Back to School with JCPenney

I just have to stop for a second to marvel at these two boys right here - how in the heck am I so lucky to be their Mom? And how did they get to be so grown up? It feels like just yesterday that they looked like this...making me all crazy and tired and afraid that I was going to mess them up or something. 

Levi is entering Kindergarten this year and Simon will be a big second grader. I have had such deep nerves about sending my second born into school even just starting with a half day program. He is wildly shy and introspective (like his Mama) and I am anxious for him and also excited as he makes the transition. But when I look at the photos of these two absolutely beautiful goofballs inside and out I know that it's gonna be all right. These two have mad love for each other - what a gift that they will be in school together (I am totally crying right now as I write this just so you know...blubbering actually).

As the first day approaches I have been thinking about back to school shopping and supplies and such and was so incredibly honored when JCPenney approached me about collaborating on a first day look for each of the boys. We are so very blessed but funds are always always tight in our home and a provision of new clothes and shoes for the boys was an incredible gift to our family! JCP sent us gift cards and these two got to do a little shopping spree at the mall!

We hadn't been shopping in ages for clothes for the boys and so I was super surprised and pleased at the selections we found at JCP. And almost everything we got was on sale. This entire stack of shirts, some long sleeve some short, none of them were more than ten bucks! Each of the boys picked out a pair of jeans too, my red lover got his dream of a pair of red Arizona jeans and Simon went classic. We also bought them each a new hoodie and a new pair of shoes and socks and all of this was just over $200. A great value to get us set for back to school. When we were checking out they also gave us fun pencil bags filled with tapes and stickers and goodies!

After dinner the other night the boys decided they wanted to do a little impromptu fashion show of their first day looks so they both styled their own clothes and Simon even went into the bathroom for a bit to get his hair just right. Chris and I were cracking up at him! We snapped a few photos in the evening light. It was such fun moments for me with them Levi especially shocked me at how excited and into it he was. I don't think he is as nervous as I am for the first day I know he is ready - it just goes so fast this process of growing up (blubbering again :)). A very very special thank you to JCPenney for helping us get ready for back to school. Seriously JCP did send us gift cards to go shopping but I am allowed to give my honest feedback and opinion and would definitely recommend checking out some of their adorable stuff as you get ready for school - we found high quality for a great price!!

OK deep breath Mama...I can see that high school is going to come way too fast!

back to school

Just a few small glimpses from this past week. Simon headed back to school on Tuesday, first grade this year. I didn't share much about his school experience last year here on my blog. That season was full of so much unexpected including the decision to put him into half day kindergarten in December after finding out that I was pregnant and the reality that we had moved, pulled the boys out of their preschool and pre-k programs and it frankly wasn't in our budget to do preschool anyway.

We put him into kinder fully planning to have him repeat since he was one of the youngest in his class but he did really well and excelled in math and reading and so his teacher talked us into going onto first grade. But in so many ways this felt like the "first day" for us as a family sending our big boy off officially at the beginning of the year. New classmates, a new teacher, packing a lunch every single day, so many firsts for all of us!

We hosted our second Back to School Dinner on the eve of the big day to celebrate the start of a new season and we shared with the kids our family scripture for the year as well.  Matthew 5:14 "you are the light of the world" we hope to focus on what it means to be light in the places God has placed us over the course of the next twelve months an incredible challenge for us as parents as well as for our little ones. It was a super fun evening shared with some of the grandparents offering prayers for our kids especially and our family as a unit.

My big boy is growing up so fast. This is his sweet little nervous smile. We have been blessed that he is super courageous and usually enters into new social situations without much more than a "see you later" but I could tell he had some butterflies...such a tender spirit my sweet Simon! 

To a new year fresh for the taking with much opportunity, growth, blessing and new challenges around the corner!!