FRIDAY RANDOMS

Our usual Friday routine: a trip to the grocery store for last minute weekend essentials (i.e. beer, bananas, coconut milk, and other such things that we run out of by the end of the week), picking up a pizza or two (we rotate suppliers... Fox's, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, Billy's), and stopping for a RedBox movie (kid-approved, of course) on the way home. Personally, I can't think of a better way to celebrate Friday!

This is what the kids do pretty much every time they get in the car. They each grab a book or "mag-zine", kick their feet up, and settle in for the ride. We subscribe to a few children's magazines (from National Geographic, Highlights, and some other animal-themed thingy that I forget the name of right now) and only use them in the car (not the house), so that they are "fresh" entertainment for car rides. Works perfectly, and we LOVE seeing our kids read to themselves and each other, or share bits and pieces of what they read with us while we drive. Turns our 15 minute rides to and from school into learning time, which is a nice bonus!

Cora got this light box and accessories from her Grambot and Pawpaw for her birthday, and both kids are completely in love with it. The accessory set came with different colored shapes, which are great both for learning and organizing by shape and color, and also for constructing pretty things like flowers and airplanes. The set also included a huge bucket of see-through Legos, which take building to a whole new level. This thing is so fun that even Jay and I are playing with it!

P.S. I haven't been blogging them, because I always forget to take out my camera and grab group photos, but I've been lucky enough to steal away for Moms Night Out a few times recently. Probably an average of once/month for the past 4 months. Normally we meet up at a restaurant for dinner and a drink and a LOT of mama-talk. It's SO NICE to have a little kid-free time that doesn't involve work, and I am very grateful for the opportunities (thanks Jay!) as well as the ability to nurture my adult friendships - I'm lucky to have a great group of ladies here to hang out with! Last night we lingered until 10:00pm. That's 4 hours of eating and drinking and gabbing. And it was awesome. Thanks girls!