What's Up Wednesday...

I thought it would be fun to join Sheaffer, Mel and Shay for their monthly What's Up Wednesday, so here we go... 

What we're eating this week... 

Goodness, three nights of activities has me scrambling for easy dinner ideas. This week's menu includes Frazzle Chicken Bake from the Fed+Fit Cookbook that every single one of you needs to buy now! 

We grabbed dinner out tonight but tomorrow I'm going to slice up some of these, brown them and serve with BBQ sauce for the kids with a side of greens and maybe some mac and cheese. 

I make mine with sweet potatoes, brussle sprouts, zucchini and squash. SO YUMMY. And so easy.

And, since it felt like fall today, I'm probably going to make some of these soon. 

What I'm Reminiscing About... 

I don't have TimeHop on my phone but FB memories tugged at my heart with this pic today...

How in the world has this tiny squishy baby grown so much that I can fit into his shoes???

What I'm Loving... 

Jane the Virgin, Season 2

This show is so dang funny y'all. SO DANG FUNNY. Seasons 1&2 are on Netflix. 

Speaking of things so funny that you pee your pants... 

What We've Been Up To...

Girls - Dance

Rad - Soccer

The King and I - Dance lessons

We5Kings - Are ridiculously addicted to Pokemon Go.

What I'm Dreading...

Some stuff has kind of shaken up our normal and I'm honestly dreading discovering what the new normal will be. 

What I'm Working On... 

Making it through a pile of books. I've started keeping my book in my car and I read a little bit every day in the pick up line after school. Those 20 minutes have been so awesome to have. 

What I'm Excited About...

The fall!!! I love the excitement of this season, especially living in a college town (and working on campus). The energy is palpable and it's just my favorite time of the year!

What I'm Watching/Reading... 

Me and every other Parenthood fan are already addicted to... 

I may have to surrender my love for binge watching and keep up with this one week to week! 

Current list of books: Just finished After You (not nearly as good as it's predecessor) and reading Rock Paper Scissor with Present over Perfect next on the list. 

What I'm Listening To... 

I wish I was one of those trendy people that would list  a series of podcasts I'm keeping up with, but I'm not. I am a music girl and my stations of choice on Pandora are Steve Tyrell and Need to Breathe. We also love to ask Alexa to play music - she's been playing a lot of Duke Ellington sounds which is extremely cool!

What I'm Wearing... 

I can't get enough of these flare jeans I snagged at Target...

And I can't wait for more days of dresses and boots. 

What I'm Doing This Weekend...

NOTHING!

What's my Favorite Fall Recipe...

Those cookies.

And I'm falling asleep.... HAHA! Have a great Wednesday, y'all!

Spiel the Beans: Pinners Anonymous

Hi. My name is Katy. And I'm a recovering Pinterest addict. 

Can I get an AMEN!

Today is going to be so much fun and Shelly and I couldn't be more excited about today's topic.  It's like looking into fantasy worlds and being able to laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of Pinterest. I mean, don't get me wrong, I have found some awesome stuff on Pinterest, like my fabulous faux valences, yummy recipes, and ALL sorts of pinspiration for Landry's pink party. 

But y'all. This is my reaction about 97% of the time I open Pinterest... 

Source

I mean, like all of us... I have the greatest of intentions of being a complete ninja badass at all things crafting, gardening, cooking, organizing, and sewing. But y'all.... 

I mean, what am I thinking? I pinned this. Four years ago y'all. I have yet to make a photo block.

I was also kind enough to start a "Daddy Projects and Honey-Dos" board for Ryan. You know, for when he's just playing around on Pinterest. 

I should probably pay more attention to pins like this...

But I'll probably just keep shooting in auto for eternity. 

We also have big plans for an amazing garden in our beautifully manicured backyard. I've pinned all sorts of things to my "The Great Outdoors" board... but truthfully, I'm lucky if I don't kill something in the first week. 

I love the idea of Pinterest. Pinny has saved me time and time again for free printables, yummy recipes, party favor ideas, fun teacher gifts and the like. But in reality... 

And some days, I don't even take a shower. 

;)

I'm sure you have NO IDEA what I'm talking about though. So now it's time for the fun... please place a link back to your specific post URL and not your blog homepage and use the hashtag #spielthebeans on other social media! And link back to both hosts in either your post or on your party page so that others can link up too. 

It's a party, try to visit at least 2 other posts and show them some love!  This is the fun part! Be inspired, inspire someone else - don't just link and run!  

We would love, love, love for you to follow us on some form of social media!

Follow Shelly: {Instagram} {Bloglovin} {Pinterest} {Facebook

Follow Katy: {Instagram} {Bloglovin} {Pinterest} {Facebook}

ps. We are also both on Snapchat and pretty darn funny. You can find Shelly @queeninbetween1 and Katy @Katygking 

And don't forget to keep spieling the beans... 

An InLinkz Link-up

Friday Favorites: FIRSTS

I literally have nothing to say today. So, I thought it would be fun to fill out one of those old school "surveys" we used to get via email and have to forward to our entire contact list or we'd be cursed with something. 

Here's an old one I found and updated the answers for... 


1. Who was your FIRST prom date?
Jason Williams...I was a freshman in high school and he was a junior. We bonded over basketball and just had the best time! 

Let's discuss the above picture. Red dress - check; Red panty hose - check; red shoes - check; super confident freshman girl stuffing her face with not a care in the world - CHECK. 

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
Nope.

3. What was your 1st alcoholic drink?My brother and I accidentally drank some vodka at my Godfather's once, he had it in what looked like, a water cooler on top of his bar in the game room. We were thirsty. It did not quench our thirst.  But then I not-so-accidentally drank a fuzzy navel wine cooler in HS. (Just one, Mom, promise). 

4. What was your FIRST job?Concession stand at the little league ballfield...ahhh, those were the days! LOVED this job! I also loved the unlimited cheese fries...

5. What was your FIRST car?

The Big E!! 1994 TEAL Ford Escort ... it was sitting in our garage one day after school with a giant red bow on it... I was SO EXCITED!

The Big E was basically the best. It had automatic seatbelts and gray seats with little speckles of color on them which totally sold me on it. Ha!

6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?Jenna Kurten

7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?Ryan...it was something like, "Why in the HECK is his dang alarm going off at 4:30 IN THE MORNING. UGH."

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?Mrs. Sadler...I love her!

9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?My Uncle Dickie is a pilot and he took me and my brothers on a ride around Waco one day...I thought it was so cool!

10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk?Jenni is my forever best-friend and yes. All the time. 

She made me a book of her favorite 30 memories of our friendship for my 30th birthday and this is a page from all of the proms we attended together. She married her prom date. ;)

11. Where was your FIRST sleep over?Laci Lewis...me, Laci, Susan Booker and Mandi camped out at the Lewis' house

12. Who was the FIRST person you talked to todayRyan when he left for Houston and then Landry because she comes in our room every single morning at 6:30am like clockwork.

13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?Suzy Sandolf, me and half of Robinson were flower girls

14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?Brushed my teeth - this will always be the FIRST thing I do every morning

15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went toLAME ALERT: Beach Boys

16. FIRST tattoo?N/A

17. FIRST piercing?Ears in the FIRST grade :)

18. FIRST foreign country you traveled to?Mexico-Senior Trip to Cancun...from what I remember...it wasn't too shabby of a trip.

19. FIRST movie you remember seeing?At the movie theater... The Little Mermaid with Katy Barrier

20. When was your FIRST detention?Amy D. and I got OCS for sneaking off campus my freshman year. Freshmen were supposed to stay on campus for lunch, but I would "sneak off" with my older friends because that clearly made me cool. We got caught one day and had to eat lunch in the office. 

21. What was the FIRST state you lived in?#texasforever 

ps. I grew up on Jason St. 

22. Who was your FIRST roommate?College! I lived with a girl I grew up with my freshman year and then we moved into a house and I lived with Jeremy, Josh and their friend, Clay. 


This was more fun than I anticipated!

Tiny Tales Thursday...

So my momma has been in Baton Rouge since the last week of May. My MaMaw fell and broke her tailbone so mom has been helping her recover.

And we miss her around here.

Lots.

Specifically three darling people that call her Gigi miss her a WHOLE lot.

Landry: When is Gigi coming home??
Me: Soon, baby.
Rad: She's been gone so long.
Me: I know, buddy.
Emmy: Yeah.. and we miss her.
Ryan: We miss her, too.
Landry: What's she doing? Is Mamaw still hurt?
Me: Well, she's helping her feel better.
Rad: Yeah. Cause she's Mamaw's daughter and that's what you do. You help your parents when they are old.

Me and Ryan exchange glances...

Me: Well, hopefully you won't have to do that for me and your daddy.
Rad: Why?
Me: Well, we will probably just move into a place that will take care of us so you won't have to.
Landry: But I take care of you, Momma.
Rad: Me, too... it's what you're supposed to do.
Emmy: I can drop you off, shut the door and leave.

#thatsmygirl

#sorrymomanddad

#couldnotstoplaughing

#laughingagainasItype

#seeyalater

Show and Tell: Favorite Posts

Happy Tuesday y'all.

Know what I love most about blogging? Reading all of your stories. Plain and simple. I love being welcomed into your worlds and I love being able to share some of our story with you! I'm really excited about the last minute link-up prompt from Andrea today because as much as I would love to sit and read post after post, I just can't. None of us can.

So I'm thrilled to see the highlight reels of your blogs and dive in to the words and work you are most proud of. I truly find such wisdom from so many people and I just hope that some of my words hold meaning for some of you. A few of my favorite posts...

Knowing your partner's strengths and weaknesses is important, but knowing how they give and RECEIVE love is a game changer. I really enjoyed sharing 25 Ways to Show Your Husband Love

Ryan and I celebrated 10 years of marriage this year and I didn't get him a real gift. ;) Instead, I wrote about the 10 Biblical Gifts marriage has given to me. 

I really did laugh out loud writing about my spin on Life After 5  and may have to write up a sequel since a new school year has begun. Maybe something like "Lessons learned in the pick-up line".

Sometimes I am moved and write passionately from a place that I didn't know existed. I think when I talked about Loving Thy Neighbor His words were being shared, not mine. And His are way more important than anything I have to say. 

My favorite days are Thursdays, so if you want a laugh, make sure to check out the Wee3Kings Tiny Tales.  There's a book in there somewhere about how not to parent that I've started 1000 times. Maybe one day I will finish.

I get all sappy about my kids. They are the reason I started blogging and they are the ultimate story to tell. The way they love. How brave they can be. How much compassion they have and grace they give. This space wouldn't be anything without them. I have a jar of pennies that I look at to remind me that we are given a mere 936 weeks with them before they are 18. That's $9.36... how would you spend it?

I'm half-way there with Radley.

And if you just want to see a ton of pictures of some DARLING kids (in my most humble opinion of course) then just click here.

I treasure my time with you, sweet reader-friends. I find such treasure and wisdom in stories...like Shelly's tips on a successful marriage. I gain sanity from your incredible lessons like Holly's insider review of the KonMari method of tidying up. I fall in-love with every bit of Kim's space on her home tour.

Have a great day! Thanks for a fun link-up Andrea!

InstaKings...

What a fun week we had - this semester is already flying by - the Aggies are on week 5 which means we just have 10 to go...crazy cakes. I like to keep Monday simple and comfortable. It's my longest day of the week so I want to wear something that won't annoy me on hour 10. I may have taken it a bit too far because the dress is 2 sizes too big, the sweater is marked XXL and I technically could have gone down a half size on the boots.

Just call me Truvy. 

These girls. What gems that are to me. They were on the FISH exec team last year and we share a love of service, the Aggies, driving the guy execs crazy and ... Gilmore Girls. I'm not sure who's idea it was but we had a "Gilmore" night of eating nothing healthy and watching tv. 

Mission accomplished.

(This is where I am supposed to tell you that I didn't eat any of that bc I'm on Whole30 again, but I would totally be lying. And if Whole30 taught me anything, it's to not feel guilty about food. Y'all. I didn't feel one bit of guilt. The only thing I regretted was that we ate all those damn cinnamon rolls and I didn't have any for breakfast.)

(ps. Queso is amazing over fried rice). 

We stayed up past my normal bedtime so I sat in the car and drank every last drop of this coffee. I maybe also jammed out to some Monster Ballads.

Tuesday was "bring-a-friend-to-dance" day...we gave Radley the day off and had a giggle-filled ride to the dance studio. I seriously am so giddy that I have a van to be able to haul all of this precious cargo. 

On Wednesday I gushed all about the Fed+Fit cookbook. I seriously couldn't love this anymore - check it out if you want delicious, HEALTHY meals, amazing workouts and some incredible information.

Landry crawls in our bed every morning. I love these tiny moments we have to just sit and snuggle and I never want to forget her sweet voice.

Kindergarten and First Grade at CHE take two weeks at the beginning of each year and focus on colors. Thursday was brown and Emersyn wasn't too excited until she remembered we had this leopard dress. Girlfriend pulled together this outfit all on her own and I am 100% jealous of her ability to mix patterns and add some color pop.

He's a keeper. 

Friday was Miss Kari's last day at the WDS. We will miss seeing her face so regularly but we are so grateful for having her love on our kiddos over the years. I'm even more grateful for the example she has set for them in pursuing your dreams, working hard, and believing in yourself. You are almost done, Kari!!! 

Friday night was full of excitement. We went on a hunt for some Pokemon with the Kurten boys and on the way home Landry had my phone and all of a sudden said, "Oh... a Pikachu is nearby." She handed it to Radley and he finally caught this silly creature. I can still hear the squeals. 

We started another season of Saturdays at the soccer field. This kid's team came away with a "W" and he even scored a goal! 

Truth: there were many many MANY Sunday's when I really needed our church to have a nursery. Leaving mass and feeling like I didn't hear a word was hard and worrying about the kids annoying other people was stressful. But of course our church is FILLED with kiddos of all ages and our new priest has done a great job reminding us that all that "noise" just means our church is alive and growing and spreading His word. Love this and promise to be the mom that makes other moms know that it's ok... Whatever "it" is! #godputthewiggleinchildren

We had a CRAZY Saturday night at school. The teacher assigned me some strange spelling words, but that's ok...

because I got to sit by a really cute boy.

He even passed me a note.

And the next night he took me dancing. :)

We signed up for Aggie Wrangler lessons and I am so excited. The Wranglers are nationally recognized for their fun dancing and amazing jitterbugs. I am totally looking forward to the next three Sundays of time with my guy - the skills on the dance floor are just icing on the cake. 

Hope y'all have a great week!