Things I’m Loving Friday #526

And just like that, all of the boys are in school!

Rhett’s first day of 4-year-old preschool on Wednesday went so, so well.

He’s forever our little Covid baby and that, coupled with the fact that he almost always has a built-in buddy wherever he goes in one or both of his brothers means he will still occasionally cry at drop-offs when he’s going somewhere new by himself. I was pleasantly surprised when he marched right into his new classroom and didn’t even look back at me. I high-tailed it out of there, sighing a big sigh of relief that he seemed to feel so comfortable! We adore his teacher (Ryder had her last year) and she has the most wonderful calming presence I think helped put Rhett at ease. I’m praying all the kids out there and their wonderful teachers have a fantastic school year!

As I sat down for my first coffee shop work morning in months on Wednesday after drop-off, I felt excited for the return of more dedicated work time. I realize the only reason I get to do what I do is because of all of YOU so I just wanted to take a moment this morning to say thank you for being here and for caring for me and my family. We appreciate you so much and I promise you it’s not lost on me for one second that I’ve only been able to call myself a blogger for more than 10+ years because you guys show up here and support me so well.

I’ll stop my gushing now but please know I’m feeling extra grateful for you guys today. And for those of you who are simply here to see this week’s roundup of favorite things, keep on scrolling! I hope you all have the best weekend!

Things I’m Loving Friday #526

• Road Trip Entertainment

I am the worst at saving content for upcoming blog posts because I get too excited to share and want to chat all about my ideas with you guys right now. This is my long-winded way of saying I have a blog post in my drafts with an updated version of our road trip favorites for kids now that our boys are a little older, so stay tuned for that but in the meantime, here are a few items our boys are loving for travel entertainment:

Shape-Shifting Cube:

My mom put these cubes in the boys’ Christmas stockings last year and they’re something I keep in my “travel toys” box to save for travel because they never cease to entertain them! They’re a better fit for our big kids (ages 6 and 9) and they love transforming the cubes into a million different shapes and designs.

Sticker WOW!:

This is a recommendation for younger kids though, honestly, all of our boys get a kick out of it. I joke that Water WOW! books walked so Sticker WOW! books could run. They’re fantastic for little ones who love stickers but may struggle a bit with removing stickers off their paper. The sticker stamper come stocked with stickers for kids to easily stamp onto the various pages. I got another one for Rhett (age 4) for his birthday. And he continues to think it’s the coolest.

Amazing Mazes Books:

We’ve had a Highlights subscription for the boys for years and the big kids’ favorite section of the magazine continues to be the mazes. They’re obsessed so I knew they’d love these books that are absolutely jam-packed with mazes! I honestly figured they’d be a one-and-done kind of book. But the boys solve the mazes with their fingers (not pens or markers) so they do them over and over again when we travel.

Memory Game Cube:

Think Simon of our youth but in cube form and with even more memory games! This was a birthday present for Chase this year and he absolutely loves it.

• The Diplomat (on Netflix)

My mom and dad recommended The Diplomat to me and Ryan. And since my dad is the pickiest person on the planet when it comes to finding shows interesting enough to stick with for an entire season, we figured we should give it a shot. We just finished the first season this week and thought it was great! (Keri Russel is SO GOOD in this show!) If you like political shows — think Scandal or House of Cards — you’ll love this one! It picks up steam as the episodes go on and the last episode of season one had Ryan and I looking at each other with wide eyes. We cannot wait for season two to drop on Halloween!

• Frankie Goes to Camp by Kaitlyn Shrum

Proud friend alert! My friend Kaitlyn is a brilliant speech language pathologist (along with a million and one other certifications), and she’s also the mastermind behind helping me realize both Chase and Rhett had tongue ties that needed to be addressed. She has her own practice in Jacksonville Beach, Florida and is a wealth of knowledge. She also just wrote her first book, Frankie Goes to Camp, to help children learn proper breathing techniques in a fun, approachable way. With tips to help kids breathe through their nose rather than their mouth as well as box breathing and belly (diaphragm/zone) breathing, Ryan and I couldn’t resist practicing the techniques along with the boys when we read it together. Kaitlyn did such a good job on this book and I’m so proud of her hard work!

• The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

My rating: C+ / Genre: Mystery

I hate to drag down a book when I could never do what authors do for a living but this one was just not my favorite. I listened to the audiobook and found myself annoyed almost the entire time. In fact, I was annoyed by the characters, annoyed by the plot and annoyed by the ending. And yet I felt the potential of this book thrumming away the entire time. The premise of the book was so creative but the execution felt jumbled and lacked depth and intrigue. I just didn’t like anyone enough to really care what happened to any of the characters in the book. And the “twists” were more eye-roll inducing than gasp-inducing.

From Amazon: 

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.

As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.

• Friday Flashbacks

10 Preschool Lunches (Just in case you’re looking for some school lunch ideas for little ones!)

How I Shop for Our Kids’ Clothes (From consignment to some of our favorite retailers and small shops)

Question of the Day

What is one thing making you smile this week?