Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone! Today I’m linking up with Shay, Sheaffer and Mel for What’s Up Wednesday!

What we’re eating this week

Sunday – Baked ziti and salad

Monday – Barbeque Chicken Tacos

Tuesday – Taco Tuesday!

Wednesday – Sandwich Bar (We just set out a big bunch of deli meats, toppings, cheese and sandwich buns. Everyone chooses what to put on their sandwiches. My boys LOVE to do this.)

Thursday – Thanksgiving Day! I’m making our very favorite cinnamon rolls for breakfast and I’m in charge of pies for our Thanksgiving celebration. I’m making this apple, this pumpkin and this AMAZING pecan pie. (Seriously that is the best pecan pie recipe I have found. I’ve been making it for years.)

Friday – Pizza Quesadillas (We put sausage, pepperoni and mozzerella cheese in a quesadilla and dip them in pizza sauce!)

What I’m reminiscing about

Last Friday was World Prematurity Day and I posted on Instagram a little thank you to the doctors and nurses who treated our twins when they were born prematurely at 35w4d. After I posted that, I couldn’t stop thinking about that difficult time in our lives and how far we have all come. At the time, my doctor set a big milestone for us to make it to 35 weeks because of the likelihood that they would be born without complications. No one really expected them to need so much intervention. I was completely unprepared for what I was facing emotionally with my babies literally being taken from me and whisked away for emergency care.

Those NICU nurses were true angels in my life as they supported me when I had two babies receiving care and then eventually 3 children at home and one still in the hospital. I will forever remember those women and all they did for our family.

Two years later and thankfully that time is behind us but forever a part of our story!

What I’m loving

I have loved doing our thankful turkey with our family this year! This is the first year that Reid and Luke have been able to really participate in thinking of something they are thankful for every day. Hearing what two year olds are thankful for has been SO sweet (and SO hilarious!). I mean I am also thankful for ketchup so I get it. 😉 Also, Daddy was something that one of them was thankful for when asked almost every day. Those two and their Daddy are besties.

I’m also loving this little turkey! I picked him up from preschool yesterday and all the kids were decked out in these sweet turkey hats they made.

What we’ve been up to

Every year we go to an amazing holiday parade near us that has huge parade balloons. It’s our version of the Macy’s parade and my kids LOVE it.

Unfortunately when you have a parade in November, you have to expect some less than perfect parade weather. That was kind of an understatement this year! It was freezing cold and raining but we stuck it out and had a really great time together.

Elmo was new this year and we knew that Luke and Reid would freak out. They just stood and screamed “ELMO!” at it over and over.

The people walking with the Cookie Monster balloon passed out cookies right around the time that our two year olds were starting to get impatient. They sat on the curb and ate cookies the rest of the parade. 😉 #thankyoucookiepeople

Of course Santa and his awesome car brought up the rear. We went home and had some hot chocolate wrapped in blankets. A great end to a great day!

What I’m dreading

I’m dreading that impossible balance between the desire to go experience holiday things and traditions and the desire to keep our calendar open enough to have time to remember the true reason for the season and the time with our family. I get sort of defeated when I see how full our December calendar really is already! I want to make sure we stay in the moment with each other and avoid as much of that holiday stress as we can. How do you find the balance this time of year? Clearly I need some tips.

What I’m working on

Yesterday for Twin Tuesday, I posted a Twin Mom Gift Guide that’s full of awesome gift ideas for the twin mama on your list!

Also, I have a bunch of new Christmas designs up in my Etsy shop like this one.

If you are looking for a gift for that hard to buy for person, check out my new family tree personalized printable or a personalized family calendar!

What I’m excited about

I mentioned this in my Friday Favorites last week, but I’ve been in need of a serious jump start to my spiritual Christmas preparations so I ordered this Advent Devotional. It’s supposed to be here this week and I’m excited to dive into it.

I also ordered this one for my husband that he has been interested in.

And I’m reading this one with a small prayer group this Advent season!

What I’m watching/reading

I’ve definitely been taking in my fair share of Hallmark movies already this season. I’m sort of embarrassingly excited for the Candace Cameron Bure movie to premiere this weekend. (I mean she’s playing twins! I’m pretty impressed in your creativity Hallmark.)

My husband and I always watch all the Friends Thanksgiving episodes the week before Thanksgiving. It’s one of my favorite traditions!

What I’m listening to

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday so we always wait until the day after to decorate our house for Christmas, but that rule doesn’t apply to Christmas music. 😉 We’ve already busted out their very favorite Mickey Christmas CD that we will listen to 6 billion more times before December is over. I’m honestly not entirely sure my kids know that ‘Deck the Halls’ doesn’t typically include quacking from Donald Duck in it.

What I’m doing this weekend

Basically just eating and shopping. Next question.

I’m only sort of kidding. We are celebrating Thanksgiving with my family and I will very probably try to take advantage of a bunch of Black Friday deals. I usually try to have my holiday shopping done before December but this year I’m way behind. There’s a holiday event in our area that we are planning to check out and most of all – enjoying our long holiday weekend together with my favorite people!

What I’m looking forward to next month

This is an easy one because of course CHRISTmas! I’m so excited to share this magical time with our children, spend time with family and teach them and experience with them the real meaning of this beautiful season.

BONUS QUESTION: What’s your favorite thing to do with your Elf on the Shelf?

Our boys always find it hilarious when our elf Cookie, plays with their toys. In years past he has made snow angels in cereal with their Super Heros and TP’ed (I don’t even know how to spell that?) our bathroom with some of their stuffed animals.

The first day he comes he always brings donuts for breakfast which is kind of my favorite too. 😉 Can’t wait to see everyone’s elf ideas!

Thanks for stopping by for What’s Up Wednesday! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Keep up with us on Instagram here!

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I’m linking up with Shay, Sheaffer and Mel for What’s Up Wednesday!

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What we’re eating this week

We have Parent-Teacher conferences and Trunk or Treat this week so we’re definitely putting my slow cooker to good use! I love tossing it all in while my kids are napping in the afternoon and coming home to a yummy smelling house and a warm dinner ready to go!

Sunday – Andrea’s Pulled Pork sandwiches + steamed broccoli

Monday – Slow Cooker Chicken Mushroom Stroganoff

Tuesday – Tacos! (My 6 year old has been obsessed with Taco Tuesday lately and I’m completely down with that!)

Wednesday – Hot Ham and Cheese (I’m going to slice up a loaf of french bread, stuff it with ham and sliced cheddar cheese, wrap it in foil and let it warm in my crockpot while we are at Trunk or Treat!)

Thursday – Leftover pork tacos!

Friday – Pizza night!!

What I’m reminiscing about

We went to check out a local museum last weekend when it was pouring rain and our plans for the pumpkin patch were foiled. I wondered if the stuff there would be too old for our kids but they really had a blast.

Josh played with the kids at the infrared light display for a really long time. They loved seeing themselves on the display and could not stop laughing hysterically. Even looking at these pictures makes me laugh remembering it. 😉

We hung out at the ‘take it apart’ exhibit for a long time too. Eli sat and worked on an old VCR and was pretty proud of his screwdriver abilities. I’m pretty sure my kids loved that area because it was a huge mess – just how they like it!

They made Lego cars, built bridges, and played with magnets all afternoon. This little guy refused to give up his safety goggles when we were ready to leave. Clearly he knew how adorable he looked in them.

What I’m loving

That it’s finally starting to feel like fall! The leaves in our trees are starting to turn and we’ve finally put the shorts away for good. (It was so ridiculous- the kids all wore shorts to their soccer games Saturday morning and the next day we were in sweaters and jackets.)

We had a great day at the pumpkin patch and have a porch full of pumpkins. (And yes, that is me inside the children’s barrel ride because he wouldn’t ride alone. Stop judging me.)

On our rainy weekend, the older boys and I made Halloween cookies in festive colors. Can you tell who frosted them all? I had to really let go and let them take over. 😉 I’m not sure if more frosting made it into their mouths or on the cookies.

I’m also loving a warm cup of pumpkin coffee on these chilly afternoons while I’m blogging or working on my Etsy shop.

What we’ve been up to

The end of the soccer season! My sweet Eli really came into his own this season and scored 3 and then 4 goals in the last few games. I just love his enthusiasm and wish I could bottle some of his energy (for my personal use).

We have one more rescheduled game to go and I think we will all be happy to have a little break from sports until after the holidays. I’m looking forward to having some our weeknights and Saturdays back!

We hit up Dunkin Donuts this weekend after Church for a fun Halloween treat! Their spider donuts were a huge hit. And have you had their pumpkin iced coffee? SO good.

What I’m dreading

Honestly, as much as I’ve been loving the cooler fall weather I’m really dreading the bitter cold that is soon to follow. I love getting out with the kids during the day when the older ones are at school and it seems anymore that is the only time I have to exercise. We’ve been enjoying our summer and fall mornings with a walk or jog and I’m sad that will soon be over.

What I’ve been working on

Josh is almost done with our fireplace renovation and I think it looks amazing. I’m so happy with it. We’re taking on the kitchen and dining room next and after accidentally getting sucked into a Property Brothers marathon a couple weeks ago, I’ve convinced us we should knock out a wall. So that should be fun. I’m pretty sure Josh is going to outlaw HGTV in our house now.

I’m also working on giving my Etsy store a little makeover and getting some new things up for the holidays. I just wish there was more hours in the day so I had more time to work! Those hours in between when the kids go to bed and I am too tired for my brain to function anymore somehow go by in a flash. Stay tuned!

What I’m excited about

The kids have fall break coming up so I’m excited to have more time with them this week. I’m hoping we can get outside, do some pumpkin carving, some pumpkin/apple baking and all that fun stuff. Not to mention just having a couple days that we don’t have to run out the door in the morning and can take it slow.

My four boys are going to be Ninja Turtles for Halloween and I’m pretty excited to get them in their costumes so they can finally stop arguing about which turtle they are each going to be once it is on their bodies (check out my instagram for that story).

What I’m watching/reading

I’ve been so terrible with making time for reading lately. I can’t even tell you a book I’ve finished in the last couple months which is so sad!

We haven’t even been watching that much lately either besides playoff baseball. I have so much to catch up on! We have been watching the new season of Survivor though. We never miss that one!

We’ve also been catching up on the new season of Will and Grace. I swear, those people never age. They look just the same as they did years ago!

What I’m doing this weekend

It’s the last weekend before Halloween so I am determined to find a corn maze for us! We hope to catch the Halloween parade and watch Caleb’s last soccer game of the season. We have family pictures this weekend too and I keep hearing there is a chance for snow. So that should be an adventure! 😉

What I’m looking forward to next month

This is an easy one. I’m excited to work on our thankful turkey, celebrate Thanksgiving with our families and keep our holiday traditions!

Bonus question for this month: What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

I wish I had some super amazing secret recipe side dish to share but seriously my very favorite at Thanksgiving is traditional Green Bean Casserole! It has always been my favorite and I pretty much fill half my plate with it every year. I’m excited to see what everyone else has to say about this one!

That’s my What’s Up Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Keep up with us on Instagram here!

Happy Wednesday! Today I’m linking up with Shay, Sheaffer and Mel for What’s Up Wednesday!

What We’re Eating This Week

Somehow this is one of those weeks that we have something going on every single weeknight. With back to school meetings, swimming and soccer practices we need some quick meals this week that can be ready for the kids to eat early and Josh and I to eat later once everything is done. I hate weeks like this but back to school brings all sorts of crazy. Enter slow cooker for the win.

Sunday – Honey BBQ meatloaf, mashed potatoes and cooked carrots

Monday – Tuna Melts and mixed veggies

Tuesday – Slow Cooker Chicken Philly Sandwiches and watermelon

Wednesday – Crockpot BBQ porkchops, baked potatoes and green beans

Thursday – Sweet Corn Chicken Tacos

What I’m Reminiscing About

We took the boys to a local ‘Farm Days’ festival last weekend and we had so much fun. We only planned to stay for an hour or so but ended up being there almost four because there was so much they wanted to do!

We ate a bunch of amazing kettle corn, went on a tractor ride, watched a tractor pull, visited the petting zoo and looked at all the beautiful old school tractors for display. We had the best time together!

They even had an old truck that looked like Mater. My boys saw that and they were sold!

What I’m Loving

My boys are enjoying the start of their school year so much! They are both loving their teachers who have done a great job making all the kids feel welcome and excited for the year.

Caleb has had a little bit of a rough time getting back into the school routine of early bedtimes and wake-ups and remembering what it’s like to have a tired brain at the end of the day! 😉 A lot of his friends from his kindergarten class are not in his class this year so I think he just needs a little extra time to get used to having a new group around. (P.S. No one told me I was going to be super sad on the first day of school dropping him off- I thought that was just kindergarten! I was a mess! I already miss having him home all day.)

My sweet Eli of course jumped into school with both feet and never looked back. He told me I didn’t even need to walk him inside. This one amazes me constantly. I wish I had his no-stress, no-worry, just dive in attitude!

What We’ve Been Up To

Getting back in to the swing of school and fall sports! Josh is coaching both older boy’s soccer teams this season so Luke, Reid and I have taken up residence on the sidelines. Luke tried to impress us all the other day with how many soccer balls he could hold at one time. He walked around like this for a long time!  Haha!

We haven’t had homework yet since school started so we have been enjoying every minute of spending all our afternoons outside waiting for Daddy to get home.

These two are the best of friends and are so happy to see each other at school pick up everyday!

What I’m Dreading

I saw this and immediately knew this was meant for me.

I’m not really dreading anything… more like stressing about how to get it all done! The new school year brings about the start of school and Church activities for us and for the kids. It’s all good things that we love being a part of.. I just always get overwhelmed at the beginning of the year when I see all the deadlines and meetings looming. I used to feel this way at the beginning of a semester in college when I would get the syllabus and panic because it seemed like there was no possible way to get it all done. (It’s a character flaw. Haha!) It will all be fine.

What I’m Working On

I’ve been working on adding some new fall decor designs to my Etsy shop. These are only a couple of the ones I have listed. All of them can be customized to any color if you so choose. 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 fall touch in your home! I also have a couple new family calendars added to the shop.

I’ve also been deep in party planning for our twins who turn two in just a few weeks. In case you missed it, Twin Tuesday this week was all about how to make birthdays special and unique for twins. My husband shared his expertise with us and took over the blog post for the day – he’s a dad of twins and a twin himself! (If you want to know what we are planning for Luke and Reid’s second birthday party.. check out my Pinterest boards!)

What I’m Excited About

I’m excited about getting to spend extra time with these two sweet boys while the older boys are in school. I’m also excited to see how much Caleb and Eli progress at school this year. I feel like the year before kindergarten has so many milestones and growth in different areas and I think my Eli is so ready.

What I’m Watching/Reading

Josh and I have started watching Friends From College on Netflix. There are 8 episodes in the first (and so far only) season and we are on episode 5. (Just got renewed for season 2 btw.) I love me some Fred Savage, Cobie Smulders and Keegan-Michael Key so I had some pretty high expectations. I’m honestly not sure how I feel about it. Clearly, we keep watching it so there is something about it we like – and parts of it are really, really funny. I’ll report back when we are finished with the season.

We’ve also been catching up with This Is Us. We started the season and never picked it back up when it came back from break in the spring. I feel like we are just about the only ones in the universe that didn’t watch religiously every week! We are trying to catch up before it comes back for the new season!

I just started What Alice Forgot and so far I really like it but I’m not far enough into it yet to comment more than that. 😉 I finally finished Lauren Graham’s book Someday, Someday Maybe and I LOVED it. It was a light, easy read that was totally relatable for any women who has ever doubted her path in life.

What I’m Listening To

Now that both older boys are in school for part of the day, I’ve been going on nice long walks with Luke and Reid. I’ve been listening to different podcasts but have really gotten into AfterBuzz Tv’s post-tv show podcasts. They have a huge long list of shows they cover but I’ve been listening to the Suits aftershow and The Bachelor franchise aftershows. Loving them!

What I’m Doing This Weekend

My birthday is this weekend! So I’m hoping a lot of family time, a lot of relaxing, a lot of football (how nice of the NFL to give me kickoff weekend as a gift!), and a lot of yummy food. And coffee!

What I’m Looking Forward to Next Month

While I love the holiday season, September is my very favorite month of the year. I love September for cliche reasons like the start of fall with cooler weather and beautiful scenery, a new tv season premieres, football is back, the fight for the postseason in baseball and I’m in the mood for baking all the things apple and pumpkin. For us though, September also brings my birthday and our twins birthday. It’s just my very favorite month!

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Keep up with us on Instagram here!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I can’t believe it’s already the last Wednesday in July. I’m linking up with Shay, Sheaffer and Mel to chat about everything we’ve been up to lately.

What We’re Eating This Week….

We have quite the busy week this week with the end of summer swim lessons and a special zoo members night in the evening. We haven’t been getting home until after 6:30 so quick and easy is the name of our game this week!

Sunday- Chicken gyros with homemade cucumber tzatziki

Monday – Blue Cheese Burgers and Wedge Salads

Tuesday – Sloppy Joes and steamed broccoli

Wednesday – Paninis with cold veggies/dip

Thursday – Grilled barbeque chicken with pasta salad

Friday- Pizza night!! (#andallthemamassaidamen)

What I’m Reminiscing About…..

We took the boys to a Truck Jamboree a couple weekends ago and they still haven’t stopped talking about all the giant trucks and race cars they saw. They’ve apparently been reinspired to get their Hot Wheels tracks out and have their own Truck Jamborees every day since.

The snow cones were also a big hit with everyone except for Eli who being Mr. Picky insisted on a vanilla flavored snow cone instead of the Spiderman flavor everyone else got. And he hated it. Who is surprised.

What I’m Loving….

This age with our twins! We’re finally having more success getting them to use their words instead of pointing at the air and whining all day long. They are way more into playing together and reading books with us then ever before and I’m loving it! We’ve found some seriously adorable twin books that they are pretty obsessed with and will even sit and flip the pages together and look at the cute pictures.

For my picks of the best children’s books for twins check out this week’s Twin Tuesday post! Twin books are perfect gifts for those who have or are expecting twins and their siblings!

What We’ve Been Up To….

A lot of swim lessons.

A lot of bike rides.

Except when the bike path looks like this…

Soaking up the last of our summer days before life gets crazy again.

What I’m Dreading….

I feel like dreading is kind of a harsh word for my feelings but I’m sort of not looking forward to all the preparation for the start of school this next month brings. We have 5 doctors appointments scheduled in the next few weeks, school registration, and of course the back to school prep!

What I’m Working On….

After the kiddos go to bed every night, we’ve been working on giving our family room a facelift . So far we’ve painted everything, replaced all trim, added a toy closet for storage and are currently working on remodeling the fire place. I never liked the color of it but now it sticks out even more so now that everything else in the room is lighter and brighter. The black mortar just really gets me… so it has to go! I also believe we are single-handedly keeping Home Depot in business right now.

I think we’ve made some serious progress though so far… stay tuned!

What I’m excited about….

I’m excited that this is the last month of the year without football. And it’s almost over! We are counting down the days until Iowa Hawkeye Football is back and of course Bears preseason games.

And we can’t forget the most wonderful time of the year. The hunt for October in baseball, the start of the football regular season, my birthday AND Luke and Reid turn 2. 😉

What I’m watching/reading….

I’m in the middle of two books in two very different genres. Lauren Graham’s Someday, Someday Maybe and The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.  Loving them both!

As for what we’ve been watching, check out my favorite shows we’ve been watching as a couple!

What I’m listening to….

I’m clearly not in charge of my own car radio anymore so we always have this year’s Vacation Bible School CD playing. Last year’s CD was pretty awesome and this year’s came pretty close to being as good. We’re big fans.

What I’m doing this weekend….

We have a few more things left on our Summer Bucket List including finding a new zoo to visit, riding a train and going to a waterpark. So I think we will knock one of those things off the list!

And I’m going to paint the new shutters and front door that I have been putting off for weeks. Hold me to that. Ok?

What I’m looking forward to next month….

I’m not looking forward to the back to school prep but I am excited about getting back into our routine!  I’m excited for the beginning of pumpkin and apple everything season.

Bonus question: What’s your favorite thing about summer?

I feel like everything and everyone just kind of hit ‘pause’ during summer and I love it. We have a break from sports, from school meetings, from homework, from a rigid schedule and it gives me a chance to breathe. I love that I get my older kiddos back from the world for a bit.

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!!

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