What's Up Wednesday

 Good morning friends and welcome to the Halloween What's Up Wednesday! It feels like just yesterday I was writing up this post last year, talking about Halloween costumes of years past, some of our favorite neighborhood decorations and more. While in some ways this year has felt like it is crawling by, in other ways this year has flown by!

What We're Eating This Week: So this week we are trying to be as festive as possible. We had these Jack O Lantern stuffed peppers:

We've had some Witch's Brew-thies (smoothies):

This is basically our favorite smoothie recipe but with 1/2 cup pumpkin puree and a dash of pumpkin pie spice 

and we've had lots of soup in the crock pot!

What I'm Reminiscing About: Halloweens past! In 2017 our big girl was dressed as a little old lady:

In 2018 she was Albert Einstein:

In 2019 LG was a mermaid and Liam was a baby shark:

Look how tiny he was!! I can't get over it! 

This year we've had quite the debacle with costumes. I had great plans for a family costume-- it was going to be adorable. The only problem? I was the only one who wanted to do it 😂 I like to say Liam was on my side since he can't really say otherwise yet... but Devin and Lily Grace both vetoed my family costume idea. I tried a few others, but kept getting shot down. Then LG wanted to be "a boy vampire" and was INSISTENT 😂. Until the costume came in the mail and she put it on. Then it went from a great idea to "too spooky" real quick (it wasn't even scary, I think she just didn't like it). Normally I would be all "well that's what you chose so that's what you're wearing", except lucky for her I really didn't like it either and had a back up plan. So... you'll have to stay tuned to see what we end up as!

What I'm Loving: SAHM life! I'm not sure if you remember or not, but several months ago when I told you all that I was quitting teaching in order to be a SAHM I was a little nervous about it. I loved teaching and was so used to having my routine, a schedule and my independence. Something that was just "mine" and an aspect of life that wasn't related to being "mom". I was afraid I would be lonely and bored without that constant interaction with people that I was used to. While I definitely loved teaching, it turns out I also very much love being able to stay home with my kids-- especially in this fun stage of life they're in. Are there some days where I'm ready to pull my hair out and I've said "stop touching your brother!!" a hundred times? Absolutely. But I am also so grateful to get to spend this time with them while they are young. Before I know it they will be in school full time and I might miss constantly saying "stop touching your brother!". Ehh, maybe not. 😜

What We've Been Up To: We just got back from a visit to the mountains to check out some beautiful fall foliage! We had the best time. If you want to read more about it, or check our our pictures click here.

What I'm Dreading: Nothing, thank God! 

What I'm Working On: I have been having a blast testing out some new recipes lately. I have more time on my hands to be cooking/cleaning so there's no time like the present for testing new recipes!

What I'm Excited About: The countdown to the Christmas season is ON! T minus 4 days until Michael Buble Holiday on Pandora is on nonstop in this house! We are looking forward to decorating, getting out the kids' Christmas books, baking and cramming all the fun we can into this season. By celebrating throughout November AND December this year, I'm thinking things will feel less hectic/forced throughout the holiday season. In some years past it has felt like we were over-scheduling our days just to be able to get everything in. Now we can relax a little more and play it by ear while still also getting to do all the fun things we love so much.

What I'm Watching/Reading: Devin and I started watching The Queen's Gambit on Netflix and really like it! As for reading, last week I posted my 10 Favorite Spooky/Thriller Books for Halloween and asked for recommendations for a new one. The Silent Patient was suggested and so far I am HOOKED!

What I'm Listening To: The Super Simple Songs Halloween 

and KidzBop Halloween CD's are on rotation in the car. As for me, I got away from Taylor Swift's Folklore for a bit, but after stumbling across a fan theory behind the album I've become hooked again. I've been re-listening to all the songs now knowing the fan theory and it's fun!

Jeans/Shirt/Vest

What I'm Wearing: Thanks to the fall weather, I have been living in my vests! I love them for layering, they're easy to pop off/back on whenever I need to.

Jeans/Sweater/Vest (old, but similar here)/Slippers (old, but similar here)

What I'm Doing This Weekend: Halloween, Halloween, HALLOWEEN! Then we are scheduled to have our fall family pictures taken, and then let the Holiday season BEGIN!

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month: Taking things slowly with holiday fun. I am looking forward to not cramming everything in to one month by extending the season a bit. I am also excited to see more progress on our home renovation by the end of next month. We are currently in the electrical/plumbing phase that doesn't show a whole lot of noticeable progress. I am looking forward to when our walls get put back up, our cabinets put in, and possibly even some countertops and appliances?!

Thanks for reading along today! I hope you all have a great rest of the week. See you back here on Friday!