Well, hellloooo, LONG weekend! My kids are off of school for five whole days and sleeping in and not meeting a bus today really tops the happy list. We don’t have a ton planned, but my daughter & I are taking a road trip all the way to Valpo to see the Jem & The Holograms movie. I promised her the outing and I just want to NOT thank you Mishawaka/Niles for making us drive so far to see this. When a mom makes a promise though, she follows through. We are also squeezing in a pumpkin patch visit and I bribed my neighbors to let me set my tripod up on their beautiful property to take our family Christmas photo today. We are going to save a bundle and my family knows the quicker they cooperate, the quicker they can take this painful endeavor off our list of holiday to-do’s!
Here are some other joy givers this week!
Jif Whips on Rice Cakes #winning
I’ve been hitting the gym hard which means I deserve every moment of my nighttime binge. I make no apologies for the balanced life I lead! I wanted to switch up my Nutella + Sea Salt + Rice Cake game and found these Jif Whips in all sorts of different flavors at our store. This Whipped Peanut Butter & Chocolate is a heavenly topper for apples, strawberries, or rice cakes. It reminds me of a Reese’s Cup, but lighter with a good balance of both flavors. It’s airy like a whipped cream so it is easy for dipping and spreading. It’s also little lighter on the fat grams than Nutella, but just as satisfying. I’m looking forward to trying some more flavors to switch up my snack game.
Boss Monster- A Game Teen Boys Will LOVE!
If you are local, I just want to share how proud we are of our friend’s Dan & Lydia who have opened a new game store in Elkhart called Secret Door Games. It is a DREAM for parents because unlike ordering online, you can actually have someone who is passionate about games teach you how to play them and introduce you to new games that your whole family will love. If you are holiday shopping locally, this is a MUST-VISIT for fresh Christmas gift ideas.
It is through Secret Door Games that my son found his new favorite game Boss Monster. Do you see teen boys getting excited about anything that isn’t a video game? I mean ever? This kid LOVES this game and he loved it so much that my husband treated him to an expansion pack for it. If you aren’t local and don’t have Dan to help explain it to you, Boss Monster is a standalone card game that challenges 2-4 players to become videogame-style villains and build deadly side-scrolling dungeons. Players compete to see who can lure and destroy the most adventurers. But beware! You must make your dungeon as deadly as it is attractive, or the puny heroes might kill you first! It’s pixel-illustrations are so awesome and this one is recommended for kids 13 and up.
Hearing my husband & Ethan play it together brings me immeasurable joy. I love the break from the screens and I love seeing them bonding over this game. They also got the Boss Monster Tools of Hero-Kind to build upon it.
Have a teenager gamer on your hands? Be sure to get this for them!
iPhone Projection
Netflix has REALLY been rocking this month so if you haven’t dug into Netflix in a long time, may I suggest making a Netflix binge a part of your weekend? My new obsessions include The Great British Baking Show, Fixer Upper, Jane the Virgin, &, most importantly, The Time In Between (almost like a Spanish version of Downton Abbey!!). Many moons ago I got a 3M Projector to review for the site and it has served us so well over the years. Not only have we used it for outdoor movie nights at home, but it is so compact that we travel with it and take on trips to our vacation homes to create a little at-home theater. I have discovered that it pairs well with my favorite inexpensive speaker and it plugs right into your phone for Netflix or Amazon Instant Movies.
This is a pricier happy than usual, but it makes any blank home in your wall a theater. The other night we enjoyed a bottle of the ALDI’s wine-of-the-month paired with a flick when we discovered shifting a painting off our little mantle made for the perfect projection spot.
If that wasn’t enough… ADELE is BACK!!!! Check out her new video!
Happy weekend, friends! xoxo
*this post may contain affiliate links- I only recommend what I love though. Check out past editions of It’s the 3 Little Things!
Now it’s your turn! What’s making you happy this week?