What you never want to hear your 5yr old say.

I am still in shock what my 5 year old daughter told her daddy and I in IKEA the other day. We had just arrived at the store and we were going to grab something to eat when my daughter said she wanted us to buy her a toy. We looked at her and said Christmas is around the corner there will be no buying toys. Then one of us said you need to get started on your letter to Santa. She looks at us and says the words that every parent dreads. She said  "SANTA IS NOT REAL". My husband and I both took a double take and said WHAT with our eyes bulging out of our eye sockets. Then my daughter hesitated and said um um um I mean his elves are not real. I was lost for words. I remember telling her that when she quit believing in Santa Claus she would only get gifts from daddy and mommy and she would no longer get those special gifts that Santa brings and that our gifts are usually clothes. Let's just say, my shopping trip was ruined. I came out of IKEA buying nothing and during our hour and half drive back home, my mind was turning on how to do damage control.
My damage control consisted on making our Elf Isabella make an emergency stop at our house. So during the night our elf came back with a red crayon and a letter addressed to to my daughter. That morning my daughter woke up to find her elf and the letter in front of her TV. She was in shock that her elf was in her room.

The letter read:

Elizabeth,
Santa had me make an emergency trip to your house. He heard what you told your parents in IKEA. He wanted me to tell you that as long as you believe in you heart that he is real and magical you will always receive gifts and you will always see me. But the moment you don't believe anymore, there will be no more special gifts, you will only get gifts from your parents.
Tonight I must go back to the North Pole. It won't be much longer before I come back daily to do my reporting for Santa. So take care and remember to BELIEVE.
Love,
Isabella the Elf
P.S I love your new room.

After reading this letter to her. She was shocked that Santa heard what she said. All she talked about that day was how Isabella came to see her. She even wrote out her Christmas list to Santa. We also had to watch every Christmas movie we had in the house. I hope the damage control worked. I just can't believe how some kids would be that cruel and ruin the dreams and fantasies of other kids.
The day after Isabella the Elf went home. My daughter and I were talking. I told her that some children have been put on the naughty list and they don't receive presents anymore. So they want other children to get on the naughty list to, so they don't get toys either. I ended our conversation with  "no matter what anyone tells you, as long as you believe in Santa in your heart, you will always get those special gifts from Santa".
I hope my daughter believes in Santa once again. Have you ever had to go thru this with a little one? What did you do? I am guessing I really need to do Christmas up really big this year. What was some ways you kept your children believing when they were trying to figure out?

I have linked this to the following parties.

 http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/2013/10/nifty-thrifty-tuesday-no-183.html

Jungle Themed Baby Shower

The past few months have went by so fast. I can't believe the baby will be here soon. There is so many things in the third trimester of pregnacy to look foward to. I think the most funniest besides getting to see and hold your bundle of joy is the Baby Shower. If you are like me, I live about 160 miles away from family, so I am blessed to have 2 showers. Last weekend I was blessed to have a wonderful shower in my hometown with family, church family and extended friends. All I can say is that I am truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.
As for the shower, I think my Sister-n-Law Angela and my Mom did a terrific job on the invitations, decorations and the food. They must have planned for months. The funny thing is, they would not tell me the theme or even let me help. So I was totally shocked when I walked in to the shower.

The theme of the shower, was a safari theme.
The table decor was so cute. 

I got to take these little stuff guys home, to place in my jungle theme nursery.

 Here are few pictures of the party favors. Each one was a box of animal crackers, topped with an animal. This was a big hit with the children that came.

 To the left is how the tables were decorated. Talk about cute.

To tie it all together there was even a palm tree.

Here is what the gift table looked liked, before the guest arrived. One thing I really liked, is that they placed a jungle themed memory book on the table with a page opened for guests to write their names.

 Here is the cake. Who ever they had make the cake did a wonderful job. It really fit the theme and it tasted very yummy.

This was just a wall hanging on the wall.

I fell in love with the watering hole.

These cupcakes were made of bananas. I will have to get the recipe and post it later. They were very delicious.

 I loved the signs that were made. A sign was placed beside each entree and dessert.They were so cute.

Isn't this a great way to serve grapes

This is what the food table looked like. We had BBQ, potato salad, chip, meatballs and more.

Now you can see why I say I am so blessed. Thank you to all my family, church family and friends for all the gifts that I received and for being there to shower our new little bundle of joy. What a wonderful day it was.

Lost at School

My daughter has been in kindergarten for several weeks now. We are starting to get into a routine with the homework, making lunch and the drive to and from school. She seems to really like all of her classmates and teachers. I on the other hand become more and more shocked on how long it takes to complete kindergarten homework. I was even starting to get used to her attending such a big school until this passed Wednesday.
 I pray everyday that my daughter is safe and sound at school. I have tried not to be one of these over protective parents. But I still don't feel comfortable in dropping off my kindergartener in front of the school and watching her walk into school yet. I have tried to break the reigns a bit. I do let her walk in front of me and I watch how she encounters all the bigger students. (If you have not kept up with this adventure of ours, my child attends a school where Elementary, Middle and High school students are all together). Some mornings she will stop and look around, then other mornings she heads straight to her locker and hangs out with her friends outside of her class. As mommy stands alone watching from the side with all the other parent, who are not ready to leave their child's side.
This past Wednesday was like any other school day I thought. We made it to school on time, I gave my little one a big hug and kiss and watched her walk into her classroom. I thought she was safe. I have noticed I have started this routine where I always call my husband when I know school is over to make sure he had gotten our child picked up and to talk to my little angel. My husband never answered his phone that day. I finally was able to talk to my little angel that afternoon and the first words out of her mouth was: Mommy I got lost from my class today. I was using the restroom and when I came out of the restroom, my class was no where to be found. She went on to say that she walked to her classroom and the lights were turned off, so she walked back to the foyer where her gym teacher was sitting and the gym teacher took her to the office. Where the office had to call for the aid to come get my child.
 As a mother sitting at her desk at work what would you have done at this point? I wanted to run to my little one and grab her and give her hugs. I was also in shock. How can you lose one of your students? Why was there not a head count preformed before leaving? I wanted to get to the bottom of this. I guess it might have been the best thing that I was at work and not picking her up. I could tell my husband was not happy. Could you imagine how a pregnant lady would have been. My husband said he talked with the teacher and the teacher knew nothing about this, and that he needed to talk to her aide, whom was gone for the day. I am sorry, I thought the teacher was responsible for her aides actions and her students? The next morning, I got the chance to talk with the aide. She said she was very sorry, after the many umm umm umm's, when I asked her how a child could get lost from her class. When I asked why there was not a head count done, she said we will need to start doing that. HELLO, that should have been in place the first day of school!!! As I was talking with her she seem to try to place the blame on my child some what. She tried to tell me that my child was not alone for that long of time. The gym teacher was right there. Also she had a talk with my child about the accident. As a pregnant mother, who is the last stage of pregnancy this did not set well with me, but to keep my self from going into labor, I bit my tongue.
 I now have 2 somewhat different stories. All I know is that my child was by herself lost in this really big school. Thank GOD she knows better than to walk out the front doors without an adult being with her. It was not my child's fault she got separated from her class. She is five years old. What do we do from here? Should I wait to see if it happens again or should I demand more answers? I am still debating on having a conversation with the principle about it. Tonight is open house. I am hoping to shed some more light on this subject. I would like to talk with the gym teacher that took her to the office.  Or should I let this play out?  Many of my friends have told me different things. I really don't want to make enemies this early on in the game. My child will be at this school for many more years to come. My daughter has a field day and many fields trips planned for this year and I am more terrified that they are going to leave her somewhere. I just don't know what to do.