{5 on Friday}

Lots of things make me happy but I'm linking up this morning for "5 on Friday" so here are 5 things that have made me smile this week...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Rowen loves life and enjoys every single day! His smile lights up a room and makes me smile from ear to ear. I love watching my little guy have fun. 

These kangaroos at the zoo are so cute. Everytime we walk into the exhibit I start smiling. I can't help it....I love animals! And these little guys are super cute. 

Wednesday I hit up the last consignment sale of the season in town. I love consignment sales and always find the cutest clothes. Aren't these so cute?!

That firetruck sweater... :)

Those tulle skirts w/leggings... double :)

I came across this picture a few days ago and remembered just how yummy these were last year when I made them. Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats will make you smile!! They are yummy.

Isla is 30 weeks today! 10 weeks and we will get to meet our sweet girl. I can't wait to see her face! 

*Link up w/Darci and the other hosts here*

A quick weekend recap

We had a pretty relaxing weekend! Those are the best, don't ya think? Friday morning Rowen and I enjoyed some yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast. This was his first time enjoying them since being cleared by the allergist. We had him tested a few months ago for a few common allergies that kids sometimes have(cinnamon, peanuts, and shellfish )and he wasn't allergic to any of them! I'm so glad. 

Friday evening we got together with Brent's brothers and sister and their spouses for our monthly sibling dinner. Every month it's hosted by a different family. It's at our place next month. Fingers crossed we have our new place in order :) Kelli( my sister in law )captured a picture of the cousins...aren't they super cute?! They are all close in age and really love being together.

Cade-Connor-Rowen

Saturday we went and got our CSA box. They had lots of yummy fruits and veggies like always.

{pumpkins were even something we could pick out this time!}

 While Rowen napped, Brent watched football while I went and checked out some antique shops to look about some stuff for Isla's nursery. I had no luck but had fun looking around anyways. I'm just looking for a vintage-y dresser and a small end table for a lamp and some books. I'm having a hard time finding that stuff!! Well, I found some things but I'm not willing to spend hundreds of dollars on people's old reclaimed pieces of furniture. Saturday evening my parent's invited us over for dinner and so we headed over there for a few hours. There will never be a moment when I pass up my mom's lasagna! 

Sunday was the first day of Fall and it sure felt like it here. It was awesome! I can't wait for the cooler temps to stick around!

We watched the Titans game Sunday afternoon and it was awesome!! They won in the last few seconds even though didn't play well. I hope they have a great year...it's not fun rooting for a losing team! Hopefully we will make it to a game this year. While Brent went and played nine holes of golf, Rowen and I headed to the park. He loves going there and I enjoy taking him! It of course was packed full of kids since it was a beautiful day. But Rowen loves being around other kids so he enjoyed it. 

Last night we had a delicious dinner and afterwards, we made s'mores but not your average s'mores. We made s'mores with peanut butter cups!!! I will never eat a regular s'more again! It was the most delicious s'more I have ever had.

Yea! If you like s'mores, you have to try it with a peanut butter cup next time.

 Hope everyone is having a fabulous Monday!

Giveaway!

Amber over @ My Three Bittles is having a week full of giveaways in honor or her birthday! Head over there to check out what giveaways are going on this week. Down below are today's giveaways! I'm participating in today's giveaway and sending the winner a yummy Fall candle from Bath and Body Works. Go enter!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Candy Corn Cookie Crunch details...

I posted this on Instagram yesterday and had a couple lovely ladies ask for the recipe so without further adieu...

I took a couple parts( the candy corn and the oreos )off of a recipe I found and then added my own yummy sounding ingredients! 

What I used in my mix:

Crispix cereal

Peanuts

Cashews

Dried cherries

M&M's

Oreos

Candy Corn

You can certainly use whatever sounds good to you....that's what I did!

{some other ingredients that might be good: popcorn, almonds, Cherrios, pretzels, or Reese's Pieces just to name a few options }

So here's what ya do:

1. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper

2. Layer your ingredients on the sheet( I put down a layer of cereal then sprinkled the nuts on top followed by the cherries then the sweets...make sure to break up your oreos )

3. Melt 16oz of baking white chocolate( follow the directions on the package )

4. Drizzle the melted white chocolate over the mixture( my "drizzle" was totally uneven so I took a spoon and kind of mixed everything together on the baking sheet ). As long as everything looks coated, you're good.

5. Pop it in the fridge for about 20 minutes so that it can harden

6. Lastly, take it out of the fridge and break it into pieces.

Enjoy! 

DIY Fall fringe garland!

Fringe...Tassels...call it what you want! I liked the sound of "Fall Fringe". I have seen pics of this cute garland all around the internet and thought I would give it a shot b/c it didn't look too difficult. I didn't use a tutorial from anyone but actually guessed how to make it. And it turned out great! In case you are thinking about making one, I thought I would quickly share with you how...

First things first: this project is not difficult but IS a little time consuming and requires some patience. { if you aren't feeling patient when you decide to make one, wait! haha. }

1. Pick out some tissue paper. I chose Fall colors. Any colors will work!

2. Take your tissue paper and fold it in half. Then fold it in half again. It should end up making a square or pretty close to a square.

3. Take your scissors and cut small strips towards the fold. I cut my strips about 1 1/2 inches...just guessed. And leave about 1/2 an inch to an inch at the top.

 4. Carefully unfold your tissue paper. Be really gentle or it will rip. { this step and the next step are the patient parts of the project! }

5. Once you have it all unfolded and laid out with the cut strips on each side, start at the end and roll all the way up the middle of the paper stopping every so often to untangle your fringe. 

6. Once it's all rolled up, fold it in half and twist the top. Voila! A fringe/tassel! 

**I tied a small piece of twine around the twisted top just to make sure it would stay. 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins!! {3 ingredients}

These delicious muffins are so yummy and super easy to make! There are just 3 ingredients. That's my kind of baking! haha. If you like pumpkin and chocolate, you must make these. 

You'll need: 

1 box of spice cake mix

1 can of pumpkin( 15-16 oz )

1/2 a package of chocolate chips

Mix the spice cake with the can of pumpkin. Once it's all mixed together, throw in the chocolate chips and mix. Voila! That's it! Do you love how easy that is? Fill up your muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Little of this...Little of that.

Just a little update on how our weekend went...

Friday night we met some friends for one of Brent's friends birthday. We went to City House. Nashville is becoming quite a foodie city! Lots of new little restaurants are opening up and I love trying them out...so does Brent. Honestly most of the menu at City House didn't sound good to me but I did find 2 appetizers that I got for my entree and they were delicious! 

I got the summer sausage, apples, and buttermilk cheddar plate along with the olives and taralli. Taralli is similar to a pretzel. Mine was very savory and had a strong flavor of fennel. Even though it was quite tasty, I probably won't return. I'm not really into strange food which City House had quite a but of. I do however like normal food with a twist which some new restaurants in the area are fixing.

Saturday morning we headed to a princess birthday party for Miss Sarah( my cousin, Angie's daughter ). She turned 2. She is just 6 weeks older than my sweet Rowen! It was fun and Rowen had a blast running around their house and playing in Sarah's playroom.

{enjoying a large piece of chocolate cake}

Saturday afternoon Rowen enjoyed some time in his room "reading" some of his books! haha. I love watching him flip through books. He did NOT get that from me but I'm so glad he loves books. 

You know what's really great about having a house?! Getting to have a grill! Brent and I love grilled food. He went out and bought one the first week we were here in our new house. And we have already used it a lot. Saturday night he grilled burgers and I made homemade fries from some potatoes that we got from our CSA last weekend. Everything was delicious!!

{Homemade fries. I just cut the potatoes in half then cut strips from each half...sprinkled them with olive oil, seasoned salt, and pepper and then popped them in the oven for 45-50 minutes. They turned out great and were delicious!}

{Yumm-o!}

We have some critters who live in our neighborhood and I'm not talking squirrels or rabbits( even though we have those). A baby deer and her mom frequent our backyard often...apparently we have a tasty bush that the fawn loves. 

We spotted the baby Saturday evening while we were making dinner. This is right outside our kitchen window. We have some woods in our backyard that her and her mom always come out of pretty much everyday! And on our walk the other morning, Rowen and I ran up on the huge flock of turkeys that have made our neighborhood their home. 

That's just 2 of about 10 that run around together. They were all there...I just couldn't get them all in the picture. I think it's kind of neat to have them around since they usually reside in the country. 

Annnnddddd, I'll leave you with the cutest face ever! He is the happiest, most fun loving, little ball of energy ever and I LOVE it!! Cutest giggly smile I have ever seen.

{ 26 & 27 week }bump updates!

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Size of baby: Baby is the size of a head of lettuce. She is 13.6" long and weighs 1.5 lbs. 

Maternity Clothes: Yes. I can still fit into some of my tops comfortably and am wearing maternity jeans and post pregnancy pants all thanks to my belly band! Love that thing! 

Gender: GIRL!!!

Isla Wren Easley 

Movement: I'm feeling her more and more each week.  I can feel her little kicks and can also feel her rolling. She is most active early in the morning and in the evenings. I think she sleeps a lot during the middle of the day. 

Sleep: I'm sleeping ok. No complaints except for numerous bathroom breaks that unfortunately interrupt my sleep!

What I miss: Just getting an uninterrupted night of sleep! 

Cravings: Anything chocolate-y and salads!

Symptoms: I am just moving slower in general. And I already am feeling pressure. 

Best Moment this week:  Getting moved into our new house!!

__________________________________________________________

How Far Along: 27 weeks

Size of baby: Baby is the size of a rutabaga( not a very glamorous veggie! ).  Compared to the head of lettuce last week, she has shrunk! I guess I grabbed a small rutabaga. She is 14.8" long and weighs 2.5 lbs. 

Maternity Clothes: Yes. I can still fit into some of my tops comfortably and am wearing maternity jeans and post pregnancy pants all thanks to my belly band! Love that thing! 

Gender: GIRL!!!

Isla Wren Easley 

Movement: I'm feeling her more and more each week.  I can feel her little kicks and can also feel her rolling. She is most active early in the morning and in the evenings. I think she sleeps a lot during the middle of the day. 

Sleep: I'm sleeping ok. No complaints except for numerous bathroom breaks that unfortunately interrupt my sleep!

What I miss: Just getting an uninterrupted night of sleep! 

Cravings: Anything chocolate-y and salads...still! I have some type of salad everyday for lunch. 

Symptoms: I am just moving slower in general. I get exhausted pretty quickly if we are out doing something. 

Best Moment this week:  Taking Rowen to see Thomas the Train and getting to take a train ride as well! 

{ Game day, A day w/Thomas, and Yard work }

We finally got our internet and U-VERSE hooked up Saturday afternoon...just in time for College football games! Although the first UT game was on pay-per-view( we didn't pay to watch it ), we enjoyed watching a few other games that day. I already think Rowen is a football fan! He sure looks good in his orange and white gear...

{If you're thinking "why is he looking towards the ground in most of these pics", it's because our tv is on the ground. We are going to hang it above the fireplace but just haven't gotten to it yet!}

Saturday morning we actually went to pick up our first CSA box. Just in case you haven't heard of CSA it stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Brent wanted to try it and the farm that we chose to get ours from has a box that you pay for weekly. No long term commitments. We payed for a small box and got to load it up with  fruits and veggies that are in season right now. We got all kinds of yummy foods. My favorite part of the box this week are the yellow tomatoes. I LOVE the flavor of yellow tomatoes!

They also had beautiful fresh flowers so I made a little bouquet to put in our kitchen.

Sunday afternoon we went to A Day out with Thomas. Rowen loves trains especially Thomas and Friends  right now so we knew he would love going to this event. When we told him we were going to see Thomas, he grinned from ear to ear and started running around the house giggling...no joke!

See! haha. Running and giggling with Thomas and James in tow!

We actually got to ride on a train too.

He got a little Thomas tattoo. The event was so much fun and I'm so glad we took him. His excitement about every little thing was a joy to watch!

While Rowen was napping on Monday, Brent and I got out in the yard and worked a bit. He mowed the front yard and cleared out a bunch of brush from the back. I took up most of the pine straw the previous owners were using around the bushes and tress. Both Brent and I think it looked junky. We are opting for the regular kind of mulch that looks neat and tidy. 

We grilled out that evening and had delicious burgers covered in chipotle gouda cheese.  It was a great weekend filled with lots of fun activities!