Our Back to School Routine & The Cutest New Styles at Walmart

August 14, 2023

Hi friend! Welcome to a fresh, new week!  We’re back from the beach and it was such a good trip!

The beachfront house had 4 bedrooms and a big living area, which allowed everyone to have plenty of resting space and also room to be together.   I hope we make this trip an annual tradition – it’s a beautiful thing to watch the cousins grow up together.  The littles are quite the pack and the teens are their own crew.

Our potluck back-to-school picnic was Sunday evening at school with all the faculty and staff, and the dads always do a big bbq for everyone. It’s a special way to kick off back to school and it helps everyone accept that summer is over and it’s onto the next chapter.  Of course, the kids were excited to see all their friends again and I enjoyed chatting with all my mom friends.

Back to School Prep

In the weeks leading up to school starting, we had to make sure all.the.things were done so that the back to school transition is as painless as possible.

School supplies ordered – yay for Walmart!  My daughter has already been playing with her school supplies and new backpack.  I was the same way, heck! I still am!  I get giddy with new pens, paper, stickers and journals.

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Shop Walmart Back to School Supplies

Kids summer homework – both kids had reading assignments + projects and Jordan also had math to do online.  It was no easy task getting her to do her math this summer, but she got it done last week!

Register James for high school test prep course – he’ll be joining some friends for this, so hopefully we can carpool

Kids’ physicals for sports – check!

School forms filled out – always more forms

Update school wardrobe.  My kids wear uniforms and us moms are great about saving and giving gently used clothes to each other.  James got clothes from Brock and Jordan got clothes from Ali-Shaun’s daughter.  I gave to Traci and Tarah’s kids.

Buy new school shoes – my kids didn’t need new sneakers, but this year they have to wear dress shoes for Mass.  I’m just now ordering those.  Most of the boys will be wearing Hey Dudes.

Add school calendar – I always put all the school events, holidays, grading periods, etc on my calendar for the year and refer to it often.  It helps so much with future planning.

Grocery shopping & meal planning – My kids usually take their lunch to school, so time to stock up on those things and also make a plan for quick dinners at night.

I still have Omaha Steaks in my freezer and we also brought the burgers to Galveston and my brother grilled them.  They were delicious!  They also have ready to heat side dishes and the yummiest desserts!

Teacher Gifts – we like to start the school year off with a note of appreciation for our teachers and a little gift.

Back to School Routine

Establish a sleep/wake up time – The biggest thing here is getting into a good bedtime and wake up routine.  I wish I could say we started this a week early, but nope.

It’s last minute for us, so what I have to do is anticipate that the kids will be exhausted on day 3.  It’s always day 3, but that’s Friday for us this year, so that will be helpful.

Our school starts at 7:50, so we usually leave the house by 7:15, and they’re at school around 7:30ish.

I like to wake up and have quiet time to myself for reading, writing, and coffee, so I wake up around 5:30.  My kids get up around 6 and I’m lucky that they usually wake up on their own without much prompting.

Evening Routine – For the evening, it kinda depends on the sports schedule, but I like to eat dinner early around 5:30 and start the evening wind down about 8:00.

After I get my daughter to bed, I’m usually not too far behind (goal is in bed by 9pm for me), and I’ll read until I fall asleep.  I definitely like a good 8 hours of sleep.

Morning Routine – when my kids were little, I used charts to help them learn how to get ready in the morning.  Now that they’re older, they get dressed and ready on their own.

My 8th grader also makes his lunch and my 2nd grader helps me pack hers or lets me know if she wants to order that day.

We check the lunch calendar when it comes out and she’ll circle the days she wants to order.

Gym Routine – on the positive side, I get to have my regular gym routine back.  It’s always off during the summer because I don’t leave the kids home alone when I workout.

With school starting again, I’ll go to the gym right after I drop off the kids at school and workout for about 45 minutes.  I like to get my workout out of the way early and have it done for the day.  I go to the gym about 5 days a week.

Walmart Fashion

When I say goodbye to Summer break, it makes me ready to welcome the Fall vibes into my home and wardrobe.

Walmart has some seriously cute Fall fashion out now if you’re in the mood too. 🙂

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Shop Walmart Fashion

I’m sending you all the good vibes for getting your kiddos back to school.

It can be bittersweet and I was definitely that mom that always cried on the first day of school.  I think I’m past that now, but I remember how sad I felt sending my little ones off to school after being home with them all summer.

Now let’s go kick Monday’s booty!