Five for Friday:

1. Next week is the last official week of summer. I'm trying to fill the week up with all sorts of fun activities.  A trip to the Circus World Museum with friends, maybe a visit to the zoo and my favorite lunch spot, the splash pad, and Badger Band practice.  I also am planning a Back to School Feast,  an idea that I blatantly stole from the internet.  Any other thoughts or ideas on how to make my daughter's first day of school ever special?

2. In all of my nearly 35 years, I have never been a nail polish girl. Ever.  But my daughter is, so I've slowly been accumulating some different nail polishes for her.  On a whim a few weeks ago I decided to pain my nails...and it was really fun.  I chose a trendy mint color, and my husband looked at me like I was nuts. ;) Since then, I've tried two or three more colors. My latest is Essie Mojito Madness. It's another green...super awesome.  I love it.  My "manicures" look like they were done by a toddler...maybe I should enlist my kids to help, it couldn't be much worse than it already is. ;) But it's fun...and something new and different for me!

3. I'm sure you've all seen this back-to-school video of the What's Up Moms at Target, but if you haven't, it's well worth the two minutes.  This is so me any time I have a free moment to myself!  And, on a side note, I read some of the comments like "this is why working moms hate stay at home moms," and can I just say - I loved back to school as a working mom because it meant my kids were in daycare. I would go shopping, get a pedicure, even meet friends for Starbucks after work while my kids were in the fine care of their child care center. Now it's all me, all the time. I'm not complaining - just saying that I think this video is funny and true for ALL moms.

4. Has anyone read the book Wonder? It was mentioned in an article I read, and I noticed that quite a few friends on GoodReads had given it excellent reviews. I downloaded it on my Kindle and read it in less than 24 hours. Let's not talk about how much I probably neglected my kids during those 24 hours. KIDDING!!  ;)  It is a book for kids, so obviously it's a very fast and easy read, but it was excellent.  I loved hearing the story from all the different points of view, and it really made me think about how I want to raise my children to be kind, compassionate kids.

5. If you've been a reader of my blog for awhile, you know that I have a bit of a thing for cheese curds. I mean, what's not to love? Hot, melty cheese covered with crispy, deep fried goodness??  Well, this weekend (only in Wisconsin, ha!) we are going to a Cheese Curd Festival. Yes. There is such a thing. It is sure to be incredible, and I will report back with my favorite curds next week!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, even if it doesn't include man's greatest food invention. ;)