Lucky to Have a Sick Day with You

Leo came home from school on Monday and kept saying his mouth hurt.  He was sluggish and cried easily.  I couldn't see anything wrong in his mouth, but it was obvious that he didn't feel good.  

I was on high alert as all working moms would be during the school week.  We kept a close eye on him all evening and night.  I made a game plan with Kevin since my day the following day was the lightest, easiest to miss.  He'd help get the kids to school, I'd pick up and stay home with Leo if needed.

I stayed up late to write emergency sub plans for my assistant (really just added in all the extra details to my own plan book in case she was the one teaching the following day), woke up early to call into work since Leo didn't sleep well, sent texts to my team, email all the people and make sure my school day was fully planned out so that I could give Leo my full attention at home.

5-7am was stressful, but we did it!  Olive wasn't feeling great.  Leo didn't sleep well and woke up worse.  They both stayed home with me.  Fletcher wasn't thrilled to miss out on staying home but he went to school with Kevin doing drop off.  We rearranged pick ups.  And worked on all the chores/projects at home that needed attention.

I ordered a grocery delivery to stock up on popsicles, sore throat medicine, cold stuff and some favorite foods to be delivered in the morning.

We watched movies, snuggled and enjoyed a day at home together.

Leo looked at me and said "I'm so lucky to get to have a sick day with you!"  That was a good reminder for me to take the sick days even if they are a lot of work and that I can still do a job that I love and be the kind of mom that I want to be.

I got a glimpse of what the cats do all day.  We line up our backpacks at night, but since we were all home the cats took advantage of the cozy sleep spots.

Thank goodness for grocery delivery.

I surprised Fletcher with fun field trip lunch options for his field trip the next day.

It was the first day of Fall so I made sure to make this staple snack mix.  Olive managed her school work and I helped Leo work on his.  I kept close tabs on my school emails and parent app messages.

I delivered hot chocolate to cozy snuggle spots.

And finished the day with homemade cookies and running back to school to get Fletcher.  I did a quick reset of my classroom, got my Wednesday basket ready to go for the following day, set out morning work and got my classroom ready for the following day.  Then we headed home and it was time for taco night.

Thinking of all my mom friends finding themselves in similar boats this Fall and Winter.  You can do it!

Nana is 90!

We got to celebrate Kevin's Nana turning 90 over the weekend!  What a big milestone!  She worked so hard with her girls to plan the perfect gathering for family and friends.  She had relatives come in town and we all gathered at a cute country church to celebrate her.

Nana loves to cook for her family, makes all your favorite food, shares her recipes and is thrilled when you call or visit her.

She decorates for the holidays, is crafty and a great gardener.  Her house is filled with ceramic decorations that she hand painted years ago.

Nana still lovse to host everyone at her house, she always looks so cute and she makes you feel like the most important person in the room when you are together.  Nana always wants to know more about you!  She's a treasure!

I have known Nana since I was little.  I'd go to her house when Kevin and I were dating.  They'd host holidays and an epic Halloween bonfire out in the country.  She welcomed me into the family long before I was officially in the family.  We always enjoy our time with Nana.

She's so easy to celebrate.  I want to be just like Nana when I grow up.

I loved looking through all the old pictures.

September Favorites

Happy Friday!!  I've got a September favorites recap for you today.  

The best parts of this month are:

1. Flag Football has been so fun and SO HOT.  The Midwest and probably where you live have been roasting lately.  We have had to change up practices and have 8am games.  This is how hot it was for our 8am game one Saturday morning.  But we forget it all with some celebration donuts.

2. My little brother joined the 40 club.  We got to celebrate with him!

3. Peanut loves a good backpack snuggle session.

4. Olive got a surprise Fall boo basket delivery from a friend.

5. Peanut on a pumpkin blanket.  We are all ready for cooler weather.

6. We celebrated Kevin's mom's birthday.

7. Fletcher and I love a grocery store run to our favorite store - Schnucks!  We grabbed a few extra things for the week and some skeleton decorations for Halloween for the boys.

8. Pumpkin is the most handsome guy.

10. Dollar tree surprised me with this cute football garland.  It was $1.50/garland and I got three.  It worked perfect for our team - Notre Dame and it was so much cheaper than one I had seen at HomeGoods.  I think that one was smaller and not as cute for $15.  It looks really cute on my mantle.  I think they had pumpkins, mushrooms and football garlands in the Fall section.

11. Peanut is the sweetest alarm clock. He starts purring as soon as he hears your alarm go off.

12. Leo surprised us an lost a tooth at school! I  don't think it was even that wiggly, but he came home with a tiny tooth treasure box.

13. Bookclub at Pangea!  My bookclub met over a delicious dinner.  I always look forward to our monthly dinners.

14. Leo doesn't wantto listen to me telling him to brush his teeth, but he was absolutely listen to the tooth fairy about brushing his teeth.  Go figure!

15. More flag football!  Not quite so hot.  Thank goodness!  This was Leo's best game yet - one touchdown, two pulled flags, he's getting faster!

16. Car hang outs.  My kids and probably all kids love a run through their favorite drive thru with some errands and alone time with mom.  Olive's choice was Chick-Fil-A with errands at Five Below, Target and Sams.  We got caught up on all the things.

17. Did you see my recipe for Twice Baked Potato Bites?  They were so good that I made them twice!

18. We don't do scary Halloween decorations, but Leo loves to look at them in stores.  Once the temps get under 90, we'll get out the pumpkin decorations.

19. When you learn about a new lip product with a friend and then she buys you both matching lipstick to try.  This was pretty.  The color lasted for 24hours, but the texture/dry feeling on your lips might take a minute to get used to.  It never looks dry, but it feels a little dry.

20. Surprise Chick-Fil-A Chicken Minis for your teachers!?  Yes, please!  A sweet student suprised us with these one day this week.  Yum!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  We've got a busy one.  See you back here on Monday.

Linking up with Momfessionals

Brooks & Dunn Neon Moon Tour

When I found out that Brooks and Dunn was coming to our city, I couldn't wait to buy tickets!  Their opener - Tucker Wetmore - was enough to convince Olive to go with me.  They kicked off their Neon Moon tour in Evansville, Indiana!

We headed to the venue extra early.  We got good parking, good merch and saw a few people we knew along the way.  We were also thrilled that the rain stayed away.

Early enough to get a snack and head to our seats.

These brunettes really love his Find Me a Brunette song and he put on a great show!  We had no idea that he was amazing on the piano, he sang all of our favorite songs and we'd love to see him again.

I grew up on 90s country so hearing Brooks & Dunn sing all of their hits was so nostalgic.  It was a fun crowd of young and older people singing along with all of their hits.  Neon Moon was a classic.  They were so appreciative and humble.  It was refreshing.  I'm so glad we can both say we have seen Brooks & Dunn in concert.

Now we need to figure out what concert we are going to next!

Twice Baked Potato Bites

I created a delicious recipe over the weekend and couldn't wait to share it with you.  We were having game day appetizers for dinner on Saturday.  We had fried pickles, veggies, chili, party pizzas and I added twice baked potato bites to the menu.

I had everything I needed on hand and they turned out to be the yummiest side dish/appetizer.

You need your favorite kind of potatoes.  I had these baby potatoes.  I baked 22 of them.  It filled a 9x13 pan nicely.  Drizzle them with olive oil and your favorite seasoning (Kinders - The Blend).  Bake at 350 until soft.  I baked mine for about 30 minutes.  Let cool and then cut in half.

Combine sour cream, cream cheese, shredded cheese, some Kinders seasoning - measure with your heart - and stir until it is well combined.

Grab a spoon a scoop out the middles of the potato bites.

Add the middles of the potatoes to the cheese mixture and stir until well combined.

Fill the potato shells with a spoon.  Sprinkle on a little more shredded cheddar to make them pretty.

Bake at 350 until the cheese is melty.  Then broil for a couple fo minutes to get everything toasty.

Add some chopped green onions on top and serve.

These twice baked potato bites were a really yummy addition to our game day appetizer plate.  You need a fork to eat them and they are even better reheated.

I can't wait to make them again soon! Enjoy!