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Friday, August 2, 2019

Friday Favorites-- Back to School Prep

Good morning friends and happy Friday!! It's hard to believe August is already here, and with August comes all the Back to School craziness and fun. This year will be a little different for us as we prep for Back to School because it is the first year where our family not only has a teacher going back to school, but our very first student. Lily Grace will be attending 2's preschool on Mondays and Wednesdays this school year and we know she will just LOVE it. 

Today I am linking up with Erika and Andrea for Friday Favorites to share the things we have been doing to prep for the coming school year. 

First and foremost, the thing I buy every school year to feel fresh, prepared and ready to go is a new calendar
It has become increasingly more important as I try to balance both my work life and my mom life that I have everything written down in one cohesive place where I can see it all in front of me-- I'm such a visual person! 
I know everyone is partial to their own brand, but my favorite for years has been Happy Planner. I love the layout of the planner and all the fun add ons you can buy with them. This year I bought a new super mom sticker pack and am still finishing off this really fun seasonal pack I purchased a few years ago. I also love to use colored pens and swear by these flair pens and these ones too.
I shared these 3 on Wednesday, but a few weeks ago I ordered Lily Grace's backpack, lunchbox, and Bento Box. I was nervous that if I waited too long they would be on backorder and not arrive in time for the school year. When I ordered in early July, there was about a one week turn-around before we got them in the mail, monogrammed and all. Not too bad! Hopefully there isn't a wait now that it's August. 

I always had an LL Bean backpack growing up because they were the best quality and my mom knew they would last us at least one school year (we usually got to pick out a new one every other year). I have had so many LL Bean bags over the years and they are still in great shape-- including the tote bags. They really aren't expensive considering the great quality and how well they hold up. I also love buying something American made whenever possible. 

Another thing I did this year to make packing lunches a little easier was make a list of Lily Grace's easy, guaranteed, go to foods. Thank goodness she really isn't a picky eater, but I still have those moments where I'm like "what in the world am I going to feed this child?!". I made a handwritten list of her current favorite healthy foods so I know to always stock up on those at the grocery store. I didn't snap a pic of it because my handwriting was a mess, but it was more or less like this:

Hopefully when I feel like I've packed strawberries for the 3rd day in a row and need some fresh ideas, I can just turn to this list and not have to think about it. Also, not sure if you picked up on the fact that this girl refuses to eat meat. I promise we aren't trying to make our daughter a vegetarian, she just honestly doesn't like meat unless it is smothered in some kind of sauce (a little too messy for school lunches). We try to sneak it in whenever possible, but she has been known to even turn down a Chick-fil-a nugget.. how is she my child?!?

And last but not least, one of the things we have always done during the crazy Back to School season is turn to our slow cooker to make dinner for us. During those crazy first few weeks back, I never know what time I will get home or how much energy I will have to get dinner prepped and ready. We don't want to grab takeout every night, so I try to plan ahead and pop something new into the crock pot every morning before I leave. Some of our favorites are:
Chicken Florentine Enchiladas (only the chicken goes in the crock pot, but it only cooks or 20 minutes after that which is doable!)

And if you haven't bought these slow cooker liners before.. they are my best friend during Back to School season. If I'm too tired to cook, I am most definitely too tired to be scrubbing a crock pot every single night. You literally just throw away the liner, wipe out the crock pot (probably an unnecessary step but I do it anyway), and you're done!

So those are my little tips/tricks to making the Back to School season as easy as possible, what are some things YOU do? It is so easy to get stressed out/overwhelmed by everything going on during this time but since having LG, we really try to focus on finding the fun, excitement and joy in this time of year. I don't want our children growing up with memories of mom running around like a chicken with her head cut off every August... if I want our kiddos to start the school year off right, I better be doing my best to set that example for them :)

Have a great weekend!!

6 comments :

  1. Ah, back to school!! School doesn't start here until after Labour Day, but I've already started preparing.

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  2. I love getting a new planner! I just picked up one for me yesterday and began writing in important dates! I have never used stickers in my planner but have been inspired to try that this year to make it look more fun! I will be adding them to my Amazon cart today!

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    1. I love them! As someone who isn't artistic enough to draw in my planner, but still wants it decorated, stickers are perfect!

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  3. I'm a teacher too and I love a good planner/calendar! I'm not ready for summer to end, but I am looking forward to a fresh start! Good luck this year to you and your little one!! Visiting from the Friday Favorites link up!

    Kelly
    www.littlefoxblog.com

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