Gifts for Moms on the Go

Here are a few practical and fashionable items for the busy mom or really any busy lady on the go! Clockwise from the top:

Lands' End Vest $25
She's running late, but this is perfect to throw on over her yoga clothes to provide a pocket for keys and phone during preschool drop off. Add a big monogram on the back to make it something special. Great price point.

iPhone backup battery $38
So she'll never miss that perfect photo moment of the kids being sweet to one another in the park at the end of the day when her battery's drained to less than 10%.

Kendra Scott Tessa studs in Ivory Pearl $50
She likes cute earrings, but she's still scared the baby will yank the dangling ones out of her ears. These are a perfect compromise.

C. Wonder Dotty Signature Tote $88
This comes in several cute patterns and is big enough to hold all of her stuff, which is actually everyone else's stuff. Bonus: they'll monogram it for you.

bkr water bottle $30
Because she's always thinking she should drink more water. Why not drink it like Gisele?

Vans snake skin slip-on $55
Perfect to pull her yoga pant-centric outfit together. She doesn't have time for laces anyway.

Lululemon vinyasa scarf $58
Big enough to hide behind, soft enough to use as a blanket, and rumored to even make a great nursing cover. It's warm and cozy, and who doesn't love that?

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Weekending

We had an earthquake this weekend!

With that crazy exception, the days were average. I found time to power watch some Gilmore girls and am currently mid-season 3. I need someone to explain why the "girls" in Gilmore girls isn't capitalized.

Is is simply stylization?

Is there a deeper meaning?

Is it capitalized in later seasons symbolizing hopefully Lorelai's maturation?

Have I spent too much time considering this?

Anyway, Friday was Mr. G's off Friday, so we lazed around before I headed out to Pure Barre for an afternoon session. I met a friend at Starbucks that evening and fed my family tacos from Rosa's before settling them in with for Toy Story 2.

Saturday it poured buckets, and Mr. G had to go in to the office. That afternoon, the kids and I loaded up for one of their friend's birthday party. It poured some more. And then, earthquake!

I put the kids to bed around 8:30 and since I was flying solo, climbed into bed around 9 for some Gg, when around 9:15, the floor shook for a brief couple of seconds. I felt the entire wall behind me shiver, and then the headboard vibrated against the wall. It took me a split second to decide that it had to be an earthquake. Immediately I headed to twitter where most news hits first.


Not long after, our local NBC station tweeted that folks were reporting feeling an earthquake in downtown Dallas. Not long after, it was confirmed by the USGS. The epicenter was all the way over in Irving, very close to my former office.

So that's my rather boring earthquake story. I couldn't believe it happened though!

Sunday we spent the day at church, and I headed to a senior violin recital for one of the girls in my Sunday school class. We spent the rest of the evening putting up our Christmas lights. We're ready to flip the switch!

Five on Friday

I'm linking up with the Good Life blog today for another five on Friday.

::ONE:: School Pics are in

He looks more and more like a big kid every day. I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of him.


::TWO:: Old Navy Plaid Flannels

Annabelle and I were in Old Navy this week unsuccessfully searching for a non-dressy winter coat for her when we came across these really cute women's plaid flannel shirts. They look perfectly cozy and festive for the holidays! In store they had a navy and hunter green that was my favorite of their offerings. Save 20% online only with ONSAVENOW.


Plaid Flannel Shirt $22
::THREE:: Calls to Butterball Turkey on Thanksgiving Day

The Kitchn (it's the cooking offshoot of Apartment Therapy) posted this week about calls to Butterball's hotline on Thanksgiving day. They shared what the most often asked question was. My guess was "how do I tell if this bird is done?!?" but that wasn't it. I didn't even realize Butterball had a hotline, and I don't think I would've ever thought to call it, not that I have a lot of experience cooking on Thanksgiving Day.

::FOUR:: Christmas Pajamas

If you're late getting your kids' Christmas pajamas together, I posted this week about the cute ones my kids will be wearing. Still available, very reasonably priced.

::FIVE:: Fort Worth Moms Blog Guide to Christmas Events

If you live on the west side of DFW, Fort Worth Moms Blog has compiled a list of all sorts of Christmas events. Included are sites to take your kids to visit the big man himself. We're actually considering visiting the Gaylord Ice for the very first time. If you've ever been, what do you think?

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Thankful: Easy (Delicious) Teacher Gift

Just like at your house I'm sure, our preschool teachers are high on our list of things we're thankful for. While this may not be the most original idea for a teacher gift, nor is it the most pinterestingly cute thing you may see on the internet, it's sent with a grateful heart from a preschooler (and his mama) who helped pick out treats for some of his favorite ladies.


I like buying from Nothing Bundt Cakes because they're delicious, it's a clever concept/name, and they'll package each cake for the occasion. You can't beat one-stop shopping, and the bundtlets are a great price point. Chocolate chocolate chip is my personal favorite although we tried the white chocolate today, and it came very close to grabbing the top spot. I love a good plain birthday cake flavor, and that's how it tasted.


They have flags for almost every occasion: holiday, thank you, congrats, etc. If you purchase 12 bundlets at once, you receive one for free, the sales girl informed me when I picked these up. One year my manager gave these out to our Team at Christmas. Mine was gone by mid-morning.


A plain little card is included too. I'll write a note of thanks on it and let Jack sign his name. We purchased for his two teachers, the preschool director, and her assistant. They're all so great to us!

You may not have a Nothing Bundt Cakes near you, but you probably have a bakery that bakes up delicious treats. Who doesn't love baked goods?!?

If you're looking for more teacher gift ideas as Christmas is drawing near, I posted at Fort Worth Moms Blog back at the end of school last year on teacher gifts and what teachers really want. I polled a group of teachers in my life and got the scoop! A gift doesn't have to be complicated or expensive to be thoughtful.

This post was not sponsored by Nothing Bundt Cakes. I just love their product!

Christmas Prep: Matching Pajamas

For two years in a row now, I've been late purchasing my kids Christmas pajamas. This means that the cutesy two-piece button-down monogrammed sets requiring pre-order in September are long gone.

Luckily, last year as I was searching for kids' classic Christmas pajamas, I came across this great affordable option by Little Me. If you've been kicking yourself for not ordering earlier too, maybe this will help.


I can't believe how much they've grown in a year.

Girls Ruffle Two Piece | Boys Two Piece
As Macy's runs out of sizes, Belk also carries these as well as a super cute matching gown. I still worry about Annabelle getting cold at night, so I'm not quite ready for the adorable ruffled nightgown. While I love the idea and hope I can keep up the matching cozy pajamas for as long as they'll let me, matching pajamas don't hold a candle to the importance of the coming of the Savior. I'm excited to celebrate this season with my sweeties!

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Weekending

We had a super laid back and typical cold weather weekend for us. I say typical cold weather weekend in that we didn't go really anywhere as a family other than church on Sunday, ate lots of warm, hearty food (taco soup!), and built a fire in the evening.

Friday night was Parents Night Out at our church (i.e. inexpensive, great childcare), so we took the opportunity to knock out some of our Christmas shopping. For our kids, we do one big Santa gift and a few other small toys, plus some clothes. During PNO, we picked up one of our Santa gifts and nearly all of the smaller toys. We're about 60% done with all of our Christmas shopping.

All day Saturday we pretty much vegged out. Pure Barre, naps, football, and a fire. I did a little solo shopping and snagged Jack a Gap hoodie for 40% off. They're soft, comfy, and durable, so great for busy little guys. I think he's had one in every size so far.

Sunday we headed to church in a misty, cold rain for Sunday school and worship. In January, Mr. G will start another term as a deacon in our church, and one of our friends was ordained as a new deacon, so we went to the ordination service and reception that evening.

(What I mean by "starting another term": deacons in our church serve for 3 years, then have one year off before their next 3 years of service. Mr. G is just finishing his off year. Southern Baptist churches are autonomous, so not all of them have their deacon service organized in this way.)


During last year's snow/ice storm
As I'm writing this, it's snowing outside, and I'm reminded of the last snowy week we spent wrapped up in our house getting ready for Christmas. While this doesn't appear to be nearly the same degree of storm, it's going to be a cold week.

Bundle up, friends!

Five on Friday

It's been a far from routine week here at the Gentry Casa. Lots of ups and downs, but today I'm focusing on the ups as I link up with the Good Life Blog.

::1:: First Soccer Season: Success

Our guy did awesome in his first soccer season. No tears, listened to the coach, hustled, stayed with the ball. Last Saturday was his team party. I missed it (and apparently so did a lot of people--only 4 families were there) because I was at our church's Pinterest event, but he received his very first trophy!


::2:: Christmas Shopping

I think this is the earliest I've been this far along on my Christmas shopping. Tonight we have a date night planned to get things done. This will mean that on purpose, we will end up in Target shopping for the children, as we happen to do nearly every date night.

How does this always happen?

::3:: More Shopping

Carter's always has great, durable play clothes, and I'm loving their Christmas/Winter line for boys especially this season. I'm hoping to pick up this shirt for Jack over the weekend. It's a perfect Christmas plaid.

Ripstop and Corduroy Vest $19	Flannel Shirt $12

::4:: Thanksgiving Eats

If you're looking to try some new thanksgiving recipes this year, Fort Worth Moms Blog has a couple of posts this week. I posted a no-pecan pecan pie (great if you have any nut allergies in your fam), and my friend Anna posted a couple of her favorites.

::5:: Donuts

We've kicked off our day with sprinkle donuts. It's going to be a good one! Have a great weekend!

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The Lululemon Experience Win

A few weeks ago, I saw where my local Lululemon posted on Facebook requesting people send in photos of how they sweat for a contest. Lululemon has a marketing campaign around the hashtag #thesweatlife, which is basically a reference for incorporating exercise (or sweat) for a healthy lifestyle. The winning photo submission would receive a Lululemon experience.

I thought about it for a split second and decided, "why not?" I figured they would just post the winning photo, and that would be that. I had no idea that they would post them on Facebook for voting. When it popped up in my feed, I weighed whether I should share it (posting anything personal on Facebook is a rarity for me) or just pretend it never happened. If my rear was going to be on the internet with giant stripes across them, I decided I might as well attempt to win. So in a cold sweat, I embarrassingly hit the share button.

I had no idea what a Lululemon experience was, but I was hoping it would include a least a free pair of pants. I practically live in wunder unders most of the week.


yikes! stripes!
The next Saturday morning, Lululemon FW posted that I did, indeed, win. I ran by Sunday afternoon to pick up my prize package which consisted of class passes to some local studios/gyms and a pick of something from the store. I ended up with a great pair of Aggie maroon crops I'd had my eye on. You can't see in the pic, but there are cute textured dots all over them to give 'em a little something extra and a really thick waistband to help a mama out.


Astro Wunder Under crop
Thank you again for voting for me. You're the best!

Shopping for Slip-On Sneakers

I briefly glossed over yesterday that we did a little shopping last weekend with the whole fam. I finally had a blow out in the toe of my favorite burlap "Thomases" (what my little guy calls Toms shoes). Besides that, I spend more time than I probably should in leggings since they are the most comfortable for playing with my kids. I keep dressing them down with tennis shoes, but it's easy to create a pulled together look too, with just the right shoe.

Lately there are slip-ons everywhere. From Target, to Gap, to high-end brands. For example, the image below of leggings with slip-ons. Oh that I had looked so effortless, whilst schlepping my toddler through the rain to vote yesterday.

Clockwise from top:
Black Quilted || Grey Snake || Leopard || Maroon Sateen || Black Perforated

Vans Metallic Slip-Ons
I ended up with the metallic Vans above. Up until a month ago, if you had told me I would own a pair of Vans ever in my life, I probably would've laughed. Mr. G asked if he could call me Avril.

While I was trying on shoes, one of the kids tripped with a styrofoam cup which fell to the ground and sprung a leak. In a ridiculous turn of events, my first instinct was to kick off the shoes so as not to be confused with a shoplifter and sprint from the store with the leaking cup to the nearest trashcan, minimizing the mess.

Added to my list of humbling motherhood moments is running through the mall in my socks with a leaking Sprite while I blamed myself for being distracted by shiny things. I don't let them walk around with drinks. They have to be kept in the stroller. For this reason!

I apologized profusely and offered to mop the store floor. Then I bought the shoes and left in a hurry.

Shopping with preschoolers is never boring!

Halloween Weekending

Friday morning I kicked off Halloween with a 6 am special edition of Pure Barre: Glow in the Dark. I almost slept in, but the prospect of glow in the dark got me up. It was so much fun! Everyone wore white or neon colors, and PB handed out glow necklaces and bracelets. I had vertigo pretty much the entire first 20 minutes of class due to the black lights. #oldladystatus

The kids kicked off their morning with Halloween sprinkle donuts. I mean, why not get the sugar rush started early? They were fresh out of the fryer too. So much for that Pure Barre class.

After really great naps and frito pie for supper (I promise I fed them a healthy lunch as an interlude to the junk), we headed out to trick or treat. Fall weather finally rolled in, so it was slightly cold and a bit windy. And of course, that turned into runny noses the next day. The kids had so much fun though, so they would say it was worth it. Trick or treating really cemented Annabelle's proper usage of "thank you!" She loved keeping up with her brother, and he loved filling up his candy bucket.


We had a lazy morning and headed to our little friend Chara's birthday party that afternoon. She turned one, and her mom had a precious hot air balloon themed party for her. We did a little shopping later that night, which is always a touch and go situation when we're all out shopping together. I'll be telling that story tomorrow.

Sunday we had church and a great afternoon of napping. Time change has seriously messed with the sleep schedule of one little boy residing in this house. He has always been a great sleeper since like, day 5, so I'm a little baffled that this one hour change has thrown him off. I know it'll work itself out eventually. These things always do, however, yesterday he was awake at 5:45 am, and today it was 5:30. That's ANTE MERIDIEM, as in AM.

I should note: I'd given myself off a couple of mornings to sleep in instead of going to Pure Barre as a 20 in 30 reward. Joke's on me.

If you need me, I'll be drinking more diet coke.