Friday Favorites

It was a busy and fun week at our house!  The kids had LOTS going on at school.  The weather was lovely.  We did several fun things for St Patrick's Day and the kids kick off their Spring Break after school today!  I'm going to take next week off of blogging so I have plenty of time for family fun!  I'll be back the following Monday just in time to celebrate Fletcher turning 6!

The best parts of our week were:

1.  We did lots of fun things for St Patrick's Day!  We ate rainbow food, dressed in green, made treats for our friends, set a leprechaun trap and more.

Rainbow jello, rainbow after school snack, rainbow school lunches and a rainbow charcuterie board!  The kids were so excited about all the rainbow goodies.

2 // The kid's teachers are so good about snapping pictures of kids throughout the day.  Fletcher arrived at school to find a leprechaun rainbow confetti explosion.  Kindergarten is so fun.  They had theme days all week - crazy hats (bunny ears), mustache Monday, crazy socks, hats and Spring parties.

3 // Olive & Fletcher opted to wear bunny ears for hat day.  Leo insisted in joining in on the fun.  Then he went on to wear his bunny ears all morning.

4 // We have the coolest creek next to our house and the big kids love playing in and around it.  Every day they give themselves a new challenge.  Leo mostly loves collecting rocks and throwing them in.  Can you see the rainbows in the pictures below!?  Nearly every time I snap a picture around the creek, I get a big rainbow glare on my screen.  Remember how I told you months ago that in connection with our big move we kept seeing rainbows as a sign from God that we were supposed to move!?  Well we still love seeing rainbows all around us :)

5 // Leo is my best walking buddy.  We usually head out for a brisk morning walk and then an evening stroll with the whole family.  He waves at all the neighbors and saw AWWWW anytime we pass a dog.

6 //  Ook!  Ook!  I heard Leo shout this as we were loading up the car yesterday to go run some errands.  I wasn't sure what he wanted me to look at (usually an air plane) but I was SHOCKED to see a large turtle hanging out in our driveway.  I'm not sure where he came from.  Or what kind of turtle he is.  He wasn't there an hour earlier when we took the kids to school and he didn't stay long because he was gone shortly after we left.  But it was really fun to see him.

7 // I made toasted sub sandwiches for dinner and some lunches this week.  They were SO GOOD.  You can find all the details on my post from earlier this week.

8 // I just love puffer vests~!!  Look how handsome Leo looks in his.

9 // Evening Strolls.  The big kids usually opt to scooter around the neighborhood, climb all the construction piles and we are slowly but surely meeting some new neighbor friends.

10 // I found this pretty J box at HomeGoods to help organize my accessories.

11 // We've got big birthday plans in the works for these 2.  Can you guess their birthday theme!?

12 // Toddlers.  Never a dull moment with them.

I hope you've had a nice week!!  I'll see you back here after our Spring Break.

Linking up with Momfessionals

Rainbow Snack Board

I surprised the kids with a rainbow snack board after school yesterday.  It was fun to make and they said it was delicious.  I grabbed a rainbow of fruits and veggies from the fridge and then grabbed some specific St Patrick's Day food I picked up in honor of this week - Skittles, Lucky Charms, Lucky Charms marshmallows, etc.  I love this 12 mini muffin tray for snack boards.  It's the perfect size!

I don't do these kind of snack boards every day.  Just once or twice a month.  I prep them while Leo naps and then pop them in the fridge.  It's so nice to have a snack I can just put in front of the kids when they get home and are starving.  And it's a bonus if it is holiday themed.

I bet your friends or your kids would love this!

Best Sandwich Ever // Jimmy Johns Knock Off

I had a different post planned for today, but I bumped it in honor of this delicious sandwich.  I made myself a Jimmy Johns -esque sandwich for lunch yesterday and it was AMAZING.

Maybe the best sandwich that I have ever made!?

The best part is that it was really easy and very customizable.

I picked up most of my ingredients at Sams Club.  They've got a super deal on big loaves of sandwich bread.  Have you ever tried these french bread loaves?  You get 2 very large loaves for $1.98 back by the bakery.  At Jimmy Johns, one loaf of fresh bread is $2.  These are much larger.

I love the deli meat at Sams - I got Black Forest Ham & a big package of sharp cheddar cheese also from Sams.  We go through a lot of this cheese for snacks and sandwiches so this pack is perfect for us.

Set your oven to Broil.  Slice your bread in half and add your meat and cheese.  I did 3 pieces of meat and two pieces of cheese.  Broil for 2-3 minutes to crisp everything up.

Top with your favorite toppings - spicy brown mustard and shredded lettuce for me.  I love to buy the big salad bag mix at Sams.  It's $1.98 for a HUGE bag of lettuce.  We use it for tacos, sandwiches, salads and nachos.  It's delicious on all of them.  I usually just chop it up smaller to make it easier to eat.

You could offer lots more toppings - sprouts, purple onion, pepperoncini peppers, tomatoes, sweet peppers, bacon, mustard, mayo, etc.

Close your sandwich and enjoy!

I'm drooling.  This was such a good sandwich.  It makes an easy lunch or an easy dinner for your whole family.  Let everyone customize their sandwiches at home and it'll be MUCH cheaper than swinging through the drive thru at Jimmy Johns.  Would your family like to see this on the dinner menu?

6 Easy St Patrick's Day Ideas

We love St Patrick's Day and all things Irish/Notre Dame so this is a really fun week for me!

I rounded up a list of easy ideas for you to do with your own families.  None of them are very time consuming or very expensive.  Most of these ideas are all things you could quickly add to your grocery pick up list for the week.

1 // Rainbow Cups - I'm making these for my kids, our friends and selling them for Jordan Bakery box.  I just grabbed all the rainbow candy I could find, put them in cute cups and packaged them to gift.

2 // Green/Orange/White fruit and veggie tray - we had friends over for dinner.  I kept the menu super simple - we ordered pizzas and I made this veggie tray.  I used St Patrick's Day napkins and rainbow plates.

3 // St Patrick's Day breakfast with friends - We invited friends over on Saturday for breakfast.  I got some Lucky charms, added in all the green/gold things I could find and served the food with rainbow dishes.

4 // A bouquet of clovers - A friend surprised me with this clover plant and I love it so much!!  Most grocery stores carry them this time of year so it would be an easy thing for you to grab when you're at the store this week.  It would definitely brighten someone's day!!

5 // Not in the mood to bake or short on time this week?  Lucky Charms would be the perfect treat to grab!  Aldi had these Limited Edition Magic Clover version, but any Lucky Charms would do.

6 // Rainbow Pretzels & Cookies - I'm baking and prepping food for friends/neighbors and Jordan Bakery Box orders this week.  If you're in the Evansville area and would like to order something for St Patrick's Day - message me or comment ASAP.  Aren't these all so festive and fun!?  Yum!

I'm hoping to do a green and gold charcuterie board for dinner one night, make some rainbow jello, maybe try some Irish stew and potatoes, do an after school rainbow themed snack tray and I've got St Patrick's Day shirts to give the kids on Thursday.  Target had some really cute kid shirt options for $5-6.

I hope you have a rainbow filled lucky week!!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  It's been a quick week - the kids had an E-learning day in the middle of the week and Kevin was on Spring Break.  Although he pretty much worked all week, it was nice that he got to enjoy a more flexible schedule.  March is zooming right along with lots to look forward to.

The best parts of our week were:

1 // Our family room is coming together nicely!  I love collecting all the right things for this space.  We've got some bigger projects on the radar, but everything I can do for right now is looking great.  Stay tuned for a more detailed family room post in the coming weeks!

2 // Does anyone else feel a little forced when you have to eat greek yogurt?  It's not my favorite so I found a trick to make it extra delicious.  Add your favorite toppings - berries, granola & chia seeds.  Then sprinkle cinnamon on top!  It's so good!

3 // Sams Club has the cutest dresses for girls right now.  They used to only have little girl options, but my Sams had several options for older girls in bigger sizes.  We've got a couple weddings coming up and these will be perfect for Olive.  And they're only $16!  She's a tough clothes critic these days and they both met her approval.  Mom win for sure!

4 // Family walks are my favorite.  We walk year round.  Bundle up and go!  The kids love checking out the construction sites around us.  Sometimes they scooter and sometimes they walk.

5 // E-learning.  I'm very thankful that E-learning is a rare thing for us.  It's fun to have the kids home for the day, but gosh it's tricky to keep the toddler entertained and out of the way of their lessons.  He wants to be right in the middle of all the action.

6 // Freckles.  I used to always wish I had freckles and now I have two cute kids with freckles sprinkled all over their faces.

7 // Leo doesn't have any freckles yet, but his dark brown eyes are so sweet.

8 // Fletcher took Penny on wagon rides all over the house.  I assumed she would hate it and I was wrong.  Queen Penny could have been pulled around all day long.

9 // Nap time diaries.  Silly cats.  Leo goes down for a nap and I was hoping to get some work done.  They were hoping to get some extra attention.  I love this kitty crew.

10 // The funniest thing I read all week.  Olive had to do a group project and this was how she signed her name.  "It was mostly Olive" hahaha I guess she was feeling spicy about having to do the bulk of the work and wanted her teacher to know the truth.

11 // Lounging Leo makes me smile every time.

12 // Fletcher had been working towards a school related goal and he filled up his incentive chart!  He wanted to give bowling a try.  The kids agreed that bowling was tough and that they might need to be a little older to enjoy the sport.

The most painful moment of the week was when darling Leo decided to pick up my 9lb bowling ball and drop it on my toes.  It happened so quick that I never saw it coming.  I was helping the big kids get their ball and ouch!  It hurt so bad that I had to have a quick cry and time out.  Leo headed back to his stroller and I limped through the end of the game.  Thankfully it was just really sore for a few days.  Gosh, toddlers are crazy!!

Fletcher was very proud of his bowling and hitting his goal!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!  We've got some plans with friends and are eager to relax.

Linking up with Momfessionals