What’s Up Wednesday

WHAT WE ARE EATING THIS WEEK:

Sunday: Instant Pot chicken parm and green beans

Monday: beef sirloin and risotto from Trader Joe’s

Tuesday: leftovers

Wednesday: crockpot carnitas and salad (tacos for the kids)

Thursday: either leftovers or Roasted Red Pepper soup from Trader Joe’s and grilled cheese

Friday and Saturday: mama ain’t cookin’

WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT:

This sweet picture from my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding. Their 7th anniversary is coming up soon. Hayden and Hadley were ring bearer and flower girl. One of them loved the spot light and one of them didn’t 😂 #Iwillletyouguess Travis snapped this pic on his phone, and it will forever be my favorite.

WHAT I’M LOVING:

Trader Joe’s pumpkin bagel and cream cheese. #onrepeat

Also, these lunchbox notes have been a cute addition to lunches. My kids take their lunches a few days a week, and I usually write a note on a napkin. While shopping for school supplies at the end of summer, I saw these Lunchbox Notes by Lena + Liam in the school section at Target, and picked them up. I usually put one in a week to spice up the lunch. Hayden gets the biggest kick out of some of the sayings like, “Happy Fry Day” and “I think you’re egg-cellent!”

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO:

We are in our activity routine of Girl Scouts, dance, soccer, and cross country.

We’ve also been continuing the 4th grade school routine of homework, reading, studying, and Travis helping me brush up on the distributive property, so I can help with 4th grade math.

WHAT I’M DREADING:

Nothing at the moment…besides the distributive property.

WHAT I’M WORKING ON:

I saw someone post this on Facebook, and it certainly hit home…especially last week. Hayden had a couple days where he was struggling…tired, overwhelmed by school, etc. I’m so used to trying to find more minutes in my day to get it all done, that I almost didn’t realize that his acting out meant he may have some things on his heart. I took the time to snuggle with him, chat, talk about the book he was reading, and just listen to him. He clearly needed some time with me (or Travis) to get his mind and heart right. We are all doing our best, aren’t we? Kids and adults, alike.

WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT:

I’m excited about our front porch update. Besides decorating the porch for fall, we also got a new front door, porch lights (to be installed next week #Travknowshislimits), and mailbox. We bought this house almost five years ago, and it’s forever a work in progress. I’m excited that we are basically to the point of doing a few things on the exterior that are more cosmetic, but will help update the look and tie into the inside of our home.

“The Mum Man” comes to my husband’s work, and has the best mums for the best price, so I always have Travis buy 3, or 4, or 10. On Sunday, we ran into Home Depot to pick out a new mailbox, and I snagged these two corn stalks (is that what they are called?!). Usually, I get them from the place where I buy the pumpkins, but they didn’t have any last Friday. Now, I’m just ready for the mums to bloom a bit.

WHAT I’M WATCHING/READING:

Over the weekend, I finished two books (one hardback and one on my kindle), and I hope to have my September Book Review posted tomorrow. I started Ask Again Yes and Summer of 69 this past weekend.

As a family, (well, at least the kids and myself) we are excited for the return of Dancing with the Stars, The Goldbergs, and Young Sheldon.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO:

I’ve gotten back into my podcast groove. I still enjoy listening to Willie Geist’s Sunday Sitdown, and have also listened to a few other podcasts recently. I listened to Landyn Hutchinson’s interview (if you don’t follow Living with Landyn on Insta, you are missing out) on Living Fully with Mallory Ervin and Caroline Bryan’s (Luke Bryan’s wife) interview on Velvet‘s Edge with Kelly Henderson. The Bryans have had such tragedy in their lives with losing so many loved ones that Caroline’s interview was both heartbreaking and inspiring.

WHAT I’M WEARING:

I usually don’t buy much during the summer Nordstrom sale, but I did snag this jacket on sale ($55) at the end of the summer, and I can’t wait to wear it #comeonmothernature Maybe by October, I will be able to pull it out of the closet.

WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND:

Sit down for this. Very shocking news. I will most likely be at a cross country meet and a soccer game this weekend. #likemostweekends I’m sure I will also be doing laundry, meal planning and prepping and getting in a Homer snuggle or two.

WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

Fall activities like fall break (amen!) and hopefully our annual trip to the pumpkin patch for the kids to each get their pumpkins to carve, run around and play, as well as that time of the year when I buy one dozen apple cider donuts and only share six of them with the rest of my people.

I hope you are having a great week and make sure to check out Shay and Sheaffer’s posts today.

Take care,

Jen

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