Friday Favorites - Letter F Edition ;)

Today's Friday Favorites are brought to you by the letter F.  

Despite throwing up repeatedly and spiking a fever while enjoying Family Fun day, Tuesday was one of my absolute FAVORITE days of the week!  

We headed to the Perot Museum bright and early and the kids immediately started exploring :)

(Let me clarify for the anonymous commenter who chose to use some really colorful language - hence why I'm not publishing their comment - I didn't go to the museum knowing I was sick and trying to infect everybody.  I felt kind of blah in the monring when I woke up, but didn't think too much of it.  We drove the 45 minutes there.  Arrived, played and THEN it hit me.  At this point, I figured I'd stick it out.  Because we were there and because it was already after 11 and we were leaving the museum at 12.  Because the kids were having a great time. Etc.  Germs are everywhere.  Stuff happens.  I sanitized my hands, like an adult, and moved on.)

After the museum, we booked it to Klyde Warren park (a really cool park built on top of an old overpass downtown Dallas) for our scheduled picnic/food truck lunch. 

Real men push strollers full of children :) hahaha

This stroller always cracks me up because it was one of the items that was loaded in my van and ready to consign on the morning I took my pregnancy test with Griffin.  SOOOO grateful that I took that test and didn't sell this bad boy, because it's the best ;)

We got there right as this building for kids event was ending - but you better believe we'll be back next time right at the beginning!  They had a great time helping clean up :)

My brother, Uncle Mark, works as an architect in Dallas and he met us at the park.  He and I sat, chatted, and looked for discrete places for me to potentially lose it again while Dave found some lunch for himself and my lunch of choice - Sprite.

I was determined to stick it out, so after lunch we headed to the kids area of the park to let the kiddos run around.

Sure, boys!  It's November - go ahead and slide into the water.  Why not ;)

And yes, that's Mason sitting in a stranger's lap.  Apparently he makes friends easily :)

Don't we look excited?!?!?!  This was right after Dave told me we were packing up since me laying on the bench was "looking weird" :)

This is pretty much where my memory of Tuesday stops.  I fell asleep in the car and really didn't wake up until 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday.  For reals.  Dave took the kids to dinner at his Grandma's house Tuesday night, then got all the kiddos in bed, up the next morning and to Kid's Klub at the country club.  They hung out there until around 1:00 when he brought them home, put GG down for a nap and the boys played in the family room while I dozed.  It was rough.  Wednesday night I started feeling human again and was thankful for some sweet family movie time with my crazies.

Thursday morning started with some FAMILY snuggles - my FAVORITE!!! :)

Then it was time for FOOD!  Homemade apple pie, while drinking hot tea and eating a cinnamon roll.  Back to normal!!!

We'll just forget about how our garage refrigerator stopped working and we lost everything in it AND our garbage disposal decided to burn the motor out and stink.  Minor details :)

I loved seeing everyone's cozy, peaceful "Happy Thanksgiving Morning we're watching the parade and birds are chirping in the background" pics all over social media - BUT the scene at my house was a little different and all I could do was laugh.  Dave went in to work before 9 a.m and worked until 4 p.m. which means it's all me to do dinner with three kiddos under foot.  #awesome

This pretty much summed up my morning. ;)  Thankfully the boys played outside FOR EVER and Griffin took a great nap.  Amen.

 I wore pretty much leggings, a tank and an apron all day, but G rocked some AWESOME and festive attire.  Girl clothes are my FAVORITE!

When Dave got home he scooped up the boys (yes, wearing hats) and headed to the grocery store to pick up a couple of last minute things...

... and say Happy Thanksgiving to one of our very favorite baristas.  Yes - we're on a first name basis with our baristas.  We color them pictures and have Christmas gifts for them :)

One of my least FAVORITE parts of Thanksgiving is setting the table.  I never have a plan beforehand (maybe that's the problem) and always feel like it's not my "thing".  This year, I didn't think my placemats or chargers really "went" with the table, so I drew some on. hahaha  #classy

Then came my FAVORITE part of the day.  The feasting!!!

We ate, laughed, watched Luke perform a few songs on the hearth and played some SERIOUS UNO.  It was FABULOUS!

Food and Family are my total favorites - this week and really every week.

Now - in case you're a Black Friday shopper - here are a few of my FAVORITE picks.  If not - feel free to skip to the bottom for the link-up!

If you've been looking for a great military style jacket, THIS ONE is really unique and looks like it would go with a ton.  I love the knit detailing.  Use HOLIDAY25 for 25% off your purchase!

If you're browsling around the Anthro site - this blanket coat is worth checking out, too!  Holy Gorgeous, Batman!!!  Pretty sure I would wear this every. single. day.

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I've had several people ask me about tracking down a plaid tunic - well here she is!!!  She's flannel and a beautiful blue and the review are fantastic.  I have several pieces from the same brand and love them all.

And my last anthro pic is THIS tunic.  I'm pretty certain it was made for me.

From Nordstrom, THESE Kate Spade beauties are 60% off - making them less than $32!!!

This adorable Boden book tee for girls is adorable! LOVE the books!

If you love mustard as much as I do, then this scarf is a total wardrobe must!

This jacket would make a great gift for a husband, dad, brother, boyfriend, etc....

If you've been contemplating the TOMS Wedge booties - they're 25% off - it may be time to bite the bullet ;)

Here's to a FANTASTIC weekend filled with all your FAVORITES.  Don't forget to snap some pics of your Christmas decorations this weekend and get ready for the link-up next Tuesday!!!

   

    http://new.inlinkz.com/luwpview.php?id=471138" title="click to view in an external page.">An InLinkz Link-up

   

eThis post contains affiliate links, which just means that if you click on a link and purchase what I've linked to, I'll receive a commission. Thank you for reading and fot supporting my blog!  Love y'all! 

Thanksgiving

I live a charmed life.  Honestly.  

I have a beautiful, healthy family.  Wonderful, supportive husband.  A job I love.  A warm home and the best friends a girls could ask for.  

But I also know that this could all change in an instant and I'm not disillusioned enough to think that life isn't hard.  So, today, while I was searching for what to write, I kept coming back to this message by Rick Warren from last year.  It has stuck with me for an entire year, and in case you haven't heard it before I hope it sticks with you as well.

"Thanksgiving is a difficult holiday for many.

How can you be thankful when your doctor says it’s cancer? How can you feel grateful when the one you love just walked out of your life? Or when you’ve been fired, or your dream has collapsed, or an economic tsunami has wiped out all you’ve worked for?

This year became the worst year of my life when my youngest son, who’d struggled since childhood with mental illness, took his own life. How am I supposed be thankful this Thanksgiving? When your heart’s been ripped apart, you feel numb, not grateful.

And yet the Bible tells us “Give thanks IN ALL circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” The key is the word “in.” God doesn’t expect me to be thankful FOR all circumstance, but IN all circumstances. There’s a huge difference. The first attitude is masochism. The second shows maturity. We’re not supposed to be thankful for evil or sin, or the innocent suffering caused by these things. But even in heartache and grief and disappointment, there are still good things that I can be thankful for.

I used to think that life was a series of mountain highs and valley lows, but actually we get both at the same time. In our world broken by sin, the good and the bad come together. On the cover of my wife’s book, Choose Joy, is a photo of a railroad track heading into the horizon. Like that photo, our lives are always running on two parallel rails simultaneously. No matter how good things are in my life, there are always problems I must deal with, and no matter how bad things are in my life, there are always blessings I can be grateful for.

So what am I thankful for this Thanksgiving?

I’m thankful that although life is not always good, God is always good. Having had a close friendship with him for nearly 50 years, I know without a doubt that God sees all I go through, he cares, he grieves with me, he is close and his strength is available at all times.

I’m thankful that even though I don’t have all the answers, God does. In tragedy we seek explanations, but explanations never comfort. It is God’s presence that eases our pain.

I’m thankful that this life is not all there is. It’s not the end of the story. One day God will right all wrongs, even the odds and settle all accounts. Justice will be served. Evil will not win.

I’m thankful for the hope of heaven. I won’t have to live with pain forever. In heaven, there are no broken relationships, broken minds, broken bodies, broken dreams or broken promises. The Bible tells us, “God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.”

I’m thankful that God can bring good even out of the bad in my life, when I give him the pieces. It’s his specialty. God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections, and then benefit the whole world. God never wastes a hurt if we give it to him.

Itzhak Pearlman once broke a string at the start of a Lincoln Center recital. Rather than replacing it, he played the entire concert with a broken instrument. At the end he said, “Sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.” That kind of humility honors God. This Thanksgiving, don’t dwell on what’s lost, but on what’s left."

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!!! I hope your day is delicious and full of friends and family.  I'm thankful for all of your support and readership.  Y'all rock!!! :)

Recipe Club - Talk Among Yourselves Edition

Happy Wednesday, Friends!  At least I think it's Wednesday.... yesterday during our "Family Fun" day in Dallas the virus that my kiddos have had (I think) hit me HARD.  Except that mine was accompanied with a high fever.  Awesome.  That said - It's now 7:15 a.m. and I've been asleep since 1:30 p.m. yesterday.  Almost a full 18 hours.  Needless to say, I didn't have time to write the post I had planned to, but I still want to see all your recipes so y'all can link up below.  AND if you're looking for some inspiration for tomorrow's meal I've also linked to past recipe club posts that you can look through.  Enjoy!  Now... I'm off to take a shower and hopefully wash off the sickies.  Thanksgiving is tomorrow and there is NO time to be sick. hahaha

October Recipe Club

September Recipe Club

August Recipe Club

July Recipe Club

June Recipe Club

May Recipe Club

April Recipe Club

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Weekend Wrap-Up: Dave did GOOD Edition

Before we delve into my riveting weekend recap (wink! wink!) there are TWO very important announcements!!!

Announcement ONE

LIZ HALL.... You won the blanket scarf!!! WOO HOO!!! 

Shoot me an email and I'll get this out to you ASAP!

Announcement TWO

Shoutout to Sheryl Reif Peak for winning the $150 Nordstrom Giftcard!!!

Now hurry to the mall and snag a blardigan :)

When I started writing this post I realized how FULL this weekend was.  In the moment it doesn't seem too busy, but recapping it was a different story.

Friday was Grandparent's Day at MCA and all of the Elementary school grades performed a Broadway song.  It's super sweet.  The two kindergarten sections joined up and sang "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning"

Friday morning Luke told me that his tummy hurt, but that he still wanted to perform with his class.  I didn't think too much of it since he said he wanted to stay, but we could tell during the performance that he wasn't feeling 100%.

After the performance, Gibi and Haha were able to stop by Luke's classroom and meet his teacher and friends.  He was so proud to show them!

 After the performance, I was supposed to meet a group of 8th graders at a local food pantry to finish up their community outreach day and my dad was going to take Luke out for breakfast.  When we started talking about breakfast, Luke got really pale and said he wanted to go home and go to bed, so we did just that.  As I was getting Luke tucked in and was getting ready for a quiet day at home with him, my phone rang.  It was Miss Lisa and she was calling to tell me that Mason was throwing up at her house.... then about 5 minutes later called to tell me that GG had thrown up as well.  #awesome

I battened down the hatches and prepared for the worst while Dave went to pick up the two littles. I got out old sheets and towels, made sure my washer was empty - the whole works.

When they got home Mason was pretty puny, but Griffin was acting totally normal.  Apparently all at once Mason and another little boy threw up and so we think that Griffin may have just reacted from the smell??? Who knows.  But she was acting 100%.

The boys spent pretty much the entire day like this...

While the boys rested up, Griffin and I hung out.  Sweet girl!

I thought we were in the clear, but around 3:00 Mason started throwing up again.  And then at dinnertime it hit Luke.

Mason napped for a solid 3 hours, despite his little sister not being able to leave him alone :)  

Sidenote: He's on the floor because the sheets were off of both of their beds. hahaha

After everyone was bathed, the sheets and towels were all washed and dried, and the house was thoroughly lysoled - I settled in for the night with some well-deserved quesadillas.  I figured that if I was going to get sick it was going to happen regardless of what I ate and so I was going to enjoy it while I could ;)

Saturday morning everyone woke up feeling good and GG put on her party pants to celebrate ;)

We hung around the house just in case anyone had a "relapse" and I worked on pulling together everyone's outfits for pictures on Sunday morning.

We spent the rest of the day laying low, playing restaurant and coloring.  It was awesome.

Sunday morning we managed to get everyone (including ourselves!) up, dressed, out the door and to the location by 7:30 a.m.  It was a picture-day miracle :)  

I'll share more sneak peeks, outfit details and Family Photo Styling tips tomorrow (along with recipe club!), but you can see we had a good time :)

We were home in time for breakfast and some short naps and then G and I headed off to Home Depot to pick up some supplies for a special project I'll share on Thursday.  The guy was cutting our wood and she was super skeptical of the saw noise.

When we got home we had some fun in the leaves that were COVERING our walkway.  It had rained really hard the night before and all the pretty leaves fell on the sidewalk.

We love Fall!!!

I've talked about my St.Anne Tote from Barrington Bags before, but in case you were wondering about how much it holds and how well it holds up, here's your answer ;)  Wood, wallet, diaper pouch and spray paint (among other things).  It really can carry it all!

While GG napped and I worked on Christmas Cards in the afternoon, Dave took the boys to a nearby park to fly a kite and do some "splorin" :) 

As he was walking out the door I reminded him that I had left the "good camera" in the van and joked that if he wanted to he could snap a couple of pics for me.  Y'all - Dave did GOOD!!!

This one cracks me up!!!

Sidenote: If I had known he was actually going to take pics, I would have put the boys in clothes that somewhat matched.  Not each other.  Just matched as an outfit. hahaha

When I downloaded pics from my camera, there was a super cute picture of them both peeing on a tree.  I decided to keep that pic off the internet, but trust me - it's priceless :)

This is where it was a good thing they were out with Dave and not with me...

... that'a a dead snake, people!

BEST pic of the day. hahaha

Sunday night we hauled all our Christmas stuff out of the attic (this isn't even all of it!!! I'm nuts!!!)...

... and my boys "watched" the Cowboys game :)

Phew. I need a nap. Again :)

I hope y'all had a restful weekend and found some great gift ideas during our Favorite Things Party yesterday.  Tomorrow I'll be sharing a recipe for Recipe Club and would LOVE for you to share yours as well!

Happy Tuesday, Friends!