What's Up Wednesday

            Today I'm linking up with  Shay and  Sheaffer to talk a little bit about what's been going on around here! I missed out on this last week when I pressed pause on the blog to get caught up on some school things but wanted to share anyway ;)

I'm pretty confident that I've mentioned this orange chicken before but in case I haven't you get it at Costco and it's SO SO SO GOOD!!!  I serve it with the most perfect rice ever that I make in  this rice cooker and it is seriously delish.  I get it at Costco and it's perfect for an easy weeknight diner.

North Texas Faves Part 1

Today I thought I'd share a few of our favorite places to hit up during the summer here in North Texas.  I got this question during Spring Break and thought it would be timely headed into summer break!

Shark Teeth Hunting in Post Oak Creek - Sherman, Texas

This creek is about 45 minutes north of McKinney and is SUCH a fun spot if you have kids who love splashing around in a creek and/or kids who are into fossils, dinosaurs, etc. 

 

Friday FAVES

  Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

Well - week one of summer is in the books and it was GLORIOUS!!!  I wish I had more photographic evidence of what a great week it was but just know there was reading and relaxing and friend time and all the things and it was just PERFECT!

Speaking of perfect - I grabbed a couple of shirts for the boys and this is Luke's new FAVORITE :)

BEST BURGERS!

 Today I'm sharing our recipe for burger patties just in time for the long weekend.  They're simple, full of flavor and WAY BETTER than a grocery store patty.  I've been making them this way for years and always get requests for the recipe and/or to bring them when we hang out and grill with friends.

Here's what you'll need to make 16-18 burger patties

(you can easily cut this recipe in half but we're often making them for a crowd OR I'll make a bunch of patties and then freeze them (more on that in a minute) but feel free to adjust!)

- 6 lbs 80/20 ground beef 

(it HAS to be 80/20.  Now is not the time for 96/4 lean beef... trust me)

- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

- 4 eggs

Summer Stack

Okay - so my summer stack has officially reached epic proportions.  It's out of control, y'all!  during the school year reading typically falls off my to-do-list and I LOVE the slower pace of summer which lends itself to way more reading time.  I pledged my love to my Kindle for YEARS but when it died last summer I went back to paper/hardbacks and remembered how much I love holding an actual book in my hand over reading on a screen.  Is it old school? Yes.  Do I LOVE it?  Also yes.  

So here's my summer stack...

NYC Trip - Posts and Questions

Last summer we surprised our kids with a trip to NYC.  It is one of my favorite parenting memories EVER and was an absolute dream come true.  I know lots of y'all have used the info from my posts for info and tips and I've had a big influx of questions lately as I think lots of people are making plans for summer so I thought I'd park all the posts in one spot for easy reference.  

Seriously - it was SUCH A GREAT TRIP and our kids were at great ages.  It was exhausting in the best possible way and we're all itching to go back.  If you have any questions leave them here and I'll get back to you in the comments!  HAPPY Tuesday, friends!!!

 Click  HERE for our Day 1 - which included how we surprised the kids, car rental and our first afternoon/evening at Ellen's Stardust Diner, some shopping and the Empire State Building.

West Texas 2023

Every year our middle school classes take a class trip... I've taken groups to NASA, Austin, San Antonio, Sky Ranch, etc.  Our 8th Grade trip starting in 2017 was taking kids out to Ft Davis (waaayyy West Texas) to see some cool Texas things they may not otherwise see and visit the McDonald Observatory.  We did that trip in 2017, 2018, 2019 and then again in 2020 and were SO GLAD to get to take them back this year!  It was kind of surreal because the last time we were there was in March of 2020... we got back from the trip, went on Spring Break and then never went back to school.  CRAZY!

We loaded up on two charter busses and pulled out of the school at 5 am. 

My road trip snack of choice is always Twizzlers.  

Friday Favorites

  Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

Today is going to be short and sweet because MAMA IS TIRED! ;) hahaha

Our last day of school was yesterday and today I have a meeting and lunch and then I'M DONE! This week has been a whirlwind of awards and graduations and meetings and exams and "lasts" and all fun things but just BUSY! 

The highlight though??? This moment right here...

Three Things - Last Day of School

 Well... it's the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!  How exciting is that?!?!  I did a "Three Things" post on the first day of school and thought it was only fitting to do one on the last day as well!  This would be a great time for me to share a cute "last day of school" picture but, alas... we've been a bit pressed for time ;) hahaha

No Bake Chocolate Pie

 I'm resharing this recipe from earlier this year because summer is upon us which means a really no-bake dessert will for sure come in handy.  

I randomly came across this recipe right before Thanksgiving and decided to give it a try and bring it with us to my parents house.  IT TURNED OUT SO GOOD and it was super simple to make.  We couldn't get enough and I already have a second one chilling in my refrigerator right now.  I didn't snap a pic of the pie as a whole, so take this slice pic as my promise that it is INCREDIBLE!

Weekend Recap - Busiest Weekend Ever Edition

 So I feel like saying that this was the busiest weekend ever may be a bit of a stretch BUT it's our last super full weekend and this has been my "if we can make it through this it's all coasting from here" weekend ;)

G and I kicked it off with some girl time on Friday afternoon...

Summer Faves

WE MADE IT, y'all!!! Today starts our LAST WEEK of school and we have summer on the brain!  I've been in "go-mode" for most of May with school stuff and getting ready for summer is first up on my agenda for this weekend.  So today, in honor of it ALMOST being Summer I'm sharing some of our summer essentials.  Things that we love and use year after year and LOVE and things I hope y'all love too!

Supergoop has been out favorite Sunscreen for several years now - their giant play pump is our favorite because it's super convenient and lasts for a long time.  I prefer the lotion to the spray just because I feel like they're more "intentional" with rubbing it in and not missing spots (I know that sounds weird - hahaha)...

Friday Favorites

  Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

Well - we made it.  Our last full week of school.  AND IT WAS A DOOZY.  I felt like we had #allthethings which is super fun but also super exhausting.  Here are a few of my FAVORITE moments from the week!

Miss McAnally reporting for duty!

Chicken Noodle Casserole

 

So I grabbed a rotisserie chicken and threw a double batch of this chicken noodle casserole together and while it wasn't any of my kids absolute favorites they all ate it and Dave and I really liked it.  My favorite part was how quickly and easily it came together and it was super simple to double for leftovers.  I'm giving the quantities for a single pan of it but feel free to double and bake in an XL lasagna pan if you're feeing a crowd...

Prime Lately - Part 2

I have LOVED using my big leather "belt bag" and really wanted something similar for my trip to Big Bend since I didn't need to carry around enough stuff to fill a backpack.  I grabbed this bag and love it SO MUCH!!!  It held my cell phone, extra battery pack, pack of gum, chap stick, oil roller, etc. and still had lotf of room.  I wore it cross-body style instead of like a fanny pack and think I'll use it a ton this summer.  Keep in mind that they're all different and one of a kind so if you're particular you may want to order a couple, then pick your favorite and then return the extras.

Teacher Tuesday - Teacher Gifts

   Today I'm sharing gift ideas for teachers.  I get this question A LOT in the Spring with teacher appreciation weeks and the school year wrapping up.  I'm trying to be a bit ahead of the game since typically by the time I get around to posting this it's like a week before school is out ;)

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday, friends! I'm back from my West Texas school trip and officially in the final countdown of the school year.  This is our last full week and I'm SO EXCITED!!!

Luke and I got back Friday night and then I hit the ground early Saturday morning at a friends house helping her prep for a grad party.

I got to try my hand ad making a candy charcuterie and it was SO MUCH FUN!!!

Friday Favorites

    Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

Last Friday night was our 7th and 8th grade semi-formal and seeing this kid all dressed up and excited was my FAVORITE!

Nashville Girls Trip

 This post is better late than never, right?!?!  Back in February our group of girlfriends headed to Nashville and, dare I say, had the BEST girls trip to date ;). These trips started after our friend Manda lost her battle with cancer - we'd talked about going for years but could never make it work so after she was gone we decided there was never going to be a perfect (or easy!) time to leave 500 kids at home and go somewhere together but we had to just do it and YOU GUYS!  These trips are life-giving!

We've been to NYC, Boston, Charleston and Plano (about 15 mins away from where we live) during COVID.  I've realize that for me it's really not about where we go or what we do... that's all just kind of a bonus... it's more about just enjoying each other and having kid and work-free time.

Shay shared some details HERE and Sheaffer some HERE and Erika some HERE ;)  I'm going to share some highlights and my thoughts but they have all the deets if you want them.  

So here's my take... NASHVILLE WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!  

We kicked things off RIGHT at the Fridays at the DFW Airport where Sheaffer and I shared THE BEST burger of all time.  For real.  Listen - you could have left us at that TGI Fridays and we would have been just fine ;)

Day In The Life: Last Thursday

Today I'm sharing a Day in the Life from last week - it was the end of Spring sports (#hallelujah) and kind of a "typical" day which I thought would be fun.

I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m and ended up hitting snooze and laying in bed until close to 6:20.

Amazon Lately

  This has been another FUN month on my prime account - buckle up, y'all! ;)

 

First up were these napkins that I grabbed for Griffin's bath bomb party to go with...

First-timer Cheesecake Recipe

Griffin LOVES cheesecake.  LOVES IT!  When she asked for a cheesecake for her birthday I decided to give making it myself a shot because the recipes looked easy enough.  I'm not sure why I was so intimidated by this and haven't made it before - it didn't turn out as pretty as a store-bought or restaurant cheesecake BUT it was delicious!!!