This Unfamiliar Road

It's the last month of this series! I've really enjoyed incorporating these tips into my life one month at a time. This month, its important to remember....

As we are entering the Christmas season (and taking down all the fall decor), I have been glancing back at pictures from this fall.
We stayed very busy, and really enjoyed being outdoors!

Here are a few of my favorite memories from Fall 2016:

Peyton's school hosted a day in the pumpkin patch, along with a puppet show! I loved snapping some picture of my girls in the patch. Eliza fit right in with the class :)






We love going to the fair every fall! This year, things got really interesting as Eliza was old enough to ride most of the rides. Peyton was happy to show her the ropes.







I enjoyed co-hosting a beautiful baby shower for my best friend. Christa and her husband LOVE to travel, so this emerged as a theme! We had an "around-the world" dessert bar and I got to make a Guinness Chocolate cake with Baileys frosting (for Christa's Irish roots). I can't wait to meet this baby in January!



Of course, we played in the leaves. A lot.


Ben played hooky from work one day and we took a trip to the zoo!






We enjoyed spending some time with Banyan's litter of puppies. This was the "FIRST" litter and they were all so squishy and cute! Elize is definitely the dog-lover of our family.


Peyton had so much fun visiting Tee-Pee's at school, and participating in traditional music ceremonies. That week, we also enjoyed her Thanksgiving program.




We ended our fall season with TWO wonderful Thanksgiving dinners. We have so much to be thankful for.




Blessings to all in the upcoming holiday season!

I am loving this one for November... UNPLUG

Research indicates that heavy technology use may lead to increased risk of depression and stress. Reduce your stress by unplugging and spending some time outdoors!

Enjoy...it's fall y'all!

Our obsession with the movie Inside Out has extended to our Halloween! In very early August, Peyton announced that she wanted us to dress as Inside Out characters. We took a family vote, and decided we could make it happen.
Since there aren't enough of us to make all 5 emotions, we got a little creative with other characters.

Meet: Riley, Joy, Sadness, and Bing Bong!


In the morning, we watched Peyton in her school parade, and enjoyed her class party.






 I love it when our family and friends all come together for Halloween!



Bing Bong giving Sadness a ride in his rocketship


I just had to include this photo- we call it "Sadness After-Party" haha


I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! We are already brainstorming for next year :)

I had been thinking on this party theme for a while, and I loved how everything came together! Eliza loves "The Wowax" movie...and usually starts asking for it around 7:00am :)

We typically have our parties in the front yard/garage but I was hoping to host in the backyard this time. My neighbors convinced me that the unfinished basement was a good place to host-and I actually loved it!

We cleaned out one of the rooms and hung brown butcher paper, and I painted a mural resembling The Lorax scenery.
The husband made The Once-ler out of scrap wood- I think it was the best part!





We served:
-Uncrustables
-Humming Fish (in a fish bowl!)
-Truffula Fruits
-Barbaloot Snacks (teddy grahams and marshmallows)
-Truffula Treats (cupcakes resembled a Truffula forrest)








 The kids had a great time playing in the sand "planting" Truffula trees, coloring, and making Lorax masks.





 I love these little Lorax-es ;)






 Yummo cupcakes!






 We love opening gifts at parties...kids like to see everything, and Eliza gets the chance to say thank-you!




 And of course-we had the TN-FL game on...and what a great end to a pretty awesome party.



 We had such a great time celebrating with all of our friends and family. Our little Bean is so blessed!