Friday Favorites #30

TGIF! I can’t believe this is my 30th Friday Favorites post! That’s approximatey 150 favorite things haha!

I hope everyone had a great week. It was a pretty typical week around here with all the usual routines: school, soccer, Faith Formation classes…Tomorrow is our last soccer game! It’s called the “Romp n’ Stomp” and is like a mini tournament. Owen gets to play a game and Drew and Lucas have two, maybe even three games! I hope Coach Ryan is ready!

Here’s some photos from last week’s game:)

We still haven’t visited the pumpkin patch yet, so hoping we can make it there Sunday depending on weather. Our dock was supposed to come out this week but that is getting done Sunday as well so not sure if we’ll have time for both. We’ll see!

Keep on reading for this week’s list of favs and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Pumpkin Carving Tradition

Usually, we wait until the weekend before Halloween to carve our pumpkins, but we did it a little early this year. The funny thing is we haven’t even been to the pumpkin patch yet. I picked up three large pumpkins from Costco for a fraction of the price and the boys begged all weekend to carve them. So that’s what we did last Sunday!

Each year, the boys do a little more and us a little less when it comes to this activity. Ryan is very good at cutting the lids (has a whole system) and we both do the actual carving. The boys scoop out all the “guts” and choose their design. I play some Halloween music and some core holiday memories are made.

Andrew chose the happy face, Lucas chose Bowser (Ryan did a really good job at that one!) and Owen chose the scary eye face. We have been lighting them throughout the week and the boys love looking at them. Lucas wanted me to send a picture to his teacher and she showed the whole class which he was stoked about. Also, the fact we carved them early means they can enjoy them a little longer, too!

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (again)

Last week, when I shared this book as a favorite, I wasn’t too far into it. Well now, I am almost finished, and this book definitely deserves to be a favorite for two weeks in a row. It was long, but the pacing is good with the perfect balance of description, action, and dialogue. I have never read anything like this before and I know it’s one of those books that will stay with me.

The story is centered around a coming-of-age girl, Leni. You experience firsthand the pain of an abusive father, living destitute, the deep love of a mother-daughter bond, young romance, the adventures and hardships of living in Alaska, tragedy and ultimate forgiveness. I felt every emotion reading and don’t cry often with books, but this one did it.

If you love to read, I highly recommend this book. Now I want to visit Alaska!

Peak Colors

The colors have really popped this week! Every day I drive by them, I soak it all in knowing they’ll be on the ground too soon. I am always in awe when I see them and it’s truly a testament of God’s goodness. My phone can never capture how they truly look but here are some photos I snapped this week. If you have never been to northern Michigan during peak color season, it’s definitely worth it!

Moomers Ice Cream

On Tuesday afternoon, Owen and I took a trip to Moomers. It’s a pretty famous ice cream shop up this way as it serves really good homemade ice cream! Usually, we go in the summer when it’s very busy, so it was nice to just walk in and order right away. Owen got a Halloween themed cup, and I ordered a scoop of caramel apple pie.

Owen wanted to eat outside at a crisp 50 degrees. Never too cold for ice cream, I guess! I think he really wanted to look at the cows which isn’t surprising because he’ll look at any animal all day long.

Lucas’s ROAR Model Award

About a week ago, I received an email from Lucas’s teacher saying he was not making the best choices at school (chatty, being silly a lot). She implemented a chart for him, and it seemed to be the fire Lucas needed to get back on track.

On Thursday morning, I received a much better email saying he had an amazing week and that she was going to take away the chart since he’s been doing so well. His teacher also said that she was nominating him as a “ROAR Model of the Week”! Each week, teachers can nominate a student to be a “ROAR” Model: Respectful, Optimistic, Active Learner, and Responsible behaviors (ROAR). 

I am beyond proud of Lucas for stepping up to the occasion by being helpful, thoughtful, and responsible at school. He’s also been learning a lot about showing love for God in his First Reconciliation class so hopefully it’s all coming together for him. Keep it up, Lucas!

Suttons Bay Outing with Owen

I will probably have an outing with Owen as a favorite every week. I absolutely love the one-on-one time I get with him on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Yesterday, we made a trip to Sutton’s Bay for a Facebook marketplace transaction. I figured since we were there, we would have some fun too.

First, we went into the toy store, Brain Storm. Owen pointed out several things he wants to add to his Christmas list haha. He was particularly interested in the dinosaur toys which is no big surprise! That big stuffed fish caught his attention too!

After that, we headed to Mundos Roasting & Co.– a maple pecan latte for me and a hot cocoa for Owen.

We took our hot drinks down to the beach. Owen played on the playground while I looked for some rocks. We also had fun chasing down a flock of seagulls!

Owen wanted to watch some construction trucks for a short while then we drove a few minutes down the road to Leo Creek Preserve.

Owen loves being in nature. He spent most his time looking for frogs and fish in the creek. He also tried catching a salmon with his bare hands haha.

We had the woods all to ourselves; it was a fun little hike!