Friday Things #347
1. We have been on a serious illness bender here, ugh! Joseph and my husband have not been sick, but Dominic, Isabelle and I have sure made up for it. Those two have had chest coughs and runny noses for over a week and a half now, and on top of that, last weekend Dominic started running a fever along with a mild tummy bug, both of which took about three days to finally resolve. I started with a sore throat and aches on Sunday and by Monday at dinner, I had absolutely no voice. Totally gone. It finally came back on Wednesday morning, but I’m left with the bad chest cough and runny nose, thanks kids! 😜
2. Needless to say, there has been A LOT of couch time recently. Judith is such a good snuggler :)
3. Joseph has become such an eager and ferocious learner and it is such an absolute joy to witness. He spends tons of time writing letters, writing names he knows, and he’s begun copying words from picture board books, as well. When we sit at his allergist appointments every two weeks, he asks for paper and crayons and writes all of the words and names that he knows. He’s begun pointing out words in books and watching him light up when he masters something is just the best.
4. Do you remember me telling you about the Instagram account Cake by Courtney a few months ago? Her cakes are GORGEOUS! And I just found out she’s launching an online course for baking and decorating beautiful cakes; this is one I definitely want to sign up for!
5. Let’s discuss this list of The 17 Best Classic Christmas Movies… I have only seen A Charlie Brown Christmas (of course) and How the Grich Stole Christmas (naturally). Apparently, I have some work to do over the next five weeks!
6. Are you doing any Christmas baking yet? My peanut butter fudge recipe has been going bananas!
7. Good read! >> 15 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Started Cooking
8. I love the idea of easing into a new week relaxing and ready! >> 7 Sunday Rituals to Set You Up For a Really Good Week
9. Do you decorate gingerbread houses? Sally’s tutorial last year totally inspired me and I think the boys might love it, but it still seems like so much work!
10. TGIF! Cuddlebug alert!
A while back, when I was on vacation, I indulged in a very delicious burger that was topped with bacon onion jam. I really want to try my hand at making some homemade bacon onion jam!google
Sorry to hear about almost everyone being sick, I hope you’re all back to normal now. I have started my Christmas “baking” with your Maple Walnut Fudge to give to friends who live in California 6 months of the year (from Canada) before they headed off a week ago. It always turns out slightly differently and always a hit. I’ll be making more. I read most of your links and enjoyed them especially #7 and some of the links it included. Happy American Thanksgiving for this coming week. I’m looking forward to Christmas turkey and all the trimmings.
We make these easier graham crackers houses.
https://ourbestbites.com/easy-graham-cracker-gingerbread-houses/
There are two movies I’m surprised aren’t on the Vogue list:
1) A Christmas Story (1983) about Ralphie and his BB gun
2) though it’s not billed as a Christmas movie, is very popular at Christmas – Love, Actually.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
I was surprised the Home Alone movies weren’t included. I’m with you on Love Actually.
Are you at all open to natural alternatives? I am a dōTERRA wellness advocate and I use their On Guard foaming hand wash for keeping germs at bay and I use their breathe blend to support my respiratory system. They have lots of options and I could send you some samples if you are interested. If not, no worries!
Ahhh! Gingerbread houses! You are correct…they are a lot of work!
Did it a few years with my granddaughters. After the first year of wanting their houses to look “perfect”… I left them to their own creativity! Less stress for me & after all, it was an experience I wanted them to remember as being fun….not a drill to the ideal house! Now they’d just rather bake cookies with me…no more gingerbread houses! ;-)
OMG Is Joseph left-handed!!! So am I!!! Your children are magnificent and I look forward to hearing all about their progress throughout the weeks!! Happy Thanksgiving Michele, You are a fantastic Mom!!!
Hope you all feel better soon.
Phyllis
I just love reading your Friday Things. Your children & dogs are so precious! Hope you all get over the bug soon! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Thank you so much for the kind words :) Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, as well!
I have the exact same cold/flu you have as well. Mine started last Wed. Nov. 13th, fever, sore throat, headache, and body aches, and then on Sunday, I completely lost my voice, until yesterday when it finally started to make a comeback, lol! Now I am left with a bad chest cough, runny nose, and still feel very achy. I hope you and your family are on the mend soon! Have a wonderful weekend!
Ahhh it’s really going around! I hope you feel better soon, xo!
I can’t believe It’s a Wonderful Life didn’t make it onto that list! (My husband would say, I can’t believe Die Hard didn’t make it.)
For years I did “gingerbread” houses with my students using graham crackers and little milk cartons. it was much easier than trying to use actual gingerbread. Last year, I broke down and bought a kit that had little houses (5, I think) so that everyone got one little house in the village to decorate (and later eat). It was just enough to keep them occupied and busy.
I’ve seen all but one of the Christmas movies mentioned in the Vogue article. I agree with all of them! There is one more I wholeheartedly recommend, although it’s not a completely “Christmas” movie, it’s still worth a watch with a wonderful message. The movie is “Meet John Doe.” It was made in 1941 with Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper and directed by Frank Capra (of It’s a Wonderful Life fame).