June was much more busy than I expected it to be. Like exhausting level busy. So much so, we declared July no travel month, and I have cut back a lot of activities that involve leaving the house, ha!
All in Kids
Summer Bucket List
With this being the last summer before Melody starts kindergarten, I feel like I really need to make the most of it. I mean while she has been attending school for the last three years, it has only been for 2-3 days a week, 4-6 hours a day, and exceptionally flexible. Well all of the will go out the window in August. I only have 8 or so weeks with my baby before she becomes a big girl (at least in my eyes). So I wanted to really make the most of those 8 weeks. I decided to come up with a bucket list for the summer. We are already so busy (and nearly half way through the summer), so there is a chance we won’t accomplish all the things. But it at least gives me some goals.
Melody's Preschool Graduation
Melody graduated from her preschool a few weeks ago. It was super emotional leading up to it, but the night of I didn’t cry as much as I expected. I absolutely loved her preschool, and I am most sad to be leaving it versus her simply going to kindergarten. I am excited to see her grow and continue on at her new school, but I will really miss her teachers and small school for sure!
Dance Recital 2021
So two weeks ago, we celebrated Melody’s THIRD dance recital. The stress around recitals never gets easier. Every year there is new circumstances that make it even more chaotic than the previous year. I am also bias in that I thought our recital last year was the best. It was NOT a full recital due to COVID, but for kids this age, I think it was perfect! But we had a traditional recital, but with less people due to social distancing.
Dance Spring 2021
By much surprise, we finished our dance year without any COVID related issues or delays. We even had a little sense of normalcy by the end of the semester. We would get to go inside and watch the girls the last 10 minutes of class. We only got to do this maybe a handful of times, but it was still something that made it feel a little more normal. I am hoping next year will provide us a greater sense of normalcy as well. Here are some photos I took throughout the semester!
Preschool Graduation Gift
So Melody just graduation from her preschool last week. I debated whether we did a gift or not, but we ultimately decided to get her a book.
Dance Pictures 2021
I was hoping this was the year Melody decided to smile in her dance pictures. I mean she finally smiled in her school picture. Well she tried. I just don’t think she is as comfortable with the dance photographer as the school one. But she tried. And the pictures did turn out cute.
Easter Baskets 2021
I wanted to share with you some of the Easter baskets I made this year. I didn’t try and use another item for a basket like I have in years past. I went traditional yet practical. I am also sharing some Easter egg fillers at the end of the post!
Sweet Treats for Teachers
Very [VERY] last minute I decided to make Melody’s preschool teachers cookies for Valentine’s Day. I mean, literally the day before I was searching through party supplies for treat bags and making the labels and cookies. And while I only ended up with two cookies per teacher, it is the thought that counts.
Thumbprint Valentine
I racked my brain for a cute Valentine to give to our parents from Melody. I always like to try and do something with her hands or feet. This year I opted for her thumb and fingerprints.
Hugs and Kisses Valentine Exchange
I let Melody general decide what to do this year for her Valentine exchange at school. She originally wanted unicorns and rainbows, but I eventually convinced her to pick a candy. She opted for “chocolate candy hats” aka Hershey Kisses. I did some googling and opted to do Hugs and Kisses as the them.
2020 in review
I thought it might be fun to take a look back on last year through some pictures. Sure, it was one heck of a year, but we made the best of it. We spent a LOT of time together as a family, and we did come out with a lot of great memories, even if they were not the memories we expected to make! Follow along below!
Food Therapy (so far!)
So Melody started going to food therapy back in August. We have been discussing this as a possibility with her pediatrician for a few years now at her well visits. Well this year we finally decided it was time. While we are still attending food therapy, I thought I would share what we have been doing at home so far to assist.
Dance Fall 2020
By a miracle, we managed to attend in-person dance class for the entire fall! Things are slightly different than years’ past though. We had to drop the kids off instead of take them into dance, we then returned to pick them up an hour later, and masks were highly recommended. But Melody had so much fun!
Melody's Fall 2020 School Pictures
WE FINALLY GOT A SMILE! This is Melody’s third year of preschool, and I think her 4th or 5th school pictures. She has always refused to smile. There were even sometimes she claimed she smiled but never did. This year she smiled! It turned out so cute and adorable!
Melody's Big Girl Bed
After Melody outgrew her crib, we converted her crib into a toddler bed. We intentionally asked for this crib because of its conversion abilities. She would have this crib forever basically. We bought the full size bed conversion kit when we got the crib so that we knew we would have it when the time came to transition her. While we were having no issues with her in her toddler bed, we knew it was a matter of time until she would outgrow it. So in early November, we decide to take the plunge and convert it to a full size bed.
Caterpillar Game
Back during our “unexpected homeschooling” days, crafts were critical. I was reaching for a lot of our crafts, but this one turned out to be a fun one. We made a caterpillar game.
Halloween Happy
It is hard to believe it is already October, and we are thinking about Halloween. But here we are. Like previous years, I threw together a Halloween Happy for Melody. We have not been getting out as much, so I didn’t get as many things from the Target Dollar Spot was previous years, but I was able to snag a few things a few weeks back, and I ordered the rest on Amazon.
DIY Telescope
One of the fun things Melody likes to do with her newish swing set is play with the telescope. She thinks it is so much fun to point it at us throughout the yard and find us. So we had the bright idea to let her make her own telescope using paper towel rolls.
My Dad Rocks
One of Brad’s presents for his birthday was a fun and very hard craft I had Melody make for him before she went back to school. I made the template on my computer, and as we worked on it, I had to keep adding space because she has such big hand writing. It was a really adorable craft though, and I think Brad loved it.