Favorite Christmas Recipes

 Today I'm sharing a handful of our favorite recipes.  I could really go on and on with favorites but I'm highlighting a few that will probably be made at our house this week.  If you're looking for a particular recipe or recipe for an occasion leave me a comment and I'll get back to you with a recommendation :) 

 I make  these nanaimo bars every Christmas.  They're a Canadian treat that is a must try!

Christmas Doodle Town

Fun night last night with our small group and not as much time as I had anticipated to get things done so I'm re-sharing my Christmas doodle town just in time for the last couple of weeks of school if you're a teacher and time at home with your kiddos or grandkids if you're not a teacher ;)

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 ;)

Y'all! I totally forgot to mention this last week but Dave and I celebrated our TWENTIETH anniversary and he got my FAVORITE flower shop to do these for me and I just about passed away they were so pretty ;) 

Christmas Decor Pt 1

EEEK! I look forward to this post every year, but I'm not going to lie that taking the pics kind of stresses me out a little bit because finding a time when everything is put together and looking cute can be hard.  So... welcome to my real life Christmas tour.

I love this tree with all my heart! It's an unlit tree that I cover in a TON of lights and then fill with ornaments that I've picked up from Anthropologie and Birds and Words (a local boutique).

Five Follows: Parenting Tween Girls Edition

 

I've been sharing five follows for a while now - and today's post is going to be a bit different because it's more than 5 accounts and they're all kind of related. 

Let me tell you - navigating middle school as a girl mom has been TOTALLY different than when I was navigating it with my boys. That said, I've sought out resources via pretty much every platform available and have a few Instagram accounts I've found SO HELPFUL so I wanted to share those seven accounts today in case you're navigating or about to jump into navigating the middle school girl waters.  

Dr Noelle Satorelli

Teacher Tuesday: Gift Guide Edition

      Today I'm sharing gift ideas for teachers.  I get this question A LOT this time of year so here we go!  I know that this can be a bit overwhelming ESPECIALLY if you have a middle or high schooler (or both!) who have 7+ teachers and one idea is to find a few other parents in the same boat as you and pool your gifts together to get one gift card or other gift for each teacher. Keep that in mind as you're reading! ;)

 - NOTE/GIFT CARD -

I get asked a lot about what I like to receive as a teacher and people don't like to hear that it's gift cards - but as a 20-year veteran teacher please hear me - it's gift cards ;)  

 $5 to Sonic or Starbucks... A Baskin Robins gift card to take their kids out for ice cream or a Cinemark card to check out a movie with their kids over break.  A gift card for a local restaurant to enjoy a meal with their spouse or a gift card to their favorite store.  EASY!  Write a note, pop the card in the envelope and call it a day!  I know gift cards get a bad wrap for being impersonal but I think if you pick a place that you know a teacher loves or write a note about enjoying a meal with their family it can make it super personal and special.  

- OVENTURE RING AND ID HOLDER -

I use my  O-Ring every day and keep my teacher ID and key card in the  ID holder on the ring.  It makes my keys easily accessible (and identifiable if I leave them somewhere!) and the silicone are my favorite option for school because I can wipe them down with disinfectant.  

- HULKEN BAG -

I KNOW I've been a bogg bag advocate and I STILL AM... BUT there's a new bag in town that I just can't quit.  It's called a Hulken and it HAS WHEELS!!!  It holds EVERYTHING and it makes carting all the things back and forth so easy.  Honestly... if I had to pick one as a teacher bag I'd pick the Hulken.  I KNOW!!!  

- FLAIR PENS -

Listen, y'all.  Teachers. Love. Flair. Pens.  

This is a bigger gift BUT if you're going in with other families or if your budget allows and you want to give something extra special  a saranoni blanket would be a HUGE hit!  

Other random thoughts/ideas: 

For several years, we've bought breakfast tacos from Rudy's and put them in the workroom with a thank you note from our kids since they each have 7+ teachers.  Anytime you can feed teachers we appreciate it ;) Around the holidays everyone is thinking sweets but a hot breakfast or lunch goes a long way!  

I've had a mom email me and ask what I like from Sonic and drop off a drink to the office which made my day!  Same with Starbucks - you could email a teacher and ask for their order and have your student bring it to them at the start of the day.

If you are able to coordinate it, a group gift could be the way to go.  I LOVE it when a mom will post on our class facebook page that they're collecting money (venmo for the win) to purchase a teacher (or teachers) a larger gift card or gift.  It takes the pressure off of me and enables s to combine our efforts and show our appreciation in a big way.  It's the best!

Hoping this post got your wheels turning OR gave you the permission you needed to pop a gift card in an envelope (or in an email!) and cross something off your list!  

I also published a Grownup Gift Guide last week that you may want to check out for more ideas.  

HAPPY TUESDAY, friends!

PS - this post contained affiliate links - thank you so much for reading and supporting my blog!

Weekend Recap

Saturday morning started bright and early for all of us - G's Christmas dance show was at 10 and she had a call time a couple of hours before that so we were up for hair, makeup and a last check of all the things ;)

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 up is Jelly Bean in her FAVORITES spot during the winter months - G's bed ;) It's nice and sunny up here and her bed RARELY made (hahaha) which makes it the perfect napping location for her.

Grown Up Gift Guide

   I did a post similar to this one last year and got some great feedback - so I'm doing the same thing this year. Think moms, dads, husbands, wives, sisters, friends - pretty much anyone. The end.  Lots of these are similar to past years because they're still my tried and true favorite things to give and receive ;) 

If you've followed me for any length of time you know that my family loves sjoelbak.  It's a traditional Dutch game that's almost like a smaller version of shuffleboard.  I bought this for my parents several years ago to upgrade the board my Opa made and we've LOVED having it.

Toddler/Younger Kids Gift Guide

  While I LOVE the ages my kids are now, I definitely miss shopping for all the fun stuff from when they were younger.  Today I'm sharing some of my tried and true favorites along with some new fun finds in the hopes that you can cross a gift or two off of your list.

This air-powered building/STEM toy would be under the tree for my kids if they were younger. I love toys that spark creativity through building and I think this really would have bene up all three of their alleys.

North Pole Breakfast 2025

Last Friday we had our annual North Pole Breakfast and this year's theme was Christmas in NYC.  We talked a lot this summer about trying to go to New York this Christmas season but when we sat down to plan it out our schedules left zero margin - we tabled the discussion so it was super fun to get to plan a little nod to that.

Thanksgiving 2025

I still can't believe it's December, y'all! CRAZY how fast time is flying!  We had so much fun on Thanksgiving - I thought I'd share a quick recap before we dive into Christmas content ;) 

We started our day bright and early at a local Turkey Trot - we tried this out last year and everyone loved it and so we did it again and it was just as much fun.