Category: Everyday Life

Posted in Activities, Everyday Life

Winter Break Recap

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Monday. The first Monday of 2 0 2 2 ! We have one more day of break, and I’m going to take it easy and enjoy this last day off.

Today, I’m recapping a bit of what we did over break.

Our break seemed so hectic during the first week while the second week we were able to have a little bit more down time and even do a few things as a family.

Over break we…

  • baked cookies.
  • The kids received their first vaccine.

We…

  • attended holiday parties.
  • had basketball training and practice (Hayden)
  • played with friends
  • played with cousins
  • celebrated Christmas
  • went to basketball games (Travis and Hayden attended a couple of high school games and a UK game)
  • stayed up late
  • slept in
  • watched a few movies
  • read
  • caught up (kind of) on shows
  • shopped at the mall (Hadley had some Aerie gift cards burning a hole in her pocket)
  • Purged and organized the house (somewhat)
  • started a home project
sneak peek
  • worked on Science Fair projects

Hayden studied the “Science of Running” during his club running season.

Hadley observed a variety of apples over a few hours to see which one would be freshest to pack in her lunch.

  • We saw the Spider-Man movie.

We go to the movies so infrequently that we usually go to the nicer theaters with the lounge chairs. This movie was so good.

  • We hiked at Red River Gorge.

Last Thursday was a great day to go because we needed to get out of the house while our neighbor finished up our house project. The weather was in the 60s but overcast. We did a great two mile loop…

…and then stopped for pizza at Miguel’s.

  • I started New Year’s Eve day watching one of my favorite movies: While You Were Sleeping.
  • Then, I heard about Betty White’s passing. Golden Girls is one of my all time favorite shows (*one of my first parenting “wins” was the fact that both of my kids could sing along to every word for the theme song by the time they were three!) The number of people who texted me or sent me a message about her on Friday goes to show how well those people know me. I watched a few episodes of GG in her honor on Friday afternoon.

What a life she lived. She’s certainly legendary!

  • Then we celebrated NYE with neighbors and friends.

Most years, we don’t really have plans, and this year we ended up hanging with lots of great friends at two different parties.

Travis and I went to a progressive dinner with friends starting with apps at one house, followed by salad at another house, then dinner and desserts at two other houses. Hadley hung with friends while we did that, and Hayden went to our neighbor’s house with other friends. Travis, Hadley and I joined Hayden at the neighbor’s house around 10:00 to ring in the new year.

I can’t believe I stayed up until midnight! haha

  • On Saturday, we laid low most of the day. It was so rainy, so it was nice to sleep in and relax. Then, we continued to tidy up the house (this seemed to be an ongoing process…) before watching the CATS play in their bowl game.
  • Saturday evening, we went to Cincinnati for the night. We arrived around 6:30, checked into our hotel, and then had dinner at 21C.

We stayed at the Westin and realized that’s where the Chiefs players were staying too. Hayden got a couple of autographs that night, and then we hung out in the lobby Sunday morning to see them get on the bus. Hayden was so excited. We saw Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Tyrann Mathieu (among others)

We headed to the Chiefs game. It definitely felt like football weather (brrr!) …and up until the 4th quarter, it was one of the best days of Hayden’s life.

The Chiefs lost in a close one, but we still had a great time.

I’m sure I’m missing some things, but I’d say we had a good mix of productivity and relaxing over these past two weeks.

While I’m recapping things, here’s my 2021 recap that I shared last week.

Tomorrow is back to reality, so I’m going take today to take it easy and prep for the week ahead.

Take care,

Linking up with Heather.

Posted in Everyday Life

2021: Year in Review

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello! Can you believe that 2021 is almost over? Much like 2020, some months seemed to crawl by while others were a blur. I guess, really, that’s life in general. Of course, 2020 and 2021 have been full of ups, downs, masks, and an ongoing worldwide pandemic.

That being said, this is another favorite post of the year. Now, it’s a long one, but I love looking back on all that we’ve done this year. Also, it’s great to have a year full of memories all in one place!

After two years of doing these reviews, I finally got smart, and started this post last January. I just added to it each month in order to share it today!

Here’s a look back at 2021.

January:

To kick off the new year, Girl Scout cookie sales began for Hadley.

We still weren’t back to school, and my kids attended a pod of students two days a week. Before heading back to school in January of 2021, they had a pod roller skating party where I lived my best 80’s life, Hadley got the hang of skating, and Hayden gripped the side of the rink the entire time.

Hadley started phase two of braces.

We celebrated my birthday.

I was able to get Covid shot #1.

…and we had the first snow of the season.

February:

To kick off February, unfortunately, our Chiefs lost in the Super Bowl.

We celebrated Valetine’s Day with dinner, as a family, at home.

I got Covid shot #2…which kicked my tail!

We had lots more snow and ice off and on for two weeks!

Cookie sales wrapped up, and Hadley sold so many boxes!

March:

Finally, in March, we were headed back to school which meant the kids’ time at the pod wrapped up.

We had our first day of in person learning in over a year on March 3, 2021.

Hayden’s team won the winter season basketball championship.

Hayden made the big switch to wearing contacts.

Hadley had her first ever dance competition.

April:

In April, we spent Spring Break at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville.

We had our first ever Top Golf experience while in Nashville.

Baseball started for Hayden.

We celebrated Easter.

Travis and I were able to spend an afternoon at Keeneland.

Baseball continued…

With 2020-21 being a very different school year, 5th grade photos were taken once we got back to in person learning.

Hadley had her second dance competition of the season.

May:

May was a blessed and busy month.

It started with a the third and final dance competition of the season in Gatlinburg, TN.

We celebrated Mother’s Day.

My mom and Gma visited, and we celebrated my mom’s birthday.

The kids’ made the decision to be baptized…

…and had 5th grade graduation!

June:

We started off the summer with Hadley’s dance recital, and..

tons of baseball for Hayden. He had so much fun playing with his summer team.

Hayden also attended baseball camp, and he loved it.

We celebrated Travis on Father’s Day!

…and took a vacation in Isle of Palms, SC.

July:

In July, we celebrated the 4th, and…

…then we celebrated Trav’s brithday.

Hadley went to camp, and lived her best life with so many new friends!

Hayden enjoyed golf camp while she was gone…

…and baseball continued…

Swim team finished up in mid-July.

August

In August, we started all the back to school prep, and Travis and I spent a few days in California.

The kids started middle school!

Hayden continued to play baseball with this fun crew:

Photos by Chet White

The kids also had dance and cross country tryouts for school.

September

In early September, Hadley’s time as a Girl Scout wrapped up.

Baseball finished up, and Hayden won the Sportsmanship award for his team.

I decorated for fall which is one of my favorite things to do.

We attended a few UK football games.

Middle school cross country was in full swing.

Unfortunately, September ended with Covid for Trav and the kids.

October

We were able to visit the pumpkin patch.

School cross country wrapped up with the state meet.

One of my college friends visited, and we were able to make it out to Keeneland.

Hadley had her first middle school dance team performance.

Hayden spent lots of time on the basketball court.

We ended the month with GG (and Gma) visiting for Halloween.

November

November started off with a photo session for Hayden with his talented photographer uncle. (Hayden had missed xc school photos when he was out with Covid.)

Hayden White. Photos by Chet White

Hayden ran his first club race of the season…

…and continued playing basketball.

The twins turned T W E L V E !

We travelled to KC for Thanksgiving, and we had a great time with family.

We also bumped into Santa while at Union Station in KC.

December:

December began with us picking out our Christmas tree.

I put out some of my favorite Christmas decorations.

We attended a few Christmas parties.

Hayden started winter basketball with Trav as an assistant coach on the team.

Hadley had her Winter Showcase for her dance studio.

Hayden finished up his club running season at at USATF National race in sloppy conditions!

My mom visited and baked cookies with the kids.

We sent out Christmas cards.

Hayden tried out and made the middle school basketball team.

Good luck balloons from sweet friends

The kids got their first vaccine at the beginning of break.

We celebrated Christmas at home.

The second half of break was spent relaxing, organizing, working on science fair projects, playing with friends, seeing the Spider-Man movie, shopping at the mall, and a few other activities…like going for a hike at the Red River Gorge yesterday.

What a year! 2020 was so hard. We didn’t know what to expect with 2021. Honestly, 2021 was pretty difficult too, but of course, we had so many wonderful times as well.

I continue to count my blessings while wishing time sure would slow down.

I’m glad we still have a few days of break. I’m not sure why, but we don’t go back until Tuesday! We’ll take a few more days of no alarms, catching up on shows, and a few other fun activities planned before getting back into our normal (super hectic) routine.

Leaving off with a laugh…

I hope everyone has a wonderful NYE and a great start to 2022.

See you back here on Monday.

Posted in Everyday Life

Day in the Life…on Insta!

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello!

I love Day in the Life posts. Today, due to being short on time, I thought I’d try to share in “real time” on Instagram as much as I can today.

…so follow along if you’d like! (@showmeandsweettea)!

As far as the rest of the week goes, I hope to share:

  • Christmas decorations
  • This or That: Holiday Edition
  • Friday Favorites

I hope your week is off to a great start.

“See” you later on the ‘gram today.

Posted in Everyday Life

November Sentence a Day

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello! Well, I feel like I blinked and November was over! I’ve said before that November is a very hectic month for us as Travis is very busy with work, we also have the kids’ birthday and holiday travel on top of our regular school and activity schedule.

I always like looking back on the month to see what we’ve been up to. That being said, some days, I completely forgot to take a photo!

Here we go…

11.1.21

This was the Monday after Halloween, so we had school, kids’ activities, and I stayed up to watch Chiefs on MNF because we didn’t have school the next day. {I started the month off forgetting to take photo for the day!} haha

11.2.21

Since we didn’t have school, I put up Christmas trees in living room and sun room, and then went to Hayden’s basketball game that evening.

11.3.21

After school, I picked up books at library; we didn’t have any evening activities, so I was able to finish Not a Happy Family.

11.4.21

We had a busy afternoon and evening with kids’ activities, but I was able to squeeze in my monthly facial which is always a treat!

11.5.21

After school I ran errands, but then I got some quiet time in the evening to unwind and watch tv while Travis took the kids and friends to the middle school basketball game.

11.6.21

It was a cold day, but Hayden had his middle school national cross country race and then we spent the rest of the day at home.

11.7.21

This was Daylight Savings Sunday and we went to church, I ran errands (Old Navy, Target, Kroger- all curbside pickup), Hayden had basketball game, and we had a favorite soup for dinner.

11.8.21

I had a pretty late afternoon at school, the kids had evening activities, and I made another favorite for dinner. (Shay’s Easy Skillet Enchiladas)

11.9.21

With no evening activities after school, I had time to go to Ulta with Hadley, and then I watched Holiday Baking Championship.

11.10.21

After school, we had a quick dinner, and I was excited to settle in and watch the CMA awards.

11.11.21

The weather was so rainy, and I was able to run to Trader Joe’s between picking the kids up from evening activities.

11.12.21

The 12th was a Friday, and Hadley went to a friend’s overnight birthday party, and I had a lowkey night at home.

11.13.21

On the 13th, the kids ran in the memorial race in memory of Trav’s dad; it was a cold night, but an amazing event.

11.14.21

On Sunday, we went to church, had grocery pick up, I made a pumpkin pie, and then went to Hayden’s basketball game.

11.15.21

After school, Hadley danced at the girls basketball game, and then Hayden worked on his Martin Luther King, Jr. essay.

11.16.21

After school, I made a new recipe for dinner, it was Hadley’s turn to work on her MLK essay while Travis and Hayden went to UK basketball game.

11.17.21

On the 17th, Hadley danced at another basketball game, and then we had a quick dinner before the kids worked on some homework.

11.18.21

Hayden had basketball and Hadley had dance, so Travis and I had impromptu dinner out.

11.19.21

After school, we celebrated the kids with a party at Sky Zone followed by pizza.

11.20.21

The kids turned 12, Hayden had a basketball tournament game, I stopped by Trader Joe’s, and we finished the day with some cake!

11.21.21

Sunday was a busy day; we went to church, a birthday party, two of Hayden’s basketball games, and ended the evening with hibachi with family for dinner.

11.22.21

With the day off from school, we had a lazy morning, followed by errands, a trip to the vet for Homer, a manicure and ice cream for me, and then we packed for Missouri.

sometimes you have a treat yourself!

11.23.21

We were up early for our drive to Missouri!

11.24.21

Up and at ’em in MO with a morning walk, brunch with family, pool time for the kids, and pizza for dinner with my dad.

11.25.21

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a slow morning followed by great day with family (and fully bellies!)

11.26.21

On our Friday in KC, we went to Union Station, ate BBQ, played outside, visited the Magic Tree, and packed for our trip home.

11.27.21

On the 27th, we spent the day driving home.

11.28.21

We had a slow start to our Sunday, followed by house cleaning, taking down fall decorations, a grocery store run, other errands and prepping for the week ahead.

11.29.21

Monday meant back to school, and Hadley danced at the school basketball game while Hayden had basketball practice; I stopped by the library to pick up my Christmas books for December.

11.30.21

After school, the kids had a couple of activities, and we ended our day at my school’s basketball game.

Shew! What a month. We were busy with many activities and so much to celebrate.

See you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites.

Posted in Everyday Life

Sentence a Day: September

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Monday! Today, I’m sharing a recap of this past month. It was the first full month of school, we had lots of activities…and then everything came to a halt.

9.1.21

At the beginning of the month, we celebrated Hadley with the You are Special red plate for making her school’s dance team.

9.2.21

On this day, I swung buy the library to pick up some books, we had breakfast for dinner, Hadley had dance, and Hayden had golf.

9.3.21

After a busy day at school, middle school Hadley wanted to go to my school’s football game to see her friends.

9.4.21

We kicked off Labor Day weekend with Hayden’s cross country meet, followed by Hayden’s golf match and Hadley tailgated with friends.

9.5.21

We had a lazy rainy Sunday with IHOP for brunch and soup for dinner.

9.6.21

On Labor Day, I got caught up around the house, the kids went to the pool for a couple of hours, and we grilled out for dinner.

9.7.21

It was back to school, grocery pick up, and a cross country meet for Hayden.

9.8.21

Hadley was excited for her first middle school dance practice, and then we had no other evening activities! Hallelujah!

9.9.21

On this day, more golf for Hayden, and more dance for Hadley.

9.10.21

After school on Friday, I had my monthly facial followed by…

Hayden’s end of the season baseball party (with special guest UK pitcher Alex Degen)

9.11.21

Wow! The 11th marked twenty years since 9/11, a cross country meet for Hayden, and then family fun at the UK/MU game.

9.12.21

On the 12th, Hayden had his last baseball tournament, and Hadley had her final bridging ceremony as a Girl Scout.

9.13.21

On Monday the 13th, we went to Hadley’s friend’s volleyball game!

9.14.21

The kids had an early morning ortho appointment, Homer got his allergy shot, and Hayden had a cross country meet.

9.15.21

This day was rainy, and we had no evening activities; I decided to get a pedicure after school and chose a fall-ish color for my toes.

9.16.21

This was a busy day from start to finish with school, golf for Hayden, the kids attended their school’s football game, we had leftovers for dinner and then the kids had some homework to do before bed.

9.17.21

This was my favorite kind of Friday when I picked up pumpkins at Kroger and my favorite garden center.

9.18.21

On Saturday, Hayden had a cross country meet, a golf match, and I decorated the front porch and then had dinner with Hadley.

9.19.21

On this Sunday, we went to church, I finished a book, and the Chiefs were on Sunday Night Football.

Homer was ready to cheer on the Chiefs.

9.20.21

It was a rainy Monday with lots of driving: errands after school, I picked Hayden up from cross country practice, I took Hadley to dance, and ended the evening just hanging out watching KC Royals on TV.

9.21.21

Another rainy day, and I spent the evening getting my inside fall decorations finished up.

9.22.21

We had more rain, soup for dinner, and my mom came to town.

9.23.21

*This is when life slowed down a bit.

The kids were quarantined due to a Covid exposure, and my new Amazon fall pillows arrived.

9.24.21

I picked up donuts for breakfast, the kids did school from home, and my mom and Gus came to visit.

9.25.21

This was an unexpected lazy day that started with a rainy morning,

a beautiful afternoon with MU football on TV, and UK football on in the evening.

9.26.21

On this day, my mom went home, and the weather was so pretty that I finished up the front porch.

9.27.21

I stayed home with the kids all day, and they continued to do school at home.

9.28.21

I went to school, Hadley was home to check the mail when her new sweatshirt arrived, and I ended up going on an evening walk.

9.29.21

My new mirror arrived!

9.30.21

On Thursday, I went to school, Travis stayed home with the kids, and we had a sweet drop off from friends.

As you can see, the end of the month was kind of a blur and also felt like the movie Ground Hog’s Day all at once. It sort of felt like the wheels fell off the September bus! Thanks for hanging in there with me 🤪 I’m sure October will be better.

Tomorrow, I’m sharing my September Amazon purchases.

See you then,

Posted in Everyday Life, Holidays

Tuesday Talk

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello! Well, yesterday was a soggy day with cooler temps, and it actually felt like fall! That kind of weather is perfect for my post today! Since it’s the third Tuesday of the month, I’m linking up with Ashley and Erika for this month’s Tuesday Talk.

This is me…

Fall is my favorite time of the year! From the cooler temps to the leaves on the trees changing to it getting dark earlier (I know, I’m weird!) to sweater weather and more, I just love fall.

I follows @ashton.creates on Instagram, and I’ve shared some of her graphics in previous posts. The fall bucket list stopped me in my tracks. So many fun things in one spot!

Today, I’m sharing my family’s Fall Fun List. Now to be clear, I made the list…They will have to go along for the fun!

  • UK football games and tailgating: We are already off to a good start on this one. We went to the MU/UK game a couple of weeks ago, and we’ll go to other games as we can. Travis and Hayden usually go to most of the UK football games….Hadley likes the tailgating part!
  • Pumpkin Patch: That’s one of my favorite traditions, and I’m sure we will find a Saturday to go in October. The kids always pick out their pumpkins to carve and we snag a pack (or two!) of the apple cider donuts.
  • Halloween and pumpkin carving: The kids are getting older, but they still have a couple years left of trick-or-treating. I’m not sure what they will be this year, but Hadley mentioned being and angel and devil with a friend or be a cow girl. Hayden will probably throw on a sports uniform and call it a day. We always carve pumpkins and sometimes do so with our neighbors. Again, my kids are getting older (#sigh), but the carving tradition will carry on somehow.
  • Fire pit/s’mores: The kids had this on their summer list, but we never got to it. An autumn fire pit sounds like a better idea to me anyway.
  • Visit Ginkgo tree lane: Last year, since we were still doing virtual school, we took a recess break to walk down a road here in Lexington that looks like the yellow brick road once the leaves fall. I hope to by there again this year.
  • Bake pumpkin desserts: Pumpkin pie, pumpkin snickerdoodles, pumpkin muffins and more! Can’t wait.
  • Hike: Honestly, our weekends are so busy and I’m not yet sure of our fall break plans (if any), but I love a hike on a cool autumn day when the leaves are changing colors. I guess time will tell if we get this one done or not.
  • Make chili: My kids (especially Hadley) could eat chili every day! It’s one of my favorite things to make because it’s such a great comfort food and the leftovers are even better.

There are other things we like to do like check out the carved pumpkins at Transy, see the horses race at Keeneland, go to Oktoberfest and more! Hopefully, we can make most of these things happen.

Before I go, here are some of my favorite fall photos:

What are some things you like to do in the fall?

See you back here tomorrow!

Posted in Everyday Life

Day in the Life

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello! It’s been a few months since I’ve shared a Day in the Life post. Now that we are in a back to school routine, I thought it would be fun to share what a pretty typical day looks like for me.

Here’s a peek at last Tuesday…(September 7th!)

I will say this day started off on the wrong foot for me. Tuesdays are supposed to be a morning when I wake up thirty minutes early, and get my workout in. Well, the night before, I slept horribly. From a stuffy nose and Homer randomly barking, I just didn’t sleep well. The 5:40 alarm went off, and I just hit snooze…twice! I got up at my regular (non-workout morning) alarm…6:10.

I got my cup of coffee, lit a candle, watched the news, and read some of my favorite blogs.

At 6:50, I went and washed my face and applied my serum and moisturizer.

Then, I made my breakfast and packed my lunch before waking up the kids around 7:30. I made their breakfasts before helping Hadley pack her lunch.

Then, I made the bed per usual!

I got dressed.

Then, we left for school. I dropped the kids off before heading to my school.

When I got to school, I caught up on emails, planned my day, scheduled student appointments and made copies.

Then, the day became a blur. I had a meeting, helped many students, ate my lunch (forgot to take a photo), made a couple of phone calls, met with students in the afternoon, and then had a few minutes for my afternoon snack while I caught up on paperwork. Then, I met with a few students during 6th hour before wrapping up my school day.

Before picking the kids up from school, I swung by Target to pick up a drive up order. (Hadley needed black leggings for dance practice that started the next day.)

I picked up the kids before heading to…

Kroger. Now, it’s pretty random that I had a Tuesday Kroger pick up, but I didn’t do a great job of taking advantage of Labor Day weekend and having an extra day to get chores accomplished. Target and Kroger pickup saved the day!

Once we got home, the kids helped me unpack and put up the groceries.

Then, I had about thirty minutes before we had to leave for Hayden’s cross country meet. So, I worked on my blog post for the next day.

Then, we headed to the cross country meet. Hayden and his team did an awesome job!

We got home around 7:45 and had a quick dinner of rotisserie chicken (thanks, Kroger!), Bob Evans mashed potatoes (thanks, Bob!), and fruit. That part of the evening was such a blur that I didn’t get any photos.

After dinner, we discussed the kids’ assignments, due dates, upcoming tests, etc. before everyone showered.

After my shower, I applied all my nighttime face products.

Then, I settled in for an episode of House Hunters while enjoying a piece of cheesecake from Trader Joe’s. I’d bought the cheesecake over the weekend, and it was so good. I’d never had one from Trader Joe’s.

Then, it was time to brush teeth and convince the kids to go to bed. Most nights, they end up tucking me in! 😂

I read my book for about twenty minutes while getting my Homer snuggles in.

Then, it was lights out around 10:15 which is pretty typical for me.

So that’s a little look at our day last week. I always love reading these kinds of posts, but it’s always hard for me to remember to take photos throughout the day!

I hope your week is off to a great start!

Posted in Everyday Life

July: Sentence a Day

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello! How was your weekend? Ours was pretty good! The weather finally cooled off and we even had a little rain yesterday. We were busy with baseball games for Hayden, dance workshops for Hadley and did a little back to school shopping as well.

I can’t believe July is already over! I’m sharing my sentence a day recapping the month. We started at the beach and ended the month thinking about getting back to school.

7.1.21

On July 1st, we were still on vacation in Isle of Palms, SC; we had a great vacay!

7.2.21

The 2nd was our last day at the beach; we ate at Hyman’s, in Charleston, for dinner followed by the Magnolia Cemetery ghost tour.

7.3.21

On the 3rd, we spent the day in the car leaving SC behind and heading home to KY.

7.4.21

On the 4th of July, Trav took the kids to the pool, we grilled out for dinner and then watched fireworks at our favorite spot.

7.5.21

Then, we celebrated Trav’s birthday a couple of days early with lunch out followed by a couple of games of bowling.

7.6.21

I had summer school followed by lunch with friends, and then we had Trav’s birthday cake a day early.

7.7.21

The 7th was Trav’s birthday, but he worked and took Hayden to baseball while I took Hadley to the last swim meet of the season.

7.8.21

On the 8th, we hung out at home most of the day, ran a few errands to get Hadley ready for camp, and I had my monthly facial!

7.9.21

On this day, we had more errands at the mall, picked up some library books, and got a car wash.

Can’t go to the mall without going to Auntie Anne’s (Photo by Hadley)

Bonus sentence: I went to dinner with my friend Sarah!

7.10.21

The 10th was a rainy day of baseball, a basketball game, and cousin fun in the evening.

7.11.21

On Sunday, we dropped Hadley off at camp, and my new bracelets arrived.

@soulshine.kc on Instagram

7.12.21

Hayden was excited for golf camp to start.

7.13.21

While Hayden was at golf, I did a little back to school shopping for me and picked out my teacher planner for the upcoming school year at Michaels.

7.14.21

I treated myself to a new purse; I’d been wanting a messenger bag for quite some time.

Travis and I had dinner out while Hayden ate with his teammates after baseball practice.

7.15.21

I had summer school while Hayden had his last day of golf camp followed by school with me for a bit while our new basement floors were installed.

7.16.21

On the 16th, my errands included picking out a basement rug, followed by state tournament baseball for Hayden.

7.17.21

Yay! On the 17th, I picked up Hadley from camp and went to Hayden’s baseball games.

7.18.21

We had baseball games in the morning followed by dinner on the back patio in glorious 75 degree weather.

7.19.21

On Monday the 19th, we spent the whole day at the pool, and then met family for dinner.

7.20.21

I went to school, took Homer to vet for his allergy shot and started reading Malibu Rising.

7.21.21

After summer school, I enjoyed lunch with some friends, and then went back to school shoe shopping for the kids.

7.22.21

On the 22nd, I spent lots of time at home getting things done, and then both kids had an ortho appointment. (After a year, Hayden got his appliance out and his bottom braces.)

7.23.21

This day was my last day of the summer “with nothing,” so we hit up the pool for most of the day, and then I started watching Bethenny Frankel’s Big Shot (and loved it!)

7.24.21

I had typical Saturday errands, went to Trader Joe’s for a few odds and ends and flowers followed by baseball games for Hayden.

7.25.21

While the rest of us were at Hayden’s ball games, Hadley was living her best life at the lake.

7.26.21

Middle school 6th grade orientation started, and I had dinner with my teacher friends from my former school to meet up with one of our friends who has been teaching in Egypt the past two years.

7.27.21

I helped with freshman orientation while the kids were at 6th grade orientation, and we later met Trav’s brother and his kids out for dinner.

7.28.21

The kids hung at the pool with friends while I had a hair appointment (that was very much needed!)

7.29.21

On the 29th, we met up with some neighborhood friends for a water balloon fight; the kids had so much fun.

7.30.21

On Friday, I was home most of the day, the kids went to pool with Trav and their cousins in the afternoon, and Hadley had a dance workshop in the evening while Hayden had a basketball game.

7.31.21

We finished up the month with Hayden having two baseball games, Hadley had a three hour dance workshop, I got a pedicure and then took Hadley back to school clothes shopping.

This tiny shirt didn’t come home with us 🤣

Overall, we had a good month. (A few days warranted more than one sentence 😉 July is a difficult one for me. June is all fun and games, and July brings a sense of urgency to savor the summer moments while starting to think about school.

I hope to be back tomorrow with my Prime Purchases for the month and a special post on Wednesday.

I hope your week is off to a great start!

Posted in Everyday Life, Friday Favorites, Home Updates

Friday Favorites {#77}

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello! Long time, no talk! How’s it going? My blogging break has been much needed, but I sure have missed posting!

Today, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites.

Here’s what we’ve been up to the past couple of weeks along with some of our favorites.

These bracelets are one of my favorite things to wear lately.

My friend, Amy, sent these to me. She hand makes these custom bracelets. She has so many cute and fun options. Check her out on Instagram (@soulshine.kc)! I know you’ll love anything she makes!

Hadley went to sleep away camp and had the best time! She was so sad last summer when camp was canceled, so she was so excited to go back this year! We were one of the first in line for drop off, and she had a great time with friends, old and new. Camp was definitely a favorite for Hadley this summer.

I loved seeing the photos on Facebook. I missed her, so it was nice to get daily updates and see her smiling face!

Hadley at camp was one of Hayden’s favorite parts of summer (haha!). He also went to golf camp for the first time, and he loved it!

One things that wasn’t a favorite…poison oak! It’s never good when your kid wakes you up at 3 am to tell you he’s itching all over! We aren’t sure where he picked it up, but it sure did spread quickly. Thankfully, we got into the doctor the next day and the steroid meds helped immensely.

We’ve also continued to have lots of baseball this summer. It’s always a favorite watching Hayden and his team play. They have lots of fun together.

Another favorite…we FINALLY got our new basement floors. I shared that our master bath shower leaked down to the basement bathroom and living space in early May, so the floors had to be ripped up. What we had put down when we updated the basement a few years ago was no longer being made, so we found something pretty similar and are really pleased.

The original floors after Travis ripped up the damaged flooring vs the new finished product:

Then, I found this pretty rug at Home Goods to replace our previous area rug. It’s super soft and I love the gray tones.

Another favorite is my new messenger bag. I’ve been wanting one for quite some time. I stopped in a favorite boutique that I hadn’t been to since before the pandemic, and saw this gold toned bag. It was my summer gift to myself for teaching summer school 😉 They had some fun straps and I liked the one it came with, but I got this one (in pic below) from Amazon!

Another favorite is dinner al fresco! The kids were having too much fun playing with friends, so Travis and I ended up having dinner on our back patio by ourselves on Sunday night. Steak and asparagus by Travis…and microwave Bob Evans mashed potatoes by me!

Once July hits, I start thinking about school. I always feel better after I get my room unpacked (which will maybe happen next week?…they are still cleaning my area of the school), buy my desk calendar and lesson plan book.

I decided to try the Happy Planner teacher planner. If you know any teacher, you know we are picky about our planners. I’ve used a variety through the years, and I just thought I’d give this one a try. I was close to ordering one online and then realized Michael’s has some and they were 30 (or 40?)% off…+ my teacher’s discount at Michael’s! I love a good deal.

We are soaking up these last days of summer. We’ve had a couple pool days this week after a three week hiatus. June is our big pool month, then we had vacay, camps, and lots of rainy days that took the pool off our fun list for a bit. The kids have had lots of fun with their friends this summer at the pool. It’s definitely a favorite part of our summer.

Favorite Mom Meme:

Me…all summer long trying to keep up with my kids…vs. my parents in the 80’s (Although, the Major was pretty strict about knowing our whereabouts!)

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday

One of my favorite vacation photos popped up in my Facebook memories recently. Siesta Key in 2017…sunset and the kids playing in the ocean.

I still hope to post intermittently over the next few weeks while continuing a little break.

I will share my Sentence a Day for July and what I’ve been reading this month as well once we get to the end of July.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer! See you back here soon.

Posted in Everyday Life

Brief Blogging Break

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello! I hope your week is off to a great start!

Just a quick note that I’m taking a brief blogging break (Say that three times fast!) during the rest of July.

Once July hits, I feel this way as a teacher:

…and honestly, I kind of feel that way as a parent, wife, friend, and more! It’s just a very busy summer and a very busy season of life, and I’d like to enjoy the last weeks of summer, soaking in the time with the kids while prepping for the upcoming school year.

I’m taking the rest of the week off, and hope to join a link up or two in the upcoming weeks before sharing:

and…

at the end of the month!

See you back here soon! Take care!