End of the School Year Pictures

Well, another school year has come and gone. I am not sure how time goes by so quickly but I can't believe summer is here! I am excited for my sweet John to be home with me again but am sad we are getting closer to him growing up...and moving out of the house. (a bit dramatic?)

As I was looking back to find pictures for Friday's post (which was about the end of the year gift I made), I realized I didn't post about our first day of school pictures! So, let's take a trip back in time and see what John looked like in September.

his sign was wrong and I still haven't photoshopped it yet! However, he is quite a handsome boy. :)

I also made up the favorites picture which is super cute. I am going to do this every year for all the boys. How cute will that be when they graduate high school to have these? I am envisioning pictures of them pouting or rolling their eyes when they are in high school and I am taking their picture outside before the first day of school. FUN!

In just a few short months, he has grown up so much! He also gained another brother. They are all just so sweet!

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End of the Year Teacher Present

Even though it feels like I was just taking John to his first day of school, yesterday was his last day! I am proud to say I didn't cry over the fact my little boy is growing up.

Today I am going to share the presents I gave each of his teachers. I found the idea on Pinterest and gathered the supplies at Target. Each teacher got a beverage jug containing two cute plastic cups, reusable shaped ice-cubes, and a drink mix (lemonade or strawberry lemonade). I made this little tag to attach to the jug and added a note of thanks to it.

Please feel free to save this image and use it if you would like to!

I forgot to take pictures of the jugs before we left yesterday morning so this is the best one I got outside the car in the parking lot.

John had the sweetest teachers this year! Even though you can't tell from the pictures (he hates taking pictures), he loved them all and really enjoyed going to school this year. I am so glad we chose this school when we moved here last summer!

Sidenote:  John decided the last day of school was the perfect day to start wearing his back pack. I mean, why make Mommy (or Nana) carry it for him EVERY day of the school year? One day reprieve was so nice of him.

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The Starburster - Teacher Appreciation

This week was Teacher Appreciation Week so I came up with these little gifts for John's teachers.

I use the terms 'came up' loosely, however. I looked on Pinterest for ideas (what did we do with Pinterest?!) and used an idea a previous lil Mop Top customer had for the tags. I personally love the double walled cups (not that I have one, but it would make a nice Mother's Day gift...hint hint BRAD!) and thought it was a practical gift for the teachers. Finding a good teacher gift is hard, and not simply because I am jealous that I never got gifts as a high school teacher. Wait, I take that back. I got some lotion and a gift card from a student once. Anyways, I don't want to give a teacher their millionth candle or classroom decoration. I figured everyone could use a cute cup, especially with a hot Texas summer coming up. And who doesn't like Starbursts?!

I had to search for a while online for a good book title that went with Starbursts. None of them were recognizable to me, but the book 'The Starburster' is a real book. I wonder if John's teachers have read it. If I was on the ball (making these the day before does not constitute being 'on the ball') I could have got them the book to go with it to add to their classroom library. That would have been a nice touch!

I hope you thanked your child's teacher this week! You don't need to buy a present, but a thank-you note would be very sweet and would mean a lot to those teachers. When I was teaching I kept a file folder of all the notes I got from students or parents and would look through them throughout the year. The notes made me smile and I actually still have the file somewhere in my house!

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