Menu Monday

We had a great weekend in Kentucky but I am ready to be home for a little while & eat in. I was actually looking forward to meal planning yesterday! Here's what is on our menu this week:

Monday: Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce with Baked Sweet Potatoes

Tuesday: Spaghetti (the kids favorite AND I get to hide veggies in it!) & garlic bread

Wednesday: Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili with cornbread

Thursday: Honey Lime Enchiladas with black beans & corn
 

Friday: Pizza Rolls with marinara sauce (this is a neighbor's recipe...once I perfect it like she did, I'll have to post the recipe!)

Saturday: Hamburgers for the the boys & Turkey Burger with Zucchini for me!

Sunday: Chicken, Corn, & Potato Chowder

Five on Friday

I am linking up with Darci & the gang today! Here's my Friday brain dump...

1. Today is a happy, happy day because me & the boys are going to visit Jen, Carsyn, & Hank!! I am driving the 5ish hours up to Kentucky today to spend the weekend with my BBF (best bloggy friend) and celebrate Carsyn's 3rd birthday with a big ol' shindig! I can't wait! Pray that I don't get lost out in the sticks with no cell service--ha!

2. SOOOO, on the Operation Skinny Mama front, I joined Jazzercise this week!

 

I really wish I could wear 80s costumes to the workouts, but I don't think that would be appropriate. BUT, all legwarmer/leotard jokes aside, I LOVE IT. I have done 3 classes and burned over 550 calories each time...it is a great workout! It is much harder than I thought and I am sore. This mama needs to get in shape! 

3. Fall is my favorite...especially the start of all my tv shows! 

 

Chicago Fire was my favorite new show last year & it was so good this week!

 

Law & Order: SVU will always hold a special place in my heart. It is, hands down, my favorite show of all time!
 
The Voice is also back with the original judges!I just couldn't get into it with Usher & Shakira. I'm glad the original four are back. And goodness, I love me some Adam Levine.

What are you watching??

4.On the Wednesdays that I don't have MOPS, I do a bible study for women at my church. It's a pretty big group of women but I love the fellowship time. This year we are doing a book study on this:

I am really enjoying it so far. I feel like it is so hard to be content; especially when we live in the world where everyone always wants more. I have only read through the first 2 chapters but so far I love this book!

5. We have been talking about Halloween costumes around here. I think I have finally talked Grayson out of being a fireman again. I think G will be a Titans football player & I want Griff to be the referee. However, I will have to get creative with Griffin's costume because I can't find one in his size anywhere! I keep toying with the idea of having him wear Grayson's old gnome costume because it was the funniest thing ever.

I mean, really. It still doesn't get old. Grayson the Gnome is the best.

Have a great weekend! 

Favorites for Fall

It's now officially fall and I am going to pretend that the weather has cooperated here in Tennessee. I know that you all have seen your fair share of "OMG I LOVE FALL" and Pumpkin Spice Latte posts, but guess what? You're getting another one! This is my favorite time of the year & I am so ready for it to not be blazing hot outside. 

 One of my favorite things to do early in the fall is go to Reed's Produce Market in downtown Franklin. I go every year to get all my fun pumpkins and their beautiful mums. This picture was from last year at Reed's...look at my babies! SO tiny!

I also have a weird obsession with pumpkins. I went my whole life until I was 23 thinking there were just regular ol' orange pumpkins. My best friend, Whit, introduced me to the blue pumpkin and I have been pumpkin crazy ever since. I always get a huge assortment of pumpkins for our front porch in all the different colors.

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Fairytale pumpkins are my favorite!

I also love fall family pictures. I've actually had the boys outfits for said family pictures since early July. Hey, I'm a planner! And do you know what comes after family pictures? PICKING OUT CHRISTMAS CARDS! The people over at Tiny Prints have really outdone themselves this year with their Christmas cards. I love them all. My favorite is the All That Glitters collection...because when you live in a house FULL of boys you need to have glitter anywhere that you can get it! 

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Am I crazy for already planning out Christmas cards in September?! Don't answer that:)

Celebrating G!

Grayson's birthday lasted ALL weekend long & we had so much fun celebrating our big 3 year old!

We started off on Thursday, the actual birthday! Grayson requested bagels for breakfast so we made a family bagel run to Einstein's before preschool. Grayson spent the day at school & had a little class party with his friends.

 

He picked out these super cute cookies from The Puffy Muffin to take to school & I am still sad I didn't get to eat one. Ha! Their cookies are the best! Ben and I have been so excited for G's big present and we could not wait for him to get home.  When G pulled up in the driveway with Ben, this was waiting for him in the garage:

His very own Gator!! Grayson was so excited and has been driving it nonstop since Thursday. He loves it!

Seriously. He is so grown up. My heart can't take it!

We celebrated with a big ol' cookie cake (which he only ate the icing off of...weirdo) and it was his first year REALLY  blowing out his candles!

We wanted to keep it low-key this year with a party. Grayson insisted on having one & I was not about to craft it all up for another shindig. SO, we had his birthday party at Monkey Joe's (a bounce place) on Friday night. It was the best idea we have ever had.They did everything for us & the kids loved every minute! 

G has such great friends...love all of these little people so much! 

On Saturday Grayson was spoiled when both sets of grandparents came up to Tennessee AND Uncle Thomas! Thomas is probably Grayson's favorite person in the whole world. He was SO excited when all his people were here!

We were all still recovering from our busy weekend yesterday. I was exhausted! It was such a fun weekend celebrating Grayson. He was so excited this year to turn 3. He's growing up so fast!

Grayson is THREE!

Grayson, today you are THREE years old. I remember the first time we laid eyes on you so vividly. I remember feeling such a sense of relief that after a long labor, you were finally here and you were SO big! Nine pounds and one ounce of pure sweet baby boy. I had waited my whole life for you!

Now, I blinked and you are 3! It's crazy how fast time is going by.

At 3 you love:

• playing outside ALL day. You are always mowing the lawn, using your weed eater, raking, shoveling, playing baseball, or playing football. You would probably sleep outside if we let you!
• Trucks. You & Griffin love to dump all of the trucks out and "build new roads" together. 
• Fixing things with your tools! 
• All things Braves, Titans, & Ole Miss Rebels. You went to your first Braves game this summer & had a blast! You have also started shouting your version of "Hotty Toddy" at random times. We're obviously doing something right!
• Jumping on trampolines. Your neighbor friends let you use theirs almost daily & you are obsessed. You love to do "baseball slides" on the trampoline with Walker!
• your friends. You always talk about Eli, Gray, Molly Cate, Carter, David, Reed, Emma, & Walker.
• going to school & church! You are a sponge and have learned so much over the past year. You love hearing new bible stories at church and it's fun to listen to you "read" them to us from your bible. 

Over the past year you have grown up so much. You have a heart of gold & care so much about the people around you. You are ALL boy but you have such a tender heart! You adjusted to the role of big brother so easily & now you are such a good helper with Griffin. You love to help him reach things & you always kiss him when he gets hurt. Watching you and Griffin become so close over the past year has been one of my favorite things. He can drive you absolutely crazy but you love him so much. You call him your baby & you've told me a few times that "Mini is my favorite friend!" (Mini is Griff's nickname)

G, you are the one who made me a mama. Thanks for being our guinea pig as far as parenting goes. You sure have made it easy! The last 3 years have been the best of our lives and we love you so much!

Happy THIRD birthday, Grayson!

Goodbye for now

Yesterday my sweet Grandmother went to be with Jesus.

 I am so thankful that I was able to have my Grandmother in my life for 28 years and that she was able to spend time with both of my boys. I know how lucky they are to have great grandparents in their lifetime! 

Goodbyes are so bittersweet to me. I am sad that I won't be able to see her when I go back home, give her a hug, & make jokes about their pretend plastic dog, "Duke." But, I also know that this isn't the end & it really isn't goodbye. I know that my Grandmother is in Heaven with Jesus & I am so thankful for the promise that I will get to see her again. 

Five on Friday

 

It's FRIDAY! I love Fridays. They don't always mean a fun, family weekend...my husband is actually working this weekend. BUT, I do love sitting on the couch on Friday nights watching Dateline. Times have changed! I'm linking up with Darci, Natasha, & some other ladies for Five on Friday!

1. Me & the boys are going to my friend Myka's house this morning to learn all about Essential Oils & using them to take care of your family in a natural way. I'm definitely not the type of person who is anti-medication (hello, my husband is a Pharmacist) but I am excited to learn about ways to help my family naturally. I was sold when I heard that I can use Essential Oils for teething. Yes, please! Do any of you use Essential Oils?

2. There are two things I must have in life: a whole lot of Jesus & a little bit a lot of coffee. I am thankful for my Keurig every morning. I discovered a couple months ago that Target makes their own K-Cups. They are cheaper & really good! I have been drinking their caramel macchiato but today I brought out the pumpkin spice. so good! 

3. Speaking of pumpkin spice, did you know that Brach's makes a pumpkin spice candy corn?! It's pretty tasty...but the S'mores candy corn is amazing. Especially mixed in a big jar with peanuts. Not that I would do that or anything ...

4. We are really working hard to change our lifestyle up around here. Remember how I said my husband lost like a thousand pounds his first week of exercising & only drinking one coke? Okay, maybe it was like 5-6lbs. Anyway, our newest challenge to ourselves is to do the P90X Ab Ripper X video when we are both home at night. It's basically 15 minutes of torture. My poor c-section abdomen needs some help! 

5. I am in the mood for all things fall & even though it is still well into the 90s here in Tennessee, I brought out my favorite fall nail color: Essie's Chinchilly. I'm a nail polish junkie in the fall & winter!

Griffin's 1 Year Pictures

Griffin had his 1 year pictures taken during the week of our teething nightmare. He literally screamed ALL DAY for about 10 days straight while he was cutting his top molars. 

This is a good indicator of Griff's mood that day. Haha! I am shocked at how good the rest of the pictures came out. 

I love them! 

Photos taken by Images by Studio S

So What! Wednesday

I took an unintentional SWW hiatus, but I just may be back! This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I do not even remotely understand the Bento lunch box trend? Sometimes if I'm feeling like a Pinterest SuperMom I may use a cookie cutter on G's sandwich, but make a themed lunch with little tooth picks & decorated foods? Ain't nobody (at least not me) got time for that. 
• Dateline on Friday nights is the highlight of my week? 
• I literally wear workout clothes every single day of the week? One big plus of MOPS/bible study starting back up? I now wear real clothes on Wednesdays. You're welcome, husband! 
• I worry about never feeling done with having babies? For real. This is a legit fear of mine. GIVE ME ALL THE BABIES. 
• we are failing miserably at No Spend September? A 3 year old's birthday & trip to Oxford make it tough!
• I think I may end up being more excited about G's big birthday present than he will be? I CAN'T WAIT!

A Zoo Trip & some Oxford fun!

This past weekend was so much fun! We have been planning on taking a little family trip to the Memphis Zoo for Grayson's 3rd birthday & we made that happen this weekend. We loaded up the kids on Thursday after dinner & drove the 3ish hours to Germantown. It was our first hotel experience with kids & it was interesting to say the least! Griffin & Grayson both fell asleep on the way there and were WIDE AWAKE when we arrived.  They were slap happy & didn't go to sleep until about 11:30. Way too late for the sleepy parents!

We woke up on Friday morning, ate breakfast, & headed to the zoo. The Memphis Zoo is awesome & we had not been since college! 

 

 We ended up spending about 4 hours at the zoo & we had so much fun. It was practically empty which was awesome! Grayson loved seeing the tigers & giraffes. I thought the bears were pretty fun to watch:) Griffin, well, he just loved saying "see it!" as he pointed to all the animals. It was a busy, hot,  and long day & we were worn out afterwards!

On Saturday we ventured down to Oxford! It's only an hour south of Memphis & it was our first home game of the season so we thought a trip to the Grove was appropriate. Not to mention, my very best friend, Whitney, just had a baby 3ish weeks ago and I had to meet baby Kent! 

Sweet Kent was the only boy that wanted to cooperate for some pictures. There is nothing better than seeing your best friend become a mama!

 Look at that TINY little boy! Kent is such a peanut. I couldn't hold him for too long because I probably would have just packed him up with us & brought him back to Nashville!

You know how I said not all the boys were cooperative? Three is a pretty fun age;) This group has grown by 3 kids in the last 3 years! 

We went to Grove for a couple hours and it was HOT. I nearly melted and holding a baby in that kind of heat is for the birds. It was so fun seeing friends though! Every single year when college football season rolls around I always want to move closer to my favorite small town. I miss it!