the lorax

We went to a wedding in New Jersey this weekend!  Some friends (with two girls of their own) offered to watch our older two so that we could attend.  I wanted to give them a little thank you combined with an activity for the kids.  My inspiration was the Lorax movie.  I tucked the movie and some snack cups into a white popcorn bucket and made some lorax straws with bright yellow mustaches on them.  I included some Lorax themed snacks too:  humming fish (goldfish crackers) bar ba loots (teddy grahams) and white truffula seeds (mini marshmallows).  For the grown ups I dressed up a bottle of wine for them to enjoy after the kids were all in bed and I attached a gift certificate to the local movie theatre so that their whole family could enjoy a movie on us.  I also packed a small jar of Hershey kisses with a label that said "Magic mommy kisses.  Take two and I'll see you in the morning."  I left them with our friends but didn't tell the children about them.  They were just there just in case and luckily they weren't needed.
I can probably count on one hand the number of times that we have spent a night away from our children.  As always I was a little apprehensive, but it was funny because the kids were so excited about watching the movie and eating the snacks that they couldn't wait for us to leave!  Here is another idea that I used when we were gone for a whole weekend. 

an apple for the teacher

Today was my son's first day of pre-school!  We gave each teacher an apple with a tiny individual jar of caramel dip!  I first saw this idea on Pinterest and immediately pinned it to my fall board.  I put each jar onto a cellophane bag and tied some red and white polka dot ribbon and an apple clip to the top.   I also found an adorable apple basket to put them for easier transport to school.  My son loved putting this together for his teachers and was so excited to hand them out on the first day.   He had a wonderful day and I was thrilled to see a huge smile on his face when I picked him up this afternoon.  What more could a mom want?!?  This would also be adorable for any fall party or for a gift for teacher appreciation.

that's a wrap

 

 

 

This time the gift is for me!  I have been eyeing this pumpkin wreath from Williams Sonoma since last year.  But, at $99.95 I just couldn't justify it. 

 

 

(via)

So imagine my delight when I saw this wreath at the Christmas Tree shop for $16.99!  I added some brown satin ribbon (that I picked up at Micheal's craft store) and hung it on our back door.  Not exactly the same, but close enough for me.

 

 

 

We had a wonderful prelude to the end of summer with a long weekend at the Cape.  Now I am ready for fall.  I have been drinking pumpkin coffees, listening to James Taylor's
"October Road" album and cooking and baking a lot! 

back to school

Last night we had our traditional back to school dinner.  I had fun setting the table with mini chalkboards and pencils.  I made homemade alphabet soup and the kids made breadstick letters.  For dessert I made a very easy brownie pencil.  I think I got the whole menu from this blog!  Thanks, Anna. 

My daughter was all smiles this morning when she got on the bus. And, of course, I had to make some chocolate chip cookies for her after school snack.  I think we will both need some milk and cookies this afternoon!

that's a wrap

Tomorrow is my daughter's first day of first grade. I taught first grade for 10 years before I had her so I am having lots of different emotions this year as I send her off to school. Sigh. We decided to give her teacher the same gift we gave her kindergarten teacher.  Some adorable alphabet note cards from Tulaloo with a note introducing herself.  This year I also included a teacher questionnaire which I found helpful when purchasing gifts last year.  If you would like a copy let me know and I can email it to you. I packaged everything in these sweet paper bags that look like notebook paper.  I love them.   

pool party

We are trying to eek out every last minute of summer before school starts next week.  We have been invited to a friend's pool this afternoon so we decided to bring a treat.  We put teddy grahams in a chocolate donut inter tube and then added a beach ball and pool noodle for fun.  These were so easy to make (actually I should say assemble) that the kids did it all by themselves.  If you are looking for something even easier, I brought some gold fish crackers in a glass fish bowl to a friends pool a few days ago!  What are you doing to enjoy your last few days of summer?

that's a wrap

This was a gift we got for a little girl.  It is an adorable handbag in different shades of purple.  Inside I tucked a diary.  I finished it with some cellophane and ribbon and an initial sticker.