Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope you've had a nice week.  We are ready for the weekend!  I need to do a lot of reading so I'm ready for my bookclub dinner on Sunday.  We had a fun week.  I'm saving my favorite new dinner for the end of my post.  Don't miss it!

The best parts of my week were:

1. Making this candy snackle box with my kids for their friends to enjoy when they came over.  It was so much fun to shop for, to prep and to sample.  The Dollar Tree has such a fun assortment of candy.

2. Jellycats.  Olive got this one for Valentine's Day and it's so sweet.  My Valentine's Day roses are still going strong.

3. We have almost polished off an entire box of these chocolate dipped strawberry Jonny Pops from Costco.  Try them!

4. Happy to host.  That's my motto when anyone wants to invite friends over.  It worked out great because we set up all different zones for the kids to hang out in.  We set up a football game and ping pong in the garage.  Play Station upstairs.  The office was cleaned out for crafts.  Sleepover zones.  Snacks galore.  The only thing I forgot was to restock the upstairs mini fridge with mini water bottles for the kids.  The weather wasn't great so we had all of the indoor spots ready for the kids to enjoy.

5. A sweet student made my morning with a Donut Bank smiley face cookie.  She stopped there for breakfast and picked up something for me.  Too sweet.

6. Homemade Guac.  Sams has the best avocados.  I love to buy the store bought pico and make the yummiest guacamole.  It makes Taco Tuesday extra fun with some homemade guac.  My recipe is so easy - 3 avocados, dump in a lot of pico, squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice and a generous sprinkle of Kinder The Blend seasoning.  Stir and enjoy!

7. Civil War diorama.  Fletcher had to make the battle of Gettysburg.  He had the best time learning all about the battle.  He learned so much and mastered the hot glue gun.  

Fletcher spray painted and positioned every piece just so.  He presented it to his class earning an A+ and a spot to display it at school.  Way to go, buddy!

In a surprising turn of events, Leo is also becoming a Civil War expert right along with Fletcher.  They've had a lot of fun going over history to recreate battle scenes this week and learning about the war.

8. Hugs from home!  It takes a lot of time and effort to make sure the kids have delicious lunches from home everyday.  They love them and it makes me happy to send a big hug from home to them in the middle of the day.  I'm adding in all the leftover Valentine's day treats, some fun things like Reese Puffs cereal and then all their favorites.

9. Pumpkin got his first hair cut this week.  He's SO fluffy that he required some at home salon care.

10. Pizza Party!  Fletcher's teachers surprised the kids with a fraction review pizza party.  They got to be chefs to make paper pizzas and cut them into fractions.  Then they surprised the kids and had real pizza delivered to their classrooms.  How fun!  He said it was the best day of 4th grade.

11. Leo is very into battles.  Peppa Pig and friends vs dinosaurs.  The dinosaurs won obviously.

12. Leo is such a good writer!  His teacher brought him over to my class this week to show off his writing.  He is learning so much in kindergarten.

13. Aldi pizza dough!  I grabbed two of these to try at Aldi for homemade pizza night.  The crust is delicious and perfect for a fun dinner at home.  You bake it at 450 for just 12-15 minutes.  You press the pizza dough out on a cookie sheet, add the sauce and toppings and bake.  We can't wait to get this again.  Definitely grab it the next time you're at Aldi.  

Our favorite pizza sauce.

Favorite pepperoni.

I love all of the cheese options from Aldi.

Bake and serve.  It was delicious for dinner and so good reheated for lunch.

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

Linking up with Momfessionals

4 Tips for Hosting Teenagers

We've hit the milestone of having more preteens and almost teens in our house than not.  Many of their friends are teens so we're learning the ropes of hosting teens.  We had Olive and Fletcher's friends over for Valentine's Day and it was so much fun.  The kids know their friends are welcome with a little preplanning and calender consulting.  This is our 2nd annual Valentine's Day with the friends and they were talking about their plan for next year.

We tried some new things and they were a hit!

1. I took my kids to Dollar Tree to pick out candy about a week before our party.  They wanted to make a snackle box to share with their friends.  They grabbed 12 different kinds of candies and it filled up our box so well.  They candy selection and price at Dollar Tree is awesome.  It's $1.25/bag and they have tons of options.  

All the kids loved being able to pick and choose their treats.  Can you guess which candy was the most popular??  The pixie sticks!  The only candies I intentionally left out were any variety of GUM.  I didn't want to have to worry about the kids finding a trash can for their gum.

The Sour Patch Pals were also a favorite.

We assembled the box early in the day and then added the lid until we were ready to serve it.

2. A favorite things exchange!  Olive planned all the details - set the budget, valentine theme and then each girl brought enough to give everyone on of their favorite things.  Olive gave the candy heart stuffed animal, Burts Bees chapstick and a face mask.  She got those three things for each of her friends.

Fletcher opted for silly string, video games, movie and laser tag at home with his buddies.

3. I had planned to cook a big breakfast, but life happened and I realized that wasn't going to work.  I ordered a Walmart delivery order in the middle of the night to arrive at 8am.  It saved the day!  I served a cereal bar + some granola bars for breakfast.  Everyone loved it!  We used paper bowls and plastic spoons so there was almost zero clean up.  I'm definitely doing this again!  Maybe even let the kids order the cereals that they want?

4. Welcome all the friends and communicate your house rules.  My kids appreciate when I'm the "bad guy" to share the rules vs them having to tell their friends about rules.  No one really complains.  I think they appreciate the clear boundaries.

No social media.  Shoes go here.  Show them where the drinks are to grab anytime.  Give them a landing zone for their things.  And then offer food and snacks throughout the night.  You might even get asked to participate in the games they are playing, get a tour of all of their favorite things gifts and hear some stories about teen life and school along the way.  I try to be available when their friends are over, but not in the middle of everything they do.  They know I'm close if they need me and they always seem to appreciate knowing our house rules.

In case you needed it, here's your gentle nudge to host your kid's friends at your house!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a sweet Valentine's Day weekend!  The boys and I day full of parties and school festivities on Friday.  We hosted the kid's friends for a Valentine's Day dinner.  We felt the love all weekend long!

Olive made the valentine's for my class.

The boys loved picking out and making their valentines.

I got a desk full of sweet valentines from my class!

I survived a long week at school + a day full of Valentine's Day fun!  I loved this darling candy heart headband from Walmart.  I don't like paying boutique prices for items I will only wear a few times a year so finding it at Walmart was perfect.

The boys in matching Cupid's Pizza shirts.

The kids LOVED going through all of their valentines from classmates.  They also got really sweet mail and packages from family.  Their great grandma sends them $2 bills for holidays.  They each have a nice little money collection growing. 

This cute valentine treat is giving me inspiration to make some treats of our own.

Love monster valentine bags.

Goodmorning, valentines!

The way to Olive's heart is with Jellycats.  This trend makes me smile because Jellycats were so popular when she was a baby and now they are making a comeback.

Chicken nuggest and his favorite candy.

Fugglers.  I'll never quite understand their appeal, but my boys LOVE them.

These individual Nutellas were one of my very favorite finds!  I bought each kid one with a bag of stick pretzels.  I hope these come out for all the holidays.

Kevin taught the boys the art of picking out beautiful grocery store flowers for the lady they love.  They worked together to find the perfect bouqet for me.

New valentine coffee cup from oneof my students.

Pumpkin's first valentine's day.  He wasn't sure what to think about all of the festivities.

Holiday treats just taste better.

I set a pretty table.  Remind me next year to iron everything the day before my party.  Good thing the kids didn't care.

Olive is a great party planner!  She did the invitation for her friends and helped me map out the whole event.

Kevin picked up heart pizzas for dinner.

Valentine's Day with a house full of extra kids!  We loved it!

We tried a new Jonny Pop - chocolate dipped strawberry!  They were delicious.

Pumpkin preferred to be out and about when the kids were quiet.

I love the messages on Jonny Pops!  I hope everyone felt extra loved this weekend!