September was a full month full of a lot of carlines, football, and family fun!
Halloween Happy 2021
October has been quite the busy month, and it has yet to slow down. But I finally have some time to sit down and blog again! One of the many things I have thrown together is Melody’s annual Halloween happy. I try and give it to her on October 1st. This year I got her a Pete the Cat book, Halloween puzzle, glow stick set, and some Halloween pajamas that matches my pair.
Summer Laking
I felt like the summer flew by. And with that, I feel like we didn’t get as much time on the boat as I had hoped. I guess that is life these days though. We did go a few times to Smith Lake, however. Usually when we go, we either camp overnight or at least spend time at the campsite. So you’ll see some of that too. We even got caught in a not so fun storm at the end of the summer.
Simplified Monthly Planner - Keeping up with Melody
Back in April, Simplified released monthly planners. Ironically a few months prior, I started keep my own monthly calendars with all of my household tasks. I plan to speak to that later however. When they were released, I decide to buy a couple. I bought one for the household tasks I was already doing. Then I bought two for back to school teacher gifts. I was not sure if Melody would have just one teacher or a teacher aid/assistant too. Once school began, we found out Melody only had the one teacher. So I had an extra monthly planner. I went back and forth and in many different directions on how to use this extra planner. I already had a meal planner, and I didn’t think a workout planner would be useful. After talking with my best friend, Emily, I decided to make it a planner all about Melody. It can help me just keep track of all the things going on with Melody beyond just going to school. Check it out below.
Green Chef
I have wanted to try a meal delivery service for quite some time. My problem has been the overall cost, lack meal options that both Brad and I both like, and delivery day. Ideally I would like something that could delivery on a Monday so we can eat on it all week, but that has been near impossible to find. One day while listening to a podcast, I heard about Green Chef. The meal option sounded good, and they delivered on Wednesdays. Price was not great, but I did have a decent discount to at least make it reasonable to try.
Baked Feta Pasta
A few weeks ago, my mom and I decided to make the infamous Tik Tok feta pasta dish. I have wanted to try it for a while, but I know Brad isn’t the biggest fan of pasta with his diabetes. While it turned out good, it wasn’t as amazing as everyone says. I think it would be great if you added in some chicken or shrimp to offset the richness of it.
Rainbow Ranger Party Decor
Decorating for parties is probably one of my favorite things when planning. For Melody’s Rainbow Ranger birthday party, finding all things rainbow was a lot of fun.
Pool Days
Summer flew by this year I feel like. I don’t know if it is because it was Melody’s last summer before starting kindergarten or because we tried to fit so much in. But we did try to take advantage of the pool as often as we could!
Brad is 38!
Brad turned 38 back in August, but we were just able to celebrate with him earlier this week. Melody had a Mickey themed picked out for him way back in May, and she has kept it a secret the entire time! She may have went a little overboard, but since he wasn’t home for his actual birthday, I felt like it was worth it!
Air Fryer Squash
We do not cook squash enough in our household, but this is a quick and easy way to cook it that we need to do more often, honestly.
Rainbow Rangers Birthday Invitation
I want to say the Rainbow Rangers Birthday Invitation was probably made up of the most parts of any I have done so far. I keep saying I am done making them myself, but it will never happen, ha. The rainbow was probably one of my favorite things so far though!
August Fun
August has been a HUGE month for our household. Melody started school, Brad traveled for work, and he celebrated a birthday.
WellieWisher Doll Beds
Many months ago, Melody and Brad came up with the idea to make beds for her WellieWisher dolls. This actually became a thought before Christmas last year as a potential gift idea. After much trial and error and brainstorming, we finally finished it a few weeks ago.
Twice Baked Potatoes
These are very classic, but also often forgotten about. We love them, and it help keep us from eating an entire potato! I really did just wing it when it came to the ingredients, so adjust according to your preferences. But I am listing about what I used.
Making Candlesticks Standup
My mother in law gave me a candlestick holder for our dining room a few months ago. We have been looking for a piece for our dining room table, so this was perfect. However, I could not get the candlesticks to stand up straight to save my life. After a lot of googling, I came up with a solution that worked!
Wahlburgers
So about a month or so ago, we happened to be near Wahlburgers and decided to give it a try. We have had it for a while locally, but we honestly are never near it to think about it. And to add some humor to this post, Brad was throughly confused by all of the Mark Wahlberg memorabilia until I explained his connection.
Cook Museum of Natural Science
This summer we made a bucket list. I recently shared how much we accomplished on that bucket list. One of those things was visiting the Cook Museum in Decatur. So the week before school started, we made our way over there to see what it was about.
Air Fryer Seasoned Okra
I love our air fryer, but we go through moments of not using it. We love cooking okra, but it can stink up the house if we fry it. So I decided to try it in the air fryer. I have made it two ways. You can find one way here. The other way is below and is much easier.
Back to School Pictures
As part of a school fundraiser, a local photographer took back to school pictures at the lake at Melody’s elementary school. I loved how these pictures turned out. The photographer was so sweet and did such a great job. And I love having this little piece of her childhood documented.
Summer Bucket List Update
At the beginning of the summer, we made a bucket list of items we wanted to try and accomplish during Melody’s last summer before kindergarten. I wanted to share an update to how much we really accomplished before she started school earlier this month!