The Highlights

Happy Friday!  Hope you've had a nice week.  It's been a good one at our house.

We got to go out on a date.
This Summer I helped Kevin organize his office.  We went back and did a few maintenance things to keep all of his new systems running smoothly.  It looked great!  I'm an organizer by nature and he is not.  So he was really proud of himself for keeping everything looking so good.

We also got to try a new restaurant // Taco Tequila // if you're local.  It was SO GOOD!  Heaven on a plate if you ask me.  Amazing pico, delicious white cheese dip, super quesadilla and we can't wait to go back!!

I picked up THE cutest galvanized house lantern at Walmart this week!  It's just under $15 and it's from the Better Homes and Gardens line.  I can't wait to decorate it for several holidays.  Won't it be cute with Christmas lights next??

I surprised Olive with an orange lunch yesterday.  I gathered as many orange things as I could and filled her yumbox.  We are still loving these yumboxes.  The Yumbox Original is our favorite style.

YUMBOX Original (Avocado Green) Leakproof Bento Lunch Box Container for Kids: Bento-style lunch box offers Durable, Leak-proof, On-the-go Meal and Snack Packing

I found several new Halloween books for the kids this year.  We have SO  many new favorites.  Most of these titles were brand new to me so I can't wait to tell you about them!!  We read them every single day during our book club time.  They're classics and good for any kids.

Go Away, Big Green Monster!
This is a really fun book that describes colors, features and each page is a layer to help you build a monster.  It's silly, funny and we read it every single day.  Olive has started learning the repetitive text and reading the words so that she can read it on her own.

Boo Who?
This is a board book about a sweet ghost names Boo.  Boo is new and he's working really hard to make friends.  He's not like anyone else so it's tricky for him to fit in.  We love this book about friendship and including others.

B Is for Boo: A Halloween Alphabet (BabyLit)
This is a BEAUTIFUL board book.  The illustrations are so pretty.  It has a very vintage, sweet feel to it and tons of great vocabulary to learn and talk about.  Each page is filled with beautiful details so we find ourselves with tons to look at and talk about on each page.

Halloween Trick or Treat: A Colors Book
This book is a board book.  It's very simple and sweet.  You learn colors and name kids in costumes.  Yellow Giraffe.  Red crayon.  The pictures are great and this is a book that both my 2 year old and 5 year old love.  The 5 year old can read it independently and it's a sweet way to practice colors.

I printed off this set of free Doodle Town Halloween Edition pages from Andrea at Momfessionals and we had such a fun time coloring all of the Halloween houses.  I am amazed at Andrea's doodle drawings!!  She's such a fun artist.  We used markers, crayons and colored pencils.  I hung them all up on our pantry door.  Wouldn't this be fun to do with your kids, your students or at a Halloween party??   

I had my first PSL of the season!  I always order a skinny PSL (no whip and skim milk).  I know it's a polarizing drink.  I enjoy one or two every Fall.

These two love books and that makes me so HAPPY!
We keep a basket of library books, a basket of Halloween books, their magazines are in a bin by the couch and both kids have books in their rooms.  I caught them reading for fun when I was nervous their quiet playing meant they were up to no good.  Whoops!

They also think it's hilarious to clear off shelves in our playroom and turn them into bunk beds.

On the evenings that Kevin gets home a little earlier he heads outside to play with the kids while I cook dinner.  It's such a treat to have the kitchen to myself while I cook.  Then I look out and see silly scenes like this one.  The kids pushing KEVIN on the swings.  They all thought it was funny :)

Clabber Girl is based in our town and they have the cutest bakery.  We LOVE going there for lunch.  Fletcher says their grilled cheese is the very best and I'd have to agree.  I love their sugar cookies.  They're thin, soft and the icing is just perfect.  I'd love to learn how to make cookies like these.

This week on Polka-Dotty Place:

Monday: Homecoming Tailgate
Tuesday: Simple Fall Break
Wednesday: Walmart Haul & 5 Grocery Pick Up Tips

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Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Linking up with My Glittery Heart

HighFiveforFriday, FiveonFriday, and Momfessionals

Walmart Haul & 5 Grocery Pick Up Tips

You all know that I love Walmart.  You just can't beat their prices on home decor, clothing and holiday stuff.  I just don't really love strolling through the stores (their carts are the worst and the people aren't always super helpful) BUT I keep coming back for the deals.  I'd say I actually go into our Walmart about every six weeks.  It's fun to see what new stuff they have out.  I never have a hard time finding things I want there.  I also shop during the day for small crowds and less chaos :)

Do you do grocery pick up??  I end up doing it a few times a month and it is a LIFE SAVER.

You don't have to drag your kids with you, you can shop from the comfort of your home and it saves me money because I can see my total adding up as I add things to my cart.  Walmart's grocery pick up is free if you spend $30.  Fletcher and I give it a BIG THUMB'S UP!!

If you'd like to try it out, I have a $10 off coupon code for you to use on orders of $50 or more.  In full disclosure: if you order, I get a small credit to my account with no charge to you. 

Click on this link to give it a try --->> or email me at polkadottyplace@hotmail.com and I will send the coupon code to you!

Walmart Grocery Coupon Code for NEW Users

My 5 Grocery Pick Up TIPS:
1. Less is more.
Smaller orders (under $75) are perfect for grocery pick up.  It's easy to manage what you get and it's easy to keep track of.  Occasionally I've had trouble with big orders and making sure I got all of the items I had on my list.

2. Click the substitute button any store brand items.
If you love Great Value water, flour, sugar, etc.  Click the substitute button and sometimes you'll end up getting name brand items instead of the store brand when they are out.  Or they'll size up to a bigger quantity of you say yes to substituting.   I've gotten double the amount olive oil, cold medicine, flour and cheese thanks to the substitute button.  You only have to pay the amount of the item you ordered, but you get a much larger quantity sometimes.  Example: I ordered a 17oz Great Value olive oil for around $3.  They were out of it and gave me the 25oz bottle for the price of the 17oz bottle!  Win!

3. Double check your receipt.
This one is common sense really and something you should do at all stores.  Make sure the items you paid for are the same as the items you came home with.  If there's a problem call customer service.  They are very efficient and refunds come through very quickly.  I've called about missing items, refunds and coupon codes that wouldn't go through online.  All of my issues were dealt with very quickly and I was happy with the result.

4. Examine your produce, meat, etc.
Look it over before you put it in your car because returning grocery pick up items is a pain.  Don't be afraid to speak up if something isn't right.  Full disclosure: I don't do a ton of meat/produce purchasing through grocery pick up because I like to pick it out myself.  I will do things like carrots, cucumbers, bananas, potatoes and frozen meats.

5.Favorites.
Be sure and favorite the items that you buy each week to simplify your ordering.  You can just pull up your favorite page and find the items that you buy again and again.

Now on to my recent Walmart Haul...

Fletcher and I went to Walmart yesterday.  I was on the hunt for several things and found tons of cute things to share with you.  I don't have the online links for these items.  I just walked through the store snapping pictures of cute things I spotted.  I'll try to give deals and hope you can find the stuff in your local Walmart stores.

TONS of great athleisure for $11.86.  Loved this Avia pullover and the Avia cowl neck top was pretty.  I tried that one on for you.  It runs small so size up and it's on the shorter side (doesn't cover your bum).  Both come in several colors.

So many pretty tops for Fall.  I got a couple different turtle necks for $11.86.  They ran true to size and are so soft.  They come in white, brown, gray, burgundy, black and maybe navy.

I love that you can find trendy items for a really great price.  These knit hats with big pom poms and woven v neck were both around $8.  I think these kind of things are fun to add into a wardrobe of classic pieces.

Holiday pjs pants were already out for Halloween and Christmas.  They also had fun holiday leggings for under $10.

Better Homes and Gardens galvanized metal lanterns.  I had to have the house one and the gold ones would look so pretty added to your fall and winter decor.

Tons of cute holiday towels in a two pack.  They make great teacher gifts when you pair them with a fresh loaf of bread or cookies.

The Pioneer Woman dishes are so pretty right now!!  I have the red trimmed plates and might have to add a couple more to my collection for my birthday next month.  They have a very Anthro feel for MUCH cheaper at $4.38 a plate.

I loved this section of cute home decor.  It feels very much like things you'd find at TJ Maxx or Marshalls.  Most things were under $15.

There was still lots of Fall decor.  I picked up another scarecrow.  We wanted a boy and this was the best price I'd seen around town.  Most places were asking around $10.

Cute football party supplies for just $1.97.

Have you found anything good at Walmart lately??

It's time to link up with my favorite Welcome Wednesday ladies.
Be sure to join us with some current posts and look around to make some new friends.

Whitney at Polka-Dotty Place / Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter 

Stefanie at Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest / Facebook

Keri at Keri Lynn Synder / Faceobok / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest 

Mauri at The American Patriette /  Facebook /  Pinterest / Instagram

Sarah at Sarah E. Frazer / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest 

Lindsay at Lindsay's Sweet World /  Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Simple Fall Break

Olive just wrapped up a four day weekend for her Fall Break.  We had the best time together!

Kevin's break was different than Olive's so we knew we'd be staying home.  That wasn't a problem because we really do love where we live.  She requested all of her favorite things around town for Fall Break.  She said she missed all of her favorite spots now that she's in school all day.

It was simple. 

It was sweet. 

We all enjoyed the break from our usual routine.  It made me realize that we've really missed her being a part of our daily routine now that she's in kindergarten this year.  Fletcher loved having her around most of the time and it was fun to hang out with her.  She seems like such a big girl all of the sudden.  She's trying new foods, learning new words, learning to read and sound out words, and is just sweet to be around her.

We made 2 apple pies.  And I do mean WE.  Both kids helped.  It was messy and took twice as long as usual, but it was probably the best apple pie I've ever made.  Olive was strong enough this year to do run the apple corer/peeler/slicer so that was really fun.  They loved helping.  There's probably a life lesson in there.. slow down and enjoy the process and the results will be wonderful??

We met friends at our favorite breakfast spot - McDonalds :)

We bounced at our local bounce house.

I fixed fun meals for lunches and snacks.  These ice cube tray meals were a hit!

We went to several homecoming festivities!

We tried new restaurants.  And wrote thank yous while we were there because the food was so delicious.  Olive tried a couple new things and loved them.  She's always been a pretty good eater, but she's seeking out new foods to try almost every day.

We went to church.  We also broke out the sweatshirts, cardigans and heavy coats.  Fall seems to have officially arrived in Indiana.

We played outside.

We rested.  That's not my specialty so it was really fun to relax, enjoy the snuggles, stay home and have several simple days in a row.

Donuts at our favorite spot.  

Our museum has added several fun new exhibits lately.  Olive hadn't been to the museums in a long time so this was top of her to do list.  We spent several hours there yesterday.  It was tons of fun!  Fletcher was braver and did more things with Olive's help.  They both had missed playing here together.

This long weekend was a good reminder...

In a world where BUSY seems to be the norm,
Sometimes the simple things end up being the best things.