As for our week, it was a good one and winter break officially begins in our house the moment we pick Chase up from school this afternoon! I think everyone is ready for some slower mornings and a little less structure as Christmas approaches. Are you guys all done with your holiday shopping? I think I have everything pretty much wrapped up with the exception of a few little things. In case you need any last-minute gift-giving inspiration, here are all of my gift guides from this year in one place:
- Gift Guide for Her
- Gift Guide for Him
- Gift Guide for Kids (ages 2+)
- Gift Guide for Toddlers and Babies (ages 0-2)
Our weekend actually looks pretty full but it’s filled with good stuff so I’m looking forward to it! I’m sure I’ll share more on Monday but until then, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy today’s roundup of weekly favorites, Things I’m Loving Friday style!
Things I’m Loving Friday
I’ve been using this wand to curl my hair for years. I like that it gives my hair beachy waves but recently I’ve found myself wanting to change things up a little bit and ordered this 1-inch double ceramic curling iron with the hopes that it would give my hair a little bit of a softer curl. It was only $14.99 on Amazon and had 22,000+ positive reviews so I figured it was worth a shot. I’m about three weeks into using it and am so impressed! I heats up crazy fast, is easy to use and comfortable in my hand. For the price point, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better curling iron and I know this will get a lot of use over the years!
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Speedway Christmas
Speedway Christmas at the Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of our favorite local holiday traditions. The boys get so amped up about it every year because they love the ability to drive on a real NASCAR race track and see so many lights — Four million of them!! We try to go during the week because it can get crazy busy and wore our Christmas pajamas and brought hot chocolate along in the car for the whole Speedway Christmas experience earlier this week. The four-mile course was filled with amazing lights synchronized to Christmas-themed music and we loved every second!
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Gingerbread House Decorating
On Tuesday afternoon, I joined Chase at his school for some gingerbread (ahem, graham cracker) house decorating. It was such a sweet activity and also really great to be able to see some of Chase’s classmates in person again. I felt so plugged into Chase’s preschool since he went to the same school with many of the same kids for four years (and now Ryder is there with a lot of their younger siblings!), so any opportunity to attend an event where we can meet his new kindergarten classmates and their families feels so nice. We had to laugh, however, because for the most part the kids could not have cared less about their families being there to help them. They still just wanted to laugh and hang out with their friends! Even if Maddie, Hadley and Miller were way cooler than me during the event, it was such a nice afternoon and I’m always grateful for any one-on-one time I have with the boys and appreciate any opportunity I have to feel more immersed in their schools.
My sister was incredibly thoughtful and surprised me with this devotional at the beginning of the month. It has quickly become something I genuinely look forward to reading the moment I get into bed at night. It’s a very simple devotional — only a page or two per day — but helps direct my heart and mind back to the reason for the season. It’s so easy to read that I often find myself reading several days at a time which I actually love because then I can go back and reinforce what I just read the next day, week, etc. I also love the way the book incorporates little tips on simplifying the holidays and finding gratitude and joy in the right places. (One such tip revolved around examining your traditions to make sure they actually bring you joy. Do you really enjoy baking Christmas cookies? If so, bake away! If not, store bought cookies are fabulous, too.)
I’ve shared one of my favorite excerpts from the book above because it’s one I’ve found myself thinking about a lot this holiday season. “Seek to be a blessing and you will be blessed.” How amazing would it be if we all went out into the world with the goal of blessing others?
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Friday Flashbacks
Chocolate Chip Corn Flake Cookies (For anyone doing some holiday baking this weekend and looking for a unique cookie recipe to try!)
Holiday Cheese Puff Casserole (Our family’s favorite Christmas morning breakfast!)
Question of the Day
What is one thing you’re loving this week?
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Does the devotional book include scripture readings or verses?
Yes!! Every day there is a scripture and then the author dives into it a little more deeply but it’s still very easy to read. That is then followed by a little tip for simplifying the holiday season (like the one I shared in this post). I’ve been loving it because this season is so crazy and I wanted something that I could keep up with and enjoy and this has been fabulous!! That being said, it’s definitely not a super deep devotional, so if you’re looking for something like that, I would look another direction!
Sounds like exactly what I need!
I need simple!
Thank you for sharing!
Have a Merry Christmas!!!
I have been looking for a curling wand, so this was perfect timing! I had an Amazon gift card, so I ordered myself the one inch wand. Hoping I can learn to curl my hair nicely! Thank you for the recommendation.
I hope you like it, Kori! It is really easy to use and if you ever need curling tips, YouTube has millions of tutorials!!
Oh thank you! I am going to watch my twin sis give me a tutorial as well. But those videos will come in handy. I’m determined to enjoy my longer hair more than I used to prior to rocking a pixie cut for years. 🙂
You need to update your profile
Wishing you and your family a great weekend Julie! I don’t know if you saw Ashley Spivey’s Instagram stories this morning or last night (I miss many but it was SO heartwarming to see the story she posted about!) Long story short, I believe Ashley posted something about gratitude and a woman wrote to her, not asking for help, but just explaining how hard this season is as a single mom. She was grateful that her teenage son understood that he couldn’t get the Christmas present he wanted (a laptop) until March when she got her tax return. He said all he cared about was that his sister would have a present to open on Christmas. She said she did have a present for her daughter and a very small one for her son. Ashley managed to hide the woman from her stories to secretly ask her followers to see if money could be raised for a new laptop for the woman’s son. $20,000 was raised for the family in 1 hour! It was just so incredible and heartwarming and she posted the woman’s response. It’s definitely worth checking out…it really made me tear up this morning!
I’m currently reading the Christmas devotional Bring on the Merry by Candace Cameron-Bure and I’m really enjoying it. At first I thought it was going to be one more thing to do this holiday season but it’s been exactly what I’ve needed. It’s so nice to take a mini break to read the devotional and those reminders about the season. Be the blessing… yes, I need to remember that at times too!