{Almost} Wordless Wednesday: Back to School

And just like that... 4th grade and Kindergarten....

Photo's taken with my #nx300 Smart Camera from Samsung for the #Imagelogger program. Also used fun apps like Beautiful Mess and Phoster to create memories from the images.

Back-to-School *GIVEAWAY* $50 Gift Card to Westfield North County and VIP Event

 

My favorite commercial will always be that old Staples one - you know, the father skipping through the aisles to the tune of "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" while the kids pout? Yup. It's that time of year again...

THEY ARE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL!

While I know we have mixed feelings about this - the structure, making lunches, etc - all of us are happy to have a little more kid-free time in our day. And to celebrate this WONDERFUL time of the year, I'm teamed up with Westfield North County mall to give one lucky reader a $50 mall gift card and VIP passes to the Unlock the Fun event on August 25th at 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.  

Do you have a Teen or Tween? Or maybe a kid that thinks they are? (raises hand) Then you can't miss this fun BTS event next week!

Westfield North County is welcoming the back-to-school season with its FREE, family-friendly ‘Unlock the Fun’ fashion event, helping teens and tweens “unlock” the hot styles and trends for the new school year. Four ‘Unlock the Fun’ stations will be located throughout the shopping mall:

Ask A Stylist- San Diego-based national style expert Jennifer Rosson, founder/owner of Style Your Life and an elite Stylist For Hire hand-picked by “What Not To Wear's” Stacy London, will be on-hand to offer her personal styling tips and share the hottest back-to-school trends for tweens and teens. (Located at: Level 2, near Nordstrom)

Braid Bar & Nail Art: Bellus Academy will host a Braid Bar offering back-to- school worthy do’s and mini-manis complete with colorful nail art. (Located at: Level 1, Target court)

Mini-Makeovers: Make-up artists from leading UK-based cult brand Boots Cosmetics, available at Target, will be giving shoppers glam mini- makeovers and sharing their expert beauty and skincare tips. (Located at: Level 1, Target court)

Locker Installation: Daily from Thursday, August 22nd to Sunday, August 25,th during mall hours, shoppers at WNC can text to receive a combination that may unlock one of five colorful, oversized interactive lockers featuring fabulous prizes including an iPad Mini, gift cards and concert tickets to some of the hottest acts in music today. (Located at: Level 1, center court).

Additionally, daily from Thursday, August 22nd to Sunday, August 25,th during mall hours, shoppers at WNC can text to receive a combination that may unlock one of five colorful, oversized interactive lockers featuring fabulous prizes from WNC’s retailers.

Texting one of the SMS phrases to 51515 will give shoppers the chance to receive the code to open a locker holding surprises like, Maroon 5 concert tickets, on-trend clothing, an iPad Mini, back to school supplies and giftcards

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winner will receive:

-  $50 Westfield North County gift card.

-  The opportunity to attend (along with one guest) the Unlock the Fun VIP

event on Sunday, August 25th at 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

This includes:

- Meet and greet with Style Expert Jennifer Rosson.

- Experience the four Unlock the Fun stations prior to the general public.

- Beverage and dessert reception. 

GOOD LUCK and Happy Shopping!

Back to School...

And just like that, summer is over. 

Today the kids went back to school. Emotions were running deep this morning. Excitement, nerves and even a few tears... and I'm sure the kids felt the same way too. 

I deal with anxious times by throwing myself into a project, and this year it was all about capturing and creatively displaying these "first day" moments. Using no less than four different apps, I came home from my two drop-offs (Zoe's in an afternoon 1/2 day program) and cropped, colored and collaged away the emotions that come with the milestones of your children's growth.

First Lucas:

Picture taken with Olympus PEN E-PL3 / App used: Phoster

My big kid. He loves clothes and accessories and picked out his own BtS outfit this year from Tillys. His back-pack was courtesy of the Land's End Back to School event I went to while in New York. I will admit that I was worried it wasn't going to be cool enough for my very style opinionated 8 year old, but he loved it. And it's a nice, solid backpack that looks like it can take a 3rd grade beating.

This was also the first year of the "Stop it Mom, you're embarassing me!" phase... but I still made him hold my hand as we walked down the hill. 

Picture taken with Olympus PEN E-PL3 / App used: TurboCollage and LabelBox

Lucas is wearing the Lands' End Kids' School Rules Classmate Backpack in Medium. It was a gift to me for attending the New York event, and it's currently on sale for $27!

Zoe:

My little pickle who is growing up too quickly.

Picture taken with Olympus PEN E-PL3 / App used: PhosterThis 2-year kindergarten thing will get confusing when it comes to pictures, but I'm SO happy she is in this program. Entering kindergarten isn't something you think of when you first have a late-fall baby, but wow, the decision of to hold-back or put in can drive a parent nuts. 

Zoe is my little fashionista in the making. She chose this dress and the slouchy ankle boots to go with it. She wanted to wear lip gloss, but I wouldn't let her. YES. I wrote that my 4.5 year old wanted to wear lip gloss to her first day of kindergarten. 

Zoe was excited and nervous. She told me she had butterflies in her belly, but she couldn't wait to meet new friends and play with them on "her new playground." Her teacher seems amazing. She created the curriculum for this transitional K program and is excited to be able to give the kids a proper, solid foundation. Zoe got a little clingy when it was time to line up, but then she marched right in with a smile on her face. 

I managed to hold it together while standing outside the class, waving good-bye. But as I was walking back to my car a mom behind me said "Great, now I'm going to go back to work and sob at my desk" ... and that's when I lost it.

My baby; Growing up too fast. 

Picture taken with Olympus PEN E-PL3 / App used: TurboCollage and Labelbox

So home I came. The first Monday afternoon I've had to myself in what? 8 years?

After pulling myself together, I downloaded pictures and created collages. Putting my mind to work and trying not to think about how fast my kids are growing while simultaneously trying to make sure that I never forget the special moments of these precious years.

Picture taken with Olympus PEN E-PL3 / App used: Phoster