School starts NEXT WEEK for us and I just can’t believe summer is over.
Have you done your back to school shopping yet? I found some amazing deals at Walmart.com for school this year. I ordered them online so they were delivered free to my door in just 2 days. It was so painless! I remember going to the store and trying on so many clothes and it was such a big hassle when I shopped for back to school clothes growing up!
The boys clothing is seriously good.
I’m all about neutral prints and basics with my boys and I couldn’t believe the quality and price point that walmart.com has.
I grabbed a pair of shoes for Cash for under $10. They are great and basic and surpassingly well made for such a great price.
My boys tend to wear out their shoes differently. Bradley’s feet are narrow, so most shoes fit him well and he usually does a good job at keeping his shoes last throughout the school year. Cash has wider feet, so there have been a handful of shoes that I couldn’t pass on to him from Bradley. He is my shoe demolisher, and it looks like Eli is following along in his footsteps (pun intended).
THE BELOVED “SOCCER SHOE”
I looked high and low for a cute athletic shoe for Eli last year that he can wear to school and to play soccer (we call them his “soccer shoes”, which makes him love them more). I tried out these Nike Revolution 4 shoes and loved that they had an easy on easy off velcro strap. The fit his wide little feet, and best of all..they are so durable. For an entire year Eli has worn his beloved soccer shoes to the park, riding his scooter, the beach (weird, I know), school, Disneyland, everywhere. They held up so well that now that he’s outgrown them I turned right around and got the same exact style from Finish Line at Macy’s.
I WANT A SHOE JUST AS COMFY AND DURABLE TOO
I didn’t leave Finish Line at Macy’s empty handed either. I fell in love with my Adidas Ultraboost 19 sneakers earlier this summer, so I picked up another pair in the coolest colorway from Finish Line at Macy’s. It’s white, tan, and black with a pop of coral at the bottom. So chic for a sneaker. I wear these to the gym, on short runs, to the park, running errands with the kids, or on walks with the family. They have this ultra cushy bounce to them. I love this neutral colorway paired with an all black workout look, or with leggings, an oversized tee, and cardigan for an everyday look.
YOU KNOW THEY’RE GOOD WHEN YOU GET THEM TWICE
Both shoes have passed my style and comfort tests and I know we will love these pairs as much as we each loved our first pairs. Eli’s Nike and my Adidas shoes are both available at Finish Line at Macy’s.
What?? I can’t really wrap my head around this. Am I sad? yes. Am I excited? also yes. We have had such a fun carefree summer. The boys swam in our pool almost every single day and they played their fare share of Fortnight (…thank you for the introduction to this game Garrett…). They also started piano lessons and quizzed each other on math flash cards (mostly so they can sweet talk me into playing Fortnight afterward).
So back to school shopping is upon us. This can feel stressful and overwhelming…but it doesn’t need to be. I don’t know about you, but the number one clothing item that my kids blow through are jeans. I’ve tried lots of different styles of jeans, and there are a lot of jeans out there that wear holes in the knees lightning fast (not just because my boys play hard) and plenty that I bought and couldn’t get my boys to wear because they told me the jeans were too uncomfortable.
YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN OUR DRESSING ROOM..
So this year I took my boys into Abercrombie Kids and we tried on EVERY single pair of jeans they had (you think I’m kidding? I’m not. Our dressing room had 5 granola bar wrappers and the content of my entire purse all over the ground when we were finished…thank you Eli). It took over an hour but I FOUND THE JEANS. Like..THEE jeans. The shape, fit, and style of jean that worked well on both Bradley and Cash.
KIDS JEANS FOR ALL BODY TYPES
The thing about these two is that they are best friends and have completely different body types. Bradley is tall and lean and rocks skinny jeans. The problem is I try to pass his jeans on down to Cash, and Cash’s huskier build doesn’t work with super skinny jeans. I was thrilled when I found the ultimate kids jeans that fit both of my boys perfectly and felt like a comfy pair of sweatpants. This means I can pass Bradley’s jeans on to Cash and Cash’s jeans on to Eli!
They are made to move and bend and stretch right along with your kids! That means less holes in the knees and a longer wear. The jeans are soft like sweatpants but also thick and durable to last a nice long time.
Cash about died and went to heaven when he saw this Tiger flip sequin tee. He is constantly fiddling with things (pens, legos, paper…he always wants to be touching something and inspecting things), so the fact that he can change the color on the tigers face was the ultimate for him. I love that they made this sequin tee with a boy design!
If you tryout these kids jeans for your kiddos let me know what you think! I was so happy with the quality/fit of them, and this will keep me from spending more money on pairs of jeans that won’t last me very long!
School starts in just over one week! I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that their school starts in August. A big part of my wants the full month of August to still be summer!
Sometimes I think about the fact that I send off my kids to school 5 days a week for 6 hours a day to learn from others and it kind of freaks me out. While it is so good and so important, my mom heart is just full of worries. “Will they learn the right things?” “will they have confidence” “will they stick up for what they believe in?”. I know I can’t be with them every second of the day (because…lets face it. We would all go insane).
So what I’ve started doing is telling them a few phrases each morning or night and having them repeat it back to me. These words of affirmation boost their confidence. Also, I love that they hear me tell them these things first, and that they say them out loud to themselves. There is so much power in saying things out loud! My hope is that when they struggle and when I am not around, that phrases like, “I am brave”, “I am strong” will come to their mind.
In the summer we have been reciting these words of affirmation at night before bed. But once school starts I like to do it in the car on the way to school. It’s usually pretty chaotic in the morning trying to get out the door. So I try to combat a stressful morning by using these words of affirmation to mentally prep them for a day of school while we are driving.
SOME WORDS OF AFFIRMATION I LIKE TO SAY
I am smart
I am brave
I am kind
I am happy
I am obedient
I am considerate
I am a good listener
I am silly
I am handsome
I am loved
I am helpful
I am important
Usually, I make up what I say as I go depending on what they need in that moment. If Cash has been super grumpy that day I will have him say “I am happy” as one of his phrases. Also, if Eli looks me dead in the eye while he pours his glass of chocolate milk all over the kitchen floor, you better believe “I am obedient” will be one of his phrases. I say about 7-10 “I am” phrases, and I always end it with “When I grow up, I will do great things!”. Because ultimately, that is what I want for them. Furthermore, I want to give them all of the tools that I can to grow up and do GREAT things in this world!
BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING:
THE BEST PLACE TO GET KIDS BASICS ON SALE
Have you started your back to school shopping? I highly recommend checking out JCPenney for the basics. You can beat these V-neck tees on sale for $3! Almost every item we are wearing in this post is on sale, so I broke it down for you below so you can see which ones are on sale and stock up for your kiddos!
Pro tip:
Order online. It’s so much easier than trying to wrestle them all in the store! JCPenney has some incredible steals on kids basics! The boys school only allows solid color tops and bottoms. So JCPenney was the perfect place to stock up on solids t-shirts and shorts for such a great price!
I always get them a pair of athletic shoes and I love that JCPenney carries Nike’s. Shopping JCPenney online was great because I narrowed down a few athletic shoes that I really loved, and then pulled up all the images and let them pick from those options.
THE BEST KIDS BASICS ON SALE NOW
Basic Kids V-Neck tee: They come in 10 colors and are all on sale! Bradley’s white tee is on sale for $3 right now!! I got them for $4 each and I thought that was a steal. Also, I’m going to stock up and you should grab some before the colors sell out! Good fit/quality and you can’t beat this price!
ON BRADLEY: 
ON ME: 
