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

Hammer Your Pumpkin

We did a really fun post-Halloween activity with golf tees and a pumpkin - Hammer your pumpkin!

I added a bag of inexpensive golf tees to my grocery delivery order.

Grabbed the kid's tool set + a rubber mallet that we had.

And then told them to hammer their pumpkin!

Both of my boys - ages 9 & 5 - LOVED this activity!!

Hammering them in took a little longer.  Some team work was required.  They learned that it was hard to hammer into the stem, the sides were softer and then I gave them pliers at the end to remove all the golf tees.  They pretending like they were pulling teeth.  They also learned that pulling golf tees out was much easier than hammering them in.

If you still have pumpkins around, I bet your kids would love doing this activity!

I rinsed the golf tees and am saving them to do this again next year.

Have fun hammering your pumpkins!

Happy Halloween Recap

We had a really Happy Halloween!  The weather was perfect which isn't a guarantee in the Midwest and we all had fun with friends.  The kids got the cutest Halloween cards in the mail from family and we really enjoyed all the Halloween festivities.

Pumpkin in a pumpkin.

He's hoping he's too big for our Halloween tricks next year.

The kids barely needed our help to carve pumpkins this year.  Exciting and heartbreaking all at the same time.

Mr. Mittens got some bat wings.

Olive made plans with her best friends to do a matching costume and trick or treat in our neighborhood this year.  I found the cutest Burts Bees Halloween chapsticks for the girls when they arrived.  They LOVED them!  I hope they bring them out for other holidays.

We had a Fall carry in lunch at school.  This homemade apple pie was AMAZING.

Our crew!  We're not used to the bright sun and warm weather on Halloween most years.

Fletcher was beyond excited for his scary costume this year.  He was an alien astronaut.

Leo said he wanted to be a "Skel-a-kin" for months.  This costume had bones on the front and back that were glow in the dark.  He loved his costume!

Olive the green Care Bear.  Her friends worked together to get just the right items for their matching costumes.

We headed to a Halloween dinner party with our neighbors and then set out around the neighborhood.

The kids ran from house to house collecting so many Halloween goodies.

Olive stayed home to pass out Halloween candy, wait for her friends to arrive and then trick or treated a little later with her crew.

The girls arrived, their costumes were all so cute, our house was covered in feathers and they were ready for a fun night.  They all looked so pretty!  It was fun to see their hard work pay off with perfect matching costumes.

How many times can we make Pumpkin pose by a pumpkin?  I'll never get tired of that combo.

We were wiped out after a long night of trick or treating!  The boys could not wait to get home and see their candy haul.

I wore my cat ghost earrings in honor of Mr Mittens.

I barely bought any new Halloween decor, but since adding Mr. Mittens to the family, I can't quit on the black Halloween cats.  This darling basket was a fun boutique find in Wisconsin.

Leo made lots of pumpkin art.

The kids have sorted, traded and shared their candy all weekend long!

I'm always thankful when we have a happy, healthy holiday with our whole family!