February Coffee Chat

Hey friends!  Grab your favorite coffee & breakfast and let's catch up.

Iced mocha with a side of Mr. Mittens for me.

1. Where are you shopping for your teen girls for swim suits this season?  We're on the hunt for great suits for Olive.  One piece.  No cut outs.  Cute print.  Also, swim suit cover ups for teens?  Do you have any suggestions?  Our usual spots of Target, Walmart, Old Navy are not exciting us this year.

2. How are Summer camp sign ups going for you?  We are just starting to map out our Summer and Spring activities to figure out what camp the kids would like to do.  

3. Do you have anything fun going on for Spring Break?  Ours is about one month away and we still have snow on the ground.  It's crazy to be thinking about swim suits and warmer weather as we are heading a little south for our break.

4. Teachers - what Summer plans do you have?  Are you working on any classes?  Workshops?  I've got my sights set on one or two, but am really hoping to enjoy Summer off with my crew.

5. Spring is birthday season at our house.  March = Fletcher, April = Leo, and May = Mr. Mittens and Olive.  The boys are having a harder time deciding on a theme they both are excited about than Olive.  Mr. Mittens is going to have a little tuxedo party :)

6. Confession: I keep a stroller in the back in the van just in case Leo would need a ride sometime.  The truth is that he hasn't used it in months.  Maybe a year.  But I can't bring myself to take it out.  Is there a baby item that you can't bear to part with??  We used it the last time we were in Wisconsin and it's been a silly security blanket of just in case ever since.  He'd probably think I was nuts if I offered him a ride.  Maybe I'll move it from my van to the garage before his 5th birthday :)

7. How are your garden plans coming for this year?  I bought okra and carrot seeds.  I learned last year that seed people buy their seeds right after Christmas and not in June.  Who knew?  And we are talking about the things that we would like to plant... a tiller arrived on our doorstep the other day.  Kevin's getting serious about gardening.

8. Are you all caught up on Sweet Magnolias??  I'm loving the newest season.  I just love the characters and the outfit inspiration so much.  Oh and the Southern accents are fantastic.

9. What are you putting in your kid's Easter baskets this year?  So far I've collected some favorite candies, one new book for each kid and I'm on the lookout for more ideas.  I usually lean practical - new sandals, goggles, swim suits and new spring pjs.

10. Have you thanked a teacher lately?  Think of your child's favorite teacher right now.  Think of something wonderful they have done for your child and then reach out to let them know you appreciate them.  It will mean the world to them.  I got a surprise email from a colleague this month.  She was in my room for one thing and then sent me an email full of compliments about my classroom and cc'd my principal on it.  It was such a sweet surprise.  I promptly printed it out and added it to my happy day file.  It is a file of nice notes that I've received that I can flip back through for encouragement.  I did this when I was teaching before and I started a file for my new job.

I'd love to chat with you in the comments!

A Dinner Board that Your Whole Family will Love!

I try really hard not to waste food in our house.  We eat up all the leftovers (usually me for lunches or leftover lunches on the weekends) and I plan out all of our meals to use up all of our food.  That means I keep close tabs on what is in our fridge and freezers to ensure we use up all of the food.

I've got a really easy dinner idea for you that will help you not let any food go to waste.

A dinner board!

My family loved it and I bet yours would, too.

Grab a giant sheet pan.  I love this baking sheet with an edge on it to help hold in all of our food.  I used a mix of fresh fruits and veggies.  Leftovers.  And finished up several things we had in the freezer.  It was the perfect combo of hot and cold foods to ensure that everyone found something that they would enjoy eating for dinner.

Soft pretzels

Mini tacos

Taquitos

veggies + dill dip

fruit

chips + queso

white cheddar cheese cubes

This was such an easy dinner for me to pull together.  I chopped all the fruits and veggies while the tacos and pretzels baked.  We finished up the end of two different dips with this meal.  It was a sneaky way for me to clean out the fridge with a delicious dinner.

You've got to give it a try!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!  It's been a week of surprise snow days and freezing cold weather here.  It was fun to have some bonus days off together.

The best parts of our week were:

1. I bought the boys matching closet organizers and they have been so helpful!  I fill them up with outfits - everything from socks, underwear, pants and shirts - on the weekends.  Then they can just grab an outfit for the day without any help.  The organizers are so affordable and have made getting ready in the mornings so much easier.  Max Houser 6 Tier Shelf Hanging Closet Organizer - it's marked down and has a coupon to clip!  Each section is very roomy and they hang so easily on any closet system.

2. The boys went to bed hoping for snow and got to wake up to this sign in their room!  They were thrilled for a home day.  Olive had to doing some virtual learning and the boys will get make up work.  It was so cold that we didn't play in the snow very much.  Kevin took the big kids out for a quick sledding adventure.  They about froze their faces off.

3. I've been doing a good job at framing favorite pictures.  I hung this family picture from Wisconsin in our little coffee corner of the kitchen.

4. I've been on a chocolate chip bread making kick.  It's so good.  I like to add a little whipped cream cheese to mine and the kids like their bread plain.  It's almost like a giant chocolate chip bagel, but better because it's soft and chewy.

5. We found some cute holiday shirts at Wal-Mart.  The sweatshirt was $8.98 and the t-shirts were $4 or $5 each. What a deal!  I try to stock up on St. Patrick's Day shirts so the kids will have cute Irish shirts to wear during the football season when we're cheering for Notre Dame.

6. Mr. Mittens loves a good blanket pile.  We could have all the cat beds possible and he always chooses a blanket on the floor.

7. Leo loves his Wizard of Oz Little People.  I smile every time I find them lined up somewhere.

8. We went to my nephew's birthday party and my MIL made the most delicious homemade chocolate cake.  Layer cakes aren't my specialty so I really appreciate when someone makes a good one.  It was so yummy that grabbed a piece to go.

9. The king of freezing funny things for me to find in the fridge.  This week it was a water balloon with a tiny rubber duck in it.

10. My valentine roses are still looking so beautiful.  Even after being knocked over a time or two by the cats.

11. A work friend gifted me two of the cutest silk scarves this week!  One in our school colors and the 2nd with my favorite Fall colosr + cats.  It was the sweetest surprise!

12. Find Mom.  Sit on Mom.  Lots of snuggles on this snowy week.

13. We put a little bit of birdseed out on our patio and the cats went crazy watching the birds on the patio.  They sat by the door all day chattering at the birds.

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

Linking up with Momfessionals

3 Preteen Party Ideas

Did you wake up to snow at your house?  We did and are all home for a lovely snow day at home.  A surprise snow day is the best way to break up the week.

I have three really fun party ideas for you for your preteens.

1. Candy salad.

I have mentioned this before, but it's our favorite treat to make when the kids have friends over.  You can do this two different ways - have each person bring a couple of their favorite candies to share or provide all the candy for the kids.

I usually go with the second option and have my kids go to Dollar Tree and pick out 10+ different candies.  My kids LOVE picking out a fun mix of candies for their friends.  We went with a pink and red theme for our valentine candies.

Then at the party have each kid open the bags of candy and pour them in a big bowl.  The kids love mixing the candy and then we usually do two scoops of candy per kid in a ziploc bag.  The kids will eat and enjoy their candy all night long.  Sometimes we make popcorn and sometimes we write their names on the bags with sharpies.  It's always a big hit.

2. Play their goofy games.

They came up with the silliest things and I just played along for the laughs.  I sat with my back to them and they said Hi Mom.  I had to guess which girl was saying hello.  Then they dressed alike and I had to tell them apart only being able to see their backs.  Then they came up with hide and seek and volleyball games.

3. Favorite things party.

They each had to bring five of their favorite things to exchange.  

The rules were - they had to be about $1 each, bring five of the same things and then we supplied the gift bags to hold the gifts.  They came up with the cutest dollar assortment.  Hand lotions, candies, fun lip balms, straws, balloons, mini canvas art projects and more.  It was a really fun exchange that wasn't too expensive for anyone to participate.  Olive had the best time hunting around Dollar Tree for the perfect item for her friends.  She was between a claw clip and hand lotion.

Do you have any favorite activities to do with your teens??

A Weekend of Love

We had a sweet Valentine's Day weekend with slumber parties, pizza parties, a birthday party, baking and meal prepping for the week.  I also managed to squeeze in a rare Saturday afternoon nap.  The weather was so weird in Indiana.  3 inches of rain on Saturday and 3 inches of surprise snow on Sunday.  We're supposed to get more snow mid week this week.

I zoomed home from school on Friday and pulled together a sweet Galentine's Party for Olive and her friends.  She made an invitation, texted it out a few weeks ago and planned all the details.  

A huge perk of collecting colored decor vs. holiday decor is that I can pull together these red checked plates for 4th of July, Valentines & Christmas.  Then the placemats work year round.  I just pulled out all my favorite reds and pinks and added some conversation hearts to the tale runner.  Cute table for cute girls.

Mr. Mittens loved all the party planning and had to promptly be locked away for meal time at the party.  He's just too nosey for his own good.

I loved stopping by Fletcher's Valentine's Day party.  He had some really competitve games going on and then this prize punch game.

We did Valentine's Day stations at my class party.  Zero pictures of that because 22 kids + 30ish parents is a lot of people to meet and greet and manage.  It was fun though.

Kevin went to Leo's school party.  He loved it.  And couldn't wait to come home and examine his box of valentine treasures.

Kevin picked up Papa Murphy's heart shaped pizzas for the kids.

Add in some breadsticks, fruits and veggies.  Don't forget the pink lemonade.  The kids loved it.

It makes me smile to host.  Olive also informed me that our house has earned the title with her friends and extra fun becuase we go out of our way to make things extra special when they are here.  Yay!

Leo got a heart goat.

And one of his friends made the class love bugs.  So sweet!

I set my alarm to wake up and make heart waffles for the girls before they got picked up on Saturday morning.  They loved them!

Then we woke up to a surprise blanket of snow on Sunday morning!  It was so pretty.  The roads were pretty slick out so many things were cancelled.

I hope you have a lovely week!

Lots to LOVE This Week!

Happy Friday and Happy Valentine's Day!  We have three Valentine's Day parties, a movie party and we're hosting the kid's friends tonight for a valentine dinner.  Lots of fun and lots to do.  It's been a busy week here.  We're ready for the weekend!  

The best parts of our week were:

1. I love to surprise the kids with a fun afternoon snack every once in a while.  Filling a muffin tin with their favorite bite size snacks is always a hit.  Plus, if one of your kids comes home from school grumpy, this is sure to cheer them up.  Trust me.

2. Valentines!  Olive designed this valentine for Fletcher.  He was SO excited to hand these bottles of PRIME out to his buddies at school.  She also made my valentines for my class.  What a girl!

Olive designed these Chick-Fil-A valentines for me.  I printed them at Walgreens and we gifted all of their 7 teachers CFA gift cards this week.  The teachers LOVED them.  I put these two things in a cellophane bag and added some cute red ribbons.  It was such an easy, fun gift that I'll be doing it again next year.

Leo was the only one who needed to make a valentine box and Olive couldn't wait to help.  He loved how his Love Monster box turned out.  Did you notice a theme here - I couldn't have pulled off all this cute Valentine's Day fun without Olive's help.  6th graders are the best!

I LOVE seeing Leo's cute handwriting on his valentines.  I giggle every time I see Leo writing out his short name because when Fletcher was in PreK he was so mad that we gave him the long name and Leo got a short name.  Poor guy.

3. A really pretty grocery store bouquet from my favorite valentine.

4. A surprise valentine delivery from Mimi after school this week.  Mimi cookies and fancy chocolates.

5. Olive invited us to a presentation at her school in the middle of the day yesterday.  And thanks to great admin I was able to jet over to her school to see it in person.  She did a wonderful job presenting her project to parents.  We loved leaving the kids positive feedback on post-its.  It was great to see her hard work paying off and get to celebrate all of the things she is accomplishing in 6th grade.

6. Fletcher keeps finding my heart rocks on the way into school.  He'll slip them in his pocket and surprise me with a new one on my desk.  I love it.

7. New cat bowls!  I'm trying to be better about changing out our cat bowls and these cute ones are perfect to add to our collection.

8. Superbowl buffet.  Our neigborhood party got cancelled thanks to sickness so we pivoted and had a party of our own.  The game day apps were delicious.

9. I discovered a new favorite valentine candy - these Trolli hearts.  Amazing.

10.  We were hoping for a snow day mid week, but it ended up just being a rainy week.  Fletch found enough snow to make a snow ball on the way into school.

11. One of my good friends was teaching in Leo's class and she sent me this picture.  I love getting to see what the boys are up to at school.

12. Mr Mittens.  He's the cutest.  The kids keep trying to convince me that he needs a brother.  Penny & Pearl have each other and they are convinced he's lonely.  I'm not so sure.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend full of lots of LOVE!

Linking up with Momfessionals