vintage back to school shoot

Today is the first day of school and it's only fitting that we celebrate (yay!) with an inside look into a vintage back to school shoot that I styled last summer with my friend, Cindy Dueck of Confetti & Sparkle Party Shop.

Our kids + a friend were the stars of the shoot, modelling their best vintage looks while displaying extreme will power in trying to keep the sweets from the dessert table out of their mouths (at least until the end of the shoot!).  The shoot was set in an apple orchard with a ton of kid friendly sweets and treats surrounded by vintage decor.  Jadon had a ton of fun running around freely with his new friends - ones who now meet up regularly for Pokemon trading sessions, haha!

Now it's time to sit back, relax and enjoy some of the images from the styled shoot (more on The Swank Social's blog).  After all, we now have tons of time on our hands now that the kids are in school, am I right?!... so WRONG.

Styling:  The Swank Social + Confetti & Sparkle Party Shop

Photography:  Type A Photography

Cookies:  Whisk

Cake:  Cakes by Kristin

Apple pies:  Tracy Cakes Bakery Cafe

Caramel apple pops:  The Swank Social

Decor:  Spruce Collective

Back to school print:  Kardz Kouture

Florals:  From the roadside

Location:  Apple Barn


xo,
kristina

giving your child the freedom to choose + a Sears Canada FacebookContest! #SearsBabysRoom #BTS

Back-to-school!

I never thought I'd be so happy to hear those three words together.  This is Lil J's first year going back to school, or preschool rather.  In any case, it's a good thing - for both Mommy and Daddy and Lil J.  Plus, we get to go back-to-school shopping!!

Last Sunday was reserved for taking a trip to our local Sears to see what they had in store for back-to-school {pun intended!}.  Over the past few months, Lil J has been more vocal about what he wants to wear and he takes the initiative to dress himself in the mornings, so I thought our shopping spree at Sears would be the perfect chance to get him to start choosing his own clothes!

Much to my amusement, Lil J chose a number of licensed character tees and I had him pick two out of the many that were on his "must-have" list.  He ended up with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle long sleeved tee and a Ninjago t-shirt.  I may have added a pair of grey skinnies and a Canucks tee {my brother would be so proud!}:

The Office Depot Foundation National Backpack Program + a Giveaway!

At the start of each school year, The Office Depot Foundation has donated backpacks filled with essential school supplies to children whose families are not able to afford such items.  Through their National Backpack Program, the Foundation has provided more than 2.9 million backpacks to children around the world.

To mark its 13th anniversary, the Foundation is generously donating 300,000 sackpacks with essential school supplies, including a pencil case, pencil, pen, pencil sharpener, ruler, eraser and crayons, to children across North America and internationally.  The qualifying schools or organizations are chosen by the Foundation with input from local stores and district managers.

the solar system according to a 3 year old

You may remember my dilemma when I was in the midst of choosing the perfect preschool for Lil J back in August and I'm happy to say that I did - 100% {and if you're going to say nothing is perfect, this school is d*mn well near perfect!}.

This evening I had an "out-of-this-world" conversation {pun intended} with Lil J or, I should say, it was a one-sided conversation with Lil J doing all of the talking.  It went a little something like this:

Lil J:  Mama, the solar system is in outer space

Me {in awe}:  Yes honey, it is!

Lil J:  And the planets closest to the sun are hotter.

Me:  Yes...

Lil J:  And the planets far away from the sun are colder and Mercury is the smallest and coldest.  Mercury is far away.

Me:  Mouth drops open.  Also wondering if it's true.

first field trip: the pumpkin patch!

Last Thursday I went with Lil J to his first preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch.  What a proud mama moment!  He had been talking about it for weeks and making sure that I was coming with him by repeatedly asking me over and over {you get the picture}.  I had been thinking about it for weeks wondering how I was going to swing it:  school bus + baby in tow + a rumbustious toddler + no stroller + only one me = total meltdown.  That's the equation I came up with anyways.  Luckily, it was far from the truth.

As we walked down the street towards the school buses, Lil J couldn't contain his excitement.  He's been dreaming about riding a school bus for, oh, I don't know...two years.

Waiting to board the big yellow bus!

On the way to the pumpkin patch we talked about how excited he was to hang out with his friends and pick out pumpkins.  It had rained the night before so I knew we were in for a nice, muddy morning.

On our way to the pumpkin patch - so excited!

The minute we stepped off the bus, our boots were covered in slimy mud.  It wouldn't be a trip to the pumpkin patch without the mud!  I held on tight to Lil J's hand while Baby Z snoozed away in her carrier.  As we entered the pumpkin patch, I noticed some awesome wagons that would take us straight to the pumpkins!  This was {obviously} Lil J's dream.

On the wagon

On top of the wagon ride, we had some banjo playing entertainment and a chance meeting with the Pumpkin Princess {sorry, I didn't get a picture of her highness}.  When we finally got to the pumpkin patch, I just wanted to turn right around.  The ground was so muddy our boots were literally sinking in.  Luckily for Lil J, he had boots with traction on the bottom, unlike his smart mom.  As I watched other children slip and fall, one by one, I silently prayed over and over that Lil J would stay on his two feet and not make friends with the ground.  God only knows what a mess that would have been.

Thankfully, Lil J did manage to keep himself somewhat clean - no thanks to me.  I almost slipped a few times and actually had to balance myself on Lil J.  My poor poor 3 year-old.  My lifesaver.

We picked out two pumpkins - one for Lil J and a tiny one for his baby sister.  I couldn't imagine carrying any more than that.

Even though I anticipated that this field trip would be a disaster, it was actually pretty tame.  Lil J behaved for the most part and Baby Z pretty much slept through the entire trip.  We were ready to go home an hour before we were actually "allowed" to leave but made the most of it with bites of apples and some cheap Halloween entertainment.

All in all I had an amazing time with my son and wouldn't have traded the day for anything.  Our next field trip won't be until April when we visit the Aquarium.  Can't wait!

back to the grind

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous and safe holiday.  And now we are back to the grind, recovering from turkey comas and long credit card bills.

Whenever my husband and I are on holidays for a week or more, we tend to throw off our sleep schedule.  That being said, it also throws off Lil J's sleep schedule.  Yes, I am guilty.  I'm that bad parent that lets her 2 1/2 year old stay up until 11:00pm, midnight....

This morning we were back to our usual schedule:  daycare for Lil J and work for Mommy and Daddy.  Unfortunately, due to the disruption to our sleep schedule, Lil J did not fall asleep until about 12:30AM last night {or early this morning to be technical} and I had to wake him up at 7:00am this morning.  He was not a happy camper.  And, boy, did I ever feel guilty.

Once we got to daycare, I think the early morning was such a shock to his system that he didn't cry...didn't even utter a word.  He got a little emotional as I left but his teacher quickly swooped him into her arms and off I went...looking back twice for a final goodbye....only to have Lil J completely ignore me {a punishment for me leaving him}.

We're definitely going to make sure that Lil J is on track with his schedule the next time hubby and I decide to take a few days off.  Torturing the poor sleep-deprived kid is definitely not worth it.

off to school i go!!

The three of us were eating dinner this evening (minus Lil J - he had already gone to bed after not sleeping all day) and I told Miss S that I was going back to school.  Awkward pause.  Then she scrunches up her face and says "Isn't that like weird?".  I just wanted to die.  I mean, to her, I'm probably this old person that she won't be for a very long time (I'm only 27!).  To an 11 year-old it must be weird that a parent is going back to school.  They probably think school is only for kids. Once you have a job, you don't have to go back to school - right?!

If only that was reality!  It's an exciting and scary reality for me right now.  I just enrolled in an online course relating to my job which means my employer will pay for it - if I pass.  Or if my hubby says: when I pass!  That's a plus right?  Free money to continue my education?!

But I'm already having a difficult time juggling daily tasks and to add school in the mix sounds just plain insane to me.  So how exactly am I going to do it?  I already have ADD at work when I'm trying to concentrate on a task.  How am I going to concentrate on school with a toddler running around, screaming his head off and an 11 year-old teeny bopper going on 18?  This, my friend, is the challenge of a century.

So it seems.

It's terrifying.  It's refreshing.  It's crazy.  It's relieving.  It will hopefully be effortless but I know it won't be.  I'm scared.  Crazy scared.

Thankfully I have a supportive husband who will hold the fort while I'm off racking my brains about contracts and legal stuff.  All I have to say is that it better be interesting.

- swank|mama