So there are weeks I bounce into Friday, obviously tired and SO ready for the weekend. But still bouncy. You guys, this week is not like that. I feel like I’m dragging myself inch by inch towards the weekend. Anybody else?

I’ve totally gone radio silent here these last couple weeks while I’ve been working like crazy on on a big publication for our school’s version of the PTA and all leftover moments on new designs for my Etsy shop. It’s been a couple weeks without bedtimes before midnight (or 1:30!) and this little lifeline was helping me through the last half of this week…

until I proceeded to spill it all over the couch. Obviously.

Ross just gets me.

I’m ready for you weekend. Haha! Like always, I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea for Friday Favorites!

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I have some brand new Christmas designs up in my shop just in time for the season!

As always, all of them are completely customizable with color or wording. Especially this family rules sign! If you have something fun you want to add to it, I’d be happy to do that for you!

I love this countdown to Santa sign. Just print, frame and use a dry erase marker to countdown the days with your kids on the brim of Santa’s hat!

These all work great as gifts for family, friends or teachers. If you are looking for gifts for grandparents or mother-in-laws, this family tree design is perfect.

I also love a family name sign as a gift for friends, grandparents or newlyweds! Just download, send to a local printer, frame and gift!

And of course, any of my dry erase calendars would be perfect gifts for any mom or woman in your life! I don’t even know what I would do without ours to keep all 6 of our schedules, what’s for dinner each night, school events, etc. in my head!

From now through next Sunday, November 26 – use code TISTHESEASON20 for 20% off your order!

So many more in the works! P.S. I also take custom orders! If you have something in mind but don’t see it in my shop, I’d love to create it for you! Contact me through my shop or email me at lovingourmessy@gmail.com

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I saw these at our grocery store this week and had to snag a box. I’m not sure how you can go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter. They were everything I wanted them to be. I’m not a big breakfast person so I had these as a midnight snack this week which actually was the perfect choice. I’m hoping these are in store permanently and not a seasonal product! Is anybody else in love with these?

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We took advantage of an early out at school to get outside and enjoy a beautiful fall day! We love getting outside every chance we can but super cold November weather and it getting dark so early now is giving all of us a bit of cabin fever. Our big beautiful tree in our backyard finally is starting to lose its leaves so I thought we’d go play for awhile and then rake up some leaves while it was warm.

We definitely played. And played. And played.

I started filling up some leaf bags while they ran around but it turns out the leaves inside the bags were way more fun to play with than the millions on the ground. And it’s true. If you cover your ears when I look at you, I can’t see that you have ripped open the leaf bag and pulled a bunch out. Haha!

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When we bought our house last summer, I absolutely loved the space and it was clear that the old owners did a great job taking care of the house. It was also clear though, that we have very different design aesthetics so we are slowly going through and updating everything to our preferences. Our front door and shutters were a dark brown and it drove me kind of crazy because of how dark it made the house look. We repainted the door and shutters and a little paint has made such a HUGE difference!

We were limited in color choices to keep it coordinating with the brick parts of our home but I still love how it came out. It’s not easy to find time for DIY projects with four kids but little by little (slow as sloths) we are crossing things off!

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I’m excited for this new Advent Devotional that I found. I’ve had a hard time finding quiet time lately with how crazy things have been. I absolutely need a jump start into Advent this year! I chose this one because it says it has ideas for family activities and discussions too. Are there any Advent Devotionals that you have tried with your kids and love or ones just for you?

Those are my favorites this week! I’m looking forward to reading everyone else’s. I hope you have the very best weekend!

Happy Friday! In my house, we are officially feeling the beginning of the holiday season and loving it! We have our thankful turkey going, we are getting ready to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with Josh’s family next weekend and I’m starting to watch all the Hallmark Christmas movies I can get.

Just like every Friday, I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea for Friday Favorites!

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Last weekend, we had family pictures taken in the cold, cold weather. It was 35 degrees when we started and our kids were such troopers to be marching around outside without coats! I absolutely LOVE how they turned out.

Our sweet photographer is so amazing that you can’t even tell we were freezing and Luke and Reid were really, really crabby.

If you are local and in need of a photographer, send me a message. I would love to recommend her!

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I bought these boots for our photos on a whim and I seriously love them. I’m fairly tall (5’7″) so I struggle to find boots that don’t make me feel like a giant. These have enough of a heel that they are cute but I barely notice it’s there. Plus, I have never owned a more comfortable boot. I wore them all around the zoo the other day and loved them!

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Last weekend we squeezed in all the Halloween fun we possibly could. We finally made it to the huge corn maze I’ve been wanting to go to even though it was freezing. We all bundled up and had a great time!

We made it through the 20 minute maze in only 5 minutes, so we figured we would try the 40 minute maze. An hour and four cold kids later, were still at checkpoint 3 of 8 and realized we made a poor choice. Haha!

We had Halloween movie night and watched Spooky Buddies. It was actually really cute and a little spooky without being too scary for our littlest boys.

The older boys and Josh and I hit up a Halloween parade and lucked out to find a perfect spot that was always thrown gobs of candy. Somehow, we only got a few trick-or-treaters on Halloween which ruined my plan for giving out the tons of candy we did not need to keep. I hid a ton of it in the freezer to keep myself away from it! (I clearly have no self control.)

We carved our pumpkins and watched football together on Sunday.

It was the coldest Halloween here since 2002 so our trick-or-treating was cut a little short but we still all had a great Halloween!

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I’m a brand new contributing writer for Twiniversity and I wrote a post for them last week on 5 Simple Ways to Keep the Spark Alive in Your Marriage. Even though it’s written from our perspective of having twins, it absolutely applies to any couple in the trenches of raising children in any number ;). Josh and I have definitely struggled during different seasons of life with our children to find time for each other. We are always a constant work in progress!

We snuck in a shot of us while the boys were running around like crazy during our family photos. I love having pictures just the two of us.

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Every year I sign up for Allrecipes Pie Countdown emails. They email you a pie recipe a day from November 1 through Thanksgiving Day. I always bring pies to Thanksgiving and I look forward to these emails every year for some new ideas! I have gotten some of my very favorite pie recipes from this countdown! Plus, I would never say no to 23 days of pie. Obviously.

Those are my favorites this week! If you missed my Confessions post on Thursday, you can find it here. I revealed a pretty ridiculous secret … it’s okay if you judge me. I judge me too. 😉

Hope you have the very best weekend!

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Hey! Hey! It’s Friyay! My kids are on fall break for the next few days so we have been decorating pumpkins, filling our front windows with paper spiders and bats and cramming in all the pre-Halloween fun we can. Because all this silly stuff is what memories are made of. 😉

It’s hard to believe that this is the last Friday in October already! Next week we are officially in the holiday season and I can’t wait! Like always, I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea for Friday Favorites!

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So please don’t hate me for bringing Christmas shopping up already. Remember- I absolutely respect the turkey, but I wanted to put this out there before your list making is really started and it’s too late. A couple years ago, I found this awesome free gift app called Santa’s Bag. We buy for a lot of people every year, plus two of our boys and our nephew have birthdays right around Christmas. Keeping track of gifts always leaves me totally overwhelmed!

This app lets you enter a budget and divide it among your recipients. I even include everything for the season like birthday and Christmas gifts, Christmas cards, stocking stuffers, gifts to donate to local charities, etc. You add in the gifts, cost and what stores you plan to purchase so that you can sort your master list by any of those categories. I love that it easily helps me to budget and that I can walk into any store on my list and have a list of presents I need to buy sorted in front of me. You can mark the status of each gift: need to buy, purchased, and wrapped and sort that by list too!

This is a screenshot of my app dashboard with last years gifts still on it. This app is free (with a Pro version upgrade to archive all your gifts every year if you choose) and I have not found a better or easier Christmas gift app. I just love it!

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This week we had our school’s annual Trunk or Treat and the kids had a blast. We decided to pass out candy this year and loved getting to see all the adorable kids in their costumes.

The boys were all different Ninja Turtles this year so I attempted the mom’s version of April (I was not busting out booty shorts but thank you) from the Ninja Turtles and Eli and I made Josh a last minute Shredder helmet to wear. I feel like we did pretty good for random things we had at home and an hour while the littles were napping.

Caleb and Eli immediately came home, dumped out their bags and sorted their candy. Does anyone remember doing this when they were younger? My sister and I would trade things we didn’t like. Haha!

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Speaking of Halloween fun, I love getting in the spirit of the holidays with themed books for stories before bed. Room on the Broom is our very, very favorite Halloween story! We got a bunch from the library this year hoping to find a new favorite but none of them compared. This one is the best!

We just got these two new ones for Thanksgiving this year. Turkey Trouble and 10 Fat Turkeys are both super cute too. Great choices to add to our collection!

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Everyone was off school yesterday and we were enjoying a quiet part of the afternoon while Reid and Luke were napping. I was working in another room for a little bit while the older boys were watching a show on their tablets. I walked back in to check on them and they had both moved from the separate couches where they were sitting to share that big chair and cuddle under the blanket together. Those two really are the best of friends. I love seeing them interact and am so grateful that God blessed us with them both so close together. I hope they always have this relationship as they grow.

Speaking of best friends, these two crack me up! When we were going inside from playing the other day, Luke was having trouble getting his shoes off and apparently Reid stepped in to help him. He would pull on Luke’s shoe, lose his grip and fall over and they would both laugh hysterically. They did it over and over. I couldn’t help but laugh and take pictures. 😉

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Finally, a little funny to round this week’s favorites out. I saw this on Pinterest and was rolling laughing. This is SO me! We have all this amazing Halloween candy in the house and those Snickers bars are my weakness. The kids walked in the other day and this was exactly my face. Hahaha! I said to Josh, remember when I used to enjoy my stolen Halloween candy in peace? Those days have passed!

Also, if you missed my What’s Up Wednesday post this week you can find it here.

I hope you all have the very best Halloween weekend!

Happy Friday everyone!

We’ve had a great week but a busy one around here. In true Iowa fashion, we started the week off above 80 degrees blasting the air conditioning in the car after school pick up for my first grader who was “SOOO hot Mom”. Now, as I write this on Thursday the high is 60 and all my kids are freezing. I’m refusing to turn the heat on based on principal but I may be caving soon with a low of 54 tonight…

Anyway, it’s Friday and I’m pretty darn happy about it no matter what the temperature outside is. We have a lot of fun planned for this weekend including a Saturday full of rainy, chilly soccer games. I’m down for whatever as long as I’m with this crew of mine.

As always, I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea for Friday Favorites!

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Because I seriously cannot get enough of fall this year, we went to check out a new pumpkin patch last weekend. You know those ones where you pay way too much money just for admission and then all the extra fun stuff and food is added to that. We have generally avoided those because activities for our family of 6 adds up quickly! This year we thought our kids were the perfect age to try it out.

You guys. We really pumpkin patched HARD and had the best time! We stayed the entire day and did every activity at least once.

Now that Reid and Luke are 2, it’s like they are full blown kids. These two just ran around doing just about everything the older boys did.

Corn mazes are always my favorite so we saved it for last. Right as we were getting ready to buy tickets (for a bajillion dollars), someone told us that this corn maze was so big it usually took over an hour to get through. My tired kiddos were NOT having it. 😉  An excuse to go again!

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In my favorites post last week, I talked about genius meal planning/grocery tips that I got from other mommas. Taking their advice, I ordered groceries online for pick up on Friday from our local grocery store. It was seriously amazing. I drove home with a car full of kiddos and groceries and no grocery store meltdowns were had or packages of blueberries were thrown (I’m still not over it).

I caught a big sale on Honeycrisp apples which are my absolute FAVORITE this time of year. Look at the size of these apples they gave me! I swear I have a normal person sized hand, it’s the size of the apple that is making it look like a tiny toddler hand! I ordered 10 not knowing how huge they would be and we have been munching on them all week.

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Some people had a great high school experience and some not so much but I have been blessed with some of the very best life-long friends that I met in high school. These two girls were in town this weekend and we were able to meet for breakfast. They were two of my best friends in high school, bridesmaids in my wedding and two of the people that know me the best in the world. They are family to me and I just love them! In typical mom life, I had to run out of breakfast early to make it to one of my kiddos soccer games but I was so happy to get to spend some time with my favorites! There aren’t that many people in my life that know me as Amy and not as Amy, Josh’s wife or Caleb, Eli, Luke and Reid’s mom. It was some much needed girl time!

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Does anyone else have some serious Paw Patrol fans in their house? Eli used to be a huge fan of Paw Patrol a couple years ago and has now passed all his toys and books on to Reid and Luke who have taken over the obsession even though they have never actually seen the show. Haha! We got them these sweatshirts on a whim for their birthday and they love them! I tried to get a pictures of them with the sweatshirts on but I swear those two never stop moving. They are the cutest! We found Chase here and Rocky here.

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It seems like it’s the season of brand new adorable babies everywhere I look! After bringing our twins home, we were in serious survival mode and were so grateful to our friends and neighbors for showering us with meals. I love to repay the favor to new moms!

If you want to bring a meal but just don’t know what to make, check out my post on my favorite meals to bring to new moms! They are all easy to put together and great for even picky eaters. Whenever I bring one of these, I always make double and keep one for us too! 😉

I’m excited to read the rest of the favorites this week! I hope you all have the best weekend!

I’d love to connect on social media. Keep up with us on instagram here!

Hey Friday. I’ve been waiting for you to get here! We had a great week and it seems to be finally feeling like fall around here! All the kids rooms are a giant mess because I got out all the fall clothes (Hello! It’s October!) and then we had to pull all our summer clothes back out. I’m ready to finally pack them all away!

Today I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea for Friday Favorites!

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At my mom’s group meeting this week, the topic was meal planning tips and tricks. Let me tell you. Some of these ladies have it figured out! I’ve always been a meal planner but lately with how crazy things have been, it’s become a chore I dread. I cannot seem to find a time of the week to consistently go to the grocery store and end up there during the weekend when I would much rather be home with my crew. I somehow always am running to several stores most weeks because I try to get everything for the best quality at the best price. I have started to loathe shopping for groceries.

A couple other mommas shared that they meal plan for roughly an entire month at a time (I usually only do a week at a time). Once a month, they shop for all the non-perishable items and pantry staples for meals for the entire month at one or two stores. The weeks in between they place smaller orders of fresh produce and perishables for pick-up or delivery at our local store and never have to worry about fitting in when to grocery shop on those weeks. They catch meat sales as they come up, buy a ton for the month, portion it out and freeze it. Oh and the best part is, only once a week (if that) do they have to bring their kids grocery shopping.

Seriously. Life changing advice for me. Today’s only the 6th of October so you better believe I’m going to attempt this for the rest of the month.

We all brought go-to recipes to share and this one was mine – Crockpot Enchilada Quinoa from Moms with Crockpots. It’s the perfect dump and go slow cooker meal when we have a busy night ahead. We top ours with cheese,chopped green onions and sour cream. It’s really good!

P.S. Anybody have any tricks for taking two year old twins to the store with me? We had a blueberry catastrophe one day and I am a little traumatized to try again…

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This week, I blogged my last post for my Twin Birthday Series- a recap of our train themed second birthday party. My twins are obsessed with trains right now and walked around the party constantly saying “Choo Choo!” We had so much fun! With my older boys, the second birthday party is the last time I got to choose the theme so I definitely took advantage and chose something easy and fun!

In case you missed it, here’s the rest of my Twin Birthday Series.

Week 1: Best Twin Birthday Party Themes

Week 2: How to celebrate birthdays for two!

Week 3: Two year old Gift Guide

Week 4: Two year old Update

Week 5: Train Theme Second Birthday Party!

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I’ve always been an Iced Pumpkin Spiced Latte girl in the fall. I’ve tried the Salted Caramel Mocha and it’s not really my thing. BUT this week I tried their new Maple Pecan Latte and I think it’s almost better than the Pumpkin Spice. I don’t even know what possessed me to try it because I’m not a big maple or a big pecan fan but it doesn’t even matter. It’s delicious. If you haven’t tried it, you really should.

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Reid and Luke have recently developed a love of Daniel Tiger. They love playing with small toys that they can take places (Church, soccer games, in the car, etc) in their tiny toddler backpacks so got them this set of the Tiger family. They are completely smitten. Luke carries Baby Margaret and Tigey with him everywhere in his pocket. When he goes to bed they sit on his dresser and they are the first thing he grabs in the morning. #Momwin

We also got them this Daniel Tiger Family book which was the perfect companion.

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I shared a little piece of my heart this week when I wrote about parenting my sweet middle child. We all have a child who we butt heads with more than others and I struggled for a long time to try to figure out how to be the mother that all my children needed.

Hardly ever do we get to really see God’s whole plan for us or can even attempt to understand it. He knew what our family needed when we didn’t and I think Eli was the one I most NEEDED. For me to become the mother He knew I could be. Each of my four children need different things from me and I learn different things from each of them. But my beautiful, strong willed, sweet, ‘most difficult’ child? Eli has taught me the most.

If any of you out there have similar struggles, I hope you will read and learn something from my experience that can help you with yours.

That wraps up my favorites this week! We have a weekend full of soccer and fall festivities ahead of us. I’m excited to hang out with my favorite people non-stop! 😉

Hope you have the very best weekend!

You can find me on Instagram here or on Pinterest here!

Hey Friday. It’s about time you got here. Plus, it’s not just any Friday. It’s the first day of fall! Which means there is officially no reason for side-eyes from my husband for having our pumpkins out already.

Today, I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea for Friday Favorites!

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My new fall candles are absolutely a FAVORITE. I have Autumn Wreath, Apple Spice and Spiced Pumpkin. They are all amazing but Autumn Wreath is my hands down favorite.

My husband finished our fireplace remodel last weekend just in time for me to fill the new mantle with fall decor. The weather here in Iowa is in the 90’s this week but looking at all our pumpkins makes me feel all sorts of cozy! (This fall print and a bunch of others are available for instant digital download in my Etsy shop!)

For more fall love, check out my Celebrate Fall post.I joined a group of sweet bloggers to bring you the best fall recipes, decor, ideas for family fun and more!

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We spent last Sunday celebrating our sweet boys that turn TWO tomorrow. We had a train themed party fit for two and they had such a great time. My party recap coming next week is the final part in my twin birthday series. This week, I posted a two year old update and shared pictures of our FAVORITE sweet birthday boys.

For the rest of my twin birthday series:

Week 3: The Best Gift Guide for Two-Year-Olds

Week 2: How to make birthdays special for twins

Week 1: Twin Birthday Party Themes

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For our second birthday spectacular last weekend, Josh and I decided to serve Luke and Reid’s favorite things. So we had mac and cheese, hot dogs, grapes and lots of desserts. 😉 I found this recipe for Mac and Cheese in the crock pot by Brown Eyed Baker and it was AMAZING. It tasted like total restaurant quality. I cooked the pasta early in the morning and mixed up everything in two crock pots before we left for Church. When we got back, everything was warm, gooey and ready for guests! It was the easiest party food prep I’ve ever done. (Easy party prep? FAVORITE!)

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We are so into the fight for post season baseball! As of Thursday when I write this, the Cubs magic number is at 8 (the number of Cubs wins or Brewers losses to get into the postseason). With only 10 games left after today and a big series with the Brewers this weekend, it’s getting down to the wire. So suspenseful and SO exciting to watch! Watching my team fight to play October baseball is always a FAVORITE. (Image via CSN Chicago)

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Has anyone watched Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race? Josh and I used to watch it years ago and we just started catching up with the season that is currently airing on the Food Network App. The seasons are short (usually only 5 or 6 episodes) but it is so addicting! A bunch of 3 person teams run different genres of food trucks and travel around the country competing to see who can make the most money. Like a typical reality show, there are random challenges they have to participate in and curve balls thrown along the way. We are loving it! Anything I can cuddle up with at night to watch with my husband that we both enjoy is a FAVORITE in my book.

Okay… that’s it for this week! I hope you all have the very best weekend. When I see you again… we will have two TWO year olds!

Keep up with us on Instagram here!

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Happy Friday everyone! I’ve been loving this short week. Let’s just pledge to make every week 4 days. 😉

Like every Friday, I’m linking up today with Erika, Narci and Andrea for Friday Favorites! This Friday though, since my birthday is on Sunday I’m going to talk Birthday Favorites and all those things I’m coveting this year.

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I’m always on the look out for cute coffee mugs. They had a huge selection that I loved when I was at Hobby Lobby last weekend but I could only find a couple of them online to link to – here and here. Coffee makes me human again in the morning and its the only reason I’m able to enjoy some alone time before my kids wake up. Fun mugs give me some cheer on these sleepy morning!

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I’m LOVE loving these cozy double hooded sweatshirts from Mindy Maes Market. I have a couple shirts from there that I love and I think these are adorable! I look at these sweatshirts and I think fall. The striped ones are calling my name!

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Does anyone else hear angels singing? Haha! I’ve been wanting an apple watch for awhile for a ton of reasons but mainly because of the fitness appeal. I use my phone right now for tracking steps/mileage but I don’t always have pockets or a place to keep my phone on me constantly. I also love that you can get texts and notifications through it so I would be able to keep my phone up and out of the way of toddlers who are constantly hiding it or locking me out of it!

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A few weeks ago, Josh set my beloved Big Bubba water jug on top of the car assuming I would grab it before getting in. I didn’t see it. We drove away and it flew off the car and cracked down the side. (We still disagree on whose fault this actually was. Cough…his…cough.) This is my second Big Bubba that has perished in a fall so I’m thinking it might be time for me to try something a little tougher. I’ve been looking at a lot of water bottles lately but the Hydroflask has my attention. I’m loving the mint and raspberry colors and that handle! I always have my water bottle with me so I need a big one that I don’t have to fill up a million times a day!

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Are these booties not the cutest? I love the color and the fact that they would go with everything.

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These Gap cardigans! I love that they are a bit longer than normal without being trench coat long. I’m too tall to look normal in trench coat long. The berry and gray color are my favorite. They are the perfect wardrobe transition for fall!

I’m noticing that all my birthday favorites have a cozy, fall theme. 😉 I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Keep up with us on Instagram here.

Happy happy happy Friday! And the Friday of a long weekend too! I missed Friday Favorites last week and took the week off the blog to get all my kiddos ready for school. We finally got every last one of our supplies, filled our panty and they were off! They have had a great start to the school year and I’m happy to have a routine again. Even though I sometimes feel like a shuttle service. 😉  So I’m back, refreshed, linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea and ready to share my favorites on this beautiful Friday!

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I’ve been working on adding some new fall decor designs to my Etsy shop. I have two up and two more in the works to list this weekend!

The fall signs are only $5 and available for instant download! Just send to a local printer like Walgreens, frame and display for a wonderful touch of autumn in your home! I also have a couple new family calendars added to the shop. And don’t forget! Anything you see in my shop can be changed to a different color to match your aesthetic if you choose! Fall decor that make my home feel cozy is always my FAVORITE. After working on all these signs, my heart belongs to fall. My pumpkins might just make an appearance this weekend already.

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Today makes it officially the birthday month of half of our family and my very FAVORITE month. My birthday is next weekend then Luke and Reid’s is 13 days after that. We do birthdays big in our house so I’m pretty excited! Pretty sure a cookie cake, zero cooking of the meals and a day filled with football watching is all I really want this year. 😉

We are throwing our twins a train themed birthday party in a couple weeks and party planning/decorating is my happy place (until the night before when I’m scrambling to get everything ready and wonder what in the heck I was thinking obviously). I may be more excited than they are.

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My husband has been coaching both our older boy’s soccer teams this fall. The first grade team is at the age where they are starting to really get the game and the rules – and more importantly understand where to kick the ball. The preschool team? It’s like herding a bunch of super adorable, easily distracted cats. No one knows which way to kick the ball and they are having a hard time understanding why you can’t just pick up the ball with your hands and run with it. I’m telling you… if you haven’t watched preschool soccer before, you really should. It’s the best thing ever.

Anyway. My husband bought these soccer goals off Amazon to try to give the little ones a direction to kick and the older ones a chance to kick on the goal and practice being goalie. They have been wonderful! We’ve even been using them in the backyard at home. If you have a soccer loving child- think about these! They fold up in a small bag for easy storage/transport!

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Last Friday Josh and the boys built the most epic cardboard box fort that we have ever built. Josh’s work had just received a bunch of new office chairs so he brought all the giant boxes home from work for the boys to play with. Together they built a giant castle fort complete with a drawbridge, towers, windows, etc. All of them played out in that fort all evening long.

We left it out for them to play with the rest of the weekend and then Sunday night before recycling was picked up, they all played Godzilla and smashed it flat. It was so funny! The joy of free cardboard boxes – FAVORITE.

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We have gotten a lot of zucchinis from our garden this year and we were loving it. I love to roast zucchini as a dinner side- sliced with just a little EVOO and salt on it at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. We also put it in spaghetti sauces or make little zucchini pizzas with the big ones. I have to say though, now that we are towards the end of the season my family is a little zucchinied out (I know I made up that word). Until I found Shay’s recipe for zucchini bread a couple weeks ago. I made one loaf to try it out which was literally approved and gone in seconds. Then I started making some double batches of it to use up our zucchini! It tastes awesome and freezes great (we wrapped ours in foil and then put in a ziploc freezer bag). My first grader has loved taking it to school as a morning healthy snack. If you have any extra zucchini in your garden or not, this recipe is a must try! FAVORITE for sure.

And as a little bonus favorite, if you missed my Best Twin Birthday Party Ideas post and have twins or siblings that have a birthday close together you should check this one out. There are choices for two boys, two girls and even one of each.

Hope everyone has the very best long weekend with your people.

Keep up with us on Instagram here!

Happy Friday! This week kicked my butt. I’m pretty sure this has been me since Wednesday.

On the plus side, I was the crazy lady waiting outside Target on Saturday for them to open so I could finish school shopping in peace. At least that part is done! I’m ready for a chill weekend so we can relax and get ready for a week filled with back to school activities.

Today, I’m linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea today for Friday Favorites!

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Obviously this has to be my first FAVORITE of the week. For Mother’s Day this year, my boys got me the Cubs W flag that I’ve been (not so) secretly wanting. Finally, this week we hung our flag pole and our beautiful flag has gotten to fly several times already! This last month of baseball has been really exciting and the Cubs division is in quite a race. As of today, we are in first place but just by a hair and everybody is fighting to get to play October baseball! It makes me so happy to see this beauty flying! Go Cubbies! (Does anyone else see the clear rays from heaven shining down on it in this picture? ;))

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Josh and I both love to read (whenever we can squeeze in some time!) and we are determined to pass on that love of reading to our boys. My family always gifts books with toys for holidays so we have quite a collection of some amazing children’s books in our house. Check out our Top 10 favorites in yesterday’s post. We chose some bestsellers that are probably familiar to you and some that are lesser known but all of the picks will not disappoint. Some teach lessons, some are just for fun and ALL of them you will love as much as your kids!

Also, in this week’s Tuesday Talk I shared some random fun facts about me! If you are curious about my similarities to Chandler Bing, how I met my husband in a way I never imagined, how many sets of twins are in our immediate family and my current dream job – this post is for you! 😉

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When I was at Target on Saturday for some early-morning school shopping, I obviously had to run through the clothes. I found my FAVORITE cute shirts on clearance because Target is getting rid of the whole Mossimo brand! A version of this shirt has been a part of my weekday momiform almost daily for a couple years so you better believe I bought every color shirt in my size that was left. I’m so sad that they won’t be available anymore but I think my newest stash will hold me over for awhile. If you are a fan of these shirts too, run to your nearest Target and buy up all you can! I found them at Target.com earlier in the week and now they aren’t available online anymore to link to.

I hear that the new brands that will replace these are just as awesome – fingers crossed!

four

As we are nearing the end, I can say this summer has been a hands-down favorite. This has been my second summer home with my kids. Last year, our twins were only 9 months old, needed two naps a day and weren’t walking yet so we were really limited in how we could spend our days. This year, everybody was old enough to have fun and hang outside without eating grass and chewing on sticks and we had a blast together.

Watching them enjoy their days and play all together has been such an amazing privilege. We’ve gone on countless bike rides, visited Daddy at work, enjoyed different camps, swim lessons and more back yard playing than one can describe!

Summer you have been so good to us this year! We are sad to see you go. What a difference a year makes!

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Finally, if you missed my Home Sweet Home free printable click here! It’s perfect to print and put in a cute frame from Hobby Lobby or Michael’s for your entryway or living room in your home. It can be printed 8 x 10 or 16 x 20!

Hope you all have the best weekend! I’m excited to read all the end of summer favorites today. See you next week!

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