Things that go through my head at 3:00 in the morning:

• I’m really far behind on family albums. I need to get on that.
• What size is my niece? I need to get her birthday gift mailed soon.
• What trips do we want to take in 2022?
• Remembering the day we said goodbye to Dad.
• Does the rug go with our living room? Or is it the pillows. I think it’s the pillows that need to go.
• The girls are going to lose their minds at the surprise we have for them in 2 weeks.
• Do I have hot chocolate in the pantry?
• I need to do that load of laundry right when I get up if I want leggings for the hike.
• I didn’t plan a well visit for Hailey. Do 10 year olds need well visits?
• Did I start the dishwasher?

And so on and so forth. I’m usually on team “get up and get going” if I can’t fall back asleep but I wanted to be able to hike and stay up for David’s 7:30 football game so I forced myself to lie there contemplating a laundry list of deep and mundane thoughts from 3:00-5:00 before finally falling back asleep until 7:00.

I’m grateful that usually I’m a great sleeper. I typically pass out when my head hits the pillow and wake up when my alarm tells me to. Nights like last night bring a deeper appreciation for that. Now, for coffee!

I’m so glad you are finding the gift guides helpful; I really appreciate the messages you’ve sent my way about them. They take a lot of time, but they help me focus in on and check off my own lists, so they’re a labor of partly selfish love 😉

Things I snapped pictures of this week:

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The girls and I went to Alpha and Omega Corn Maze on Wednesday with our co-op. It was my first time there and it was worth the hour drive! Their name says corn maze but the also had a pumpkin cannon, hay rides, inflatable bounce pillows, big rolling pipes the kids could get in, animals, a lot of food options, and more. If you’re local, I recommend it.

The girls enjoyed having friends to run around with. I enjoyed that Hailey decided she wanted to “teach school” on her own on the drive there and back, leading Kaitlyn through legit lessons. It was one of those mom moments when you don’t even dare to breathe for fear of messing up the beautiful magic that created said moment.

I also enjoyed coming home to the house smelling great and dinner done. Slow cooker beef stew continues to be a family favorite.

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David and I had a wild date night on Thursday. We went to Costco then to Academy to buy a new SUP paddle then to dinner at Ghostface Scratch Kitchen in Langtree. Like everywhere right now, there was a giant sign on the door apologizing for being understaffed. We appreciated the heads up for the slow service and it didn’t hamper our enjoyment. The food was still fantastic and those that were working were hustling and so kind.

Oh, that last picture! After Kaitlyn’s soccer game we went to King Canary with our friends and they had a projector set up with old school Nintendo games. It was like a walk down memory lane and it took all I had not to steal the remote and play Zelda. The kids thoroughly enjoyed their first introduction to Mario though; so fun to watch!

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Finally, meal planning! I got a my latest delivery from Butcher Box. Right now they are giving away FREE turkeys when you sign up for your first delivery. I start my meal planning by choosing which proteins I’ll use from the freezer, then planning around that.

On the menu this week:

• Chicken and steak fajitas
• Homemade lasagna (we now call this Hailey’s lasagna because she made it by herself and everyone loved it; it’s a great simple recipe)
• Clam Chowder and rolls (the celebrate the end of our Colonial history unit)
• Oven Baked Chicken Tenders, salad, mac ‘c cheese
• Pulled pork BBQ sandwiches with slaw and pickles

This week I’m going to write about our grocery budget observation. I shared on IG yesterday that prices are at a 10 year high (up 5% from this time last year). I got a lot of interesting responses about how you are keeping your bill in check (and quite a few saying it’s out of control and you’ve given up). More on that later. Enjoy your weekend!!