five on friday

Hooray for Friday! Goodness, what a week it's been. I'm looking forward to a relaxing, but fun and busy weekend. I'm linking up with Five on Friday this week. Here's a peek at what's going on around here. 

Mike & I are headed to the beach next week for our anniversary getaway. We'll be celebrating 19 years of wedded bliss. How have we been married that long?! I truly can't imagine a day without him by my side. I give God all the glory for our marriage and the love that keeps us happy and strong. We're not making lots of plans and will just go with the flow most of the week. I did make dinner reservations at one place - Wicked Tuna. I cannot wait to get to that Ahi Tuna. Yum!

I have a confession to share with you all. I am crazy about these Go-Mart potato wedges. Yep, gas station food. We went to see my mother-in-law Wednesday evening and the Go-Mart we pass is one of the few that still sells them. Any time we drive past, you can bet I'm stopping. And I may or may not have emailed the home office to get a list of all the locations in WV that have them. Mike got tired of me stopping to run in every Go-Mart we passed if we were traveling. They are just that good. If you're a local and want a copy of that email, just let me know. 

 

Ya'll know about my pajama addiction for Landon. Well, this time I bought some cute pajamas for mommy. These owl print pajamas are so soft and fit perfectly. They are packed and ready to go on our anniversary getaway. I also got this because sometimes it's fun to be fancy.

 

Landon loves Mad Libs and the Charlie Brown Halloween special, so I picked these up at Walmart earlier this week. He still struggles a bit with his reading, so we're working really hard to encourage him and make sure his self-esteem doesn't suffer. We'll be adding a few more new books to our Halloween collection, so I'll probably do another post to share those.

And now for more book news... If you've been reading here for a while, you know I love cozy mysteries. I got an advance copy of Turkey Trot Murder by Leslie Meier, the latest in the Lucy Stone Mystery series. I've been saving it for fall and it's packed in my bag and ready for beach reading. For our fall getaways, I always like to read an autumn or Christmas-centered mystery and holiday recipe magazines or cookbooks. It really puts me in a festive spirit.  If you're looking for a new series, give this one a try. Be sure to start from the beginning so you can watch Lucy's family grow up as the series goes on.

 

Have a great weekend! If you want to see snippets of our getaway, follow along on Instagram - I'm tonia_thc.

favorite thanksgiving books

We're counting down the days til Thanksgiving. We're super excited about the big day and have added a few books to our Thanksgiving collection this year (you can see some of our old favorites here).  Here's what we're reading this month. 

Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving

The Story of the Pilgrims

 

 

Ten Fat Turkeys

 

What are you reading this month?

five on friday

Hooray for Friday. We're finally expecting some rain this weekend and I couldn't be more excited. Hopefully some cooler temps will follow. It's hard to celebrate all things fall when it's 100 degrees outside. But don't despair;  I'm still enjoying all things pumpkin. I'm linking up with Five on Friday again this week. Let's get right to it.

  

I've been looking for a particular cookbook for a while now. It's one my mom had when I was younger. You guys, I spent so much time looking through that book back in my younger days. It's the book I got my cinnamon roll and baked spaghetti recipes from. Anyway, that book has been gone for quite some time now, but I've always remained on the lookout for it.  I thought it was by Pillsbury, but earlier this week I looked on ebay under Better Homes & Gardens and there it was. It's now on its way to me. I can't wait to show you some of the fun pictures inside. It's definitely retro!  I'll share my cinnamon roll recipe next week too!

 

I know where I'll be Wednesday evening. I'm so excited for the season premier of Law & Order: SVU. Eighteen seasons later and that show is still going strong. Who else is watching?  

I love all things pumpkin-flavored...except for my coffee. My sister loves the pumpkin spice coffee drinks and creamer, but it's not for me. I do, however, LOVE this pumpkin spice chai latte. You can also get the tea bags, but I prefer the concentrate. I get mine at Target. It's so good with a bit of whipped cream on top. It's like autumn in a mug!  

I'm in love with this Sejour cardigan from Nordstrom, especially this soft pink shade.  I might have to have it in the silver pink AND blue cameo colors.  I'd pair it with jeans as shown or a jean skirt.  It definitely works with my capsule wardrobe style. I'm all for having just a few basic pieces that I can mix and match.

 

And now for book news... I'm so excited to be sharing my love of Laura Ingalls Wilder with Landon. I started reading Farmer Boy to him earlier this week and he is loving it.  We're reading two chapters a night, but last night Landon was enjoying it so much he wanted to read an additional chapter. Of course, I was happy to oblige. I have two sets in paperback, but I'm using this Kindle version right now.  It's easier for bedtime reading and the color illustrations are great.

Have a great weekend!

 

favorite easter books

Easter is coming right up, so I thought today would be a good day to share some of our favorite Easter stories.  A few are old favorites and some are new additions to our collection. I love that Landon can tell the story of Easter to anyone who will listen. It warms my momma heart to hear our little boy telling the good news! 

 

 Guess How Much I Love You //  The Easter Story // The Berenstain Bears Easter Story

Ten Easter Egg Hunters //  Happy Easter, Mouse // Jesus Calling for Little Ones

 

I'll be talking about Easter basket ideas later this week. 

 

Happy Monday! 

 

 

Five on Friday

Hooray for Friday! It's been a long week and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. We're going to have great weather - 72 tomorrow! It's not exactly the perfect Christmas weather, but we'll take it!  I'm linking up with Five on Friday again. Here's a peek at what we've been up to.

We took Landon to the library open house last week to see Santa. We had a great time listening to a performance by the high school show choir. Landon got to tell Santa what was on his wish list and I drank lots of sherbet punch. I seriously love that stuff. 

My hands get cracked and dry at the slightest hint of cold weather. So dry they actually crack open. I don't like using lots of hand lotions because of the greasy or sticky feeling left behind. Then I found this! If you need a good hand cream, this is the one! I got this and a smaller size to keep in my bag. 

I needed one last small gift for my mother-in-law for Christmas and found this towel on Amazon. She loves peonies and butterflies, so this was the perfect find. I'm sure she will use it in the kitchen, but I actually think it would look nice in a frame. The material is nice and sturdy, so it would be easy to frame. 

I picked up a fun Christmas gift for my mom - a gift certificate to Uncork & Create.  It will be a fun girl's night out for us. My sister and I are both looking forward to it. Mom loves birds, so maybe we'll go in February and do the lovebirds painting.  I'm going to try to get enough friends going to make it a party.

I was so excited to get an advance copy of the Wedding Cake Murder from Joanne Fluke. The book will be released on February 23rd and I'll be giving a copy away that same week. Look for the giveaway here and on Instagram (I'm ToniaTHC). We'll also be kicking off our 2016 Book Club with this book. Watch for details on Instagram - #thcBookClub

Have a great weekend!

 

Christmas Reading List

Reading is one of my favorite things to do with Landon.  I got him several new books for Christmas this year and we usually read two every night. It gives us quiet time together and also helps him with his monthly reading goal at school. 

Here's a few of our favorites this year.

Our Little Deer
This one is actually a bit young for Landon, but it's fun and sweet and gets lots of giggles. I always add Landon's name as I read, making sure he knows he's the star of the story. 

One Shining Star

Who Is Coming To Our House

A Very Merry Christmas Prayer

A Bed for Baby Jesus

Little Golden Book Favorites

Santa's Toy Shop

And one of our new favorites...

Little Blue Truck's Christmas 

I hope you'll add some of these to your Christmas collection. 

Happy Reading! 

 

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Favorite Thanksgiving Stories

Besides pajamas, I also LOVE buying books for Landon. I'm always coming across new books for him and also enjoy sharing old favorites from my childhood. Is there anything better than snuggling up with your baby and a good story?

Today I'm sharing three of our favorite Thanksgiving stories. I usually pick out a few of our favorite seasonal books and put them on Landon's nightstand with his bible story book so they become our go-to for that month.

Here's what we're reading in November.

 

1. I Love to Gobble You Up - If kisses were gobbles, I'd gobble you up! Landon is at the end of the recommended age for this one, but it's still a lot of fun and gets lots of giggles. 

2. What is Thanksgiving - A fun rhyming book to help kids understand the real meaning of Thanksgiving. We've been reading this one for a few years now, so it's a fun tradition. 
 

3. The Night Before Thanksgiving - Everyone’s favorite fun-filled, family-filled, food-filled holiday is almost here! Follow along as the feast is prepared, cousins are greeted, and everyone gathers around the table, all with an extra helping of holiday fun.

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving books?  I'll be sharing our favorite Christmas books on November 23rd. Lots of fun books, so don't miss it!

 
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