Friday Favorites

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Happy Friday all! Can you believe we are less than a week out from Thanksgiving? I can't. And soon it will be Christmas. In 5 weeks! I have some more gift guides coming on Monday and Wednesday next week (men and women ones). We have a relaxing weekend planned with not much going on!

Onto Friday Favorites and Happenings.

ONE. I thought I would share what our elf, Giuseppe is getting the girls this year. We are bringing him out a bit early as December 1st is a Tuesday this year. So he is coming to our house on Sunday November 29th! Do you bring the elf back each year? If so, what do you have planned for his welcoming?

A Christmas book for each girl.

Olivia Helps With Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Christmas PJs

Santa and Reindeer PJs

Advent Calendar

Advent Calendar

And a Christmas Craft. I can't find the exact one, but it is similar to this.

Michaels Christmas Craft

I had some cute sparkly snowflake headbands for them, but my mom took them to Michaels (where I got them) and they picked them out with her. So I guess I will wear one and give one to my sister or mom.

TWO. This week we were in the mood for some sugar cookies. And I kept seeing a blogger that I follow making them. She lives in the same city as me, so she knows how our altitude can change a recipe. Anyways, she made these last week again and I wanted to try them out. And she was sooo right. These are the fluffiest and softest cookies. It reminds me of my great grandma's sugar cookies that we got every Christmas season. I did not make the icing as I like mine plain.

Recipe

THREE. In case you missed it, I posted some gift ideas for kids on Wednesday.

FOUR. Weekly funnies.

But really. I wouldn't mind if there was a bottle of scotch under the tree for me.

Haha. Isn't this the truth?

Sorry for the language, but some days have been feeling like this.

That is crazy they make that much. I know it varies, but wow.

Haha. Yep!

I saw this one and thought of a few of my friends.

Have a great weekend. I am linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.

Kids Christmas Gift Ideas

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

So I am a little late getting my Christmas gift guides out, but I have been raking my brain on most of these. For kids, it wasn't that hard as my girls went crazy circling items in the Amazon and Target catalogs. But for women and men, it was more difficult since we are living in different times. Things that I normally would want, are not being used right now, so it is a little more difficult shopping for men and women this year.

BUT I did get my kids Christmas gift guide ready. Some of these items my girls already have and others are on their wish list. The items that they don't have have been purchased and are hiding away.

ONE.

Fort Builder Kit

My kids love to build forts, but we often don't have enough chairs or things to build with. So this kit solves the problem. They only have to add blankets over it. I got the kit with 120 pieces.

TWO.

Adidas Superstar Kids Sneakers

I used to love the old school Adidas sneakers when I was growing up. And of course the girls feet are always growing, so we got them each a pair of these old school sneakers!

THREE. 

Kinetic Sand Bake Shoppe

My girls love playing with Kinetic Sand. We just have bags of it, but after visiting their cousins, they wanted a kit. This one seems really cute and they love helping me bake recently.

FOUR.

Melissa and Doug Art Easel

This art easel is still very popular in our house. I got it for the girls in 2016 and they still regularly use it.

FIVE.

American Girl Doll

I said I wouldn't give into the American Girl doll craze and here we are. I am ordering the girls each a doll this year. They got ahold of a catalog sent to us in the mail and they are obsessed. Fun fact...when I was picking out their dolls, I was browsing the accessories. They have an old school VW Van Wagon for $650 on there. Ugh. That is insane.

SIX.

Monopology Junior

I loved playing Monopoly as a kid. When Nadine posted that she was getting Zoe an unicorn version of this game, I went looking at options for the girls. I ended up going with the classic junior version.

SEVEN.

Melissa and Doug Floor Solar System Puzzle

This is another gift the girls received in 2018. A floor puzzle with the solar system. The girls learned all their planets this way and when it came time to re-learn them in school, they were already ahead. This puzzle is 48 pieces and fun to put together.

EIGHT.

Frozen Sequins Jacket

My girls are still obsessed with Frozen. They saw a similar jacket in Target, so I knew this one would be a hit. I got it on sale from the Disney store. And it is still on sale for $25.

NINE. 

Crate and Barrel Teepee

My girls have this teepee in another design (not available) and they love it. They play in it almost daily. They love watching movies in there together on their Amazon Kids Fires too. We have the pillow pad for inside too.

TEN.

Pottery Barn Lounge Pillow

I did not get the girls this exact lounge pillow, but I got one very similar. The girls are always saying how they want a pillow to lay against in the living room. This is perfect for the living room, their beds, their floor, etc.

ELEVEN.

Princess Tea Set

The girls have had tin tea sets before, but they have been asking for a real set that they can use water in it. I am getting them a real porcelain set and one that they can just play with whenever. 

What is on your kids Christmas lists?

Kids Christmas Pajamas

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

In our house, we do Elf on the Shelf. It is a labor of love. That is for sure. But my girls love it! As part of their gift from their Elf, Giuseppe, the girls get Christmas pajamas. So when I was browsing for Christmas pjs, I thought I would share the ones that I was looking at. Most of these are gender neutral, so they work for all kids. Do you do Elf on the Shelf? Do you buy your kids Christmas pjs each year?

Top: One | Two | Three | Four

Bottom: One | Two | Three | Four | Five

Friday Favorites and Happenings

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

Happy Friday all! It has been a week. It was mostly good, but I am just thankful to be into the weekend. 

Onto Friday Favorites and Happenings.

ONE. Last week I was influenced by Lindsay and I bought an artificial tree. We always go out and cut down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and we still plan to do that this year. BUT we also bought an artificial pencil tree to put up in our dining room. This makes three trees in our house. One in the living room (real), one in the dining room and one mini tree (2 feet) in the girls room. 

After my grandma passed away last week, Rory told me that I should put something Christmas up each week. And to start it off, do something big. He said if decorating early brings me joy, then I should do it. We could all use a little more joy this year. And so I put up our new artificial tree. 

On Wednesday I headed to Hobby Lobby to buy some decorations for it as I leave all of our keepsake ornaments for our real tree. I still need a tree skirt and a tree topper, but I think it looks great so far!

And this tree is still on sale and an even better deal than I got it for. Right now you can get it for $39.99 and save $70. Totally worth it!

TWO. Last weekend we headed over to my SIL's house for an early Thanksgiving with Rory's moms side of the family. We finally got to see their new house and spend some time with family. And while we were there, Sutton lost her second top front tooth. She had lost her other one just the week before.

We took the kids to the park and on a walk before heading home.

THREE. A month or two ago, I told you all about a deal at Target on Living Proof Dry Shampoo. Well it is still going and I ordered another two bottles of my favorite dry shampoo. Even though I didn't need them yet, I wanted to stock up before the price goes up again. Normally you get the 4 oz. for $25, but you can get the 4 oz. at Target for $14.39 plus an additional 5% off if you are a Target Circle (or Red Card) member. So worth it. I now have 4 bottles stocked up at home.

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo

FOUR. Last week several of my blogging friends posted Schitt's Creek inspired gifts and purchases. Well some of those caught my eye and I bought myself an ugly Christmas sweater featuring Schitt's Creek. This is the one I chose.

Schitt's Creek Ugly Christmas Sweater

FIVE. Weekly funnies.

This is funny because I live in Nevada and I know what people can be like here.

This was me on Wednesday. But I did do stuff...only it involved shopping and not what else I really needed to get done.

I got one one up already!

This week has been a lot.

This is funny to me since I am not a mayo person at all.

Have a great weekend. I am linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veterans Day! Today (and every day), I wanted to thank all of our veterans. My dad is a veteran and this day just means so much to my family! Thank a veteran! They have served and protected you and our country! They deserve the biggest thank you!

My dad and I before his last deployment

Holiday Dresses

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

I don't know about you, but I am excited to dress up for the holidays. And for the first time in forever, I get to go to a real Christmas party. Rory and I worked (I still work there) at the same place. Their idea of a holiday party was an office pot luck. We did have one co-worker who would put together a holiday party for some of us, but it was always casual. I haven't been to a real Christmas party since previous to this job, and that was over 14 years ago. So needless to say, I am very excited. And yes, it is a small office, so we will be adhering to the rules on gathering numbers.

Anyways, I have been searching around for some holiday dresses. Some of these I wish I could wear to the party, but they are a little too dressed up for it. And they are all under $150. Most of them, but one are under $100.

Top: One | Two | Three | Four

Bottom: One | Two | Three | Four

Which is your favorite? 

Friday Favorites and Happenings

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

So thankful today is Friday. It has been a week. I am looking forward to seeing family this weekend, getting out of the house and maybe squeezing in some Christmas shopping. What are your plans this weekend?

Onto Friday Favorites and Happenings.

ONE. This is not a favorite (at all), but something I am going through right now. You may have noticed (or maybe not), but I didn't respond to anyone's blogs on Wednesday, nor did I return any comments. I did some on Thursday, but my heart just hurts right now. Even typing this post has me in tears. My grandma passed away on Wednesday. She was my only remaining grandparent and to say that I am devastated is an understatement. My heart hurts so much.

It was completely unexpected. Well it was unexpected until last Friday. Last Friday afternoon my grandma had a heart attack. She was admitted to the hospital and spent all weekend plus there. As the days went on, we found out more information. It turns out that she had a hematoma on her heart that gets worse with higher blood pressure and stress. This is something that suddenly happens and often is never caught before it is too late.

My grandma got out of the hospital on Wednesday because she wasn't getting the answers that she wanted and needed. She wanted second opinions and to not be in that hospital anymore. They sent her home with many machines and medicine and she was going to see another doctor very soon. But that evening she started feeling chest pains and went back to the hospital where she passed.

I never got to say goodbye. We talked on Sunday and had plans to facetime with my girls, but that never got to happen. And that is devastating. 

Please forgive me if I am not really with it right now. And if you could, please keep my family in your prayers.

TWO. I know this is something that I usually save for my Amazon Prime post, but this little device is pretty amazing. I used it to mash my potatoes this week and also to break up my ground beef. When I make ground anything, I like to get it basically chopped into small pieces. This thing does it. And it withstands the heat. This is so worth it.

Meat Chopper

THREE. As promised...Halloween photos!

FOUR. Sutton lost another tooth this week. And she was very brave. Her tooth was very loose, and Rory suggested pulling it out by a string. Sutton was all on board while I was a bit freaked out. BUT she did so good. I had posted the video over on my Instagram and it was a huge hit. Here is her with her newest missing tooth all snuggled in bed. And her other front top tooth is ready to come out as well!

FIVE. Weekly funnies.

This is me nightly.

Yep.

Especially with daylight savings time here.

This election is just UGH.

We were just talking about this. Things need to change. It can't be this difficult.

Have a great weekend. I am linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.