Lets train

Last week Claire had her very first day of Preschool!

She was so excited and couldn't wait to go.

We are lucky to be in a class with several friends that we already know. It should be a fun year!
With her sweet teacher & playing with her friend Kayla.

The night of her first day of School, we had our 3rd Annual Back to School Feast to celebrate both girls going to school.
Back to School Feast 2010
Back to School Feast 2011

The kitchen table decorated with flowers & their crowns.

Garland on the window:

And, fresh flowers. I am a sucker for fresh flowers.

We ate outside because it was a beautiful night out.

Any guesses on our theme?

LOVE.

We have been talking to the girls about what it means to:
Love others. Love yourself & Love to Learn for the School year.
Love Others - If you see someone who doesn't have anyone to play with or sit with, then be a friend and invite them to join you. Loving others also includes being respectful to your teachers!
Love Yourself - By doing your best you are loving yourself. By making good choices you are loving yourself.
Love to Learn - Kindergarten & Preschool are all about exploring school. They are a foundation for school and I hope & pray my girls will love school & love to learn new things.

At the bottom of our theme paper (which is hanging on our white board) I have the verse,
"We love because HE first loved us" at the bottom as a reminder that we love because God loves us (no matter what!) and I hope that others will be able to see God's love through my girls & the choices they make.

I got them little favors as a Welcome Back to School treat.

(Thank you Michaels $1 bins)

They got a heart glow stick wand, a sparkly pencil case that had pencils, an eraser & a pencil sharpener inside.

Our meal was something the girls LOVE...breakfast for dinner (and red jello in heart molds)

I made waffles with my heart waffle maker, scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes & bacon.

2 happy little girls excited about the new school year.

And, our little guy, sporting his crown.

Dessert was Pizookies that I made in my heart baking dish & vanilla ice cream.

The Back to School Feast is for sure one of my favorite traditions that we do.
Love Others. Love Yourself. Love to Learn....It's going to be a good School Year!

One of my favorite things to do growing up was when my mom would take my sisters and I Back to School shopping. She would give us a budget  & we had to stay within it when picking out Back to School clothes. I have done that with my girls for the past few years. It is one of our favorite traditions.  The most exciting thing was figuring out which new outfit was going to be the 1st Day of School outfit!

I am so excited to partner with Kohls & Carters for their Back to School Collaboration. 

I bought Carters for my kids when they were babies, but I didn't realize that had such a huge selection for older kids.

Kohls has a great selection of Carters clothes that you can check out HERE 

My kids (and I) love Carters clothes. They are well made, comfortable & stylish!

Carters pajamas are the only pj's my kids will wear because they are the softest :)

  Every kid wants in on the fun of back-to-school season, so Carter’s provides an extensive assortment of easy outfit sets, coordinated collections and ready-to-play shorts and tees. From daycare to grade school, Carter’s has everything you need up to size 8,  which is perfect because Kate & Claire are size 7 & 8.

I am going to share some of our favorite purchases from the Carters Back to School collection!

This is what Kate picked out for the first day of school...which is in just 2 weeks!

This shirt:

{HERE}

With this skirt:

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She also liked these items:

This shirt:

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Kate loves shorts..how cute are these shorts & tops:

You could mix and match so many outfits!

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This is what Claire picked out for her first day of school outfit:

{HERE}

She also likes these outfits:

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This denim jacket:

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Other cute outfits we love....their leggings are the best because they are so soft & durable:

So many different designs {HERE}

Love these cute basic tops with the lace detailing:

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They also come in long sleeved!

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I ADORE this raglan shirt:

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It would be so cute paired with these jeggings:

{HERE}

This Fall Luke starts Preschool so this is his first time going back to school shopping with us :)

I think this shirt is what he will wear on the 1st day of preschool:

{HERE}

With these shorts:

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Here is what he picked out for everyday school wear:

This t-shirts:

{HERE}

This long sleeve shirt:

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These pants are super durable:

{HERE}

I love the variety of plaid button down shirts...there are 6 choices:

{HERE}

As you can see, Carter’s offers on-trend styles that provides easy solutions for both kids and parents alike.

We've been back to school for almost 2 weeks

The first few weeks of school are always crazy...trying to get back into the routine of things.

This year, I have a 1st grader & a 3rd grader!

 This year also marks my 12th year of teaching!

Love my new Stitch Fix dress! Perfect for the 1st day of school :)

The 1st week of school was a little rough, all 3 kids got fevers (& I had to pick up the girls early from school) and Claire got her first bee sting on the way to class one day. It was a crazy

We usually have our Annual Back to School Feast the 1st week of school, but because of 3 sick kids, we had it the 2nd week of school. 

 Ever since Kate started preschool, we have done a Back to School Feast to kick off the school year.
This is one of my favorite traditions!
Back to School Feast {2010}
Back to School Feast {2011}
Back to School Feast {2012}

Back to School Feast {2013}

Back to School Feast {2014}

  Each year we pick a theme for the year for the kids to focus on.

This year, our 2015 Theme is:

 I printed up some sayings & put them in frames:

We decorate the table & have our Back to School Feast outside:

 

 

 

 I also made tags for the centerpieces to go along with our theme.

 I love how they turned out.

 Succulents are perfect since we are in the middle of a major drought!

 Our menu is always Breakfast for Dinner (since that is the girls favorite)

I made homemade Buttermilk pancakes from scratch (so good!):

We also had Bacon:

Fruit (Strawberries & Blueberries)

 Hash browns:

 We said "cheers" with OJ

 We talk about our theme for the year.

My hope is that this year, my girls will Believe in Themselves.

As Claire heads into 1st grade, I pray she believes in herself & can take her reading to the next level...and learn to tie her shoes :)

As Kate enters 3rd grade, my hope is she continues to believe in herself...she is nervous/excited to learn multiplication & cursive.

Most importantly, I want them to BE themselves & BE friends to others.

Happy Back to School, Friends!

Do you have a Back to School Theme or goal for your kids?

Hope your new school year is going smoothly!