Mondays.Are.Hard.

Fo real though. Especially after wonderful, exhausting, exciting weekends like I just had.

Friday night I spent at home with my three loves. #myfamilyisawesome

Saturday, we celebrated my baby sister! We had a surprise bachelorette party for her- so fun, but so hard! She hates surprises, or just not knowing what is going on in general, so we had an extra tough time keeping it from her. We did a painting class (clearly, I'm not an artist), went to dinner so that she could get her sushi fix, and then headed back home for a girly slumber party! I didn't stay the entire night (I know, how lame am I?), but that's because...

Sunday morning we left church at 8 AM & took our youth group to Holiday World! Such a fun (& exhausting) day! Can I just tell you that The Thunderbird is 100000000% the best ride there? I'm not a big fan of water parks, but that ride totally made up for it. And the fact that I got to hang out with this hunk all day. 

Now, it's Monday. And Back to School/Meet the Teacher Night. Helllllloooooo, caffeine! ;)

I promise, a better and more interesting post in a day or two, but this momma has some snuggling to do with little boys whenever she gets home, so I'm back to work to finish up a few things before I head out! Happy (?) Monday!

Thursday Thoughts

Guys. This whole "back to school" thing is kicking my butt this week. I seriously feel like I haven't been able to accomplish anything on time, and it's wearing me out! Between the four of us, I'm pretty sure we have something going on every night for the next two weeks. Gah! Call on the coffee!!

Regardless, I thought I would share my current wishlist. Ya know- it's fall, so I feel like it's time to add in some new seasonal decor and clothes... plus maybe a snack or two. ;) Only the good stuff here folks! [Read: More like only the cheap stuff- ha! Good thing I didn't go into education for the money ;)]

First off, let's talk fall crafts. That counts on a wish list- things I'm wishing I had time to put together!

These wooden pumpkins are totally adorable! I'm thinking about making a set for my house to put outside... and making a set for my sister. She's getting married on Halloween, so can you imagine those with their last name & wedding date painted on them? Talk about the most adorable anniversary/fall decor of all time!

Also, this spider and spiderweb are something that I can totally imagine putting together with the boys this year & then putting them out forever and always (yes, I'm that mom). Maybe on a canvas to hang on the door for October? Hmmm... I've also seen where you can make pumpkins with handprints & they're also too darn cute.

I usually get the boys picture taken in the fall, but I don't think we've had for real family pictures taken since Monkey was born [#momfail]. I'm thinking this fall we may have to talk my mom into going to the pumpkin patch with us for pictures. I'm kinda feeling the whole orange-olive-tan color scheme... plus, Monster already has some shoes that are those colors (thank you, Old Navy clearance last year!). I'm still looking for outfit ideas, but we may do some combination of these:

For Monster:
Graphic tees are a favorite at our house.

For Monkey:

The hat *loooove*

For Mom:
Because cardigans.

For Dad:
Pictures only happen if Hubs is cool with his outfit.

I'll have to do some closet shopping ... I'll let you know what I decide in the end! :)

Also, fall means anything and all things pumpkin. I'm debating pumpkin cupcakes for tonight... though currently we have a super sick Monster (like, now), so I'm going to have to let you go. I see lots of cuddles in my future. Prayers for a speedy recovery (and that the bug doesn't attack the rest of us) would be greatly appreciated!!

Desperately Seeking...

Jesus, coffee, and sleep. But really.

I had this super adorable post (ish) planned and mostly finished for you guys today, but...

Do any of you ever feel like it's a miracle that you've made it through the day... only to realize that there's still 7 more hours of it? That's how I'm feeling at the moment. I usually get this way at the beginning of school, but since I'm teaching 1.5 new classes (maybe 1.2? I'm teaching a character ed class every Friday, so that's where the decimal comes in). Here's a real life moment for y'all- my to-do list, only including things that I haven't done yet today (and it's 4:00 in the afternoon, so I've already done several more).

1. BKK Devo: Our camp girls set up a devo page which is a fantastic idea, and I'm in charge of it this week. I just have to set up a discussion question today, so no biggie... but it's still on the list.

2. A super-secret craft: To be revealed next week sometime :)

3. Grading: Boooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

4. Dinner: I have no idea what I'm making. I might hear a frozen pizza calling my name!! ;)

5. Dishes: There's one particularly stuck on pan that I'm seriously not looking forward to [from pumpkin cinnamon rolls.... oooooooh my, so good! Recipe shall come at some point!!]

6. Laundry: Clean clothes are entirely overrated.

7. I know there was something else. Hmm. I'll remember tomorrow, probably. Maybe.

Sometimes I find it really, really hard to stay motivated to get anything done. I keep wanting to make myself be less lazy and accomplish more (there's a lot of avoiding doing stuff because I want to sleep ... or watch Netflix. Oops). Thankfully, I know that my strength and endurance all comes from Someone that is bigger than me and has everything figured out, as long as I'll listen and obey. Check out Isaiah 40:29 if you're feeling the same way.

Also, because all posts need to have a picture of some sort:

Now, off to make some pumpkin spice coffee & mark things off my list! Have a good evening!

DINO DAY!!!

Guys. Dino Day. It happened. And it was fantastic. Are you ready? There's for real (I counted) 24 pictures in this post. And that's less than half of them. 

The day started off with a two hour drive (that seemed like four, but who's counting?). The entire trip there, all Monster would talk about was seeing the dinosaurs & which dinosaurs we were going to get to see! He was a wee bit excited. When we finally arrived, he was beyond excited to see everything that was happening inside. 

Once we made it inside the building though, it was a different story. When they said on the website "realistic" ... they weren't kidding. Moving, life size dinosaurs that roared. It was a little overwhelming for the three year old. He was clinging to my husband for dear life whenever we got too close to a "sharptooth," but he did finally warm up to them a little more once we walked through.

How many three year olds can say they got to ride a triceratops? That's what I thought. He was so excited to get to do this!!

Family Selfie

Digging for dinosaur fossils- Monkey was a little small for most of the activities, but he had a blast getting to use the big brushes to move sand off of the "fossils." I'm pretty sure he could have done this the entire day.

Turned around, saw me with my phone out, and said "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!"

The boys also got to pet baby dinos. These were legit adorable, and I wish we had some here at the house.

Monkey might have snagged a kiss from this one!

And because we needed a selfie with a Trex...

Being attacked by a Pteranadon (thank you, Dinosaur Train). Really though, that show fully prepared us for the trip- Hubs & I were able to pronounce most of the names & name them before we saw their signs.. Monster could, too.

Jurassic Park Jeep

After a long, exciting day, these two were out most of the trip home. 

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic day. Even though the boys may not be able to remember things like this later in life, we will. Getting to experience things like this with my boys is one of my favorite things about being a boy mom!

Friday Phone Dump

I know, I know. It's a little awkward to talk about a dump in the title, but you'll make it. Here's some lovelies from this week!

From dinner at my mom's house Monday night. We love Aunt Cec! :)

  & one with all four of our boys! <3

Monday night while we were setting up for our Bible Study, Monster wanted to say hi to the girls... he's laying under this blanket because it was nearly 10:00 and we had been working on it for about an hour. Oops. ;)

Recently, Monster has taken to acting like he is drinking coffee with me and the hubs. I'm 93% sure that our blood is actually coffee in our veins because of the amount we drink, so I'm glad that we are teaching him the finer things in life. Ha!

"Mommy, I drink my coffee too with you!"

Sometimes when you put two little boys to bed, they're still just too hyper and adorable, and you have to catch a shot of you all laughing in the dark. Also, yes, Monkey does have on pajama pants. My boys sort of have a thing about wanting to be nude 90% of the time, so I have to settle sometimes when it comes to pants, lol.

Monster & I are in the middle of a fall craft- hopefully we will have it finished later tonight. I printed out a bunch of fall coloring pages (pumpkins, leaves, acorns) for him to color, and once that's done, I'm going to cut them out & punch holes for him to lace them together. Eventually the garland will hang in our living room!

1. I apologize for these terribly awkward shots of myself in these photos (that happens when you take your own photos), but

2. I love this dress! It's kind of crazy and has highlighter yellow in it, but it's super fun. Also, it's crazy comfortable! LuLaRoe for the win again!

Also, here's my "first day of school outfit" in a photo from about a week ago- I like to try stuff on and run it by my sister & her friend in our group message. Living with only guys at my house, I tend to second guess myself when it comes to outfits. [Sidenote: one evening Monster did something super frustrating, and he could tell I was upset. He looked at me and said "Mommy, don't be sad. You're beautiful!" Cheating.] Also, please ignore the mess in this photo- it was post dinner/prebath & bedtime, so I hadn't done my clean sweep yet. *insert monkey covering eyes emoji*

These two... what a mess! Yes, that's a drink box on Monkey's head. Followed by a bucket. And then on both their heads. And of course, Monkey demanded I get involved! Also, it melts my heart that he now knows I want to get pictures of all the silly things he does- he put this on his head and immediately looked at me and said "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzz!!!" Too cute.

Remember how I mentioned that I love fall? Here's some more proof. None of these things were on our grocery list, but I couldn't stop myself. Soooooo good.

Also, here's my first pumpkin recipe of the year! Pumpkin butter. Think apple butter, but pumpkin instead (so clearly, 100 times better). I used this recipe that I found on Pinterest, and substituted apple juice for apple cider. Lemme just tell you now, it's delish. Whole wheat toast slathered with this glorious creation? Dang. Also, it was super easy and only took about 30 minutes, which is a total win in my book (especially since I had just spent an hour getting corn on the cob cut off & cooked in order to freeze it- our garden was spectacular this summer, so we have done a lot of prep work for this winter).

Since this was so easy, I'm debating a shot at peach butter made in the crockpot. Hopefully it turns out just as well!

Last night I put chicken breast in the crock pot overnight so that I could make some chicken salad tonight- tomorrow is Dino Day, so I thought that taking a picnic lunch would not only save us time and money, but I could make sure it's good stuff that we're eating. We've also got some of our friends (that are new parents!) going with us, so it should be an extra fantastic time. I might be looking forward to it more than Monster. What I'm planning to pack for food- pretzels, hummus, chicken salad & bread (soggy bread isn't good for anyone!), crackers, drinks, veggie straws, and probably pumpkin cupcakes (spice cake mix + a can of pumpkin - nothing else - sooooo good!). I'll probably throw in some lunch meat & cheese, too, just in case the other stuff doesn't sound good to someone.

No worries- more to come on Dino Day on Monday. Plan on another full post! Have a great weekend everyone!