Manic Monday

Just another manic Monday. Today was one of those days.....
While I was making the boys lunches, Campbell smashed his finger in one of the kitchen cabinets. It looked terrible and he cried really hard. I felt sorry for him. I was trying to hold and comfort him for as long as I could whilst I had a hangry 14 month old screaming for some lunch. Needless to say, lots of crying. It was one of those overwhelming moments and normally Scott is home around lunchtime but he was in a meeting because of course.

Everyone ate their lunch and all was well for a while before I decided that everyone needed a nap. Bennett was tired, Campbell made himself tired from his finger smashing trauma, and this momma needed some quiet time. I would like to say that I got a lot accomplished during the boys naps but I just sat on my phone and looked on Etsy for over an hour. And it was glorious.

I made spaghetti for dinner tonight which I normally don't like to do because it's so messy but I did it anyway. Campbell insisted on having me watch him suck in every single noodle that he ate and Bennett flipped his entire plate of spaghetti onto the ground. SOS. My second overwhelming moment of the day. See, this is why you have dogs. The girls were like "we're on it!" and licked up every tiny bit of that spaghetti for me.

Scott got home from another meeting in time to give the boys their bath and put them to bed. I threw my running shoes on and hit the pavement in an effort to de-stress. It was just one of those days! Honestly, I don't have them very often. I feel like I'm pretty patient with my kids and have embraced the chaos (for lack of a better word) but today just did me in. It's not even close to my bedtime but I'm hopping in the bed and calling it a day. Hopefully tomorrow goes a little better.

Home.

We got home yesterday after spending five nights in Little Rock at my parents house. I don't recall ever spending that many nights there since I've had the boys. It was such a nice little change of scenery and having adult company all day and extra helping hands with the boys all day was so refreshing.

I was able to have a lot of "me" time. I floated on a raft in the pool for over an hour all by myself. I think I may have even fallen asleep for a few minutes. It was so relaxing and nice!! I got to do a little shopping and go for my runs when I wanted to vs having to time it with the boys sleep schedule. I so enjoyed my Mom and Grammy's company all day and of course my Dad's at night. My nephew, Landon, was in town from Florida and I always enjoy getting to see him. He is such a good kid and I'm so proud of the young man he is. We played an intense game of Marco/Polo and I seriously had so much fun and laughed so, so, so hard. I felt like a kid again and Landon and I made a fun memory.

Obviously my sweet niece was there. It's so fun and cute watching her and Campbell play together since they're so close in age. They will have the best time for so many years to come! My great aunt and uncle came up for a visit and I loved getting to visit with them. And obviously my brother and SIL too. It was just a nice family time.

We go down for a weekend frequently but it always feels a little rushed and like we run out of time for things. I told my Mom we may go back again for a few days before the boys go back to school. If they don't mind having us. I'm sure they're enjoying having their clean, quiet house back! Haha!!

Five nights may have been just one night too long for the boys. By Wednesday they both started having little meltdowns. The kind that were obvious to me that they just needed to be back home and into their own routine. When we got home, they were SO happy to see their Daddy. Bennett would NOT let Scott put him down. Scott would try to hand Bennett to me and Bennett would cry and cling to Scott's neck! Campbell had so much to tell Scott and was so happy to see his Daddy again. When he woke up earlier that morning, the first words out of his mouth were "I want to go see Daddy" because I had told him when I tucked him in bed the night before that we were going to go home to see Daddy the next day. Haha! Scott, if that doesn't make you feel loved I don't know what does!!

It was so fun to get away for a few days and change up our routine. It feels good to be home though. We didn't leave our house today. We just stayed here and did our thing. It felt good. I'm sure boredom will kick in early next week but for now we're happy to be Home Sweet Home and back into our normal routine.

Ash

I recently purchased this Easel dress and I am loving wearing it, especially in this hot weather! It's so breezy and comfortable and I think the babydoll style is so cute. This dress is a different color for me but I like it! I never shy away from bright colors but this simple ash color drew me in. What's even better than the comfort and cute style is that this dress is only $35!

I've always been a fan of Easel thanks to their cute and affordable styles. I purchased this dress from a local boutique and I believe I got the last one but I found it online for those of you who want to shop it! It comes in two different colors and I do love the other color too. Either way, you can't go wrong and will love this dress!

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Hanging Out

Hey-O! I hope you guys had a nice weekend. Mine wasn't what I expected it to be but it was fun! My Dad called me late Friday night to say his flight had been canceled so he was going to fly to XNA and stay with us. He got in really late and was without a car so on Saturday I just decided, since I had to travel at least halfway to Little Rock anyway, to just go down to my parents house for a few days. The boys and girls tagged along, of course, so we're here just hanging out. I had planned on coming down later in the week anyway so we're here just a few days earlier than expected. Scott is working so much right now and the boys are out of "school" so a trip to Pops and Gamma's house was in order. We've been swimming all day long and are having a great time here! Campbell is SO worn out by the end of the day thanks to all of the fun he's having. I am enjoying the extra helping hands and the chance to sneak away for just an hour every day for a little alone time is always nice.
We wake up every morning and shortly after Campbell is in the pool. Before he got in the pool, I had the chance to take a few photos of my boys in their matching pj's yesterday. It will be a sad day when they're too big to match their pj's. It's one of my favorite things ever.

Blackberries

On Tuesday we did something I've been wanting to do for a while and finally had an opportunity to do it--we went blackberry picking!! We picked strawberries earlier this summer and had such a good time. Campbell and Bennett absolutely love blackberries (I do too!) so I figured they would love this even more. I actually enjoyed picking blackberries more than I did the strawberries. It was insanely hot and Campbell ended up crawling into the single stroller with Bennett to catch some shade (hahaha!!) but it was so fun. I've never picked blackberries before and these blackberries are SO yummy. I bet we all ate 2 dozen each once we got home to wash and clean them.

This was the last day to pick blackberries for this particular farm (which is also the same farm that had the strawberries) so I'm glad we were able to catch them before they shut down for the season. The people who operate it are so, so kind. Their farm is amazing and it makes me want to have my own farm!! Ha! Everywhere you looked were rows and rows of fruits and vegetables. They are at all of the Farmers Markets here in Northwest Arkansas and have an insane amount of crop. They had the cutest little stand set up (everything was picturesque) and a lot of them were busy working, getting everything ready for the farmers markets. I asked them if I could purchase some of their other goodies and they said yes. So I came home with this huge quart of blackberries (for only $12!) plus tomatoes, corn and cantaloupe!

Freshly picked fruits and vegetables simply make me happy. We haven't had a chance to indulge in our fresh goods yet but we plan to over the weekend. If they're anything like these blackberries, they will be nothing short of amazing!

School's Out For Summer

Today was the boys last day of MDO for the summer session. We have a month off before we go back for the fall. We had such a good year! Bennett had the sweetest teachers in the world that he loves so much. It felt so nice to be comfortable enough to leave him in their hands because I knew that he loved them and they loved him back! It was truly a great experience and Bennett loves being there which is so great! He apparently LOVES music time and has even made a little friend that he always plays with. I can't believe the year is over and he will no longer be in the baby class. It really flew by!
Campbell also had a wonderful year! He loved his classroom with his friends and teachers. He really grew close to a lot of his friends and made strong friendships with two sweet kiddos especially. He would get in the car and tell me all about his day and was so proud to show me the art he made every day. This year he went from a napper to a non napper and the last few months his lunch box started to seem too small and babyish for his growing, big boy appetite. I've ordered him a new, big boy lunch box to have for the fall school year! He tells me things that I know he picked up in school (because I didn't teach it!) and I'm just so happy that we are a part of this program and that my kids love it as much as I do.

Today was pajama day at school. Campbell got to wear his pajamas (which he loved--he loves his pj's!) and watch a movie and eat popcorn. Not sure life could have gotten better for Campbell today! School, friends, pajamas, movie, popcorn. Check, check, check. I'm glad he ended the year on a good note and I hope next year is just as great for our sweet boys!

Wordless Wednesday

Chicken and Rice Casserole

So you guys are loving my easy meals posts. I'm so glad! I've gotten so many emails and comments from y'all saying you've tried some of the dishes and loved them. I probably have one more post I can gather up but after that I'm probably out. I've said before that we basically make the same dishes over and over. I like to venture out and make a new Pinterest recipe every now and then. And Scott grills for us a lot, especially in the summer. But for the most part I just recycle the same recipes every month. In the fall I'll have to share my favorite game day foods. They are yummy! But today I wanted to share this recipe that I posted on my Instagram Stories last week and had a lot of people ask me about. It's so easy I was able to share how to make it in one, 15 second story. But it was probably a little fast and I got asked how to make it so I thought I'd just post it on here.

There's a lot of chicken and rice casserole dishes out there but in my family, when we say we're having chicken and rice casserole, this is what we mean. My Mom made this meal for us when I was growing up and it was always one of our family favorites. Now I make it for my family and my boys love it! I think it's a perfect meal for little kiddos but an adult pallet can appreciate it too! It has so much flavor and it is seriously the easiest meal to make. I know I've claimed that about a lot of my meals before, but for real, this one is. Top three easiest recipes I make for sure.

Ingredients:
-Minute Rice (I do brown)
-Boneless, Skinless chicken breast or tenderloins
-1 can of golden mushroom soup
-1 pkg of Liptons Dry Onion Soup Mix

Directions:
-Cook your rice. I do 2 cups which equals 4 servings but you can do more if you have more mouths to feed.
-While your rice is cooking, mix together the soup, soup mix, and one can of water until well blended.
-Place cooked rice in the bottom of a casserole dish.
-Lay the chicken tenderloins on top of the rice
-Pour soup mix on top.
-Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Please excuse the bad photo. I saved it from my Insta Stories after I started getting a lot of feedback and it's the only photo I have of the meal before it was plated. But this is what it looks like once it's been cooked. And I totally use disposable casserole pans all the time for easy cleanup.

There you go! That's all there is to it. This is the exact same "sauce" I use when I make a pork tenderloin in my crockpot also. I swear it tastes good poured over anything. I promise you will love this meal and it may become a favorite in your family too!

Friday. Saturday. Sunday.

We kicked our weekend off with our traditional Chick Fil A Friday. We don't eat there every Friday....but most Friday's we do, and I'm not even going to pretend like I don't love it! Bennett got to play in the play area for the very first time and he thought it was pretty cool! Campbell normally climbs all over the area but he stayed right by Bennett's side the entire time.

Another big event in Bennett's life happened over the weekend. We moved him to his convertible car seat. I love the UPPAbaby Mesa so much so I always keep my boys in it as long as possible. But the last few days Bennett had started crying as I was putting him into his car seat so I figured it was time to upgrade him to the big boy car seat. He seems much more content now although we still can't take a car ride without a paci. Not sure when we'll actually be able to do that honestly.

We had a fun Saturday night hanging out with a lot of our friends. We went to our neighbors/friends house and hung out until 7:00 hit and we had to leave because it was time for the boys to get ready for bed. Haha! We used to not meet up with friends until 7:00 and now that's when our evening ends. Babies and toddlers are everywhere now and I think our gatherings are way more fun than they used to be thanks to the presence of our sweet kiddos.

Yesterday we went to church then ate lunch after. Once I got Bennett down for a nap, I went to Walmart to get our food for the week. I love doing that. Getting food for the week. I don't know why but I always have. I guess I like having my refrigerator and pantry stocked and all of my dinners for the week planned out. It makes me feel organized which is a nice feeling, right?

This week is our last week of the MDO summer session. We have a month off before we start back. I'm a little sad that this is Campbell's last week with his teachers and classmates that he's had for almost a year now. He has had a great year and has grown so much. He'll just start talking about something that I know he picked up from school and it just makes me so happy that he's not only having fun but that he is learning too! Next month Campbell will officially start preschool and that just blows my mind! We will be at the same place but it's a different building with a different program. He will have a learning book and seem like such a big boy! It will be a little different for him than it has been the previous years but I think he'll love it. For now we're going to soak up our last week of him being a toddler at school before he turns into a preschooler.

Boys of Summer

Are y'all making the most of your summer? I always try to. I used to be a winter kind of girl before I had kids but now I'm all about the warm weather and summertime fun. Being outside is so much more fun than being inside when you have kiddos. We like to eat dinner on our back patio. We grill a lot so while Scott is cooking, we're just chillin in our backyard. The boys (and girls!) love it.

Something new we're doing this year is hanging out in our driveway a lot. Campbell has a lot of toys that he likes to play with and our driveway is the best place to do it. It's fun because neighbors are out and we always chat for a little bit with them. Sometimes we'll go for a "parade" as Campbell calls it, around our neighborhood. Campbell rides his scooter and Bennett rides in the cozy coupe.

Of course we love to go to the pool. It's not as challenging with two as I envisioned it to be. Campbell loves to swim and Bennett enjoys people watching. I can kind of block Bennett in with the pool loungers and create a little space for him to play with toys. He happily hangs out and it feels safer to me blocking him in since he likes to crawl all over the place. I usually just hang out in one of the loungers that's blocking Bennett in while I watch Campbell do his pool tricks. We try to get to the pool two or three times a week. When I was little it seemed like we were always at the pool and I loved it. I created a lot of great memories spending my summer at the pool and I hope my kids do too!

Something we love to do in the summer is go to the Bentonville Farmers Market. It's just something to do and I love snatching up some fresh fruits and vegetables. Walking around the square is just plain ol' fun and we usually grab lunch somewhere while we're there. I didn't grow up with a Farmers Market in my small town so maybe that's why I love it so much as an adult.

Sometimes it feels like we have lazy summer days where we stay inside all day because it's just so darn hot outside. But for the most part, I try to get us outside doing something fun. Usually at night when it's cooled off a little. We have such a great neighborhood full of young families and Campbell almost always has someone to play with whenever we're outdoors whether it's in our driveway, at the park or at the pool. There's a few things I like to try to do every summer that are still on my bucket list. I want to do putt putt golf, take a trip to the slash pad, and have friends over for a BBQ cookout. We've already done a lot of fun things this summer but I want to make a few more memories before it's over!

Five UnKnowns

Today I thought I'd post five things you may not know about me. I love reading this kind of stuff about other people so hopefully you'll enjoy reading mine!

1.) I sleep with an eye mask. I only do it in the summer when the light coming through my bedroom in the morning is so bright it feels like the sun is right in my backyard. Like, the whole entire sun. It drives me nuts. We have blackout curtains and they are thick, charcoal velvet so you would think they would do the trick but it's still so bright. The problem is we have to leave our bedroom door open so the girls can get in and out while we're sleeping so the light is coming through all of the windows in our house. If we could shut our door our room would be dark but we can't so eye mask it is. Scott asks me if I really can sleep with it on and I really can! I don't notice it at all. I sleep until my alarm goes off vs waking up as soon as the sun starts to rise. It's great!

2.) I take Plexus. I started in the spring after I decided I just couldn't take being exhausted anymore and wanted to try it to see if I would have more energy. Believe the hype people!!! It's amazing. I noticed a difference in how I felt the very. first. day. I do their probiotic and most days I take the pink drink but sometimes I forget. I love the probiotic.

3.) I hate cucumbers. I am not picky when it comes to food but I absolutely cannot stand the taste of cucumbers. Whenever I eat a salad I request them to leave off the cucumbers because I don't even like the way the lettuce tastes where the cucumber was laying on top of it. No cucumbers!!

4.) I am a Friends Expert. I have seen every episode of Friends about 12 million times. I own all of the DVD's and have even watched all of the bonus stuff on the DVD's like bloopers, episodes with the directors/creators commentary, etc. I have a couple of Friends board games and I always win and every time one of those Friends tests is floating around on Facebook, I take it and get a perfect score. I'm not trying to brag but....well, yes I am.

5.) Tuesday is my productive day. I don't plan for it to be like this but Tuesday is usually the day where I'm most productive around my house and I get a lot done. I think it's because it's usually our day where we have nothing to do so I just take advantage of it. I do laundry all day, clean and organize. It's kind of nice to knock it all out in one day so I can take it easy the rest of the week.

Wordless Wednesday

I took these photos of the boys about 2 weeks ago. I wanted some "American Summer" photos of them. I take a lot of photos of my boys with the camera but these are what Scott and I like to refer to as "real" photos. The kind where I get them dressed in cute outfits, fine an awesome location, and wait for the perfect lighting. We don't do photos like this very often but when we do, I just love them. I'm really proud of these pictures. Scott was working late so I did it all on my own. I like to have his help with "important" photos because it's SO hard to take pictures of two young children by yourself. Usually one of us is putting them back in the right spot (because toddlers don't stand/sit still in case you didn't know) and behind the photographer trying to get them to smile. But this was all on me. And even though these pictures were being taken when the boys should have been in bed, they cooperated pretty darn well! Here are a few of my favorites.

Gold Maxi

I've been meaning to share this look with you guys since the spring and I'm finally getting around to it. I LOVE this Piko dress. I have it in several colors. Every time I wear this particular color I always get so many compliments. I think we're all looking for a good, casual maxi and this one is wonderful!

This dress would be perfect to wear if you were pregnant. The fabric is so relaxing and breezy and could definitely handle a full term bump. It would be nice to have postpartum as well since it's such a relaxed fit and the stretchy neckline would be easy to breastfeed in.

I purchased this gold color in the spring thinking it would also be so pretty in the fall with a scarf and some booties. I have the burgundy color as well because I thought it would work well for Razorback games. The photo online makes it look more cranberry colored than it is in real life. It's definitely closer to a cardinal shade. After writing this post I feel like I need another color or two! They're just so great and you can wear them almost year round.

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