Five on Friday - First Day of School, Gymnastics, & Other Faves

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Oh hey, I posted all five days this week!  Considering this week has been bonkers, I’m going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for that.  ;o)  Life’s little accomplishments, right? 

This week Jacob started first grade, Olivia started gymnastics, Olivia had her end-of-year class party, we had meet the teacher night at Olivia’s school, I had a beloved (and rare) girls’ night out, and tonight we’re attending Jacob’s school’s back-to-school social assuming it doesn’t rain… it’s been raining for 40 days and 40 nights here, though, so I’m not holding my breath.

But anyway, yeah, our calendar has been a bit crazy this week.

Now for some favorites!

O N E – Pottery Barn Book Bags

Can we take a minute to appreciate how excellent Pottery Barn's book bags and lunch boxes are?  Jacob has been using the same book bag and lunch box for two years and he is about to start his third year with the same ones.  And guess what?  They still look brand new. 

He is a boy and he is rough with his things, but these bags are so sturdy that they can withstand the constant tossing, kicking, and dragging that comes along with having a boy owner.  I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve arrived at the school to pick him up from the extended day program and his book bag has just been laying somewhere on the floor instead of hanging on a hook like it should have been.  It’s been kicked around, dropped out of the car, used for beach trips, used for summer camp, and used for his entire Pre-K 4 and Kindergarten school years and it does not have one rip or broken zipper.  And it doesn’t even look dirty.  These things are GREAT. 

If you are in the market for new book bags for your kids I highly recommend Pottery Barn.  They have tons of different colors and designs to choose from, and they also have different sizes depending on how big your child is. 

A few things to note:

1.    I would advise that you buy one of the ones that is darker in color because the lighter ones do get dirty faster.  A lot of the kids at Jacob’s school have them and the girls’ bags that have a lot of light pink/silver on them always show the dirt more. 

2.    Jacob has the book bag in size SMALL and it has been perfect for Pre-K 4 – First Grade.  Once he has to start carrying more books back and forth we will have to graduate to the LARGE.  I personally wouldn’t ever recommend getting the PRESCHOOL size… from what I’ve heard, they are way too small and they barely hold anything so you won’t get as many years out of them.

3.    You can get them personalized which is perfect since everything has to be labeled at school anyway.

We love ours so much that Olivia already has a new one that she’s going to use for Pre-K 3 next week and I’m hoping that she’ll be able to get at least four years use out of hers.

Right now all book bags and lunch boxes are 20-40% off with FREE SHIPPING so now is the perfect time to buy!  And yes, they are a bit pricey, but if you get 4-5 years out of them, they end up being cheaper than a book bag from Target!  PLUS RIGHT NOW THEY ARE ON SAAAALE!

And no, this is not sponsored in any way.  I just genuinely love these bags.

T W O – Jacob’s First Day of First Grade

Our baby boy started First Grade on Monday and I can’t even believe it.  I took the day off Monday because he had a half day with no after school care, so I actually documented that day for a Day in the Life post that I have coming up soon.  Since that day will be documented in its entirety in that post, I won’t go into too many details here, but I will tell you that Jacob is LOVING first grade and he has had a fantastic (and exhausting) first week!

T H R E E – Our Little Gymnast

Neither of our kids have ever done extracurricular activities, so what did we decide to do this fall?  Put them both in something!  Going from no activities to two is going to be crazy, but we are all excited about it. 

Olivia kicked it off with gymnastics this past Tuesday.  I was hoping to put her in dance, but she has been begging to do “nastics” or “ger-nastics” for the last few months, so who are we to tell her no? 

Her class is going to be every Tuesday at 5:10, and we attended her first one earlier this week.  She was really excited about wearing her new leotard, and I pulled her hair back in a ponytail to keep it away from her face and she was ready to go! 

When the teacher called her name I was worried that she was going to want me to go with her, but nope, she took off running straight to the teacher. 

The next 45 minutes was filled with somersaults, trampoline jumping, flipping over the horizontal bar, and practicing handstands.  She looked like she was totally in her element and we think that she’s going to thrive there. 

When she came running out after the class was over, I asked her if she liked it and she said, “YEAH!!!!  But I don’t like flipping over that bar.” 

So I guess we do have one hurdle to cross.  

F O U R – Class Party

Olivia also had her end-of-the-year class party this week.  They had an ice cream bar with all the toppings – different syrups, marshmallows, sprinkles, and cherries.  She asked for extra marshmallows and ate it up.  We are definitely an ice cream loving family!

She has had a great year in her two’s class and now it’s on to Pre-K 3!  I can’t even believe it.

Oh nothing, just standing around reading a magazine and looking like a teenager.

F I V E – Girls’ Night

I met up with four of my favorite ladies this week for some margs and Mex.  These nights are so rare these days because all of us are being pulled in different directions with our kiddos, so I really cherish every second that we do get together.  I’m extremely grateful to be able to keep in touch with them on a daily basis via texting, email, and social media, but nothing beats real live conversation with your besties.  Nothing.  It’s good for the soul.

As a matter of fact, it was so good that I was so completely wrapped up in conversation that I failed to snap even one picture.  Not one picture of my marg, not one picture of the chips and free cheese dip that our long-time favorite waiter still brings to us after all these years, not one picture of our smiling faces. 

But we’re not going to call it a blogger fail this time… we’re gonna call it an in-the-moment living life win!

I did take a picture of myself at Target before GNO, though.  This cracked me up.  #TargetGirlForLife

S I X – BONUS!!

I couldn’t not mention one of my very favorites from this week, so you’re getting a bonus favorite!  I have been wearing my new LipSense lip color most of the week, and it continues to amaze me time after time.  If you want to see for yourself, click here for my review as well as contact information for my girl, April.  She will be happy to hook you up with some LipSense of your own!

Three cheers for the weekend!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites,  September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.