Kindergarten Time!

My sweet Aidan starts kindergarten on Monday.  I try to share in his excitement as he carries around his new Star Wars backpack or shows his daddy his new Mario Cart (a Wii thing) lunchbox.  He visited his new teacher and saw the classroom last Tuesday night, and he keeps asking, "When can I go back to that kindergarten?"  He's excited and eagerly waits the day that he gets to go to kindergarten and stay all day.  I try to join in the excitement, but instead I want to cry!  He is second born in a line of four.  Does that matter...NO!  They are ALL "my favorite."  Each one brings a special uniqueness to our family.  Hannah returns to school as a third grader.  I'll miss our "girl chats" and her laughter that I've heard all summer (She's just discovered "I Love Lucy.").  Aidan will go all day right along with her.  I'll miss his funny stories that he always seems to have right at lunch time.  I won't get to share lunch time with him during the week for a while.  Do I sound like I am sending them off to college?  Well, it kind of feels that way!  

When you go to kindergarten all day, you have to have nap time at school.  The teacher said to cover the nap mats and bring a blanket .  So, to make it extra special, I covered Aidan's nap mat with Toy Story fabric that I found at Fabric.com (a place that I frequent too much) and bought him a matching blanket at Target.  I made and attached a pillowcase to the mat cover so that it would be easy to put away, but it also makes the mat a little longer.  This is good because the extra thick Kindermats are a few inches shorter than the basic Kindermat...not very comfy when your legs are hanging over and are elevated two inches off the ground. 

He seemed thrilled with it, but so did his  2 year old little brother, Jack (not shown in the picture because he was having a fit and saying, "My cowboy!" (a.k.a. Woody).

Aidan will have a locker (pretty cool, huh?), and they will keep their nap items in a laundry bag.  I picked this up at Target too, and I embroidered his name on it.

This picture gives you an idea of just how much this bag will hold!  I think Aidan could fit in there as well!

Maybe, I could fit in that bag...I don't think anyone would know I was there.  Do you think I could get away with it?  ;)

Have You Seen These?

I love these European market totes!  The first time I ever saw one was after the birth of my daughter.  A friend from my Sunday school class brought us a meal, and she carried it in one of these.  She had her initial on hers too (but without the ribbon), and I really thought it was cute.  Then, I saw one in Paula Deen's magazine, and I thought, "I need one of those!"  In case you haven't seen these, they are completely collapsible.  They fold up flat once you take out the little plastic thingies that go in the little "pockets" for support.  I monogrammed mine with the "French Dot" embroidery alphabet found here, and then I added the ribbon tie.  Now I'm ready for the next potluck or picnic.  I'm sure there are a million uses for this thing!