Birthday Favorites

I turned 44 on Sunday and spent the week celebrating with all of my favorite people!  It was wonderful.  I felt so special all week long.

Let me show you the highlights.  I'll save the best for last.

We got to school - the 67th day of school - and my assistant had the room decorated and treats waiting for an early birthday celebration.  The boys were beyond thrilled to say sixxxxx sevennnn all day long in our matching shirts that I had my neighbor make for us.  The kids at school loved it, too.  We had a 67 celebration where we wrote about 67, counted 6s and 7s, made 67s out of food.  It was a fun day!

Nothing Bundt Cakes for the whole kindergarten team!  My assistant is the sweetest.

My students suprised me with gifts, gift cards and lots of hugs.

Pumpkin is my cutest side kick.  He follows me all over the house and wakes up so excited to get ready with me every morning.  I wish you could hear him purring.

We spotted a rainbow in the clouds.

We got Parlor Donuts delivered on my actual birthday.  Did you know you can get them delivered to your house in an hour right through the app?  That was a dangerous discovery.

I went out to dinner with my book club besties.  We talked a little book, ate a yummy meal and had lots to catch up on over dinner.

My mom and dad hosted a birthday dinner at their house for me and my brother in law.  I'm still dreaming of that homemade mac and cheese.  I promptly asked my mom for a to go container of it.

Oreo cheesecake!

My parents with their favorite child - Hardy - and me.  I went in to give hugs before I left and Hardy gave me the biggest dog kiss ever.  I'm not sure if I should be honored or grossed out.

My teacher friends planned lunch together at school and my neighbor teacher Doris made my favorite cheesecake for all of us.  It was such a treat!  It always feels special when people remember what you love and make it for you.

We Door Dashed some of my favorite foods - Wasabi & Casey's Pizza.

Birthday grocery store flowers from Kevin.  It was a pretty assortment!

My sister gifted me some really pretty bags from her shop.  And look at those eagle earrings for school from my SIL.

Olive and I got new matching Christmas jammies!  Look at those bows.

I didn't turn down any opportunity to celebrate this week!  We went to Chuy's with Kevin's parents and Never Ending Pasta Bowl at Olive Garden with my kindergarten team.  Both were delicious.

Olive and I headed out of town for a funeral.  We grabbed lunch at Sonic and did some Christmas shopping afterwards.  We both highly recommend the Sonic BLT and cheese sticks.

Last, but not least, Kevin and the kids had been very secretive about my gift this year.  The were all excellent secret keepers.  I spotted this sign on our mantle.  What's an ABC birthday??

Parlor Donut delivery.  Every single donut was amazing.

I started opening cards one by one hoping to solve the ABC puzzle.

Leo = Aruba

Fletcher = Bonaire

Olive = Curacoa 

We're going on a cruise to the ABC islands next Summer!!

Wowza.  I had no idea.

I'd never heard of the ABC islands - Aruba, Bonaire & Curacoa.  Kevin is quite the researcher and trip planner so I after doing tons of research, he booked our trip.  You better believe he found the best room, best deals, coupon codes and perks he could for us.  The ABC islands will be new to all of us.  The kids are hoping to snorkle and we are excited to check out a bigger ship.  It sounds amazing!  We can't wait to cruise again in 2026.

What a fun birthday week!

We have a pretty quiet weekend ahead and I'm thrilled.  See you back here next week!

Linking up with Momfessionals

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!