Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday Friends ~

And Happy November too! I hope you had a wonderful, safe and healthy Halloween. Annie had a couple of buddies over. And the kiddos both spent some time at their Grandpa's house with Ad. My Mom hung out with us a bit over the weekend. Although, just found out this weekend there have been a few cases in Annie's school and hockey world ....so hockey is shut down for now and school is fully online for now as well. Going to keep to ourselves for a while to be safe and get checked out due to Annie being at hockey recently. So please send prayers all is well with her world here and for our world in general as the numbers are ramping up again. 🙈 I pray every day for a safe and effective vaccine to be found soon!! 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Some pretty amazing weather this week for the northwoods in November

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING

bagel thin with jam and coffee

HOW I AM FEELING THIS MORNING:

Feeling good and already have accomplished a lot of jobs around here this morning. It's a beautiful sunny day and gives me lots of energy!  

ON MY MIND:

The election. I'll be so happy when it's over. I'm so tired of the commercials, the animosity between folks all over our country, the name calling etc. I got my ballot early and voted several weeks ago by dropping it off at a local ballot box. Going to help Aaron get his dropped off today. I pray all goes smoothly for the election and that no matter whom is elected...that we can find the way to heal and become more unified as a nation 🇺🇸 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

I love the sun streaming in through the windows. I changed out some of my halloween things for more thanksgiving decor. See in pics below

CURRENTLY READING

Mary Oliver poems in the book Devotions

ON THE TV TODAY:

 HGTV shows, holiday baking shows, Dancing with the Stars, Amazing Race, The Spanish Queen, The Good Doctor, Little People Big World, Mad Men bingeing 

 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY - tortellini pasta with marinara, lemon green beans, garlic bread (HF meal leftover)

TUESDAY - Chicken in dijon sauce, with balsamic greens & grapes, toasted bread (HF meal)

WEDNESDAY -  crepes with nutella & bananas, bacon 

THURSDAY - caramelized apple cheddar melts with honey dijon arugula salad (HF meal)

FRIDAY - maybe order pizza?  

* I may bake a pear or apple bread with glaze this week too 😋 

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

go for walks in the beautiful weather, read, journal, Christmas shop online, work on projects, bake, zoom with gf's

FROM THE CAMERA:

Last week I went out with 2 of my girlfriends that also have Fall birthdays. One was my amazing friend that makes the yummiest and most beautiful cookies. The one I've shared with you before. She's been a nurse for many years and was ready for a real change in her life, left nursing, and she has decided to officially launch her little cookie company! It will be called Sifted with Sass and I couldn't be more excited for her! She gifted me and my other friend with these lovely boxes of vanilla almond cookies - each personalized with our names. 

My beautiful girl's 9th grade photo 😃 

Did you catch the amazing full moon this weekend? 

Went down nostalgia lane this weekend and looked through old scrapbooks to Halloween past and sharing a few of my faves from way back. I used to decorate the house up a lot because relatives and friends always came to hang at our house and trick or treat from here

I think this pic of my kiddos walking up my in-law's front porch is so precious ❤️  The ninja & the cupcake 

And Annie was Raggedy Annie one year - does it get any cuter??

And Aaron's sweetest was when he was Woody from Toy Story 💕 

Now back to Halloween present. My cute little M&M girl:

Fun snacks like caramel apple nachos, jack o lantern pizza and spiced apple cider with whipped cream and cinnamon 😋 

Annie's squad

Then just like that another Halloween was in the books and it was time to turn jack o lanterns into pumpkins and put out Thanksgiving decor

The tv room tablecloth from Halloween to rustic Fall

And to wear my lucky shirt (our coach is hotter than your coach 😉) and cheer on my Packers. Unfortunately, it wasn't lucky and my Pack amazingly were upset in a loss to the Vikes - our big nemesis! Boo!

PRAYER LIST:

I pray for an end to this virus. For peace, healing and unity in our world.  For the election ahead. For Annie's school and teams to be safe from more covid numbers. I pray for anyone sick, suffering, isolated, and afraid - for their peace and comfort. Please Lord give strength to those fighting the virus on the frontlines.  🙏 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

This is what I'm using as background wallpaper on my phone for this month. Have a blessed week! I'm linking with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday to you! ☀️ 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. It was a very nice one here. Scott got to come for a quick visit before heading back to AK for work. And Ad came later in the weekend and he and the kiddos (I helped a bit too) worked around the outside of the house to winterize everything. Got the dock out, cleaned out the gutters, put away all the outside furniture, covered the air conditioner unit, trimmed all the shrubs etc. It looks so bare here now. Especially with so many leaves off of the trees as well. 

I also watched my wonderful Packers kick some butt! And made lots of cozy food. Chili with cornbread muffins with jalapeno & cheese and honey butter glaze on top. And slow cooker sweet and sour meatballs over rice. Also, a pan of caramel cashew bars. Yummy comfort food. Tis the season! Lol 😋 My loved ones share how much they appreciate the good food and I love sharing it with them. ♥️ I posted some cozy yummy recipes yesterday. Yes, I actually posted 2 days in a row now! So feel free to check out the last post too. Hoping to be in blogland a little more. 

Now all rested and ready for a new week ahead...

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING

apple cider donut, coffee, fruit

HOW I AM FEELING THIS MORNING:

Energized. Ready for a new week. Starting some new projects.  

ON MY MIND:

Busier weeks ahead. Trying to do holiday shopping early. Annie's hockey season starting now with practices so more run around lately. Adam (& sometimes Aaron) helps with the driving too. It will be nice when Annie gets her license - but not wishing it away either. Lol 

It was my Mom's bday yesterday. She was out of town for my Aunt's funeral. It was very small and they only let a few people come. My Aunt had cancer and I'm glad she's free of pain. I have been talking with my cousins and pray for their strength, peace and comfort everyday. They plan to travel here when the world is better, hopefully next year, so we can gather and do a celebration of her life. It's so hard having to think about my older relatives (including my parents) being of ages where more of these times are going to come. My Aunt had lost her husband a few years ago and was missing him terribly and I have such faith she is in heaven enjoying time with him again. That brings some comfort - I know especially for my cousins. 🙏 

My Mom is going to come over tonight and have dinner and we'll get to dote on her for her bday a little belated. ♥️ 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

 I have dishes to load and a bit of tidying up, but overall clean and cozy

 

CURRENTLY READING

Almost done reading Regretting You by Colleen Hoover. Next up will be a holiday book! 📚🎄 

ON THE TV TODAY:

Big Brother, HGTV shows, halloween baking shows, Dancing with the Stars, Amazing Race, The Spanish Queen, Mad Men bingeing 

 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY - leftovers 

TUESDAY - firehouse cheeseburgers with crispy fried onions & garlic potato wedges (HF meal)

WEDNESDAY -  Thai coconut curry chicken with cilantro lime rice (HF meal)

THURSDAY - Italian sunday supper with parm meatballs, tortelloni, green beans and garlic ciabatta (HF meal)

FRIDAY - Halloween pizza, spooky snacks, hot apple cider

Boo! 👻🎃 

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

go for walks, read, bake something yummy, listen to Christmas music and order some gifts - I love giving etsy and my local small businesses a lot of gift buying business 

FROM THE CAMERA:

Just a week ago or so we had snow like this over everything. I hadn't even put my tiki torches away from the summer at that point. Thankfully it melted and it still looks like late Fall right now

But the snow and freezing rain we've had here and there just makes me want to bake and keep my kitchen cozy 😋 Do you like my new mugs?

This is more what it looks like right now with everything put away for winter

Here's a Ruby update for Auntie Patsy, who asked about her. She's just doing a lot of her Ruby thing. Waiting for when it's time to play, go for a walk, or a ride in the car with mom. In the wait time she naps. Lol She's my middle aged girl now - so she needs more of her beauty sleep. I can relate. 😉 

I may be ordering Christmas gifts, but I'm still thinking on all things Halloween for this weekend. Still going to try to make it fun for the kiddos and few friends that may be over. Love pinterest for vintage images! 🎃 💀 🕷 

PRAYER LIST:

I pray for an end to this virus. For peace, healing and unity in our world.  For the loss of my Aunt. For us family and friends that are grieving her loss and especially for her daughters and granddaughters. For their strength and comfort during this time 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I saw an ad for this ornament and thought it was pretty cute - and appropriate!

I hope you have a happy and safe Halloween. I'm linking with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Some Fall & Halloween Inspiration (& a few recipes)

 Happy weekend Friends!

I haven't done much extra blogging besides HHM, when I've been able. So I thought I'd make an effort to get back to blogging more each week. I thought I'd start today by sharing some of the fun magazines and cookbooks I've been looking at that share some fun Fall inspiration. 🍁 💕

It's been very chilly in the northwoods. We've even had moments of snow already! It's been making me feel extra cozy, so I guess that's part of it too. Just wanting to share some of the cozy with you.  

Have you ever made a sandwich in your waffle maker? I guess first of all I wanted to share this little hack for a panini press stand in...

I recently made sandwiches on it for the kiddos and myself, and it made them so crispy and melty and yummy. I highly recommend giving it a try. Just make your sandwich like you would a grilled cheese - buttering the outside of each piece of bread. And let the waffle maker do the work! 

Besides Fall and Halloween, I've also been thinking Thanksgiving thoughts. This recipe was recently in an all recipes magazine and is very close to how I make homemade cranberry sauce each year. It's so good! 

Around my birthday time I got this new cookbook and it has a lot of fun comfort food recipes. And I always love Gooseberry Patch because they include extra tips with each recipe too. 

And you know how I love anything from PW! 😊 

I love yummy hot drinks this time of year. Especially when it can get so cold. Warms the belly and the soul 😋 

Or I'll take a cake in my mug too. I'm not fussy 

How adorable are these pumpkin carving alternatives? 🎃 

I thought I'd share a few things from my pinterest board titled "my favorite season" as well. You can click here for a link to my board and look up all the credit for each idea I'm sharing. As well as many more fun ideas I've pinned there. 🍁 🎃 🕷 🍂 

I love making a big cookie now and then. May need to try this Halloween version with a web 🕷 

And I love that on pinterest you can always find lots of wonderful vintage images. 

I hope you're feeling cozy and Halloween inspired now too my Friends! 

Boo!! 👻