Friday Favorites

It's the freakin weekend y'all!! It's supposed to rain all weekend, but I'm not going to let that rain on my parade - literally. We're having a good weekend regardless of the weather. 

Shane left me for five days this past week, not many of my friends or family came to my rescue and yet - I lived to talk about it! Ha! So, this weekend we're celebrating or something. And, I'm basically going to call this entire month a win simply because it was my second really big challenge with both littles and I'm feeling really good about it. Well, at least now that it's over I'm feeling good about it. But, I'm certainly not lining up for a repeat anytime soon.

In all honesty though, Before I get started, I need to give a HUGE shout out to the single mom and dad's of the world. You seriously rock. Like in a big way and deserve wayyy more credit than you likely get. But I see you, and I think you're doing a great job. Your littles love you and that's all that matters!

So, let's get down to a little Five on Friday!

{ONE}

Speaking of Shane leaving me, here's a little look at what went down...or well the parts that made me almost pull my hair out (but let's be honest that's not that hard since postpartum hormones are crashing fast and it's falling out left and right).

We played more memory match card games than I can count, and legit Bennett beat me more times than I care to admit.

 Just as I was on the breaking point these two would do super cute things like hold hands and it would totally melt my heart.

 We had to get really creative with toys -aka- old boxes to make old toys exciting so mommy could sit and breathe for a few minutes. Hello new car ramp.

 And then they would hold hands again, heart eyes.

 The weather was super nice for the most part which was great, so we took lots of strolls outside and frequented the many parks in Nashville.

 Bennett had an entire morning of refusing to wear pants. That made for a fun day. (ha)

 We did get invited to a craw fish boil which was a great break and oh so fun!

 And we built lots of "shoe homes" as Bennett likes to call them. He places his toys at the bottom and piles things on top and then proceeds to tell me about how they are going to get out.

 I was feeling frisky and took the kids to the zoo because the weather was so perfect. We had so much fun!

 And we ate a lot of cotton candy, because well I was tired of saying no.

We survived! But man are we glad Daddy is home!

{TWO}

I'm thankful for loving grandparents. Over the weekend our kiddos received two fun packages from their grandparents and it makes for such a fun surprise. Growing up I always lived far away from my grandparents as well and I always loved when they would send us fun surprises, so seeing my kiddos get the same joy is awesome. Thanks Sissy and GoGo for making our day!

{THREE}

Ya'll on Wednesday night we had QUITE the surprise join us at our house. A BIRD! Holy moly I was so scared. If you follow me on Snapchat you got the play by play but geeze! Who knew I could be so scared of a tiny little flying dude. 

We ordered delivery and when I opened the door to let bring the food in a little surprise flew in with it. And the best part - it happened right at the kiddos bedtime. So, Shane was upstairs with B and I start screaming OMG SHANE THERE IS A BIRD IN THE HOUSE! GET DOWN HERE NOWWWWW! (which naturally is the worst way to handle the situation because it completely sends the two year old in a tailspin). 

I switched Shane jobs and headed upstairs with B to finish bedtime and lied and told him Daddy took care of the situation and the bird was gone. And nearly two minutes later after I was calming my child (and myself) down, the bird FLEW INTO BENNETT'S ROOM! Cue panic from all parties. 

 But all is well that ends well and Shane finally got him and saved the day. Whew.  It was quite the ordeal and we're still bombarded with questions daily about "where is the bird?!" Yikes.

{FOUR}

We've decided to give the double stroller game a shot. Bennett is FAR from a stroller kid and literally won't sit and just hang like most of his buddies in a stroller (which can be frustrating). So, we're opting for a sit and stand. He'll probably hate this too, but at least he can be a bit more independent and stand and feel a little bigger than his little sister. I'm hoping he can get into it. But we shall see! 

{FIVE}

Can we discuss Bennett's take on the right way to eat a donut? After a successful five days of daddy out of town I took him to get a special treat for being a sweetie and let him pick out his own donut. He went with frosted vanilla with sprinkles.

 And then proceeded to eat only the frosting and the sprinkles and decided to let me know there was no more donut left and he was finished. :) Ohhh to be two.

That's it for me gang ... Hubs and I are going to check out the SEC tourney here in Nash this weekend and hopefully I'll get around to a good recap of it all next week.

Also, say a little prayer for my momma. She had a knee replacement earlier this week and she could use the good vibes. Love you mom!

 Have a great weekend gang!

My Old Chi Omega Home

This past weekend I took a fun-filled walk down memory lane ...

456 Rose Street at the University of Kentucky. The steamboat, the wedding cake, the chee, the home that holds amazing memories … The Chi Omega House.

Le Sigh.

So much happy in such a simple photo.

The Lambda Alpha Chapter of Chi Omega was chartered in 1914 and has now turned 100 years old! This past weekend was the Centennial Celebration and sisters from years past and present all came together to celebrate. SO COOL. There is so much history and so many memories for so many amazing ladies that are all centered around this same location, it seriously makes me so happy.

When I joined a sorority my freshman year, I was completely overwhelmed and had no idea what to expect. At first, it seemed a little superficial, a little forced, a lotta foreign, and incredibly overwhelming, but it quickly became apparent that it was also inspiring, challenging, bettering, comforting and ALOTTA fun. It also taught me some really great things about myself and life.

College itself is a great time...classmates, old friends, new friends, the entire "growing up" on your own and coming of age experience is second to none, but if I'm being 100% honest my sorority had a HELLUVA-lot to do with why I loved my college days so dearly. And side note: bigggg shout out to my parents for making all of aspirations and dreams of college and frat life a reality, without ever once batting an eye and trusting in my decisions, even though they were sometimes a little questionable ;)  My sorority sisters were by my side for all of it …

Additionally, I just started a list where I was naming everything they were to me so you could get the full effect... I got to 25 and deleted it, because I realized it's a little overkill. You get it. We were close. We were besties. A lot of us still are. And although I may have met them on my own, I credit Chi O for all of it and I'm not ashamed to say so.

Our Symphony was something I used to hear weekly. And, as cheesy as it may sound … It was neat to hear it again this weekend. The Symphony's notes are played across 173 campuses in America. Sisterhoods are strengthened on a daily basis; handshakes are being exchanged, songs are being sung, and oaths are being vowed. We are part of a tradition that has lasted over a century; women have been playing the Symphony long before we ever heard it. But the tune still rings louder than ever just as I and so many have promised to be a "symphony of high purpose and helpfulness in which there is no discordant note."

And BIGGG news … that steamboat that you see pictured above is getting a MUCH NEEDED makeover! HOLLLLLAAAAA. Check her out … I can't wait to see her when she's finished!

Anywhoodles, it was a great weekend. I also managed to throw in a little Keeneland, 75 degree weather, grown up time with Hubby and some of my favorite college foods. So, I'm certainly chalking this one up as a win.

Fall and Football.

It's almost here!

My absolute favorite time of year in the bluegrass. So much to look forward to and so much to do! Amidst the almost PERFECT weather and my FAVORITE wardrobe, fall fashion, and BOOTS it's hard to not be excited!  The food, the colors, the events, eek too much for me to handle.  Not to mention, throw in my birthday and our anniversary and things are pure bliss.  I made a bucket list for our little family to check off this fall and I'm ready to tackle the season head on.

One of my all time favorite quotes. So perfect. 

Speaking of tackle, is there anyone out there who doesn't love football season?  Don't get me wrong, knowing that my TV will be screening only sports center 24/7 does get a little old ... but tailgating, Saturday cookouts and road trips to Cincinnati for Bengals games has me super pumped!

We kicked off the college football season this past weekend, with an on screen viewing of my beloved CAYUTS vs WKU while we lived it up at the lake.  And I still love them no matter the outcome :(  University of Kentucky, you will always have my heart.

Then we headed home Sunday morning to enjoy the UofL game so hubs could see his team stomp Ohio in the 2013 season opener.  Woohoo, we can already check "Bennett's First Football Game" off the fall bucket list!  I couldn't bring myself to put our son in that red garbage, so I made Shane dress him. I just feel so guilty since he's not able to make his own outfit decisions yet :) hehe.

Oh man, tailgating and cookouts have my cooking brain a spinning. It's time to start scouring new dip recipes to bring to the games.  

Yes. I love it. 
Welcome Fall, welcome.

..Whiskey..

No, this isn't a story about how crazy I got on the fire water last night, sorry to disappoint, but I'm wayy too pregnant for that.  This post is about my latest and great country artist obsession: Jana Kramer.

Fellow country music lovers - are you with me?!  I'm loving this new artist.  She was up for the ACM New Artist of the Year Award, but unfortunately lost to 'Florida Georgia Line' ... although, if I'm being honest, they're pretty good too.

But, I wanted to share with ya'll my favorite Jana song "Whiskey" ... SEC girls everywhere can relate to the boys she's talkin' about - ya dig ;0)?!

Enjoy!