Bento Lunchbox Giveaway

Haven't done a giveaway in a fair bit, so I thought joining with my friend Heather from Twin Dragonfly Designs for a back-to-school bento lunchbox giveaway would be fun- she is the queen of adorable bento lunches! See her ideas on her School Lunch Pinterest board HERE :) And then enter quick to win all the goodies to make them yourself! One lucky winner gets all this:  

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Neon Back-to-School Teacher Gift Tags

Truth: About this time every summer, I dig my heels in deep.

I'm not ready to acknowledge that my beloved summertime is coming to an end. I love school shopping with the boys and stocking up on perfect boxes of crayons. But I love hitting the lake and sitting beside our little blow-up pool while the boys play far more. That feel of the sun soaking into my skin and just the general, more laid-back goodness of summer... it never lasts long enough.

Still... my resistant heels and heart can't stop it. It's Back to School time, I know it is. So, I've agreed to participate in my sweet friend Emily from The Benson Street's Back to School Series this month. I picked a day at the end of July, of course... so I could hold out that little bit longer ;) 

Aaargh! Simple Pirate's Booty Valentines

With Cooper's Valentines in the bag (twice over even!), Ryder and I have been working on his lately. This is my baby, my little guy that goes just about everywhere with me. He and I conquer the world (or, the errands at least) while Cooper rocks the first grade :)

So recently he was bashing through Target with me and got excited over this crunchy bag of smaller bags of Pirate's Booty. Don't get me wrong, this white cheddar popcorn (it's kinda like part rice cake, part popcorn, honestly)... is super yummy and healthy at that. But really the best part is the name- what kid won't go for a snack called "Pirate's Booty"?!

Simple Valentines Gum and Washi Tape Arrows

I might have all boys around here, but lucky for me, they dig Pinterest. :) Oftentimes they look over my shoulder for ideas for boredom busters, or costumes... or Valentines. Cooper happened to see these Valentines arrows...

 and got super excited! He immediately decided he wanted to give arrows to his classmates instead of Nerds :) I actually lit up over them too- super cute. I wanted to be able to make them our own! (We actually tried using the tinsel at the base and it got really frustrating.) 

And so, this cute cute washi tape version was born! Cooper can actually help put these together, beyond just signing his name, and he loves that part. They are pretty self explanatory, but I'll share some more details just in case. :)

'Might as Well be Nerds Together' Valentines

I might be surrounded by boys around here, but somehow Valentines is still a favorite holiday. Cooper absolutely loves this time of year... before Christmas, he actually asked me how much longer there was until Valentines- silly boy :)

At night, when I lay with the boys to get them to sleep, he and I brainstormed ideas for what he could give out to his class. Last year we came up with his fun Valentines Snakes. In the process of coming up with an idea this year, he mentioned that he loves "those little tiny candies in the mini boxes." He meant Nerds- one of my favorites too!

Heart Owl Valentines with your Kids' Art

Why does it feel like it's been so long since I've had #myfavoritebloggers over for a get together?! It's really only been a month... it's just that a lot has gone in that month! It's time already to get into Valentines mode and this post gets to start the love day train around here!

It hasn't come soon enough for Cooper- this is his favorite time of year! We've been brewing Valentines ideas and I have some fun stuff to share in the works! For today, I get to share a cute, simple heart idea, along with these awesome gals:

From left to right, top to bottom: Marilyn from 4 You with Love, Me! , Adrianne from Happy Hour Projects, Bethany from Pitter and Glink, Lauren from Thinking Closet, Tara from Suburble, Nancy from Do Small Things with Love, Emily from The Benson Street, Kara from Happy Go Lucky, Sarah from Repeat Crafter Me,  ChiWei from 1 Dog Woof,  Melanie from It Happens in a Blink, and Kara from Petals to Picots.

First Day of Preschool!

Our baby started preschool last week! He couldn't have been more excited to be going for real :) 

Some silly pics in the process, of course :) Just the day before he started, he told me, "I wish I had other kids to play with." Aww... made me so sad! I said, "I know, is Mom just too boring?" He replied, "Well...ya." Ha, ha :) I try, but I'll just never be as fun as other kids!

Neither of the boys honestly care to help too much in the kitchen, but I have been trying to get him to be in there with me more. He plays playdoh or puts ingredients in :) Here we were making peach pear jam- Yum! He actually just played playdoh on this one- I thought he'd like mashing the fruit, but not at all! :)

And just for the fun of it... the boys are now trampoline magicians.... :)

First Day of First Grade!

Cooper is now a big time, all-day at school First Grader! I love this pic of him above on the morning of the first day just before we headed out to take him to school- you can just see his excitement brimming over!

These last few weeks, Cooper and Ryder have just really been struggling to get along very well! They just seemed so bored no matter what I tried. I thought that I might actually breath a sigh of relief with the start of school in all honesty... but I was wrong. I still had a tough time. And him being gone all day is such an adjustment! It's all good, of course... sometimes the stuff that is hard is what's good too :)

Ryder is starting Pre-School this next week too, but couldn't be left out :) He'll only be gone for two hours a day, two days a week. Boy have I been glad these last week that he won't be gone more than that!

He said to me a couple days ago, "Mom, you're my best pal." Melted, totally melted :)

This is gonna sound goofy, but honestly, having my kids in school kinda makes me feel a little more... whats the word... legitimate as a Mom. Stuff like packing a lunch in the morning and pulling through the drop-off line makes me feel like I'm a real Mom or something. I know, I know, I'm weird! :P Eventually it'll be bigger things that'll make me feel that way I suppose :)

Love these boys!

So proud of them and grateful for everyone involved in making their school days positive!

Simple Back to School Teacher Stickers Gift

Back to School time it is! This year I've gotten lucky and Cooper doesn't start school until September 3. And Ryder will be starting preschool September 10- they are both so excited!

They recently helped me with a super simple gift to give their teachers. I had spotted these really cute reward stickers at Dollar Tree and had the thought that they would be something a teacher could honestly use- my favorite kind of gifts! So I grabbed a whole bunch and whipped up this tag to share with you! (Any of you teachers? I'd love to know what your actual favorite thing to get is!) 

Simple Backpack Strap Holder with Duck Tape

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walmart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Is there such a thing as a backpack strap STRAP? Not really, right? I confess, I'm not quite sure what to call this nifty little Duck Tape® creation, I just know that it is indeed... nifty! :)

I picked up some Duck Tape® from Walmart to create this super simple, useful little strap holder- a cool back-to-school tool! It's not much at all, but it really is handy for kiddos!

school's OUT!

It's officially Summer!

We had a fun, full week leading up to Cooper's last day on Thursday.

Simple FroYo Card Teacher Gift

Hooray hooray for the last week of school!

I can hardly wait to have my Cooper back for the whole day!

To not have to make double trips to and from the school each day, 

to worry a little less about bedtime, 

to just have it be summer!

We've been thinking for awhile about what to give Cooper's teacher and aides as an end of year gift. I happened upon some threads on facebook where teachers were chiming in on what they most love to get. The resounding winner: gift cards! So, even thought they aren't really seen as a very creative gift, I decided gift cards it was!

In the Library!

For quite some time, Cooper has been bringing home small little books to read every night. And just last week, he finished all of those books his teacher has in her classroom! That means that he gets to start going to the school library each day to take Accelerated Reader tests! He was so excited to have something new going on during school time and to have made it through all the little books!

To celebrate and acknowledge his achievement, I put together a simple little gift and Ryder and I were waiting for him inside the school that day to give it to him! Ryder wasn't feeling ultra great that day, but he's still stylin' in Mom's sunglasses!

Now Cooper has his picture on the big display outside the library :) He is a great reader, even though we have to twist his arm to get all his reading done some days. We are so proud of him! 

And in other cute boy news: 

Hanging out, taking turns playing on my phone... Little everyday moment

Fall It Is

I miss my little blog here!

What's happened that I don't have as much to include these days?!

I need to get back in the habit of my trusty Rebel being in the mix of everything we do!

My phone has been hefty competition and I tell ya, it's gotta change!

Not to mention, it's high time

I designed a new printable or made some sort of craft- soon to come I promise :)

Truth be told... I'm not one of the masses that loves the Fall. (Gasp- I know, I know!) Yes, I enjoy the colors of the changing leaves, but the colder air just means goodbye to all the fun things I love doing in the water during the summer. I'd much prefer not to have to worry about jackets and socks in the equation of leaving the house or getting dressed. Fall means my beloved summer is over and lacks the romanticism or coziness of Winter. So, there you have it... these days I'm just biding my time for that first snow or first Christmas craft! The boys have been doing more indoor stuff as a result- like playing in the flour bucket ;) Or riding in the bottom of the cart at JoAnn... (I love this pic!)

This last week the boys both loved the Fall Carnival at Coop's school! I got to help lead the Make n' Take Crafts room, where kids could pay two tickets to make a little project they could take home. It was busy and messy, but fun most of all :) Meanwhile, Stephen helped the boys get around...

I stepped away from my own room briefly to get to watch them do the fishing game :)

Here there are at the table where they got to decorate their own mask...

 Classic, good elementary memories :)