Lovable Labels - 10th Anniversary Sale!

Lovable Labels is your #1 source for durable personalized labels, tags, safety products and much more. By recognizing the unique personality in every child, Lovable Labels inspires children to take better care of their belongings.  Our durable products withstand the dishwasher, microwave, washer, dryer, and the greatest test - your child!

I have a few of their products and I LOVE them!!  I'm actually going to pick up a few labels for O's teacher to use in the classroom during this sale. 

This sale started yesterday and runs until Saturday October 19, 2013!!

So, just what can you expect during this anniversary sale??? 

- 10 days of deals

- offering 50% off our most popular products

- offer runs from October 10, 2013 - October 19, 2013

- We will be launching surprise new products

- Sign up for our newsletter to get our daily offers delivered right to your inbox - Sign up HERE

- To check our daily deal of the day, check out our 'gift tree' HERE

This is the best time to stock up...or think of Christmas presents!!  I'm going to get some to help make labeling school supplies 10 times easier next year and as I said before I'm going to pick up a pack for O's teacher.  They label EVERYTHING in school!! 

I'm pretty sure everyone with a school aged child has struggled with labeling their supplies...it is not as easy as it looks to label 48 sharpened pencils.  Trust me, I've done it!  I will definitely be picking up these:

You do not want to miss this sale!!!  Head on over to Lovable Labels now to check it out!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.  I will be compensated with a product for this post.

Wordless Wednesday - Back to Preschool!!

Brynnleigh started preschool again today.  This morning was 100 1,000,000 times better than last year's first day of school morning!  Last year she would not let me take any pictures of her.  This year she held her sign up and was proud!

Last year she screamed bloody murder when my parents dropped her off - this year she told me she wasn't going to cry.

I am a little concerned with her class this year, none of her friends from last year are in her class (most of them went to 3 days - we kept B at 2 days since she has swimming and dance as well).  She is still in the 2 year old class due to her birthday.  Last year they had the classes broken up, younger 2's and older 2's - this year it's just a 2 year old class.  We shall see how this works.  Since her birthday is in October, she won't start school for another 3 years (this year plus 2 others).  I'd rather her repeat some things now than when she's older and very bored, but I am concerned that she may be a bit more advanced.

She already knows her colors, can sing her ABC's, can count to 20, is potty trained, and talks in complete sentences like she's 30!  Honestly half of the time I do forget that she is only 2.

B was super excited when Owen came out to take some pictures with her.  At first O didn't want to hold the sign since he was not in preschool - but when I told him that everyone would know that he was just holding the sign for her, he was all about it!  I love his face in these pics!

 

He was so excited to help her get ready!!

 



 

Of course I had to take a few more in the house - just like her brother did - with her school bag of course.  (This is her bag from last year - she gets to decorate her bag for this year today!)

And yes, she picked out her hair bows all by herself!! ; )  And to get her to smile we say " ICE CREAM"

This next one is the only picture that actually shows her timidness, and that maybe she is just a bit nervous about her first day.

This picture below was taken just outside her school, she looks so excited and a bit nervous.

And 26.7 second after this - she started screaming bloody murder again!  She actually walked into the classroom, then ran back out and attached herself to Missy (my mom).  Mom was able to pry her off and get her into the classroom - hopefully this doesn't go on for 3 weeks like it did last year!

How did I end up with one child who can't wait to get to school, and another that wants nothing to do with it? ; )

Brynnleigh - you will learn so much in school, and once you get used to your new friends and teachers you will want to go every day to see your friends.  You have matured SOOO much this summer and are starting to blossom into such a little social butterfly.  We cannot wait to see what you learn in school this year!!

Wordless Wednesday - Hello 1st Grade

Today was Owen's first day of 1st Grade....and he was so excited!!  I actually was a bit more excited than upset/worried this year verses last year.  I knew he had friends in his class and on his bus and he knew more of what to expect.

 

He could barely eat breakfast he wanted to hurry up and get to the bus stop to see his friends.  Poor guy hadn't really seen any of them all summer since we both work and my parents watch the kids over at their house.  It was all I could do to snap a few pictures!

 

Little did I know that his little sister was slowly approaching to photo bomb....see if you can see her progression in these pictures...(she was excited for O's first day too!)

 

 

Then O got surprised, both his PaPa and his PawPaw came to see him on the bus the first day (poor thing, tomorrow may be a bit boring with just one parent there!)

Notice that Miss Priss had to be in the picture too!

Okay...one last picture before we had to go to the bus stop...promise!

Once he got to the bus stop, we were old news....I'm not sure he even spoke to us again other than bye!  They had to compare wiggly teeth

 

Finally reunited with his bus BFF who is now a second grader!

 Our bus was a bit later than normal (which I'm sure was due to the 435454 extra parents on the first day) but she arrived and the kids lined up!

We have the same bus driver as last year, who we love....and 3 Owen's at O's bus stop - and all 3 are in First Grade - and 1 is born one day after my O! : )

We met Owen's teacher last week and I really like her.  She's young which O will be all about.  Here is his desk -

His teacher had a wish list for us to pick a few things to donate - I let O pick what he wanted to get - here are his picks!!

And this is just him being his silly old self!  Oh, and check out his shirt! ; )

And because we did this last year:

Favorite TV Show - Wipeout, Dr. Oz, & Ellen (he's been with my parents too long)
Favorite Movie - Polar Express 
Favorite Color - Every color
Favorite Food - Pizza, Subway, McDonalds
Favorite Candy - Twizzlers....chocolate cookies
Favorite Toy - Train set
Favorite Activity - Playing with the Wii U
Favorite Sport - Basketball
Favorite Superhero - Papa
Favorite Shoes - the ones that I'm wearing right now, the blue & yellow (Adidas)
When I grow up I want to be - Boy Scout Teacher Height - 48"
Weight -  51 lbs



Good Bye Kindergarten

Ummm, where has the time gone?  My baby.....not only is in school...he has graduated from Kindergarten and starts 1st Grade tomorrow!  This can't be true....I swear just yesterday he was learning how to walk and talk.
 
O is so excited for tomorrow....he has told me 15 times how excited he is for school to start and to see all of his friends.  I couldn't be happier to know that my child loves school....but I hate that this whole school thing is making him grow up so fast.
 
One year ago tomorrow....O's First Day of Kindergarten:

 

And O's last day of Kindergarten last year:

 

Troy wrote this letter to Owen on his last day of Kindergarten:

 

Today I have reflected on the fact that Owen is no longer in Kindergarten.  Yes, I am happy that he made it through but I am also sad that he will be in First grade.  Kindergarten to me is innocence, new friends, and a new environment.  Kindergarten is fun.  First grade is harder.  There is homework, there is time management.  I fear that Owen will lose his joy in going to school.  But before that I want to talk about what I will miss about him being in Kindergarten.

 

   I will miss that first day.  He was a big boy and never looked back. 

 

   His face that morning.  He ran downstairs and laid so innocently on the love seat.

 

   Owen and I spent many mornings waiting until 7:48 AM. 

 

   All those races to the bus stop.

 

   The stories he would tell about Senor Wein (Spanish teacher) and his other teachers.

 

   Talking about running and how some were faster than him.

 

   Back to school night in little chairs.

 

   Parent teacher conference.

 

   Watching him move from the front of the bus to the back.

 

   Seeing him jump off the bus and sprint to you for a hug.

 

   Leaving his lunch box and jackets regularly.

 

   Hearing him yell "BUS" everyday when everyone else has already seen it.

 

   Going to school dressed as the boy from the Polar Express.

 

   His face the first day that he missed school because he was sick.

 

   Raising money for the Jump Rope for Heart.

 

   The Winterpock 5K

 

   Eating lunch with him on May 25th and seeing his face when he realized that I was thee.

 

   The Word Wall Ball and seeing him dance like a pro.

 

   Being the Core Value Student and receiving his award.

 

   "Daddy is this pimp? Is it Pimp enough?" while standing on the bathroom counter.

 

   But most of all I will miss his innocence of being a kindergartner.  The smile may not 

  go away but over time the innocence will.

 

I am proud of you Owen!

 

Love,

 

Daddy

 

I have teared up every time Troy has read it to me.  I hope that we all love First Grade as much as we have Kindergarten.

 

Owen....welcome to first grade bud, we wish you the world.

Wordless Wednesday - Core Value Student

Owen was selected as the Core Value Student for the Month of April (we don't find out until May). Only one person per class is selected - there are 24 kids in his class! 



They must have known I was a blogger - since they placed his picture right by the sign!

The Chesterfield County Core Values of Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, and Accountability are important at Winterpock.  

 

Each month our teachers select a student from their classroom that best follows these values in their behavior at school.  Students selected are honored each month at a Core Values Breakfast sponsored by our PTA.  At the breakfast, each student is recognized with a certificate and a reading by the principal which states why the student was selected for this honor.  We have a bulletin board in the front hall which contains the pictures of our Core Value Students for the current month and why they were selected. 

 

We are proud of all of our Winterpock students who have earned this honor.

 

Owen was sooo excited for his awards ceremony which was May 17th.  The night before he picked out his outfit - saying he wanted to look Pimp!  This is what he picked out....

 

He was determined to wear this outfit just the way it was.  Luckily after a great night's sleep, we were able to compromise and switch to khaki shorts.  We did keep the too small tie and the flame belt!  Hey, he may only get this award once, might as well let him live it up.

The next morning he could not hold back his excitement...we all loaded up and headed to school at 7:45 am!!  His Missy, Papa, and PawPaw met him there.  (MeeMaw had to get Todd ready for group, or she would have been there too, she hates having to miss this events).

It was a pretty simple process - they announced each award winner by class, and then read what the teacher wrote about that student.  The student received an award, and a printed copy of what their teacher wrote.

Owen was the third kid called up, he didn't even wait for them to say his whole name before he ran up front (FYI - he didn't have to run far, he wanted to sit at the front table!).

After he received his award we waited (and attempted to hold his sister back from running on the stage) for the rest of the recipients to receive their awards.  Afterwards they had a quick breakfast for the kids to eat before class started (donuts, pound cake, fruit, and bagels).

I can't believe how grown up my little man looks in all these pictures!!

 

I don't think this is part of the Core Values, but O is one heck of a good photo bomber!!  I hate that this is so blurry, but he waited until the very last minute!!

As soon as the bell rang for the kids to walk to class O was ready to go...he started seeing his car rider friends walk in and he was ready to socialize.  We had to literally hold him back to get a picture of him, his certificate, and his grandparents.

 

Then of course B wanted a picture too...

These last three pictures were taken extremely fast (can you tell?) - O was ready to GO and of course B wanted to do everything that O did!

Owen, we are so proud of you and everything you have accomplished in your first year of "big kid school".  We can only hope that it continues in the future.  You are leaving your sister with some big shoes to fill when she starts school!!