Hero in a Half Shell

I spent the afternoon hanging out with 42 of the coolest kids I know.  Hangtime was awesome today but I have to admit that I’m always pretty tired afterwards.  There’s something about spending great, quality time with an energetic group of Kindergarten through Sixth Graders that is amazing and a bit exhausting, I suppose.  That being said, it’s always nice to relax a bit on Wednesday nights and write an easy post about the simple things I’m enjoying in life these days.

So here’s a list of the little things I’m loving:

1.  Island Way Sorbet.  It was my splurge at Costco this week.  These delicious little tropical sorbets, served in cute half shells of real fruit are positively delightful.  To be honest, these winter days with their single digits are starting to get to me a bit.  I’m tired of feeling like a figure skater every time I walk on our ice covered driveway and it’s also kind of depressing to feel like you’ll catch hypothermia every time you walk out doors.  So, scooping away at delicious sorbet is kind of my hero in a half shell these days.  Each fruity and delicious bite reminds me that warmer days are coming.

2. 19 Cent Toothpaste.  After an impromptu date night to Michaelangelos with Christian, we walked over to Rite Aid.  While browsing around the aisles, I stumbled upon Colgate Toothpaste.  Originally retailing for $3.99 a box, it was on sale and paired with a $3 reward.  With my Rite Aid card (which gives me extra little discounts here and there… I think because I shop at Rite Aid so much) I ended up paying only 19 cents per box which was kind of awesome.  In the past few years of couponing I’ve saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars on things that our family uses and loves.  It hasn’t taken too much time and it kind of makes shopping into a fun, money saving game.

3. Old Fashioned Pencil Sharpener.  I bought one.  On Amazon.  Because they have everything and I can use Jeremy’s Prime Account to get free two day shipping.  Anyhow, our pencil dilemma would go like this:  We have a ton of unsharpened pencils in our house (thanks to random goodie bags and parties at Ellee’s school where you can’t have food, so the alternative is always cool pencils) and we only had a battery operated pencil sharpener (which didn’t work that well and was always out of batteries).  So, I found a $10 old fashioned hand crank pencil sharpener that reminded me of my elementary school years and bought it for our family.  And the kids love it.  And it works great and needs no batteries ever.  Win, win.

4. Wicked Tuna.  Besides the language (to be honest, they curse like, um, sailors?), it’s a pretty fascinating show.  It takes place in Boston and follows fishermen that are fishing for Blue Fin Tuna (don’t think Chicken of the Sea, think more so the kind used for Sushi).  It’s great for many reasons.  One, these men are dedicated to an incredible, though dangerous job.  And two, one tuna can bank them anywhere from $5,000-$10,000 dollars.  Not bad for a day of fishing.

5. 107.1.  When I was in college in Grand Rapids, Michigan, there was no limit to the number of great Christian radio stations on the air.  But when we moved out to Long Island, I could never really find any that I liked.  Till this past year.  107.1 is a great Christian station that plays great, positive music that our entire family enjoys.  As I’m writing, I can hear it playing upstairs in both of our kids’ rooms.  They love listening to it as they fall asleep each night.  And while I’m not against normal radio stations, I just love having our kids listen to great things and find that I’m encouraged by it as well.

And I suppose that about wraps up this post of little things that I’m loving these days.  Happy middle of the week and hope that you have lots of fun things that you’re enjoying too!