Quality Time with Teens

I have some fun ways for you to spend time with your teens today!

Olive is just days away from turning 13 so I'm changing my posts from preteens to teens.  How is it possible??  I know many of you have been here since she was a baby living in Utah or BEFORE.  Thank you for that!

Olive had the day off on Friday and no one else did.  I shifted around some things and was able to take the day off with her.  We had so much fun making a to do list of things for our girl's day.  The boys were a little jealous, but quality time together is important.

I put practical and fun things on our list and she added in lots of fun.

We got the boys off to school and then enjoyed a slow morning at home.  We took inventory of gift cards I had in my wallet from students and from gifts, looked over our list and made a plan.  We grabbed breakfast at Panera and coffee at Honeymoon all thanks to gift cards.

Then we did some practical things - picked up my new contacts, went to Hobby Lobby for craft supplies for her birthday and went to the bookstore for some inspiration.  Everything was overpriced so we prompted placed an Amazon order.

We ended up at the mall to try a few things on at Old Navy and AE.  We found some good sales and grabbed lunch at the mall food court.

She had my undivided attention all day and enjoyed talking to me about all the things.  We reviewed friend situations, talked about how to fix some things and how to back away from some things, talked through Summer stuff and talked about the highlights of 7th grade.  It was wonderful!

So if you get the chance to spend a chunk of time solo with your teenager, do it!  Let them make a list of things you want to do.  Add in some practical stops to their fun stops and enjoy being together.

You'll both have a great day!

What would your teen put on the to do list for a day with you?

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  Olive and I are kicking off the weekend a little early with a girl's day!  She had the day off and I decided to join her for a day of fun.

The best parts of our week were:

1. Date night!  We kicked off last weekend with a date night.  We got some things done and ended the evening at our favorite dinner spot - Turonis.  Jalapeno poppers + loaded pepperoni pizza.  Yum.  Olive has been the best babysitter.  She loves it and we're so thankful!

2. We keep catching glimpses of rainbows in the sky!

3. I hit the jackpot at Marshalls!  Look at this darling floral set!  Is it possible to have too many chambray shirts?  Please say no.  The polka-dot dress didn't work, but the rest did.

4. These wildflowers make me so happy.

5.  Are your teens into Fugglers?  My kids have been collecting them for a while.  They released an Alley Cats line and my crew is so excited.  Tip: They are so much cheaper in stores like Walmart vs. online.

6. I love seeing these two learn new things in the kitchen! 

7. The boys found a baby "snappy" turtle and gave him the royal treatment for the day.  He got a spa visit, a bath, a snack and a soak.  Then the boys returned him to the creek.

8. The Bright Years is my bookclub book right now.  Have you read it?  I'm eager to start it.

9. Pumpkin continues to get poofier every week.  His birthday is coming up in June.  We wonder if his poof will calm down when he turns one.

10. Colorful kid lunches are my favorite!  One loved pesto pasta salad and the other loved giant grapes.

11. Salad bar for dinner!  Fletcher helped me chop everything in our chopper.  It was a favorite dinner for sure!

12. Teacher treats always brighten my day.

13. Kindergarten field trip day!  My class + Leo's class headed to a nearby state park to explore for the day.  We loved it!  The weather was beautiful.  We went on a hike, painted, explored and more.

14. Band tryouts.  Fletcher got to test out all the band instruments and I think he found the one for fifth grade band next year.

15. A rainbow cloud!?  Olive yelled for me to come to the backyard quick.  She spotted a rainbow cloud.  No stripe of rainbow or whole rainbow.  A rainbow colored cloud.  It was so cool.

I hope you have a great weekend!

See you back here on Monday.  Linking up with Momfessionals

Last Month of School Lunch Ideas

We are approaching the last month of school so I wanted to give you some lunch ideas.  My kids love me packing their lunches.  I pack 20 lunches every single week.  I usually try to do leftovers for myself.  The kids like a mix of all of their favorite things.  The lunches I am showing you today work great for my kindergartener and fourth grader.  Sometime I'll add in a yogurt or a PBJ on the side.

These Yumbox original containers have been our favorite since Olive was in kindergarten.  Our family has been using this brand for nine years!

Now onto the lunch box ideas.

Use up your dinner leftovers - Pesto pasta, sourdough bread, etc.

Add in their favorite salty snacks.  One likes spicy chips.  One does not.

Think outside the box with plain pasta noodles, granola ball bites and dry cereal.

Bite sized things are always a hit.  Their lunches need to be easy to eat and not messy.

If you notice something isn't being eaten, ask them why and try hard to include things you know they will be excited to see in their lunch.  Crunchy veggies for both.  One kids likes to dip in ranch.  One does not.  Practice opening applesauce pouches and lunch boxes all by themselves.

What are your favorite food items to pack in school lunches?

Independent Menu

I've been working hard to come up with an independent menu that my older kids can make on their own.  I practiced with them many times and now they are in charge of making lunches on the weekends.  Sometimes they even offer to make mom and dad lunch!

The menu is simple, but their kitchen confidence is growing!  I started with foods that they love to eat.  They were so excited to learn to make their favorite things.

They can make things like:

Fried eggs & toast

Avocado toast & eggs

Scrambled eggs

Omelet with toppings and toast

Grilled Cheese

Soup and grilled cheese

Ramen

Lo Mein

PBJ

Apple slices & Peanut butter

Blueberry muffins

They are mastering things like turning on the stove top to the proper temp to cook without burning, greasing a pan, using the toaster without getting burned, figuring out the proper utensil for the job, reheating leftovers to the correct temp and flipping an egg or a sandwich in a skillet.  We have also worked on kitchen safety with knives, turning on and off the stove top and letting things cool before we wash them.

It makes me so happy to think of them as young adults with a menu of items they feel confident cooking for themselves or for friends.  Next on our radar is boiling pasta, baking frozen things in the oven and maybe a few things in the air fryer.  

What else should I add to their menu of things to learn??

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope it's been a good week at your house.  School is getting busy.  The weather has been so lovely.  And we are all ready for the weekend!

The highlights of our week were:

1. Teacher Appreciation Week was so fun!  We got treats, the kindest cards and so many fun gifts.  And lost of extra hugs all week long.

I have a parent that is an AMAZING artist this year.  Her hand painted gifts are a treasure.

2. Windows down season!  I love seeing a tiny hand in my mirror feeling the wind.

3. I've got to find these smiley face pots at Dollar Tree!  They came across my feed and I think they'd be so cute in my classroom.

4. Leo got to bring home Sir Squeaks A Lot (his class pet) for a couple of days.  We did all kinds of fun things and he journaled about them.  The whole kindergarten is doing this project.  It was really fun to being on the parent side of things for a change.

5. Fletcher!  What a funny guy.  He had free time in art class and made himself a new set of eyes.  4th grade boys are hilarious.

6. Kevin surprised me with some smiley face sandwich bags for my lunches.  I'm obsessed.

7. Give me all the pencil accessories.  These bracelets were a big hit at school and so were the matching pencil earrings.

8. A beautiful surprise grocery store bouquet was waiting for me in the middle of a busy week.  The tulips are even prettier in person.  

9. Fletcher has after school clubs one day a week and Leo loves coming to my room.  He had his own Forrest Frank concert on the big screen this week.

10. I repotted this plant and can't get over this beautiful new pot.  I saved a HomeGoods gift card from Christmas.  It was love at first sight when I saw this scalloped purple pot.

11. After dinner walks.  There's nothing better.  Well, maybe the boys accidentally twinning + an after dinner walk.  We love saying hello to our neighbors and checking on all the new builds.

12. Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite.  I've got some big cookie projects in May so I'm gearing up for a busy baking schedule.

13. Errands with my favorite girl.  We did a mix of practical - returns, groceries, gas - and fun - books, outfits, mall and more.

14. Leo loves to pick me a bouquet of flowers on our neighborhood walks.  He grabs one of each kind of flower for the perfect bouquet.

15. Optimus Prime is losing all his teeth.  We keep laughing at Leo's new lisp, spitting when he talks and drooling because all of his front teeth are gone.

16. Olive had a sleepover and she missed the cats.  I sent her bedtime selfies with her favorite boys.  I have a feeling when she heads off to college, I will still be sending cat selfies her way.

17. Chasing sunsets!  Sunsets > sunrises every time.  We had some really pretty skies in the Midwest this week.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  See you back here on Monday.

Linking up with Momfessionals

12 Creative Ways to Save

I have 12 creative ways for you to save money today!  Everything feels more expensive these days so I hope you find a couple of new ideas to save yourself some money. I'm doing the usual consigning things we out grow or no longer use, use apps for all the coupons and stock up when I find things on sale.  Here are some creative ways to save money:

1. Order kid's meals!  They are usually under $10, come with an entree, side and drink and sometimes dessert.  Culvers is the perfect spot to try this trick out.  You get a generous meal and can add a family cheese curd to share.

2. Buy cat toys at Dollar Tree.  We found the cutest cat chip bags at Dollar Tree for $1.25 each.  They are crinkle toys and have cat nip in them.  I'm saving them for Pumpkin for his birthday in June.

3. Borrow when you can.  Leo had a character day at school and instead of spending $40 on an Amazon costume for him to wear once, we borrowed a costume for free.

4. Homemade birthday treats!  We love Nothing Bundt Cakes, but I do not love paying $30ish per cake for a dessert.  I made homemade buttercream and added some extra ingredients to a boxed cake mix.  They cost me about $5/cake to make at home.

5. Birthday treat bags instead of a birthday party.  Leo is young and was happy to bring in birthday treat bags for his whole class instead of a big party.  We spent around $35 for treat bag supplies which is way cheaper than hosting a class party.

6. Party supplies at HomeGoods + homemade treats.  HomeGoods had the cutest Reese's Pieces party decor this Spring.  It worked perfectly for our Reese's Pieces loving guy.

7. Say YES to free fun!  Go for a walk, play outside, go to a park, meet friends at a local school park, invite friends over to your house to play, etc.

8. Teachers, I know it's tempting to buy all the things for your classroom, but opt for the free class incentives when you can.  My class has LOVED the following free class rewards.

Reading Mouse and the Motorcyle & watching the movie in class.

Water color painting anything they want.

Extra recess.

Pajama Day.

Bring a stuffed animal to school day.

Stinky feet day - go shoeless in your classroom.

9. Going out to breakfast can add up quickly.  Instead, grab some new breakfast foods to try at home for much cheaper.  We did Aldi canned cinnamon rolls cut up into bites for a cinnamon roll bite casserole.  The kids loved it and it cost me around $4.

10. Splurge on something at the grocery store and it's still a lot cheaper than going out to eat.  Grab a pack of giant muffins at Sams for $6 and enjoy them for a fun breakfast treat for several days.  These giant blueberry muffins are our favorite.  They aren't expensive, but they were a fun thing to add to our weekly shopping trip.

11. Save gift cards for a fun dinner out!  My parents gave the kids Azzip gift cards for Easter.  We used them last Friday night for a delicious dinner out.  We only had to pay $6 for our meal that night.

12. Switch some of your name brand products out for store brands.  I tried this Equate contact solution since my usual Renew Contact solution is now $12/bottle.  I loved the Equate version and it's just $5.82!  What a great swap!  I'm also enjoying several ELF beauty products. I'll have to do a make up saving recap for you soon.

Let me know some creative ways you are saving money these days!