Friday Favorites for a Delightful Start of December!

Happy Delightful December!  Today I'm linking up with Erika from A Little Bit of Everything and Andrea from Momfessionals for:

Decorating

I decorate with snowmen and snowflakes so I can keep my decorations up all winter!

 

In my family, we have Hanukkah and Christmas.  My husband is Jewish, and my mother was Jewish.  Growing up, we celebrated Christmas as a fun holiday - not a religious one.  My husband only had Hanukkah.  Now my husband can't wait to go get a tree - we call it a holiday tree.  We decorate it with Hanukkah and winter ornaments.  Most of them are handmade.  We also light the menorah.  I love the glow from the candles. 

I recently bought these cute "little" (they're much smaller than they appear on Amazon!) solar powered snowmen:

 Sending

I'll be sending/gifting these sea glass creations by  @designsbyheidib to my children for Christmas:

Smelling

Yesterday my friend and I went to a church fair.  Upon entering, someone from the kitchen was bringing up a fresh baked batch of cinnamon buns.  Yum!

Wrapping

Here is my confession:  I never wrap anything.  I only use gift bags.  I keep all my received gift bags and use them again.  I am just too lazy to wrap gifts when I can just pop them into a bag!

In closing, I love this meme so I'm ending with this thankful message:

Happy Thanksgiving Friday Favorites!

Hello everyone!  Today I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything for:

It's an exciting week with a lot of family and food to look forward to!  I'm excited to share some news from my neck of the woods!

Decoupage Plate

Right now there are endless Holiday Fairs which include crafts, baked goods and White Elephant Tables.  At one fair, I picked up this most adorable plate (along with baked good on top!):

Here's the best part ~ if you're crafty ~ unlike me ~ you can make these plates on your own!  Click here to check out the directions!

Poetry and Traits

I am a HUGE fan of Doug Florian's poetry.  His poems are witty and wry.  I use them frequently in my Morning Messages, and last week I used two of them and connected them with what we're learning in Science:

I got the above poems from the book, Beast Feast (click here to check it out on Amazon)!

Before Covid, I used to handwrite my Morning Messages.  Luckily, I took pictures (see above) so I could transcribe them into Google Slides and show them on the "Big Screen."  

Cold Weather = Your tires need air!

Has this every happened to you?  It always happens when I'm on my way to school; when I do NOT want to go to the gas station to fill up my tires; when I need to track down 5 or 6 quarters to pay for said air,...  It is just an annoyance.  As soon as I saw this tire-inflating gadget, I put it directly in my Amazon cart:

Click on the picture to check this out on Amazon!

I have gotten good use out of this exciting gadget, and I have given it as gifts to my family.

As always, thank you for visiting and enjoy this short week and Thanksgiving!

 

How to Make More Time for Reading!

Today I'm linking up with Toronto Sam and her cohosts:   Adrienne, Dara, Jen, and Joanne,. for their monthly link-up!  This month's topic is:

Make More Time for Reading!

Read Magazines Before Bed = Instant Relaxation!

For many years (i.e. after I had kids), I did not read books.  It was too much of a commitment, and I had too little time to read.

Reading magazines allowed me to read.    Consequently, I got several magazine subscriptions.  These are the subscriptions that I have now:  Woman's Day, Real Simple, HGTV and Country Living.  Reading magazines gave me short snippets to read before bed.  Plus, I find these magazines to be very soothing and inspirational.  

Read Books on the Libby App

When I taught, I discovered Libby which is a free app offered through your public library.  I downloaded so many children's e-books to read to my class at snack on the "big screen." Fast forward:  I now have a granddaughter who takes naps.  This is a perfect time to read an e-book! (They also have audio books!)  I always have several books on hold (of course, the holds usually become available at the same time!).   The best part is you always have a book to read without remembering your book!

Here is an example from my Hold Shelf.  You can "freeze" your available books until you are ready to read them.  You won't lose your place in line so you should get them quickly after you "thaw" the hold.

Library Books

I always have "real" (hard cover) books that I get from the library or reserve through interlibrary loans.  I read these books after I finish reading my magazine.  I try to spend at least an hour reading before I go to sleep.  Now that it's winter, I'm so cold at night, I fall asleep before reading for 20 minutes!

Here are some of my holds:

As you can see, I'll be waiting for a while for these books, but I can always find another book to read at the library.  I love see book recommendations on blogs or on Instagram.  I want to make sure that I'm looking forward to reading because it's such a joy.

In addition, I'm on Goodreads if you want to follow along.  I'll follow you back, too!  If you have any must-read books, please let me know!