Happy Birthday, Mrs. Bechtol!

Tomorrow is our preschool director's birthday. I hope this little touch of spring lets her know how much we appreciate all she does to make our school special!

A Birthday What???

Jonathan is invited to a classmate's birthday party next Saturday, and I was trying to think of a unique way to wrap the present. We are giving him an assortment of small things: a Lego kit, a Hexbug and a couple of other things. I mentioned to my sister that the gifts were almost like things that would be in a stocking, and that's when I thought of it:


Jonathan loves his stocking, I think most kids do! So how much fun would a birthday stocking be? At first I was kicking around all sorts of ideas for the stocking itself. Making one from felt, or just drawing one on the front of a solid color gift bag. Today I remembered a big plastic stocking we received that Jonathan never opened. My sister was visiting, so we decided to see what we could come up with. We used Jonathan's foam alphabet stickers to label it, and I had some colored circle gift tags with plastic centers that we used to fill in the blank spots and make it look less "Christmas-y". To showcase the colored letters on the clear plastic stocking, everything was loosely wrapped in white tissue and tied with various colors of twine. It includes some of the birthday boy's favorite candy, too. A couple of little plastic frog poppers are peeping above the tissue wrapped gifts.

I was quite pleased with the results. I like doing something original and different like this. I used what I already had on hand, so there was zero cost in the wrapping. I'll let you know if he likes it or not!

It ain't always a walk in the park....

If you look at the "about me" on my blog home page, you will see I invited you to join me in my joys, and also my challenges.
This has been a challenging morning. It's 11 a.m. We've had two time outs already. Someone is whiny and clingy and just plain grumpy. I know that's how kids operate, but it is hard sometimes.
I've noticed that Jonathan goes through "stages" where he is extra clingy, or extra naughty, or tries to test the limits and assert his independence. Usually not all of these stages at the same time. Usually. Today seems to be the exception!
I try to distract him when possible, or find a project for him to do. Today he is watching too much TV (at least it's PBS Kids!).
One of the most difficult aspects of single parenthood (at any age) is that you are the only one to deal with days like this. I can't take a little break and run out for milk while dad keeps him entertained, or ask grandma to stop by for an hour or two. And none of the "just wait until your dad gets home!" stuff for me.
Fortunately, days like this are, if not rare, at least infrequent. I'm still right where I want to be.

Ironing: Obsession #3

Do you iron? According to most people I mention it to, I seem to be part of a dying breed. One friend's daughter, now 9 years old, was shown a picture of an iron at school (at about age 7). She had no idea what it was!

I just cannot let Jonathan go to school, or anywhere else, for that matter, in wrinkled clothing. I air-dry quite a bit of our laundry, and I iron. A lot. It's never done and I am never caught up. Still I forge ahead.

Today is a rainy day, and I am ironing. I have a small laundry room, so I do most of the ironing in the kitchen. The ironing board is a semi-permanent fixture there. I'm okay with that!

Preschool Letter "U"

This is letter "U" week at preschool and I have been wondering what to take for treats for this letter. Monday's thematic learning class is "Under the Big Top". They are going to learn all about the circus and perform in their very own circus at the end of the day!

I found these cute clown cookies at a local bakery and put them in red & white treat bags, tied with tickets left over from Jonathan's birthday party last summer.

The Tues./Thurs. class was a little more of a challenge until I realized something. There are two things we love in Kentucky: horses and U.K. basketball. What does "university" start with? A "U", of course!! So each child will get a plastic U.K. cup filled with blue & white shred, U.K. mints and a little basketball. He is taking a ukulele for his "U" Show & Share item.

Next week we will be taking St. Patrick's Day treats, instead of a letter theme treat. I really love making treats for his class!

"GO BIG BLUE--UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY WILDCATS!"

Catching a Leprechaun

Jonathan was a little cranky yesterday after school, he was tired and has a bit of a cold. So, to relax him a little before bedtime, I told him we were going to try to catch a leprechaun tonight. To do that, we had to build a leprechaun trap. So after dinner, we got to work.

A tissue box, green construction paper, green marker, glue stick and stickers turned into a leprechaun trap! We decided to try to lure him in with Froot Loops and shiny green coins.....leprechauns love shiny things, don't you know. I told him they were wily little creatures, and very hard to catch.

This morning he raced to the kitchen table, only to find one had visited and left footprints, but the little elf had managed to escape!

Adios, February!!

I always love the first day of March. To me, it signals the end of winter, even though I have seen some really big snowfalls in March. However, if it is March you know they can't last too long.

I am not big on New Years resolutions, but I make some March-olutions! Time to get out and walk, do some spring cleaning and some yard work.

Seriously, I have a lot I need to accomplish this month. I am planning to work on a list tonight and try to make things manageable. I want to get things better organized around here, so I hope to do at least one drawer or cabinet each day. Things need to be readied for the season's first yard sale. The garage is a mess from the winter and because I tend to stuff things in there when I don't know what else to do with them, especially since I don't have a basement and storage is at a premium. The yard is a mess from winter, also, and I need to get it ready to plant flowers and hopefully a tomato plant or two. Add to that some special spring projects (painting the storage building, painting woodwork). March, and April, need to be productive months.

My problem (one of them, anyway!) is that I am not known for my time management skills. I waste too much time deciding what to do, instead of just doing it!

Here is what I hope to accomplish in March:

• Paint the woodwork in my bathroom


• Start cleaning the garage


• Organize at least one drawer/cabinet per day


• Get Jonathan's spring/summer wardrobe in order


• Do some yard/flower bed work


• If weather permits, have a yard sale. If not, have things ready to have one on the first nice Saturday


• Do general spring cleaning

I'll have to let you know on April 1st how I did. Maybe telling you guys what needs to be done will hold me accountable!