This week has been all about prepping for going back to school.

School starts on Monday and i'm so excited for my little first grader!

Kindergarten was only half day (2 1/2) hours so i didn't really have a chance to ever actually miss Jordyn. She's going to be gone the whole day!

To make sure i was prepared for the first day ( and week) of school i've been organizing and getting things prepared the past couple of days.

First thing i wanted to do was make sure i wasn't rushing in the mornings and had outfits organized. Jordyn picked out her outfits for the week and we labeled them accordingly. This is great because we can pick outfits for each week on Sunday night and not go into a panic every Monday morning.

I found these free printables here on sweetbellaroos.com

Jordyns closet doors serve as our morning and night routine lists. 

You know those awesome looking chalkboards with awesome looking writing on them that look like they took hours to complete and were written with the gracefulness and artistic talent of Picasso himself?......yea......this isn't that. But, it serves its purpose. 

Jordyns desk pretty much stays the same. 

The magazine holder to the right holds file folders that hold all of her school paperwork throughout the year. The yellow hanging pocket thingy ( i really don't know the name of it) holds sight words that we are currently working on and also has our address and phone number written on it. Her white cubbies hold all of her extra pencils, erasers, math cubes, sight word cubes, glue sticks etc..

I'm also still on the hunt for a desk chair.

Next i wanted to make sure that i wasn't scrambling in the mornings to get lunches together. 

This cabinet holds her lunchbox and any extra tupperware that i may need for her lunches. The pink baskets hold supplies for making lunches and any snacks that she may be taking that day.

Taped to the inside of the lunch cabinet is the school lunch menu. Jordyn circled days that she wants to eat school lunch.

The drawer directly below the lunch cabinet holds plasticware, ice packs, and lunch baggies.

In the fridge she has a basket that she can grab from and toss into her lunch. I pre-packaged baby carrots and grapes so we can grab and go. 

Hair is a big thing in the mornings. Having all of our everyday supplies in one basket cuts down on the stress of not being able to find something in the morning and running around like a maniac.

At the end of the day all of this really just boils down to the fact that i am not a morning person. I'm hoping that having these little things organized will make our going back to school experience a lot easier. 

I'm a little sad i won't hear Jordyn singing or screaming throughout the house all day....It's never the same when she's gone...

Xo, Jeanice

Funnel cake.

Last week while we were in NY we went to Coney Island. Zeke bought an 8dollar funnel cake that he took 2 bites of and threw away because it was overcooked and hard. Funnel cake should be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. mmmmm. yum. His was not that. 

So today, after a failed attempt at 'getting up early' to go to the dmv (we got there at 10:20 seriously, why is saturday the designated DMV day? We were given number 973.....they were on 720........we left.) Jordyn and i decided to try to recreate a funnel cake.( Jordyn ended up just licking powdered sugar off of everything...big help) I looked around on Pinterest and found that you can make a simple funnel cake from pancake mix! 

This was perfect since i JUST cleaned my kitchen and didn't want to make a big mess.

The process is really simple. I used a ready made-just add water pancake mix that i already had. Make the mix as usual and pour into a squeeze bottle of some sort.  You're going to need a pot and whatever oil you like to fry in. I used canola. Its what i had on hand. 

You're going to want to fill the pot with oil about 3/4 inch deep and make sure to keep an eye on how hot it gets. The oil will burn if it gets too hot. The desired temp should be around 375 degrees.

Starting at the center of the skillet, squeeze the batter into the oil and use a spiral motion outward. Fry  until golden brown. Let drain on a paper towel and top with powdered sugar and any other toppings you would like. I tried to convince Jordyn to top hers with chocolate syrup but that was a no go. She's not a huge chocolate fan. 

Um......amazing. Seriously. Such an easy and delicious treat. Jordyn ate a whole one and half of mine.

Happy Saturday!

Xo, Jeanice

Personalized creative writing journals

Journaling is not as valued as it once was. As a child i spent hours drawing, painting, journaling, writing stories and poems. 

Our children today are immersed in such a face paced, technology fueled world that thrives on instant gratification. 

And while technology is both a gift and a curse, we must not forget to allow our children to create stories and worlds in their heads and encourage them to put those stories onto paper. 

Creative writing is a great way to encourage our children's imaginations and to increase their love of words and reading. 

I love those composition books that are blank at the top and have lines on the bottom so that the child can write about whatever they would like, and then draw a picture to go along with it. I got mine at Dollar Tree.

As much as i love them, they are ugly. It's hard to encourage a love for creative writing without having something fun and creative to write in.  

Here are 2 creative writing journals i made for Jordyn.

They're both very simple to make. 

This one is simply painted with chalkboard paint. On the bind is washi tape.

This is fun because Jordyn can doodle on the cover as well.

Heres a tip: if your chalk leaves a "ghost" image after you erase, use a magic eraser, it'll come right off.

This one was created to match a painting that Jordyn painted that hangs in our living room

(Jordyn named this painting SECRETS OF THE RAINBOW)

For this one, i just painted the notebook with a primer, took a photo of the painting, and then printed the photo onto transfer paper. I then ironed the transfer onto the notebook. 

( if you mess up the transfer like i did...take some sand paper and scratch the whole thing up.....it makes it look like it was done on purpose!)

Jordyn LOVES this one. Its really cool to her that her painting is on her notebook. 

This is such a fun and easy project to do with your littles and there is really no limit to what you can create!

Xo, Jeanice

Back to school giveaway!

Summer is almost over and our littles are getting ready for back to school. Back to school shopping can be exciting and stressful and EXPENSIVE.

The National Retail Federation released its annual survey and says the average family will spend $669 on back to school shopping. 

 I only have one child and the expenses associated with school supplies gets up there, so i can only imagine how expensive it gets with more than one. That being said…...

I want to help out with your back to school costs with a back to school giveaway! 

Two elementary aged winners (k-5th grade one boy, one girl) will be chosen. 

each winner will receive a backpack full of school supplies!!

FOR OUR BOY:

1 circo dinosaur printed backpack and lunchbox

1 water bottle

1 pack highlighters

1 creative writing composition book

1 neon green composition book

1 pack filler paper- wide ruled

1 16 pack pencils

1 pack colored pencils

1 crayola crayons 24ct

1 pack crayola washable markers 10ct

1 pack crayola take along tissues

1 bottle hand sanitizer.

1 crayola water paints

1 pair Fiskers scissors in blue.

1 pack index cards multi colored

1 book cover

1 pencil sharpener

1 bottle elmers school glue

4 elmers glue sticks

1 giant eraser

1 pencil box-blue

2 folders.

For our girl:

1 circa pink and purple kitten print backpack and lunchbox

1 water bottle-pink

1 pack highlighters

1 creative writing composition book

1 neon orange composition book

1 pack filler paper- wide ruled

1 16 pack pencils

1 pack colored pencils

1 crayola crayons 24ct

1 pack crayola washable markers 10ct

1 pack crayola take along tissues

1 bottle hand sanitizer.

1 crayola water paints

1 pair Fiskers scissors in purple.

1 pack index cards multi colored

1 book cover

1 pencil sharpener

1 bottle elmers school glue

4 elmers glue sticks

1 giant eraser

1 pencil box-pink

2 folders.

The contest will be open until August 11th! I will then pick the winners at random and mail out the prizes ton August 12th! :)

The rules for the giveaway are very simple.

1. You must be following me on instagram @jeanicewebb

2. comment on this post or on the post on instagram or email me at THECONFIDENTKIDPROJECT@GMAIL.COM and tell me what your little is most excited about for back to school! I want to know!

3. Must be 18 or over to enter. 

4. US residents only.

5. One winner per household.

I also encourage you all to take a few dollars 1…2….3…4….5…whatever you can…and buy some school supplies to donate to your local back to school drive. It doesn't have to be much but every little bit helps. Even if you have to skip that 5 dollar latte for a day and buy 5 packs of pencils at the dollar store. It'll be worth it. 

Xo, Jeanice