Happy Friday!

Today is a SUPER short and sweet Friday Favorites. The first one of the year. Let’s get to it!

ONE

It snowed in Texas on Sunday! Those of you that live in snow are probably laughing right now. This was our snowball from the back yard. It wasn’t much, but it was still such fun while it lasted.

Oh, and this little guy and I are headed on a Mommy/Jackson date this weekend while my other boys are on a hunting trip. Check out my Lunchbox Babies Instagram Page as I am sure that I will be posting a ton of fun pics of our first travel date. We are SOOOO excited!

TWO

I love staying involved with our sweet school when I can. Each January, our school holds a month long Reading Rally as a way to (a) encourage the students to read amazing books, and (b) to raise money for our scholorship fund to help other families. This year, in the midst of all of the crazy Covid mess, I jumped at the chance to be a character from Chronicles of Narnia in an effort to get the kids excited. You may remember my White Witch costume from the fall when we were filming a little surprise video . . .

So fun! Well, today started Reading Rally, and I showed up at lunch (with other moms/characters) to get the kids pumped up. I did not tell my boys that this was happening. On my way to embarrass my children . . . coffee and mask in hand, of course!

IT WAS HILARIOUS! My children responded in just the way you would expect a 13-year-old boy and a nine-year old boy to respond. You know they LOVE that I am there being goofy for them and their friends, but outwardly have to act SUPER embarrassed and mortified. It was so amazing. I wish that I had a video. Definitely more to come on this character. I do love wigs! 😉

THREE

I am a lucky girl because my cousin married a guy that owns a show company. I know, right? Jackpot! Since they met, we have been HUGE fans of Marmi and Vaneli shoes. And, lucky us, because these shoes get cuter every year!

I have had my eye on either Golden Goose ($500+??? No way!) or P448s (still can’t wrap my brain around $300 tennis shoes). When I realized that I just could not spend that much on “fancy” tennis shoes, I really just put down the desire. Until I walked into the Marmi store over New Years, and discovered these beauties.

Also, please note my most recent “modeling gig”. I was told by my cousin to walk with Marmi bags, and let me say there was practicing involved here. I only made it to the Marmi Instagram page, but I will be adding this to my list of gigs. It follows that one time I was a hair model at sixteen. Clearly, my resume is overflowing! Ha!

Definitely check out Marmi when you are in the market for new shoes. SUPER cute line of casual tennis shoes right now that are (a) more affordable and (b) more comfy that the other, higher-priced brands!

FOUR

Santa Claus brought the boys this Hearthsong Dome Rocker for Christmas, but I have also heard that you can find at local toy stores or online. If you don’t want to head to the North Pole.

This inflatable toy is such fun AND a giant workout! Oh my goodness. Somehow my boys can handle this just fine, but I am taking water breaks every few minutes just to catch my breath! The weight limit is 250 pounds, so I can just go with one munchkin at a time. I prefer, however, to watch them together. It is hilarious!

The fun is the rocking back and forth. However, when you have two boys, the fun becomes seeing who can knock their brother off in the most dramatic way. My current photos on my phone include an endless supply of slo-mo videos where one of my children is flying through the air. Good times!

FIVE

SPOILERS AHEAD . . . PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

After months of not watching anything decent (I’m looking at you, Tiger King!), Reid and I stumbled into some AMAZING shows and became experts at binge-watching. Very different genres and I have very different feelings about each. So, if you have watched one of these shows, keep reading. I recommend all three, kind of.

Yellowstone. I love this show. I found Yellowstone-themed styrofoam cups to drink from as we watched this show. Small obsession, I admit. The Dutton family is nuts, but I still want to live on their ranch and hang out with them. We have to wait until June for season 4, and the excitement is already building. The season 3 cliffhanger was a doozy!

Ted Lasso. Oh, Ted. I love you. During these crazy times, this show is the perfect medicine. A college football coach from the midwest gets a job coaching professional football (read: soccer) in England. It goes about how you think it would go. A British, feel good version of the classic Major League movie with Charlie Sheen. Ted is so lovable, so goofy, and so endearing. You will also talk in an English accent for a time after you finish each episode. Or, maybe that is just us?

The Undoing. Okay, this one is a hard one for me. I read a TON, as you know, and this was like watching one of my suspenseful novels play out live. I’ve decided that I may just stick to reading. The Undoing was only six episodes (one hour each), but it probably could have been taken down to five. Nicole Kidman is amazing, per usual. One scene in the last episode is so well done that I had tears streaming down my face from my anxiety. ANXIETY, y’all! This is why I don’t know if I can recommend this. Hugh Grant is insane. INSANE! In fact, I wonder if Julia Roberts has seen this, and is curious where her sweet man went from Notting Hill. Seriously. These are the things that I think about. Also, note to self to no longer start an anxiety-ridden finale at 10:30 at night when you have to sleep and prepare for big things the following day. Yikes. So, great acting. Interesting story line. I think that I will stick to reading and being able to sleep from now on.

Okay . . . what is the next thing that we need to binge-watch?!?! We are hearing The Queen’s Gambit? Is that something Reid would like? What else?

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That’s it friends! Have a great weekend! XO