Friday Favorites {#49}

I know I always say, “Hello and Happy Friday,” but today’s “Hello and Happy Friday” comes with the start of Winter Break in only a few hours. I’m so ready to take a break from bugging my kids about school work, checking my email, and staring at my imperfections on a Zoom call. 😆

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

Favorite Kid Quote:

On Sunday, when it was Hayden’s turn to clean out his closet, he kept asking me if certain clothing items were “memorabilia” because he hates getting rid of things…and knows I’m a sucker for holding on to certain nostalgic items. 😂

Also, randomly, Hayden started calling his winter hat a “toboggan” or “boggan.” I know that in the south that’s what many people here call their beanie (or stocking cap as I would say), but I just thought it was funny that he was “looking for my boggan” the other day when I certainly don’t say that phrase, and honestly, neither does Travis.

Where I come from, a toboggan is a fancy sled! This has been a winter conversation ever since I met Travis almost 20 years ago and he called his hat a “toboggan.” I said, “What?! You wear a sled on your head?!”

Favorite Pic:

I took advantage of Narci’s sweet Santa photo opportunity earlier this week. These pics are just precious. This morning, my kids found our elf sitting by this one framed with a note: “Seven more sleeps ’til Santa!”

The magic of Christmas.

Favorite Clothing Item:

I rarely go into Old Navy. While I like the clothes and love their deals, the line to wait to check out is always maddening to me. Through the years, it doesn’t matter if I’m there in June or December, 10:00 am or 8:00 pm, two people in line or twelve…the line just always takes forever. Maybe Chick-fil-A could give them some tips! 😂

So, I usually order online and just hope everything fits! That being said, I did go into Old Navy recently and saw these jogger pajama pants on sale. (looks like stock is limited) I snagged two for myself, and have been living in them. Just my style! I also love their thermal pajama leggings and have a few pairs that I’ve collected through the years as well.

Favorite Food:

I made a quick Trader Joe’s run this week and walked out with a few tins of my favorite snack mix and a couple of boxes of the mini gingerbread people. We plowed through our last box in a day and a half.

Favorite Moment:

The kids wrapped up their club cross country season at a national race last weekend. Before the race, we found out that Hayden made the all-area team and Hadley earned all-area honorable mention honors for their elementary running season (with Trav as their coach!)

On Saturday, they ran in the 11-12 year old races with kids from across the country. They ended the season on a high note with individual performances, and the girls team placed 5th in the nation!

Of course, I’m always proud of their effort, but the competition is fierce in these national races. There are kids who run hundreds of miles a week for training and compete year round. While running will most likely be something they continue to do in the future, we still feel that it’s important for them to be well-rounded and choose their activities. So, for Hadley, she dances, runs, plays volleyball. Hayden still loves baseball and basketball on top of running.

The lessons they learn by playing these sports and engaging in these activities are far more important than their performance. I never want them to get burned out at a young age with one activity, so we’ve continued to let them choose and add or drop sports as the years go on.

Other Favorites:

Jingle Jangle:

This could also have been a “favorite moment” because of the kindness of others. I’d shared on Facebook that I was sad to have missed out on Jingle Jangle at Trader Joe’s this year. Not even a half hour a later, a friend dropped off a tin of it on our front porch with their Christmas card. So sweet. (literally and figuratively!)

Frosty Fern:

I also picked up a couple of these “Frosty Ferns” at Trader Joe’s. They are so festive and fun.

Snacks:

Hadley helped me put out snacks for our mailman and the delivery drivers who frequent our doorstep!

Air Fryer:

No photo, but another favorite of mine is our new air fryer. Travis won one in his work Christmas exchange, and we’ve been using it quite a bit. I’ve only used the “frozen” setting so far, but it’s been the perfect way to make chicken nuggets, pizza rolls, or reheat a day old taco!

Pod Party:

The kids had a sock exchange and cocoa party at their pod this week. They had lots of fun and came home with some festive socks!

Festive Phone Wallpaper:

I’ve shared these phone wallpaper backgrounds before by @ashton.creates. She shares them in her stories to screenshot and use. This one is my current home screen on my phone.

Basketball:

Hayden’s 3 on 3 league wrapped up their short season last night. It was fun to watch them play and have some sense of “normalcy” this winter.

The final game came down to the wire, but they remained undefeated!

Favorite Mom Meme:

While this one made me laugh, I am feeling pretty good about my Christmas present situation. Now, I just need to find the time to wrap!

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday

Christmas 2009….and barely a month old!

Speaking of flashbacks…Hadley loves finding my old sweatshirts and wearing them. She often wears my 20 year old Mizzou sweatshirt from college, and has now added this cheer coach sweatshirt from my first year teaching in 2002. If you know me, you know I’m the farthest thing you’ll find from a cheer coach!! #nopepinmystep Oh, the things you’ll do to get your first real job!

Weekly Recap:

Here are my posts from this week in case you missed one…

What are your weekend plans? We are going see some more Christmas lights tonight and hopefully bake some cookies tomorrow or Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks so much for reading,