Friday Five Favorites

Linking up with Andrea, Erica, and Narci and sharing some of my favs from this week.

ONE

This week, we bought this roller coaster from an acquaintance.  The kids have been playing with it every evening.  They both have been enjoying it.  I would highly recommend this toy.  You know, Christmas is coming up.  

TWO

Speaking of Christmas and toys, I bought Hallie some magformers on the Discovery Channel Store for Christmas.   I have heard lots of moms say it is one of their kid's favorite toy.  The reviews on Amazon are really good.  If you're looking to purchase these for your kiddos, check at the Discovery Channel Store.  They have the magformers on sale for $24.98.  For price comparison, Amazon's price is currently $40.36.  

THREE

And to help with your Christmas shopping funds, make sure you are using Walmart's Savings Catcher App.  I know I have mentioned this before, but it's worth mentioning again.  I am currently up to $43.03.  Here's my little tip.  You can enter up to 7 receipts a week.  Take advantage of that.  I tell family and friends about the app.  Then I ask if they will give me their receipts if they don't plan on entering their receipts.  You don't actually need the receipt in hand.  You just need the numbers above the bar code.  My mother in law that lives in Nashville will text me a picture of the numbers on  the receipt.

  

 

FOUR

I participated in a scarf exchange and received my scarf earlier this week.  This scarf is so soft and leopard.  Need I say more.  This scarf would also make a great Christmas gift.  This scarf can be order from here. 

FIVE

Confession time.  I am not a lover of Starbucks.  There, I said it.  I HATE coffee and anything that has the slightest taste of coffee.  I attended a scarf exchange with friends at Starbucks.  I did my research before going and had a list of non coffee drinks to pick from.  I ordered the caramel apple spice.  Oh my goodness!  It was delicious.  It is a perfect cold weather drink.  I also think my kids would enjoy it.  I might make it a goal to try each drink that is on my list.  

Happy Friday!  Looking forward to reading everyone's favorites.      

Scarf Exchange

I was excited to get to participate in the Scarf Swap this year hosted by Chelsea at The Perfect Catch blog.

I was partnered with the adorable Kim at the A Beagle and A Little Baby blog.  She is so sweet and has the cutest little boy, Jack. 

Kim sent a very soft leopard scarf that I absolutely love.  Now, if the weather would just cooperate, I could put this pretty little thing on.  Kim went above and beyond by including some Halloween crafts for the kiddos.  Seriously, how sweet was that!  

Thanks so much Kim!  You did an amazing job.  And thank you Chelsea for hosting.  I had fun participating. 

Halloween Pajamas

I LOVE me some holiday pj's!  I may have already been scoping out some Christmas jammies ;)  Hallie has 2 pairs of Halloween jammies that we have been rotating the last month.  Bryson thinks he's too cool for holiday jammies.  However, he does oblige me once a year and wears Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve night. 

I’m linking up with Ashley, Darci and Natasha and sharing Hallie's Halloween pajamas. 

 

Kitty pajamas from Old Navy

Meow

 

Crazy prebrush hair

 

Rise and shine kitty

 

 Ghost pajamas from Gap

Fake sleeping

 There she is

 

BOO

 

Friday Five Favorites

I know I say this every Friday, but TGIF!  I live for the weekends.  Friday can never get here soon enough. 

Today I'm linking up with Andrea, Erica, and Narci and sharing some of my favs from this week.

 

Also, linking up with Darci, April, Christina and Natasha for 5 on Friday.

 

ONE

I've been on the search for some Holiday wear.  I don't think Thanksgiving gets the attention it deserves.  I can find Halloween and Christmas clothes all day long, but Thanksgiving apparel is few and far between.  I found the perfect Thanksgiving shirts for me and Hallie. 

SaSeaDecor

Because of Zoe

TWO

I picked up this ghost after seeing it featured on Holly's blog.  She even has a video of the ghost and all his silly phrases.  The kids have been getting a kick out of him.  He is motion activated, so we have been moving him around trying to get a jump out of each other. 

THREE

We are chipping away at our Fall Bucket List.  Looking forward to this weekend when we will mark a few more off the list.  We'll be decorating our pumpkins, taking Bryson to a haunted house, and watching more Halloween movies. 

FOUR

I misplaced my polar watch for about a week in a half.  I was SO HAPPY when I finally found it.  I can tell I definitely did not push myself as hard when I wasn't wearing it.  Today's burn was less than usual, but we focused mainly on arms and less on cardio.  I can already tell I won't be able to lift my arms tomorrow.     

FIVE

I made Stacey's version of Skinnymom's Sour Cream Enchiladas.  They were great!  I will be making them again.  Oh, and I forgot to take a picture before the hubby snatched one and half of the enchiladas.  He was ready to dive in!  Stacey suggested pureeing the Rotel.  That is right up my alley since I hate chunky vegetables.  She also used 0% plain Greek yogurt.  This was a plus for me since I try to eat so many grams of protein a day.  She also suggested using condensed cheddar soup instead of condensed cream of chicken.  This is a MAJOR plus for me.  Condensed cream of chicken makes me gag.  I will not cook any recipe that calls for condensed cream of chicken....EVER.   

 

Happy Friday!  Hope you all have a great weekend!

Sometimes You Just Need to Reset

Sometimes you just need to reset. That’s exactly what me and the kiddos needed yesterday.

Yesterday morning was one for the books.  It’s not unusual for Hallie to have a fit and cry in the morning.  But this morning, it wasn’t just her.  Brother had a meltdown too.  Actually, his meltdown was caused by my meltdown.  Hallie started crying because I took the phone away from her.  Bryson would not listen to me about something really silly looking back on it.  I snapped at him and told him no iPod, iPad, or Xbox that evening.  And that’s when he had his breakdown.  We were already running late.  We were all a mess.  I got to work feeling horrible about leaving the way I did, kind of like unfinished business or that we needed to clear the air.  I decided that afternoon that we would skip church and just focus on us.  It was a smart move.  I think had we went to church the cycle would have continued because we wouldn’t have had time to fix things.  I would have gotten home and had about 30 minutes to get us all ready for church.  We would have left church after 8:00 and gotten home to immediately start baths.  Then, it would be bedtime.  We would have been rushed the same way we were in the morning.  We would not be able to talk much about our day.  We would have not been able to reconcile.

Instead, we dug for treasure.

We ate cookie dough.

We all sat on the coach.  Bryson and I watched Beetlejuice since that’s what he is dressing up as for Halloween.  Hallie watched Peppa Pig on the iPad.  I knew we were all good when I had each kid by one of my sides and Bryson put his arm around me. 

This morning went a whole lot better.  I did try something new with Hallie that I think is going to work really well.  I actually woke her up earlier than usual.  She had time to sit and watch some TV before getting ready.  Normally I wake her up and immediately start getting her ready.  I’m up for any other suggestions on how to make mornings run more smooth.

Nashville Recap Part 3

On Saturday we went to Disney on Ice - Frozen.  Hallie has a real nice Elsa crown from the Disney store, but she insisted on wearing the cheap plastic crown, probably from the Dollar Store.  Oh well, the Queen knows what she wants...haha.  She was in a horrible mood due to the lack of naps the couple of days before.  She refused to look at me and take a smiling picture #threenager.  I managed to snick a picture while she was drinking her overpriced snowcone. 

And to keep from hearing her constant whining, we let her stuff her face with overpriced cotton candy #keepinitreal

Once the show started, she was in a much better mood.

Bryson thought he was too old cool to attend Disney on Ice.  After the show, he did admit that it was pretty awesome. 

 

After the show, we headed back to the in-laws house.  I struggled to get the worst sleep ever Hallie to to take a nap.  She finally caved, thank goodness.  She woke up in a much better mood.  Hubby and I had a little date night while the in-laws watched the kids.  We went to the Chop House.  I was not impressed.  Then, we enjoyed a little shopping.

Sunday morning we headed out around 9:00.  Bryson requested Mexican for lunch.  I used Yelp and Urban Spoon to find what was nearby.  We stopped at El Amigo Feliz in Hazen, AR.  I ordered a coke, and the waitress informed me that they only have Mexican coke.  So, I got to experience my first Mexican coke.  I couldn't really tell much difference from the American coke.   

  

The kids were being rambunctious trying to burn off some energy.  Thank goodness there was a football game on.  The kids weren't any louder than the spectators yelling at the TV.    

Hallie insisted on putting her Elsa dress on before hitting the road again.  Hey, whatever makes the trip easier, more quite, and less whining. 

We got home around 6:00.  We had an awesome weekend, but we were ready to get back into our own beds. 

Nashville Recap Part 2

On Friday we decided cross off one of the activities on our fall bucket list and visit one of the local pumpkin patches. I found a few we were interested in visiting. We narrowed it down to Lacky Ladd Farms based on pictures on their website and facebook page and the driving distance. This pumpkin patch did not disappoint. There were tons of activities for the kids. And we nearly had the place all to ourselves since we went during the day on Friday when the local kids were in school.

 
The kids enjoyed feeding all the animals.

 

Bryson trying to get a picture with the turkey, but a little too scared to take his eyes of him. 

Bryson wasn't too thrilled to ride the pony, but he'll do anything for his sister. 

 Just having a conversation with the worker about horse poop.  #nofilter

 Having fun swinging with Mamaw.

 The kids zoomed down the slide.  Hallie's feet were flying in the air.

 

 Papaw pushing Bryson on the tire swing.

 The bouncing thing was perfect for a little girl that has way too much energy.

The kids enjoyed a hayride.  Well, technically it wasn't a hayride because there wasn't any hay.    

 Hallie enjoyed some seesaw. 

Bryson made corn angels.  

 Bryson riding another ride to make his sister happy.  He's such a good brother. 

Lucky Ladd Farms was a blast!  We ended the trip going through the corn maze, but I didn't get any pictures.  I'm so glad we picked this pumpkin patch!