The past two months have flown by, as expected. Some of us are now trading in our lazy days of Summer for homework and extra curricular activities.
Here are your free first day of school printables.
Click the image(s) you desire. A printable version will populate. Select landscape orientation and print!
Have a great school year!
Dusts my apron off to bring you this oven roasted rotisserie style chicken…
Often I see a car in my area with a sticker on it that says something about loving your family by cooking them good food. Don’t quote me on it, but it is something to that tune and I believe that is so true. Life is tiring enough, might as well eat good food.
We’ve been rotating the same quick meals over and over these past two months. The children head back to school on Monday which means I’m back to meal prepping. I’ve been perusing a few new cookbooks I’ve picked up and I am exciting about trying out some new recipes and sharing them here.
Sunday, I relied on an old faithful recipe for oven roasted rotisserie style chicken slow cooked in the oven. If you don’t have a rotisserie at home, slow cooking and using a flavorful dry rub will give you the same effect. I do suggest using a roasting pan to make sure you get the crispy skin on top.
This dry rub is so simple and I’m absolutely sure you already have everything in your pantry to whip this up.
Wash your chicken well, and pat the skin dry. {There is an article floating around about whether or not to wash chicken prior to cooking. I always wash mine.}
Then you want to coat the chicken with olive oil, if you are in the mood to be unhealthy use melted butter like me!
Once you’ve smeared on your flavorful liquid of choice rub in the spices. The chicken is now ready for the oven.
After 2.5 hours cooked at 300 degrees let the chicken set for about 10 minutes before digging in.
If you are being intentional about making your life easier during the week, you will have leftover meat so think about other recipes you can use with the leftovers like pulled chicken sandwiches, chicken salad or quesadillas or omelets. Here is a recipe I made with pulled chicken that was really quick and tasty.
Ten days from now, including weekends we will be saying goodbye to summer and hello to the hustle and bustle of a new school year. School supplies and shoes have been purchased and I’m getting my mind right to head to middle school orientation in a few days. This school year will be a little different, it is the first time I will have children in different schools. I’m a little nervous about my son’s transition to middle school. Keeping in mind everyone’s journey won’t be mine, I still listen to the horror stories I’ve heard about the transition to middle school and can’t help but be a little on edge. Send spiked coffee for my nerves, okay?
Going into a new school year, I believe parents and children should have goals. Knowing my children’s goals helps me plan to help them succeed in reaching their personal goals.
Y’all know planning is imperative for me and as I try to put systems in place for this new school year I’m just reminding myself to breathe and take it one day at a time. My main goal for the upcoming school year is to simply plan ahead and find ways to make my life easier. The main component of this is making sure I plan our meals in a way that I only have to cook 2 days out of the week for 5 days worth of meals.
Lofty? I know. Cooking everyday is the bane of my existence. With crockpots and instant pots and all of these new gadgets I’m sure I can whip up at least 2 meals in one day. We’ll see.
My daughter says her goal is to, ” Do more by myself and keep my room clean.”
Word?! I’m all for her independence, and it will require me putting some systems in place for her as well. One of the things I did last year that really worked was getting with her every Sunday to plan out her outfits. Once they were selected, I ironed them and put all of the items together on a hanger along with her hair bow so she could get herself ready in the morning.
This year will be no exception. She’s really excited about the new pieces that we’ve picked up from Gymboree. I’ve stated before I love Gymboree’s age appropriate and colorful fashion. I can let her assert her personality and pick out her own clothing without having to police her choices.
How cute is the little zipper mouth on this dress?! Unzipped it is a full pocket, in which she plans to keep her lipgloss she says.
This dress is her absolute favorite. This girls loves some bling. Please note that everything she picked out has some kind of sequins or shine on it.
Gymboree Funny Face Dress | Brown Tall Boots
Gymboree Pretzel Tunic | Eyelash Leggings | Headband
Gymboree Sneakers Tee | Sequin Stripe Leggings | Glitter High Tops
We did a fun little video showing off her Gymboree back to school styles!
Gymboree is still around! While some of their stores are closing, shopping online is still an option, and their Back to School collection is full of fun and color. I’m happy to give away one $50 Gymboree gift card to one lucky winner. Enter below!
What are some of your back to school goals for the upcoming school year?! Some of these items I wish they made in my size, what are some of your favorites from the Gymboree back to school collection?
I suppose my children should consider themselves lucky that their parentals hail from locations that are popular tourist attractions. Their father from Miami, myself from Washington D.C. Since we visited Miami earlier in the summer to spend time with my husband’s family I thought it only right when the opportunity presented itself to take a quick trip to D.C. to visit my family.
Our first tourist stop was the African American History and Culture Museum. I have received so many questions about our experience there that I am going to attempt to answer them here in this post or direct you to a place on the web that can offer more insight if you are planning to visit. Mingled in with the pertinent information I will share my thoughts and feelings as well as photos of items and words that struck a chord, good or bad with me during our visit. I think everyone who has a desire to understand the plight of African Americans should visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture at least once in their lifetime.
I truly believe favor isn’t always fair. Much like my anticipation of standing in a long line to get into Magnolia Market in Waco when instead we were able to walk right in, such was our experience at the AAHC. We walked up to the entrance to ask where to go for standby tickets. Had a little chat with the attendant and she kindly told us to walk right in. We are so thankful for her generosity but seeing how that was a one in a million chance here is the proper protocol for entrance.
*If you are aware of your travel dates ahead of time go online here to reserve your tickets. Please note these advance timed passes are released monthly. The next release is scheduled for August 2 for visits that will occur in November.
*If you are planning an impromptu trip there are a number of same day tickets released daily at 6:30a. You will have to login at that time to try and reserve. We tried this option at 6:30 and did not get any. Be online early and ready to hit the button at 6:30 if you want a chance!
*If you are visiting during the week, in addition to the same day tickets you can also try your hand at a walk up ticket. Walk up tickets are handed out starting at 1p WEEKDAYS ONLY. Get there early if you are thinking about this route. The line was long at 12p when we got there.
You can find all information regarding individual and group passes here
One day will not be enough. Prior to going I heard people say this and was sure we would be the exception.
We were not.
The information is vast and your desire to see everything will require you to visit at least 3 times. Unless you live in the area, you will not have that luxury so expect to spend at least 5 hours there to get a good glimpse at a good amount of the material. I suppose once the Summer is over you may have a better chance of getting it all in in less time, even then I still think at least 2 full days would be needed.
With the sheer amount of people present you will not be able to read everything, instead I took photos of names, events and locations that I wanted to learn more about. I have since compiled a list that we as a family will use to do our own personal research.
I thought the exhibits were very interactive and very much child appropriate in their presentation. My daughter had tons of questions, and although we have discussed slavery and some of the tougher issues regarding segregation etc. in depth, I think seeing the artifacts and photos really put things into perspective for her. If you have not exposed your children to some of the more raw and harder subjects surrounding African American history you may want to give it an overview before going and talk them through the exhibits in language that is age appropriate or at their level of understanding.
Yes! The first two floors were very crowded and a bit irritating as you try to maneuver around people. Around the middle of the 2nd floor the crowd thins out a bit. We went on a weekday, so I can’t really speak for the weekends but I imagine the way the exhibits are set up the further along you move the crowd thins out as people begin to move at their own pace.
Overall the exhibits were well thought out and effectively shared the chronological progression of African Americans through slavery, emancipation, segregation, religion, music, theater, sports television, you name it, they covered it in the most interactive and thought provoking way. On a trek to the restroom I observed an elderly white lady in a wheelchair sobbing as she read an excerpt on the first floor. I didn’t know her story, and as I started to speculate on her past I didn’t. The enormity of what has happened and continues to happen in this country to people of color should bring tears to the eyes of more people. The exhibits here were raw and real, and I commend the manner in which they were presented. There is no need in sugar coating the plight of African Americans in this country. A journey that has been filled with hate, struggle, hope and success, a journey that unfortunately is rearing itself to be cyclical through systematic racism and hate. I left with feelings of grief, confusion and accomplishment.
I left feeling that only a select group of people can be torn and ripped from their families, deprived of simple human rights, and yet somehow make a way out of no way blazing trails in every aspect of human imagination. It made me want to do more and be better and educate my children more on our history and not text book history. I’m still processing a lot of it but one thing is for sure…..
I HAVE NEVER BEEN PROUDER TO BLACK IN AMERICA.
If you have the opportunity to visit, please do.
