JOYS of the Week

Happy Friday!  Hope you've had a great week. 

I'm excited to share the joy filled moments of our week with you today.

We've loved gardening and working on our landscaping this year.  It's nice to be pulling weeds and taking care of our plants without sweating.  Our cone flowers are having one last hurrah and our yard is covered in these beautiful red leaves.

I picked up these plaid pumpkins at Target this week.  I didn't think I needed any new pumpkins this year, but I couldn't resist these plaid beauties.  I love picking up unique home decor that catches my eye.  A few new items every year add up to a really great collection over time.

Have you tried this S'more cereal yet??  It's amazing.  Go buy a big box this weekend.  My kids and I can't stop eating it.

I finished reading Be The Gift by Ann Voskamp and loved it.  The pages are filled with thought provoking messages to inspire you to do things to bless others.  It's motivating, inspirational and compelling.  I loved the message, the beautiful photography throughout and the list of acts of kindness in the back of the book are perfect.  There are so many simple ways to show others you care.  Voskamp does a great job of inspiring you to use your time, talents and passions to serve God.  She talks about giving the gift of presence and gives tons of real life examples for how you can be there for others.  I loved her outlook and think this book would be great as a daily devotional or a book to read in just a few sittings.  There are so many elements that would be fun to discuss with a Bible Study or a book club.  I read this book on my own, but found myself wanting to talk about it with others.  I'm going to leave it out on my coffee table as a reminder of the message of blessing others.  I'd highly recommend this book.
*I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review of it.

We did family pictures with my side of the family.  9 kids + 8 adults and we had a mostly great time.  The men grumbled a bit and the kids played in between poses.  I think it was our best family pictures yet.  I'm hoping we got a great picture of my little family for our Christmas cards.

We got to celebrate my mom's birthday together and it was a delicious time.

 My in laws hosted a fun Fall bonfire.  I loved helping decorate and the kids loved all the pumpkins.

 My sister had us over to play and cookie taste test.  I'm happy to do that anytime :)  The kids did a quick costume try on session to show off their costumes since we won't be together on Halloween.

We've been on the hunt for great nightgowns and Kohls came through for us.  They had these DARLING sets - one for her and one for her bunny.  She also got some new slippers. They had tons of cute character pjs right now.

Grocery shopping with this guy makes me smile... unless he's tossing my food out of the cart like a wild man.  

I first mentioned Grilling Cheese a couple of weeks ago with my Hello Fresh review.  I had some amazing grilled cheese tacos and I finally found the Grilling Cheese in stores!  It was at Meijer in the fancy cheese section for under $5!!  I can't wait to make some tacos with this.

 Our Children's Museum has science class twice a month.  The pumpkin volcano was a huge hit!

I asked Fletcher to bring me a few books to read before bed.  He picked out his top 15 or so :)

This week on Polka-Dotty Place:

Monday: Aldi Haul & Favorites
Tuesday: Caramel Apple Crisp
Wednesday: 6 Must Dos When Traveling with Kids

I'm linking up with my friend Beth at Our Pretty Little Girls today along with my usuals

 ThoughtsforThursday,

HighFiveforFriday, FiveonFriday, and Momfessionals