What's Up Wednesday

What we're eating this week...
Monday: French dip sandwiches with sweet potato fries and roasted veggies (recipe)

LINK

Tuesday: Teriyaki salmon, brown rice, and roasted veggies
Wednesday: Out to eat!
Thursday: Beef with broccoli (recipe post coming next week!)
Friday: Hot dogs cooked on a camp fire :)

What I am reminiscing about...
My husband will cringe if he reads this (which I am not sure if he does, so this is a good test!), but I am reminiscing about when my girls were babies!! So many friends are having their little ones and a lot of people around me are announcing pregnancies. I would be lying if I didn't say I was a tad jealous. I mean, by no means are we ready for another baby, but I think most people who have big kids miss their babies and that is me right now.

Zetta at one week old!

Zetta at 5 months!

Zetta at 5 months!

Nora at one week old!

Nora at 3 months old!

#sisters be still my heart!!

What I am loving...
I am loving the weather! So cliche, but I cannot help it! It seriously puts me in a better mood!

LINK

 I am also loving all of my new vitamins and supplements from ItWorks. I have really pulled the trigger and purchased quite a few things here lately, and I can honestly say I love every single one so much I think they are added to my daily regimen! After I finished nursing I totally slacked on taking my vitamins--like totally quit taking them all together. I could really tell in the way I felt, my nails and hair changed dramatically, too. I have consistently been taking a few things for the past couple weeks and I am really starting to feel a difference. Thank goodness!!

What we've been up to...
We have been up to a whole lot of nothing! Ha. I mean, don't get me wrong, we are always busy, but nothing to really talk about. Grocery store, cleaning house, being sick, laundry,going to the park, and the farmer's market...you know the typical day to day things with a few fun things thrown in. My niece and nephew were in town this past weekend though, so that was fun.

We are soaking up the season by going to bonfire's at my parent's house, too. I wrote about one with our framily, here.

What I am dreading...
Honestly, I am not sure I am dreading anything. Maybe if I had to pick something, it would be how out of shape I am and trying to find a starting point again. Blah.








What I am working on...
I am clearly working on my fitness. Ha. I am also working on finishing a few small projects around the house, and being more intentional about meal planning and what I buy each week at the grocery!

What I am excited about...
This weekend is our annual family trip to Sam A. Baker State Park with my mom's side of the family. To say I am excited is an understatement. I love that everyone in the family makes this weekend a priority, and we all just commit to spending time together with no cell service. We all live within 1.5 hours of each other (most of us 20 minutes), but life just gets so busy and it is hard to get together. I definitely take for granted that all my family (aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins) on both sides live within 2 hours from me, and the majority are in the same town. I do not know many families that have that. Every year I wanted to be more intentional about hanging out with family and I haven't done it. #fail #maybethisyear

What I am watching/reading...
Let's face it, I am not a reader at this point in my life. I give it all I've got, but I just cannot make it happen right now. If my girls went to bed before 9:30-10 PM I think it would be more of an option, but that's just not how it is right now. Someday I will start reading again. Hopefully sooner rather than later, because I do enjoy reading!
I am watching quite a few shows though! I have a few that I watch alone, and then Pete and I have quite a few we watch together. Thank goodness for DVR.
We just finished watching Big Brother. I guess I am happy that Steve won. I wish James would have won though. I am happy he got voted "favorite player". All of the Fall series are BACK! We are recording The Middle, Modern Family, Survivor, Amazing Race, Life in Pieces, Limitless, The Voice, and I am sure we record a few more. Don't let me fool you...we get super behind. Like 3-5 episodes behind on most of these shows. We watch when we can, but with the girls late bedtimes we really only (maybe) make it through one show a night before I fall asleep!
In my free time (ha) or nights that Pete works late I watch: Grey's Anatomy, Real Housewives of Orange County, Hawaii 5-0, NCIS L.A., or Fixer Upper.
Whew. Funny how much TV we watch and I probably couldn't tell you one actor or actress real life name. I am terrible, I mean terrible, when it comes to that type of stuff. HA!

What I am listening to...
I am finally on the podcast bandwagon. I am liking: Serial, Criminal, Hope*ologie, and It Works team podcast! I am also listening to Today's hits and Philip Phillips radio on Pandora at work.

What I am wearing...
I am terrible at taking pictures of my outfits. I will do my best to remember in October!
I have been wearing a lot of flats, skinny jeans, t-shirts or tank tops with a cardigan. Pretty basic!

What I am doing this weekend...
I already talked about what I am doing this weekend above in "What I am excited about" :)

What I am looking forward to next month...
Oh my goodness, I have so much to look forward to in October! Pete and I are taking our FIRST weekend getaway with no children to columbia for Mizzou's homecoming! One of his good friends lives there and I contacted him a while back asking if he could help me out by getting tickets. He is amazing, and got us (and him and his wife) tickets to the game! It was my gift to Pete for his birthday back in August, but the timing works out good because this month (Oct. 16) we also celebrate of FIFTH wedding anniversary! So exciting! October is the month of football, boots, pumpkins, and Halloween and I am ecstatic for all of the above!

Last year my girls were Koala bears. We are still undecided on costumes for 2015. We shall see!

What else is new...
Pete started his new job this month. He is extremely busy, but we are all slowly adjusting to our new schedule. I think it is all going to be okay...I think. Kidding. It is going great, and the girls are taking it better than I expected. Zetta has asked a few times where her daddy is, but we went and visited him at his "new work" on Saturday, so I think that helps her associate where he is. She is a thinker and she remembers everything, so if I tell her that Daddy is at his "new work" she can visualize it now and that helps her process where he is and she knows I am telling the truth. :) You can't sneak one by this girl that is for sure. For example, if she wants something that she can't have (chocolate chips before dinner, a 3rd helping of yogurt) I use to tell her it was all gone, but that only worked for a short time. She now knows that it's really not all gone so she demands that I "let her see" until I show her. Now I have to tell her that she cannot have more of something and why instead of taking the easy way out. I think it is a good thing for her to learn, definitely, but it is causing a lot more tears and time for sure! She's a smart one!

Bonus question...What is your favorite Halloween tradition? 
As a child we always went to my church Fall Festival on Halloween. It was set up with a ton of games, candy, food, and everyone was dressed up. It was open to the public and I loved it! They recently switched it up in the past few years and have a few members of the church have neighborhood parties. They are set up the same way, but at 5 or so church members houses. It is okay, but I honestly wish we had the festival instead because I loved it! We will go see my parent's and Pete's mom and step-dad and maybe do a little trick or treating, but who knows. I would love to throw a party for all our little friends, but I am not sure Pete would go for it. We will see!

Linking up with Shay, Mel, and Shaffer

Chelsea's Wedding

A couple of weekend's ago one of my best gals got hitched! It was an evening wedding at a winery and could not have been more beautiful!

Bridesmaid selfie!


















I haven't done any flower arrangements in a while and it always makes my heart happy getting to use the creative part of my brain for a bit! Maybe someday I'll start coordinating weddings again.








It was an amazing and beautiful ceremony! I could not be happier for their little family to start making a lifetime of memories together! Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and thank you for allowing me to be apart of your special day!!

Framily

A few weekends ago my parent's hosted a bonfire for our big group of people I like to call our framily. You know those people who are friends, but they have been such a large part of your life, they've been by your side for all of the happy times like weddings, birthdays, and births but, have also been there for all the really tough times like deaths, injuries, and money troubles? Yeah, those people, they deserve to be one step up from a friend, and that's why I like to call them "framily"! :)

LINK

It was the perfect weekend to just unplug, enjoy the first day of crisp air, s'mores, fire roasted hot dogs, and most of all friendship. The majority of my memories growing up are with these people. Superbowl parties, 4th of July, New Years, family vacations, mission trips, weekend get-away's...yep, all memories with these fine folks. Our group continually gets bigger as the years go on and all of the "kids" are getting married and having babies...and I LOVE it!



My dad is a "go big or go home" type of guy, can't you tell?!




The big girls helping Poppie set everything up!



They took a break for a little fun in the swing though. These girls are just at the start of a lifetime of friendship. Cousin's make the best friends. I don't have a lot of cousin's (4 total to be exact) and I know that no matter what's going on in life or if it's been six months since we have seen each other I can always count on them to have my back! I know these two are going to be no different!



This is what Wyatt and I were doing :)



Bonfire time!! This is all the kiddo's except Jaxon. He's only 6 months old and I think everyone was a little too busy to hold a baby for the picture! Group photo at its finest!!






S'more's with Poppie and Papa!

Me and my main girls!



Pure childhood bliss! Everyone chase the boy!!




Nope, not one bit of sass in this picture! #yeahright



Wagon ride time! God bless grandma's! :)



Frankie playing in the hay!

It was an amazing Sunday to say the least! Perfect way to kick of the cooler temps and new season!
I love these people with my whole heart and pray that our generation can and will keep this group of friendship's alive for the year's to come.

I am so thankful for my parent's and their dedication to being good friends even when times are tough. Now that I am a parent I often think how lucky I am, to have the parent's that I do. I mean they did a phenomenal job at raising my siblings and I. I just don't mean teaching us how to say please and thank you, or respecting our elders. Yes, that stuff is important, but they also taught us so much by their actions. Taking meals to people in need, being our little league soccer coach, having family work days in the yard and our elderly neighbors yard. They taught us the importance of family dinner, writing thank you notes, and always making our house feel like a home to anyone who entered. It was their choice 30 years ago to decide they were going to get involved in a church and find friends that they knew they would make a lifetime of memories with. I just pray I make friendships a priority and my girls see that friends are some of the most important people in life. They are the ones that will be there for you in the toughest times and the best times.  I want our girls to learn by example how to be a good friend from Pete and I (I could go on and on about this topic, but I will stop so that no one's eye's go crossed from too much reading). Finding a Godly group of friends that we laugh, cry, and just enjoy the simple moments in life with. Those people are what make the memories sweeter. Thank you mom and dad, and all the other "parents" of the framily group. Thank you for making your friendships a priority. I don't think you will ever know what an impact it has made on your children.

Friday

Hello! This week has been a pretty low key week in my neck of the woods! Zetta started running a tempurature on Wednesday afternoon, so she had to stay home again yesterday. My mom kept her in the morning and I went to work for a half day. She seemed totally fine when I got home, thankfully. We folded and put away all the laundry and then went and swept off our little outdoor area that I am trying to get put together. Even though she was a tad under the weather a little alone time with her was one of my FAVORITE parts of my week!

I think they were managing just fine! :) 

The weather around here has been a tad bit cooler and we have been soaking up some outdoor fun! These girls LOVE the park and is one of their FAVORITE'S for sure!! 

One of Pete's FAVORITE meals is spaghetti squash made like spaghetti and I have found the easiest, most delicious way of cooking it just right! I will do a full recipes soon because you have to try it!!!

Did you see my post earlier this week about or DIY concrete counter tops? It was our first attempt at counters and I am rather please with how they turned out! 

My sister's kiddos are in town this weekend and staying at my parent's house. I see a lot of cousin/family time in our near future and I cannot wait. Spending time with those kiddo's is definitely one of my FAVORITE things to do!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend with the people you love most!



As always, I am linking up with Erika & Andrea; Karli; April, Natasha, & Christina; and Amanda

homeade pizza night

A few weeks ago the girls and I made (semi) homemade pizza's! It was super fun for them and only a BIG little mess for me afterwards. I bought the pre-made crust so all we had to do was add the toppings.





I always prefer to buy a block of cheese and grate it myself. To me, it taste fresher and melts more evenly than a bag of shredded cheese. It is a pain though, I'll give you that. I also browned so turkey sausage for the topping. Zetta really prefers just cheese, but Nora likes substance. :) #thatsmygirl



Pardon my pants-less crew. I am not sure how or why that happened.



So proud



I forgot to take a picture after it came out of the oven, so I improvised and took the other half of each of the girls and pushed them together. #itllwork



I made a large pizza for Pete and I. Mine has a little bit of spinach on it, his doesn't.

They turned out to be delicious and we will definitely be making pizza again soon!