{A Letter to my Son : Dear Daniel}

Dear Daniel, 

My baby boy you are so very dear to my heart. The moment I held you in my arms you took my breath away. 

As we watched you grow, it became clear that our life would never be the same again. You add a spark to our family that we cherish dearly. 

You have an infectious laugh that we hear often, as you approach your life with 100% tenacity and fullness. 

You are pure joy, strength and can bargain and negotiate better than many grown ups I know. Frequently we hear the words "here's the deal" from you as you assert your wishes on the person standing next to you. Even if you don't know them particularly well. 

You are a great communicator and always have been. I admire the way you make friends and love and protect those around you so fiercely! 

You see the world in a totally different way, you do things your way in your time. Right now it often results in hilarious moments like the time you read a magazine with your head in a box UNDER a trolley. Yes, I laughed hard that day.

You are generous to the core. You will give to those around you and you love to do it! 

My precious, crazy, chocoholic son. As you step into the world of big school tomorrow I want you to know that your mumma is a praying mumma and you are on her radar. 

Reading is important. Writing is important. Mathematics is important. 

However, above all these, I pray that as you learn in the classroom over the following years, God will continue to reveal his dreams and purposes for you.

Don't let the world steal and change who you are. Don't believe the lies of the world, that you need to 'find yourself'. God made you and you are HIS son with royal lineage. He created you to be who you are for a reason. He made you fearless, determined, generous and strong. He has a destiny and a future for you that requires these traits. It will fit you perfectly! Stand firm in your love for your GOD and may your footsteps always walk in tune with Him. May you always hear his voice and trust him. 

I love you my dear Daniel and no matter how tall you grow, you will always be my baby boy! 

Mummy xx

{Back to School}

This year the back to school routine doubles for me as I prepare to send my second son to kindy. I can't believe he is so grown up...there were any days where I didn't think this wild child of mine would make it haha!

I have wanted to streamline the school storage process for a while and with Mr 5 starting, I want to implement this as he starts. If I can begin the year with a good system, it 'may' help him to learn to organise his things that little bit more. 

For those that know me, you know that I love order, organisation and labels!  So I was bursting with this project. 

Under our stairs is now neatly set up with a school storage unit. Excuse the poor photos, it's a hard space to photograph. 

On the wall over the shelf, I turned a photo frame into a dry erase board with a weekly calendar underneath. It says "A peek at Daniels week". On it I will write which day is sport, library, news etc...

There is a photo of them each and also a frame with their two words that they are focusing on for the year. My eldest son has humility & patience and my second son has listening and obedience. These key words are a great way to set goals that are appropriate for their age and make it easy to understand. We asked them to choose their own words too. 

There is a clip board for any art works or creations and their 'devices' are charged here also. We finally found the perfect spot as not to be charging in their rooms.

The in-box sits on the first shelf and says : "homework and notes". 

Bags go in the big middle shelf. Then the red bins on the bottom hold the school shoes & socks, hats and ties etc...

We used a bookcase we already had (a small bookcase from IKEA), some storage bins from Bunnings (under $5 each) and some 'in-trays' and photo frames from Kmart (all very cheap). All up including the 3M Velcro strips it cost me under $50. 

I am so excited to have things sorted before the onslaught of paperwork and school supplies bombard the house. 

Next post I will suggest some great ways to kickstart your lunchbox organisation ahead of school starting. 

Lauren