John Davis Goes to Preschool + Back to School Printable

I can’t believe it, but earlier this week I dropped my first baby off for his very first day of preschool.

Per the usual I couldn’t let the day go by without making it a special occasion to celebrate. Growing up my mom always took every opportunity to make important milestones like the first day of school special for my brother and me. (She was a Pinterest mom before Pinterest even existed!) We loved it so I want to continue this tradition for my own children. I want John Davis to know that school is fun and exciting and that we are so proud of him!

Hubby says I went overboard. Not sure why he thinks that. I never go overboard : )

I just have a real problem with wanting to make cute things! Not to mention it gave me something to pour my nervous energy into the night before school started.

In reality I only spent around $10 to make this cute little table setup. Everything I bought came from the Target Dollar Spot or the Dollar Tree. What can I say, I’m a big spender! Anything else I used I already had at home.

I just happened to be in Target earlier this summer and spotted the big “First Day of School” apple chalkboard when I walked by the dollar spot. It was the last one and you better believe I snatched it right up! It’s so cute and I love that we can use it over and over again at the start of every school year. It is two sided and has a “Last Day of School” on the back. It will be fun to compare the first day of school and the last day of school but I’m already dreading how much he will have grown by then : (

I set the table with the same black and white gingham fabric tablecloth I used for John Davis’s second birthday party. Mother found these cute dry erase boards at the dollar store and they made the perfect little placemats. The pencil confetti is actually bulletin board border trim from the dollar store and I just cut between the pencils to make decorative table confetti.

John Davis ate his scrambled eggs and Mickey Mouse waffles on red paper plates that I topped with a craft paper stem and leaf to make an “apple.” I tied his utensils with the adorable school ribbon leftover from our easy DIY teacher gifts (see below).

And his milk looked much cuter in these glass milk bottles with a red and white paper straw rather than his usual sippy cup ; )

I arranged a few of these dollar store paper school buses to sit around a vase filled with a few limelight blooms from our backyard. I already had the limelight blooms out on our counter anyways because we had company staying with us the weekend before.

Pulling out these brand new number 2 pencils gave me flashbacks of how excited I used to get as a child for the start of a new school year. I always loved picking out and organizing my new supplies for school year. Weird, right?! Not much has changed!

Overall I think it turned out so cute and it made John Davis excited for his special day!

It was very inexpensive and easy to throw together. It just goes to show that you don’t need to spend a lot of money or time to make everyday moments fun and memorable.

I look forward to continuing this first day of school tradition for many years to come and I hope my own children will look back on it with the same fondness that I do now.

I put together a cute little treat for John Davis to give his teachers on the first day of school. It’s just a small something to show how thankful we are that they are there to love on our baby and to help him learn and grow!

I created a fun gift tag that can be used for the first day of school or for teacher appreciation. You can download your free printable here.

I filled a glass jar with some M&M’s and attached the gift tag with some cute gingham and back to school ribbon from Hobby Lobby. I figured a teacher can never have too much chocolate!

It was an easy, cute and inexpensive gift to put together, but it is a small token to show our teachers how thankful we are for what they do.

Speaking of cute, I can’t get over this adorable burlap door hanger Mother painted for John Davis. I mean, come on. Have you ever seen something so cute?! She is so creative and talented. I’m an amateur compared to her, but you can see where I get my crafty side : )

And of course, here are some precious first day of school pictures of our sweet boy.

He had no interest in posing for the camera, but thankfully he stood with the first day of school sign and watched the construction trucks across the street long enough for me to snap a few pictures. As you can see, he is ALL about trucks. I spend half my day reciting truck names from books, and you better believe that if I get one wrong he lets me know!

Sending my baby to preschool may not seem like a big deal to most, but this is the first time (other than Sunday school) that anyone other than my own mom has kept John Davis.

To be honest I wasn’t even planning on putting him in preschool just yet. But this little boy was ready. He is getting bored at home with me and he loves being around other children. And he absolutely loves to learn! At two years old he already knows his ABC’s, colors, shapes and numbers. He loves to be challenged and I have no doubt he will love school.

We are so thankful we get to send him to the wonderful preschool at our church home. Not only do I know that he is being loved on and cared for by some amazing women, but he is being instilled with sound biblical principles even at his young age. We couldn’t ask for anything more.

I’m so proud of this little guy and I get emotional just thinking about where we are today. I’ve vaguely alluded to some of our health struggles in this post, and maybe some day I will elaborate further, but the first year of his life was filled with great uncertainty and quite honestly we didn’t know what his future may look like. It’s humbling to think how blessed we have been. I’m overcome with thankfulness when I see my healthy, active, thriving little boy.