What's Up Wednesday

Happy Halloween! We're looking forward to celebrating big time today, even though the rain is probably going to put a damper on our plans. 

I'm linking up and sharing What's Up Wednesday today..... 

1. What We're Eating This Week.....

Well, this week is not a week that I have tons of things planned for the menu. 

Monday night we had pizza leftovers and last night, the girls and I went to P. Terry's in Austin because we had to run to the university for some paperwork. We were excited to try a new restaurant, and the girls were happy they had milkshakes. 

Tonight, I'm planning on our pumpkin and bat ravioli from Costco.

If you're looking for other dinner ideas, I shared some last Friday on my Friday Favorites. Last week, I was on my cooking game and I shared what we were eating then. 

2. What I'm Reminiscing About....

I'm realizing how big the girls have gotten. Gone are the days of babies and toddlers, and sleepless nights. They're independent and big and totally okay not being around momma all the time. Sometimes I miss babies and toddlers in our house, but this stage we're in is also lots of fun, because we don't have to stress about naps or diaper bags, and we're able to just go. But, I sure do miss the holiday clothes, hair bows, rocking babies to sleep, and snuggles. 

3. What I'm Loving....

We recently joined Costco, and I'm loving it! They have a ton of organic foods, huge bags of veggies, and just great foods in bulk. We bought their chicken cordon blue, and my kids ate it and asked for seconds, which never happens at dinner time! I'm sure i'll be making another Costco run on Friday, and stocking up on juice boxes, snacks, and lunch foods. 

4. What We've Been Up To.....

All the Fall Things. 

We were so busy with moving, settling in, starting school, a new job.... and then the weather turned immediately cold and rainy, we were sick, and we basically had to squeeze in all the fall things in one weekend. 

Last Friday we made pumpkin bread, decorated a Halloween haunted house, watched Halloween movies, went to the pumpkin patch, and went to a costume party. 

We seriously squeezed in everything! 

5. What I'm Dreading....

Taking the kids trick or treating tonight. 

I mean, is it fair to say that I'm dreading it, because it's suppose to rain. Gretchen was also invited to a party, and I'm not ready for that. 

6. What I'm Working On...

I'm trying to get everything unpacked and pictures hung, curtains hung.... I have to order a rug for the Living Room.... slowly but surely the house is coming together, but I'm really needing DJ to have some time off again to help. 

It's a slow process, especially during football season when a husband is rarely home. 

7. What I'm Excited About....

This weekend Texas plays West Virginia, and after our loss last weekend to OSU, i'm super nervous. We need this win! 

My cousin and his friend are also coming up for the game, and I'm excited to spend some time with them! 

8. What I'm Watching/Reading....

This Is Us

The Neighbors

Grey's Anatomy

Real Housewives of Dallas

9. What I'm Listening To....

Lauren Daigle. 

Her music gives me life :)

10. What I'm Wearing....

At work, I'm big on yoga pants and comfy tees. I recently ordered this tee and it's crazy comfy! 

11. What I'm Doing This Weekend....

Hook 'em Horns!

We're going to be cheering on our Longhorns! 

12. What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month....

We have no big plans. We'll spend our next few weekends watching football games, and hoping the Longhorns can make it in to the conference championship game. 

We'll keep unpacking and getting settled.

We'll explore Austin more.

And start settling in for Christmas! 

13. What Else Is New....

Not much else :) 

Our life is pretty routine of school, work, homework, and hanging out in the evenings. We're starting to look in to adding after school activities back in soon, but for now, we're just making sure we're all adjusted after this move. 

Bonus- My Favorite Halloween Costume.... 

Gretchen's Dalmatian costume will always be a favorite because I spent so much time making it. 

Here's to a Happy Halloween to you and your family! May you have fun trick or treating and stay dry! 

Fall Fun

We basically squeezed the entire Fall season in to one weekend. 

Friday night, the girls made a Halloween haunted house. 

We picked up an pre-made house from Target and a few candies. 

It was basically the best case scenario, because when we have to piece gingerbread houses together they always fall apart. I was thankful that these were already put together and sturdy, which also meant the girls could get right to decorating. 

They each took a side, and then none of them stuck to the side they chose. 

While the girls were decorating their haunted house, I made Halloween pasta. 

I found these at Costco... the cutest little pumpkin and bat cheese ravioli's. 

I showed them to the girls, and then added.....

blood and mummy strings. 

AKA: spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese. 

So yummy! 

We usually order a jack o'lantern pizza from Papa Murphy's on Halloween night, but this year, i'm just going to make these ravioli's again. 

After dinner, they put some finishing touches on their haunted house. 

And then we cuddled up to watch Snoopy's Halloween on TV. 

Saturday afternoon we headed to a pumpkin patch with our cousins. 

DJ's cousin lives right outside of Austin too, so we're excited to actually have family close by! 

We started off in the corn maze, and got super lost. Thankfully, they had people planted and they helped us out! 

Once we made it out of the corn maze, we realized we needed to take some cute pictures before we got more hot and sweaty! 

I don't think I've ever had a picture of myself with the girls at the pumpkin patch. We'll be framing this one for sure :) Mostly, because they're all smiling! 

The pumpkin patch we went to was located beside the Colorado River, and the views were gorgeous. They had food, frozen wine (next year ;0) and a band playing. It was festive and fun. 

The cousins waiting in line to push the barrel. 

Gretchen wanted to do this over and over again. 

The kids jumped for a while, played on the playground...

and then we went on a little tractor ride. 

Afterwards, Gretchen played human foosball. 

We finally headed over to the pumpkins, and Megan was convinced that we should take this one home. 

Gretchen found her perfect pumpkin. 

We took a few more photos, and all the kids took turns in the drivers seat. 

And then Adalyn found her perfect pumpkin. 

Sometimes, you just need to chill on a giant pumpkin. 

or a bale of hay. 

I made a new rule this year, which was kind of genius. All of the girls had to be able to carry their own pumpkins. Mostly because I didn't bring a wagon (the girls are big enough to walk) and, because I had only planned on buying one pumpkin, since we're super close to Halloween, but that didn't work out well. 

We made it home just in time to turn on the Texas game and I ordered pizza. 

The game didn't turn out like we had wanted, but the girls did see their daddy on TV, and fell asleep by the 2nd quarter, so it was a total win. 

Monday Musings...

Happy Monday! We had a busy weekend, but it was jam packed full of fun! Today, I'm just musing over last week and trying to survive a Monday!

The girls had Red Ribbon Week, and I must admit, it was pretty boring. Dress up weeks were always my favorite in school, and when I worked in the schools, I loved dressing up on those days. 

This year, the girls had wear red day, sunglasses, crazy socks, adventure day, and wear a Halloween shirt. I mean, is it too much to ask for a pajama day, decade days, crazy hair day, twin day. Part of me, liked that I didn't have to think, but man, our kids sure do miss out on some of the fun things that  we got to do as kids. 

Anywho, I forgot to take a picture most days, plus, I wasn't enamored with the themes, but here's two of the girls on sunglasses day. 

And, we had no clue what adventure day meant. I guess this could've been our one day to go a little crazy, but our adventures involve road trips, not African Safaris, so I let the girls choose something on their own. Megan wore denim on denim on denim. She said she was mountain climbing. 

Last week wore Adalyn out. We're still getting use to earlier bedtimes and super early mornings, and I can always tell that she needs a little nap right away, because she'll come home super fussy and whiney. Addy and I both took a nap on this day! Ha! I guess I was fussy and whiney too :) 

Megan was a sweet heart when it was time to wake her up for dinner. 

My aunt sent me a new sign for our house, and it was perfect for our entry way space. It's the "thankful" sign :) I'm not sure where she got it, but most of these just came from good old Hobby Lobby. 

Addy and I enjoyed a few minutes of quiet while she ate breakfast before school. And, i'm not sure about y'all, but it is SO dark here in the mornings! DJ says it'll get better when daylight savings kicks in, but it's pitch black when we get up and leave and I'm so not use to that. 

Kindergarten birthdays at school are so much fun... especially, when you come home with icing all over your face. 

Gretchen was accepted in to her schools gifted and talented program. She's already involved with a research project, and she was explaining that she wanted to research the world's most famous asked questions. I have no idea what she really means by this, and I may have encouraged her to change her topic, but she's pretty persistent. So, if you have any ideas for us, since good ol' google didn't, let us know! 

Remember those whiney afternoons?

Well, last Wednesday, Adalyn was super whiney and throwing a lovely tantrum because she was grounded from the TV. Anyway, I had heard a friend talk using Endoflex essential oil on her kiddo during tantrums, so I grabbed ours, put a swipe of oil over Addy's heart, and within a few minutes, she was asleep! I didn't really mean for her to fall asleep, but she obviously needed it! 

Texas makes beautiful skies :)

The girls had award assemblies on Friday!

Gretchen and Megan both had A/B honor roll, and all of the girls had perfect attendance. I tried to get photos, but the cafeteria lighting as well as my iphone did not make for a good combination. 

Addy walking in with her class- look how tall she is! 

Megan was not as thrilled to be getting her awards. 

She hates being the center of attention when it's not her idea, so when her name was called, she walked to the front with a scowl on her face the entire time. 

The same thing happened when she got perfect attendance! Ha! 

I have to say again, that the girls have adjusted SO well to their new school. We prayed so hard that they would adjust and make new friends, and it's truly an answer to those prayers.