What I Ate {November 2016}

With my dad's sudden passing, I didn't keep track of our dinners the first half of the month.  We were blessed by so many people bringing us food and meals though - we did not go hungry!

Nov 15 - White Chicken Chili
Nov 16 - Mini Meatloaves + Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes
Nov 17 - Chicken Divine + Garden Salad

Nov 18 - Logan's Roadhouse Burger & Fries
Nov 19 - KFC Chicken Breast + Mashed Potatoes + Biscuit
Nov 20 - Beef & Broccoli
Nov 21 - Mississippi Roast
Nov 22 - Chicken Pesto Pasta

Nov 23 - Tito's Chicken Taco + Beef Enchilada + Chips & Salsa
Nov 24 - Thanksgiving Dinner
Nov 25 - Thanksgiving Leftovers
Nov 26 - Digiorno Pizza
Nov 27 - Steak + Wild Rice + Corn on the Cob
Nov 28 - Enchilasagna
Nov 29 - Totally spaced and didn't keep track!
Nov 30 - Ditto

Week #47 {2016}

Monday kicked off our week of no school.  Yippee!  The kids and I went and hung out with my mom. Chris {who had to work} messaged me to see what we were doing, and we sent him this gem.  We were shopping of course!

Tuesday God painted a beautiful sunrise for us.  I can't imagine the stunning sunrises my dad's getting to enjoy in heaven.

I made Chicken Pesto Pasta for dinner.  It's so easy and so tasty!

Wednesday morning, this verse was part of my quiet time.... it was such a great reminder for me.

Then we went and hung out with the Stellacks.

~

Thursday was Thanksgiving Day.

Friday the kids and I went down to my mom's.  The kids picked up all the branches and twigs.

Rylan was being the "foreman" bossing around Dylan and Payton.

The boys thought it was awesome dragging this huge branch behind the truck.

After "work" Ry stretched out and relaxed.

It must have been hard work, because he crashed on the way home, holding some of his hard earned money.  

Saturday we went Christmas Tree shopping.

I'm so thankful for Chris.  He always wants to make Christmas special for our family.

We got it home and I did not feel like decorating it, so I layed down and took a nap instead.

When I woke, I thought that making some Almond Rocca would put me in the Christmas spirit... 

And it worked!  Ry helped decorate the tree and he was so proud of himself.

In our box of Christmas stuff, I found my new favorite decoration:

I miss that sweet smile of my dad's.

Thanksgiving Day {2016}

Last Thanksgiving, I tried to make a bunch of new recipes...and only one of those turned out great {Very Berry Cranberry Sauce - It was from Pioneer Woman so duh, of course it was yum!}.  The rest were total bombs.  So this year I decided to go back to our basic recipes....which meant that instead of cooking crazily all morning long, we had time to play Apples to Apples as a family before everyone came over.

My mom and the Stellmacks showed up and my mom gave me this mug from my sister, Davese.

She had it made with this picture and  "Dad's Favorite Girls" on it.  It's my new favorite mug.

And, yes, I waited until I was done crying before I took that selfie.

~

All ready to eat!

The only food pics I took was of the pumpkin pie and banana meringue pudding.

A couple of hours later Ry tore into a turkey leg.

J9 {Jeanine}, me and my momma.  They are such amazing ladies.

My momma, my kids and me.

This is our first Thanksgiving.... actually our first holiday ever without my dad.   I don't even know how to describe how it felt.  He was supposed to be here.  He was supposed to be enjoying these moments with us.  He was supposed to be encouraging us in life and giving us hugs.  I miss him telling my boys how handsome they are and Payton how beautiful she is.  Because that's something he did all the time  We had some tears, but we also had a good Thanksgiving.  I guess that's God's grace - that we can be sad and grieving....yet continue on and enjoy life with those around us.  

God is good y'all! {I do live in the South, so I get to say that now!}  

All the time.

Columbia with the Stellmacks

The Stellmacks came into town and stayed with my mom for a couple of days.

Today we met up with them and headed down to The Square {Downtown Columbia}.

We went into a bunch of shops and at one of the Antique Stores, J9 {Jeanine} and I FaceTimed with my sister.

I love this pic of Eric and Rylan holding hands as they crossed the street.

We ate lunch at Puckett's and the kids entertained themselves with the silverware.

Back at my mom's the little went to collect pinecones.  It's amazing how barren that tree is now!

It was a fun day!

Week #46 {2016}

Sunday while the boys went to our church, I went and met up with my mom, sister, and Payton at my mom's church.  I met some amazing, wonderful people who love my mom so much.  It was so good and encouraging to see.  We took a selfie during worship.

That afternoon we went shooting.

That night we had our first fire of the season.

Monday we went down to The Square {Downtown Columbia} and stopped by my dad's coffee shop. Man do I miss him.

Then we headed out to Amish Town.

We had my mom and sister over for dinner and we tried out the Roll Butter my mom bought in Amish Town.

Then we said bye to Auntie D.  She flies home super early tomorrow morning.

Tuesday morning, we had a beautiful sunrise.

Even though we planted our yellow raspberry bush just this year, we've already enjoyed a few berries every couple of days... and they are SUPER sweet {and yes, they aren't yellow!}.

Ry prayed the sweetest prayer at dinner time.  I had to write it down:

"Thank you Jesus that Papa Nutt passed away.  Thank you that he wanted to be with Jesus.  Thank you that he told everyone about Jesus. Amen."

~

We were hanging out watching tv and I looked over and saw Ry fast asleep.

Wednesday is my busy night.  All 3 kids have activities and I am driving them back and forth for a few hours.  At one point, I saw Ry had {all by himself} got the towels out of the dryer and folded them all.

Did I mention - no one asked him to do this? He's such a sweet boy!

Thursday Chris had to work late, so Gigi came over and I made Chicken Pot Pie for dinner.

Then they baked some cookies.

Dylan taught Rylan how to play the violin.  It was so sweet.

Friday I had to run some errands and sported my new, fun tank top!

I got to end the night snuggle buggling this sweet boy.

Saturday morning Gigi stopped by for  a few.

And later we were getting ready to go out.  Rylan came in and said Payton had scissors on her jeans and we didn't know what he was talking about, until we saw this....

She had cut holes in her brand new jeans! Ugh!