A "flu" Friday favorites...

See what I did there? I switched "flu" for "few". Because, yeah. The flu.

But that doesn't stop us... because much like this McDonald's DP that I gave my four-year-old, we see things as half full around here. And for the record, DP and cinnamon toast cure anything. 

So here are a "flu" of my favorites this week.

Texts from Ryan...

I can always count on texts from Ryan to make my late Monday nights a bit sweeter. Also, he's the greatest grocery shopper ever. I need buy fun things like drumsticks. But he never gains weight. Ever. I try to avoid the temptations. 

Speaking of temptations...they are also one of my favorites. (Not the band, although they are pretty amazing, too). Cookies. Cookies are my hands down favorite dessert. 

We have been doing lots and lots of baking of the cookies. Y'all I have about as much willpower as Barbie has bellybuttons. Oy. Ryan has actually perfected the cookie recipe so much so that his look about like this:

Image Source

(And yes, I am that bad of a blogger that I google searched cookie). 

(The truth is we eat them so fast I don't get a pic.)

(The actual truth is that I just eat the dough). 

It was kind of by accident. We were short a stick of butter and he made them anyway. Y'all. It made all the difference. The secret recipe that Phoebe loves so much called for too much butter. 

Source

So while I am stuffing my mouth with the best cookies ever, I'm also reading about how to keep it shut...

I sometimes have a hard time keeping my mouth shut. And by sometimes I mean allthefreakingtime. The only three times in history that I can remember being actually speechless:

1. Directly after our band won the state competition my senior year in HS and my band director asked me say something. What? (And yes, proud band nerd here.) 
2. After all 3 kids were born
3. In a meeting at work when I was so angry that I literally could not speak.

I am a talker. I am good with words. I also happen to be right/funny/sarcastic/didImentionright most of the time. Or so I think. I am 2 chapters in and have already had those aha moments that good bible studies bring. You can order the book on Amazon and you can follow along with the bible study at Proverbs 31.

I'm also reading with two of my dear friends and we have been texting back and forth our goals, our fears, our triumphs! Excited for the next few weeks!

Okay, that was a random assortment of mess. Hope you made it this far because, she happens to be one of my favorites, too!

Linking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci

Puzzled...

Radley has always been a puzzle kid - great attention span and pretty great at putting them together. Probably because he's the first kid and all we did was give him ALL the attention. You know the "I will be in your face doing every thing I can to educate you, listen to you and make sure you love and adore God" kind. The girls? Notsomuch.

But lately they have all been very into puzzles and Landry is insistent on putting them together by herself. (This usually means you put the piece next to where it belongs and she snaps it in.)

I love these kinds of nights. The slowness of the "nothing to do" so we just sit around with 15 puzzles and celebrate each little piece. I cringe at the arguments. I praise the sharing. I smile at the help that they each offer. I laugh at the in betweens. 

I sometimes feel guilty that they don't play more video games. That we don't have a lot of devices and electronics. All of Radley's friends seem to know the ending of every video game out there and he doesn't even know the name. I think I had totally solved the end of SeaQuest on the Atari by the 1st grade. 

But, they are but little once. Right?

Once. We don't get them eager for our attention that long. 

And sometimes it's tiring. Ok, a lot of times it's tiring. I think I tried to sit and read a book for two hours yesterday and got about 5 pages in. The sun was shining and I had convinced myself that they would play outside, entertaining each other, and I would "enjoy the view" with my cold drink, feet propped up and just read and enrich my mind while my heart was being filled by their laughter. 

And now I hear your laughter. 

Between the "help me get on the jump-o-line" and "I need to potty" (which meant getting off of the jump-oline) and "Rad isn't sharing" and "Emmy isn't listening" and... well, 5 pages. 

So, yes... it would be easy and nice to plop them in front of a game, but these nights filled with puzzles and nothing much else, are kind of all we need. 

I'll never be a foodie blogger...

We love food around here. All different kinds, any flavor, texture, color or taste. We love food and there is pretty much nothing we won't try or make our kids try. We are always trying new recipes or making up our own. And, if I do say so myself, they usually turn out pretty tasty.

But. I could never be a foodie blogger. 

I mean, I start off strong enough documenting the process...

And then I get distracted or a kid needs to tell me something, tattle on someone or ask me a question that is really tattling on someone. 

(We ate in the dining room for the first time ever. Emmy set the table.)

Ryan has decided that Sunday's are his day to cook. The last three weeks he has spent all day in the kitchen cooking up a storm of delightful eats and treats. 

So, it should be pretty easy to document because I really only have to take pictures. 

But, the helpers are so much more fun to photograph.

Especially when they are sneaking tastes when they don't think anyone is looking.

We take food pretty serious around here. But, we also take the time we spend preparing the food and sharing the food serious. And those are the moments I'll keep trying to document. 

InstaKings...

Emmy is really into taking pictures on my phone... 

and making silly faces... 

and being cute... 

and I like it. 

Just some hippies heading to a birthday party!

Several years ago, the Munsons and Kings went bowling on MLK since schools were closed and there is nothing else to do in town. And since this is Aggieland, a tradition was born and we've been doing it ever since. The date was planned, the identical clothing choices was not. 

#bestieproblems

Ryan and I had the best time on our first of our year of dates!

So I told y'all about my love of Tammy Taylor. I was doing some major channeling of her in the hair department this week... and may need to buy more hairspray.

#Texasforever

These two are too cute for their own good. 

"Mom, can I stay up and read a little longer?"

What, yes. Yes you can especially when you are snuggled up all next to me. He read 4 books in 2 days and I couldn't be more thrilled for a new reading buddy!

I made a resolution to offer more help to my friends this year. Living away from family and not having tons of free help on standby can be hard. Cindy loved the idea and decided her and Josh were in to reciprocate, so we decided that we would host 6 nights of free babysitting each! The Munsons took January because Ryan and I already plans. The kids were thrilled, and sometimes y'all... 6 is easier than 3. 

The littles...

The middles...

The Star Wars groupies. 

They clearly had fun... but I am wondering when Rad will decide that a 5:1 ration isn't all it's cracked up to be!

He loves "go to work with Mom" days. 

On Sunday we got to have Mills over for her birthday night and we decided to paint treasure boxes. Y'all. I have never spent a better $.99 in my life. This was a BIG hit. Invest in this activity - all the planning of treasure keeping was too cute to hear.

And of course, no Sunday would be complete without some sweetness. 

That's us in an Instant!

Friday Favorites...

Maybe one Friday I will do this post on time. My first attempt ended with this, so I'd say this is a step in the right direction, eh? 

So, here are some of my favorite's right now. 

To wear...

I bought Ryan a gray cardigan for Christmas last year (2013) and love when he wears it, but, I must confess... I have kind of taken over ownership. It's seriously the softest, coziest, warmest thing and I love it. I can't find the exact cardigan anymore but they have a similar one here  (And yes, its JCP... where else would I shop?)  

I mean. I love it. It's the perfect layering piece as seen below. 

And if y'all don't keep up with Shay, please know she is the layering queen. 

To decorate

This new light fixture we purchased. I am deliberate by only saying purchased. It will be at least another 6 months before we actually hang it. 

To pamper...

This OPI nail color. I have always been a bit traditional with the pink or red tones, but I went crazy y'all and tried this one in the fall and much like Ryan's cardigan, I never want to take it off. And the name... I die. "I sao Paulo over there." Love. 

(Except I just peeled off the shellac from every nail because one started chipping and I secretly love peeling off the polish. Much like a first grader that peels off glue from his hand.)

Image Source

To watch...

I am so sad that one of my favorite shows EVER is coming to an end. I adore the Braverman family. All of their crazy. All of their mad. Especially all of their love. This show is so full of real goodness and I am so sad that they are saying goodbye. (Although, my loss of tears should decrease immensely). 

Image Source

So, to make up for this loss... I added this little gem to our line-up. WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG? Y'all. Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose. 

Boom. 

Image source

To remember...

My bestie shared this blog post with me this week. Parenting is hard y'all and sometimes what we love most about our kids can also be the thing that causes us frustration. This was a great reminder to cultivate those traits and watch them bloom.

That was a lot more favorites than I intended. Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up with Andrea, Erica, and Narci

Year of Dates: Something old, Something new...

Ryan and I went on our first date in our year of dates. For this first month, I wanted to embrace the new, but stick with the "old." We are pretty set in our ways when it comes to our "fancy" nights out. We have one favorite restaurant in town that is definitely a favorite. Christopher's opened the year we met and while it wasn't our first date, it is our place. We are the kind of people that would call in to go orders in college and pick up food in our pjs and eat at home. We don't mind spending money on food. Clearly. 

I thought it would be fun to venture out a little so we went to a highly recommended favorite among some of our friends.

When I went to pick up the gift card, I had all 3 kids with me and it was rainy and cold and I didn't feel like dragging them all in with me. So, I did what any good mom of 3 would do... I sent Radley in to do it for me. I like to think that I was encouraging his confidence, boosting his character, showing him trust and empowering his responsibility. (You may refer to this as being lazy.)

So in he went with a crisp Benjamin in his hand and giant kool-aid smile on his face. And y'all - he could hardly contain his excitement when he came back to the car.

"Mom! READ it!" 

....

I could just see him walking in there all Macaulay Culkin-like doing his thing. 

What makes this date even better? It was a MONDAY y'all! And my brother watched the kids. So - free babysitting to boot? 

#perfect

We chatted, enjoyed the wine, ate every last bite of food and didn't have to get up once to take someone else to the bathroom.  It was by far my favorite 1.5 hours of 2015 so far. This man, crazy as he makes me, makes me crazy for him. 

We made it home in time to kiss the kids goodnight (because Uncle Pete clearly let them stay up late) and watched AN ENTIRE movie without falling asleep. (If you haven't seen This is Where I Leave You... we loved it).  We were basically teenagers. 

(Teenagers that also counted out tickets for our kid's school festival.)

(But whatever.)

1 down, 11 more to go! And so excited about the envelope he opens next!