Favorite Games

 I've had several game questions recently so I thought it would be fun to share some of our family's FAVORITE games! 

I'm including links to YouTube videos explaining how to play the games which I hope y'all find helpful!  I wish I could have everyone over for a game night to explain in person but this is the next best thing!

First up is  Ticket To Ride - our counselor at family camp taught us how to play a couple of summers ago and it's been true love ever since.  We love the Europe version as well but original is still my personal favorite.  It can take a little while to play and get the hang of but once you do it's a blast!

Bag Tag Craft Idea

 

This year I've launched a new program at MCA called Alpha and Omega where I've paired each Senior with a Kindergarten student and they'll meet about every 5-6 weeks. The time that they meet is SHORT (about 25 minutes) and I wanted to do a simple, easy, but meaningful little craft project on their first meeting so I came up with these beaded name bag tags. 

This is just a sample I made using a bunch of w's but it gives you the idea ;) 

Monster Cookies ;)

I hadn't made Monster cookies in YEARS and randomly made them on a whim a couple of weeks ago and my entire family gobbled them up. They're seriously THE BEST and I Felt like they were worth the re-share as we head into Fall and baking weather! HAPPY TUesday, friends!

13 Movies To Watch with your 13-Year Old PART ONE

 

My mom had this "rule" growing up that I could watch pretty much whatever I wanted as long as I watched it with her. 

Friends? Sure. Grey's Anatomy? Ok. 

I never felt "out of the loop" but she also got to "speak into" some of the situations/themes of these shows and movies and it brought up lots of good conversations and helped me navigate some areas where maybe the values portrayed on the screen didn't match up with what I was being taught. 

When G turned 13 I was like, "hey... want to watch some of my favorite movies???" and since then we've been making our way through my list of FAVES from the 90s and 2000s (because let's be real... they just don' t make them like this anymore!). 

So here are 13 movies I've watched with my 13-year old ;) 

Friday Favorites

 Happy Friday, friends! Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

Well... it wasn't my intention to just not blog yesterday BUT we have AT&T and had zero wifi, 5G, etc. from pretty much after school until after 11 pm last night. My kids joke that it was like "the olden days" and we realized that internet REALLY is our FAVORITE because MY WORD everything we do is online! hahahaha I had to run to the starbucks a few miles away to download some homework things for G and Mason and Griffin was DEVASTATED when she realized she couldn't watch night two of DWTS! hahaha

So if functioning internet is my top favorite then this picture that our youth group posted is a close second. This girl is JOY and the way this captures it is truly a FAVE.

Chili for Hot Dogs

My kids BEGGED me to make my chili last weekend for the Cowboys game on Sunday nigh tbut I put my foot down because it's just too dang hot for chili.  I said what I said. 

Amazon Lately

 

I grabbed this bandana last week and I love it SO MUCH!

Weekend Happies ;)

 

Y'all! What a FUN little weekend. We kicked off Friday with another big event for me.... our very first middle school pep rally. I decided to add these this year and enlisted the help of my 8 house leaders to plan and execute it and I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE PROUD!!!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends! Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

First FAVE from the week is this cute outfit ;) Both pieces are old but I wore them with THESE BIRKS which are a FAVORITE!

Teen/Tween Girl Finds

Back with a few more teen/tween girl finds! This age is NO JOKE when it comes to shopping so I"m hoping you find something helpful!

 These jeans are so cute! I ordered and will let you know what G thinks! Zara are always her go-to but she's about to size out of those so we're looking for alternatives!

Beaded sun catcher craft

It's been a hot minute since we've crafted and this little project was PERFECT because it didn't have to be completed in one sitting and was pretty mindless so G worked on it while watching Gilmore Girls ;) 

Chicken Bacon Gnocchi

 

I made this chicken bacon gnocchi recipe a couple of weeks ago and while it took a minute to make it was super easy and SO GOOD! Just don't count on it being done in 30 minutes ;)