Five on Friday - 1st Day of School, To-Do Lists, & Lunchbox Station

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Well, we survived the first week of school, y’all!  I’m not going to lie, it kicked my butt but we made it to the weekend and it’s time for some fun!  But first, some favorites!

O N E – 1st Day of School

The kids started school on Monday.  It was Jacob’s first day of second grade and Olivia’s first day of Pre-K4.  It was also Olivia’s first day at her new school... she is now at the same school with Jacob (my alma mater) where they will both eventually graduate from high school.  That just blows my mind even thinking about it!

Both of the kiddos were so excited and very brave on their first day.  B and I were able to walk them in and get them settled.  We dropped Olivia first, and she marched right over to her cubby, put up her book bag and lunchbox, and made her way to her little spot at the table to start her coloring sheet.  She gave us each a big hug and a kiss and then we were on our way.  No tears from her at all!

The teacher sent a picture to us at the end of the day and said that they had all done really well!

We dropped Jacob off at his classroom next and he found his desk and started unloading his book bag right away.  We kissed him goodbye and then we were off… no tears from him either.  There were some tears from Mommy on the way out the door, though... and perhaps maybe all the way to the gym. 

I could not wait to pick them up from school later that day.  They were both ecstatic to see me and they talked my ear off in the car.  Both of them said that they had great days and they both love their teachers already.

The first day of school also coincided with Olivia’s first day of ballet and tap.  To say she was excited was an understatement, y’all!  Her class is an hour long and they do ballet for the first half and then switch to tap for the second half.  They don’t allow the parents to watch because they worry about the kids being distracted, so Jacob and I sat out in the lobby for the duration of her class.  When she came out she was beaming.  She loved it.

We finished the evening with breakfast for dinner at home.  That’s always the kids’ favorite thing to eat, so I thought it would be a nice little treat for them to have for being so well-behaved on their first day of school.  We had eggs, grits, bacon, and even homemade chocolate chip waffles. 

Neither of the kids had homework, but Mommy did!  Haha.  I had to cover all of Jacob’s workbooks with contact paper.  It was my first time doing it (my mom and dad used to do all of mine when I was in school) so it was a bit challenging to say the least.  The best part about it was seeing Jacob’s little note in his planner about it.  Second grade is the year that the teachers really start holding the kids responsible for their own school work, homework, and communication between teachers and parents, so Jacob got his very first planner on the first day of school.  I almost died, y’all.  You know how much I love my planner so this just made my heart swell.  #YesImADork

It was the perfect first day back and we could not be any more proud of our sweet babies.  I’m just in awe at how much they both matured this summer.  Time is a dang thief. 

T W O – To-Do Lists

Now that the kids are back in school, I have about 6.5 hours during the day to get stuff done.  I have a list a mile long of things that I want to accomplish before the end of this calendar year so I’m setting little goals for myself each day.  I’ve always been a very self-motivated person so I don’t typically need to “hold myself accountable” per se, but I thought that putting my daily to-do lists out on Instagram Stories might be a fun way to motivate myself on the days where I’m lacking the desire to get anything done.  Because we all have those days! 

So anyway, from here on out I’m going to try to get my to-do lists up on Instagram Stories first thing each morning, and then at the end of the day I’ll repost the lists with all of the accomplished tasks checked off.  And I’ll only be listing the special tasks that I don’t do on a daily basis.  In addition to what you see on the list, I also have a million other tasks that I do every day like dishes, water the plants, respond to blog emails, cook, pick up the kids, etc., but #AintNobodyGotTimeToPostAllThatStuffEveryDay

So anyway, feel free to follow along with me on Instagram if you don’t already!  I’ve always been a huge organizational dork and I LOVE to see organized spaces, to-do lists, planner spreads, and other things related to organization, so I know that would be something I would like to see.  (Yes, I know, the dorkiest thing ever.)  What about y’all?  Do y’all like looking at other people’s to-do lists and stuff like that or nah?

T H R E E – GYM TIME!!!!

Since I now have 6.5 free hours every day, one of those hours is going to be spent in the gym at least 2-3 times per week again and I think I’m more excited about that than anything!!  I joined the gym two years ago and have been going at least 2-3 times per week since, but this summer since I was home with the kids for 10 weeks that didn’t happen.  I did go the week they were in VBS, but other than that, I didn’t go at all. 

Needless to say, it had been six weeks since I had been when I finally popped in there on Monday.  EEKS!  I have been doing some floor workouts at home and doing my stair stepper all summer, but those things just don’t make my heart pump as fast as my beloved treadmill fast walks on a steep incline.  I was able to go twice this week and it feels fantastic to be back!!

F O U R – Lunchbox Station  

Now that we have two kids in school, that means I have to make double the lunches to take each day!  I’ve always hated lunchbox making because our kids are so dang picky about food.  On their first day of school, they both wanted home lunches, and I swear I felt like I ran around the kitchen 42 times just to round up everything we needed.  I decided then and there that I was going to make a lunchbox station.

I make lunches right at the kitchen counter each morning so I selected a cabinet right above my space so everything would be within arm’s reach.  I then gathered everything that we use for home lunches – the kids’ lunchboxes, meal boxes, snack boxes, paper bags, napkins, plastic spoons, post-it notes and a marker (for lunchbox notes <3), and some other fun little premade fun notes that I had on hand. 

I have one shelf for the lunchboxes, meal boxes, and snack boxes and then I have a shelf for everything else.  I used these little organizers to keep everything, well, organized, and then I also made a list of all of the different foods that they eat that work well in a lunchbox.  I hung the list in a clear sheet protector on the inside of the cabinet so every morning I can look at the list to get an idea of what to pack.  (I took the first pictures before I hung the sheet, but the last one shows it.)

Now all I have to do is grab the items I need from the pantry and the fridge, bring them to the counter, and everything else that I need to assemble the lunches is right there at my fingertips.  This may not be a huge deal to some, but it’s going to be a sanity saver for me each day.  The last thing I need is to start each day off on the wrong foot because I’m frustrated over something like making the kids’ lunches!

F I V E – DIY Embroidery Hoop & Fabric Polka Dot Wall

Did y’all catch my post on Wednesday?  After all these years I finally blogged about the wall over Olivia’s bed!!  I did it all myself and it was SO EASY, y’all.  So easy.  It was also cheap considering how much space it covers.  You can see the post here if you missed it!

Well, have a good weekend, everybody!  B and I are heading to the Taylor Swift concert in Atlanta tonight and I’m so excited I think I could just BURST!!!!  Brian is not.  Haha.

Happy Friday, y’all!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.