Two Weeks 'till Kickoff!

Football season started for us on August 1st. The players and student's reported on the 31st and meetings and practices started right after. 

We don't kick off until the 31st, but the team has been busy prepping for that first game. 

DJ has put in some long days at the office this month, but we wanted to have some fun with his staff and students before they put in 14 hour days, so we had them over for dinner. 

I decorated the table and quickly realized I need some more Texas decorations! 

We used a fleece blanket as a tablecloth, added our letter board, a foam finger, a little football, and player figurine and some beads from the Sugar Bowl. 

We decided to have the dinner catered since I had to work that day and it was just easier. 

We ordered from Cabo Bobs and they came over and set everything up. They made it so easy by bringing all of the serving spoons, plates, utensils, drinks, and cups. 

I had dessert plates left over from last season, so we used those, and Gretchen made sugar cookies, and I picked up cupcakes for dessert. 

A perfect combination of orange & white. 

I'm so proud of this guy and all of the work he puts in for the coaches and team. 

After dinner, we played "tailgate" games in the backyard. Since they're always working, they never get to tailgate before games, so we thought it would be fun. We had ladder ball and corn hole set up. 

It was a fun night and great way to kick off the season! 

We don't have a lot of family dinners during this time of year, and while we have in the past tried to make it to practices, we haven't been good about it this year. A few weeks ago, the team had a "Meet the Horns" autograph event, so the girls and I drove to the stadium after church and had lunch with DJ in his office. It was our first family meal together in a few weeks! We take them when we can get them. 

The girls grabbed their posters and spent the next hour getting lots and lots of autographs. 

We even found Hook 'em. 

and took our first photo with the cheerleaders this season. 

After our posters were covered in autographs, we had to say good bye to this guy. He had meetings to stay for, so we headed home. Only two girls wanted a picture with him....

the other wasn't interested at all! Ha! 

And, since it was crazy hot, we stopped for ice cream on our way home! 

Saturday was family day, so all of the players families were invited to watch scrimmage and have lunch. The girls and I headed out with a blanket in tow and found as much shade as we could! 

Eventually, the little girls found friends and ran off to play, and Gretchen played on her tablet. 

Once the scrimmage was over, the girls had fun harassing the players as they cooled down in ice baths and "sold" them their acai bowls. 

The girls had lots of fun- ha! 

Kick off is at the end of the month, and we're playing Louisiana Tech, which is where DJ and I started this crazy life together! 

Back to School

Yesterday, my girls went back to school. 

I have to be honest, I wasn't ready at all! Once August hit, I realized that we frantically needed to order new backpacks and lunch boxes and buy school supplies. This year, I compiled the three separate lists, and put everything I would need in my Target cart online. I waited until tax free weekend, hit check out, and picked up everything at the store later that afternoon. It saved a lot of stress at the store, but honestly, it was still stressful- I just yelled at my kids at school instead of in the store- ha! 

To get us in the back to school spirit, I decided I would do some festive decorating. 

I've had this tiered stand for a while, I think I bought it from Hobby Lobby. I filled it with little trinkets that I had around the house, including lots of left over pencils from last year! 

On the bottom, I added a few books and a faux apple. 

On our side board, I changed out the letter board and set a few apples out. 

And in the living room, I added a banner under the TV, and a few touches to our tiered stand. 

Part of me thought that I would try to host a "back to school" dinner with friends, but August flew by and it just came and went so fast that I wasn't able to. 

Tuesday night we had Meet the Teacher. We always bring school supplies on this night so the girls aren't hauling them in on the 1st day of school. 

We met Adalyn's teacher and found out that her best friend from kindergarten is in her class! 

And Megan got the teacher she wanted! 

And the night before school, we read "The Night Before First Grade." I've read this book to all of the girls before they started 1st grade. We also had The Night Before Preschool and The Night Before Kindergarten. 

Thursday morning, we were up bright & early. Thankfully, the girls were excited and they woke up easily and got everything done. 

We had their backpacks and lunches prepped and ready to go the night before, so they only had to wake up, get dressed, and eat. 

I found printables, and made each of them a 1st day of school sign. 

And then I wanted to do a fun first day, so we took photos and I added a little something about the girls.

Gretchen started middle school and told us that we couldn't walk her in to school. She received her schedule and had an eventful lunch, because the microwaves at school overheated and caused the fire alarms to go off, so they all had to evacuate! 

We did get to walk Megan and Adalyn to class. 

Megan said she only had one kid in her class from last year, but she was able to find a few friends to play with during recess and even gets to sit with a friend on the bus! 

Addy's BFF is in her class, so that basically makes her day. But, she said her teacher was super nice! 

Here's looking to a fun year at school! 

6 Products Your Man Needs

It's not very often that I blog about guys or even my husband. I mean, I'm a total #girlmom, but I guess after being married for 13 years, I know a little bit- ha! 

Also, DJ is totally going to kill me for this graphic.

So, a few years ago, I embarked on a natural/crunchy lifestyle. I was determined to throw out products in our home that weren't safe and while he totally let me, he wasn't 100% on board. Especially when it came to throwing out the products he was using! 

Eventually, he came around, because he doesn't do the shopping :) So, he didn't really have a choice, but I think he's on board! 

Alright, here's 6 products the man in your life needs. 

Shutran Shave Cream

Young Living makes this shave cream with with pure essential oils and moisturizing botanicals. Shutran™ Shave Cream delivers an incredibly close, smooth shave. It combines hydrating palm, grape seed, and olive oils, naturally derived vitamin E complex, and mango and cocoa butter, this shave cream provides a frictionless glide to reduce razor burn and nicks.

Shutran Aftershave Lotion

If your hubby is like mine, and likes a clean shaven face every day, then this aftershave lotion is a must. This 100% plant-based aftershave soothes, freshens, and calms skin after your hubby has roughed up his skin shaving. Made with Shutran™ essential oil blend, organic coconut oil, argan oil, jojoba oil, witch hazel extract, dandelion root extract, and aloe vera, this aftershave won’t dry out skin and is perfectly moisturizing. Shutran Aftershave Lotion isn’t greasy and absorbs quickly into skin, providing a light cooling sensation as it restores moisture.

Every Man Jack

This is a semi-plant based deodorant that we buy at Target. It's fairly clean, but it does have fragrance as an ingredient, which we typically steer-clear of. However, it doesn't have ingredients such as Sodium Laurel Sulfate, parabens, aluminum, dyes, or phthalates. Young Living has had a deodorant, but I hadn't heard the best reviews for it, and this was a semi-clean brand that I could find. But, as soon as this one is gone, I'll work on switching him over to the Cinnamint. 

Dollar Shave Club

I was a sceptic when DJ first wanted to join, but he's been a member of Dollar Shave Club for several years, and we've even gifted their razors to our fathers. For a small monthly fee, I think it's less than $5.00, he gets a package of razor blades delivered each month. While they do carry self-care products, we just don't use them, but he loves these razor blades. 

Shutran 3 in 1 Men's Wash

We stock these at the house and in the locker room for DJ. While he uses these, I have to tell you that he's not the biggest fan, because it doesn't "bubble". But, I'll tell you like I tell him (and I tell him this a lot!) The bubbles that make us think "clean" are actually sodium laurel sulfates, which has been linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, organ toxicity, skin irritation and endocrine disruption. We have got to stop thinking that bubbles = clean, because bubbles actually = cancer and other crap that we don't want in or on our bodies. 

Anyway, I get him to use this stuff as much as possible for that very reason. 

Specifically formulated for men, Shutran™ 3-in-1 Men’s Wash combines our empowering Shutran essential oil blend with ingredients such as aloe and ucuuba nut oil for an essential oil-infused body wash with a powerful clean that doesn’t strip your skin of moisture. Don’t crowd your shower shelf with bottles of men’s shampoo, men’s face wash, and men’s body wash.

Click here to learn a bit more about this body wash. 

Cool Azul Sports Gel

DJ loves to run, but his calves and shin are often sore afterwards. He uses this after his work outs to provide relief. Cool Azul™ Sports Gel is formulated with a full 10 percent of pure essential oils in every 3.4-oz. tube. Along with hydrating the skin, our sports gel boasts a topically cooling blend of Peppermint, Plectranthus Oregano, and Dorado Azul essential oils with menthol and camphor.

Click here to learn more about this sports gel or here for the pain cream. 

Alright, those are our 6 must haves for your man. 

What products does your hubby need to toss for those that are cleaner and safer?

Life Lately

Well friends, Summer is officially over. My girls go back to school later this week, and I find myself wondering how in the world Summer went by so fast! We've done our best to soak up every last minute; here's a little life lately for you! 

It's HOT here in Texas! Like, over 100 degrees, so we've been spending lots of time at the pool! 

Did y'all watch Descendants 3? The night it came out we had a pizza night and cuddled up in the living room to watch the premiere. And of course, the girls have watched it at least once a day every day since!

Bean bags, blankets, pizza, and Descendants.

Last weekend, we made a day trip to San Antonio. I had a distant cousin in town for the weekend, so the girls and I drove down to have dinner with him and his family. We drove down early and went to the Alamo. 

I've been wanting to take the girls since we moved here and we just hadn't made time, so this was the perfect excuse!

But, man, it was hot! 

There was a little re-enactment going on, but I think Adalyn just made the guy mad. She was touching everything and dumped out his little packet of sewing needles. We apologized and quickly moved on!

You can't take photos inside the Alamo, so we took a lot on the grounds outside.

I handed off my phone so we could get a picture, and it was horrible quality. I tried editing it to brighten it up, but next time, I'll remember to clean my lense before passing it off. #whoops

Also, the Alamo is tiny, but I'm so glad we went and the girls were able to learn about this landmark. 

After the Alamo, we met family for dinner at Mi Tierra. 

The food was yummy, and the girls had fun! 

Sigh.... we really are trying to break this little habit. 

But, it's times like this that I remember, she's my baby and the last I'll ever have. 

Gretchen had 6th grade camp last week, so I pinned her down on the sofa and forced her to tell me all about! She's so looking forward to starting middle school! 

The girls have had the best babysitter this Summer! We so appreciate all that she's done and we're going to miss her when she goes off to college :( She fixed the girls hair before gymnastics. #twinning

And after gymnastics (her hair fell down; sigh) we went off to Target and she talked the entire time! She was really soaking up that 1:1 time! 

Last Wednesday, I took these girls for a trim. They got little hair bows, braids, and glitter int heir hair! And, we only had 1/4 of an inch cut off, so you can't even tell they had it cut! 

And you know, we haven't practiced sight words all Summer, so we decided that we needed to! #betterlatethannever 

We love using Bob books for sight word practice! 

Did y'all know that you can trade in kids meals toys at CFA for free ice cream? Please tell me you know this trick! We love the books they give out, but we don't really need three, so the girls usually just trade them in for ice cream! 

She made Friday a pajama day and did a little coloring. 

And she helped me make tortillas for taco night! 

I'm going to brag on Gretchen real quick, but this is the 2nd time she's helped me cook dinner and she hasn't complained at all! She loves to bake, so I totally need to utilize her skills more. She also has helped me so much with her little sisters and chores around the house. She's just growing up so fast and has been an exceptional help lately! 

Also, pool time with friends is the best! We took one of her friends to the pool with us on Saturday afternoon and tried to survive another heat wave! 

Whew! We've had a busy few days but we're ready for school to start. The girls can't wait to see their friends and find out who their teachers are! 

Here's to the end of Summer!