SCARY Easy Chocolate Cupcakes :)

Happy Halloween, friends!!!  Just in case you weren't already knee deep in sweet treats I thought I'd share our favorite (EASY!) chocolate cupcake recipe.  This would be an easy fix if you need something to take to a party tonight and would be perfect to bookmark for #allthethings we have coming up heading into holiday season.

Weekend Recap - PJ Day Edition

Happy Monday, friends!  I'm writing this on Sunday night and have the biggest smile on my face :)  It was a great weekend!

Friday morning the kids had their annual pajama day parade and it's one of their favorite mornings of the year.  It was FREEZING and I promise that I sent Mason in a jacket - but when I showed up at the parade it was off because "how else would you see my awesome shirt, mom???" ;)

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!!!  I'm going to share a few of our FAVORITES from the week and if you'd like to join me,  Erika and  Narci in sharing you can add your link at the bottom of this post.

 A HUGE cold front is moving in today which has me extra excited to talk about a few of my FAVORITE Christmas gift ideas from Nordstrom.  These gifts are ideal for moms, friends, a gift exchange with friends at work, sistser-in-laws, etc.  As always the free shipping and great customer service wins me over every time ;)

I LOVE Capri Blue Volcano candles and I think  this pink jar is SO pretty and fun.  I think you could easily tie a big black and white gingham bow on the top with a little piece of greenery (or Christmas ornament!) on it and you wouldn't even need to wrap it. 

Easy Ribbon Wands

Griffin and I whipped up some easy little ribbon wands this week and I thought I'd share in case you're looking for a fun craft/activity for the weekend.

What's Up Wednesday

I'm linking up today with  Shay,  Sheaffer and  Mel for their What's Up Wednesday and I can NOT believe that it's the last Wednesday of the month!  Where the heck did October go?!?!

This week last year was when Dave's youngest brother got married and I've loved reminiscing about the whole day and how PRECIOUS these three looked!

Show and Tell Tuesday - Favorite Holiday

It's Show and Tell Tuesday and we're sharing our FAVORITE holiday.  I really tried to be creative with this and at first I thought I'd share my favorite thing about several holidays, then I thought about sharing my favorite Holiday meals and when it came right down to it I just wanted to write about Christmas ;) 

Weekend Recap - Harvest Party Edition

Happy Monday, friends! This weekend was a GREAT one - one filled with so much fun that you wish you had an extra day ;)

Friday Favorites - Sparkle, Smile, Smartypants Edition

Happy Friday, friends!  This week has flown by and we are so excited for some quiet time this weekend.  I'm going to share a few of our FAVORITES from the week and if you'd like to join me, Erika and Narci in sharing you can add your link at the bottom of this post.

First up on my list is  No Such Thing - one of the CUTEST Halloween books EVER!  I ordered it a while ago and it came in last week and we can't stop reading it!

Planner Life (Teacher and Kids)

I feel like planners are a topic I've addressed a few times before - but after posting a little bit about my teacher planner last week on Instagram and getting an OVERWHELMING response I thought it would be worth writing about how I'm currently staying organized in the classroom and at home.  

After 12 years of teaching I have FINALLY found  a planner that works for me.  Most teacher planners and lesson plan books I've looked into are designed for elementary school teachers and are split up into 15 minute time blocks and/or subject areas.  I teach 6 sections of two different preps and needed space to do a brief note about what I was teaching in class that day, make notes about attendance, behavior, etc. and have room to make my to-do-lists for the day and when I stumbled upon this planner I knew exactly how to make it work.

This is what a typical weekly layout looks like for me...

Chicken Noodle Soup

Today I'm sharing a recipe that I pretty much "winged" as I went that ended up working out and I've dubbed it "Cheater Chicken and Noodle Soup!" because it's quick and easy and still full of flavor and the comfort of chicken noodle soup :)

When I think of visiting my Oma and Opa (my mom's parents) I can almost taste her homemade chicken noodle soup.  Without fail, we would pull into their driveway, walk inside and she'd have the table set and the soup simmering.  Afternoons and evenings spent sitting at her table with her crocheted table cloth and little sandwiches catching up over a bowl of hot soup are some of my fondest memories. 

Dave was feeling a little under the weather last week so I decided to try my hand at chicken noodle soup.  I was in a bit of a time crunch so I didn't have time to make my own broth, but nobody seemed to mind and this came together easily and ended up being super flavorful.

State Fair First Timers

Dave and I didn't grow up going to the fair.  When I lived in North Caroline we'd go to the local fair but nothing like the huuuuuuge production that is the State Fair of Texas.  We tagged along with friends one time in high school and really all I remember doing was the car show (because I was there with a bunch of 17 year old boys) and walking through the expo part where you can check out mattresses and hot tubs (seriously).  Lots of my friends are fair fanatics and have been going for years and years and every year we've said we were going to go we've never actually followed through.  

Well... this year was the year.  We saw gorgeous weather on the forecast for Sunday and so we piled in the mini van with my parents and headed out to Fair Park.

Weekend Recap - Wiped Out Edition :)

Happy Monday, friends!  This weekend was so much fun and has left us WIPED!  

Friday was the culmination of Noah's Ark Week and the Pre-K kids all had to come dressed as an animal.  Griffin wasn't about to turn down a chance to ditch her polo and plaid for an extra large helping of pink so she went as a flamingo :)

Friday Favorites - Fall Tops Edition

Happy Friday, friends!

Erika, Narci and I are sharing our FAVORITES this week and we'd love for you to join us!

Spooky Snack Mix

This weekend we whipped up some festive little snack bags to stock our snack basket for the next couple of weeks and turned it into a fun activity so I thought I'd share!

Weekend on a Wednesday

We had such a fun weekend that I couldn't NOT share - so today I'm sharing our Weekend on a Wednesday :) 

Griffin has been ALL ABOUT sunglasses recently and Friday she was rocking her brothers aviators.

Show and Tell Tuesday - Day in the Life

Happy Tuesday, friends!  Today is one of my FAVORITES - Day in the Life!  I LOVE getting a peek into other people's days... working moms, stay-at-home moms, empty nesters, college students, etc.  Seeing how similar/different people's days are from my own and getting to see other people's routines is so interesting to me.

So here we go!  I actually took pictures of a random Thursday a few weeks ago because I was going to use the post earlier when I remembered that I had this Show and Tell day on the calendar.  I had already taken all the pictures so I'm running with it. ;)

I've mentioned multiple times that I am NOT a morning person.  I wish I was, but I just can't make it happen. I tend to sleep in as late as I possibly can and am a habitual snooze-button-hitter.  I joke that it's a good thing that I married Dave (who IS a morning person) because he's the only alarm clock that can actually get me out of bed - and most of the time that involves him throwing off all the covers, pretty much pushing me out of bed and reminding me that I have a job I have to get to :)

Sweet and Spooky with Boden

Today I am so excited to share some of our favorite sweet and spooky things with y'all!  First up is Mini Boden Halloween!   It's no secret that I love a festive outfit so when Boden reached out and asked if I wanted to share some outfits including their new Halloween shirts I was THRILLED!!!  We've been huge Boden fans for YEARS as their clothes are so cute, incredibly comfortable and GREAT quality.

Friday Favorites - Short and Sweet

Happy Friday, friends!  Today's post is going to be short and sweet because I am SWAMPED at school this week and really haven't done a whole lot other than grade, answer emails and lesson plan.  The end.

Mason brought home some super sweet art this week and his happy and sweet little view of the world is my FAVORITE. 

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

I've had this recipe bookmarked mainly because chocolate chip cookies and Heath bars are two of my favorite things - so a cookie combining the two of them had my mouth watering.  I'm actually surprised I resisted making them this long :)  I had never made brown butter before either, but it was surprisingly easy and gave the cookies some amazing flavor!

Favorite Picture Books

I talked about  Luke's reading list back in the summer and had a HUGE response with great recommendations for early/middle elementary readers.  I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite children's books today so you can jot down some titles for your own kids' collection or make a few selections to put away as birthday party gifts or even shop ahead for Christmas!

I am a SUCKER for books.  S.U.C.K.E.R.  My parents read to us all the time growing up and I love fostering that in my own kids as well.  We frequent the library multiple times a month and we've found lots of our favorites through the library, but we also like to have our own copies of some of our very favorites to have on hand.  Our top-reading pile is ever-changing, but here's what is currently on repeat in our house...

Those Darn Squirrels

This book CRACKS my kids up because my parents have some pretty pesky squirrels at their lake house (including one that we SWORE was going to attack my dad) and they laugh so hard every time we read it thinking about this scenario unfolding there :)  There are several other "Those Darn Squirrels" books that we've checked out from the library before and they're so so so cute!

Halloween/Fall Decor

It's FIIIINALLY October and despite saying that I really wasn't going to put out decorations this year the mood hit this past weekend and the kids and I got everything out and ready!

Weekend Recap - Fair Day Edition

Happy Monday, friends!  Friday was our "Fair Day" and even though we woke up to drizzles we were bound and determined to head to The Arboretum to see the pumpkins.  On the way there the rain started getting bad and the traffic was worse and when we pulled into the parking lot it was coming down SUPER hard so we had a quick change of plans and headed to the Perot instead.