Back to School Prepping

I cannot believe that summer is almost over.  Anniston has less than 2 weeks before she starts at her new daycare.  I absolutely love back to school time- does that make me weird?  It means that fall is right around the corner, catalogs are previewing their new fall lines, and it means back to school shopping time!  One of my favorite memories growing up was when me, my mom, Allie, and my grandmother would go on our "back to school" shopping trip.  We would make an entire day of it and get all sorts of new fall clothes and shoes for school.  We used to have so much fun and I always couldn't wait to wear all my new clothes to school.  I hope to start the same tradition with Annie once she gets old enough.

We went by Anniston's new school today to drop off some paperwork.  This was the first time Anniston has been and she seemed to love it!  She took Allie's hand and led her into any empty classroom full of fun toys so she could play while I talked to the director.  Then we walked over to where the kids were watching a magic show so we could meet her new teacher.  Anniston loved the magic show (the magician had a bird) and almost didn't want to leave.  She is going to have so much fun here.  One thing I love about this school is that they have so many activities, both during the day for the kids and outside of school for the parents and kids.  I already have marked on my calendar the dates for the back to school picnic, the fall carnival, the mommy and muffins day, and the Christmas program.

I'm probably going to be that annoying parent that went overboard on the back to school essentials.  I have her 2 new lunch totes, a new backpack, personalized labels for everything, and I'm currently on the search for her a new blanket for nap time.  I love the new lunch accessories I bought for her too.  I went with laptoplunches.com for the bento style lunch containers.  Although we haven't used it yet, I absolutely love the product!  I bought extra containers so I can use different configurations, depending on what I pack for her.  Some of the containers are microwave and dishwasher safe, and it also comes with it's own set of little silverware.  This is the set I bought for Annie:

I also bought these special write on labels so I can label what needs to be refrigerated and microwaved. You can write on these with a dry erase marker and reuse!  Super excited about these!

These are the regular, dishwasher-safe labels I got off Etsy.  This pack even has some to put on the inside of her shoes!

via Sticky Monkey Labels

We have an open house to attend week after next to meet the other kids in the class and the teacher, so that should be fun!  I'm sure you will hear more about the new daycare and the fun events we will be attending once Anniston starts!  For now, we are enjoying these last couple of weeks, relaxing and playing around the house because it's about to get BUSY- but a good kind of busy:)