I know I’ve already mentioned it, but September seemed to fly by! There were definitely days…but over all I feel like I blinked and we are discussing Halloween costumes. How many more years do you think I can get away with coordinating costumes for my girls? I’m pretty excited about the unique ones Claire and Avie decided on! I don’t know if we will do trick or treating, but we will definitely dress up! Here are some other things we have all been up to!
Products I’ve Been Using
- Poppy popcorn- Did you see myinstagram postwith Poppy popcorn? I was sent some to try and it is truly amazing. It comes in so many flavors and is really true gourmet popcorn. We really loved the fall sweet popcorn flavors like Pumpkin Spice, Caramel Apple, and Pecan Pie. Personally my favorite was Pumpkin Spice, but only by a tiny bit. I really think they would make amazing housewarming or host gifts for the holidays. Or if you’d like to give them to your neighbors instead of cookies this year. I know there will be some delicious Christmas flavors coming out, too.
- Makoshey– I was thrilled to be able to partner with Makoshey again to share some pieces for their fall line and do a giveaway! Honestly, I think Claire was more excited about that than I was! She absolutely loves Makoshey and was checking the mail everyday until the box arrived. When she saw the shirt was an “Independent” one she told me, “Well, that’s a good one for me, because I AM independent.” Yes dear, you definitely are! As a mom of girls, I fully support this local family owned business that champions independent girls, building confidence, and doesn’t conform to gender stereotypes!!
- CarePackages.com– I was so excited when I found out I won a giveaway from Andrea at Living on Cloud Nine from CarePackages.com. I was able to choose any package from their site and since it was just a few days after my birthday I got a birthday themed one! My family and I have been having fun sampling on the goodies inside. There are so many fun themed care packages on their site. If you are looking for a gift or to send a pick-me-up to someone you should consider them! #notsponsored
- Glamour Nail Wraps– I was offered a free pack of Glamour Nail Wraps to review. I love nail wraps and my comparison of nail wraps from February is one of my most popular posts. So is my more recent post with tips to apply and remove them. I want to make sure I’m keeping up with what is on the market so I decided to accept and review them. I updated both posts with my thoughts! Initially I was a bit unimpressed when they came off after I did some dishwashing, but after applying new ones and letting them cure (and taking my own advice), I was really pleased with how they looked at the end of 7 days! And mind you, our dishwasher is broken so that was a hard week!
Recipes I’ve Tried
left to right, top to bottom: southwestern shrimp salad, pesto and scallops, taco fry bread, bananas foster french toast, pulled pork casserole
- Bananas Foster French Toast– Oh my sweet goodness. Make this. As soon as you can. It’s amazing! The milk mixture makes enough for a double batch of french toast so I recommend doubling the sauce, too!
- Apple Cider Cake– Claire made this for us and it was delicious! The syrup is a lovely topping for it!
- Pulled Pork King Ranch Casserole– I recommended this recipe for my 10 Recipes You Can Make with Smoked Pork or Beef and finally make it for myself. It is quite tasty. I substituted the Cheese Whiz for Velveeta and added some vegetables like black beans, bell pepper, and corn.
- Fry Bread Tacos– The girls and I made these together. They had a lot of fun and really enjoyed them! It’s a nice change from taco salad or a hard or soft shell.
- Bacon Meatloaf– We all really enjoyed this! I kept some extra fried onions to top on each individual slice as well. I did double the recipe because I wanted leftovers so if you have a large family or want leftovers, I would recommend the same.
- Southwestern Shrimp Salad- I love a good fruit salsa! It was so tasty on top of tilapia. I even had the leftovers over salad with spicy ranch dressing the next day.
- Scallops with fresh pesto – Matt made this and it was probably my favorite recipe this month. It was delicious! He used our fresh basil. If you love scallops, you will LOVE this!
Currently
- Admiring- Sure it’s a bit cliche, but we take daily walks and have been admiring all the changing colors. For Aveline, she is having so much fun pointing out the different colors. It’s a treasure hunt each day! And there is a street nearby lined with beautiful sugar maples that are beginning to turn red. We drove on the street the other day and Claire couldn’t stop commenting on all the beautiful trees.
- Going- Hopefully we are able to go apple picking soon! It’s a family tradition we look forward to each year.
- Making- I’ve been making all the fall crafts lately! I do love to craft and tend to have a few new projects with each new holiday or season. I really like to make things with items I already have. So far I’ve done a few framed items, a new fall wreath, a Halloween circle wreath, lots of fleece pumpkins, and a new fall garland.
- Scheduling- We are debating on scheduling Aveline’s 3rd birthday celebration in early November (just parents and siblings) and a family Thanksgiving. It’s hard to decide because you never know what will happen with Covid and rising/falling numbers. So far it seems like she wants a monster themed party. Haha! That should be interesting!
- Wishing- What else? I’m wishing this Covid nonsense is over and we have a vaccination soon.
- Family update:
- Claire– Claire recently ‘bridged’ from Daisies to Brownies in Girl Scouts. As a former Girl Scout myself, it was a proud moment seeing the ceremony. It hasn’t been the smoothest transition to virtual school, but I think overall she has been doing pretty well! She is loving her soccer skills class and I’m seeing a lot of improvement!
- Aveline- Aveline has become quite the pro at riding her tricycle recently! She loves pedaling it all around our driveway. She loves to play ‘monster’ running after each other and pretending to be a monster or hiding under blankets from one. She will even try to play it on facetime with grandparents!
- Me- I’m so excited I finally got a new laptop. My old laptop’s battery was only lasting about an hour and it’s so nice to have an upgrade after quite a few years. I’ve been hoping Rainbow Cone would visit nearby this summer and they finally did this month! We had ice cream for lunch. It was great!
- Matt- Matt was excited to get a new rotisserie attachment for his smoker. He tried it out last weekend and it was so delicious! I used the leftover chicken to make jambalaya in the slow cooker and it added a wonderful smoky flavor to it. Yum! I can’t wait to see what else he will make!
September Goals Recap
- Do 5 more CEUs- Done! Only 7 more to go!
- Freeze my rhubarb- Done! Two big gallon bags of rhubarb is frozen and ready to be used!
- Sign the girls up for soccer or dance-Done! We have both of the girls in a Saturday soccer skills class with social distancing in place. So far they love it so we may sign them up for a second session.
- Get 2 new trees- We actually ended up tabling this until spring. We thought it would be better for the ground to ‘rest’ and for the new trees to have lots of time to put down new roots before winter. I just don’t want to buy trees that die again!
- Get our new chandelier installed- Done! I’m so excited about it! It looks amazing.
October Goals
- Re-organize my closet- I currently have my closet organized by color and I think it would be nice to organize by type of top (sleeve length) and color.
- Book a mini-photo session- I’d love to book a short photo session with a fall or Christmas theme for the family or even just the girls.
- Paint the mirror in the kitchen- We have a mirror in the kitchen with a black and cherry colored frame that I would like to paint white to help brighten it up.
- Finish my CEUs- Yes this again. I’m so close I would love to finish them up in October and then not worry about continuing education for another 2 years!
- Get a facial- It would be nice to pamper myself. I’ve been wanting to try an IPL facial for a while to see if it helps with my melasma.
linking up with Anne & Gretchen + Kristen, What’s Up Wednesday
