School Supply Shopping - Check

In hopes of increasing Malachi's enthusiasm towards school, I tried to make supply shopping super special for him.  This afternoon, instead of quiet time, I had a little date with him.  I had been driving on "E" (actually drove to and from another town 20 miles away on "E"...shhh...don't tell my dad!)  So, needless to say, our first stop was to QT.  I taught him how to pump gas and afterward, we went inside and he got a fountain drink.  He raved on and on and on about how this root beer was the best ever because of the special (crushed) ice it had in it.  "Oh man, this is great!". 

We then headed over to Walmart to pick up the essentials on the list.  He didn't have too many required items on the list...glue sticks, pencils, crayons/markers.  I did let him pick out a pencil bag (it wasn't required).  He thought the Transformer bag looked good so we got it.  We couldn't find a lunch  box he liked so we decided that we would shop at another store for that.  After checking out, Malachi proudly carried the bag to the car.

Next stop, Wichita.  He needed some jeans and shoes (and now a lunch box).  I had a coupon for "15% off everything" at Kohl's so I thought that might be a good place to pick up his shoes.  I was hoping that some of their name brand shoes would be on sale and with my coupon, the price would be comparable to what we would pay for shoes at Target.  I was thrilled to find just that!  After looking at their selection of tennis shoes, we narrowed in on the ones in our price range.  There was a pair of New Balance that I really liked (dark gray with green piping), but Malachi had his eyes set on this pair and it's exactly what he walked out of the store with:

 Oh how he "oohed" and "aahed" over these.  There were pricier pairs that he liked, but once he found out he could get these, none of that mattered.  While we were in the shoe department, these shoes caught my eye (for obvious reasons!).  They were on sale, too, and with my coupon, I, too bought these for comparable prices to Target. 

Our last stop was Target.  I thought I could get the best deal on jeans there and hoped to find a lunch box.  Malachi tried on a few pairs of jeans and we found a size and style that looks nice on him now and will hopefully get us through the year (and any possible growth spurt).  We then went to their school supply section and found a great variety of lunch boxes.  After pondering for a few minutes, he decided on this lunch sack.  No big surprise here:

Now, I was expecting to see lunch boxes like I had when I was a kid.  You know, the plastic squares with a handle that came with a thermos.  But like many things I grew up with, those are now "vintage".  They had stainless steel beverage containers, but I could not bring myself to spend $12 on it before knowing if it would last.  So James and I are in the process of reviewing beverage options.  Who knew that that would require research and thought?  I do have to stop for a minute to brag because Malachi REALLY wanted a Transformer stainless steel container, but I gently told him that it was just too expensive for a cup.  He didn't throw a fit or complain, he simply said, "That's ok, Mommy" and left it at that.  That's my boy!

When we came home, Malachi was all too eager to show everyone his school supplies (well, mostly just the shoes and lunch sack).  His teacher came by while we were gone to drop off his first assignment that is due the first day of school.  I'll post about that next week!

Oh and it goes without saying that Samara is head over heels in love with her shoes.  She put them on immediately, complained about taking them off to go to bed and couldn't possibly understand why I wouldn't let her sleep with them beside her.  That girl and her shoes =)

*Malachi's first day of school is a week from today*