Weekend Recap ;)

 

Happy Monday, friends!!!  This weekend was just what we needed - some downtime, some "get our junk together" time and a whole lot of rest.  

Friday was a super fun day - we do an "on campus retreat" for our middle schoolers and these two besties were dressed and ready bright and early.

Friday Favorites

 

   Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

First up on my list of FAVES is the first day of school!  It's just so much fun and excitement and there's nothing better.  G-squared was loving it ;)

Three Things First Day of School

- STEM - 

Luke qualified to be in the advanced STEM science class and he is SO EXCITED about it!  It's right up his alley and this means he gets to go on the Big Bend trip this year!  

- CROSS COUNTRY -

Luke hasn't done a Fall sport before and he's running cross country this fall and loving it!  Their first meet is next Friday and I have no clue what to expect but I'm so looking forward to watching him run this season!

- GROWTH SPURT -

I knew that Luke had gained a few inches this summer but it really didn't hit me HOW much he'd grown until I snapped his first day picture.  MY WORD has he grown and changed so much this past year and the change between when he started middle school and now is UNREAL!

Back to School Brinner

 

Happy Wednesday, friends!  Our first day back was yesterday which means one of favorite nights of the year was Monday evening - our Back to School Brinner!  

Amazon Lately

Another month of prime purchases are on the agenda today!

First up is  this set of camera protectors/covers for my phone.  My last camera cover cracked (but did the job, apparently!) and these were super simple to put on and look great.

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday, friends!  This weekend was a BUSY one - most importantly MY KIDS ARE HOME FROM CAMP!  There is nothing better than having all your kids in one spot!

Friday Favorites

   Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

First up is  this sweatshirt!  Y'all know plants and hoodies are two of my favorite things so it's no surprise that I'm in love with sweatshirt.  I always order up a size or two because COZY and I can't wait to wear this outside my house sometime in the future when it's not 9000 degrees outside. ;)

You, By the Numbers

Today I'm resharing my go-to first week of school activity.  It's simple, fun, gives you quite a bit of insight into your students and makes a great classroom decoration after the fact.  I'm working on a new activity for this year (since half my students will have already done this with me last year) and will share it in a couple of weeks if it works well and my students like it. 

 I'm always on the hunt for a first week activity that lets me know a little bit about my students without putting them on the spot.  Because what's more intimidating than having to come up with something interesting about yourself on the spot in front of a whole class, right?!?! 

I gave each student a paper divided into eight sections with a circle in the middle.  They were directed to put their name in the center circle and then through numbers tell me a little bit about themselves. 

Here's the example paper I  made about myself a few years back...

B2S - Family Calendaring

Today I'm resharing my "calendaring" post from last year because...

1) This is a commonly asked question I get asked this time of year

2) School has been kicking my tail this week (reentry is tough - hahaha) and I didn't have time to rewrite it as planned 

I'm hoping that you can glean a tip or two from here and I'd love it if you'd share your organization/planning/calendar tips in the comments!

 So I don't know if "calendaring" is a real word but I'm running with it.  Our family has a lot of moving pieces - three kids in activities, two working parents, you get the idea.  I get asked often about how we stay organized and although I was super resistant (#teampaperplannerforever) we switched to using shared apple calendars last year and it's been THE BEST THING EVER!

The main problem that I had with my paper planner was that I didn't have access to it all the time - and if I had it with me inevitably Dave would need to see it for some reason and it just wasn't working at all.  I know that some of y'all are like, "seriously?!?! she's blogging about Apple calendar... I've used that for years" and I get it!  I wish I had listened sooner!  So today's post is for those of y'all on the same struggle bus we were on, ok? ;) 

Joyce's Flank Steak

After eating steak tacos a few weeks ago I was talking to my mom and asked her for the flank steak marinade recipe she used to make often growing up.  I almost immediately got this via text....

... and prepped everything the same day.  

HAPPY Campers

 

Happy Monday, friends!  Just like that my kiddos are BACK at Sky Ranch for another year of the "best week ever" ;)

Friday Favorites

   Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

Y'all know drumline is one of our very FAVORITE things ever and there was a DCI competition in McKinney on Tuesday so when we heard there was going to be a drumline showcase put on my one of the groups we had to go check it out. 

The event was SO GOOD but clearly listening to a drumline inside of a metal building when it was well over 100 degrees outside was NOT Griffin's FAVE ;) hahahaha

Dippin' dots though were a favorite ;) 

This steak taco recipe has been a FAVORITE...

... I love that the "marinade" only takes 30 minutes and the meat comes out great every single time.  I'm planning on making  southwest bowls next week and using this steak instead of chicken and seeing how it goes.

We've been working on one of our FAVORITE puzzles this week.  It's a DOOZY and we're nowhere near done but that means I'll get to finish it on my own next week when they're all at camp ;)

This is the one we're doing if you're into puzzles - it's a really fun one and HUGE!

Y'all know that most of my FAVORITE dresses are Free People and I think I may have found  another great one!  I LOVE a midi length (great with so many shoe options) and am always on the hunt for dresses with sleeves so I don't feel like I need to wear a jacket with them at work.  Isn't it darling???

It also comes in  this great purple color - I ordered both and will keep you posted on which (if either!) I end up keeping.  I have several chambray dresses already so I'm hoping the purple is as pretty in person as it is online because I would love to add that color to my wardrobe.

I had no clue that my boys had never been to Cracker Barrel?!?!   Apparently it came up in conversation while.G and I were at Frozen and so Dave took them for "guys dinner" and they have a new FAVORITE restaurant ;) hahahaha

School supplies are one of my FAVORITE THINGS EVER and this recommendation from a teacher/mama friend is one of my new FAVORITE things...

One of the biggest hurdles for kids going from elementary to middle school can be the organizational challenges... nobody is telling them which folder and where to put things, they have 6+ teachers, etc.  She recommended  this as a homework folder and that's how Mason's planning on using it.  This will stay with him in his backpack and is where he'll put homework that he receives that needs to be completed as well as homework that's completed that he needs to turn in.  Hopefully having one "hub" for everything will help him stay organized and feel like he has a handle on homework!  (I also ordered him  this one that has 6 dividers since he has 6 classes - we'll see which one he decides to keep!)

Last, but not least - this crew is one of my very FAVORITES!  Can't believe they're all about to be in middle school!!!

HAPPY Friday, friends!!!

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