Weekend Wrap Up

Who is excited that it is FINALLY officially Fall? (even though it is 75 degrees outside right now)  I spent Thursday night getting my house all ready for the season and it just makes my heart happy to have my house smelling like pumpkin marshmallow with leaves and pumpkins sitting around everywhere!  I'm going next weekend to get mums for my porch and the pumpkin patch in 2 weeks, then you can see my Fall porch.  :-)  My Fall Scentsy came Friday afternoon, so I got it out first thing yesterday morning.  My house smells amazing with Autumn Sunset and Pumpkin Roll burning.  How cute is this warmer?

I was so happy that the weekend was here.  Last week at work almost killed me.  It is always great to have a few days off, but the first week back is always hard.  Friday night my mom and I had a night out since my dad was playing about an hour away (we used to not think a thing about driving an hour to watch his team, but we are kind of over that now).  We went to Target, Belk, and then to The Chop House for dinner.  Don't worry, I was wearing my green and gold and kept checking Twitter and an online score board for updates on the game! Ha!

Saturday morning Nicholas and I went to sweet Baylee's birthday party.  Baylee's mom and I have been friends since college and I consider her one of my best friends and I am excited that our "babies" are the same age (even if they are TWO now!).  Nicholas got this ADORABLE shirt in the mail a few days ago from another one of my college friends, Chea just for the party!  He kept telling me he had a "owwwwboy" on his shirt! Haha!

Nicholas and Tate played together and had fun (even if we couldn't get a good picture of them together).  Tate has the next big party and I am excited about it too!  I am loving our social calendar now that we have a child.  It is much more fun to go to birthday parties and consignment sales than just have a weekend of doing nothing and wondering when your time is coming to do those things.  I'm loving being a mommy and watching him play with other kids and especially my good friends children like Baylee and Tate!  By the way, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a picture of two toddlers together! Ha!

The birthday girl

Nicholas, as always completely trashed his shirt.  I don't know why I have nice things made for him to wear to birthday parties!!!  They always come home like this...

After a nap, Nicholas got changed into his gameday attire and we watched the Vols and ate some chili. I was excited to make my 1st pot of chili this season (you can find the recipe under my weekly meal plan).  We were just happy our team was winning!!!

This morning we went to church and to eat. It was a cool, Fall morning with a temperature of 55 when we left for church at 8:45!  Nicholas had a fun time (as always) in Sunday School.  We are blessed to go to a large church with lots of kids' activities.  I'm still trying to figure out a way to get him to Awana's on Wednesday night, but it is almost impossible to get there by 6:00.  :-(
We went to Pawpaw and Gigi's house and changed clothes and went to Outback to eat.  This picture just cracked me up.  He had to have a quick snack...

And savoring every bite of his chicken fingers and fries... Haha!

After lunch, the boys went home, Pawpaw went to watch football film and mom and I went to Michael's to buy Nana a new Fall wreath and to take it to her.  It was good to see Nana.  I had not been there in about 3 weeks, so I was glad to see her, but hated that Nicholas needed a nap and had to miss it.  It was a busy, but good weekend for us.  Going to have another busy week at work, so I am hoping to get in bed a little early tonight...we will see how that works out.

Hope everyone had a great 1st weekend of Fall!!!

Brain Dump, Fall Eve Edition

With it being Fall Eve, I am going to do a Fall themed brain dump today!  I'm excited for Fall, aren't you?

1.  My Bridier Baubles Britta Beads came last week and I was excited to wear them! Luckily the day after they came I had a doctor/patient-free day of paperwork in my office, so I dressed up and wore them! :-)  Loving the awesome orange color for Fall!

 2.  I have been having a lot of fun wearing Fall nail polish.  I had a hard time finding just the "right" orange to wear to the game on Saturday, so here is my UT orange creation.

 I put on one coat of the dark then one coat of the lighter color and then used my OPI top coat.  It is still holding up pretty well!

 3.  Loved last week's sign at the game.  I think it speaks for itself, I don't need to say anything else...

 4.  The weather this week is great!  It is the perfect Fall week and looks like our weekend is going to be amazing!

5.  I am getting into the Fall spirit (in case you can't tell) and in 2 weeks we will be headed down to Burt's Pumpkin Patch!  I'm excited to get Nicholas' annual pumpkin picture!  He sure has grown since the last year.  :-(

6.  I could write an entire blog on this subject, but I'll spare you with just a quick paragraph.  I have issues with universities and even high schools wanting to fire a coach that inherited a mess on his team only 3 seasons ago and not giving him at least 5 years to "fix" things.  Obviously I am referring to UT and Derek Dooley, but being a coaches daughter I tend to see things a little different than the average fan.  These coaches have a lot on of pressure to win, which I think is reasonable to an extent, but I don't think they should be expected to work miracles in less than 5-6 years.  I really hope that UT will look at the big picture before making a decision this season.  Derek Dooley has not done a bad job, but I understand that he hasn't done a great job either. Ok, stepping down off my soapbox now since that really is a jumbled mess of thoughts. Ha!

7.  Do we think it is too early to bust these boots out?  I am dying to wear them to a late morning barnyard themed birthday party tomorrow at 11 with morning temps in the 60s and a high of 79...

8.  I busted out the Fall decor last night and some pumpkin beer.  This is my new favorite Fall decoration.  My Nana made this before I was born (she went through a pottery phase) and I always loved it on her island in her kitchen, so here it is, on mine!

Thankful Thursday

1. Today is a day where I keep reminding myself that I am thankful we have good jobs. First, I'm having a week of chaos and today was Dr. Barker's first day back, which is always crazy. Second, Michael thought he was going to have the day off and get to do some husband chores around the house for me, but instead he has to work today and since he is working Saturday, it will be at least Sunday before his chores get done. However, I am just very thankful to have such problems. In all the craziness of being a working mom, I am just thankful I have a job that allows us to be able to pay our bills.

2. I am thankful for children's ibuprofen and modern medicine! I cannot imagine 2 year old molars without it!

3. I am thankful that Fall is literally just a few days away and that we have had amazing mornings and evenings this week. Nicholas has been wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans to school in the morning with a short sleeve shirt underneath. It has been precious to see him in his cute little thermal shirts and jeans. :-)

(sorry for the bad flash, I took this on my phone yesterday morning)

4. I am over and above all things today, thankful for our good health. Everyone in our family is in good health and I honestly cannot thank God enough for that. A little back pain here and there and a baby with asthma is NOT a big deal in comparison to others.  Please think about families that may have sick kids or going through an illness themselves while trying to be a parent and pray for them.

Prisoner In His Own House

Remember how I always bragged about how my 26 month old had been in a big boy bed for almost 8 months and never got out without us coming in his room to get him?  Yeah, well, scratch that.  A few days ago after a two hour nap he was yelling for us so right as Michael got to his door it opened and there stood a proud little two year old saying "Hi!"  Between the fact he now knows he can get out of his bed and room alone and that he has been opening out doors since he was 15 months old (they have lever style handles) and unlocking them for about 6 months, drastic measures were needed.  After an escape out of the living room, through the garage, and into the road last Friday, Pawpaw came to our house to install chains on the doors to prevent any further escapes.  One of my dad's best friends's lost his little girl when I was little after she was hit by a car and just from things I see at work, we don't play when it comes to safety near the road.  So friends, this is our new safely measure on the door to the garage...

Sweet boy is all mad about not being able to get in the garage or the backward whenever he wants.  Sorry kid, it's for your own protection and you'll think me later. :-)

Oh the life of a wild toddler boy!  If the honest toddler starts tweeting about locks on his doors it will finally be confirmed that he is Nicholas!

A Manic Monday Where Nothing Goes Your Way

I had not planned to write a post today, just the usual Monday Meal Plan (that auto-posted earlier), but I just had to share my day for my own memory.  This morning was going great.  I got up, got dressed, N got ready and we were out of the door and to school in record time.  That is when it all went downhill.  I pulled up to daycare and instead of leaving my car running like I normally do, I turned it off, but left the key in the ignition, got Nicholas out and walked in.  The kicker to this story is that I didn't touch the key fob, Obviously didn't lock the door before getting Nicholas out, but SOMEHOW mysteriously, my car locked while I was in daycare!  I came out excited that I was going to be almost 45 minutes early for work and my car was locked.  I tried all 5 doors, all locked!  I checked my pocket just to make sure I didn't have my keys.  Nothing.  No keys, phone, NOTHING!  I went back in and called AAA for a locksmith.  Finally about an hour later I was back in my car, but already late to work on my 1st day back from my days off.

Needless to say my day was rather stressful.  It just kept getting crazier and I was desperate for 5:00!  Then, this afternoon I ended up stayed a few minutes late working on some things that needed to get caught up from last week and by the time I got to daycare it was almost 5:30.  It took us almost an hour to get home and it was raining so hard I could barely see.  Because it was so late and we still had to eat dinner, I'm now missing an open house at my friend's new business that I had hoped to attend.  I was almost in tears by the time I had been driving 45 minutes.  However, I started thinking when I passed a wreck on the interstate that had tied up traffic...what if I had not been late this morning, left on time, and that had been us in a wreck on the way home.  Just because things don't go the way we intended doesn't mean that it wasn't THE plan to keep us safe or away from harm.

I am just happy to be safe, dry, waiting on dinner to cook, cuddled up on the couch with my sweet little cuties (Nicholas is on one side and Spencer on the other)!  We are just going to have a nice rainy night in tonight.

Meal Plan Monday

This week I am going with a more Fallish menu and I'm excited about the cooler temps headed our way this week.

Sunday - Crockpot Pot Roast, Carrots, Cubed Potatoes (all cooked together in the crockpot with beef broth and onion soup mix)

Monday - Homemade Chili Mac

Tuesday - Beef Vegetable Soup with leftover roast

Wednesday - Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops

Thursday - Leftover soup or Salad and Twice Baked Potatoes (going to be a long day at work, so we are having a you pick your own meal night!) :-)

Friday - Pizza Night!

Saturday - Turkey Chili (this time I'm using ground turkey instead of beef)

Weekend of Football

We all know it is NOT a secret that I LOVE football, but this weekend may have just straight up been the best weekend I've had in a long time!  Friday night we took Nicholas to his first football game!

 Overall, he was good.  He and I spent the entire 1st half running around, but the 2nd half I turned on the Disney Jr app and he watched Mickey's Road Rally, read with Gigi, and sat still until it became time to make some noise when the game was coming down to the wire.  I think the last minute touchdown and Pawpaw coming out of the press box got him wound up again! Ha!  It was an awesome game and I am so proud of my dad's team!  They are now 4-1 and they beat a team that was undefeated and much bigger than they are!  I'm glad Nicholas had a fun time, but I am pretty sure I am getting a babysitter next time! Ha!

Saturday I marked off one big item off my bucket list and got to see Lee Corso and the rest of the ESPN Gameday guys in person in Knoxville!  We left home at 7:30 and drove the 2 hour drive to Knoxville.  Here I am in my orange and white, with my pumpkin spice! :-)

 We were able to see quite a bit more than we thought we would.  The way it was set up you could see the stage and the guys, plus there were two large screens set up.  My favorite spot was by the ESPN Gameday bus.  I got a good shot of Chris Fowler doing an segment, Tom Rinaldi spoke to me...in his ORANGE PANTS, and I got a great look at my boyfriend, David Pollack all while !  I've been a big fan of his since his days at UGA!  He is someone I want Nicholas to aspire to be like.  A great athlete, but one who kept his priorities right and loves God and his family.

Chris Fowler filming a segment.

 My favorite...Lee Corso on the big screen! Everytime they showed him he got a huge cheer from the crowd.  Everyone loves Lee!

 Yes, Michael had on his Beat Florida shirt! Ha!  It has been unlucky twice now, so I say we burn it!

 The mothership...also known as Neyland Stadium.

We kept hearing people say that they had seen Kenny Chesney.  I told Michael then that I bet he was the guest picker.  I was pretty excited to be right about that!  I stole this picture from ESPN, but the crowd went CRAZY when the picks were made and Coach Corso chose The Vols!  Too bad his pick was wrong...

 For lunch we went to The Tin Roof and met Michael's dad and step sister, Lora.  It was fun to see them for the afternoon!

I also go to see one of my best friends from high school.  Robin went to UT and sent me a message to meet her and I am so glad I did.  We haven't seen each other in probably close to 10 years and I dug this OLD picture out and I can't help but laugh!  Here we were about 2 weeks before graduation in 1999...

 And here we were yesterday.  Honestly, I think we look much better now!  31 looks good on us! :-)

 We left Knoxville around 5:00 and came back to get Nicholas.  We didn't stay for the game, but had just as much fun!  It was good to get back to Knoxville for a game and see some old friends!  Today I've spent the day getting groceries, meal prep for the week, and I had to run out to get Nicholas some jeans.  Our weather is going to significantly cool off this week!  I found these socks at Children's Place!  How cute are they?!  Yes, I got 2 pairs!

I just have to add this funny.  Yesterday we were big dorks and took pictures of the blimp over the stadium and Michael made a comment that it isn't everyday you see a blimp.  Wellllllll, look what was over our neighbor's house this afternoon! Hahahaha!

Fun Friday and This Mama Is Excited!

Since I'm being a SAHM this week, I was excited to actually have a playdate this morning!!!  That is something that I get sad about because when all of my friends are getting together and their kids get to play together, we are at school and work.  Nicholas and I met Courtney, Lauren, and Connor at Pump It Up at 10 and these two played HARD!  My goal was to wear my little cutie out so that he would take a good nap and be rested for his first football game tonight.  I would say mission accomplished, because we came in and he voluntarily went to bed by 1:00!!!

 For the 1st 30 minutes he was terrified of the big inflatables, but eventually he got more comfortable and by the end he was climbing and doing everything but the big slides!

 Nicholas and sweet Lauren had so much fun!  I'm so glad we got to hang out with Lauren and her sweet Mommy, Courtney!  Baby Connor has gotten so big!  He also had a little fun in the bounce house, but I didn't have my phone with me then to get a picture.

We have a fun, football filled weekend lined up!  Tonight we are going to see Pawpaw's game and tomorrow I am going here...

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I could have filled this line with exclamation points! Ha!)  Michael was able to switch his work days, so he is off this Saturday and we are leaving bright and early to go to Knoxville and see Gameday in person!!!  We probably won't be staying for the game, but who cares!  The atmosphere and seeing Gameday will be worth it!  I will be crossing something off my bucket list, seeing Gameday live!  Some people want to see U2 or another awesome band in concert, I want to see Gameday and Lee Corso! :-)

A Busy Day At Home

Impressed at my blogging frequency?  I am really making an effort to do better.  I got in a funk and just didn't want to blog there for awhile, but I'm feeling better now and trying to do better!

Today was a busy day for little man and I.  First, we got up around 8:00 and had a lazy morning.  We didn't get dressed until after 10 (very unusual for us!).  I spent the morning washing the car seat cover and some laundry while doodle played and played.  I think he enjoyed just being at home with his stuff!   Here is my living room at 9:00!  AHHHHH!!!

We had a fun morning and to keep with our fun morning, I made a fun lunch!  The Toddler had Mickey chicken nuggets, yogurt, and peas and carrots (surprisingly, he loves peas and carrots).  Yum! :-)

While I was cleaning up lunch, my dad showed up to see us for a few minutes.  Nicholas was so sad when he left because he wanted to go with him.  Michael took my car to work to have a few things worked on, so since we were stuck at home, Nicholas took a good nap and I got a ton of stuff done!  I feel so much better on days I am home and things get done.  I hung up 3 loads of laundry that had been piled on my love seat, picked up the house, and cleaned the kitchen and the floors.  I actually want to be at home tonight (I usually hate looking at the mess knowing I don't have the energy to clean up).

For dinner I made cheesy chicken rolls, green beans, carrots.  My little man ate it up...like he devoured TWO chicken rolls and two spoon fulls of carrots!  If you have a child like mine that isn't a meat eater, try them!

Michael came home to a clean house, Pumpkin Roll Scentsy going, and dinner ready.  Pretty sure he thought he was at the wrong house! Haha!  After dinner we played in the backyard and enjoyed just being a family.  I know this day makes me sound like a perfect, crazy, Stepford wife, but let me ASSURE YOU that I AM NOT!!!!  Just look back on last week's post about my day from hell.  I am NOT perfect, today is just a day where I was actually able to get a lot done and I'm pretty proud of it!  As a matter of fact, I was anxiously awaiting the toddler's bedtime so I could read Unglued and rest in bed!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for so many things today!  Last week I listed the things that I am so beyond thankful for, I really just didn't have many words to describe them.  Those are the things that I'm thankful for EVERY WEEK, not just the week I talked about them.  I felt it was important to start with those things and then show you the "little" things I am thankful for on a weekly basis.  So, without further delay, here are this week's Thankful Thursday!

1.  Last Thursday night my Father in Law came to visit for the weekend and he kept Nicholas on Friday.  I am thankful that Nicholas got to spend a day with his Granddad and that he has a grandfather that drove 2 hours to keep him for the day just for the fun of it!  Ok, well, maybe I am a little thankful that Jeff also cleaned my oven, mowed the yard during nap time, and hung shelving in the garage for my seasonal decorations to be accessible to me...just maybe! ;-)  I know they both enjoyed their day and that is what family is all about and I'm excited that my boys got to spend some time with him!

2.  I am thankful for a "modified vacation" that I had a work the past few days as both Dr. Barker and Dr. Smith are out of town.  It is always nice to have a few days get caught up without them in the office or seeing patients.  However, my REAL vacation started yesterday.  I took Wednesday-Sunday off to spend with this little cutie!

3.  There is one thing that keeps me going on a day to day basis and without it, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't make it.  My mom and I got each other a Keurig for Christmas in 2010 and it has been the best investment ever.  I wasted so much coffee in the morning because I only drank one to two cups and now this has made getting out the door so much easier!

(yes, I still drink out of my old ADPi mug. It is just an old favorite)

4.  I am thankful for a child that LOVES to read, like loves it so much that he would rather read or buy a book than a toy!  Last weekend I bought this classic for him and it has been a hit.  

5. I am thankful for a public high school football coach in our area that continues to pray with his team and take them to churches for a pregame meal even if The Freedom From Religion Foundation is threatening him with action.  I think that says a lot about him and his character.  I would be proud for my son to play on his team!  I am also thankful for small, Christian schools that teach God's word on a daily basis, including on the field.  This is the sign my dad's team ran through a couple of weeks ago.  What a great verse for a football game!

That is it for today.  What are you thankful for this Thursday?

Wordless Wednesday, Daredevil Edition

(sorry for the bad iphone video quality)

Meal Planning Monday

Nicholas LOVES tacos!

Sunday - Leftover Beef Vegetable Soup
Monday - Tacos, Refried Beans, Rice
Tuesday - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Salad, Bread
Wednesday - Cheesy Chicken Rolls, Carrots, Broccoli
Thursday - Homemade Chili Mac
Friday - Friday Night Football = Homemade Pizza!
Saturday - UT/FL party!!! See more on that later.  :-)

Beef Vegetable Soup (an old favorite of mine from living at home with my parents!)

1 package of beef stew meat (or leftover pot roast works great too!)
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion peeled and cut
1 can rotel
1-2 beef bullion cube
1 can kernel corn, drained
1 can green beans, drained
1/2 bag of baby carrots diced
16 oz beef broth
4 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

Place meat on the bottom of a crockpot and pour all other ingredients on top.  Stir well and cover.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Meat Sauce for Spaghetti, Lasagna, or any Italian Pasta Dish (another of Mom's recipes)

1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained

1 small onion chopped and sautéd

1 small green pepper chopped and sautéd

1 can tomato sauce

1 can tomato paste

1 can stewed Italian tomatoes

garlic powder to taste

Combine all tomato ingredients in a blender or food processor, blend until smooth.  Mix in veggies and browned ground been (or ground turkey).  Cook over low until bubbly!