pecans

So E. had a GREAT first day of school, (and second, and hopefully third - I'm about to go pick her up...) But I digress.  On this first, great day as she's getting into the car she is telling me how she loves pecans, they are so yummy!  Really? - I am thinking.  I've tried to get you to eat pecans lots of times to no avail. 

Turns out that the kids went outside to pick pecans from the trees on the school property.  She told me, several times, not to eat the outside.  Only the inside part is yummy.  She also showed me how to open them and get the good stuff.

I love this school.

{image from SusanV}

so this is what E.'s lunch ended up looking like...

Do I have to say 'just kidding'?

I have this dear friend, Mindy, who is like a white Japanese person.  Not only is she fluent in the language (she teaches it) but she adores nearly all things Japanese.  I remember her telling me how the Japanese are very big into making a beautiful presentation.  It really doesn't matter what the item is, they want the delivery to exhibit beauty. Bento boxes are such a great example.  The way that the Japanese serve their meals, even a 'sack lunch' is mind-blowing. Though I will never (nor could ever) take it to this level, I think there is great inspiration here. Finding beauty in the basics. 

{all images found via the sushi queen}

lunchtime art

My sweet little E. starts at her new Montessori school tomorrow.  For the first time she will be at school for lunch and it has just now dawned on me that she may need a lunch box.  I just took a quick look online and came across these pictures.  This dad draws these lunch sacks during his lunch break the previous day.  That's pretty fun.  I'm sure these bags (and probably the dad too!) are a huge hit at school.  Sadly neither I or my husband has the time or skills in this lifetime so I will be buying something far less exciting and creative.  Unless of course I just have E. decorate her bag for the following day...she is a pretty good artist for a 4 year old.  Just sayin.

teacher's gift

We went through lots of ideas before we decided upon a monogrammed pen as a gift for Mrs. Daw, E.'s teacher. Granted, it's not super exciting but we liked the one that we found, it writes great, it was a good price, and I am a sucker for anything that can be monogrammed.  

The company is called Retro 51 and they're tag line is "Life is too short to carry an ugly pen."  I don't know about that, but the pen is cute and old-school looking.

We decided to monogram the pen with "Mrs. Daw" rather then her initials as it seemed sweeter since that's what her students call her.  I was a little nervous about this and hope she doesn't think we just couldn't remember her name. (!)

We love you, Mrs. Daw.

Montessori: apples & chickens & goats -O my!

So...I think we are about to take the plunge. Right now my oldest child "E", she's 4.5 - is in a nice private Christian school. Nice parents, nice kids, nice curriculum - it's all very nice. So why am I itching to get her out of there? Something about it all just has not been sitting well with me. I started researching (did you know that I L-O-V-E to research?...just an aside) some other schooling options. The Montessori concept really caught my attention and the more that I learn about it the more I:

a.) wish that I had attended a Montessori as a child and  b.) want my children to attend Montessori schools while they are young.

I love the idea of children learning the concepts and skills they need to know by doing everyday tasks. Rather then sitting in a chair learning a concept they are actually doing the task at hand. There is a part of me that wishes that I could homeschool, but I am just not that mom. I feel like with Montessori, I am paying someone to have the patience to do the things with my child that I just don't have the patience to do. I know that that sounds awful. But I don't mean it that way at all. There are just certain things that my kids won't experience because I am unwilling to go there. I am grateful for a classroom that is set up to encourage kids to go there. Poring water out of a small scale glass pitcher into small glasses. A dish washing station. Shoe & silver polishing. My kids would rather do this stuff any day over playing with silly old toys. Now sweet E is gonna have her chance.

The school that we are most excited about has chickens & goats for the kids to help care for. There are fruit trees that the kids gather the fruit from and a garden that they plant and tend. Um...can I go too?

I just started to read this book to learn how to incorporate more Montessori concepts at home with my little one.

This catalog is a fascinating look at the different items that fill a Montessori classroom. There are some great finds for home too, as everything is made kid size. These are real tools, not toys, they are just made to fit in little hands. What a concept!

{image found at socializr}