Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose

So, Greg and I decided to check out what all the fuss was about and started the first season of "Friday Night Lights". A girl I used to work with said this was her favorite show, so when I was at Target a year or so ago and saw the first season on sale for less than $10.00, I decided to buy it. Several of the blogs I follow have mentioned this show and a lot of them are watching it now on Netflix. Although, the other bloggers said they watched it with their husbands, I wasn't sure if it was something Greg would like. Since, it's about a high school football team, I was afraid it might be too much teenage drama and something Greg wouldn't like at all. But, one night when we felt like watching tv and didn't have anything tivo'd, I suggest we give it a try and we both LOVE this show. It's so good. We're not even through the first season and I'm already sad that there's only 5 seasons of this show. Although, I did read somewhere that they're making a movie to start off where the series ends. Hopefully, that's true.

The show deals with so many issues. And it shows the problems the players and other high school students as well as the problems the coach and his wife are dealing with-not only with the team and work, but with raising a teenager. I feel like it wasn't that long ago that I was in high school, so it's interesting to see the high schoolers point of view, but before you know it, Evan and Carter will be teenagers and we'll be dealing with the same things the parents on the show are dealing with. It's just a really good show and we're both enjoying watching it so much. Our goal is to get through this season before we leave for Georgia and then hopefully we can find the other seasons on sale on Black Friday.

I feel like it wasn't that long ago that I was in high school, but really it's been 10 years. And you know you're getting old when you think the coach on the show is hotter than the football players. ;)

Some Recipes

This week I tried 3 new recipes, Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken, Taco Pasta, and Crockpot Chicken and Dressing. The taco pasta wasn't that great, but the other two recipes turned out good.

The jalapeno popper stuffed chicken was amazing. I loved it. It was easy and all the ingredients were things you probably already have at home except for the jalapenos. I think Greg would have liked it better if it had a sauce. But, I liked it enough for the both of us, so we'll be having it again for sure. Instead of frying it like the recipe said, I just baked mine in the oven--easier and healthier.

Source: cassiecraves.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Crockpot Chicken and Dressing was really good, but I only cook crock pot meals because they're quick and easy. In this recipe you have to cook the chicken first, made two pans of corn bread, hardboil some eggs, etc. I liked the fact that it was in the crock pot cooking in the late afternoon and I didn't have to worry about trying to deal with dinner and feed & bathe the boys. And it was really tasty, but just know that it's not as quick and easy as some other crock pot meals.

Source: None via Samantha on Pinterest

I'm going to post the Taco Pasta recipe so I'll have it noted that it wasn't that great. If I don't document it, then in a few months, I'll come across that recipe again and think "Hmm..that looks good, I should try it". I actually make this really good recipe that is one pound of ground beef, a box of velveeta shells and cheese and one cup of salsa. It's fast, cheap, easy, and delicious. This reminded me of that recipe but not as good.

Source: colleenandkeith.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Yoder's and the park

This week, Greg had to work the late shift at work (10-6). He has to work this for two weeks every 3-4 months. Normally he work 6-3, with a three day weekend every other week. I know most people work until 5-6 at night so I shouldn't complain, but this shift is really hard. I love that he normally gets off at 3:00 and we can take the boys to the park together, one of us feeds them dinner while one does the dishes, etc. It's nice. So, since it was just going to be me and the boys in the afternoons this week, I had to come up with some ideas on what to do. We took advantage of the nice weather earlier in the week and went to Yoder's to pet the goats and run around and then went from there to Spring Hill park. Monday, nobody was at either place, which was nice to have the whole park to ourselves. Tuesday, my friend and her daughters joined us and we ended up running into some other moms from our MOMs club at the park.

Here's some pictures of the boys.

Yoder's has a nice little slide, with a couple of swings for the kids as well as the goats, chickens, etc.

Evan was not scared in the least. On the second day one of the goats put Evan's entire hand in his mouth and it scared Evan and he cried for a minute and then he went right back up to them like nothing happened.

 He's going in for the pet.

They loved playing with these swings, they would just hold on to them and push them a little.

They had to refuel after Yoder's before heading to the park. This is Evan's new favorite face. He loves to snarl up his nose. He thinks it's really funny if you do it back to him.

Both boys love any type of wheel, especially Evan.

Evan loves to go back and forth through this circle.

I'm glad we were able to get outside earlier this week. Wednesday and Thursday afternoon were spent at the pediatrician's office (once for a cough and once for a food allergy) and today we were supposed to go to a Halloween party, but it's calling for rain this afternoon, so we're not sure if we're going to go. At least we took advantage the the nice weather earlier this week.

Erin Condren Planner and Family Binder

A lot of the blogs I follow did a post just on their Erin Condren Planners and Family Binders, so I thought I'd do one too.

I was hesitant to order an Erin Condren planner, even though I wanted one, because they're a little pricier than the planners in Target. I'm obsessed with calendars and planners and knew I'd love it, so when I found a coupon code that made it half off, I had to order one. I also thought that they started with the month August, and so since it was the beginning of October when I ordered mine, I was afraid I just wasted two months of the planner. But, when I got mine, I noticed that it starts with the month you order, so my planner starts with October, which is perfect.

There were so many covers to choose from. I chose the "favorite things" cover which I was able to customize with all my favorite things. I'm hoping to get some family pictures done and on my planner next year, I'll get a planner with a picture of us on the cover.

I love the way each month has a monthly calender and then is broken down by week and each day is broken down by "morning" afternoon" and "evening". At the beginning of each week is a goals list and to do lists. At the beginning of each month there's lots of space to write down anything you may need. In the back, there's a pocket to put any loose papers and there's also an envelope for storage that happened to come with some goodies including some cute paper clips, coupons for future orders and personalized stickers.

I love my planner but my other must have tool to stay organized is my family binder. It's still a work in progress, but it's helped me so much. I first saw this idea on I Heart Orgainizing and then several blogs I follow, including Blue Eyed Bride. Both blogs had link up parties where people posted about their family binders, so I had a ton of inspiration for mine.

My binder has a ton of storage space to store loose papers, mail, coupons, etc until I can get around to going through them. I also have a pencil case that holds my highlighters, sharpies, pens, and pencils. I have several dividers (that have pockets for even more storage). The dividers include: important information, schedule, meal planning, cleaning checklists, mom clubs, evan and carter, etc.

I originally started out with important information and started downloading a ton of free downloads and printables from the internet. This section includes my auto log so we know when we last had what done to each car, our home maintenance checklist, and all of our family's important information including names of each company we use (power, gas, trash, insurance) along with numbers and policy information. It has our doctor's information and numbers, addresses, etc.

Then I started a section to keep all of my information I have for Evan and Carter. Right now, I have information from Gerber on meal ideas, serving sizes, etc for them. I also put any rip outs from magazines of toys I want to get them or clothes I want to buy, etc. I have a section for my mom activites including a calendar of events, the newsletter, etc.

In order to stay organized, I have to have lists. I'm obsessed with lists. I have even been known to make lists of lists that I need to make. ;) So, I have lots of different lists in my binder. I like to start each day by filling out a daily to do list that has things I need to do, anything I need to buy (diapers, etc) anybody I need to call, places I need to go that day and what I'm planning to cook for dinner. It keeps me focused during the day so I know exactly what needs to get done. I also have a cleaning checklist that has a list of things I need to do daily, weekly, bi weekly, monthly, etc. It helps me stay on track as far as housecleaning goes.

*this cleaning checklist is a little outdated, I need to update it*

After my daily to do list, the other thing I use the most in my binder is my meal planning section. I love this free printable I got that I can fill out what we're planning on having and then write out the ingredients I need to get at the store on the same sheet. I like to do this on Sunday so I know what we're having for the whole week. Sometimes, we'll decide we're not in the mood for what I have planned and go with something else, which is fine. I also like having my dividers with the pockets, that's where I keep recipes that I come across in blogs or Pinterest that I want to try. That's where I go before I decide what I'm having for the week to see if there's any new recipes that I want to try.

My family binder has helped me a lot with getting organized, but it's definitely still a work in progress. I'm trying to get as organized as I can now because if we're busy now with playdates, lunches with friends, trips to the park, cooking, cleaning, etc. I know life's going to get even more busy as the boys get older and start getting involved in more and having more responsibilites. I might as well start preparing myself now and learning how to manage my time the best I can.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm linking up with Jamie today for What I'm Loving Wednesday. I cannot believe it's already October 26th!! This month has flown by.

I'm loving that Halloween is on Monday. We got the boys some cute costumes and I can't wait to dress them up and hand out candy. Here's a picture of them last year on Halloween, couldn't you just eat them up?!

I'm loving that our trip to Georgia is coming up soon. I can't wait to spend some time with my family.

I'm loving my Erin Condren planner that came last week. I was able to get it half off, which makes it even better!! I'm actually doing a post tomorrow on my planner and family binder.

I'm loving the Jodi Picoult book I'm reading, "Perfect Match". It's different than her other books and every chapter is not from a different character's point of view. It's about some pretty heavy and depressing stuff, but I always enjoy her books and they really make me think about different perspectives that I might not have. I'm going to have to read something light and funny after this, any suggestions?

I'm loving that we have some festive activities planned for this weekend. My MOMs club is having a Halloween party on Friday afternoon for the kids and a couple Greg works' with is having their annual pumpkin carving party on Saturday. We weren't able the make it last year (the first year we haven't been able to go) so we're excited to go this year.

Here's a picture of us from the last one we were able to make.

And last, I'm loving that my all time favorite creamer is back. It's seasonal (I'm not sure why) so they only sell it in the winter. It's White Chocolate Raspberry--it's the best and Walmart sells it in the big containers. yay! If you haven't tried this, you have to try it--you'll love it!

That's what I'm loving this Wednesday, what are you loving?

Funny

I'm seriously addictted to Pinterest. The Pinterest app on my iphone does not help my addiction at all. Here's some of the pins that I thought were really funny. Nobody else will probably find them as funny as I did, except for maybe Caroline.