Happy Friday, Friends! I hope you have had a nice week. It was snowy, icy and rainy here. We watched a lot of election coverage and cheered for our favorite candidate. The kids had extra fun weeks at school and we got to see friends.
Did you catch my blog posts this week?
8 Delicious Dinner Ideas & Tips to Make Meals Easier - #5 is my favorite & my kids always love #2 and #3
January Coffee Chat - you all had a lot to say about #7
I shared my 2024 Word of the Year
Now onto the highlights of our week:
1. Our Midwest winter dreams came true when we woke up to a surprise snow day last Friday. The text came through at 6am and it was such an exciting surprise. The kids were hoping for snow, but it looked like it was all going to miss us. They called off school and we played outside as much as possible. It was very cold for several days so our creek frozen solid. We played down there a lot. My arms were sore from trimming branches to ensure they had the perfect walkway.
I don't feel sentimental about many baby items, but this toddler sled is something I think I will keep forever. All the kids used and loved it so much. It's probably Leo's last winter to fit in it so we are using it as much as possible.
Kevin didn't get a snow day so the kids were excited for him to come home from work and do all the dangerous things with them like walking out on the frozen lake in our neighborhood. I really do love winter!
2. Duplos. Leo is loving Duplos lately. I saw this fun game on social media where you divide a Duplo board in half with blocks and then make a puzzle for your kids to replicate. I did the right side. And then I helped talk Leo through doing his matching side. He LOVED doing this! We will keep this activity on repeat. Now that he gets the concept, it will be so much fun to play this together. I even think his big siblings would enjoy making these puzzles for him.
3. Black and white and brown forever. Kevin surprised me with this sweater. He was grocery shopping and grabbed two sweaters he thought looked like me. I loved one and returned the other one because it was fine, but not something I thought I'd wear a lot. This black and white sweater is my favorite when it gets cold. I also go this new Kate Spade bag for Christmas and it's quickly becoming my favorite.
4. Try new recipes! I'm actually going through some of the recipes that I've pinned on Pinterest and trying new things. I'm trying not to waste ingredients so I look up recipes to use up Buttermilk or Half and Half so they don't go to waste. These homemade blueberry muffins were such pretty muffins. We didn't love the texture, but I loved trying a new recipe. I also made a Buffalo Chicken Dip and a new soup this week.
5. This is my favorite eye shadow pallet right now. I bought it on a whim with a Walmart pick up order and I've repurchased it several times. It's around $8. I love that I can add it to my grocery pick up order, the colors are so pretty and so long lasting. It always looks perfect at the end of the night and it's so affordable.
6. Sick day. Fletcher wasn't feeling his best one day this week so he stayed home from school. He got lots of extra love from his BFF Penny and we snuck in some fun things to get him feeling better. I think all the extra attention for the day was his favorite.
7. Leo's construction site has taken over our downstairs family room. He loves to haul cars, Duplos and work. He sets up all these scenes and it's really sweet.
8. Doing crossword puzzles are my favorite. I finished up my last book before Christmas and I finally got around to replacing it this week. I try to do one crossword every day while I'm waiting in pick up line at the kid's school. I debated subscribing to this book to get a new one every month. Does that make me old or so smart for planning ahead for a year of cross words??
9. 101st day of school! Fletcher's class got to wear black and white or dress up as dalmatians for this fun day at school. They also hit some big milestones as a school and got to have a day full of bounce house fun for everyone. Elementary school is so much fun!
10. If your kids love pop-its, I have a fun winter activity you can do with them. Rinse them off, get out a big cookie sheet, fill them with water, lemonade or PRIME and let them freeze in the freezer. Or if it's really cold where you live set them outside to freeze. We had a great time setting a time to see how long it would take them to freeze and then popping them out to snack on. All my kids from toddler to tween loved this.
11. Afternoons with Leo are my favorite. He loves to dance and play while I get things done around the house. And bonus points if he can find a place to climb high.
12. Olive requested winter cookies and rubber duckies out of play-doh for her 5th grade Market Day sale this week. She was so pleased with how they all turned out. I love hearing her talk about setting her prices and her selling strategies. She looks forward to this social studies lesson so much each month. Working together with her is a favorite!
We have some fun plans this weekend and I'll be back here on Monday! Chat soon!
Those muffins look so good!
ReplyDeleteHow exciting to have a snow day. It looks like everyone had such a fun time.
ReplyDeleteMy girls used to love Duplo bricks when they were little.
Doing a crossword every day is great to keep your brain active, I would subscribe for a book every month.
I had never heard of Dalmatian day at school until yesterday! What fun!