First Day of School '16-'17

My boys are off to the first day of school! They were somewhat excited and when I asked how their day was when I picked them up, they yelled YES at me! Which really, was kinda like, "Who are y'all and what have you done with my children?" 

So, boys, I love you with all my heart. You guys are growing up way too fast but I LOVE watching you be independent boys!

Never forget to love one another & attitude means everything!

First Day of School 2015-2016

and it begins again. the hustle and bustle (wha..?) of the new school year. 

this year is a very exciting one. my youngest boy enters Kindergarten after two years of watching his brother take off for school each day. 

he will love being bragged about at school how he is the little brother. how they are related. but i hope he makes his own mark at school. make his own little friends. to be known as Jonah. not Andrew's little brother. 

this morning, before heading out, i took some pictures of my guys--including some silly face ones! 

 So first grade & kindergarten. They're growing up!

daddy will drop them off and I will pick them up. no bus riding for these kids! 

My prayer each day for my kids is this: 

That they lead by example and are lights in other children's hearts. To always choose right from wrong. That any problems they may face, will be resolved with trustworthiness & confidence. That they make the best of friends and get along with their teachers. 

To my husband the school teacher slash coach: I love you and am grateful for your sacrifice and all your hard work. I always pray that you will be an amazing example to your students and that you have the knowledge to guide them through the straight & narrow. Let them look up to you, Coach Witty. 

I hope that your children will have a blessed school year as well! Let's make it a good one...

Us-Made

This week has been great. I love this feeling of this goodness. In fact, when I talk on the phone with my relatives I've got nothing to say or whine about it's all going so great. Makes me feel like something big and horrible is liable to come up, because you know how you have to have your turn every once in a while...

But for right now, my little family is awesome. The boys and I have a routine. That's how my days go faster, and how discipline is learned. The weather is great--I am loving this weather and I'm so grateful for it because come July & August, I WILL NOT be this happy!  

School for Andrew is also great, even the little one is learning from just being around us while doing school! It's amazing and surprising to hear him say his letters and know all of his shapes/colors without me even teaching him one-on-one. I tell ya, life's pretty sweet right now :) My tank is full. Thank you, God.

My allergies have been killing me though...that's about as sick as this family gets---UGH allergies! 

But you wouldn't even believe what made my day the other day---my Calla Lilies came up!!! 

These are SO special to me because they were Mother's Day / Anniversary gifts from my amazing husband and they ended up dying when we moved to this place last summer (shown below, top right).

Anyway, I was EVER so excited and EVER so frickin' excited because I just knew they were coming back {I apparently don't know anything about flowers} and guess what, they did! I don't know if you've ever grown anything, but it's pretty rewarding to know things grow out of the ground that were planted by your hand. At least it is to me. 

My poor little garden though, it has rained and been really cold down here in the coast of this great state, and the combination of too much water / not enough sun is not a good thing on this raised little garden :( we will see what comes out of it. Every morning, I peek out the window to see how my little garden is doing...kinda like I peek in the boys room to see how they're laying in their beds...just to make sure they're ok. 

The garden and my potted flowers are like my fourth child {third child are my 2 cats, HA!}...I love them to death and it makes me sad they're not getting enough sunlight!  

You wanna know what's been going on around this house this past week?? Paper. 

And lots of it. The Mr. has totally taken on this hobby and I could NOT BE more prouder, if not the proudest, wife of a paper maker. I love that he gets artsy like that!!! 

But you know what I'm not a fan of? 

the lack of space in this tiny 2 / 2 house. Seriously, this kitchen / dining area is as big as a big city apartment. The Mr. has to take his assembly line outside in our garden-crowded back patio! For goodness sakes, we need a somethin' to remedy this...because I can't take it anymore. I might have to research shops / sheds to use as studio space around here! 

So the Mr. makes paper, and I make art ON the paper. Ohh, his stacks of paper are so nice. He keeps getting better and better at it...it's a craft. I am doing a little stamp carving / lithography on the side too.

And I'm stepping back into serigrafia {screen-printing} again, after about 6 years...I seriously love it. 

My dad used to have a business in it, I went to Art Camp for it, I worked at a shop that did it...I mean, it's always been part of me and I LOVE IT. I think it's my favorite medium :) 

My etsy store would fill up faster though if I could just sit down and actually work!!! Two little {homeschooled} boys + meals + house maintenance + hungry husband really take up all my time! 

This is actually my first screen print since 2005 :) + I printed on home-made paper.

AND I'm listing it on my etsy soon

{thinking about doing a giveaway of the image below, but would like input on it first, so let me know!!!}

Also crafty me has been doing all this below: PHOTO PROPS

again, for my cousin's wedding a couple of weekends ago!

This flower head crown thingy is still my favorite! I invented the finger uni-brow and posted it on 

my Instagram @sanlynet {psst, follow me}

And I keep saying to myself how I don't need to snap any more pictures of them doing school, because I just don't want to overwhelm you with those kinds of pictures, but I think the concentration on their faces, the way their eyes just focus, is so incredible to me. I was once 4, I once sat in a chair and had to do the same things. I don't have pictures of that. I don't remember those times. 

But I wish I could. So here, Andrew and Jonah. Have some photographic memories. 

You were amazing little boys. And I am glad I took your pictures. 

Sun light + cat hair + school work + little toes + coffee = it is the life! 

You guys! Thanks for sticking round til the end! I love yall and want to wish you all a happy weekend! 

pre-k happenings...

Oh, it's hard being a 4 year old. 

Having to learn how to hold a pencil, erase mistakes, and follow directions.

It's hard to sit still when all you want to do is play. 

When the cat attacks your pencil because it's teasing her moving up and down.

Or when little brother just won't get out of your way because he 'wanna tolor' 

Our first week doing school was great!

There was a couple of whinny days when I had to bribe him with Power Ranger episodes & Spiderman stickers, but once he starts, there's this concentrated look that fills my heart.

We have line tracing, shapes, sizes, numbers, art/craft, & games. I include the alphabet this week.

Jonah's already colored enough pages to make an encyclopedia of every kind of scribble known to a 2 year old, and I find myself judging his artwork into a keep pile or recycle pile. 

If he keeps this up, we'll have to begin producing our own paper again. 

I did try playing Simon Says with the boys, and they LOVED it--although they really didn't get the concept of not doing things when Simon doesn't say. All I know is that their giggles were worth every second. 

Meanwhile, here's a sequence of how our potty routine goes:

Me

Jonah! Go to the potty!

Jonah

1. No Mom! {Cries}

2. {Silence} {Grunts}

3. Rrrrpppppp! {Slobber all over my face}

Have a nice weekend!!!

Prim stories & school

The other day we watched The Hunger Games and the name Prim sounded so familiar....

Oh yeah! I named my cat after their character. 

That whole terrible week of not having my kids here (they were at both of our parents' house), I didn't have anybody to photograph. 

So I photographed Prim. 

In the summer, our water here in Texas is never cold...it's always lukewarm. 

So I make sure to cool down her water too--with ice cubes.

She likes to play with them.

Needless to say, she hated bathtime. But it had to be done. 

Still doing some arranging in the new home. 

We finally got a new shelf. Thank you Ikea and your affordable options.

 I love my curtains. 

And almost ready to begin Pre-K with Andrew.

I think I underestimate him a lot. Is that a bad thing? Maybe underestimate is the wrong word. 

Surprise. He surprises me with his intelligence quite often. 

He's so dang smart, it's his stubbornness that irks me. 

I wonder where he got that from....?

I made a shelf for the boys for their school/craft/drawing time. 

There's paper, chalk, playdough, flashcards, games, sensory bin, pencils, markers, colors, stickers, coloring books, paint, you name it. 

Now that school is starting, I hope to dedicate a couple of hours in the morning to 'school' and try a couple of Montessori techniques with the boys. Then in the afternoon, I can dedicate a couple of hours for arts and crafts {mainly for me!!!}....but we'll see how that goes. 

Motivation. Dedication. Stick-to-it-ness. 

Wish me luck. :)