Like all good things must, kindergarten has come to an end...

And this mama is a little overwhelmed. My first baby's first year of school has come and gone in the quickest of eye blinks. She's gone from toddler to schoolgirl but OH MUH BAYBEE!! Wears muh baybee??

First day of Kindergarten. It feels like we just got started. Oh how it hurt my mama heart to let her go.

Last day of Kindergarten. It's slightly bittersweet. I'm SO ready to have her back home with me EVERY SINGLE, but it concerns me how quickly the days are going.

Oh my. It IS going to fast. Next Zofia will start school and I'll have no more babies. Excuse me, I need to go breathe into a paper bag...

End of Year/Teacher Appreciation Gifts. What do you buy?

As I mentioned in my fruit-sculpture post yesterday this week is teach appreciation week. I am on the board of Athena's school's PTO and we put on a luncheon for them and gave the teacher lounge a Keurig. The year is almost over so this has me thinking end-of-year thanking as well. This is Athena's very first teacher, she really likes her, and watching my child blossom has been an incredible gift. Since I've never dealt with teachers in this capacity before, what's the protocol on Teacher Appreciation/End of year gifts? What do you do?

End of year/teacher appreciation gifts: Do you buy them and what do you spend?
	Yes! $25+
	Yes, a small gift $5-$10 max.
	A card and flowers/plant.
	A child-made card.
	No gifts.
pollcode.com free polls

(Also accepting gift ideas.)

Fresh Fruit Watermelon "Cake"

Athena's very first year of school is coming to a close and this week is teacher appreciation week for them. These fine people have transformed my baby into a reading, writing, singing big girl STUDENT. She's had the best experience so far and I want them to know the parents are grateful.

The PTO is putting on a luncheon tomorrow with donations from parents and board members. I volunteered to make a fruit salad. But not just ANY fruit salad. I wanted my fruit salad to say "Hey teachers! I took the time to sculpt up this fruit into a cake just for YOU because I appreciate YOU! No bowls of fruit for you!"

So I set out to make the fresh watermelon cake I saw on Pinterest:

The Inspiration from www.lowfatveganchef.com

The ingredients:

A watermelon, any fresh fruit you like, and skewers.

The cut:

According to www.cakechooser.com this is how you cut to get your cake base.

Here's mine:

From there I cut more tiers, placed fruit around them, 

and used skewers of fruit like candles

The result:

I'm happy with my first attempt. I'd like to try again with better knives, more experience, and 

less toddlers pulling my pants down.

Help my little cheerleader, would ya? Pretty Please?

We ALL know school funding bites all across the board. People are frantically trying everything they can to keep music, art, and sports in schools. To do her part, my little Cheerleader is selling Little Caesers Pizza Kits.

Even Salad Kits!




There really is something for everyone, so if you'd like to take a look at www.PizzaKit.com and tell me what you like. If you get back to me here or via email I'll ship it or drop it off and her school will ear $7 per kit. If you shop the site use code #261038 and her school gets $5 per kit.

Athena loves fundraising and understands how it helps so I always back her up.

Thanks for looking everyone!

Look at my kid! - Honor Roll Edition

Sweet Miss Athena Bee. 

I remember when she was just a wee babe poopin' in her Bumbo. 

Now here she is all grown up. A daggone HONOR ROLL student. What's next? Driver's license?!

Girlfriend earned herself a free taco. We are STOKED!

Louis has promised her a trip to the pet store and Gammy and I shall take her out to eat. 

Good grades are a BIG deal up in this family!

Mazol Tov, Ms. Bee!

Everyone's got needs.

Every day after school I peruse Athena's backpack and she shows me all the work she did that day. Today they made a book of wants and needs and cut out pictures from magazines.

Athena's Wants:

Butterflies and princess dolls,

And a neat-o new tent.

Now, onto Athena's needs:

Some ham and bacon salad,

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand this dude right here:

I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with this girl.

Another First for Athena

It might look boring but boring is good when it comes to this form. What you are looking at is one perfect progress report for a Miss Athena Bee. I'm so proud. Treats will be purchased and fun will be had. I hope it's the first of many.

LATE BREAKING ATHENA NEWS!!

We interrupt this Wordless Wednesday post to bring you the most current Athena Elizabeth Kindergarten news.

Sources closest to the kindergartner (me, her mom) have been told by her that she has been on her first date. It seems Athena has had a strong desire to visit "The Snack Cart" in the lunchroom but hasn't been allowed to until her mother comes in and surveys the situation. Athena wasn't taking this laying down. After all, she 5 years old now. Practically a teenager.

Pictured here doing the exasperated teen stare.

It all started yesterday. A boy named Lucas has been sitting by her at lunch and declared her his "honey bunny." Today she expressed her cherry beverage desires to the young boy and he quickly walked her up to the snack cart and purchased her this drink even though this meant he had no money left for himself. Athena greatly enjoyed this escapade and has asked if she can return the favor via cookie purchase tomorrow.

I'll allow it.

Wednesday morning she will be showing me who Lucas is, and since it's UM/OSU spirit day at school, she will be reporting back to her father if Lucas is in appropriate Ohio State attire.

We will not be telling Lucas that Athena asked me if I thought "Tucker" was cute.

Athena's Week in Kindergarten

Even with the lurgey taking over our house, a certain exuberant schoolgirl still had places to be. Still had homework to do and still had... boys to talk to?? Ahem...

I give you Athena's first gift from a boy:

Work on the street is rectangles are the new expression of love. His name is Jacob, and even though I told her we're Team Edward, she would not be swayed.

Girlfriend is starting to READ! This just amazes me for some reason. She loves animal stuff.

Little Miss Bee also had a test like a daggone teenager or something. She got a 95%. My "A" student. I love her :)

Having a school-age kid rocks my sock off, man.

Kindergarten 2012: A year of Firsts

I lost my way on this here blog for a second. I started paying attention to comment numbers, stats, revenue and began trying to write for other people. Obviously this bombed. I had horrible writer's block for a year and stopped using this site for what it was intended: a space for me to share and document our lives. Not for blogger stats but for ME. Because of this blog I can go back and see what Athena weighed at 2 years old and compare it to Zofia. I can go back and look at holiday pictures from any given year. I'm going to appreciate this so much down the road when I need to reminisce about my babies. SOOOOOO..... let's get back to that, 'kay? Yes.

Athena started school last month and it has gone so differently than I had expected. She's been fairly sheltered and never been away from me for long stretches of time so I thought there was going to be a huge adjustment period. I thought she was going to miss me, miss home, miss naps. I thought she would cry for me and beg me to stay home. Oh how this is not the case. She LOVES it. She loves the work, the playing, the socializing. It's all so amazing to her. She had no idea there was this world full of kid out there for her to play with.

My style of parenting has come under fire for years. I was told to cut the cord a million times and if I didn't, my kids were never going to learn independence. They were going to be clingy little whiners that wanted nothing but their mama. Heh. Right. Athena is flourishing.

She asked for her own room, she asked to sleep by herself, and she marched right in that classroom and got down to business. 

In fact, one month is and she already asked me to stop helping her in the classroom in the morning and to just drop her off at the door. Sorry kid. You're 5, not 15. Mama's still coming in.

To those that knock attachment parenting and say that it breeds clingy kids, I kinda wanna say "nana nana booboo, stick your face in doodoo." But I won't. I'm too mature for that. I'm the mother of a school-aged kid now after all.

Up next: How Kindergarten is affecting my OCD.