Etsy Store

Put you thinking caps on! For a while now I have been wanting to open a store on Etsy. I would be selling all kinds of things like hair clips, tutus, baby bracelets, knitted purses, maybe some handmade cards or tags and anything else I decided to try! I am having a very very hard time trying to decide what my store name should be and what images I should then use for my store banner. I would LOVE any and all suggestions and if I pick your idea I will send you something from my store for free!

Please help me out here people! I want it to be amazing! If you can think of a little introduction about me and my products that would be great as well! I am not good with words!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

10 days down...

So Dylan finished his tenth day of school today and we are looking forward to a four day weekend! He has done very well only one day of tears! At lunch on his third day he started crying and when asked what was wrong he just said he missed his mom. He went to class crying and couldn't get control so his teacher sent him to the nurses office where he told me he just got to lay in a bed until he stopped and then went back to class and ate his lunch. He has never said that he doesn't want to go or have a hard time in the morning getting ready to go.

I am extremely tired (not so much an early riser or early to bed) but we are having fun adjusting to our new schedules. Dylan also started soccer and LOVES it! On the team of eight there are only two boys and the other one broke his wrist at recess today so Dylan is again surrounded by girls! He does not seem to notice!

1st Day of School Treat

I found this idea in a Family Fun magazine and had to make them because they were so easy! I used my homemade chocolate cake receipe, store bought cream cheese frosting (ran out of time and my block of cream cheese was not quite defrosted), the chalkboard is a graham cracker dipped in chocolate, the piece of chalk is black licorice candy and the apple is an m&m. So cute and easy! I also added raspberry filling I had left over from my mom's birthday cake that I bought at a cake speciality store, yummy!

On our way to School

My Dr. and friend gave me two really good ideas for each school year, one: have the kids hold up the number of the grade they are in and two: buy the really nice gift copy of Oh The Places You Will Go by: Dr. Seuess and have each teacher towards the end of the year write a message to the student. I am going to do both but I am also going to place a wallet sized picture of the teacher with the student next to what they write.



I LOVE his backpack we decided to get. It fits him nicely now but it should last most if not all of elementary school. We got it from LL Bean. I also finally decided on the type of water bottles I want my kids to use and chose the Sigg brand.





This is the outside of Dylan's classroom. Each room has a door that the kids line up at to go inside and come out of when we pick him up. My last look at the door before we went home for the day.

First Day of School Breakfast

Here is my beautiful creation for breakfast! The mangoes were not quite ripe so we used strawberries for the nose. Dylan enjoyed it but was a little sleepy and not quite awake yet. Kate inhaled hers and is much more a morning person like her dad.

Tomorrow...

So we a starting a new chapter in the Schafer family tomorrow. No more being lazy in the mornings- or late nights either! I will have to be up around six because Dylan has his first day of Kindergarten! These last five years have been wonderful, he is my little buddy and I am going to miss him terribly! It is a big deal for me (and him)! Today he had assessment testing at noon and around ten I found myself crying! We went to the assessment and when he was done I went to introduce myself to the teacher and started crying again! What is my deal?! I knew it would be hard but I did not think I would start the day before school! He has not seemed to notice and is excited to start. He will go from 8am-3pm (which I think is too long)! I feel we are ready though!

We searched high and low for the perfect backpack and thanks to Tracie's help we found one from LLBean that we really like. His lunch is packed, a whole peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into fourths, a reusable cupcake liner filled with raspberries, carrot sticks with hummus to dip them in and a cheese stick. The sandwich is in a plastic container and the rest is in one of those little metal lunch boxes all placed inside his lunch bag which is like a brown paper bag made out of oil cloth. (trying to limit our waste, and I will add pictures later)

Tomorrow is supposed to be only sixty degrees so his first day of school outfit is going to have to wait and he does not own a pair of jeans without holes, so off to cold stone and old navy after his assessment testing. That made me feel better!

Tonight we read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Wood and I had to make Marc read it because I new I would start to cry. (If you have never read it I highly recommend it for a child that is starting anything new.) I was doing the dishes and listening to them in the other room when I felt the tears and then I heard Dylan's ewww gross comment and I had to chuckle. Everything we are doing is for me! His personality does not need all this preparation, well, we will see tomorrow morning.

For breakfast tomorrow I am going to make a smiley face on his plate with pancakes for the eyes, bacon for the hair, a mango nose and a banana mouth. When he gets home from school I found some first day of school cupcakes I am going to make for him. I will take pictures instead of describing them, all I can say is so dang cute!

I hope I can keep it together tomorrow! Marc is going with us so it should be fun! Wish us luck! And no rain in the morning so we can walk as scheduled.

What Jane Austen character are you?

On Susan's blog she had this quiz and being a Jane Austen fan I had to take it! The questions were hilarious! Go ahead and take the test and then read the book with the character you are most like!

Take the Quiz here!

Do I sound anything like Emma?! Here is a description:

You are Emma Woodhouse of Emma! You like being the queen of your social circle (small and provincial as it may be), and feel it's your duty to help those less influential than you. You often meddle in the affairs of others, though you do it with a pure heart. You are often deluded in your flights of fancy, but your good intentions and creative spirit make you someone anyone could like

It's A Bella Boutique Giveway

As most of you know I have a tiny obsession with hair bows for Kate. I have been looking at this site on etsy and Laurel came across a site giving away bows! If you want to win go to Bethany's blog or you can just go to It's a Bella Boutique and do some shopping! Very cute and very reasonable! Make sure to check out her buy three sets get one free!

Cannery Specialist?!

Seriously that is what my new calling is! The whole Relief Society Presidency was released and cannery specialist is my new calling. I am actually pretty excited to learn more about home food storage and how the cannery works but... I really do not know where to start! How do I get ward members motivated to participate and excited themselves about canning? Does anyone have any suggestions or handouts or websites? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Denver Firefighter's Museum

On Saturday we went to the Denver Firefighters Museum thanks to Brett and Chad who told us about it! It was a free day and they had a block blocked off with all kinds of activities outside. It was tons of fun even though it was 100 outside and Kate was extremely tired! We had never been to the museum before and it was very interesting. It was not very busy either which was nice, Kate could walk and we didn't have to worry about her getting knocked down or lost!

Dylan putting out a fire!
This fire truck was like Red from Cars they had water shooting out into the street so people could cool off- which was Kate's favorite part.
Sliding down a pole
Driving a fire truck- even Kate wanted to dress up!

What?!? 18 months old already!

I feel like I have totally lost my baby! She is so independent and does not need me very much! Kate has attended nursery 2 times and is doing pretty good. I have to admit I was feeling very cautious and not wanting to let her go. The week before she turned 18 months I was contemplating not sending her (we are combined with another ward and I do not know anyone in nursery and to top it off they placed a piece of red paper over the window so you can not see your child at all) when during sacrament Miss Becky Pratt whom I love so dearly and Kate loves as well was called from me in Relief Society (she was education counselor) but then was placed in Nursery! Kate gets a little sad when we drop her off but goes straight to Becky and stays put. Also Becky tore off a little corner so I could peek in at my baby! Thank you so much Becky you are an answer to my prayers! Poor Marc would still have to be dealing with her because I am not good leaving my kids!
I love so many things about my little Kate:
-her stubbornness
-the way she loves all the animals
-she gets so excited when she sees someones belly
-the way she communicates with us lots of huh or uhh or patting her belly meaning come with me and I will show you
-she already knows how to pitch a mean fit! She got mad in the tub the other night and stayed in an empty tub screaming at the top of her lungs for a good ten minutes! I kept going in to see if she was ready to get out and she would shake her head no and continue screaming. When she finally got out she got mad again and started hitting me in the face so to the rocking chair she went until she calmed down.
-she slept with us for like the 2nd time the other night and I loved having her with me even though I woke up exhausted!
-loves playing outside getting dirty and going down the slide and swinging