Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, Friends!  We are ready for a long weekend after a little bit of a long week.  We're in a good routine with school, everyone is happy to be going and we've found a pretty good rhythm for our days.  Yay!  The best parts of our week were:

1. Blackhawk

We met some friends for a picnic lunch at the airport this week.  Lots of planes were coming and going, but we got a surprise when this Blackhawk helicopter landed.  It was so cool.  The kids were watching it very carefully and then the pilots came over to ask if we'd want a tour of it!  YES!  We headed out to see it up close.  Leo was so excited.  He checked out every light, sat in every seat and had so much fun.  I just hated it that Fletcher wasn't there to see it!  The military pilots and military men were so nice to all of us.

We've been praying hard for all military men, women and families given all the chaos happening in and around Afghanistan recently.  The lives lost are so tragic.  This special interaction was a good reminder of all the real people making real sacrifices for our freedom every single day.

Do you follow Sarah Verardo on instagram (@sarahverardo) - she's an AMAZING mom, wife and advocate for the military.  Her husband was catastrophically wounded in war and she shares about how the recent events are impacting our veterans.  It's so eye opening and so heart breaking.  She shares things that I would have never known about otherwise.  She has been sharing tons of information on how we can help #saveourallies, tangible ways we can help, pray and shop for those in need, Veterans Crisis line contacts and so much more.  Go follow her!

2. Charcuterie Board Dinners

I tell people that I specialize in family friendly charcuterie!  They're my favorite kinds of boards to build and always a family favorite meal.  The soft pretzels were the star of the show!  I love using up all the little bits of things in the fridge and pantry to make these dinner boards.

3. Jordan Bakery Box

It was a busy baking week for me at my bakery.  I debuted several fun new things for fall - gender reveal cookies and game day cookies personalized with your team colors.  I can't wait to do some Fall baking.  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are on the top of my list.

4. Kindergarten Exhaustion is real

Fletcher is doing SO WELL in Kindergarten.  It's week 3 for him and no tears.  He's just excited to go.  There was so many new things for him to figure out that it makes me really happy to see him settling into his routine.  Olive loves 3rd grade and says she thinks it'll be the best grade ever.

5.  Pool Days

We're trying to sneak in as many pool days a possible before the end of the season.

6. Spontaneous Coffee Date

I am not good at being spontaneous.  I like a plan and a schedule.  But this week I used a BOGO coffee coupon and surprised Kevin at his office with a coffee.  Leo napped and we chatted.  It was a good reminder that I should do things like this more often.

7. Trips to the Park

We've been meeting friends at the park and Leo is loving it.  He's getting better and better at climbing.  I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing...

8. Little Bear Coffee Co

We have the cutest little coffee shop in our town - Little Bear Coffee Co.  They've got a great patio.  It's easily the most kid friendly spot to grab food and a drink.  The kids love this construction site and the moms loved to chat.  This is going to be a regular hang out spot for us.

9. Friends

We had a busy day of meeting friends at the park and running errands.  At some point, several stops into our day, I realized Leo only had on one shoe.  I was so sad!  These cute Crocs were Fletcher's and I couldn't wait for Leo to grow into them.  He just started wearing them.  So I loaded up Leo and we back tracked to all of our stops.  No luck finding his shoe.  I was really sad and may have shed a tear or two.  Then I get a message from one of the friends I met at the park.  It said - Hey!  Leo lost a shoe.  I grabbed it for you :)  It totally made my day!  I was so thankful for this friend looking out for me and going out of her way to help out a mom who needed it.  The shoes have been reunited and I couldn't be happier.

10. Praying Mantis

We seem to have an abundance of Praying Mantis in our backyard and Fletcher is determined to befriend each one of them.  He loves them and they seem to like him back.  He got brave enough to hold them and now they're BFFs.  He even convinced Olive to join in the fun.  Look at these smiles!

I hope you've had a good week and have some fun plans for your weekend.  We're hoping for a great weekend enjoying lots of things close to home.  See you back here on Tuesday!

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