my faves

favorite things:
1. hilarious quotes by my children.
context: i was alone for several hours while the kids were at martial arts with the hubs. by the time they came back, i had been more productive in those three hours than i had all summer. when they came in, i started punching and kicking the air to celebrate my success (i'm sure everyone does this) saying, "kicking booty! (punch) taking names! (punch)" --because that's how i celebrate having mopped a floor and my son said,
"my mom...kicking booty all day long...that's what my mom DOES!" and it made my heart so happy.
thanks, man.

2. back to school organization.
--clutter into organization. it only lasts a few days around here, but it gives me such a feeling of satisfaction when i get something done (see last fave about punching the air to celebrate. what a weirdo.) so for school, we have things like a place to organize flash cards, readers, folders, and a routine which helps things to not get lost in the abyss that is our hall closet. our house is not the most tidy, but it works. and a tip for those with more than one in school: lots of times we get four of something, like school forms. and sometimes it's hard to keep up with who it belongs to or whose have i returned...so i have started putting an initial at the top corner of the page when i take it out of the folder. it helps me to keep it all straight so one kid doesn't end up turning in 4 of the same form while the others have none.

3. classic kids movies that we grew up with.
now here's the deal, folks. i am in no way recommending you show these to your children. some of them have quite the adult content as well as just plain bad language. but the hubs and i spent a few hours looking online at older movies (meaning 90's movies...wow...i guess we're old) that we loved watching as kids. a few of the ones we were talking about were: mrs. doubtfire (surprisingly a lot of language in this one), 3 ninjas (the boys love it), the sandlot, rookie of the year, newsies, holes, the princess bride, honey i shrunk the kids.
sometimes when i watch one of these as an adult i think, "holy cow! who let me watch this stuff?!" but as a kid i didn't think anything of it. even if you don't feel comfortable with your little ones watching these, some of them are so darn nostalgic, you might want to curl up and enjoy one for a date night.

4. jane.com
(thanks hillary!)
heard of this website? they have clothes and jewelry and all sorts of stuff at discounted prices. i found a skirt i absolutely love for something like 14 bucks but when i looked it up on amazon, it was 30. win. 

5. extra visits with little miss.
little miss is with bio dad now in a town a few hours away and when we asked him recently if we could see her for a visit outside our scheduled arrangement, he said yes! he and his friends have been so kind to us and we are so thankful for the ways they are letting us be part of her life as she grows.

6. our public library.
i'm a sucker for reading lists. and the express section at the library. and i totally judge a book by its cover. does it have a lovely font and pretty colors? i'll take it. our library has probably saved me millions of dollars. we try to go there once a week. and if i am in the mood to not take four boys into a quiet place and let them pick out 75 ninjago and star wars books, i simply go online with them and let them pick out a few books to put on hold. when i get the email from the library that they are ready, i pick them up before the kids get out of school and voila, they have fun new books to read when they get home. and we haven't ended up with too many books to keep up with that were simply in their line of sight while we were there.

i have to be honest with you...i have already written the next post and it's kinda deep. so i thought i'd bookend it with lighter posts. so be prepared for that and let me know...what are a few of your favorite things?