Back To School Goodies

Hellooooooooo!
Wow, what a summer we've had! I think both boys would agree that we've managed to squeeze in just about as much fun as possible the last few months. From vacations to staycations, traveling with family, and adventures with friends... we've done almost everything on our Summer Bucket List and have really had a great time doing it.

We have two weeks left of summer and I still have a few fun tricks up my sleeve, but I am also starting to prepare for a new school year.

Payton will be starting his last year of elementary school, and Parker will be starting his last year of preschool (queue the tears). I cannot get over how big they are getting.

We've already purchased a new backpack for Payton. After a couple years of buying cheap backpacks at Target that would then break at some point during the year, I decided to buy him a good quality backpack from Pottery Barn that has a multi-year money-back guarantee. Didn't hurt that I could get it monogrammed, either. :)

Brian's parents took both boys shoe shopping last weekend. They were so sweet and bought both of them sneakers that they had been wanting. Now the boys want to wear them around the house 24/7.

I also purchased all of Payton's school supplies...although the teachers usually end up giving us a "supplement" list on Open House, so I'm sure there will be more to come.

So, now that the basics are covered, I get to focus on the fun stuff that comes with going back to school!

One of my favorite bloggers, Kierste, always has the best back-to-school printables and craft ideas. How much do you love these 1st Day of School Printables for photos??


You can download your child's appropriate grade level here.

And y'all know I adore these personalized backpack tags she created!
 
I mean, seriously... SO cute! And very handy when so many backpacks look so similar. I think it would be particularly great for the younger kids. You can download your child's letter here.

I also love setting a festive breakfast table for the 1st day of school to get them excited about heading back. I think this little sign is so sweet and would look great alongside a special breakfast. You can download it here from the talented Homespun Hostess.


I think every kid would love having some fun jokes included in their lunchbox the first week back. How fun are these free printables from Events to Celebrate.

And if you're looking for an inspiring piece of art to frame for your kiddos, here's one that I just fell in love with from one of my all-time favorite Dr. Seuss books, "Oh the Places You'll Go." You can download it here from Balancing Home.

So while I'll miss our laid-back PJ mornings and late-night bonfire s'mores, I'm looking forward to fall and all that it has to offer. I hope that you've had a wonderful summer and that you enter this school year with lots of energy and excitement. Happy Back-to-School everyone!

1st Day Back to School

One child down, one to go.

Parker starts school tomorrow, but Payton started school today with a bang! Literally.

We were riding our bikes to school this morning, in an attempt to avoid the chaos of cars that bottleneck all the way around the entire building, when we slowed down to stop at the cross walk and "POP!" Payton's back tire popped!

Fortunately, the crossing guard said, "Just leave your bikes here and I'll watch em until you come back." So, I went on ahead with Parker on the back of my bike, and Brian and Payton walked the rest of the way.

In the end, we all arrived safely at school and that's what's important.

Here are a few obligatory "1st Day of School" photos...

We couldn't convince Parker to get dressed. He said, "But I'm not going to school today, so I'm staying in my PJ's!" Can't argue with that.

By next year, I fear he'll be almost as tall as me.

Proud Daddy

Payton's sweet teacher

So, to wrap up my back-to-school post, I want to share some great pics from the last couple weeks of summer. We crammed a lot of fun in to those last few days!

Brian took the boys to two baseball games:

I don't know what Parker likes best at baseball games: the food or the mascots?

 We also hosted a little pizza and ice cream sundae party for the boys and some friends.

Puttin' my Baskin Robbins skills to work!

Payton & his buddy Macklin before...

...and after. (I love the pure joy on his face!)

Nothing like a little whipped cream on the nose to make for a good laugh!

Of course we also swam... a LOT! Both in our neighbor's gorgeous pool, and in our own plastic blow-up pool (I'll spare you the redneck images). :)

 And the last weekend night of summer wouldn't be complete without s'mores. The perfect ending to a super fun summer.

 And, somehow, the day before school started, I got talked into baking a "Back to school" cake. I seriously don't even know how this happened. But it did.

I won't end this post with all of those cliche sayings about how the summer went by so fast, or how time passes so quickly as my kids get older. I will just say that I'm savoring this time with them. I'm learning how to love the great moments, and learn from the tough ones.

I'm happy with the growth that our family experienced this summer - both mentally and spiritually, and I'm very excited for this fall... our first trip to Disney as a family of 4, a new job opportunity for me with Brian's company, my brother and his family are moving to Orlando, and many other fun things to share. Stay tuned... it's gonna be a wild ride!!

 

I'm Back!! Back-to-School Ideas {FREE Printables!}

Hello out there!

Hopefully I haven't lost every single reader that I had by taking my summer hiatus the past month or so. But even if so, it was well worth it to spend all of that time with my boys sucking the marrow out of the last few weeks of summer vacation.

But... we're headed back to reality in just a few short days. School starts for us on Tuesday, August 19th, so we're in full back-to-school planning mode around here.

The boys got their hair cut, got new tennis shoes, I finished all the school supply lists, ordered new lunchboxes and water bottles, now I can sit back and enjoy the final week of summer vacation and just do some fun back to school things like create teacher gifts!

I may be in the minority on this one, but I like to start school off with a special gift for the teacher. Not to "brown nose" them, but just to say, "Hey...we really appreciate you and we think you're a super valuable person in our child's life this year."

So, with that said, here are some fun ideas that I collected from other talented bloggers so you don't have to do the research yourselves!

I love this play on words from the blog, Simply Kierste, and really, who doesn't love Andes Mints, or you could use the travel tins of the mint Altoids, or any kind of mints for that matter! Click here for the free printable.

Here's another adorable free printable from Simply Kierste available here:

 

You could attach it to a number of items such as the mulit-colored stack of Post-It notes, or a package of multi-colored Sharpies, or pens. Her idea was to attach it to a container filled with candy, which is a tasty option.

I love this idea from The Rachel Berry Blog if you have access to a Cricut or Silhoutte machine, this could easily be created for just a few bucks by purchasing the glass containers and pencils at the Dollar Store.

 

A popular gift for the first day back is a "Teacher Survival Kit." Some of the ones I've seen on Pinterest look like they cost upwards of $20, but I liked this simple one created by Triple Nap that she made out of a $1 pencil box.

Inside, this is what she included:

Again, this could be replicated with less items if you wanted to spend less. But I like the idea that you can personalize it for each teacher.

If you like to bake, this free printable available here from It's Overflowing, would be an wonderful gift:

 

 So many options, so little time.

I can't believe this summer is almost over. I know it's so cliche to say that, but I truly feel like this summer went so fast. I have really enjoyed the relaxed pace of the mornings, and no homework! But I am also looking forward to a really great fall with new teachers, new schedules, new activities, and of course the holidays! I'll try to restrain from putting out my pumpkins for a few more week... but I make no guarantees. :)

Hope y'all had a fantastic summer too! Now go enjoy those last few lazy, beach-filled, no scheduled, relaxing days.

Changes - 1st Day of School

We've had a lot of changes in our lives recently.

Some of it good, some of it not-so-good.

But there's something to be said about change. It awakens you. It makes you realize that nothing is ever guaranteed to stay the same. And it makes you take stock of things and think about whether this "change" is something that should have happened a long time ago, or maybe it was just all in God's timing.

And while the difficult changes are taking a while to iron themselves out, I'm trying to focus more on the positive changes that have been happening. For example...

School is back in session!

Payton is in 3rd grade now, so he's an old pro when it comes to his elementary school. He's familiar with the campus. He's comfortable with the learning environment. He's got more friends than he knows what to do with, and he loves his teacher this year.

Here are a few pics from the first day:

At open house, his teacher sent home a letter with instructions to open it the night before school. Inside was a cute poem and a packet of "Jitter Glitter" which was to be sprinkled under his pillow to help ease any 1st day nerves.

You know I was vacuuming up this stuff first thing the next morning. :)

Here are the boys holding their grade signs. So cute.

 

Not sure about my crazy looking smile. I don't like auto-timers. Also, do you like how Payton & I have a ninja grip on Parker's arm? He kept picking his nose thinking it was funny. Okay, it was a little funny. :)

My boys. So handsome.

Payton immediately settled right into his seat and started chatting with his neighbors.

 

Parker on the other hand. Well...his first day didn't get off to such a great start. He was super happy when we arrived at his new class. We showed him his cubby and had him take a little picture in front of it:

 Then we made our way over to the table which was set up with some Play-Doh (which he loves) and began playing with one of his teachers. He was perfectly happy until I said, "Okay, I love you" in that "this-is-my-way-of-saying-goodbye" voice. Then...the meltdown occurred.

Pre-meltdown - happily playing Play-Doh

Brian snapped this photo - accidentally, I believe.

That's me in the white shorts walking away from my screaming child as one of the teachers goes to intercept him from re-attaching himself to my leg. He's screaming if you can't tell.

That poor little girl in the pink is looking at him like, "Dude...this class is awesome, why ya makin' such a fuss?!?"

I was reassured at pick-up that he only cried for a few minutes.

I know this to be true because I stood outside the classroom until I could hear that he had stopped.

Thank God Brian was with me because I may have just gone back in and scooped him up and said, "Thanks ladies, but we'll try again next year." But Brian promised me that he would be fine and reminded me that Payton did this for months when we first started dropping him off at the church nursery.

They do get comfortable eventually...right???

He actually did much better today, and it's only his 2nd day. So that gives me hope. I love the school so much, and I know he will too once he gets used to being away from his mommy.

Being back in school mode has been great so far (except for the crying issue with Parker). The boys are worn out and ready for bed by 8. They're also up early, which is good. I hate waking kids up for school.

So now I'm taking stock of all of these changes in our lives and realizing that change is good. It's making me grow in some areas that I didn't know I needed to. It's showing me that shaking things up a bit is healthy. And it is definitely reminding me that I love my family...something fierce. 

1st Day of School: Teacher Gifts

Remember the old TV shows like Andy Griffith and Leave It To Beaver the kids when kids would bring an apple to their teacher on the first day of school? Well, times have changed and kids rarely bring in an actual apple these days, but the idea of giving a small token of appreciation that first day of school is still a very nice gesture.

I found these great free printables online at iheartnaptime.net and thought they were just too cute not to use for our first day of school teacher gifts!

 

courtesy: iheartnaptime.net

In keeping with the whole "Apple for a teacher" theme, I bought some of my favorite apple-scented products from Bath & Body Works including body wash, antibacterial hand soap and lots of little hand sanitizers (I love these!).

(Each of my boys have two teachers this year, so I needed enough products for four teacher gifts.)

I used double-sided tape (use the Scotch brand - nothing compares) and taped the little sanitizers to the larger bottles. Then tied them up with a pretty pink bow... because really, what gift doesn't look better tied up with a big ol bow???

Then I cut out the free printable labels from the iheartnaptime blog and taped them to the back of the bottles (using the double-sided tape again).

What teacher wouldn't love to receive these cute gifts on the first day of school?

How bout them apples? (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Wishing a very happy first day back to everyone!

Back-to-School {FREE printables & ideas}

This year is a big year for us. Both kids will be attending school this fall. Payton is entering 3rd grade, and Parker will be attending preschool 2 days a week.

I'm excited for a more structured routine to resume, but at the same time, I'll miss the laid back mornings and days spread open wide with whatever plans we choose to make.

But, school is starting in just 9 days (not that I'm counting) and it's time to kick things in gear! I've already purchased school supplies, back packs and a lunch box (check!). Now it's time to start planning a few fun surprises for the 1st day of school.

You know me, I love any reason to celebrate, so the 1st day of school is no exception. In between the chaos of taking pictures and getting everyone out the door on time; and sobbing that will occur when I drop Parker off for his first day, I want to create a special morning for my boys.

Here are just a few ideas I wanted to share with you...
 
As usual, there are tons of free back-to-school subway art printables available online. I love this one available here from a cute blog called Sweet Coconut Lime.

In fact, I just printed this one off yesterday and framed it for our kitchen counter.

 

 And I love this one, which you can find here on Free Time Frolics.

 

Or if you like to take those cute 1st day of school photos where the child holds up a sign that says what grade they're going into, how about these fun printables available at iheartnaptime (love the name of her blog!). So cute, right??

 

And if you're feeling really crafty and want to create a little 1st day of school "party" for breakfast, how cute is this FREE party kit? Available at bedifferentactnormal.com.

Here are some of her great ideas for how to use them:

Now how to make that rice crispy cake, is a whole nutha thing. I won't be making that. But the bunting is adorable and I'm sure could be used for tons of other things.

Seriously, the ideas are endless. If you simply Google "Back to School Printables" you will be completely overwhelmed surprised by the endless amount of fun things there are for the first week back. So even though I've only shared a few ideas with you here today, I encourage you to find something special for your little person on the 1st day of school.

Anyone else ready for school to start!?!? Can I get a "Woot-Woot"?!?!