It's that time guys. We are hanging up our towels and drying our swim suits. It's back to school we go. Today we opened a box that had arrived recently...from our friends at General Mills. And boy was this ever the perfect way to get us in the mind set... With goodies from a handful of power Moms, my boys made their way through that box quickly...

The box was full of back to school goodies. A mini chalkboard and chalk is the perfect way to write notes and a clip for the fridge is perfect for hanging our calendars.

The survival guide from Mommy Shorts was a huge hit with a brush, batteries and a bright yellow container for holding Cheerios.  These items were totally random to me until I read the Mommy Shorts Back to School survival notes that came with: * Morning hack #2: Hand over the TV remote only after your kids are fully dressed; just make sure it's charged! (AA batteries - ah ha.) * Morning hack #7: Brush during breakfast so the kids sit still. (Gavin now brushes his hair every 30 minutes. His coif has never looked better.) * Morning hack #9: Pack extra snacks for after school munchies.  (they were fighting over this tiny box like it was gold or something.)

My personal favorite among this group of items was the Family Calendar Cookbook by Kelsey Banfield. We are huge fans of Kelsey! We ran a giveaway for her first book the Naptime Chef which was a brilliant collection of recipes that she came up with while her kid was napping!

When the kids pulled her new cookbook out of this box I gave off a small squeal and immediately packed the book to take to the beach with us yesterday.  I was a total nerd sitting on the beach writing out my meal plans for the next few weeks...

Of course the box included our favorite cereals like Chex! I was instantly inspired to whip up a Chex party mix for our guests who were coming over yesterday afternoon, saving the rest of the mix to use for after school snacking for the kids.

Now we're knee deep in laundry, labeling clothes, packing our school supplies and prepping lunches. It was a GREAT summer but we are ready for the air to cool down and to see all our friends back at school!

This blog was not sponsored just a big ol' Thank you to our friends at General Mills.