Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  It's September and I am ready for all things Fall.  

Let's cool down those temps, bust out our jean jackets and eat/enjoy all the pumpkins.  We are very ready for a college football to kick off this weekend.  Notre Dame has a big game tomorrow!  I'm here for the game day food and festivities.  Kevin played in a couple of golf scrambles this week and the kids played outside as much as possible.  The weather has been so nice.  I'm hoping to do a little Fall decorating next week after the long weekend.

The best parts of our week were:

1 // Garden to Table

Our friends invited us over for a really fun summer dining experience.  The offered to let the kids harvest their own vegetables to eat at dinner.  They taught the kids how to pick tomatoes, green beans, purple beans, okra and corn.   We checked out their bee hive and had a great evening.  The kids loved their little dog Zeus.  It was so neat for them to harvest their dinner!

2 // J step stool

I'm trying really hard to collect things that I LOVE for our home instead of just going to the store and buying things to fill our house.  My hope is to end up with a timeless collection of our favorite things and avoid lots of trendy items.  I found this sweet J step stool for the kid's bathroom.  I'd been on the hunt for a wooden one for a while.  HomeGoods came through with this cute personalized step stool that works perfectly for us.

3 // Built In Bookshelf Love

Thank you for all of your sweet comments and messages on our bookshelf reveal this week!  My Dad worked really hard on them and I'm so happy with the finished product.  I am slowly collecting things I love to decorate the shelves with,, but they're coming together nicely.  My favorite detail - my Dad signed the back of the shelves for me.

4 // Hot Breakfast

On the weekends I try hard to make at least one breakfast that's more trouble or more effort than I usually go to on school days.  The kids picked french toast sticks and blueberry muffins last weekend.  It's nice to have a slow morning or two at home after a busy week.

5 // Fletcher

Fletcher got chosen to be on the Kindness Crew in his classroom.  He applied for the job and was thrilled to get it.  He gets to be in charge of passing out bandaids for injuries and comforting anyone that's having a hard day.  It's the perfect job for him.  He's also bringing home beginning reader books to read to us.  First grade is pretty awesome.

He also picked up Pearl this week and said she looked like a kitty bouquet.  He says that girls would probably like to be proposed with a kitty bouquet instead of flowers.  haha.  I have a feeling this idea might come in handy for him later in life.

6 // Olive

Olive had a busy week of homework and challenges at school.  She's working hard to make new girl friends, be independent with managing her work load and taking the initiative.  Her teachers are doing amazing things and it's fun to see all that she's learning.  She is the Class Librarian this month and loves keeping the books organized.  It's a great job for her.  I snapped this picture as she took the initiative to set the table and help with dinner.  We're asked to catch the kids doing different things each week - studying, reading, helping, taking the initiative and then we can post them on the class page for them to earn bonus points.  It's a great incentive.  Olive also discovered Mad Libs this week and is obsessed.

7 // Welcome Dinner

Kevin helped host a welcome dinner for his department to welcome the newest faculty members.  He picked a favorite local spot - Turonis for pizza and drinks.  Often times the kids are the only kids at events like this, but they didn't mind.  They made a couple of new friends and had the best time.  They may have even hit the jackpot at the claw machine.

8 // Bro

My little brother had a birthday this week and we got to celebrate with him!

9 // Get outside

We're trying to take advantage of the warm weather while it lasts.  That means after dinner bike rides, backyard fun, sidewalk chalk and walks.  It's also a nice way to meet new neighbors each night.

10 // Cookie Bars

Stay tuned!  I'm working on the yummiest recipe for you!  I made and shared a pan of these this week.  They were delicious.

11 // Ponytails

Olive loves a good pony tail - add a ribbon and maybe some bubbles and she's thrilled.

Vintage Whitney wearing pony tails and bows in the 80s.  I have lots of experience with this combo!

 

12 // Walking

Now that it's not quite so hot, I feel good about walking with Leo again.  Our goal is to walk at least 30 minutes every day this month.  He is almost always happy to go along for the ride... unless we cut it too close to lunch time :)  We point out all the things we see, check on all the construction sites around us and look for bugs/frogs + airplanes in the sky.  He liked it when I picked up random rocks for him to haul in his dump truck.  He's a good walking buddy.

I hope you have a wonderful last long weekend of Summer.  We have plans with friends and have a couple fun things on our calendar.  See you back here on Tuesday!

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