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!

APA Accredited

We celebrated a HUGE professional milestone for Kevin and it felt like a HUGE milestone for our family and our community.  You may remember back to 2021 when we relocated for his job.  He was hired to found a Clinical Psychology PsyD Program at University of Evansville and to get it accredited ASAP.

It was a huge undertaking.  All signs pointed to it being too much to tackle in a short amount of time.  He has spent the past five years working so hard, stressing, planning, prepping and praying for his program.

He hired a great team of people.  Accepted 4 classes of incoming grad students.  Moved mountains to get his program up for accredidation last Spring and for him to receive the news that they are now accredited is so exciting.  It wasn't possible for this to happen any sooner and many people thought it would take way longer.  But with God on our side and big dreams, exciting things are happening for them.  This means better job opportunities for his students, really great students being interested in joining his program and really cool opportunites for his students and his team in the years ahead.

We celebrated with the faculty and then had a student celebration last week.  Everyone at the university is just as excited as we are.  It's a big deal for the university to have a graduate program be APA accredited.

A big milestone for our family!

A really excited crew of students and faculty!

Way to go, Kev!!  His big milestone made it on the university President's agenda for his back to school address.  I am excited to see what doors this opens for his students and the people of our community.  Their teaching clinic sees lots of kids and adults needing assessments and therapy.  Big things ahead!

We'll probably keep celebrating all year long!

Charcuterie Dip

You know I'm a big fan of charcuterie boards.  I don't make them as often anymore, but my family always enjoys them.  I saw the idea of charcuterie dip floating around the internet and knew I had to give it a try.

You gather all of your favorite charcuterie board items, drizzle some dressing and put it on top of your favorite crackers or bread.

You'll need one baguette.

Dip:

Extra sharp white cheddar cheese

A block of Parmesan cheese.

Your favorite salami.

Your favorite pepperoni.

Your favorite green olives.

(I tried the ones in the picture, but we decided the regular pimento stuffed green olives were better)

Sweet gerkin pickles.

Olive oil.

Balsamic vinegar.

Chop it all into small bite sized pieces.  Add everything to your taste.  I used a handful of each ingredient and then a drizzle of the dressings.  Give it an hour or so to marinate for the best flavors.  This recipe is best enjoyed within a couple hours of making it.  It doesn't look quite so yummy on day 2.

Slice your bread thin and toast it.

I also think an herby cracker or a salt and vinager chip would be so yummy with this dip!

We all loved this charcuterie dip!  Some preferred more olives and some more pickles.  I'm going to make this again for game day snacks or to take to a tailgate party.  It would really be fun for an at home date night, bookclub or dinner with friends.

School Lunch Box Inspiration

We are back in the swing of things packing school lunches every day.  And by we, I mean me.  I shop, prep and pack all the lunches for myself and the kids every school day.  They love having all their favorite things in their lunch box and I am still motivated to give them a big hug from home in the middle of their school day.

Here are some favorite meals from the first few weeks of school.

Almonds, pesto pasta, cold pasta, cashews and turkey meat sticks.

Pesto dip with Naan bread dippers.  Monster cookie protein bites.

Leftovers!  I'm trying to use up leftovers in all of our lunches.  Kevin grilled for us so I chopped up the brats and jalapeno cheddar sausages for their lunch boxes.  Pumpkin spice donuts and candy.  Milano mango cookies and Cosmic brownies have all been a hit.

We had breakfast for dinner so I packed leftover pancakes and fruit in their lunch boxes.

I baked mini banana muffins that were perfect for lunch boxes.

Homemade Uncrustables, white chocolate + cinnamon protein bites, fruits, veggies, bars and their favorite candy.

What are your kids liking in their lunch boxes?  I'd love some new ideas!