Tag Archives: year

Fabric {My "Crafty" Side}, Friends, Frugal Finds

Bubbles Two Ways ~ EOY Classroom & Campus Helper Goodies

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OK, so apparently I’m on a roll with the EOY goodies…..

Today we’re focusing on classroom treats and little tokens for the campus staff like yard duties, librarian, cafeteria friends and classroom aids.

Holden is in a split class this year ~ kindergarten & first grade. I don’t like to give candy, so I was on the hunt for something summery for him to hand out on the last day of school. One year Elliott received the cutest little bucket of sidewalk chalk and I was trying to keep that in mind as I began my hunt. But, I spotted some fun bubble wands in the Target dollar section and decided to roll with those and save time {and gas!} driving all over town trying to gather other options. Plus, if I decided to go with the wands and go back to Target next week, they may very well be gone. Now I can check this off my list and move onto the next thing {for example: clean the bathrooms!}.

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I just thought these were so fun and came up with a cheesy message which I printed on clear labels and affixed to some fish cutouts that I picked up at Dollar Tree and tied on with baker’s twine.

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{pretend the labels didn’t get cut off at the top, OK}

*****

Now onto the campus helpers….

In keeping with the bubble theme {well, there really was no bubble theme, but it just sounded good}, Ross had some 4.1 ounce bottles of shower gel in fruity/floral/botanical scents that came in a pack of seven for $3.99. Seriously….this comes out to 57 cents a piece! I grabbed some clear Spritz favor bags at Target and bagged them up with a few paper shreds. I also used up some leftover paint chips from crafts that I did with the third graders earlier in the year and made a little tag with a message ~ again just printed on clear labels.

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Done and done.

*****

Now I just need to figure out what I’m going to do for Elliott’s class…..

I hope these ideas have been helpful. In the past I have not done much at the end of the year because I found that I waited until the last minute and was so over the whole school year that I didn’t do ANYTHING. As a result, last year and this year I tried to plan ahead so we could thank all the special school people who become such important parts of our lives.

Seventeen more {school} days ’til bubble blowin’!!!

Fabric {My "Crafty" Side}, Frugal Finds

Office Space ~ EOY Office Staff Treats

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Hello friends and Happy Humpday!

I’m back real quick with the second installment of EOY gift ideas.

Today we’re recognizing the hard working ladies in the office. They field and treat NUMEROUS daily health related & accident cases, track attendance, disperse forgotten items that are dropped off late, supervise students during recess and lunch who aren’t able to play out on the yard, etc, etc. Lord only knows what other behind-the-scenes situations they are faced with throughout the school year, but what I witness them doing on a daily basis is enough for me to deem them saints. Annnd, they always have a smile on their face.

See…smiles all around. Aren’t they such a cute trio?

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If you’d like to recognize your kind office staff on the last day of school, but aren’t sure what to do, here are a few ideas…

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These fun little office supplies were found recently at Target {file folders} & JoAnns {ecard notebook} in the dollar bins!

Fancy folders make filing more fun, right?

Jotting down zillions of notes and messages is always more interesting in an silly ecard notepad, correct?

I must confess that the perfect typewriter thank you card is from several months back at Trader Joe’s. My OCD gift giving self grabbed a few and filed them away for the end of the year.

I’m also making these sweet ladies and equally sweet treat in the form of these sugar cookie bars.

*****

I hope you’re as lucky as we are with awesome people watching over and caring for our kids during school hours and I hope you’ll bless them as you say goodbye to another academic year.

They’ll appreciate it.

Promise.

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Family, Flashbacks

One A Month ~ 2011 In Review

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Last year I challenged myself to review the year with just one photo from each month. It was hard because there were so many picture perfect moments.

2011 was no different, but I was able to relive all beautiful memories month by month with just one picture….gotta play by the rules!

: January ~ Snow in Valencia! :

: February ~ Holden celebrated {4} with a trip to the local fire station :

: March ~ Elliott goes to cheer camp :

: April ~ Jay after mud run @ Lake Castaic :

: May ~ Elliott & friends hunting tadpoles at her 6th birthday party @ Placerita Canyon State Park :

: June ~ Last day of kindergarten :

: July ~ Summer vacation in Myrtle Beach with Lolo & Lola :

: August ~ HOT back-to-school days :

: September ~ First Padres game at Petco Park over Labor Day weekend :

: October ~ Annual Yosemite visit :

: November ~ Welcoming in the holiday season @ Disneyland :

: December ~ Chocolate overload @ m&m World in Vegas :

*****

Twelve moments frozen in time.

Looking forward to many more of these happy times in {twenty twelve} whether they be digitally captured or just simple memories of the everyday.

Food

Year Of The Rabbit

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“A placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the Tiger.”

{via}

*****

Last Friday at dance class, while flipping through the February issue of Disney Family Fun magazine, I came across a recipe for Chinese Peanut-Sesame Noodles.

I wanted to see how it compared to this recipe. {I like the added veggies in this recipe, but both are excellent!}

And what better night to serve it than Chinese New Year…

I added grilled chicken and served with edamame on the side.

It was too spicy for the tikes, but you could certainly omit the chili paste. Also, if you don’t have tahini on hand you could easily substitute with the same amount of peanut butter.

These noodles were quick and easy ~ I had all the ingredients except for the scallions.

Delicious warm or cold.

Enjoy!


Family, Flashbacks

Birthday Countdown: Part I

My baby girl is turning 5 on Saturday.

I am giving myself a gift in honor of her birthday and reliving the past 60 beautiful months.

“Baby A” was due on Saturday, May 28th, 2005.

The Curious George nursery was bright and welcoming, itsy bitsy Pampers Swaddlers, sensitive wipes & Boudreaux’s Butt-paste were arranged neatly in the little basket at the end of the changing table, gowns and onesies were bathed in Dreft and just waiting for a sweet little body to fill them…we were ready!

On my due date we got “dressed up” (for me that was a super stretchy black dress & some black flip flops!) and went out to a nice dinner ~ what would be our last dinner before becoming a family of three.

We decided on Thai food and went into Hillcrest to Celadon ~ right next to the hospital should my water break while enjoying dinner! We shared spicy curries and pad thai noodles. Jay drank wine and I sucked down not one, but two thai iced teas!

We got home close to 11:00pm and I went straight to bed. The next morning I awoke early and started to feel “some pains” around 7:00am. I started timing and sure enough we were on the 5-1-1 schedule. I timed them for a little over an hour and then we were on our way to Scripp’s Mercy Hospital.

They could not find my pre-registered paperwork so there I was filling it out again while Jay went and parked the car. I went into a triage room to be monitored and was admitted shortly thereafter.

I tried to go all natural, but after getting to 8 cm and being told this was my last chance for an epi, I caved and shortly thereafter had a needle in my back and was able to now enjoy labor and actually talk to those around me.

By 5:00pm I was ready to push and my crotchety old Jewish doctor was hurrying me along because he had two other women down the hall close to delivering, too.

I pushed for an hour and a half before he determined the baby was “sunny side up”. Dr. S wanted to use a vacuum to help with the delivery, but after I said, “Uh….NO you’re not!”, he manually “turned” the baby and by 6:39pm, Elliott Elizabeth Aspiras came into the world!

A baby girl!

6 pounds, 14 ounces and 18.75″ long

Sunday, May 29, 2005

I was thrilled either way, of course, but I now had a little one to dress in pink, ruffles, dresses, sequins, tutus, bows and patent leather mary janes ~ a little girl to LOVE.

After sitting under the bili-light for 8 hours (for jaundice), she was ready to come home:

{Tuesday, May 31st, 2005}

Birthday Countdown: Part II coming tomorrow!

Now, off to get ready to take the little one wrapped in the chickie blanket above to her Kindergarten assessment!

{Tear.}

Family, Flashbacks

Vital Statistics

3 years ago:

Today:

Thursday, February 25, 2010

25 pounds & 35 inches tall

(exact same weight, but 2 inches taller than 6 months ago)

I won’t go into the percentiles, but let’s just say that he’s still LIGHTWEIGHT and SHORT so he’s well proportioned!

Today he had his blood pressure taken for the first time…

80/42…normal

And here he is with his “friend”, Dr. Yen:

He was such a good patient ~ letting Dr. Y look for “buggies” in his ears and checking out his eyes and his mouth.

No shots.

Just a high five, a couple sugar-free lollipops, some animal crackers, a Spiderman AND a Buzz Lightyear sticker.

Next scheduled visit in 1 year…

We LOVE Dr. Yen, but he’s not a person we like to see a lot of.

Food

Out With The Old, In With The Shoe!

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Hello? Is anyone still out there in Blogland? I know… I’m a blog abandoner! My apologies to my reader(s)! I promise to be around more now that we have the holidays behind us. I’ve missed doing my little posts and am looking forward to getting back into a routine.

Just to recap, I think that this past holiday season was one of the BEST ever for me. I tried my best to stretch it out, slow it down and take in as much as possible. And you know what? I think it worked!

We packed a lot in, but at the same time, managed to have time to sit back and reflect on a great year.

A Disneyland trip kicked off our holidays. Turkey in San Diego. 3:30 a.m. wake-up call on Black Friday. 4 foot tree from Home Depot. Token Santa visit at mall. H1N1 mist up the nose. Holiday card send-off. Road trip to Vegas for Jay’s 40th milestone b-day. Holiday play dates. Intuit holiday party. Visited friends in Newport. Peppermint mochas. Neighborhood lights on foot. Crafting delicious holiday treats. Listening to E&H sing Christmas songs on car rides. Late night shopping excursions. Wrapping paper. Tape. Curly ribbon. Tissue paper.

It’s all gone. Lurking around the corner to make an appearance again in what will be a short 11 months.

Superbowl ~ Valentine’s Day ~ Holden’s 3rd b-day ~ St. Patrick’s Day ~ Easter ~ Elliott’s 5th b-day ~ Last day of school ~ Summer ~ First day of school ~ New routines ~ My fortieth! ~ Pumpkins ~ Halloween ~ Annual Disneyland trip ~ Turkey Day ~ Repeat most of above paragraph and we’ll be in the same spot in 2011 as we are now!

My “resolutions” this year are: 1) No excuses 2) Keep it simple

To get off to a running (literally) start in 2010, I bought these:

Yes, the tag is still intact, but these will be getting put to use this week. My goal, again, is to do the Las Vegas Rock N Roll Half Marathon in early December…I am still positive, but seeing that I can barely run a half-mile, I have a few hesitations! Especially when I see a woman who looks to be in fabulous physical shape wearing a half-marathon finisher t-shirt! Uh, do I need to look like that in order to complete 13.1 miles? If so, then I have a LONG way to go and may need more than 11 months to complete my goal! BUT, since this is the year of “no excuses”, I will hit the pavement in the above pink and silver numbers and see what comes of it! Don’t worry, you will hear about every pain and blister along the way!

Jay decided he wanted to start the new decade out with a nice bottle of tequila! Ay caramba! So, there I was on New Year’s Eve @ BevMo in the L-O-N-G line extending to the back of the store getting this:

We rang in the New Year locally (meaning ON our street!) which was awesome since we were able to cruise home on foot around 2:30 a.m. from about 20 yards away!

We used the above square bottle for some Pomegranate Margaritas ~ recipe here.

This bottle DID last us 2 nights as we continued to welcome in 2010 last night with a wonderful sushi spread provided by our lovely neighbors Bob & Sun.

Check out this spread:

and this spicy salmon hand roll:

Let me just say that 2010 is off to a great start!

Thank you to ALL our family & friends for an epic 2009! Looking forward to new friends, new traditions, new discoveries and new adventures in the upcoming year.

Wishing you peace, love, health and happiness in the next 361 days!