Getting ready for back to school

Back to School Deals I found:

Gymboree.com just sent me a 20% of entire order in store and online as well. If you haven't received it go to Gymboree.com and sign up to receive notices.

I just got my Gap shirts I ordered online last week. I took advantage of their $5.00 shipping and got 5 shirts. I probably could have got the same deal in the store, but probably not as good of selection. I went to our Gap Kids over in Bridge Street here and didn't find any of the shirts they had online and they were not on sale. So, going online was definitely worth it.

Also, Gymboree has a sister site that runs great deals with a low $5.00 shipping as well. It's called crazy8's.com. It's worth a try if you are looking for quality clothes and bargain prices.

Ok here is my Old Navy rant for my shopping experience there. I got a great deal on jeans for the kids and track pants, BUT their shirts are horrible. The prints didn't appeal to either one of my boys and they looked like gang shirts. Maybe it was just our Old Navy, but we were not impressed with the selection of styles. Maybe we were late and it was picked over too good.

Looking ahead on how to start the school year:

I did get all of the boys school supplies and have them separated and ready to hall down to the school for supply drop off day next week. The boys are super excited about going back to school and can't wait. I plan on keeping the boys super busy with sports and after school activities to help us with the coming year without dad for a year. Sean has decided to play soccer and Colin will be gearing up for the spring season by keeping his bat warm for some fall baseball. My family will be coming first with our activities and my job's after work hour activities will have to just understand.

I will be performing with a former student and his family as they share a tribute of music to a loved one who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. I am enjoying practicing the music for that and looking forward to a great rehearsal for that this week. This next spring IMP will be doing the musical Rent here in town. Auditions are in November and I will be contemplating auditioning for that one. December I will be singing the soprano solos in the communities Messiah sing along that is performed every year for Christmas. I was honored to receive and email inviting me to sing that great Choral Masterwork. I haven't sung the Messiah solos in over ten years, so I will be practicing quite a bit. That will also mean I will be raising my voice less and less to the kids at school.

I am working on a project for Ryan that will allow him to see photos of us whenever he wants to see us. I am also working on catching up on some photo albums on shutterfly.com. I absolutely love the high tech scrapping booking. It's so easy to upload and let them make my books look beautiful. I also dug out our photos of our wedding way back when. They are so simple and nothing fancy. We do have a few dramatic ones that a local photographer did for us as a wedding present.