Menu Plan Monday!

Head over to Organizing Junkie to link up!

 

Monday: Italian pork, pesto gnocchi, salad

Tuesday: chicken with stuffing, green beans, rice & gravy

Wednesday: lemon pepper tilapia, sautéed squash, zucchini & red onion

Thursday: chocolate chip pancakes, bacon

Friday: spinach roll-ups, salad, garlic bread

Saturday: enchiladas

Sunday: chicken enchilada soup

 

 



It's Fall, Ya'll!

Yeah, I know. I'm like a month late.

But better late than never, right?

 

I didn't put up a whole lot of fall decor this year.

My house is already the fall reds, oranges and browns, so I threw in a few things here and there

 and called it a day

 

 

I think I've had this wreath for the past 2-3 years. Seriously. Maybe 4.

I had big aspirations of replacing it this year, but i procrastinated.

Maybe next year?

I have this little acorn picture frame out on the bookshelf.

Yes, it has a Christmas picture in it.

See? Not perfect over here!

 



 

This is on the top of my bookshelf (which is in the living room).

I have a big glass jar with some beads in the bottom and a glass pumpkin on top.

 The bird cage to the left was my grandmothers,

and I don't like that silver frame to the right but it works for now.

 

This pumpkin-y wreath is on the back door. I got it this year at Fred's for $10.

Please excuse the poor state of our interior blinds.

Labs do not like to be left alone in the house apparently, and the shutters took a beating.

 

 

 

This is the arrangement in the middle of my dining room table.

I got the gold charger at Dollar General for $1, the two black candle holders from Goodwill for $1/ea,

and the flowers I already had on hand.

 

Totally not a part of the fall décor, but who can resist this sweet face?!



Happy Veterans Day!

I am a VERY proud Air Force wife, and I know firsthand the sacrifices these people make.

Birthdays missed, phone calls made with lags and echos, fuzzy FaceTime, holidays alone, and even bringing new babies into this world with your husband watching via the Internet....

...or hearing about it hours later.

The sacrifice is real and it's hard.

 

 

These pictures are some I will forever hold close to my heart.

When June was n the NICU in Orlando, FL, it came time for him to re-enlist

His Commander and First Sergeant (and the Commanders wife) drove down to personally re-enlist him in front of the hospital where June was a patient.

 

It took place under the big American flag outside, and I was so proud.

My husband, taking an oath to defend our country, promising to do his very best to protect us all.

 

 

Integrity First.

Service before self.

Excellence in all we do.

 

Take a moment today and thank a veteran and his family.

They may never let on, but it means more than you could imagine.

And - you don't have to support this war. But you can support our troops.

 

 

OFF we go into the wild blue yonder,

Climbing high into the sun

Here they come zooming to meet our thunder

At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun!

Down we dive, spouting our flame from under

Off with one helluva roar!

We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!

Nothing can stop the U.S. Air Force!

Minds of men fashioned a crate of thunder

Sent it high into the blue

Hands of men blasted the world a-sunder

How they lived God only knew!

Souls of men dreaming of skies to conquer

Gave us wings, ever to soar!

With scouts before And bombers galore.

Nothing can stop the U.S. Air Force!

Here's a toast to the host

Of those who love the vastness of the sky,

To a friend we send a message of his brother men who fly.

We drink to those who gave their all of old

Then down we roar to score the rainbow's pot of gold.

A toast to the host of men we boast, the U.S. Air Force!

 

Off we go into the wild sky yonder,

Keep the wings level and true

If you'd live to be a grey-haired wonder

Keep the nose out of the blue!

Flying men, guarding the nation's border,

we'll be there followed by more!

In echelon we carry on, Hey!

Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!

Weekend Happenings & Menu Plan Monday!

I feel like I always come on here and say - WOW! This weekend was insane!

But this weekend really was.

We threw a big church yard sale on Saturday

and the kids had a stand with lemonade, sweet tea, hot cocoa, brownies, cookies, etc.

Everybody - including the children - worked their little tail ends off

and we made a combined $300 (roughly).

I am SO proud of them.

For my mental memory book, Sara and June (especially Sara) would yell...repeatedly...at every single customer who walked in the door...

"LEMONADE! GET YOUR LEMONADE! SWEET TEA! COOKIES! BROWNIES!"

I saw Sara over there several times making peoples drinks for them.

We may have two little entrepreneurs on our hands!

 

Sunday we went to church & then served a big dinner afterwards.

Got home around 3:30 and crashed for the rest of the day.

I pitched a tent on the couch and I'm not sure I left it!

Had to keep it warm, you know. :)

 

Mike is off today and tomorrow for Veterans Day & this morning, he gave me the wonderful gift of SLEEPING IN! He got up with the girls, got them fed and dressed and both off to school. Yes, it's 7:42 a.m. so I didn't really "sleep in" but I relaxed in bed and it was W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L. We don't have much on the agenda for today - I've got to run to the store, I've got Bible Study this morning, & I need to do some work for the blog. Oh, and I have this atrocious to-do list to work on. :/

 

 

 

Anyway, you're probably not here for all that, so here's our meal plan for the week.

We did very good last night but we have several meals left over because we ate at church one day and ate sandwiches a few other days because the week was so hectic.

 

Monday: chili & cornbread

Tuesday: crockpot chicken & stuffing, green beans, rice & gravy

Wednesday: chocolate chip pancakes & bacon

Thursday: taco pasta Hamburger Helper, whole kernal corn

Friday: pigs in a blanket, mac & cheese

Saturday: we'll be at my moms

Sunday: taco soup & cornbread

 

Head on over to Organizing Junkie to link up! My grocery budget for the month of November is $300. This is a HUGE challenge to me because previously it was $500. But we'll be gone for 5 days at the end of the month, so I think I can do it. I shall keep you updated!

 

And because I can't end this post without posting a picture of my sweet Junebug:

 

 

 



Family Pictures 2014

We had our family pictures done about a month ago by my friend, Sabrina.

We have been friends ever since Kindergarten...I remember the first time I rsaw her.

Her daddy brought her into the classroom and was so kind to all of us little ones in there. I just remember him smiling and I remember her mama had cut her sandwich into triangles. She had the blackest hair I had ever seen and it was soooo long. Isn't it funny the things we remember?

Anyhow, now that little girl is grown with three little ones of her own, and she takes some amazing pictures. If you are in the Elmore County, Alabama area, you should definitely contact me for her info. She doesn't do it big, but she does it very, very well.

 

On another note, am I the only one who is awful about getting family pictures made?

The last time we had professional ones done was in 2007, when Sara was 3 months old.
REALLY?! How terrible. I am going to do their pictures in their sweet smocked Christmas dresses, though. And as a matter of fact, one of the dresses they are going to wear was my niece's in the previously mentioned family pictures. She was 7 then. Now my daughter is 7. I need some tissues.

 

Okay, without further adieu, here you go!

 

 

We chose to do them in the cotton field for a few reasons.

One being that my granddaddy was a cotton farmer in this area years and years ago, my uncle was a cotton farmer and still loves to farm, although it's toned down...somewhat....over the years.

The second reason was because I can remember being in England, a new military wife, expecting my first child, more homesick than I'd ever been and feeling as lost as a ball in high grass. My neighbor (also from Alabama - thank you God for sending her there!) brought some cotton blooms home when she flew back from a vacation.

I cried for days.

They smelled like home.

 They felt like home.

 They looked like home.

I'm pretty sure they would've tasted like home if I'd had the guts.

 

I'm home now. In location and in my heart.