With the New Car

We traded in our beloved mini-van and bought a station wagon. My daughter said she loves the minivan, but is in the middle of like and love with the new car. The minivan was the only family car she’s ever known… her whole life, she says. It was really kind of cute how attached she was to the car. And now we’re adjusting to a smaller, but more gas efficient, and sporty wagon.

Remember those days when we sat in the back of our parents or friends’ parents’ station wagon? No seats back there anymore… how did we ever survive?

With the new car

More (teacher) gift ideas

…and maybe something for you? Read on.

June just went by like a blur, and as the end of the school year approached, I was giving myself headaches thinking of small, thoughtful gifts for Abby to give to her teachers. As my husband so nicely pointed out, “We don’t have to give everyone a gift, you know?” I know, but at the same time, I think Abby really enjoyed every one of her teachers, the classes and everything she learned. And, I felt it was appropriate to give a little (let’s stress little) something.

For the reader, reading teacher, librarian – a handmade book wedgie. Sounds a bit nicer than book THONG. Haha. Abby picked out the beads and the charm at the bottom says, “Inspire”.

Book Thongs or Book Wedgies

For her main homeroom teacher, (along with this) we compiled a cookbook with favorite recipes shared and handwritten by the students. A couple of parents and I did all the scrapbooking layouts, and it took a few hours. Each page is different and the recipes range from “chocolate milk (pour syrup until your mom says stop)” to “Greek lentil soup (you don’t have to be Greek to eat this)”. This page was my daughter’s. She picked shrimp de jonge. Surprised?

Excerpt from Class Cookbook

Abby would tell me about her art teacher and how he taught her class that a little glue goes a long, long way. “A dot is a lot, that’s what he says, Mom.” So for the art teacher, a custom print that my husband and friend did, and stationery to match (printed at home). I just printed the picture at home on photo paper. It’s intentionally made to look like those motivational business posters or the funny de-motivational posters.

Custom print and stationery for art teacher

I cannot take the credit for the card layout. My cyber-acquaintance, author and designer, Amy Karol at angrychicken made these great cards with sayings. Please, check it out!

So, this might be fun. Would you like to share your teacher gift ideas or end-of-school-year traditions? If you do, we’d like to share some craftiness with you! We’ll randomly select a someone on Saturday, July 11 to receive an Abby-Julie book wedgie or custom 8-pack of stationery with your own quote. Leave your comment between now and Friday night (7/10, 11:59 CST) with an e-mail or some way so I can contact you. Many thanks, friends!

UPDATE: As of 7/12/09, no comments on this post.

Creative birthdays

We love going to these places where you can paint your own ceramics. A creative way to spend some time, not too expensive, and you get your creation in a week, or so! It’s fun anytime, but imagine a birthday party with about 20 young ladies ranging from the ages of 5 to 8. They had a blast. From other birthdays and outings, Abby has a nice little collection of ceramic from this location. If you’re looking for a place near your home, try here, too. It’s a link to the nationwide Creative Ceramics Studio Association.

Painting Ceramics

This is one of the cutest birthday cakes I’ve ever seen.

Birthday to Remember

Asleep Again

Unfortunately, Ollie missed the whole thing. Poor guy.

Brunch

Brunch. I love breakfast food any time of the day. Breakfast for lunch. It’s all about eggs,

Egg casserole

and rolls,

Cinnamon Rolls

and friends making their own yogurt parfaits,

img_2233Friends

and little ones getting bored with grown-ups talking,

Listening

and then heading outside to walk off the calories.

OutsideDiscovering

“Mom, can I take some pictures?” This is one of her shots. I’m so proud.

Flowers2

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