Carrying the Banner

In Charlotte’s new class, we had to make a “family banner” that celebrates all things Hofmann—from Charlotte’s perspective, of course.

Above is the end result. Nothing too fancy, but hey. The school will laminate it and it will be fancier. We concocted a family motto, per the instructions, and it took a LONG time to come up with one that was (a) clever, (b) true, and (c) appropriate for a preschool wall. We settled on “Happy Hofmanns Make a Happy Home.” Simple and to the point. But not terribly clever. Alas.

We also listed our family’s favorite things: snow, Seahawks, 49ers, Christmas trees, and Handy Manny (on the Disney Channel—it’s a family obsession).

Of course, Charlotte is (I think) the only child in her entire class of 12 darling children without a sibling, and sibling involvement was supposed to make up a large part of the banner. So, what to do? First, we framed the whole thing as All About Charlotte—meaning, we BECAME a family when she entered our lives. Next, we added photos of grandparents—after all, they’re family! Our family of three might be teeny tiny, but she has an omi, nana, and two grandpas who think Charlotte is the very definition of awesomeness.

All three of us traced our hands, I wrote “Charlotte Hofmann” in glitter glue (and totally regretted it, because it looks pretty crappy), and we added the all-important NFL logos.

I have to admit, I felt great familial pride by the time we (I) finished it. (I swear I’m not going to be one of those moms who does everything for her kids, but come on. Charlotte can’t even hold scissors yet.)

So, GO HOFMANNS! (Note: Opps are implied—half her DNA comes from that tough Opp stock, after all.)