If you've followed my blog for awhile, you may know that the past two Augusts, Madi and I have made a school bus cake as a fun way to get geared up for kindergarten and first grade. It has been a sweet tradition and I realized on Sunday afternoon just how much it has meant to her when I said we were going to do a project and she responded with, "Is it the school bus cake? Yessssss!!!"
In the past we have made this a special Mommy-Madi project, but this year we let Trevor join the fun since I blinked and it is time for him to leave his long days at home with Mommy and short mornings at Pre-K behind for all day kindergarten.
Kindergarten. I am still trying to say that word without feeling my eyes well with tears! But despite the way my heart feels, we must celebrate. So on a gray and cloudy afternoon after church and lunch with friends, the three of us gathered around the table and made both a cake and a memory.
If you'd like to do something to welcome the upcoming school year, this is a very simple (and tasty) project! I originally received the idea in an email from the Disney Family website. You use two store bought loaf cakes to make the bus shape. You can use the Entenmann's brand, but the Publix brand was buy one/get one free so I used them instead and they worked perfectly.
I simplified things a bit this year, using lemon frosting instead of vanilla (already yellow), and sandwich cookies instead of donuts for the tires (less messy).
Use frosting to attach the two cakes, then frost the entire thing except for the windshield. I ended up needing only one can of frosting, but had purchased two just in case.
After the bus is frosted, use dabs of frosting to attach sandwich cookies to the bottom cake for wheels.
Then comes the fun part - let the kids make faces on Vanilla Wafers for the people on the bus! They love doing this!
Attach the Vanilla Wafer people with more dabs of frosting, then add any details you'd like to your bus. It will be ready before you know it and turns out so cute!
Trevor made this little guy in the back window of the bus. He put him there and then told me, "That's Trevor, looking back at Mommy."
Now, why did he have to go and say something so adorable and sooooo saddddd???!!! Oh, my heart!
Honestly, I am excited for this school year. I found out he was put with a wonderfully gifted teacher who is a fine Christian woman as well. He will be going to an excellent school and is sure to grow leaps and bounds. They change so much once they start school - it is amazing to watch. And school is so much fun! The adventures await! Plus, I will continue to volunteer and am going through the process of getting certified to be a substitute teacher at their school, so I will be around.
But a chapter is closing. A chapter that though not glamorous, highly esteemed in society, or awarded with paychecks and accolades, has been the most fulfilling and rewarding of my life. A chapter I once thought would never end that has now flown by, causing me to try and hold on to these last glorious pages. A chapter filled to overflowing with love and brimming with moments of joy, creativity, laughter, and learning that I will hold onto for the rest of my life. A chapter that sometimes seemed so complicated but in reality was marked by a beautiful simplicity.
It's time for him to go.
But when that little boy looks back at Mommy, he will know something without a shadow of a doubt, because she has told him a thousand times.
That if all the boys in the whole world were in a line and she could only pick one boy...
She would pick him.
Can't even imagine how you may be feeling. What I do know is that those years (pre-school) are beautifully simple. I know you've cherished them so! Blessing on this new adventure. I have two years yet, but I know the time will fly by too fast for my liking.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, this made me cry! Such a special time--I still remember my first day of kindergarten! My teacher was my next door neighbor, so I just walked into class all calm and relaxed and starting working on a squirrel puzzle. And I had NO DIEA why so many kids were crying and making such drama, lol.
ReplyDeleteLove the school bus cake-it looks great!