Tag: pod

Posted in Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites {#49}

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

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…

Not Just A Mom: holiday Traditions
Tuesday Talk: holiday Edition
Currently

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,

Posted in Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites {#44}

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Friday! How was your week? The weather here was beautiful, so that combined with a day off on Tuesday left us having a pretty good week!

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

Favorite Food:

Halloween candy. Too much of it. haha Snickers are my fave…I usually put a couple of them in the freezer to have as a sweet afternoon treat.

Favorite Moment:

This…

I never decorate until closer to Thanksgiving. We usually get a real tree for our living room, and typically do so the Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday, and it deserves its glory…but…this year, for me, anything goes! I’d had my eye on this “cashmere” pencil tree at Michael’s. A few influencers shared it on Instagram, and said it usually sells out quickly. So, I went ahead and purchased it. It was on sale for $60 (marked down from $140). There’s another option that’s $50 that is the same height and pencil style just not “cashmere.”

So, I spent my Election Day putting up this little tree in our sun room. I also picked up the neutral/metallic colored ornaments and natural woven tree topper bow to complete the tree.

I don’t want to jinx it, but the tree has been up for three days, and none of the shatterproof ornaments have been #homered. Of course, I think he prefers ornaments that are heirlooms. He had a real knack for destroying those last year. 🙃

I love it so much that I took pics of it throughout the day. 😂

dusk, daytime, nighttime

We will still get a real tree for the living room later. I may move this pencil tree into our bedroom and put our bigger artificial one in the sunroom like we did last year. I have plenty of time to think about it.

For now, the rest of my house is pumpkins…except for this one corner of the sun room. 😉

Favorite Kid Quote:

I’ve previously mentioned the Pod President election, and on Monday, the kids gave their speeches to their pod classmates. They did such a great job writing their speeches. They had such fun ideas and their personalities definitely shined though.

Wednesday was voting day, and the kids were encouraged to wear red, white, and blue.

Casting their ballots in the cute pod voting booth.

The three candidates…

The third candidate ending up winning, but I was so proud of my kids’ effort in making their posters, thinking of slogans, and writing their speeches. They had a great time and learned a lot about the election process.

Favorite Pic:

I was out for a walk, looked down and saw this heart shaped leaf which made me smile.

Favorite Clothing Item:

In Tuesday’s Amazon post, I shared about my love for this tank. It’s such a great basic to wear with a cardigan or with leggings.

Landyn shared about these Nordstrom pjs. I wanted something new and comfy for after my surgery, and these are just that! I also like that they are shorts with a long sleeved shirt because that’s perfect for the fall nights where sometimes we have 50 degree temps and other nights are much colder.

There are a few color options, but I went with “grey pavement.”

Other Faves:

No school on a Tuesday is always a bonus! We used that day to sleep in a bit, relax, get caught up on school, and cross some items off our “to do” lists.

Homer is always a fave…even when he brings his bone in the bed when I’ve told him not to.

I finished reading The Jetsetters Wednesday night and LOVED it. I highly recommend it!

Favorite Mom Meme:

I blame the time change, y’all! 😂

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday

This pic of Hadley ready for the first grade fall festival in 2016 popped up in my Facebook memories❤️ #yeehaw

As well as this pic of Hayden when he lost his first tooth in November 2014. Now he’s in full on braces for the second time. Time really does fly…and kids do get more expensive!

Weekly Recap:

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

Halloween Recap
Amazon Lately
Home Updates

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

I hope you have a great weekend.

Posted in Friday Favorites, Holidays

Friday Favorites {#43}

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Friday! We’ve had a pretty good week around here. Of course, we were busy with school and work, but we also found time for a few Halloween activities which made the week even more fun.

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

Favorite Food:

Amy shared about these rice rollers in a recent blog post. I rarely go into the grocery store, so I’ve forgotten to look for them when placing my online orders. Anyway, the other day I went into Kroger to pick up Halloween candy and saw the rice rollers!

They are a perfect snack, and really delicious.

Favorite Moment:

Well, y’all…we’ve hit a milestone! The kids carved their pumpkins on Tuesday night with minimal help from mom and dad!! #praisehands I love this tradition, but I’m not mad about them doing the work! Hayden wanted his pumpkin to have crooked teeth and the tongue sticking out while Hadley just wanted her pumpkin to say “Boo.”

Both pumpkins turned out pretty cute!

Here they are lit up on the front porch:

Favorite Kid Quote:

Hayden was on a roll this week and two memorable quotes.

Last weekend, Hayden was on the computer and said, “Ugh, every time I’m on You Tube, there are commercials. ‘I’m Amy McGrath. I’m Mitch McConnell. Hi! I’m Josh Hicks. I’m Joe Biden. I’m Donald J Trump.’ I’m over it. Just show me a Geico commercial!” I literally laughed out loud.😂

Then, the other morning, he was fed up with Hadley and said, “Mom, I’m moving my toothbrush into your bathroom. Hadley takes too much time to get ready and all she does is Tik Tok dances in the mirror!” I guess I have a new bathroom buddy.

Favorite Pic:

My favorite pic this week comes from my friend who runs the school pod. They had a Halloween party on Wednesday, and here’s the crew:

As we all know, 2020 is a year to remember. I’m very thankful they’ve had a sense of normalcy by going to school with a group of friends and having fun activities like holiday parties.

Favorite Clothing Item:

I shared the links for these in my What’s Up Wednesday post, but I’ve been living in this lightweight tunic jacket from Walmart.

and…I’m officially in love with my new robe from Target.

Other Faves: Halloween Fun:

Tuesday afternoon Hadley helped me add a few more touches to the front of the house. It’s no secret I love my pumpkins on the porch for fall, but then we usually add some cobwebs on the front bushes with some spiders the week leading up to Halloween.

Last weekend, when we were in Walmart, Hadley spotted these skeletons, so we picked up a couple to add to the cobwebs.

Other favorites from the week include the pod Halloween party activities.

Hadley’s ready to bob for apples.

Hayden’s turn…He took off his glasses, so he could really bob for apples! He was the champ of his round.

My friend joked that this activity was CDC approved because there were fresh apples, fresh water each round, and siblings shared tubs when it was their turn.

I joked that their big mouths apparently came in handy! 😉 #momjokes

Then, they decorated cookies.

and then ate the cookies…

I think they had a sweet afternoon filled with fun.

Favorite Mom Meme:

I saw this on the ‘gram and laughed! Too funny not to share.

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday

I shared Hadley’s kindergarten “All About Me” pic a few weeks ago. Hayden’s turn popped up in my Facebook memories this week. #pinchycheekcute

I remember how much he loved reading The Magic Tree House series which he wrote down as his favorite book. Ugh! Some times I really do miss this age.

Weekly Recap:

Here are my posts from this week in case you missed one and are interested:

Monday Memo: Surgery and Recovery
What’s Up Wednesday
October: What I’ve been Reading

Before wrapping up this post, I do want to say thank you for the love on Monday’s post about my surgery and recovery. From blog post comments and Instagram love, I really appreciate the support and kind words. The blogging community is a good one, and I’m certainly grateful for my readers.

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have a great Halloween!