Friday Favorites {#47}

Hello and Happy Friday! How’s it going? We’ve had a good week around here, and it actually felt like winter! We are back in a school groove with only a few evening activities, and we’ve been enjoying the holiday season so far.

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Favorites from this week:

Angel Tree:

Purchasing gifts for families on the angel tree is one of our favorite family traditions. It’s fun to let the kids pick out gifts for the kids on the list. As a family, we sponsored a boy and girl and then Hayden and Hadley’s pod also bought presents for a family as well. Of course, I try to instill in the kids to always be grateful and always help those in need…not just during the holidays.

Black Friday Discounts:

I’ve never been a Black Friday shopper, but we took advantage of a sale at a local retailer once I saw that our weather was taking a turn to the colder side early this week. Hadley’s coat was 50% off and Hayden’s was 30% off. My kids know I love a coupon and a discount. I tell them they should never purchase anything full price. 😆

Candles:

After picking out the kids’ coats, I made a stop in Bath and Body Works and picked up some holiday season candles. They had buy 3, get 3 free, so I picked up two hand soaps, two 3-wick candles, and then 2 single wick candles. On my way to the register a nice customer handed me a coupon for a free single wick candle, so I ended up with a third candle! I was very appreciative.

I always pick up the ‘Winter’ candle every year. It has such a clean and fresh smell. I love it so much.

Running Buddies:

The weather was warm enough on Sunday for a run, and I looked out the window to see Trav and Hayden stretching after their afternoon jog. They looked like twins! Homer didn’t get the invite for the run!

Turkey Rice Soup:

We usually use the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving for soup on the Friday after Thanksgiving…but I didn’t end up making the soup until Sunday. It was the perfect Sunday night dinner.

SnOMG:

Monday and Tuesday mornings we woke up to snow! I knew there was talk of colder weather and some precipitation, but I was still surprised to see measurable amounts of snow both mornings.

I usually make snowman pancakes on the first snow day of the season. With virtual school for the foreseeable future, I’m not sure we’ll get a traditional snow day any time soon. So, I went ahead and made snowman pancakes for the kids on Monday morning.

Tuesday’s snow stuck around for a couple days and was enough to play in. The kids dressed accordingly for recess at the pod and then Hadley played with her friend in the snow for a couple hours after school. Hayden did as well, but he was nowhere to be found when I wanted to take a snowy pic!

Homer:

I found Homer on the couch all snuggled up on Tuesday afternoon. Both kids swear they didn’t cover him with the blanket, so who knows! Homer is either into trouble or snoozing! There’s rarely an in between.

Starbucks:

I made not one, but two trips to Starbucks this week. I wanted something warm to drink, but I’d already had my morning coffee; so, I ordered a London Fog tea during both visits! So good. I enjoyed them from the quiet of my classroom.

Winter Decorations:

Over the weekend, I put out our Christmas decorations. I couldn’t help myself, and I did make a trip (or two) to Michaels. I use most of the same decorations each year. This year, I actually did take the time to get rid of the fall decorations I haven’t used in recent years and will do the same when I put these winter decorations away in January.

I picked up two of these crock lanterns and put tealights in them. I also purchased four snow covered swags for our front windows and a few other items. Of course, everything was 50% off and teachers get an additional 10% off all their orders, so I used that as well.

I purchased the basket with wreath at TJ Maxx.

Christmas lanterns // swags

The Return of Red:

Red doesn’t come until December in our house, and he made his arrival right on time on December 1st. On the second night, he left the kids their “Want, Need, Wear, Read” list to fill out, so he can report back to Santa.

He filled in a couple of “needs” for them 😉

GG:

My mom is in town visiting and took over virtual school yesterday. With over 30 years experience teaching 7th grade English we knew the kids would be well supervised.

Favorite gift idea:

I debated on sharing this as to not give away a gift for a few family members, so I will just share this sneak peek.

Every year since my kids were born, I’ve ordered this desk calendar from Vistaprint for my immediate family. I always place the order on Cyber Monday because they offer a great discount. Once my brother and sister-in-law had their kids, we started to include their photos too.

I upload the photos (and we use the same pattern of January is a pic of my kids, February includes a pic of my niece and nephew and then some months, like October, is the four kids) I placed this order late Monday night, and it already arrived yesterday! As usual, it turned out perfectly, and we can’t wait to give it to them. (I even order one for myself and my brother’s family)

Like I said, I’m sure my family is expecting this gift. It’s one I love giving, and they love receiving.

Selfies:

Found this gem on my phone, and it made me smile!

Friday Funny:

Y’all, I feel this deeply. haha

My brother decided to remind me this week that I’m almost 41. Wow…40 has gone by quickly!

Favorite Mom Meme:

Tis the season for my kids to think we are millionaires 😅

Weekly Recap:

Looking back, I sure shared a hodge podge of faves from the week. All things considered, we had a pretty good week. Now, bring on the weekend!

Thanks so much for reading, and don’t forget to check out the other ladies’ posts too!

Take care,