Making After School Count!

     

     I'm really trying to up my mom-game this school year. The past few years have felt like a lot of "going through the motions." Lately, I've really caught myself in that pattern and realized that I need to make a better effort to make more of these years of my boys being so young! It's easy to get caught up in the day to day tasks, especially being a working mom, but I truly want to take more time for the little things!

     One change I'm trying to make to set the tone for the day is making the after school transition a more deliberate time of connection. The bus stop is close to my house and my kids are old enough to walk home but I know that they still love when I meet them there. I'm trying to not fall into the selfishness of wanting those last minutes to myself and instead walk down to the bus stop to meet my little boys. I work from home and honestly getting outside for some fresh air is really good for me and helps perk me up anyway. I love seeing my boys run off the bus when they see me as well; it's one of those sweet heart filling moments that won't last forever. :)

     
     Another thing that I've been doing since day one of this school year is making sure I'm prepared with snacks after school. It's kind of crazy what a difference this has made. Don't get me wrong, I've always had food waiting for my kids after school but I notice that making a little bit of an effort in the snack department goes a long way. My kids are pretty ravenous after being gone at school all day and I feel like making sure they have good snacks to come home to is a way of showing them I care. I am not going full Pinterest-mom in any way here but I just make sure I have easy snacks stocked up and ready to go as well as some little surprises every once in a while!

     
     Rome and Ash were so excited to come home from school to this fun package from Welch's in honor of their new 100% juice with coconut water and I'm so happy to have them partnering with me on this blog post!

     I love that Welch's brand new juice has replaced regular water with coconut water which adds natural benefits while keeping the great taste of 100% juice with 30% less sugar! My kids can't tell that their juice is more nutritious and they love coming home to find juice in the fridge after school! 

     I have really noticed a difference with these small changes I've started putting into place during our after school routine. It's so important for me to take a few minutes to connect with my boys after they've been away at school all day and it seems like they really love being able to share their day with me! This time of connection is also a great time for me to empty out their backpacks to keep on top of the endless paperwork that seems to pour out of the public school system!

    It can be so tempting for me to want to pick up my phone or get right back to my never empty email inbox but I'm trying hard to take these moments to just be with these little boys whom I love more than anything! 

How do you connect with your kiddos after school! I'd love some more ideas on how to up my mom-game this school year!

Welch's is made right here in the USA with family farmers and Welch's grapes! Both of these flavors were winners with my little guys with their great taste and refreshing goodness: White Grape Mango & Tropical Berry Grape!

.

back to school // with FabKids!

.

It's FabKids time again and I'm excited to share this adorable outfit that we picked for Asher from their August back to school collection! I have to admit that I'm cringing a little bit at the sight of cold weather clothing but FabKids never lets me down and this super soft tee and black coated skinnies are truly adorable. Asher lived in FabKids skinny jeans last year and he even had this exact pair in a size down He was pretty stoked about the "skeleton shirt" and Roman has the same one in blue so naturally I will have to put them in these shirts together to fulfill my matching little boy dreams.

.

Have you finished your back to school shopping yet? We shopped for clothes to get us through the still warm weeks of back to school but we don't have many outfits for fall/winter yet. My mind is starting to turn with thoughts of boots for mama and my littles in puffy vests to distract me from the cold that is to come, eek!

.

.

     FabKids is a fun and unique subscription clothing company! Each month you have the opportunity to choose a new outfit and you are always free to skip as many months as you want. Use my link to get a free outfit with the purchase of your first outfit: HERE.

.

*I received this outfit as compensation for my work as a FabKids Brand Ambassador. Thanks so much for reading along and providing these opportunities for me; I truly appreciate it.*

.

Oh hey, if you enjoy my blog would you consider clicking on the button below to vote for us? Ranking on Top Baby Blogs helps my blog grow by connecting me to readers and companies! Thanks so much, friends!

.

.

happy friday!

.

It's Friday! Today is a good day because my husband and I are both off! We will be working a lot this weekend but those troubles are for tomorrow. I am excited to be doing some back to school shopping with my little boys this afternoon! We are heading to Target to try to check everything off Roman's 2nd grade school supply list! I also have some other things in mind to look for but I will try to keep my head on straight and not get too carried away. ( Target does that to you, right? )

.

I wanted to share a few deals that I've come across that are going on this weekend in case you will be out there in the madness doing some shopping as well. Oh and if anyone knows of any great deals or sales that I haven't mentioned, you had best let me know in the comments! :)

.

Kohls: I just saw that Kohl's is having an extra 20% clearance sale! I love these kind of sales and they are a great way to stock up on clothes for the beginning of the school year and next summer! Check out my finds at a similar sale that Old Navy had last weekend HERE. Kohl's is also giving out Kohl's cash right now: $10 for ever $50 spent and you truly can come back and use the $10 just like a gift card: so awesome! ( If you are a Kohl's credit card holder, make sure you check your mail or email for a coupon as well. )

.

Target: It looks like Target is offering buy one get one 50% off on a ton of school supplies so I'm hoping this will help us out in our shopping today! I'm also going to be using my Cartwheel app for an extra 5% off Up & Up school supplies.

.

Ibotta App: Um, have you guys heard of the Ibotta App? I am really getting into rebate apps where all you do is scan your receipts with your smart phone and get paid for things you bought! I am going to have to share with you guys all my favorite ways to do this but Ibotta seems to be the best one so far. I've made $9 since downloading this app just this week and you can cash out to your PayPal account at $20! This is my new hobby guys. If you sign up, I'd love if you used my referral code: tddfoyb 

.

What plans do you have for the weekend? 

Please share if you have any favorite money saving apps in the comments! 

.

Happy Friday!

.

.

back to school // to do list!

( photo from this post, last year! )

.

     School starts in two weeks, so we're soaking up the last couple weeks of summer but also getting things a little bit prepared for the school year. I'm looking forward to more routine in our lives but I am not looking forward to getting up early in the morning or the whining that will ensue each day as we attempt to wake up sleepy bear Roman who is also not a morning person. I will also be missing him for sure!

.

     I wanted to document my to-do list here for what I want to be accomplish in the next couple of weeks to get ready for the school year! Most of these things have to do with Roman, because Asher will be doing preschool at home with us for now. I was actually able to cross a few things off already this weekend - yah!

.

Back to School To Do List

.

*Make sure Roman's closet is school-ready*

- buy socks  purchased a pack at Old Navy

- buy a few tee shirts I bought Roman a few shirts during the Old Navy clearance sale. I also found one in the closet that I bought last summer at the end of season and had stashed away! Roman and Asher both have several new tee shirts from the companies that we work with on the blog and on Instagram!

- find a couple more pairs of shorts I found two pairs of shorts today at Old Navy; one nicer pair and one pair of athletic shorts. I paid less that $8 combined for both!

- buy new gym shoes Roman and Asher both got new blue Nike shoes today at Famous Footwear. ( They are having a buy one get one 1/2 off sale! ) Roman really wanted Nike shoes this year for school and Aaron promised the boys he would buy them some since he just got a promotion at work. We had a lot of fun picking them out and have definitely never spent so much on kid's shoes or even ever bought them shoes at a shoe store in general!  We had to buy Asher some to be fair of course but honestly it was worth it to see him running down the aisles at the store impressed by how fast his shoes were!

*Hair cuts for both boys* ( I have a coupon for Cost Cutters for $2 off )

*Get supply list and purchase back to school supplies* ( I'm planning to go to Target because back to school shopping at Walmart just depresses me, end of story. )

*Make sure our kitchen is well stocked for school lunch making*

- buy ziplock bags, paper napkins, disposable silverware, a few more pieces of tupperware + ice packs ( We definitely need to restock these items and I feel like it will make the school year much less stressful to start out with them on hand! )

- potentially look for new water bottles for both boys ( We don't really have any good ones right now and I'd love for the boys to each have a nicer one for going to the park and walks as well! Do you all have any suggestions for good water bottles for kids that are durable, non toxic and don't leak?? )

- make sure the kitchen has a good supply of lunch foods + snacks! ( Packing lunches is always stressful because we always seem to be scrambling for ideas at the last minute! )

*Sign Roman up for soccer* ( This boy is soccer obsessed and we found a place to sign him up for the fall! )

*Look for activities for Asher to do in the mornings* ( We want Asher to have some fun activities to do while Roman is at school and to get him out to socialize and be engaged in learning! )

.

I feel like I'm probably forgetting something important but I'm hoping that these things will get us off to a good start!

.

Have you started on your back to school preparations yet? What's on your list??

.

.

back to school // shopping clearance!

.

We're thinking about "back to school" around here so I thought I'd share a little bit of our journey on the blog. Honestly, we're a pretty minimalistic family and back to school time doesn't involve a whole lot of shopping but we definitely have things on our to-do list! Roman will be starting 2nd grade this year and we have decided at this point to keep Asher home with us.

.

Old Navy is currently having one of the best sales ever where in-store they are taking an additional 30% off their clearance items! Old Navy has always been one of my all time favorite stores for kids' clothes. Their clothes are great quality ( and adorable ) and their clearance section, if you play it right, is a gold mine. When Old Navy first marks down their clothes, the discount isn't that great but they continue to mark things down to seriously low prices. I find better deals in the Old Navy clearance section than I do at thrift stores sometimes and the clothes are brand new!

.

I want to share a few finds that I came across for the boys during the clearance event. I was so happy to be able to start my back to school shopping this way!

.

( mario tee: $2.51, batman tee: $4.09, basketball tee: $3.14 

shoes: about $4.50, bought on a separate receipt that I can't find! )

.

Roman is truly one of the messiest children alive ( and to be honest, he gets it from me... ) so his shirts are always getting stained. We are pretty set on shirts for him, especially since we have been able to work with a few great companies this summer that have gifted us clothing. ( Such  a blessing for us! )Since I found these shirts at such great prices, I did want to grab a few to set aside for  school  to ensure that he has some nice, clean shirts to wear. Pairing these with the other shirts we've been given recently gives him a pretty good supply for the beginning of the school year. I may need to find a couple more. Roman loves tee shirts even in the winter since he is so hot blooded, so these should be good for a while! The shoes aren't too practical for school because he has gym class every day and wears gym shoes, but they were adorable and it's always good to have a nice pair of shoes around.

.

( striped shorts: $2.51, jogger pants $2.51 + $2.58, high top shoes: $4.71, car slip on shoes: $4.72 )

.

Ok, I have been eyeing these little jogger sweatpants for Asher since they came in and I had to snatch them up for the fall when I saw them marked down so much! I bought a pair of 3T and a pair of 4T because the 4T looked absolutely huge so I figure he will wear the 3Ts and grow into the other pair. I also bought the little striped shorts for next summer in a 4T because he currently has the same shorts and loves them. I had to buy the shoes because Asher is obsessed with shoes and I loved both of these so much! He has worn the high tops already but I stashed the cute car pair away to pull out later.

.

Shopping clearance is a great way to find back to school clothes, so don't forget to check out the clearance racks! The weather is still warm so summer clothes still work and a lot of stores have clothes left over from spring that work for fall weather. Be sure to check out Old Navy this weekend to score some great deals for yourself and if you go, let me know what you bought!

.

Where are your favorite places to get great deals for back to school? Have you started shopping yet?

.