jgalvinwhite

Let’s Lunch

Posted on July 16, 2020July 15, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Confession: I live for lunch, y’all. Usually I’m doing intermittent fasting, so lunch is when I break my fast and am ready to eat.

Confession #2: I’ve really enjoyed lunch during quarantine for two reasons.

1. I get more than 20 minutes to eat lunch while at home rather than at school.

2. I really enjoy making lunch for my kids. I was never a stay-at-home mom (except in the summer), so I’ve really embraced having extra time to make breakfast and lunch for myself and the kids.

I’m not making anything Earth-shattering but even having the time to serve Hayden & Hadley something warm, like a grilled cheese sandwich, is nice and a favorite part of my day.

Breakfast:

For breakfast, I just stick to coffee.

Hayden’s been eating Cream of Wheat on repeat. He loves it, but it’s also soft and easy for him to eat with his new ortho appliance in his mouth.

Hadley typically has waffle with Nutella and strawberries or toast and jelly.

Lunch:

Rule of 3: I’m not sure if it’s a real rule or one I made up but I always put 3 things on their plate…their main course + two sides.

Also, I preach about not being wasteful, but I also don’t make them finish every bite. I tell them to eat until they’re full, but they better not come ask for a snack an hour later!

Some of the kids favorite lunches are:

grilled cheese
tomato soup
chicken noodle soup
quesadilla
hot dog
dinner leftovers
Trader Joe’s shells and white cheddar mac & cheese
Trader Joe’s mini tacos
Trader Joe’s black bean burrito

For sides, they usually have:

mini bell peppers
chips/pretzels
Babybel cheese
fruit
pickles
yogurt
celery (Hayden likes plain celery. Hadley likes celery with peanut butter)

My “go-to” lunches are:

salad
“charcuterie” board with dill cheese (from Trader Joe’s), pickles, salami or prosciutto, Cheezits or Dots pretzels, grapes or strawberries
Jasmine rice bowl (with chicken, black beans, sweet potatoes…and more!)
Tortilla roll up

For the tortilla roll up, I…

Take tortilla, and put two pieces of Provolone cheese on top,
Layer whatever lunch meat you like,
Place a couple of pieces of Romaine lettuce, then
Add bell peppers and a drizzle of mustard.
Enjoy!

This roll up can be tweaked with whatever you have on hand. I’ve used Arugula instead of Romaine, Cheddar cheese instead of Provolone, sometimes I put pickles on it, etc.

To end on a funny note…this made me laugh out loud 😂

What are some of your favorite things to eat for lunch? What do your kids typically eat?

Have a great day!

Gift Ideas

Posted on July 15, 2020July 14, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Travis had a birthday last week, and we bought him a few things that I thought I’d share in case you need some ideas for any upcoming occasions.

Keychain

Lewindy popped up as a Facebook advertisement, and I thought the personalized keychain would be a great Father’s Day gift for Travis. We were in Florida during that time, so I personalized it with a picture of the kids that I took on the first night of the trip.

The downside was that it did take over three weeks to come in, so it ended up being a birthday present instead of a Father’s Day gift. The quality is great and the product turned out perfectly. Also, it came in a cute bag that made for a nice presentation.

On the backside of the metal plate with the picture, I personalized it with a note from the kids.

That being said, I don’t see this product on their site right now. BUT…I did find a similar product on Etsy.

Etsy had a few shops with this type of product.

Coffee Mug

We don’t necessarily need another coffee mug in this house, but I noticed Travis taking his coffee to work using some of my random travel mugs that have mom or teacher sayings on them 😉 So, as always, Amazon saved the day.

I loved the look of the mahogany color and packaging of this Sipworks travel mug. And, of course, it arrived in two days! Win. Win!

Wallet:

If you’ve been following along for even a bit, you know nothing is safe at our house in regards to being #homered. Desserts and wallets seem to be his jam. Around Christmastime, Homer destroyed Trav’s wallet. Even though we don’t do Valentine’s Day gifts, I bought Travis a wallet. It lasted two days.

Since Valentine’s Day, Travis has used a rubber band to keep his cards and cash together. I thought I’d try one more time to purchase a wallet for him after seeing Christine talk about the Andar wallet in her Instagram Stories. I even used her code for a discount.

Besides the fact that he needed a new wallet, I also loved the feature she showed where you pull the tab and the card pops out…rather than when you have to dig, pinch, and pull to get your card out to pay.

There are a few wallet options, but I bought Travis “The Apollo.” Like the keychain, the packaging for the wallet was nice with a box and then a drawstring bag.

I don’t want to jinx it, but it’s already lasted longer than the Valentine’s Day wallet from Target.

Once he opened the gifts, I realized I clearly had a brown/tan/mahogany theme going on!

He appreciated all the gifts, of course…and the kids were excited for him to open them.

I hope you are having a great week!

Everyday Life

Money Diaries

Posted on July 14, 2020July 13, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

I know. I know. You shouldn’t talk about religion, politics, or…money! 😂But…

Amy has shared a Money Diaries post a time or two on her blog. It made me think about what a rather typical week may be for our family, so I thought I’d log my spending for a week to see where my money goes. (Spoiler alert: The answer is two parts: 1. Kids 2. Food)

There are definitely times of the year when we spend more money and then months where I try to reel in the spending. For example, November is the kids’ birthday and birthday part(ies)….and of course, December means Christmas…and presents. Then, in January, I always make a point to not make any necessary purchases. (Read: delete Nordstrom and Amazon apps)

In the summer, we are usually at the pool or do other activities like going to the movies or putt putt golf. Some of those activities are on hold this summer, but I’ve made a point to try to plan some kind of activity once a week.

I chose to document my spending last week (Monday, July 6- Sunday, July 12) and we actually stayed home most of the time besides a few outings and then baseball games.

Monday:

Mondays tend to be when I get caught up on my “to do” list, get groceries, and make other purchases that I’ve put off. So…Monday is usually a bigger spending day.

As I left to pick up groceries, I realized I didn’t have much gas. The Kroger I was going to doesn’t have a gas station, so I got $10 gas before heading to pick up Clicklist order.
Before picking up the order, I went in to Kroger to pick up other essentials for Trav’s birthday the next day. Hadley was with me and helped me pick out a cake, a card, and candles. I also picked up hamburgers and hot dogs as well as my weekly flowers for the house. Total: $58.53
Hadley had been wanting to try the S’more Frappuccino from Starbucks. There’s one in the Kroger, so I let her get one. Total: $0 because I had a gift card.
Clicklist order: Total: $111.70 for groceries for the week. (We tend to spend $150 or so on groceries weekly)
Hayden got a haircut. Total: $14
I purchased neck gaitors from Amazon for the kids to try as masks. Total: $11.65
Then….I got an email from WordPress. My annual subscription was due. Total: $66 for the year. (Which means…I’ve had my blog for a year! I did my first post in August of 2019 even though I purchased the domain in July 2019)

Tuesday:

We stayed home most of the day getting caught up on chores and prepping for Trav’s birthday dinner.

We are seeing family soon, so I did go get a COVID test. (I was negative) Total: $0
Travis picked up a few baseball things for Hayden at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Total: $55.46

Wednesday:

On Wednesday, the kids played outside a lot, and again, we hung out at home during the day.

Total spending on Wednesday: $0!!!! 🙂

Thursday:

Thursday morning was spent with Hayden at the orthodontist. He had his Herbst appliance inserted. We spent the rest of the day at home before his baseball game.

Ortho – too much money to talk about 😂
A&W root beer float for Hayden after his appointment (and ice cream for Hadley…moral support) 😉 Total: $5.70
The kids hit me up for concession stand snacks and Gatorade after Hayden’s hot baseball game. Total: $8

Friday:

We ate lunch at home because we had leftovers from Thursday night’s dinner. Also, I knew we’d go get ice cream for our afternoon activity and most likely get carryout for dinner.

Gas at Kroger because I was really on empty. I did get $.20 off/gallon and got a full tank of gas for $38.
We could finally drop off books at the library. I’d had about 12 books since mid-March! We stopped by the library before heading to a part of town called The Summit.
I thought we’d get popsicles from Steel City Pops but the kids requested milkshakes from The Shake Shack. Total: $10.60 We walked back to Steel City Pops and I got a popsicle for $4. (I have enough points that next time my popsicle is free.) We hung out and ate our treats before heading home.
Travis and Hayden went to hit baseballs and picked up Dominoes Pizza for dinner on the way home. Total $20.

Saturday:

Saturday was one of those days that we ate out for lunch and dinner. Hayden had a baseball game that wasn’t over until 1:00, and after that, we had to pick up my car because I got 4 new tires.

New tires. Again, I don’t want to talk about it 😂 #adulting
Chick-Fil-A lunch for the 4 of us: Total $31
I treated myself to a pedicure because it had been quite some time…and I’m worried the little place I go to won’t make it with how the economy is right now. It was a very safe experience. Masks, gloves, Plexi glass to separate client from technician. Total $40
Chipolte for dinner. Total $36 (& everyone had leftover Chipolte for Sunday lunch)

Sunday:

Sunday was spent mostly at home, but with a stop at Kroger for a few necessities and 3 prescriptions.

Hayden had a (bug? spider?) bite that worsened over a couple days. We were able to have a TeleHealth appointment with the Little Clinic. She prescribed an ointment and antibiotic. I also had a prescription to pick up for myself. Total $40.83 (Technically, I used my health care spending card)
I also picked up about 20 items while I was in the store. We had most of what we needed for the week, so instead of a ClickList order, I decided to just pick up what we needed since I was in the store. I feel like I can’t catch a break with groceries. Even when I think it’s going to be a “light week,” I still end up spending $100 or so because I needed my expensive nasal spray, a birthday card, cleaning supplies, and other odds and ends that add up. Total: $111.39

Other Thoughts:

Each week seems to be similar and different during our normal months of spending.

I cook Sunday-Thursday, so it’s rare for us to eat out during the week for dinner. Even for lunch, we typically eat at home during the week. Once we started with quarantine life, I started letting the kids choose a lunch place on Friday for take out/ drive thru. It was like a reward for making it through a week of home school and a way to support the food industry! 😉

Even on the weekends, Saturday lunch carryout is hit or miss. Some Saturdays if we are out because of a ball game (like this past Saturday), we may get something to take home and eat. Most Sundays we have lunch at home because I’ve usually picked up groceries, or I’m just forcing the family to eat what leftovers we have.

There’s usually a day or two where I think we won’t spend money and then a birthday present needs to be purchased, Homer needs to go to the vet, or, apparently, a bug bite gets infected needing a prescription.

If I know a week is going to have some extra expenses, I definitely try to plan accordingly. Also, this week was abnormal in the sense that I had two major Kroger runs in one week even though it’s technically for two weeks of food.

It’s always eye-opening to see where the money goes…but it’s also sometimes cringe-worthy too!

We definitely try to instill a sense of hard work and savings with our kids. I know we don’t do a perfect job, but they have saved for major purchases in the past, are walking a couple of dogs this summer, watering neighbors’ plants, completing chores around the house because they live here…not for an allowance, and they often get told “no” when they ask for things they think the “need” when really it’s something they want. haha (Listen, I get “want” vs. “need” mixed up at times too!)

Take care,

Meals and Recipes

Monday Meals: Stuffed Shells with Ricotta & Spinach

Posted on July 13, 2020July 12, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Monday!

I feel like I don’t cook as much in the summer…or maybe it’s that we grill out more often in the summer months…? but…

I was digging through my recipe box last week, and stumbled upon this recipe that I hadn’t made in forever. I’m not sure where I got the recipe, but I’ve had it for years, so I thought I’d share.

Ingredients:

20-25 Jumbo shell pasta, cooked
1- 24 oz jar of Marinara
2- 15 oz containers of Ricotta cheese
2 cups of baby spinach, rough chop
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

Turn on oven to 400 degrees.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and cool under water.
Spread most of the Marinara sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish.
In a bowl, combine the Ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.
Spoon the mixture into shells and place them on top of the sauce.
Drizzle the remaining Marinara sauce on top and then sprinkle the Mozzarella on top.
Bake, until the shells are heated through, 10-12 minutes.
Increase heat to broil. Broil the shells until the cheese begins to brown, 2-4 minutes.
Enjoy!

I was almost finished filling the shells, but here’s the mixture in the bowl.

I squeezed 25 shells in the pan!

Almost ready for the oven (add Marinara and Mozz.)

I’ve never done it, but I’m sure you could incorporate browned sausage, chicken, etc into the mix to make the shells a bit heartier with protein.

I hope this is a recipe you’ll enjoy.

Have a great week.

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites {#31}

Posted on July 10, 2020August 20, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Happy Friday! For some reason, this week seemed to fly by! As usual, I’m linking up with Erika and Andrea for this week’s Friday Favorites post.

Favorite Kid Quote:

Hayden was on a roll this week.

On Sunday, we met some of Trav’s family for an early dinner. We got home around 6:30. At 7:00 Hayden asked me what was for dinner, and I told him we’d already had dinner. He said, “Well, I need a second dinner. Dinner 1 didn’t ‘qualify.'” haha

Then…

On Monday, Travis took Hayden to his haircut place for a much needed trim. At dinner, Hayden was telling me all about it. He loved it because they washed his hair and had a television. He said, “I enjoyed the experience. By the way…only men can go there!” 😂😂I guess he’s a man now!

Favorite Moment:

In the afternoons, Hadley and I have been reading a bit of Love Does: for kids. It’s been sweet seeing her take interest in the book, tell me her thoughts and ask me questions.

Favorite Day:

Tuesday was Trav’s birthday! So, of course that was our favorite day this week. We got him a few gifts and a cake.

When I shared a couple pics on social media, more than one person asked where the cookie cake was! They know me so well. 😉 I was just trying to be practical when I went into Kroger for the few things I needed (rather than take a trip to the mall to Great American Cookie), and looked at their options. There was one pitiful cookie cake, but Hadley noticed this chocolate one with buttercream frosting. It’s no cookie cake, but it was delicious.

I love this pic of my fave 3.

We grilled out and kept it simple for dinner and shared the cake with Trav’s brother and his boys.

Favorite Food / Snack:

I’m late to the Dot’s Pretzel game. I picked these up the other day at Kroger, and the family plowed through the bag in less than two days. I picked up another bag with my Clicklist order and told everyone to pace themselves!!

Other Favorites:

When Hadley went with me to Kroger to get a cake and cards, she wanted to try the S’mores Frappuccino from Starbucks. It was one of the items on the Summer 2020 Fun list. She enjoyed it, and let me try it too.

Speaking of the Summer 2020 list…Hayden wanted to draw and color more this summer. He’s been doing so almost daily.

Another favorite?! When Hayden gets a haircut! Always so cute…

Hayden begged me to bring Homer to his game last night. Since Hayden had a big ortho appointment yesterday and a very sore mouth, I obliged. Homer made a *brief* appearance for a couple of innings before I benched him (took him home!)😂

Favorite Mom Memes:

Y’all, this makes me laugh and cry at the same time 😉

And this one…😂

Bonus Favorite: Flashback Friday

This pics from July 2013 popped up in my Facebook memories. We were in KC visiting family and my cousin took these pics of the kids. I actually have them on canvas and they hang on our gallery wall.

Weekly Recap:

Here are my posts from this week:

Don’t forget to check out the other ladies’ posts! Have a great weekend.

Day in the Life

Posted on July 9, 2020July 8, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

I wrote my first ever Day in the Life post in March. I had chosen a March date at the beginning of the year not knowing that March would be when the world flipped upside down. After that post, I decided to look on my calendar for a summer date and settled on Thursday, July 2nd. When I chose that date, I had a feeling life wouldn’t be back to “normal,” and that definitely turned out to be true.

Honestly though, this could be a pretty typical summer day except in years past, we probably would have spent a huge chunk on time at the pool.

Here’s what last Thursday looked like:

In the summer, I usually wake up between 7-8, and that held true on this day too.

While waiting for the coffee to be ready, I scrolled Facebook and Instagram.

I saw this and “shared” it on Facebook. The night before, Hadley went to bed in tears worried about the upcoming school year. While we still don’t have answers, last week, there was major talk about options, a survey for parents and teachers to fill out, and lots of opinions from everyone and their neighbor.

Hadley is like me…holds sad feelings in until we can’t anymore. She felt overwhelmed with everything she had been hearing and just wants to have “the best 5th grade year ever.”

So, when I saw this post, it just really hit home.

The kids were actually up by 8:30 which is very unlike them…haha. BUT…they were up and excited because it was the first morning they were feeding the neighbor’s cat while they were out of town.

I spent a little time reading my favorite blogs and drinking my coffee before…

going with the kids to meet Smokie. Since it was the first morning feeding Smokie, I just wanted to make sure the kids knew what to do. Otherwise, they went on their own. They are at the perfect age to cat sit!

Then, around 9:45, it was time to make my bed (which I do every single day!)

Then, I got dressed, washed my face, answered some emails, and checked on the kids for breakfast.

After that, I drank my Slim and got my workout in. Hayden even joined me for a bit 😉

Around 11:15, I helped the kids with whatever assignments they had questions about in their daily workbooks. Real Talk: Hayden hates me for making them do this. They do about two days of pages M-F which takes them about 20 minutes. So, he can hate me as much as he wants as long as he remembers how to do long division when school starts back!

Then, I headed to Kroger for a few things that I’d forgotten in my weekly Clicklist order.

Around 12:30, I ate lunch and then worked on my Friday blog post from 12:45-1:30.

After that, I actually had time to chill in the pool. I sat in the cool water and read a book for almost two hours! Hadley joined me for a bit.

Hayden hung out inside because he said he had a headache. After the pool, I checked my emails and then watched tv with Hayden for a bit. Then, it was time for him to get ready for his first baseball game of the season. I filled up his water bottle while he got dressed.

Y’all, those 5:30 games are hot ones!

Hayden was the starting pitcher, and it was such a close game. He ended up hitting a walk off double to drive in a runner and win the game! They were so excited to get their first W.

I love watching him play baseball. When he pitches, I’m a pretty nervous mama, but what I’ve learned over the past couple of years is my nerves are for nothing! For being pretty quiet and introverted, he feels confident on the mound. During the first inning, his coach gave him a few pointers on when to release the ball, and with those adjustments, I could see his confidence grow while pitching in the following innings.

We tell Hayden all the time that being a great teammate, being coachable, and always trying your best is what matters. Kids learn so many life skills through athletics and extra-curricular activities, which is why I put up with these crazy schedules we have 😉

Look at that sweet smile!

I love that Travis helps coach Hayden’s team. It’s good for the both of them!

Game ball for Boo!

He may now be referring to his left arm as his “money maker” and requesting Icy Hot after every game 😂…but we will keep him humble.

The game wasn’t over until after 7:30, so we made a quick stop at Drakes for dinner. I had never tried their teriyaki chicken rice bowl, and it was so good.

Then, we all came home, showered and relaxed. I read a bit on my Kindle.

Then, Hadley asked to watch one episode of Alexa and Katie, so we watched that together.

And…I could barely keep my eyes open, so by 10:00, it was lights out for all of us.

These posts are always fun to do…but it’s so hard for me to remember to take pics! I hope to do one of these posts again in the fall.

Thanks for reading!

Kids, Three things

Three Things

Posted on July 8, 2020July 8, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Hello! It’s been a minute since I’ve written a Three Things post about what we’ve individually been up to, so I thought I’d give a little update for today’s post.

I’ve mentioned before that Hayden started reading the first Harry Potter book with his teacher this year during her afternoon read loud. Once they finished the first book, she moved on to the second book with anyone who was interested in continuing with the afternoon read aloud. Hayden already had the first book, but then I purchased the second and third books from Amazon for him. He finished the third book very quickly on his own and wanted me to purchase the fourth book. My mom has the entire series, and we will see her soon, so I told him to just wait for her books. I bet he will finish the series this summer at the rate he reads!

2. Baseball is back, baby! Hayden’s excited to be back on the ball field with his teammates again. They have a few games this week, and are getting back in the baseball groove. I love seeing Boo play ball!

3. I know bike sales sky rocketed during quarantine 😉 but so did actual bike riding by Hayden! He learned to ride a bike quite a few years ago, but after a bike accident a couple summers ago, he seriously refused to ride a bike…so much so, that we sold his bike in a garage sale. Last summer, he got back into riding his bike (maybe because so many neighborhood kids ride their bikes around?). Once he got tired of borrowing Hadley’s pink bike, we got a hand-me-down bike from a friend. He and Hadley, along with other neighborhood friends, are on the bikes so often which is great!

4. Bonus: I’m not sure if there is anyone more excited about Patrick Mahomes sealing the deal to be a Chief for the next 10 years than Hayden! He’s definitely a #Mahomie

Hadley is all about various hairstyles. She’s mastered the top knot, rocks a side pony tail, and now loves to put her hair up in “space buns.” I know nothing about hairstyles and even less about makeup, so she’s figuring this all out on her own. She’s quite the fashionista (with a side of tomboy!)

2. I’ve always said that Hadley needs a hobby. She doesn’t love to read like Hayden does or when they were little, she wouldn’t sit for hours and build Legos like Hayden would. Sis is always on the move! When people would ask for gift ideas, I’d always say, “I don’t know. Girlfriend still needs a hobby!” When she does find something to do, it usually involves some kind of mess.

Now that she’s old enough to gather supplies and clean up her messes, I let her do what she wants (most of the time.) In the past month, she’s tie dyed a shirt and socks with her friends, made a lava lamp (thanks to You Tube) and, my favorite, she made a lovely hand scrub (made of sugar, coconut oil, and lemon) for the guest bathroom. I am impressed with her creations…and even more impressed when I don’t have to clean up the mess!

3. Hadley has completed a few dance camps at her regular dance studio this summer. While she’s often dancing around the house, it’s been good for her to be with her instructors in person and see her dance friends.

Since sleep away camp was canceled this summer, they refunded our money, but gave the option of sending a “virtual camp box” filled with some activities, a t-shirt, water bottle, journal and more. Hadley’s working on some of the activities here and there.

4. Bonus: Hadley and I have been reading Love Does: for kids together and the kids’ church group has just gotten started meeting (via Zoom) to discuss. It’s such a great book with life lessons tied together with biblical stories and references. The chapters are so short and include pictures which keeps her attention and provides more meaning and opportunity for connection and discussion.

Homer is still ornery and enjoys hanging out in the inflatable pool. His scratching, from his possible grass allergy, has gotten so much better and his little paws are less pink now.

2. Travis celebrated a birthday yesterday! Of course, he’s always busy with work and now baseball as he helps coach Hayden’s team.

3. As for me, I’ve enjoyed being able to blog almost daily. I also spend time keeping the kids busy. I’ve tried to plan an activity (like hiking, going to the zoo, and canoeing) at least once a week; we really are in a good summer groove. I also continue to work a bit this summer as students turn in work to me for credit recovery, so I check my email daily and spend time looking over the submitted work.

Needless to say, summer of 2020 is definitely different, but we continue to enjoy our time as a family while also seeking comfort in some sense of normalcy with baseball, eating out a bit, and seeing friends as we can while remaining socially distant.

See you back here tomorrow for my second ever Day in the Life post.

Amazon

July Prime Purchases

Posted on July 7, 2020February 17, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Of course I’ve made some Amazon purchases over the past month, so I thought I’d link up with Tanya again for her Prime Purchases post.

Y’all, Amazon Prime continues to be the real MVP. From clothes to water bottles to an inflatable pool, Amazon has it all. Here are a few of my recent Amazon purchases.

I’ve made it a goal this summer to drink more water, and this water bottle had done the trick. Hadley says it’s somehow embarrassing, but I love it 😉 I fill it up at least twice a day to get in my daily water goal.

My dad usually buys me a big Nest candle for Christmas. For Father’s Day, I thought I’d get him one that has a summery scent. I didn’t even know Amazon had Nest candles, but he received it the next day, so I was very happy with that purchase!

I’ve shared this pool in the past. Since we didn’t join our club pool this summer, I purchased this inflatable pool. It’s done the trick for keeping us cool. I use it the most, and Travis hates that there will be a big patch of dead grass in our backyard, but it’s been a good solution for this atypical 2020 summer.

And because the kids need to earn their keep…pool skimmer…to get the random leaves out before taking a dip.

I tend to only wear stud earrings. I also tend to lose earrings under a dresser, down the shower drain, or out in the yard. This is why I can’t have nice things. Anyway, I recently purchased these earrings and love them.

Shay shared this visor in one of her posts. I love wearing ball caps and have worn visors in the past. I love that these are plain, and I can keep my hair up high off my neck in the hot days of summer. I’ve purchased this visor in a couple more colors too!

Homer “needed” a larger patriotic bandana just in time for the 4th. Amazon….for the win!

The BEST Amazon purchase of the month (and maybe even the year) were these water shoes. After seeing them on social media, I saved them to one of my Amazon lists. After reading the info for our canoe trip, they mentioned wearing close toed shoes, and I remembered I had saved these. They were perfect for our canoe trip last Friday, and I know that I will wear them during the summer when we go for walks or hikes because I won’t have to wear socks and my feet can breathe!

I bought one more thing recently but it’s a gift for Trav’s birthday, which is today. So I will share it next month as I don’t want to give it away just yet.

Here are the other link up dates for Tanya’s Prime Purchases posts. Make sure to check out her post too.

Have a great Tuesday. Thanks so much for reading.

Activities, Holidays, Weekend Top 5

Weekend Top 5

Posted on July 6, 2020July 5, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Happy Monday! How was your 4th of July weekend? We were busy. I’m so tired! Thankfully, this week we don’t have much going on besides a couple of ball games.

I thought I’d do a little Top 5 recap of our busy weekend.

Canoeing:

We are adventurous, y’all. We started our holiday weekend on Friday canoeing. Kayak/canoeing was one of the activities we had on our Summer 2020 Fun list!

We went with a few friends and got our canoes from Canoe Kentucky in Frankfort. While I was excited, I was a little hesitant because I didn’t know what to expect. Long story short, about four years ago we had a tense and sometimes scary creek tubing experience in North Carolina. I figured a canoe is more substantial and the kids are older, so the canoe trip should be fine…and it was! It’s a great outdoor and socially distant activity. Win win.

We all met to get our life jackets, instructions, and canoes and then we rode on the bus (while wearing masks) to the entry point on Elkhorn Creek. Then, we canoed back which was about 6 miles and took us about 3 hours. We did stop 3 times to let the kids swim and to kind of regroup. Altogether, we had 11 people in 5 canoes and 1 kayak….and we all stayed together! Of course, it was a hot day, but on the water, it was fine. There was shade and the water was cool.

When the instructor dropped us off he said we may see turtles, a bald eagle, deer, and more. We did see the bald eagle, deer, and even a little water snake.

There were a few rapid points that we could easily navigate and there were even times I wished the water would move more! 😂

The adults sat in the back of the canoes to steer while the kids paddled (adults paddled too)—but definitely needed to be in the back to steer.

We really had a great time, and I definitely hope to go again (or make this a summer tradition!)

They enjoyed swimming more than paddling 😉

After we canoed, we headed to one of our favorite spots for dinner…Wallace Station. It’s the perfect spot with picnic tables and shade…and easy to social distance from other diners.

I got the shrimp wrap with orzo side and it was so good!

Festive Food:

I ordered some red, white, and blue cookies from a local baker, L’oven Cookies, and picked those up on Friday. We enjoyed them throughout the weekend.

On Saturday, we had our traditional red, white and blue waffles. This year, Hadley made the waffles using a mix and our mini waffle iron. (I usually just use frozen waffles and the toaster ;). She’s become a big help in the kitchen. I put the toppings on!

4th of July:

We actually did have a relaxing day with not much on our plate on Saturday. We lounged around, watched tv, the kids biked with friends, I hung out and read in our pool and that was about it…until it was time for dinner.

The kids did oblige with a red, white, and blue outfit pic with Homer and his new scarf.

He’s good at posing for pics if he knows he’ll get a treat.

Then we grilled out with another family in our neighborhood. The kids see each other pretty often these days to ride bikes and know they can play but to keep some space, and we keep up with the hand washing, of course.

After dinner, we set off a few fireworks before heading home to go to our favorite fireworks viewing location.

Sparklers are my fave.

The 30 minute fireworks display from a local country club did not disappoint.

Then, we came home, set off a few more fireworks (I had just bought a few things at Kroger) and then we headed to bed.

Netflix:

Friday night after we returned home from canoeing, I was exhausted. By 8:00, I was showered and in bed. I turned on Netflix, and The Babysitters Club popped up. I had forgotten that they were doing a series on the books. I swear, as a kid, I read every single one. I remember going to the book store to buy the books one at a time as they were released.

Hadley’s only read a few of them, and enjoys them. I knew she’d love the show and was excited to watch a couple of episodes, so we did. Then, we watched a couple more episodes throughout the weekend.

The show is an updated version that touches on modern topics while also including plot elements from the books.

Sunday:

Sunday was a lazy day mixed with a bit of productivity. We changed all the bedsheets and I made my grocery order for the week.

Hadley and I watched a couple more episodes of the BSC. I snuggled with Homer while the kids played outside.

Then, we met some of Trav’s family at The Stave for an early dinner.

Sunday ended with showers and early bedtimes for everyone. I’ve tried to make Sunday nights a good time to reset for the kids (& myself!)

Tomorrow is Trav’s birthday, so we have more celebrating to do tomorrow.

I hope you have a great week.

Friday Favorites, Holidays

Friday (4th of July) Favorites {#30}

Posted on July 3, 2020August 20, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Friday! Even though this has been a “different” kind of summer with some extra downtime at home, I’m still looking forward to this extended holiday weekend.

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

With it being 4th of July weekend, I thought I’d share some of our favorite 4th of July traditions. The 4th has always been one of my favorite holidays.

Red, White, and Blue

I don’t know how many years I have left (this is probably it ;), but I make sure the kids have some form of red, white and blue to wear. I usually look in their closet first to see what they already have, but, of course, places like Old Navy and Target always have cute options for very reasonable prices.

Breakfast:

For as long as I can remember, I’ve made red, white, and blue waffles. It’s as simple as throwing a frozen waffle in the toaster and then topping it with whipped cream, strawberries and blueberries.

For Father’s Day, Hadley wanted to make Travis waffles from a mix using our mini waffle maker. So…we may do that again for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Homer:

Last year, I bought Homer a red, white, and blue scarf. When I put it on him for Memorial Day this year, it was a bit tight. I ordered him a new one from Amazon to wear tomorrow.

Outside Decorations:

I don’t really have anything for inside my home for the 4th, but I always put little flags in our planters and by the front porch. Then, I switch out my usual garden flag for my American flag.

Sparklers and Fireworks:

Some years we are on vacation, but the years we are home, I pick up a few sparklers, snap its, smoke bombs, etc. I definitely keep it simple and pretty kid friendly. I’m not trying to scare the neighbors!

I do love the sparklers at night! So fun and festive.

Then, when in Lex, we head to our favorite spot to watch one of the country club’s fireworks. It’s always an awesome display and in a pretty convenient location.

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday

This is one of my favorite family pics from 4th of July 2015. We were settled in and ready to watch our favorite fireworks.

Weekly Recap:

Memes

Monthly Musings and 20 Questions

What I’ve Been Reading

Life Lately

Don’t forget to check out the other ladies’ posts too! I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!