Things I Love Right Now

1.  Bean’s soccer games.  I love cheering for him on Saturdays at his soccer games.  It has been so fun to watch him grow and learn this season.  He doesn’t seem to have a competitive bone in his body right now, but he has so much fun out there!  This weekend, he was taking a throw in from the sidelines.  He took his time finding just the teammate he wanted to throw it to, getting himself all lined up and in good form, and then he raised the ball over his head… and it went sailing back behind him into the crowds!  He died laughing!  I love that boy.

Gracie loves the soccer games as much as I do. She brings her purse, stroller, baby dolls (yes, that’s plural), and spends her time wiping down the babies faces with diaper wipes that I keep in our cooler. She rocks my world, too.

(Side note:  A cold pack of diaper wipes in the cooler at these games is perfect.  We use them to wipe down anything and everything – including dirty faces!)

2. Speaking of Gracie, I am STILL thinking about these precious little hair bows I found her while Christmas shopping last weekend (remember that time when Chris got mad at me?). I found these in a little bitty boutique in Mt. Dora. If you’re ever in the Orlando area, it might be worth a trip to Mt. Dora if you like little main streets full of cute shops. My mom and I meet there a few times a year for lunch and shopping.

Anyway, this little shop had an entire room full of the most adorable hair bows I have ever seen. I really think by only buying three I was showing HUGE self-restraint. And, honestly, how could I leave Frozen, Sofia the First, and Disney princess bows on the shelf like that?!?! Gracie was the one who found them while we were shopping and she about lost her little mind with excitement. I had my mom distract her when it was time to check out and I snuck them into my basket for a little Christmas present for her. She is going to FLIP!

3. I have made a small change in how I use my daily planner recently and I love it. I used to keep birthdays listed on the monthly pages, but I never really looked at those except, like, once a month (go figure). A few weeks ago, though, I started putting all these happy little dates in my day-to-day planning section. Now, I have birthdays, anniversaries, and all these fun celebrations that I can keep up with on a weekly basis. I always look at my weekly planner when I meal plan, so now I just add whatever birthday cards or goodies I need for little gifts to my shopping list while I’m planning my meals for the week. I LOVE remembering people’s special times!

(Side note:  I use an Erin Condren planner and I can’t live without it.  I’m getting ready to start my third year carrying one.  It’s my brain.)

4. Along the same lines as #3, I am really loving these little gift packs I have been putting together for little occasions. This week, I am sending three of them.

The first is for my sweet friend, Amy, who was voted Teacher of the Year has week. I picked her up a $1 box of M&M’s (for being a Marvelous Math teacher…get it?) and a $1 congratulations card. I tied it up with a little ribbon, and – VOILA! – congratulations, Amy!

Next, I’m sending a little Halloween goody pack to my wittle nephew, Tillman. He’s getting a Halloween card, a pumpkin PEZ dispenser, a pack of Halloween stickers, and a box of Monsters, Inc. bandaids. I can’t wait to see him in his little Halloween costume this year!!! Such a ham bone!

A lastly, my person-in-law (I don’t know what else to call him), Charles, is having a birthday this week. Charles is a big movie fan, so I’m sending him an AMC gift card, two packs of his favorite candy, and a packet of microwave popcorn. I had originally intended to give him a RedBox gift card, but I didn’t get it ordered in time.

(Side note: Did you know you can get gift cards for those??? I had no idea! You go to their website and order one, and then it is mailed to you. Good to know for the future!)

5. Pretzel Chips and Archer Farms Spicy Three Pepper Hummus. Seriously. Favorite snack right now. I could eat this entire thing in one serving. I try to have veggies with my hummus to balance out the fat thing, but now that I have discovered Pretzel Chips, I don’t care about vegetables at all. How could I when these things are in the world?!?!

6. Also on the menu recently have been these three-ingredient shortbread cookies. They. Are. Heavenly. I love shortbread, and these cookies live up to my high expectations. Buttery, rich, and just heavy enough that one cookie is more than plenty. The recipe only makes 12, and it has taken us almost a week to eat them all. One is the perfect serving. If I was a coffee drinker, I would dip them in coffee. They are easy and my new favorite cookie! (Recipe and photo credit here.)

(Side note: My cookies came out looking just like the picture, which NEVER happens in my world.)

7. This boy. He takes all the frustrating, disappointing, infuriating, irritating, grumpy parts of my days and turns them into sunshine and rainbows. Fo’ real.

(Final side note:  None of these are paid advertisements.  I just like this stuff and wanted to share.)