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 ;)

Short and sweet since I don't have a bunch of pics from the week as I was focused on closing out the semester and being ON BREAK after a meeting this morning and a lunch this afternoon.  PRAISE HANDS!!!

Amidst the finals and the grading and the studying with my kids and all the things I did manage to get our Christmas cards prepped and out which I'm considering a small miracle ;) Old school cards make me SO HAPPY and I love sending/receiving mail so this is at the top of my list this week.

12 Games of Christmas

  

Today I thought I'd share some "minute to win it" style games that we've played at various parties over the years in case you're looking for some ideas to spice up your Christmas celebrations with your family.  These are all tried and true and would be fun with kids or adults!  Make a game night out of 12 or pick two to do every night for 6 nights - tons of fun options and hilarious memories to be made :)

Christmas Home Tour Pt II

In the kitchen I have my mom's mouse nativity out on a tray along with an amaryllis and a covered cake stand that typically has some sort of goodies in it ;)

Christmas Home Tour

 Happy Tuesday, friends! I've been meaning to have this post up for at least a week but this is the one and only reason I don't love standard time - the lighting and time for grabbing pics is limited when I'm not home until after 4:00.  But, alas... I got it done ;) 

First up, we moved our big tree this year and I'm LOVING IT!  Typically we've put it in the living room but this year I didn't want to move my chairs in there and my giant fiddle leaf has gotten even more giant so I thought I'd try it here and I LOVE IT SO MUCH! 

Weekend Recap ;)

I'm not sure this weekend could have gotten more festive if it wanted to ;) 

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 ;)

I know that people hate on standard time - but I THRIVE IN IT!  6:00 pm and everything is cozy and twinkly lights are on? SIGN ME UP.  I LOVE IT!

Back on Friday

Just when I was feeling like I had things kind of under control - enter... a ROUGH head cold.  I'll be back tomorrow, friends!

 

Christmas Doodle Town

 Having to change my original post for today due to a migraine and kid with an ear infection 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 ;)

Playroom Christmas

 I thought I had my act together to show y'all all of our Christmas decor today BUT I'm having some technical difficulties so I'm going to share the playroom today and then the rest later this week.

Weekend Recap

 Saturday morning started off early for everyone at our house.  The boys headed to Frisco where they were running in the Frosty 5k and I was cracking up at this picture that Dave sent me because they look like NFL players on their way into a game ;) hahahaha

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 ;)

One of my very FAVORITE pictures from the week is this one...

Gift Guide: Teachers

     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 19-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!  HAPPY THURSDAY, friends!

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