Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope it's been a good week for you.  We were busy!

Did you catch my blog posts this week?

Northern Lights in Our Backyard - the coolest surprise!

Mother's Day Highlights

Exercise with Mom

Now onto my favorite moments of the week:

1. Emily Henry Books!

I picked up Happy Place on a whim - darling cover and Emily Henry is so popular - and I loved it!  The friendships, the romance, the themes and the adventures.  And who doesn't love a book that leaves you feeling HAPPY!?  I loved it so much that I promptly ordered two more Emily Henry books.  I'm reading Book Lovers now and People We Meet on Vacation next.  They all have amazing reviews.

2. Amazon Favorites

I had a tiny blush crisis this week.  Have you ever gone to reorder a favorite beauty item and it's GONE??  My favorite Tarte blush/highlighter combo is out of stock everywhere so I went to my instagram friends for help.  A good friend told me I had to try the ELF Glow Blush Beauty Wand cream blush in Pinke Me Up.  I had never tried a cream blush before so I was excited.  It's so lovely!  Look at this pretty glow.  I can't recommend this blush enough.  Blush crisis averted.

I picked up this PRETTYGARDEN Women's Summer 2 Piece Outfit on a whim and it's DARLING.  So good that I have already ordered it in black and red.  I'm debating which color to order next. 

The quality of the set is so nice.  The fabric feels expensive and you'd easily pay $40 for each piece.  This set is around $40 for the top AND bottom.  You could easily mix and match sets or wear each item on its own.  The pants are really flattering, have pockets and look so professional and put together.  It runs true to size so grab your normal size. 10/10 must have outfit for the Summer.  I promise!  You'll love it.  I'm thinking of ordering the olive green set or the mustard yellow set next.  All of the colors are SO pretty and many of them are on sale right now.

PRETTYGARDEN 2 piece set in black

PRETTYGARDEN 2 piece set in red

Adoyi Gold hoop set.  I got this pack of 7 different gold hoops for Mother's Day and I am SO impressed.  The quality is great and they look so high end.  I've worn them all week with zero complaints.  They are light, easy to wear and so pretty.  This set is perfection - every gold hoop style and size you could ever want and the price is shocking!!  Another Summer MUST HAVE!

3. Teacher gifts.  I grabbed some cute Summer zipper pouches for our teachers, added in some bakery cookies and a handwritten note.  I had the kids make their teachers these darling note paper gift bags and I love the way they turned out.  Just precious!

4. The Northern Lights.  I'm still not over this cool night sky.

5. Summer flowers!  I'm eager to plant my flowers, but it has been too rainy this week.  Hopefully these pretty blooms will get potted this weekend.

6. Makenzie-Childs vibes.  I found this darling checked vase at Marshalls this week and couldn't wait to use it. Kevin surprised me with Mother's Day flowers that matched perfectly without even knowing about my new vase.  I love it so much!

7. Backyard Lemonade.  My kids love lemonade as much as I do so I love serving some afternoon lemonade to them.

8. Dig N Roll.  Remember this cute indoor play place?  Leo and I went with some friends this week and it was EMPTY.  Going during the day when school is in session is so nice.

9. New plants!  I got some new plants this week for free!  My new motto is - if someone is offering free plants, I say YES!

10. Jordan Bakery Box.  I had some yummy orders this week!

11. Rescue Fletcher.  He saved a nest full of baby birds when crazy rains knocked them to the ground.  He's also keep an eye on some bunnies, saved us from a snake and is on the lookout for a turtle to save.  Poor Fletcher fell hard on his arm yesterday so we are still icing it and hope he gets back to animal rescuing soon.  

12. Blooming landscape!  It makes me so happy to see our landscaping thriving and not looking so new.

13. Double braids.  Olive requested that I learn how to do this for her this week.  I'm pretty pleased with the results!  She's got the prettiest hair.

14. King Leo.  No one loves a recliner more than him.

15. Crumbl Cookies.  Kevin took the big kids out to grab some cookies for dessert one night.  They picked out a yummy mix.  They were sad that there weren't more iced cookie options, but we devoured this assortment.  If you go to Crumbl - make sure you are earning rewards.  They add up fast!

16. Now that Leo is 4, running errands is fun and mostly easy.  Old Navy made his day this week with this fire safety set up.

17. Lunch dates make me smile!  We squeezed in one more lunch date before Summer with our favorite person - Jacque - at our favorite spot - Jason's Deli.

18. School!  The kids have packed in field trips, fun runs, fundraisers, dress up days and foam parties during their last few weeks of school.  We've got one more busy week before Summer break.

Have a wonderful weekend!  See you back here on Monday!

Linking up with Momfessionals

Exercise with Mom

What's the best way to ensure that you get in some exercise every day?

Right now, with Leo as my 24/7 side kick and the big kids at school all day, I usually work out in the afternoon.  I hop on the treadmill for anywhere from 20-45 minutes.  I usually walk.  Occasionally run.  And it's pretty enjoyable.  I get caught up on things on my phone and listen to my favorite fast moving playlists.

Now that Leo is 4, he's so easy to work out around.  He'll play right night to my treadmill or go on walks with me.  We bike, too.

It always cracks me up that the kids are eager to be right next to me no matter what I'm doing.  On the weekends, they'll hang out with Kevin.  If they're home when I'm exercising, they are popping in and out of our office to say hello.

These 4 things ensure that I get to exercise most days:

1. An indoor workout option that isn't weather dependent (treadmill)

2. Putting on my workout clothes whether I feel like working out or not.

3. Adding exercise to my daily to do list.  I'm the kind of girl that if it's on my to do list, it'll get done.  I also like to make note of what exercise I do each day in my planner.  That way I can see what I accomplised during the month and set new goals for the next month.

4. Exercise before the craziness of the afternoon/evening hits.

What's your best way to exercise right now?

This is often my exercising view: Kids and cats.  And I often have to stop to help Leo with potty breaks, but exercising is a priority to me.  I won't be talked out of it!

Leo plays with all kinds of toys while I "apple-size".  Then we clean everything up together to leave the office neat and tidy.

He also enjoys simple games and animal figures to play with.

So if you're surrounded by tiny people during your days, it's totally possible to occupy them with toys or a show while you exercise.  Leo bounces around to do lots of different things while I'm on the treadmill.  And if you aren't in a good exercise routine, it's a great time of year to start doing something for yourself.

Mother's Day Highlights

I had a really sweet Mother's Day weekend with my family.  We did many of my favorite things and the kids were busy making me sweet gifts at school.

We headed to the garden center to pick out flowers for my pots on Saturday and then Kevin worked hard doing yardwork.  Now I need to get busy and plant all my pretty flowers.

We got to see both sides of our family and celebrate with many of our favorite moms.  Our Sunday was BUSY - church, prep lots of food, lunch with Kevin's family and dinner with my family.  We were all worn out at the end of the day, but I'm tahnkful we got to see so many people we love.

Mother's Day 2024 was a sweet one.

Northern Lights in our Backyard

We got the coolest surprise on Friday - the Northern Lights were visible from our backyard!!

All the maps showed that Southern Indiana would likely be too far south to see them, but there was a tiny chance the lights would be visible according to local weather people.  Kevin planned a bonfire and a boys camp out in the backyard for Saturday.  I stayed inside with Olive and Leo.  Leo fell asleep early and Olive and I watched some cooking shows and had snacks.  We were having a party of our own.

The boys were sitting around the bonfire and Fletcher told Kevin something was happening in the sky.  Kevin came running in to tell us to look at the sky.  The Northern Lights were visible!!  We grabbed shoes and jackets and headed out to join the boys at their campsite.  

It was AMAZING.

We saw cool colors with our eyes, but our cell phones picked up some really amazing rainbows of color.  We saw constellations, shooting stars, the coolest colors and we were all amazed at the night sky from probably 9:30-10:30pm.

Could you see the Northern Lights at your house this weekend?

I hope you get a chance to see them someday!

We made some really fun memories together this weekend!

Friday Faves

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope it's been a good week at your house.  It was busy and stormy here.  Thankfully, all of the scary stormy weather missed us, but the kids got sent home from school early, we lost power for a bit and we were on high alert.  The kids had all kinds of fun things going on at school and are excited for Summer break.

Did you catch my blog posts this week?

Simple Charcuterie Board Dinner - my family would eat this meal every night!

7 Family Dinner Ideas - #4 and #6 are always a hit!

A Collected Home - a goal for my home

Now onto my favorite moments of the week!

1. Date night!

Our Derby party got cancelled, but we'd already secured a babysitter and pivoted to date night.  It was lots of fun!  We dined in at a restaurant that we normally only get take out and I helped Kevin with some projects at his office.  Wasabi was such a pretty restaurant and the food was delicious!  Kevin got a sushi and steak dinner and I got the chicken hibachi.  Portions are super generous.  We were so glad to have a night out!

2. Amazon Favorites

I'm loving this Emily Henry book so much - Happy Place!  I think I'm late to the Emily Henry party.  Her characters are so good.  You wish you could just hop right into the storylines and make new friends.  I can't wait to read more of her books this Summer.  Have you read any of her books that you loved?

I can't wait to start this series Rabbit & Bear with my 2nd grader.

I was having trouble finding a few new things for myself in stores so I ordered some gold jewelry and some cute outfits on Amazon!  Let me give you a sneak peek!! The prices are great and the reviews look promising!

I saw this on another friend and couldn't wait to order this PRETTY GARDEN lounge set for myself in black.  I was tempted to do the dark green or one of the bright colors, but figured I couldn't go wrong with the classic black.

Another darling set from PrettyGarden Pullover top and Highwaisted Pants - it's on super sale right now in so many cute colors!  I love the summer sweater top, the pocket and the color options.  I ordered army green for myself.  I hope you can snag the deal, too!

I wanted some new gold hoops for Summer and these look so promising!  They feel very Selena Gomez in Only Murders in the Building to me.  I love all the different styles - the twists, the links, the chunky gold hoops.  They all look so cute.  Adoyi 7 pack of gold hoops

Reoxvo gold bangles.  These look like awesome every day gold bracelets!

3. Elite Air.  We went to another friend birthday party at this fun trampoline place.  The kids loved it again and we were more prepared - had already purchased socks, signed the waiver ahead of time and I brought extra water.

4. Summer charcuterie dinner boards are the easiest dinner when it gets hot out!

5. School lunches are wrapping up for the year.  11 more days to go!

6. Bistro pretzel Bites from Costco are so yummy!!  We made one bag for lunch this week and we all enjoyed them.  The cheddar cheese dip is great.  We'll be getting these again.

7. Cinco de Mayo with friends!  We invited our best buddies over for a little Cinco de Mayo taco bar.  Dinner was so good that I forgot to take any pictures.  Just picture a delicious taco bar.  I made the taco bar and our friends picked up chips and dips from a favorite Mexican restaurant :)  We had s'mores and lemon bundt cake for dessert.  The kids played outside a lot and the adults chatted until dark.  We're all ready for Summer!

8. Eat honeysuckle.  Push Leo on the swings.  Repeat.

9. I'm soaking in the days where buying a new toy truck will totally make his day!  Leo picked out this log truck and has played with it all week.  We also grabbed these bite sized salty snacks at Target this week.  The kids loved them!  They're perfect for lunch boxes or snacks.

10. Our cute cousin Hayden turned 16!  We had a great time celebrating him and snuggling his cats.

Judy the kitten is getting BIG!

11. Late night storms meant waking up with surprise visitors :)

I hope you have a great Mother's Day weekend celebrating the important ladies in your life!!  I'm hoping to eat some delicious food, head to the garden center with my family and celebrate with our families on Sunday.  See you back here on Monday!

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