Posts Tagged ‘back to school’

First Day of School 2016

Thursday, September 8th, 2016

The day the kids actually started first and second grade, I was in the hospital with baby #4, having given birth almost exactly 24 hours earlier. Luckily, before I went into the hospital, I forced them into school uniforms to take these pictures, because I figured faking it by 2 days is something they would forget pretty soon but if someday I put together a book of First Day photos and this year was missing they would notice. But because I faked them just a little, I only have a few and I didn’t get the shot of Linc crying because he didn’t get on the bus that I was sure I would end up with. Although from what the adults here at home reported, Linc slept through the whole thing and didn’t care in the slightest.

It’s a good thing I did have a baby this week, because THESE kids are clearly no longer babies and I need a baby fix. For comparison, here’s 2014 and 2015, where my children are much more appropriately sized and not these big kids who seem to have taken their place.

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It’s Time…To Talk About Back To School #FirstDayEveryday {Sponsored}

Friday, July 29th, 2016

Kohl’s and Carter’s were kind enough to partner with me on this post, so I could shop for back to school. I was compensated as part of the #firstdayeveryday campaign but all opinions and pictures are my own. 

The current temperature around here is about equivalent to that of the surface of the sun, but that doesn’t mean the end of summer isn’t on the way. Also, our district doesn’t seem to believe in the idea that school should start after Labor Day, so the big kids go back the last week of August. I’d be lying a little if I didn’t admit I was mostly ready for it – as fun as summer is, entertaining 3 kids 24 hours a day is a lot of hours of constant needs.

I’m NEVER ready for how much the kids grow between seasons though. Caroline was down to two pairs of leggings and zero pairs of actual pants for fall, Evan had only one pair of jeans, and poor Linc survived last fall in footie pajamas, which isn’t going to cut it this year when he’s an actual person. Thanks to Kohl’s, Carter’s and Caroline’s excellent shopping assistance, we’re no longer in desperate need of ALL THE THINGS and instead can stock up on freshly sharpened pencils, markers for important coloring homework, and thinking about the fact that I’m due to have a baby the same day school starts. Actually, no, let’s not think about that last thing. Let’s look at clothes instead!

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Right away Caroline was in love with the trends for fall – lots of florals in different patterns and scales, leggings for under everything (including her uniforms on school days and dresses on weekends), and fun details like belts, lace, and embroidery. She decided she loved navy and pink together, so everything she tried on ended up coordinating.

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We bought two pairs of these jeggings. They have real pockets and a real zipper, but they are so soft and stretchy. She declared them the best pants ever and has worn them almost every day since. She loves the shirt too, with the flower corsage detail.

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Is it weird that I am jealous of my 5-year-old’s jean jacket? It’s like the perfect level of broken in already and is going to look SO GOOD this fall to extend the life of her summer dresses. You can expect to see it at least 100 times in my weekly photos.

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She is pretending to be a bird, because there are birds on her dress. Obviously.

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Lucky for Caroline, our Kohl’s also sells Carter’s accessories. Sparkle bracelets for the win! We also bought this two-pack of leggings to use as alternates to the jeans with the polka-dot top or to wear under the bird dress. I think we ended up with at least 5 different outfits when you mix and match.

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Our uniform code says “solid cardigans” are appropriate for over uniforms with no rules about color. What could be better than pink?

In the boy’s department, I found matching brother shirts and pants for Evan and Linc. Carter’s goes up to size 8 and runs true to size, in my experience, so Evan will still fit in the brand for at least another year. I got him a couple more t-shirts and a pair of jeans too, because you cannot have enough jeans when you are 7 and rip through the knees of your pants almost on a weekly basis.

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In the baby department, I bought a bunch of stuff from the outdoors/bear/camping collection and from the sheep/cloud collection. They also have great nautical stuff (MY FAVORITE).

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Look at those outer space jams!!

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Whales! To wear to the seaport!

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Baby boat shoes, just what every baby needs to wear with their red pants and button down woven shirts for the fall. Because of course I bought Linc and Baby #4 matching red pants and woven shirts for fall.

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While we were looking at pajamas, Caroline asked if they were for boys or girls. I told her they were for both, because anyone can like dinosaurs and trucks, so she was excited to pick out matching pajamas for her and Lincoln. We went with sharks and blue stripes.

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Linc also got a set of dinosaur pajamas, which are great for the transition from summer sleeping to cooler fall nights. (I’m really excited about cooler fall nights.)

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That blue flower shirt dress is another of Caroline’s new amazing fall choices. As you can see, she was really excited about our shopping trip.

Our last stop was to check out the Carter’s shoes.

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These were the winners. Easy to put on, closed-toe for school, goes with everything, and that adorable bow. I loved that the Carter’s brand finds that balance between trendy-fun and age appropriate (especially for Caroline), so I could let her shop without worrying that I’d have to say no to half her choices.

Once I have a new baby – fingers crossed for NOT the same day as the first day of school – I’ll have so many adorable new baby outfits for him to model. Until then, I hope all the photos of Caroline will do. She’s very good at style, you know. But here’s a sneak peek of what we found:

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Two onesie sets (dinosaurs and foxes), the outfit that matches Linc’s red pants, sheepy onesies, and of course, MORE FOXES.

Thank you so much to Kohl’s and Carter’s for including me in this super fun campaign. The kids and I LOVE new clothes and it’s such a great way to start the countdown to back to school!

Starting August 1st, Kohl’s is having $10 off a $40 purchase of back-to-school clothes and shoes! It runs 8/1 through 8/17 and you can shop online with the code BTS10.

 

HAPPY SHOPPING!

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First Day of School 2015

Wednesday, August 26th, 2015

Today was the first day of Kindergarten for Caroline and First Grade for Evan and all-day-Mommy-all-to-himself for Lincoln. Linc celebrated by getting up at 4:30 am and not taking a real nap ALL DAY. Luckily because he was the old kid I had to take care of I put my babywearing skillz to use and wore him all day. It means I blew my 10,000 step goal on FitBit out of the water PLUS my house is starting to look more like a place people would want to live and less like a nuclear bomb exploded. I have hopes that in a month I might get to the bottom of the Summer Crap Piles and start putting away the I’m Not Really Sure Where This Goes Things and then MAYBE I can add some Adorable Vintage Decorative Knicknacks That Look Good In Instagram Photos.

The morning bus came almost on time, which was great because I didn’t have to spend 45 minutes worrying I had somehow missed it or debating driving the kids to school myself. I was busy talking to the bus driver and forgot to a) take bus pictures and b) hug the kids goodbye but they cared exactly zero percent. Both report they had great days and Caroline’s report was backed up by a super short phone call from her teacher telling me she was great. Caroline also reports she has a new best friend named Bella. Evan reports “Mom I was good, NOW can I use the iPad?” Since I didn’t get a call to the contrary, I allowed it.

I’m really excited about this school year FOR them. Evan’s teacher is doing something called The Responsive Classroom, which sounds like exactly the kind of emotional and structured culture that he really responds to. As long as we can stay on top of his at-home reading he should have a great 1st grade year. Caroline cannot get enough of her letters and her desire to write is incredible, so I expect she will be very sad when she wakes up on Saturday and DOESN’T get to go to school.

These are from last night at Open House and this morning before school (all taken with my rented wide-angle lens which is super fun):

 

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