FF: Mikarose

Linking up with Hallie for some fun!

1. These boots!

So excited to share I took the plunge and bought myself some winter-warm, all-things mostly trendy boots! I've been debating for a few weeks, months, a year or so on whether to get some boots. I know, I'm ridiculous! But, I'm excited to report I bought some, they are in the mail, and I can't wait to sport them!

2. This online store!

Speaking of the boots, I should share the store!

Thanks to MikaRose, I was able to find these fun boots along with so many other things that I'd love to wear. In fact, I'll share a few more things that I'm putting on my wishlist.

3. This skirt.

In both colors!

Along with most all of the skirts they have!

4. This dress!

So many cute ones to pick from!

5.  Shoes & Cardis!

 

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So glad they added shoes and cardigans to their online store! Looking forward to new lines as they come!

Hope you enjoyed these Five Favorites! Head over to Hallie's to enjoy some more fun!

CWA: Fun-filled Weekend

Thanking God for…

::an incredibly fun weekend with family and friends.

::the upcoming holidays because it means we get to spend more time with family and friends!

::little Linus feeling better. He had a good 3 weeks of not feeling well. Such a world of difference to see him being himself sans allergies/virus.

::my husband's job.

::dark chocolate with sea salt.

::water. It's so refreshing!

Looking out my window…

I can see cars that are getting off of work passing by, while the wind picks up and plays with all the little leaves that fall from the big tree outside our dining area glass doors.

I am praying…

I am praying for my boys, my husband, family, friends, friends who are pregnant, and for the many gifts I have to be thankful for.

I am pondering…

I cannot believe Linus is 9 months! He pulled up to a stand today! How is this happening already. He has a voice. He smiles. He laughs. He giggles and finds himself funny. He loves his brother. He loves being loved, held, and engaged with. He explores. He roars often (his brother taught him). He loves pick-a-boo. Squeals! And is 20 lbs of a-stinkin'-dorable!Love him! Love him! Love him!

I am reading…

Blogs. Playing catch-up. I drift in and out of being active on keeping my blog updated and keeping updated with other fellow bloggers that encourage and inspire me. So many wonderful women that are lovely mamas with such beautiful insight!

I am creating…

This post? Haha. Still trying to learn my camera better. So, we'll chart my photo attempts as creating memories.

I’m learning…

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter People and 'Halleluljah' is our song. ~ Pope John Paul II

I'm learning how wonderfully true this is! Also learning how beautiful so many people are and how their lives truly are singing Hallelujah! 

In the kitchen…

I have a crockpot curry chicken that I'm trying out. I'm pretty excited. Lots of goodies in the crockpot friend. will be pairing it with some Jasmati Brown Rice. Excited!

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We just ate it and it was delicious!! New crockpot meal in the rotation. Woohoo!

I did everything except a few things. First, I did not put all the veggies in a food processor. Just left them chunky and chopped. I used one can of coconut milk not two. Also, I didn't do the red curry paste only because I forgot to get it. Haha. And, I accidentally forgot to add the sugar. Even without these, it was so yummy! Thanks, Heidi at The Busy Mom!

Around the house…

Yup, I'm with Jenny in this area. Little Linus was struggling with allergies and caught a virus at the end of the past three weeks. All this to say, we are definitely in recovery mode. Trying to catch up with laundry and life. Get back to our day-to-day.

I’m wearing…

I am wearing black leggings paired with a long sleeve charcoal grey sweater. It's comfy, cozy, and all things Texas Fall.

Look what I found…

Haha. Found this. And all I have to say is Whaaaaaa?

And I saw this a few months ago, but it was circulating Facebook again. It's so sweet. I could watch it on repeat! I love their love!

I am looking forward to…

THANKSGIVING! And, finding our home. We're house hunting right now. Pretty surreal. But, VERY exciting!

A favorite quote for today…

Teach us to give and not count the cost.

-St. Ignatius de Loyola

One of my favorite things…

How incredibly excited Bigfoot gets when family visits. It is like Christmas morning every morning waking up to those he loves so much but doesn't get to see as often as he likes. His face and heart light up. It's pretty beautiful. 

The week ahead…

Cleaning. Cleaning. Putting stuff away. Throwing stuff away. Cleaning. Washing. Washing. Washing. And, planning for THANKSGIVING!

Captured…

I did a lot of capturing this past weekend. Uncle A and Bekah came to visit and we loved every moment! We miss them terribly and are so grateful they came all the way to come spend time with us!

Beautiful Bekah and Linus.

Although it looks like Bigfoot is trying to eat Linus he is actually giving Linus a big ol' kiss.

We went to Firewheel Saturday evening. This area has been our go-to evening stroll/dinner out.

A little bit of evening fall and our sweet boy.

Trips to Firewheel are just so much more complete when we treat ourselves to an Uptown Popcorn snack. they have the BEST dill popcorn EVAAA!

So many yummy choices!

It's hard enough for me to resist sticking my hand in these candy jars - I can't imagine how trying it is for Bigfoot!

Smiles!

Yup, candy jars and barrels. It's a happy place.

Welcome to my bookstore! Little one leading the way as we made our way to Barnes & Nobles. His library. 

Little bambino teething on the stroller strap.

Bigfoot thinks this large rolled up map is a vuvuzela. He picks it up every time we come here and he tries to blow in it too. 

Uncle A was amused.

So sweet! Bigfoot loved having Uncle A around.

He showed him the Thomas the Train station.

Beautiful Bekah again with Bigfoot showcasing his new smile.

Bigfoot smile in full effect with Uncle A on Sunday morning.

Love this picture! The boys had so much fun with Uncle A and Bekah. And, so did we! Thanks for blessing us with your love! Can't wait to see y'all again! XO

Head on over to Suspicio for more CWA.

7QT/3-2-1: TGIF!!!

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3 Things I'm grateful for:
Health. We've had a bought of colds and allergies in this home. Sweet Linus was the bearer of most of it all - poor baby. He was a champ though and we seem to be over the most of it!
Family. We get to see my brother and Erin tonight. See Uncle A and Rebekah tonight and all weekend. And, I get to see my cousin play college basketball tonight! So exciting! Really looking forward to spending time with everyone!
Grace. These past few weeks have been a little rough with sickness and life, so I'm very grateful for all the graces that God has shared with me to do the best I can with our little family.

--- 2 ---

2 of my favorite Thanksgiving menu foods:

Sweet Potato Casserole. Prior to this recipe, I never cared for sweet potato anything during Thanksgiving. No Yams. No Casseroles. No nada. Until this recipe!

Recipe:

3 to 4 c. sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed

1/2 c. milk

1 c. sugar-- I used 1/2 c.

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 stick butter or margarine, softened

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. pecans, chopped

1/2 c. flour

5 T. butter, softened-- I used 1/2 of that

In large bowl, mix first 8 ingredients together. Pour into a well-greased 3-quart casserole dish. 

Mix together 4 topping ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes, or until bubbly.

*I'm adding this recipe to Clan-Donaldson's Thanksgiving Recipe Link-up! After making it again for this year's Thanksgiving I decided it is definitely an absolute favorito!!!! DELICIOUSO*

Turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes!!! These don't count as three things, but one! Because they are the spoonful that makes my tastebuds happy!

--- 3 ---

One of my Favorite Christmas Movies/Shows:
Elf. Definitely Elf. I laugh and enjoy every. single. time!

--- 4 ---

Those 3-2-1s make me want the season to be here right now! The family. The food. The smiles. The laughs. The memories! But, as much as I would love to have some celebration, I also am no where near ready. I feel like there are so many other things that need to happen prior to these fun times, and I have a feeling they are just not going to because time is just going to continue to slip through my fingers.

What I mean by so many things is all the unknowns that may or may not happen. We are presently house hunting, so who knows if we find the one tomorrow? the next day? next week? And, then what if Sign-Sealed-Delivered and BAM we have a new home to move in?? by Christmas??? I'll tell you what this would mean. This would mean I have a ton to do (*ahem* this would mean I have lots of PACKING to do!!) Bleh.

--- 5 ---

Ok, I"m going to stop thinking about the potential for craziness and get excited about this weekend.

Tonight I get to go see my cousin play college basketball. I can't tell you how excited I am about this and how much I love watching her play! The first time I ever watched her play was last year when I was pregnant with Linus. I got all emotional on her and teary-eyed telling her how awesome she did and how I loved watching her play/am so proud of her. Haha. It was a smidge awkward. Good thing we grew up together and she knows I love her and hopefully that combo means she knows I'm not too terribly weird.

Point, I'm excited. I get to see her play again. Bigfoot loves watching her play too, so that will be a majorly fun time in his little two year old world. This will be a first for little Linus. Annd, my brother will be meeting up with us. I'm telling you lots of fun is to be had tonight!
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Okay, I got swept up in life, getting the boys ready to go meet my brother and GeekMan for the game that I didn't get to finish these QT. But, since I started them I am going to finish them! Even if that means I'm the absolute last person to link-up!

Game was awesome! Much fun was had!! They won! Linus had fun. Bigfoot had fun. We all enjoyed watching her and her team do great and I'm so grateful we were able to be there! Such a gift!

--- 7 ---

Now, we are back home, boys are asleep, and we are awaiting the arrival of Uncle A and Rebekah. Can't wait to see them! I know Bigfoot is going to be so excited to see them too. I just love when family comes to visit. His little heart just lights up like Christmas. It's so sweet and beautiful.

So, now that our weekend officially started a number of hours ago, we have so much more weekend to make so many more awesome memories with family and friends! We will be having an early start tomorrow to go look at some houses while Uncle A and Rebekah go see her cousin who just had twins. How fun is that?! I have the annual Christ-Child Luncheon tomorrow, which I look forward to every year. I may slip in to watch my cousin again if time allows, and then it's playtime with Uncle A and Rebekah for us for the rest of the weekend.

Like I said, so much more weekend to make many more memories. Hope your weekend is fun-filled too!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary! And, for more 3-2-1 fun, head over to Theresa's at My Desert Heart. She's hosting the 3-2-1 Link-up party...without the link-up.

PHFR/TT: Kind Hearts

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ 



It's been awhile since I joined Like Mothers, Like Daughters for a Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real post. I'm glad I put this little number together. This past weekend, our Family Bible Study took our, now, annual Fall weekend trip. It was nothing short of absolutely wonderful! Our friends and all their children have been such blessings to our little family. So, a weekend away with these lovely families is always so much fun!

We've started going to a farm house in a nearby town where our friend from bible study grew up. His mother has been such a gift in sharing her beautiful home! She has just enough rooms and space for all of us and all 20 kiddos. You can imagine the fun the kids get to have getting to be together for a whole weekend, and it is just as much fun and very refreshing for us adults too!

{Pretty} Seeing how this all wouldn't be possible without our friends' mother and her beautiful home, I thought I'd share just a glimpse of how beautiful it truly is! I honestly feel like we are all on a retreat for families.

I took this same photo the first time we went. Love this stone! The kind hearts that we have met in all our friends definitely make our little world a better place!

So much space! Beautiful grass and trees! And, an incredibly gorgeous grotto for the Holy Family. 

Here's the angel at the entrance of the grotto. The little roses placed everywhere are from the kids. They left the angels and the Holy Family little sweet gifts. I'll add this picture to Theme Thursday as well as another below. Statues are always cold to the touch to me and the theme is cold. I really like the way this picture came out and, being I live in Texas, I don't have any fun, wintery/fall weather to capture. So, this works! 

Beautiful statue of the Holy Family covered with roses and petals. It was pretty beautiful to watch the kids do this. And the fact that they got to just hang out and play around here. 

Beautiful roses.

Oh, and the stones on the fence each have an image for the Stations of the Cross. This was in the works the first time we went. We missed the second fall trip, so seeing this home surrounded by a beautiful prayer this time around was breathtaking! I'm telling you, family retreat! Blessing! Gifts! Pretty!

{Happy}
There were so many happy times while here. We had friends, kites, a trampoline, sliding, so much space to run, swinging, a gator to ride, basketball hoop, cows to look at, and so much more for the kids! For us adults we had each other, time to chat over delicious food and/or a good beer/wine, memories to make with the littles, prayer, Aggie football and tons more too!

Mid-morning coffee for me, Linus napping on me in the sling, while the kiddos were enjoying the grotto, a kite on a windy day, and bike-riding.

Gator time with Dadas!

Also, Bigfoot was definitely pretty happy for all the fun time he got to spend with the big guy on the right!

Dada was everywhere to have fun with!

For the boy who loves all things sports, this place was AWESOME! I'll also add this picture to Theme Thursday. The theme is cold, and since this is Texas, this is about as cold as we have right now. We have hoodie weather in the shade and feel good in the sun. Wonder if we'll get some snow this year? Excited to find out! Thanks, Mary Kate for hosting!!

First time on a bike with training wheels!

So much ground to cover and a Dada, Mama, brother, or friend always around - best. time. ever!

I was happy to get a few pics in of me and the boys. Funny, I don't have too many pics of Linus this time around because he was usually with me.

But here's a good one. Probably the only one I have of him actually looking at the camera.

Swings!

First swing for Linus! He was smiling at first. Then he was just kind of hanging on.

This picture makes me happy. This face just melts me! How I love him and how he blesses us!

Family picture after Mass!

One more try for a family picture! One of these may just be for a Christmas card. Haven't decided yet. Any thoughts?

{Funny}
So, the funniest thing to me was the fact that my oldest gave each daddy an unexpected workout. Pretty sure he had almost every dada carrying him to this very rim. 

I saw workout because my toddler isn't exactly light.

Haha. And, the rim isn't exactly short. When you get to lifting our toddler above your head you can guarantee you will be feeling it the next day.

All the daddys were generous. Thank you, friends! But, no daddy got the workout that this one did. Bigfoot was all over the place and was loving having his dada along for the journey.

Haha! This gem was minutes into our drive home. GeekMan and I just cracked up because we literally maybe had one brief conversation before I turned to ask Bigfoot for his input only to find he was knocked. out! Evidence of a great time!

{Real}
These friends that we spend time with, the ones that I call amazing blessings, are definitely that and so much more. One family thought it would be nice to have a family rosary at the grotto Saturday afternoon. I have no words for how special it is to be able to gather with so many friends with all their beautiful kiddos to sit and pray such a beautiful prayer.

Bigfoot chose a stick to pray with. Life just isn't the same without sticks for this little guy.

Gathering.

Our sweet boy.

Same sweet boy with his stick during prayer.

Beautiful friends that are real gifts. They have all been inspiring in so many ways and definitely all help our little family strive for holiness and union with our Lord. Their examples of holy marriages and amazing love for Our Savior has shared with us an encounter with God that makes my heart and soul feel so happy, loved, and nourished.

This sweet picture is of Bigfoot and Linus. At one point they were both sitting with me during the rosary. It was sweet. It was beautiful. It was precious. A memory I will always remember. 

I know this isn't exactly every day life, but it was what our everyday was over the weekend and there was such an abundance of contentment in that weekend I had to share. And, I guess since we meet for Family Bible Study every Thursday, this contentment can be found in our little family every week at the very least.

Thank you, Lord, for being so sweet to our little family!

And, thank you for stopping by! Go on over to Like Mother, Like Daughter for more happiness!