First day of First Grade

Today was the day Gaby started First Grade.... What a huge milestone!!

She was really happy to get ready for school, and was happy to get there... How thrilled she was when she saw her teachers that she already knows and love.. Her main teacher was the one we went on vacations with (remember?) and the teacher's aide was one of the ladies that we went to the beach one day (remember? If you click to see her she is the one that is playing with Gaby in the sand almost all the way down). She was also very happy to her friends from last year. When I picked her up she was telling me all about her old friends and new friends, and what she did during the day.. It was early dismissal at 12, but tomorrow they start full force.

Today I started the first day of the Purple Lunchbox and it went great... Of course, I will post more of that on Friday.

I was told it was a very uneventful day, and I honestly hopes it stays that way... Gaby will be rewarded for good behavior and extra good behavior... She also will be rewarded for taking care of her scrunchies (last year I had to use a new one EACH day, cause they will get lost everyday... LOL)... So, I hope for this year to be able to actually REUSE them!

Im honestly amazed on how big she looks on the photo... There is something about the lenght of her hair and the fact that she is using a size 8 shirt (she would have fit in a 6, but the smallest is size 8), that makes her look older... She also is not allowed to use bermudas or shots like in preschool, so the long pants may contribute to her looking older (and of course, the actual fact that she IS bigger)...

The Purple Lunchbox FAQ

I wasnt planning on posting againg about the Purple Lunchbox until next Friday, however two people emailed me asking me more about it to be able to actually participate this first Friday, so I decided to write a little bit more about it...

What is the Purple Lunchbox? It was born with the idea of keep me motivated to keep up with the HEALTHY and FUN idea of her brunch. Little details to make it more fun and appealing for my daughter Gaby. Each Friday, I will post pictures from what I sent to school for her to eat, and a brief description of what it is. In my case, it will be Brunch, but in your case can be breakfast, snack or lunch (whatever is that you send your child in his/her lunchbox to school.

Why is called the Purple Lunchbox? Simply because my daughter's favorite color is purple. Her lunchbox is purple, with pink and lilac dots everywhere.

How can I participate? If you want to play along, you will have to take pictures of your child's snack/brunch/lunch as many days as you can, and post it in your blog with the logo on the Purple Lunchbox (I will add the code at the end of this post)... Then, you will come back to my blog and post the link to your blog (I will have a Mr. Linky to make it easier) so I can go and check it out (along with all the others that participate if they want to)...

Any suggestions for what to pack? I will be also learning as we go, but the idea is to send a balance of carbs, protein, fruits and veggies... Something like this:
In my case, I may send more fruit and less veggies, but I will try to send more veggies and less fruits as the time goes...

Any "green" ideas to complement the idea? Yes, as Im living greener everyday, I will pack a cloth napkin, and the water or juice that I send will be in a reusable bottle. Also, I will try to send mostly homemade foods...

Why am I doing this? Because I think this is a great way to motivate us, as mothers (and dads), to send healthier food to preschool/school, and also to add a little bit of FUN to it.

Do I need to have a blog to participate? Certainly not. However, you will need to upload your photos "somewhere" so we can see them... I highly recommend using Flickr for that.

What if my child still doesnt go to preschool or if the preschool provides lunch, but I still want to participate? You can still participate... If your child is home with you, you can do this idea for the snak/brunch that you will make for him/her. You can even buy a lunchbox to make it more fun. Im sure that your chilld will LOVE that (especially if you actually homeschool). If in your case, the preschool provides the food, you can do this for the afternoon snack, or in the weekends.

So, if you want to participate this week, start taking photos so you can post them all on Friday. Gaby starts First Grade tomorrow and I cant wait to start!

To grab the blinkie just paste this code into your post and/or the sidebar of your blog.
<center><a href="http://www.3bloomingbuds.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="The Purple Lunchbox" src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg258/3littleflowersblog/thepurplelunchbox.gif" /></a></center>

An afternoon wtih Dora the Explorer

I became a fan in Facebook of a local Party Events Company and find out about some activities that they are going to do soon.. One of those activities was Story Time with Dora The Explorer and off we go.

We went to pick up my dad's camera and it looks like it was because it was very low on batteries but all the photos came out BLURRY!!! That is very sad, but it is better than no photos, right?

Besides Dora the Explorer, they also had Ernie from Keebler cookies and "Chelin" (that means like an small penny) who is the mascot of one local bank.

All the girls (me included) with Dora the Explorer:

Daddy and the little flowers with Ernie from Keebler cookies:

Sitting on the floor listening to the activities... Right on the left, there is Mimi sitting on top of hubby and moving a bit to the right there is Gaby and then Camila:

During Story Time... Gaby was sitting right next to the guy reading:


The girls had a blast, and even though there was some crying at the time to leave, I know they were happy to be there..

After we left, we stop by my dad's house and spend a bit of time there... Then, we went shopping for Gaby's lunchbox...

Introducing The Purple Lunchbox!

A week ago I was chatting with my friend Erica about some cool ideas to pack for lunch for school. What to pack for school has always been a challenge for me and Im always trying to come up with ideas for this.

Gaby will be going to first grade starting on next Tuesday, so it's time to think about packing her lunchbox again. Let's face it: Gaby doesnt eat breakfast... She will drink a glass of strawberry or chocolate milk, but it is not easy to get her to actually eat something. I despite morning fights and stress, so I try to play along for a hasslefree time while getting her ready for school.

The idea is that Gaby gets her glass of milk at 7:00am in the morning, then has snack time in school at midmorning, and then she comes home for a heavy lunch at 2:30pm. This means that what I need to pack for school is going to be BRUNCH (late breakfast)... I want to keep it as fun as possible so she could actually EAT it everyday!

The Purple Lunchbox was born with the idea of keep me motivated to keep up with the FUN idea of her brunch. Little details to make it more fun and appealing for her.

Why PURPLE? Because purple is her FAVORITE color, and even though I havent got her lunchbox yet (shame on me, I know), Im sure it will be purple (or have purple somewhere)....

Stay tuned for "The Purple Lunchbox" posts every Friday! I will try to take a photo of her lunch everyday to post them of Fridays with a short description of each lunch. I will have a Mr. Linky up so you can post your link if you decide to join the fun and post your lunch ideas in your blog too...

When a pet dies...

This is so beautiful that I couldnt help to make a whole post for this... Warning: Yoy may cry reading this.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar handwriting. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.

Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by..

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.
By the way, I'm easy to find, I am wherever there is love.

Love, God
* * *
This is one of the kindest things you may ever see. It is not known who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter's office of the US postal service.

Wordless Wednesday #2 - Feeding the doll with Sassy's food

See more photos at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom.