November Coffee Chat

Hello!  Grab your breakfast and your favorite drink and let's catch up!

1. Have you found any leopard jeans that you love?  Do you have any loafers you love?  Send me links!

I tried on some at GAP and Target and didn't love them.

2. My December book club book is On a Quiet Street.  Have you read it?

3. What are you buying your teen girls, about 10 year old boys and 5 year old boys for Christmas?  I have started my Christmas shopping, but could use some new ideas.  As the kids have gotten older, it's hard to buy things very far in advance.  Lots of places have a 30 day return window so I try hard to make sure that my gifts are exchangeable if needed.

4. How are your college football teams doing this season?  Notre Dame had a rough start, but the playoffs seem bright for them.  And Indiana University becoming a football school was never on my radar.  It's been so much fun to watch my team shine in a new sport these past two years.

5. What has been the best gift your little kids made for you when they were in school?  I'm making plans for my kindergarten Christmas gifts to parents and would love some fresh ideas.

6. Give me all the tips about getting passports for yourself and your kids.

7. RIP to the days when chocolate chips were affordable.  I need to watch for some Christmas sales or ask Santa for some Sams bags of chocolate chips for Christmas.

8. Have you ordered your Christmas cards yet?  I went through Walgreens online, stacked several coupons and am hoping I love them when they arrive.  I'm super proud to get them ordered early.  Hopefully, I'll also get them sent out early.

9.Are we ready for Elf on the Shelf??  I've been collecting fun things for our elves.  We don't do advent calendars, just fun things for the elves December 1-24.  I'm hoping Olive will help me a little this year.

10. Orange cats are the sweetest.  I said what I said.  We've had two - Topher & now Pumpkin and they have both been such loving, sweet cats.

What's new with you??  What's on your mind with the upcoming holidays?  Let's chat in the comments!

Be the Light

Be the Light!  

On Friday, I joined Kevin on campus at UE to celebrate his program and his clinic with a candle light be the light ceremony.  I rushed home from school, did a quick wardrobe change and met up with him.  He was doing clinic tours for all of the donors and new partners that were in town and wanted to see how much the clinic has grown and changed since the doors opened a couple of years ago.

They were impressed.  I was impressed!  It was fun to see all of their hard work paying off.

Sidenote - I've been waiting for about a year for an event for this dress! I grabbed it at Marshalls and saved it for the perfect event.  The weather was perfect.  60s and lovely for mid-November is always a guarantee in the Midwest.

The campus looked so pretty under the lights!  

There were a couple hundred people at the ceremony.  The president spoke, Kevin spoke about his students, the clinic stats, his program and their needs going forward, then there were a few more speakers.  They got to honor important people and share their vision for the years ahead.  The program and the clinic had some slight changes to their name thanks to some generous donors.  

It was exciting and inspiring to see Kevin's program in the spotlight.  The whole university was really excited to announce a new partnership with University of Evansville and Riley Children's Hospital.  It's a big deal for his students and for their training.

There was music, candle light and everyone left feeling inspired.

Great job, Kev!!  You are an excellent leader! 

We headed over to the reception and had the yummiest food and drinks!  Avocado egg rolls with spicy ranch.  Stuffed dates, apple fritters, cherry chocolate cups, melon skewers and chicken on a stick.  Delicious!

We got to connect with big mental health and univserity supporters and celebrate all of the good Kevin's program is doing in our area.  He's training students, cutting down on wait times for assessment and therapy and leading the charge for better mental health care in our areas.  With a great team of people!  He's worked hard to staff and surround his program with people who really care and are invested in their mission.  

It was a wonderful night to celebrate almost 4 years of really hard work!  

Remember when we relocated for his dream job back in 2021??  

Dear Kevin, It's really exciting to see your big dreams coming true.

Love, Your #1 Fan

  

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!  It was a long week over here.  I'm not sure why, but the week went by so slow.  We had some fun things - our first snow flurries and worked on some cute school projects together.

The best parts of our week were:

1. Weekend errands with these two.  Every weekend we run errands squeeze in some fun.  Just the big kids.  They're great grocery shoppers, help me get prepped for the week and convince me to try fun things like the holiday Alani flavor.

2. IU Football!!  Indiana University has always been a basketball school, but now we have a great football team.  That was nonexistent when I was there or ever.  It's been so fun to cheer on IU football last year and this year.  The win over Penn State last weekend was WILD.

3. Fall is my favorite!!  I just love the cooler temps and the gorgeous colors.

4. Kevin's dad turned 70!  We celebrated his birthday along with his brother's bday.  Fletcher learned that he loves ribs and we had a fun time celebrating them.

5. Pumpkin was sad to see the Halloween decorations go, but lucky for him, we decorated with Thanksgiving pumpkins next.

6. SNOW!  It didn't stick around for long, but it was so exciting to see snow coming down!  We need to try on all of our snow gear ASAP to make sure we are prepared for our first big snow.

7. A turkey cat hat might have jumped into my Amazon cart.  Pumpkin isn't thrilled.

8. The whole kindergarten did a Turkey in Disguise project where the kids got a turkey and had to disguise it to keep the turkey from becoming Thanksgiving dinner.  Leo loves Chick-Fil-A so this was a no brainer.

9. Snowballs.  We had enough snow that Fletcher is starting a snow ball collection in our freezer.

10. The time change has been wonderful!  It's so nice for the sun to come up earlier since my alarm clock goes off around 5:30am every morning.  Look at that sunrise.

11. Coat season!  I love this Madewell coat and so do my favorite cats.

12. The Northern Lights were visible again in our backyard.  We saw them a couple of years ago.  They weren't quite as bright this time, but it was exciting to see them nonetheless.

13. You know the temps are dropping when... you find Penny sleeping on the floor vents to stay warm.

14. My favorite spot every day after school.  I rush home from work, fix snacks and smoothies for the kids, unpack backpacks, get everyone settled at home and then sit down to have some iced coffee with Pumpkin.  It's nice to sit and relax before the rush of dinner, dishes and homework begins.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  We have LOTS of fun plans in the works!

See you back here on Monday.

Linking up with Momfessionals

Surprise Treats

I have an idea for you - find out your friend's favorite things and surprise them!  

I have some super thoughtful parents in my class this year who asked me for my favorites.  They sent me a message that said something like - Please send me your Starbucks order so I can bring you coffee on Friday.  Or another one that said - I'm working from a local coffee shop today.  Send me your drink order for an afternoon treat.  So kind!  And both families have remembered those drink orders a time or two already this year.  These little surprises really do make teachers feel so special!

You could do this for a co-worker, neighbor, friend, Bible study buddy or a family member.

Another idea is to memorize your family member's order at favorite restaurants and then surprise them with an easy dinner on a day that they might need a little extra cheer.

For example, Kevin has our orders memorized at our favorite pizza places, Qdoba, Panda Express, ChickFilA, etc.  Then on days that are crazy for me or for him, he'll text me and say that he's taking care of dinner that night.  He'll grab dinner for us on his way home.  Win-win for everyone.

A burrito bowl with all the toppings!  Yum!

Get busy and surprise the people you love with their favorite things!

Turkey Time!

We swapped out Halloween decorations for Thanksgiving this weekend!  Cue all the turkeys!  I know that many turkeys are not cute, but I've worked hard to build a cute turkey collection over the years.  The kids have gotten to the age where they are great helpers when it comes to holiday decorations.  They help take down and set up and it goes so much faster.  Plus, they really enjoy helping decorate.

I always love decorating our entry way for the holidays.

A mix of kid art and pumpkins of all textures and materials.

The kids made this banner for us for Thanksgiving a few years ago and it's my favorite.

My mom gave me her turkey lamp and it's pretty on my counters!

I love a kitchen lamp.

Fall is my favorite!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope you've had a great week.  Ours was filled with presentations, sick days, cooler weather and Halloween candy.  The best parts of our week were:

Best brothers.  We're a little alarmed at how fast Pumpkin is growing.  He's got large paws and his fluffy fur makes him look similar in size to Mr. Mittens.  He's still growing at only 4 months old and it seems like he's going to be big.  These two are the best of friends even though their personalities couldn't be more different.  We joke that... Mr Mittens is judgy, gets himself into trouble and so fancy in his tuxedo.  Pumpkin is always purring, is so sweet, gets so excited to see you and is very friendly.

Fletcher has been working for weeks on his research of Dr. Ben Carson for his 4th grade Famous Christian wax museum project.  He got to present his poster and share all about Ben Carson.  He's such a good presenter memorizing his speech and interacting with people.  He looked so good in hsi white coat.  We borrowed some doctor supplies from my FIL who is a retired cardiologist.

Several people told Fletcher he looked like a natural in the white coat.  He's the nicest, sweetest, caring guy so I think he'd make a wonderful doctor if that's what interests him when he gets older.  Fletcher is named after his grandpa - Fletcher Marlon Jordan & Marlon Jordan.  It was sweet to see them together.

Kevin's parents, my parents, Leo and Kevin and I were all about to attend his presentation.  We got to stop by and visit his friends, too.  The kids all worked so hard.

Any meeting that starts out with Nothing Bundt Cakes is a good one.

Kindergarteners are my favorite.

One student handed me this sign and asked me what it said.  I couldn't figure it out.  He was annoyed and said - Obviously, it's CAUTION do not enter.  Obviously :)  Once he told me I could see just how he did his best to soudn it out.

Leo had a sick day last week and Olive this week.  About mid day he told me he was ready for sports.

He set up the baseball gear and stomp rockets.  The weather was perfect.  I grabbed a pumpkin blanket and sat on the patio to watch him play.

Olive loves Jellycats!  Her very first stuffed animal was a Jellycat.  See a very well loved Bun Bun??  One of my 3rd graders gave it to me as a gift when I was pregnant with Olive and it's been her best friend ever since.  She's started collecting them again.

Handsome Pumpkin!

The highlights of Leo's day is playing games!

If you see these apple pie rolls at Sams - buy them!!  WE put them in the air fryer and they were AMAZING.  They are fantastic.  I'll definitely repurchase them.

I put together a pretty bouquet of Sams flowers for my aunt's birthay!  I love making bouquets.  I found myself missing my Uncle Ray.  These are the kinds of pictures that I'd text him to see if he liked my flower combinations.

I've been going on walks with the kids in the evenings before it gets dark.  We have a lot of construction going on around us so Leo is thrilled when he finds a new rock pile to explore.

Have the best weekend!  See you back here on Monday.

Linking up with Momfessionals