Mommin' It Up!

August 4, 2011

Things I Love: Lands’ End School Uniforms

Well, happy Thursday! This week for Things I love Thursday (hosted by the lovely Jill at the Diaper Diaries), I will share some of my back-to-school EXCITEMENT with you. Because I am suuuuuuuuuuper excited that my kids are going back to school in a mere 19 days. Holla if you HEARD ME!!! Joshua wears uniforms to his school, and so I am excited to bring you a Lands’ End school uniform review, because as you all know if you have read this blog EVER, WE.LOVE.LANDS’.END!! And I have been clothing Joshua in their uniforms for three years now. They are fantastic! Here’s my cute little 2nd grader all decked out in Lands’ End and ready for school!

He’s wearing:

Short-sleeve Mesh Polo – this classic has recently been re-vamped and will now look like new for much longer! The 100% cotton mesh resists shrinkage and fading and stains wash out easier than ever before. I love the monogram with Joshua’s school logo. It looks awesome and it was easy for me to search online for Joshua’s school. It is part of the Preferred School Program so when I purchase uniform items with the preferred school number, the school earns cash back!

Plain front Iron-Knees Stain & Wrinkle Resistant Chinos – Iron Knees!! I love it! This is a new product that I am really excited about. Little boys are tough on the knees of their uniform pants, and these pants combat that with a hidden interior knee patch that is undetectable from the outside. Pretty sweet if you ask me! Can’t wait to see how these last when Joshua puts them through the paces!

Microfleece half-zip jacket: I love this because it looks super-sharp with the school logo, and it is just as warm as a sweater but more lightweight. Perfect to layer over the uniform polos, or alone for “dress down day” that Joshua’s school has a couple Friday’s a year.

School Uniform Boys’ All-Weather Oxford Shoes – I LOVE these shoes! My kids always wear Lands’ End shoes but before these there were no uniform shoes that Joshua and I both liked. These Oxfords are perfect. They are the oxford version of the famous Lands’ End All-Weather Mocs. They are tough and comfy but have that dressier look and laces. I love the durability of Lands’ End shoes and I am sure these are going to last Joshua all year!

Boys’ Solid ClassMate StudyHaul Backpack – I LOVE how Lands’ End has so many different sizes of backpacks! Joshua has used a Lands’ End backpack for the past two years but it was really too big for him (although it still looks like NEW) – I wanted to get him a smaller one for the next couple of years, and we’ll put the big one back in rotation when he needs to haul more than just his homework folders and lunch box. The StudyHaul (which really is for a smaller kid, I would say kindergarten to third grade-ish) has two big compartments to organize stuff, plus a removable pouch for school supplies, and mesh pockets for water bottles, etc. And I love the way it looks with Joshua’s name on it! There are lots of other ways you can personalize, too!

Lands’ End has lots of adorable girls uniform options too! Next week I’ll share those with you. My niece Murrin, is going from homeschool to junior high so her first day of 8th grade will be her first day of SCHOOL, and she will be looking great in her Lands’ End uniform. Come back next week and you’ll see why I also love Lands’ End girls uniforms.

Don’t forget to check out Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries!

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Lands’ End provided me with these uniform items to review. All opinions are my own.

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August 3, 2011

Impromptu

Ain’t no party like a last-minute party! This is what I learned yesterday after some wild and crazy impromptu fun with some girlfriends and their kids. You see, it just so happened that by chance, several of my girlfriends’ husbands were either out of town, working late, had class late, or in my case were at a good ol’ RAWK CONCERT! So my friend Jen, not knowing everyone’s situation, put a message out on our “house church ladies” facebook page saying “hey late’s have a late play date at the park if you can because my husband is out” – so I joined her, because I always do what Jen says. 🙂 Our friend Celia was thinking of joining us as well, but she wasn’t feeling well so she didn’t show (lame). After awhile, it was getting close to dinner time, and Jen decided to take her brood to Skyline. Now, I HATE Skyline, so I planned on taking mine home and feeding them peanut butter. But then, the clouds parted, the sun shone, and I saw THIS (thank God for SmartPhones!)

Cortney’s Facebook status. She was unexpectedly husbandless for the night as well! I immediately texted her: “Whatever you’re getting, get me some too”. And she texted back, “Come on over! We’ll order pizza!” And I was all, “Can Jen come too?” and so Jen and I gathered up our large number of children and headed over to Cortney’s house. While we were in process, Celia called – she was feeling better and wanted to see if we were still at the park – “Come to Cortney’s house!” I said. (Cortney LOVES it when I invite people over without asking her!) So Celia and her kids came also. Within a few minutes Cortney went from a night alone with her two boys to her house being packed with 4 moms and eleven children!

And it was awesome! So, so much fun. We fed the kids, threw the big kids in the finished basement and we sat up and talked with the little ones. It was such a nice way to spend a husband-less evening, with friends, laughing and eating, instead of being tired and frustrated and counting the minutes til bedtime (not that I do that…).

So thanks to Cortney for her hospitality and to Jen and Celia for being flexible! And thanks to my Droid for letting me see Facebook from the park so I could impose!!

Love ya girlfriends!

August 2, 2011August 10, 2011

Giveaway: Photography Package from Smith Digital Photography

Over the weekend, my family and I had the pleasure of doing a photography shoot with Lindsey Smith from Smith Digital Photography.

And when I say we had the pleasure, I’m not being sarcastic – which is miraculous, really, because typically photo sessions drive me to drink. You should have seen the times Jenny and I took our tiny babies – Kate and Joshua – to Target to have their pictures taken together. Oh, if we’d only had this blog then, posts about those experiences would have definitely qualified for the “Greatest Hits” page.

But I digress!

Sunday’s shoot was a lot of fun. We met Lindsey at Eden Park in Cincinnati, which was the perfect backdrop. Lindsey is the mom of two little boys, and she was fantastic with my kids. Kate couldn’t wait to get in front of the camera lens, but Sam had fallen asleep in the car on the way there and wasn’t in the best picture-taking mood. Lindsey was able to get him smiling and joking anyway, and got some great shots.

I could continue to wax poetic about our photo shoot, but instead I think I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

I love them! It was hard to pick my favorites from Lindsey’s online proofing gallery (a very convenient feature in and of itself).

Lindsey very generously offered to photograph my family so I could write about my experience, and she would also like to extend that offer to one of our readers. We’re giving away a full portrait session for one lucky reader!

The session includes:
— A 60-90 minute session on location in the Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky area.
— 45-60 final re-touched proofs in an online proofing gallery.
— Client’s choice of 25 high resolution digital files with printing rights.
— $50 print credit.

To enter, “like” Smith Digital Photography on Facebook and then leave a comment on this post telling us you did so. For an extra entry, post a link to the contest on your Facebook status (tagging Smith Digital Photography and Mommin’ It Up would be awesome!) and leave an additional comment for that.

The giveaway will end Tuesday, August 7, 2011, and a winner will be chosen randomly. Good luck!