

A little PSA from a pregnant lady...people, stop saying stupid things to pregnant people.  I could go on, but I'll spare you.  Just consider yourself warned.

Henry-boy has been out of school for several weeks {tear} and we already miss his little friends and his beloved teachers.  There are many things I love about his preschool - they talk about Jesus, Henry has learned so much, snacks have to be from two food groups and grams of sugar have to be less than 9 per serving.  Seriously, I couldn't ask for more.

One of the things Henry's teachers asked for at the beginning of the year was a 3-ring binder.  I knew they would give it back at the end of the year, but what we got back far exceeded my expectations.  I have been racking my brain all year about the best way to  decide what to keep of Henry's little masterpieces and other keepsakes from the year.  What's the best way to enjoy them?  store them?  I wrote a guest post about artwork on Taylor's beautiful blog, Wise Family Living.  Check it out {and poke around the rest of her blog} if you haven't already.  Still, what's the best way to store all these little keepsakes?

I do believe we've found our answer.

The binder is full of page protectors from Office Depot.  Henry's teachers included samplings of all the artwork he did and small little items, like the self portrait above, to show what he has learned.

I added in items that had come home throughout the year like the Thanksgiving placemat in the photo above.  I did have to cut it in half and trim it to make it fit {the other half of it is on the flip side of the page}, but what was actually special is his hand print, the little poem, and it in general, NOT that it was the size of a placemat.  Don't be afraid to change things a little to make them fit.  You won't lose the essence of what's special.

There are photos of him throughout the year doing things in class and in different activities.  They are just black and white and printed from a standard printer, but again, the quality of the photo is not important in a book like this.

It is complete with the class picture his teacher's provided {left} and the one I purchased {right}, taken by a professional photographer one day at school.


The beauty of this little book is that each year we will send it back and his new teachers will fill it with gems from that year.  By the end of preschool we'll have a full notebook to document this sweet little season of his life.  Ask me how happy I will be to have it all contained and in a format that's easy to enjoy.  Very happy.


Even if your child{ren}'s school doesn't provide the same, it's easy for you to make yourself.  I recommend keeping it all, expect for the few items that are clearly not your favorites, and fill the notebook at the end of the year.  Or fill it as you go knowing that at the end of the year you'll edit it.  It's much easier to decide what to keep in light of all the possibilities.


How do you store your children's keepsakes?


P.S. Oh and I do hope you read the title of this post to this tune.

Glass Storage Makes a Nice Gift

My mind is swirling with posts and things I'd like to say.  Just 2.5 weeks until Baby Deux gets here and life is slowly starting to change to accommodate this.  Henry-boy is out of school for the summer {I have a post in my mind on how to handle preschool keepsakes, btw}, Chris is nearly finished with school for the summer as well, I'm trying to get done every little thing that I know will need to be done over the summer and at the same time feel like a senior citizen who can accomplish one thing a day.  Seriously, I feel accomplished if I send one email in a day.  This little person inside of me {and the almost 3 year old running around here} have zapped nearly all my energy and, unfortunately, my patience.  This stage of pregnancy for me doesn't feel very pretty {though thank you for the kind words on our family photos, I am aided significantly by an attractive husband and little boy} and we are looking so forward to it ending and finally getting to know our little person.  Pray for us.  When strangers know this is our second baby, many will call me "an old pro."  I feel nothing like a "pro" and I'm pretty sure you have to do something more than one time prior to be considered a professional.

In other news, I had a birthday last week - 31, whoop whoop.  I got some great and thoughtful birthday gifts.  You would have thought I had received a bag of money if you had seen my face as I opened a box full of glass storage containers from my brother and sister-in-law.  That sister-in-law works in the food industry and is an amazing cook.  When she saw my post on glass straws and containers, she immediately sent me a link to these that she has.  Duh.  Why didn't I ask her to begin with?

This is not the set I got, but you get the idea.

I could not wait to start moving things around in our kitchen!  Our tupperware moved to this drawer shortly before Henry-boy was born.  I liked the idea of having a drawer in the kitchen where he could dig around and nothing would break.  This will remain a priority in our home since before we know it we'll have another curious little one digging around the house.

Above the stove were some of these items - Henry's lunchbox, paper bibs {seriously one of the best inventions - have been holding onto them for Baby Deux}, and other kid lunchbox and snack containers.

I knew this space above the stove would be the best home for the new storage and, voila, here it is!

I like to store lids on containers when possible.  It really cuts down on the lost lids and rummaging around to find a match.  Having a cohesive set like this helps with that, too.  If room doesn't allow, then nesting the containers and stacking lids next to is the way to go.


These are all from the Pyrex No Leak line.  The lids are strong and don't warp in the top rack of the dishwasher.  All are available at Target and I'm sure other retailers.  There are some sets sold, but you can buy them individually.  The beauty of this is that you can purchase some as you need them, spreading out the cost of an overhaul.


I have 4 of the 6-cup Rectangular, 2 of the 4-cup Round, 4 of the 3-cup Rectangular, and 4 of the 2-cup Round.  I can't find a link on the Target site to the 3-cup Rectangular {pictured top left}, though that is where they came from.  It's a great size, so you'll want to find those.  So far this has been a good quantity of each of those sizes and we've used them a lot.


All of these little odds and ends found a home in the drawer.  Safe for little hands and easy to toss back in if they are all removed and strewn about the kitchen.

Is Pyrex the sexiest gift?  Probably not.  Okay, definitely not.  Nor is it the best gift if the recipient hasn't been wanting some as I have.  But if someone you know has been wanting to make the switch, these are the ones I recommend.  Just think carefully before you gift it, that's all I'm sayin'.

Happy Wednesday, people.

Taking Over

There is a human being in my body who is taking over.  With just under 4 weeks to go we are really beginning to get excited about meeting this little person about whom we know nothing.  Are you a boy or a girl?  What will you be like?  Will you look like your big brother?  Henry is certain that the baby is a girl and that her name will be Nacho.  We'll see about that.

You may have seen the photos that our friend-photographer blogged from our recent session.  These are a few of my favorites...can't believe I narrowed it down to these.