H decided he wanted to make his own valentines this year, which I was totally ok with considering we're trying to cut costs anywhere possible! I happened to find these adorable rubber dinosaur erasers in bright colors, and they came in a package of six. After buying three packs for his class, I decided the preschoolers would enjoy them too, and I went back to the store and bought four more packs (I believe the packs were $1.50 regularly priced, and they were 25% off).
So far I was under $8.00 into this project and, insert self-pat, this valentine would not include candy of any kind. Fellow parents, you are welcome. I also wanted good, sturdy valentines to support the dinos so I used sheets of cardstock that I had on hand in my office. I found this adorable free printable on Pinterest, from our friend Kara over at Life With Fingerprints.
Check her blog out here!
My son wanted to take ownership of printing each friend's name on the card, signing his own on the back, and cutting them all out. Initially I had this perfect vision in my head of how these would look, and I had to step back and remind myself these are HIS cards to pass out to his friends, not mine. And it will be very obvious that he did these steps himself. When they were finished I felt nothing but pride for his effort.
I used a hole punch to make two holes on each, diagonal from each other, to act as anchors for the baker's twine I used to tie the dinos to the cards. It's hard to tell, but I did use pink and white baker's twine for the girls, and then red and white for the boys. H even made sure his teacher is a recipient.
Aren't they SO cute??! Love, love, love these.
After a crazy fall and holiday season, I am back.
First, a little recap, shall we?
We finally closed on our house and moved back to our old subdivision. So far, we love our new home. I wouldn't change a thing about it, and I always hear others say, "If I could go back I would change this and this.." Fortunately I do not feel that way at all!
I had started my new job, and as a reminder, had worked at my old company for over 13 years. My old company continues to spiral downward, letting yet another dynamite employee go that I consider a mentor and a close friend. He too is happy to be off the crazy train. It is a sad situation when all the good people are seemingly gone. At my new company, it was a lot of smoke and mirrors that I saw through pretty quickly. We had some raw discussions at home, and decided between my son's serious need to adjust to Kindergarten and my constant driving to downtown Detroit, it was time to make some changes. I quit my job before the end of the year. I felt like a failure only making it five months, but knew in my heart it was not a good fit for me or my current status in life.
My kindergartner--where to begin! He has been a mess starting school which I never would've anticipated in 100 years. He always did so well at his preschool, had a lot of friends, and was well liked by staff. Kindergarten has proved to be very challenging in all aspects. Multiple teacher meetings, phone calls, so many emails I lost count, and even a few trips to the principal's office have made the fall more than memorable. We have finally (I think!) reached a point where we are having more good days than bad and I'm hoping for the remainder of the year to continue going well.
Now, for the big change! I began working at H's school part time in the preschool (4s!) room in the afternoons. Before landing my corner-office-with-the-big-window corporate America job, I performed the exact same role for about eight months at a different school. It's been such a dramatic change for me in so many ways. Preschool stress is nothing like dealing with claimant attorneys, though there are some personality similarities. :) I go home at the end of the day, and I don't take work with me. I am able to truly be present for my son (no more "Mommy just has to make one more phone call, I'll just be another 5, 10, 20 minutes!") and we've been enjoying our extra time together. He's only little once, and it's been a great first month. I know I will look back at these moments and cherish them as long as I live.
HOWEVER. Let's be very frank here. We are a two income family. We lead a two income lifestyle. We've had to make major adjustments in our spending habits, and cut expenses where we could. I've also fired up my new Etsy business as a side hustle to try to make extra money for the things we're cutting out of our budget. This blog will illustrate how we're making this new lifestyle work for us in addition to the fun day-to-day things I'm attempting; trying to teach my son to cook, running a side business, creating more and upcycling what I'm able, making time for myself to run to get back in shape, and just enjoying life and the little things, all while spending less.
We're making sacrifices and so far, it's completely worth it. We relish our one night a week to eat out, and it turns out we have some lively discussions now in choosing where we'll go; if you could hear my five year old trying to negotiate when it's not his turn to choose but he wants to influence, heavily, where the chooser picks, you'd venture we have a little attorney in the making!
Come with me on this journey called life!
To close, here's a picture of the four legged children who are truly BFFs. Aren't they the cutest??!
