Friday Favorites–Back to School Edition

 

Another week gone by in a flash! Summer seems to do that, and sadly this was our last full week of summer too.

{organized desk post here}

I admit I do NOT have my back to school act together. My kids start next week (thankfully mid-week, and not on Monday) but we are traveling for an engagement party this weekend so I basically have one day when we get home to get supplies and figure out lunches and everything. Luckily I work well under pressure! Also fortunately, my two older boys could care less about what school supplies that have, only my daughter (who informed me she has a theme this year!) takes any real effort.

I shared this week on Instagram that I ordered new backpacks for my kids when Lands End was having a sale, it looks like today you can get 25% off anything full price (including backpacks and lunchboxes) with the code “DAISY” today.   It had been a few years and my boys bags were getting pretty worn out. I definitely don’t buy them new ones every year, but I think Land’s End has the best selection and their bags hold up to all the abuse my kids put them through.

My daughter had strong opinions on her new book bag and after an exhaustive search, we went with this one below. Sadly the gold was sold out but luckily she also liked the silver, we added the monogram in white and the matching lunch box. She’s starting a new school this year and needs a little boost, so I let her select the one that made her happy.

 

She went to Amazon in search of an insulated water bottle and she selected this one, since they bring their water and sometimes the condensation can leak all over their desks. I probably should have ordered two, come to think of it since these often get left on the bus or are victims of other unfortunate events.  (sorry for the small pictures, per amazon’s copyright requirement that is how we have to display them, just click the image for more information) 

 

So, for those of you wondering what her school supply theme is–it’s “tropical”…I have no idea how much of that’s going to actually happen since I’ll be ordering from Amazon and hitting Target frantically next week but secretly, I am a bit proud of her way of thinking 🙂 nine is a fun age. Here are some of the choices she found online…

 

composition bookpalm pencil case

 

tropical theme folders

 

This year I am going to order as many school supplies as I can online, I simply don’t have the energy to fight the madness to find the bin that has the “wide ruled notebook paper” at Target (when inevitably I somehow still come home with the not-approved college ruled paper), and things like binders which with 3 kids, I might as well buy in bulk.

I also order things like glue sticks (this is such a good deal, I also send in extras to the teacher), and  index cards,  I tuck the extras away because inevitably at some point during the year the kids need more, plus they are great for making lists. A year or so ago I ordered these binder dividers (which can be expensive separately) in bulk and each year I just pull out the ones we need. When I am feeling like a supermom, I even use my label maker to mark them, I have this one and am surprised how often I use it, especially at this time of year.

 

 

Another thing I did a few years ago (you can read the whole post HERE) is to order name stickers for my daughter and her supply is still going strong. I use them to mark her pencil box, binders, and other things like that. I ordered these from Minted but you can also find them on ETSY.

 

 

Thinking about making lunches everyday again makes me feel tired…it might be my least favorite part of school! I am trying to get organized ahead of time this year, I always start off the school year with a strong lunch game then by the end of the year it’s complete free for all.

 

 

I have tried several different lunch box solutions and the two that have worked best for my daughter (my boys have outgrown anything but a brown paper bag) are these containers below (just click the picture for more info).

These containers are inexpensive so if she misplaces one it isn’t a big deal and they fit right in her lunch box, plus they cut way down on how many plastic bags we use. For smaller snacks/lunches we also have a lunch cube.  We use a thermos container quite often as well, she likes to bring hot food (like mac and cheese or leftover pasta) instead of sandwiches, so this one has been very handy to have.

I’ll have another post up on organizing for back to school soon, but I have a limited stock of Calendar Pads available which is to me, the MOST useful Back to School tool. When lazy summer days turn into school-homework-meetings-activities-practices days, this is a great way to track the whole family’s events in one place along with shopping and to-do lists etc. You can just snap a picture of it with your phone and then your calendar and other info you need is always on hand.  Read this post HERE for more information!

 

{Read more about The Calendar Pad HERE}

There is also a Student Planner which is really helpful for organizing school work and schedules, this one is designed specifically for kids to help them develop organization skills and comes in both a pink version and a preppy navy/green version. Click HERE to read all about it.

 

 

OK–one last thing that is unrelated to Back to School (though they have kids’ clothes on sale too) but this is too good not to share…This HUGE HOME SALE HERE, with an additional 25% off the crazy low prices you see below with the code 3157. Check out some of the items below, then click HERE to see all the home items on sale.

OK–I am off to enjoy our last few days of summer! Have a great weekend everyone.

XO,

 

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