PreK Capers

This week was the last week of school and they had a special event for the preK classes called the preK Capers. A sort of a field day starting with a lunch party at their classrooms and exchange of autographs for their class picture book. It was then followed by endless games and activities such as bean toss, musical dots, limbo rock and scooter relay out in the gym. They all had so much fun and we parents get to be a part of it too!

After an exhausting time in the gym, everyone lined up to go back to their respective classrooms and end the day with cupcakes and crafting. It was an amazing year for Aston and he will surely miss his friends. Most of them will depart and move to a new Kindergarten while he stays in the same school for another year. We love this school and their teachers and we have seen him being nurtured and guided into a mild mannered, gentle young boy whose craving for learning is just beyond belief. We are so grateful for this! 

NOW, SUMMER IS OFFICIALLY HERE!!!

Work of Art

Artwork by Aston, almost 5 years old

I am a proud beaming mama :) 

little valentine's

the weekend was a quiet one. it was a cold weekend and after church and brunch, the little guy and i spent some time preparing his school valentine's treats for his buddies. 

he is bigtime into lego star wars lately and it was one of those days that a store bought lego star wars treat was just the perfect valentine's for his little friends. i am glad that he is willing to share that obsession with them and is just ecstatic to hand them out. we received strict intructions from his teachers that they themselves need to write their names and their classmates' names on the cards so he spent a great deal of time perfecting the scribbles. 

of course, i was not about to give up my semi-crafty skills and  helped out on the simple packaging for it.  check out the little guy's handwriting below. i think more practice is in order for him during the summer in preparation for kindergarten! 

for the easy bags to hold the stickers and cards, here are the supplies :

smallest sized ziploc

craft scissors

card stock paper

glue

all i did was cutout the patterned paper (i used a polkadot red & white one - not too girly but still perfect for valentine's) just enough to fit as a favor topper to dress up the package. i trimmed the edges using a pretty craft scissor for an added design touch. finally, i glued them using my trusty tombow glue.

you can kick it up a notch and stamp a valentine-themed design (with the help of the little one) on the favor paper topper if you are using a plain colored cardstock. but since we are using a patterned one here, i left that out and just trimmed the edges with a fancy craft scissor. 

......and here are the valentine's treats all ready to be handed out this tuesday! 

{photo apps used were pixlromatic and phonto via iPhone} 

Halloween Recap

Weeks before Halloween I got Aston his costume and I figured he'll be obsessed still with Spiderman. But with a week left before their school halloween parade, he sang a different tune and wanted to be green lantern, darth vader and a ninja - all rolled into one fantasy costume! Hmm, that's not happening!

It took a lot of threatening and bribing to get him into his Spiderman costume and mask Monday morning. And I'm glad I didn't end up getting him a back up costume as he actually loved his spidey suit! 

Iron Man and spidey! 

Spiderman on the move (he just have to give mommy a quick hug in the middle of the parade - so sweet!)

The boys in their precious costumes!

Buddy Aiden in his cool Darth Vader suit! 

It's party time! 

First Day PreK

We were running a bit late today but I managed to get a few quick shots at home of our eager preK-er who  talked non-stop about going "upstairs" (his new classroom is located on the second floor) and it is a big deal for him. When we got there, he literally darted to the door to see his missed friends and was happy to give mommy a hug goodbye with no drama (*sob*). sigh, they grow so fast. 

Summer's Last Hurrah

It will be sad to say goodbye to lazy summers but it will be so much nicer when the cooler weather is her and fall is upon us. The past week we have been busy preparing for the beginning of a new school year and it's been exciting for the little one as he enters preK! 

We start next week so Aston has been sleeping early to get used to the schedule unlike his laid back summer days. Waking up to cartoons and getting extra hour up awake at night will be replaced with a more strict schedule of early bed and early mornings!

The other day, I treated him to a cupcake and milk break over at Crave while we waited for daddy to finish his work day. Of course, I have to have my treat too. He had the red velvet, I tried the cranberry/mandarin. Yum-o!

Another window shopping trip the other day ended up with some major shopping spree at Williams-Sonoma where they have Marvel comic characters baking and kitchen wares. He has been obsessed with action heroes ranging from Spiderman to Incredible Hulk and he loves their display even if they're far from real toys. We ended up staying a good 45 minutes browsing and enjoying the collection. Thankfully, they still have some Star Wars collection on sale and had to get him the tin box (which can be used as lunch box) filled with Star Wars character sandwhich cutters (under $10!). Great score!

As a kid, I loved scribbling and doodling and I wished Aston would be too. This summer I had him practicing his letters and tracing his name. The pen grip is still awkward and the letters are far from recognizable but I'm sure he'll get the hang of it. 

Blogger friend Rebekah of A Blissful Nest shared some back-to-school free printables on her blog this week and I was dying to use them for Aston's teachers treats. I printed them on sticker paper and used them as labels for the hand sanitizers, pens/notepads and the bags of butterscotch I baked for them. 

This boxed butterscotch from Williams-Sonoma are soo good and I packed a few bars for the teachers to try. I hope they liked them as much as we all did at home!

That's all for now. I will have full report of his first day of school next week! 

Busy School Boy

The last few weeks had been busy with our little boy's school activities starting with a Daddy and Me breakfast just in time for the start of the town's annual rodeo. 
They both had a wonderful time with other dads and his friends and they get to play cowboys for a day. 

The other exciting event they had at school was the Transportation day where various cars, trucks, boats, RVs and motorcycles parade in the school parking lot for all the students to ride and play with all morning. Despite the gloomy rainy day, they all had a grand time. I am so glad to know that this is a yearly event that the school hosts!  

On a race car from the Houston Grand Prix

They were all thrilled to be in a RV

Everyone squeezing on a vintage Ford pickup. My favorite from the event! 

A favorite of the kids, they all get to pull the truck's horn and squeal with delight! 

Then finally, it was a treat for them to get to sit on a fishing boat and I am just a lucky mom who's able to share these days with him at school and able to witness the joy these activities bring to him! 

Post-Valentine Report

Last Monday, I was one of the moms helping out for Aston's Valentine's lunch party and we all had a lovely time. Here are a few pictures. 

Before lunch, in their prayer position

Chatting and eating

A fun home project we get to enjoy working on. Aston did the honors of putting on the stickers of stuff he loves and I arranged the family photos. This was then posted on their classroom wall

Their treat bags lined up on the wall so they could each fall in line and drop their goodies in their friends' bags

I totally forgot to snap a photo of his decorated mini-gable boxes filled with truffles for his classmates. So, this will do

At the end of the day, we had a great time going over his numerous cards and goodies and it's like halloween in February with the amount of treats he took home!