First Day of School!

Yesterday was Thomas and Caroline's first day of school in their new classes! Thomas moved up to the Young Toddlers class (Caroline's old class!) and Caroline moved up to the Twos class. Tear! 

The first day was a bit hectic as we were two hours late after noticing Thomas had lost a contact. We also missed "Parent Night" while we were on vacation so we had no clue where Caroline's new class was located. And we forgot diapers and wipes for both kids. Oh, and breakfast was already over and C's classroom was empty (we later found her friends on the playground) by the time we arrived. So yeah, not the smoothest first day of school but neither kid cried so I'll count it as a success!

In Thomas's new class he now sleeps on a mat which I always find incredibly impressive and he also no longer uses a paci. As for Caroline's class, the biggest change is the class size. There are 14 kids(!!!) in her class now which also blows my mind. I honestly cannot imagine chasing 14 toddlers around for 8 hours. 

Naturally, I snapped a few "first day of school" pics...

Caroline only snuck one contraband item past me into her backpack - my lip blam. Normally I wouldn't care but I'm down to my last pot (all of my others have strangely disappeared) of my favorite lip balm so I promptly slipped it back into my pocket when I discovered it while unpacking her bag at school. That girl, so sly. 

When the kiddos arrived home I asked Caroline what her favorite part of her first day was and she told me it was the pineapple she had for lunch.So I'd say we're off to a GREAT school year ahead!

Essential Daycare Items (our picks!): Backpacks // Sunscreen // Tennis Shoes //  Diapers // Wipes // Triple Paste (!!!) // Favorite Blankets

Previous Posts:

2015 First Day of School 

2014: Caroline's First Day of School

At Home Date Nights & Favorite Games

I've loved the questions from readers asking about our at home date nights and our favorite games. To be honest, our Monday through Thursday evening routine is pretty lame and usually consists of catching up on TV shows and/or working after the kids go to bed. So by Friday we are more than ready to kick off the weekend with some quality time together. Trust me, I loooove getting dolled up for a date night out with my hubby but babysitting + uber rides + cocktails + dinner can add up quickly so we definitely can't do that every week! However, that doesn't mean we can't host our own little date together at home on the reg.

So after the kiddos are in bed (with both of their magical sound machines blasting on high), we retreat to our backyard with some cocktails and the baby monitor. We turn on the bistro lights, set out the patio furniture pillows, turn on the Thermacell to block the mosquitoes, and turn up our favorite Pandora station over the portable speaker deck (side note: if you don't have one of these, add it to your Christmas list!!!! best gift ever!). Then we bust out the games -- loser is responsible for refilling cocktails! Here are some of our favorite two-player games:

Phase 10 // Skip-Bo // Bananagrams // Jumbling Tower // Uno // Table Topics // Backgammon

For dinner we keep it super easy so our time spent together isn't cooking. I usually make a low prep appetizer (caprese salad is our go-to recently), throw meat on the grill, oven roast or grill some fresh veggies and serve a pre-made dessert from the teeter bakery. 

Some of our favorite EASY summertime grilled items include Grilled Cheese, Cabernet Burgers (prepped the night before), Pesto Shrimp, pork chops and steak! Side note: We recently started picking up our meat from Trader Joes and I am so impressed with the quality of their filet mignon and pork chops -- highly recommend!

Also, we've been waiting all season long for patio furniture to go on sale to finally swoop up this beautiful and comfortable 5 piece rattan wicker sofa set for our backyard. My crazy internet sale shopping finally paid off when the price dropped to half off. I love that the cushions are plush, all of the pieces can be separated and positioned for larger group use, the cushion covers are removable for washing and it came with some pillows!

 And that's a peak into our at home date nite!

Would love to know your favorite games too!

Five on Friday!

Happy Friday!

one. Last weekend Matt assembled our new patio furniture. The instructions estimated a 3 hour assembly time but with the help of two minis it took about 9 hours.

 

two. There is nothing worse than stepping out of the shower to a towel that smells like it sat a little too long in the washer machine! Every now and then I deep clean all my towels at once. Here's how I do it: Wash your towels in hot water with one cup of vinegar (only). Wash towels in hot water again with 1/2 cup of baking soda. Throw them in the dryer and enjoy your fresh towels!

three. It's been a hot minute since I blogged about my love for Parsley Plus, but I just received a new bulk shipment and had to give my favorite earth-friendly household cleaning product of all time a shout out. If you love the smell of fresh herbs this product is for you (and your counter tops!).

four. We are working SO hard on getting Tom Tom to graduate from taking a few steps to walking! He definitely knows how to take a few steps at a time unassisted but always ends up choosing to crawl instead. And if he isn't crawling he is climbing. He knows how to get on and off Caroline's bed, can get on and off the couch by scooting a chair over as a step stool and is frequently found just standing on top of his chair laughing at us having a heart attack. Anyway, we are beyond ready for him to begin walking so we can set him down in public places, ditch the snap & go stroller and give him a little more independence. Plus he moves up to the next class in two weeks and will be on the big playground every day and really dislikes crawling in mulch so we're working hard to get him to let go of the tip of our finger and take off. Also, the most steps he'll take at a time is to...you guessed it...his sissy. She is so dang cute with her cheerleading "Come on, Tom Tom! You can do it! Come here! Come to me! Come on!"

five.  Favorite HelloFresh meal this week goes to...Steak Fajitas with Kiwi Salsa & Crispy Beans!!! Hands down the best fajitas ever. And kiwi isn't something I would ever think to add to my tex-mex but I'm so glad I did. Check out this recipe to make it yourself.

I received 3 more promo codes to give my friends a FREE box of HelloFresh meals! I'd be happy to send the first THREE people to leave their email address in the comments a free week of HelloFresh to try!  

Not one of the first 4 to comment but still want to try HelloFresh? Use promo code MG8GKD for $40 off your first box! That means you can try out HelloFresh for $29 and then cancel after your box arrives or keep on going. 

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Wanna join April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...

1.) Write your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).

2.) Share the logo on your blog and link back. 

3.) Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!