Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!

It's been a week around here! Since the girls missed school on Monday, we've had a short week, an since I'm working today when I'm usually off, I'm totally thrown off on what day it is. We also have a jammed packed weekend, so I'm already exhausted- ha!

It's been a while since I've blogged my Friday Favorites, but since I'm back to blogging, I'm exited to bring back this weekly post! It's kind of where I round up my favorite moments from the week and where I share my favorite finds! 

If you're new here- welcome! 

The girls were in Branson with my mom and their aunts, cousins, and family friends for an annual girls weekend, and I loved that my mom took a photo of them in their matching Christmas jammies. I hope they'll never get too old for this favorite tradition. 

My favorite diffuser blend: Northern Lights Black Spruce with basically anything! This week, I diffused it with Bergamot. 

Our elves returned and I shared a few elf hiding spots in my blog post yesterday. You can click here to check it out, but I promise, our elves aren't super creative. 

This year they brought the girls a gingerbread house, as they have so often when they return each season. It's already been a favorite and it's already making our mornings even more hectic than they usually are. 

My favorite drink was on sale for Cyber Monday! It's so much fun to party it up in our oily groups on sale-days so we did #allthethings to pump up the excitement and even took #ningxiaselfies. 

If you don't know what Ningxia is, it's an antioxidant drink from Young Living and I'd highly suggest you google the benefits of Ningxia Red and wolfberries. 

I took Monday off so I could pick up the girls and my sweet sister in law and niece met us halfway. We got there just in time for lunch at CFA and let the girls play and have ice cream instead of keeping their toys. 

We hugged goodbye and had to force a smile from YaYa. She misses her cousins so much and I know we all wish we could see each other more. It's hard living so far from family.

But, the girls were excited to be back home and we all cuddled together to read the Elf on the Shelf to help re-explain the tradition to Adalyn. This year, Gretchen's totally in on it, so we've been asking her where our elves should hide. 

We also started our Christmas advent countdown. Each bag has a little note inside that tells the girl a fun activity we'll be doing. Some days, are super fun- like our annual Christmas PJ Light Night, or decorating the tree, or having a dance party. And other days, the ones that we're super busy, they have a random act of kindness, or a "tell why you love Jesus." I plan out each day based on our actual activities and try to plan it out so we actually have time to do them. It's a favorite tradition. 

I ordered a few things from the Madison Vining collection at Hazel & Olive and wore this sweater this week. I put it on with grey jeans (similar here) and a maroon bralette (similar), but it's also super cute with yoga pants, and I'll probably be wearing this top so often this winter! 

We also go this cuties gymnastics pictures back. 

And after a huge fiasco Addy got to take a stuffed animal to school on Thursday and she was thrilled! 

It's definitely been a great little week; and now we're off to a gymnastics performance tonight and birthday parties galore this weekend! 

Enjoy!!! 

I'm linking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci for Friday Favorites. 

15 Elf on the Shelf Ideas

We've had our Elf on the Shelf for years and the girls love having him come and visit! We actually have two elves now, because one year we lost him and later found him. 

Our elves are typically pretty tame. I'll be honest that our elves have gotten less and less creative, and there are some nights that they're super creative and others where they just sit somewhere watching.

1. We use to go to Branson Thanksgiving weekend, so our elves would be waiting for us when we arrived home. Most years, they brought us a gingerbread kit, and they're bringing the girls another one this year. 

2. Use your Barbie accessories. 

Our elf is hanging out with some cool drinks and feeling like he's on vacation. 

3. Bring a letter.

The girls will often write letters to Santa and our elf will take them when he flies to the North Pole every night. The girls think it's so fun when he talks to them! 

4. Make a snow angel!

You can use flour or sugar. 

5. Hide him in the tree. 

6. Just put him up high. 

7. Ride the Ferris Wheel

We often use the girls toys as props, so one year, he took a ride on a ferris wheel. 

8. We try to hide ours around the house. One year he was wearing a Christmas hair bow and hanging out in the bathroom. 

9. Take a ride on the Christmas Train. 

10. Bring a North Pole Breakfast. 

11. Some people do the breakfast at the beginning of the season when their elf arrives, but we do ours on Christmas Eve morning when the elf says good-bye. It's a fun way to kick off the Christmas Eve day! 

12. Bring reindeer lollipops. 

13. Dress up and hang from your cabinets in the kitchen. 

14. Hang out in a Santa sack. 

15. Bring Christmas cookies to decorate. 

Each year on Christmas Eve we let the girls hug the elves before they go to bed. They love finally being able to give them hugs and kisses and saying goodbye. We let them touch them on this one night, because they won't loose their magic- they just go home with Santa and they don't need to fly home. 

Also, if our elves accidentally get touched throughout the season- we sing a Christmas song to give him his magic back. Remember,  "the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." So, once we sing, the girls don't freak out so much about him loosing his magic.

And just for fun, here's some bonus ideas for you!

- Color a picture. Sneakily color it in throughout the day when your kids aren't looking.

- Bring a Christmas coloring or activity book.

- Bring Christmas shrink-a-dinks

- Bring Hot Chocolate Mix and Marshmallows

- Take a Marshmallow Bubble Bath

- Set him up with the remote control and have a "no TV" day

- Make an igloo with sugar cubes

- Bring a Christmas book and set him up reading it

- Have him go on strike if your kids are not cleaning their rooms or if they're arguing

What type of fun does your Elf on the Shelf have?

What We've Been Priming

I feel like with the ease of Amazon Prime I'm constantly logging in to the app and placing little orders. I love the fast shipping and I love that I don't have to run to the store- ha!

Here's a bit of what we've been priming lately. 

I ordered these craft clothespins. Our advent calendar has little bags and the clothespins we were using had some break last year so we needed new ones. 

Elderbery Gummies

Guys, we prime these all of the time! Elderberry is so beneficial in the winter months to boost your kiddos immune system! These have Zinc, Vitamin C, and are gluten free and vegan. 

Do you have a Roomba? Did you know you can order replacement parts? Y'all, I had NO idea! I have been washing the little blue filter all the time, and then I just realized you can buy replacement parts, so I can toss them when they get super nasty! I've had our roomba for about 3 years and never replaced that blue filter. Now, I'm kicking myself, and now I have 10 replacements-ha! 

The girls are all getting Lego sets from their Gee and PaPaw. My mom sent me money, and I primed all of the girls a Lego set. We got the gymnastics set, the treehouse, and a Harry Potter one.   

I love, love, love this shave soap. I've been using it for a few years, and while I've tried others, I just don't think anything compares. The ingredients are safe and clean, and I don't have to run across town to grab this at Sprouts. 

I am a huge straw fan. I had been using these paper straws, but once they ran out, I figured I needed to get some reusable stainless steel ones. I bought these and I love them. They're super easy to keep clean too and they'd make a great stocking stuffer! 

Two of the girls have awkward pencil grips, and even though it's somewhat functional for them, I'm really trying to encourage a proper grasp. I ordered these pencil grips, because their fingers fit in to them so well. In the package, you get 9 of them for $4.00

Have you been priming lately? What are some of your favorite Amazon finds?

This post contains affiliate links; thank you for supporting my blog. 

The Regular Season Is Over

Last Friday our regular season came to an end. We're bowl eligible so we have one more game of the season, but we won't find out who, where, or when we're playing until this coming Sunday. I have a few places I'd love to go, but I'll be happy with anywhere :) 

Two weeks ago we played at Baylor. We were able to bus up Saturday morning with a few other families, but we had to be there at 9:30 for a 2:30 kick off, so it was a long day. 

We arrived around 11, so we sat on the bus for a while and the kids tried playing hide and seek. I'm not sure how they managed that on a charter bus, but they did. We eventually got off and walked around. The big kids gave the little kids piggy back rides. 

These girls loved being together. 

We eventually made it in to the stadium and to our seats. 

It was suppose to be in the 60s, so I figured we'd be cold, but we were in the sun so the weather was perfect, despite the sun being in our eyes. 

Lots and lots of cheering happened. 

as well as some tablet playing.

and reading. 

Baylor has had a great season, and we didn't come away with a W, but we did go to the field to hug players and coaches after the game. 

I posted this on Instagram, but our team went over to sing The Eyes of Texas as they do after every game, and unfortunately, they had to do it in front of Baylor's student section. The student's were taunting and unkind (which is to be expected) but you could feel the defeat on our players. All the while, Adalyn was standing there with her horns held high in front of all of Baylor's fans.

You'll always have people wanting to tear you down, but you keep doing you and hold your head up high. I was so grateful for the lesson she taught me that day. 

Friday, we kicked off at 11 am against Texas Tech. Since the girls were at my mom's I was flying somewhat solo. I had invited some Young Living friends to come to a game, and they asked to come to this game, so they were there too and it was fun hanging out with them. 

And we finished the season with a win. 

We're so thankful to be here at Texas and the traditions of this school and team are not lost on us.

We're looking forward to the bowl, and then we'll be glad for a tiny little break before we do it all again. 

Where Did November Go?

Sigh. November is over and man did it go fast! I know that as we head in to December and all of the holiday hustle and bustle, this month will fly by too. I challenge you to slow down and be grateful for all of the little moments. 

The week before Thanksgiving break, Megan woke up in the middle of the night with a fever. She had told me the evening before that her throat hurt, so when she woke up, I knew that we'd be staying home that day and heading to the doctor. 

I got a phone call from the school nurse that afternoon, and Adalyn was running a low-grade fever. So, I picked her up and took both of the girls to the doctor. They both tested positive for strep, which I was pretty sure that's what they had when Megan was complaining the night before. 

They both had strep back in September, so if it happens again, we'll be referred to an ENT and consider removing their tonsils. 

Bailey needed a bath, and even though DJ had promised that he'd do it, I knew that with football season, it would be a while. She can't get in the tub anymore, so I put her in our shower- ha! 

The day after the girls were confirmed with strep, we stayed in our pj's and watched Disney + for entirely too long! 

Then I decided to get out the Christmas decor and get everything decorated. I thought I wouldn't be able to decorate until right after Thanksgiving, so I was excited to get everything decorated early. 

After everything was decorated, I cleaned and cleaned so we could get the germs out of our house! 

After the girls were better, Megan went to gymnastics and I got a call about 45 minutes after her class started that she hurt her foot when she landed on it wrong. They were afraid that it could have some little broken bones, so off we went to Urgent Care to rule out a fracture. 

Thankfully, nothing was broken, and after an ace bandage she was good to go! 

Have y'all done the 10 year challenge? 

It was fun to look back to when we had just one kid. 10 years ago she was 1, we lived in Indiana and now we've added 2 more kids, and 2 more states. 

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, I drove the girls halfway to Arkansas to meet my parents and send them to Gee's house for Thanksgiving week. They were suppose to stay here, but we didn't really have Thanksgiving plans- I had to work, we were eating dinner with the team, and then going to the game, but once Gee offered, they jumped at a chance to have a traditional Thanksgiving at their grandma's. 

Monday afternoon, they helped her decorate the Christmas tree in their bedroom. 

DJ and I took advantage of a kid-free week by going out to eat (3 x) and seeing a movie! 

Gretchen did a lot of baking at Gee's house- she made chocolate pie, corn bread, jello salad.....

I don't think they had any fun at all. 

Thanksgiving day was quiet for me- DJ was at work, I watched the parade and did laundry, but the girls were having fun with their cousins. 

And Gee had all of her girls, so I know she was happy!

We have so much to be thankful for friends.

I hope your Thanksgiving was full of loved ones and blessings.