Friday, August 9, 2013

Five on Friday - Back to School Edition.

Public schools in our county started this week. My boys' preschool starts in two weeks (they were actually supposed to start Monday but it got bumped back because the building has been renovated and isn't quite ready.) Safe to say that everyone is in back-to-school mode around these parts. SO. In honor of that, I'm doing Five on Friday - Back to School Edition this week!

1. Sarah from Life {Sweet} Life is one of the cutest mamas ever. Last year I saw this printable on her website and I sent it in James' folder on the second week of school to have his teacher fill it out. It was SO helpful. I would never have known that she really didn't like Bath and Body Works products because the smells gave her a headache. I would never have known that she collected snowmen. I would never have known when her birthday was or that she had a Kindle that she loved to use to read. BUT. Because she filled it out for me I did learn all of those things and we were able to give her gifts that she {hopefully} really enjoyed!

Find the printable HERE.

2. Last year I bought a frame at Hobby Lobby and sprayed the glass with chalkboard paint. James held it up in his pictures so that I could later add the date and year of preschool to it. I plan to do the same thing this year with both boys. Their start days are different (James on a Tuesday, Will on a Wednesday) so it will be a little different, but hopefully we'll get cute pictures of both! It was SO simple to do. Seriously, if I could do it...anyone can! Take the glass out of the frame, put it on newspaper in the yard, and spray a few coats on! Easy peasy!


3. The boys' preschool doesn't have lunch, but they do eat snacks. I've always sent a sippy cup of water with James anytime I dropped him off somewhere. Because he's technically not a baby anymore (he's MY baby!) and he's really beyond the sippy cup stage (he's almost FOUR for crying out loud!), I picked up three thermoses/water bottles for him this year. One is THIS brand which we'd bought for t-ball anyway. One is THIS brand but it has dinosaurs on it. I can't find our Superman one and but it's THIS brand...I'd better remedy that before school starts! (I've always used Inchbug Orbit Labels for sippy cup labeling - I need to get some for Will!) He is THRILLED with this option over sippy cups to say the least!

4. I am not super high maintenance about a calendar. I don't carry a planner around with me and I won't buy one of the popular $75 planners that you'll see in the blogosphere. I've tried that and it didn't make me anymore efficient so I've given up. (Eddie has joked {not really joked...} that if you pay $75 for a planner it ought to make appointments, take phone calls, and clean your house.) What I DO have is a wall calendar that I hang on the side of our refrigerator. I bought a new one last week at Target and it is filling up already. I am not the most organized person on the planet (by a longshot!), but I am pretty good about having an organized calendar. Also, I will forget things in the coming days just for announcing that. I know the picture is the WORST ever, but I couldn't find the one I bought online anywhere and I thought the chevron at the top was so cute.


5. School Door Hangers! I love, love, love a wreath. But something else that I've started like a LOT is a wooden door hanger. This one is from Bronwyn Hanahan. You can find her fabulous work on Facebook (and all over Pinterest!). I LOVE it. Isn't it precious?


My talented friend Jen did this one below and I LOVE it, too. Isn't she good? I'm trying to convince her  to come to my house for wine and crafts night so that she can repaint whatever I make. Ha!


So that's it! My boys don't need new clothes or supplies since they're just in preschool. I did buy James a brand new shiny pair of Nikes a few weeks ago, but that's IT! Here's to a great school year! Hope you and yours enjoy it!

3 comments:

Liz @ Fitness Blondie said...

girl seriously, who spends $75 on a calender? That is SO ridic. I love the picture of your son with the chalk board. Isn't hobby lobby awesome?

Katelyn @ Imperfect Perfection said...

I am all about a good planner...but the ones from Wal-Mart or Target will do just fine for me. I am a teacher and I think all your ideas are adorable!

Jen said...

Obviously I'm WAY behind on my blog reading, but Lauren - you are the sweetest! :) This totally made my day. You say when and I'm there. I'll paint you whatever your little heart desires.