Today begins the last full week of school and I'm thinking, How did we get here?! Are all of the years going to start flying this fast? This year was WILD for our family. J was born the Friday before EB started Kindergarten at her new school. MB undertook some serious speech therapy this year and we are so grateful to be seeing (or I guess, hearing) it pay off. All of this to say, this school year held A LOT of moving parts for me and I feel lucky to have survived. BUT, I do hope that things can slow down a bit for me. Next year MB will join big sister at school so that will simplify a lot..
Anyway...We had a fantastic Kindergarten year with the kindest most supportive teachers and staff.
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White gift bags are my go-to. Any tissue paper works, and you can also just write a quick message on the outside in lieu of a card.
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I believe it was Cameran Wimberly who shared this on instagram this week. I'm grateful these conversations are starting now, before my children get much older and interested in life online.
FOR THE RECORD: My children will not have ANY form of phone (of their own) until highschool. And then, it will be basic capabilities and highly monitored. Absolutely no social media (which I also plan to quit using once they start asking questions). I know they are going to have to use tablets for school work and I'm not going to fight that. But school work and downloading books are the only things I'll allow. They will be able to use the family computer for certain things (email, games, etc) but they will not dissapear with an Ipad in their rooms, EVER.
Brain Development, Mental Health, Self Esteem, Online Predators, Bullying...these are just a few of my reasons for choosing this for our family.
I know how tempting it is to hand the kids a device and let them entertain themselves. But simply put, I'm against it. 
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Found these paper daffodils at Michaels. I think they are whimsical and I don't have to water them!
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A couple 'Food for Thought's
Stuffed peppers freeze great, so I always do a double batch when I make them.
East Bay Deli Kids Night is cheaper (by atleast $10) than Chic Fil A. It's the best family meal deal I've found in Charleston. Our location (West Ashley) does them on Thursdays.
If you have kids that want different pizza toppings, I have a tip (for frozen pizzas). While the pizza is still frozen, it is very easy to rearrange toppings to suit any requests. I only recently thought to do this
before baking, so I thought I'd share.
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So happy our kids get to visit great grandparents. I think this will give them a sense of history and heritage that lasts a lifetime.
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Happy Mother's Day! Lunch out and picture with everyone looking and smiling. My current stage of motherhood is quite intense, but I know it won't always be this way. Some days I crush it, and some days it crushes me. But it really does keep getting better. I'm grateful every day for happy, healthy children. As a mom it's hard to know if you're making the right choices or parenting the "right" way, but when I see how proud my kids make me- I know I'm doing a good job. And that makes it all worth it.
xLaura
