Back to School Organization

With a strange orientation schedule two weeks ago, then a week off, The O'Regan family is welcoming tomorrow with open arms.  We are ready for school (and a regular work schedule!) We spent the Labor Day Weekend in Disney World but came home Sunday afternoon with school prep and organization on the brain.  Well, I did at least. Grocery shopping, check! Laundry done, check!  Closet organization, check! Lunches packed, check! Violin contract signed, check... It's all done!

Every year I struggle to pack the right lunches and I am a list maker, so today's post is all about getting organized for back to school with a grocery list template and lunch box ideas. No stamping today! I know all the mom readers will appreciate these tools and ideas.  The first is a great meal planner and shopping list. I love how this has your menu planner and list all in one.

Download it from Just a Girl Blog Here

My daughter, Molly, is enrolled in after-school yoga, violin, ballet and tennis.  It's hard to keep it all straight and what she needs to bring when and where.  I printed this out, marked it up and taped it to my cabinet. At least until I get the routine down! This comes to us from Activity Village.  Download it by clicking below.

Download the PDF here

I need to pack Molly AND Connor's lunch at May River Montessori, and they've thrown a monkey wrench into my packing this year (no peanuts!).  I've rounded up healthy lunch ideas from Pinterest that are packaged so cute -- how could my kids not eat them?  Be sure to click on the image for the original source (and thanks to all original sources, credited below.) 

From Smashed Peas & Carrots (who did a PSA Review years ago!) 

From My Life & Kids

From Typically Simple 

From Mom Endeavors -- won't this be cute for Halloween? 

What are your favorite back to school resources, templates and planning ideas? We would love to hear from you! Share ideas here on our blog or on Facebook! 

Flash Cards for Kids

I am resurrecting a great project today by Mae Armstrong.  I've always been a huge advocate of flash cards for babies and toddlers.  Starting at 6 months, I regularly sat with Molly and showed her pictures of farm animals, nature scenes, fruits and vegetables, clothing, every day items, colors and numbers.  With my son, Connor, now 19 months old, I haven't had as much time to sit with flash cards as I like but we still do them on occasion.  Here's our stack that we run through at mealtime or snack time.

Molly was talking early – she said her first words at 7 months, and she was doing “flash cards” here at 17 months.  Check out this video.  It's funny to look back at it years from when I took this - I don't understand her like I did back then.

Flash cards can get expensive so Mae Armstrong created DIY Flash Cards.  This flash card system teaches counting and its better than anything I have purchased.  She created animal silhouettes and grouped them by numbers. Here's the template you can use so you can create your very own flash cards. Click the images and print away – she used cardstock to print so they’d be nice a sturdy for her twin boys. 

After printing, trim along the guides.

Mae stamped the corresponding numbers inside the circle tags using PSA Essentials Vanilla Peel & Stick stamp set.  She also added a patterned star burst paper behind the stamped tag. Glue and assemble.

She organized the set before gluing everything.

 Here they are ready to be enjoyed.

Mae’s boys had a great time with this project and she’ll be packing this for her next trip – it’s such a great travel activity that doesn't take a lot of room.    How cute are these boys?!

Tell us what you think of these DIY Flash Cards now! 

Monthly Baby Photos

Today is Connor's 1st birthday!  Over the course of his life, I have taken thousands of priceless pictures of him.   Perhaps none are more telling and document his life better than the ones I have been taking on the 17th of every month.  It is amazing to see his growth month to month.

Connor was born May 17th, 2012 at Hilton Head Regional Medical Center.  He weighed 8 oz. upon birth but dropped to 6 lbs 8 oz by the time we left.   He made tremendous gurgling sounds all night long. He was a noisy, noisy baby.   

He was so tiny! 

The first month and more he was terribly jaundiced.  His eyes were very yellow for almost 8 weeks. He was scrawny and had little chicken legs. He had wildly spikey hair.  And he never slept longer than 2.5 hours straight.  He was a hungry boy that demanded to be fed round the clock. This seems so long ago.

By his second month, his jaundice cleared and his eyes got whiter.  He perked up, was more alert and started to smile.  He still has this wrye smile - like maybe he's up to no good and knows something that you don't...

By three months he was really quite fun.  Though he wasn't sleeping, he was actively playing with toys, reaching for things and interested in his sister Molly.

And it just kept getting better from there.  His thick black spikey hair became a bit more red, more blonde and he started to sport a Donald Trump hair do.

Full comb over now.   I am not sure why I didn't get it cut.  Seriously, look how long that was. 

By 6-months his hair is really long and we will always look back on pictures now and ask - WHY didn't we get his hair cut?  I guess it was part of his charm.  Here he starts looking like a baby and less like an infant, too. Maybe it's in the double chin and those thighs.  He smiles all the time and I am stopped at the supermarket - "your baby is SO happy."  I know! 

Month 7 is a real transformation - hair cut really helps.  He looks old.   Where has my infant gone? 

From 8-10 months, you can see subtle changes.  There are a few bumps and bruises on his head as he is always getting into something. 

Now that hair is really blonde!

By the time 11 months comes around, I don't even remember to take his monthly picture until the 20th of the month. I instantly feel guilty but have a lot going on with work so I forgive myself.  I take the picture but it's not the best one - he's so busy now, it's hard to get him to sit still.  I am pretty sure it's the lighting here but his hair does look a bit red...

And then there's today.  His birthday. His 12 month shot.  My infant, not an infant anymore, but a baby - a toddler even.  

It's hard to describe how I feel today.  Maybe you know because you have kids and you feel like they've grown up so fast.  It's a mixture of sadness and pride.  Happiness, elation and longing for a different time.   We don't have any plans to have any more children so this is my last baby. The last time I will rock a baby to sleep and hold a small baby that's mine in my arms.  With all the sleep deprivation over the last year, I kept wanting him to sleep through the night.  But the bonding that occurred in those hours in the middle of the night were crucial and have made us stronger.  When he takes his first steps (any day now), or really says his first meaningful words, it's nothing but full steam ahead.  Sometimes I wish I could just press pause.  Today's milestone is a good reminder to slow down and just enjoy every moment you can. 

Mother's Day Gift Idea

Ashley of Cherished Bliss had a fantastic idea for Mother's Day!  They're hand-stitched notebooks filled with  artwork from her children.  She's sending it off to her mother for a Mother's Day gift that any grandmother is sure to cherish.



She's used the "Happy Mother's Day" stamp from PSA Topiary to decorate the cover of this book.  Head on over to her blog for a full tutorial.



What are you doing for Mother's Day?

Learning Numbers Peg Board

I love this learning numbers game and DIY project by Mae Armstrong.  She is always doing something truly awesome for her kids.  This project is a perfect way for kids to understand numbers as values and associate them with the digit.  

First Mae started with a 2"x4" wood scrap.




Plan your number spacing before stamping. If you want to be absolutely sure you can measure the space in between and mark them with a pencil.



After stamping mark the holes for the pegs and drill the appropriate number of holes. After drilling use a sanding block and smooth out the surface of the wood.



Use a fine sanding paper.



Feel the surface to make sure there are no rough spots. Then use a Crystal Clear Acrylic spray to seal to protect the wood and also the stamped surface.  This is one of Mae's strengths.  She really goes above and beyond to make it a complete project.  (I would have skipped the spray!) 



Mae picked up package of wooden golf tees at Walmart.



Here's my son concentrating on placing the right number of pegs.



I just love this project. Hope you enjoy it too!

DIY Bingo

This is probably the most clever idea for our stamps I have come across.   I like it so much for so many reasons but perhaps the most because of how many Peel & Stick stamps it uses.  (I love our stamps!) 

Ginger found a Bingo PDF template online.  She randomly stamped each bingo card differently with 24 different PSA Essential stamps and then corresponding cards to pull out.  She used stamps from PSA Life's A Beach, Topiary, Country Home, Cupcake, and more! She then laminated the bingo cards.  They used M&Ms for game markers... Molly might have a hard time with not eating them but she sure would love this game. 



How cute is this? 



It's just so creative!  Head on over to Ginger Snap Crafts to check out more.

Treat cups for kids

Ginger Bowie made her kids these treat cups for a special after school treat.  Her kids just got their midterm grades and she wanted to  reward their hard work!  Ginger found these treat cups at Walmart. She added some red card stock cut with a Martha Stewart craft punch around the middle.  Then she added a "Bravo", "Keep it up" and "A+" stamp from PSA Super Star Peel & Stick stamps.  She stamped on white card stock with the red ink & punched out with a circle punch to the front of the cups with a glue dot.  She filled the treat cups with Muddy Buddies (chex cereal, powdered sugar, while chocolate & M&Ms). Yum!

How cute are these?  

Learning Numbers & Colors Cards

Krissy at B-Inspired Mama always has a DIY educational activity for her kids that I swoon over.  Today's no exception. Check out these color and number learning cards she created!  She used stamps from PSA Vanilla Peel & Stick stamps by PSA Essentials to complete this awesome project.  

Head on over to her blog to check out more great ideas.