What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Is it Wednesday already?

I'll take it... especially with a little sunshine!

I'm linkin' up with Jamie...you should too!

Here's what I'm Lovin' this week...

I'm Lovin' Children's Motrin because it has helped to keep my son from hitting a fever of 105...AGAIN!  That is scary territory for me folks!

Thankfully, my 2 men are on the mend now...hoping for a fever free weekend!

I'm Lovin' that it is almost December, which means that all my favorite Christmas movies are starting to show!  Last night, we watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with Chloe!  She was Lovin' it too!

I'm Lovin' that my daughter {the fashionista} rocked my knee high boots last night!

I'm Lovin' that Charlie, our Elf on the Shelf, has made his appearance.  Yesterday he wanted to hang out with Baby Jesus...today he was in Chloe's stocking!  She loved that!

I'm Lovin' this new "Winter"  Bucket List...hope to accomplish a few of these with the kiddos this month!  Don't think we will be making a sandman, but maybe we will get the opportunity to make a snowman :)

And finally, I'm Lovin' this Pinterest find...for those of you with kids, I know you can relate!

What are you Lovin' this week?

Link UP!

What a crazy day!

Well, today was one of those days.  Like my Best Friend, Brittnye, would say..."it's one of those days that I should have just stayed in bed."

It started off with getting rear ended while taking Carter to daycare.  It has been raining for the last few days...so the roads were extra slick.  We all had to stop kind of abruptly and an older Ford truck rammed into the back of me.  Luckily, no damage was done.

I knew Carter wasn't feeling good...for the last 48 hours or so, he has been uncharacteristically fussy and has cried a ton.  Well, Cindy (his sitter) called around 11am today telling me that Carter had a fever of 102 and probably needed to go to the Dr.  Something I already kind of knew...so we headed to the Dr. around 1.  He has a virus and an upper-respiratory infection.  Yuck.  Blake has also been home all day with the bug...he's been camped out in the bed (where I should have stayed).  I had to pick up 2 different medications for Carter...but, of course, the medicines weren't at the same locations...had to drive to the Rite-Aids on both sides of town to get them....just to find out that the medicine we really needed hadn't been filled when we drove all that way to get it.  Luckily, I had the same medicine left over from Chloe's sick days!

On our way home from the Dr.  You would never know he was sick from this sweet picture.

So, it's 9pm and Chloe and I (the only healthy ones in the house) are hanging out watching Good Luck Charlie and saying a little prayer (please don't let us get sick)!

Here's to a new day--wreck and sick free!

________________________________

Chloe & Carter on the way to stay with Birdie!

Playing Peek-A-Boo

DIY Wedding Ornament

We all are obsessed with Pinterest...right?  

Well, I came across this sweet DIY project for a special Christmas ornament--taking your wedding invitation and making it into an ornament to hang on the tree.  I have tons of extra invites so I was glad to find something to do with one of them!

Step 1:

Purchase a pack of clear ornaments.  I got mine at Hobby Lobby.

Step 2: 

Get your hands on your wedding invite.

Step 3:

Cut invite into horizontal strips (as small or as big as you want).

Step 4:

Place into clear ornament and tie with ribbon.  I chose gold to coordinate with our gold tree!

Precious!

Deck the halls!

The house is decorated & I couldn't be more thrilled!! I'm so glad we get to enjoy the decor for several weeks...it takes so much time to put it up!! This is by far my favorite time of year!! Here's a peek into the Jenkins home all decked out for the Christmas Season!

Upstairs Santa Tree...our Elf on the Shelf, Charlie, is currently hanging out in our tree!

Sitting room mantle with stockings!

Dining Room hutch!

Kitchen Tree...all unbreakable ornaments so Carter's quick hands won't completely destroy everything!

Thankful....

I have a lot to be thankful for this year...

My husband who has stuck by me through thick & thin

My sweet baby boy

My sassy little girl

I live a very blessed life and I thank God every day for everything he has provided us with.  We are very lucky to have each other, our health, and our happiness.

Thanksgiving this year was great.  Normally, they are hectic and more of a chore than anything, but this year there was a calm about it.  We started the day off at Don & Sandy's house.  My Dad joined us there this year so it was a double treat for me.  Sandy prepared an AMAZING meal for us.  We ate until we almost popped.  We ended the day at Monika's house where we visited with my Mom and more family friends!

The Cook (picture courtesy of Chloe)

Carter found a new pass time....sliding with Daddy!

I love his sweet innocent face!

Chloe decided to strike a pose in her festive Thanksgiving dress...

and show us her favorite accessory...her ruby red shoes (again, picture courtesy of Chloe)

She is quite the photographer!

I hope you and yours had a fabulous day filled with family & food!

_________________________

Thanksgiving Eve

was spent making mini pizzas, fun-fetti whooppi pies, & watching our new favorite movie ELF.  

Thanks to Amanda for letting us borrow it!

Here are a few pictures that I took to document our fun night!

Mixing up the brownie batter

Our 'sandwichs' for the whooppi pies

YUM!

The finished product!

What I'm Lovin' Wednesday!

It's Thanksgiving Eve, and here's What I'm Lovin' this Wednesday!

Link up with Jamie and share What You're Lovin' too!

I'm Lovin' that tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  I have a lot to be thankful for this year.  I'm also excited to have family time, eat lots of food, and take a long winter's nap!

I'm Lovin' that I got to spend a few tender moments with our girl at her Thanksgiving Feast!  She has been so excited to share her crafts, outfit, and songs with us!  I'm soaking in every minute of her right now...lately, she has been so incredibly good and grown up.  It makes me yearn for her to be 18 months old again and running around!  It goes by WAY TO FAST PEOPLE!

I'm Lovin' this boy and his every emerging personality:

This is right after I picked him up from daycare last night.  His 'new' trick is to stick out his to tongue.  So funny!  This is what he did during 90% of his photo shoot with Courtney!

He is obsessed with the fridge magnets.  We have the alphabet and farm animal sets.  Great investment this Christmas if you have kiddos his age!

I'm Lovin' our upcoming event for Junior Auxiliary of Clarksville--Candy Canes & Cookbooks!  If you are in need of a great Holiday gift, stop by December 4th between 2-4pm at the L&N Train Station to pick up our newly released cookbook--Linen Napkins to Paper Plates!  We would love to see you all there!

I have to admit, I'm not on Pinterest (officially).  I do, however, look at it often (too often).  One of my favorite things to search on Pinterest is words of inspiration...who am I kidding, I also love the humor on there!  Check it out if you have never...you will thank me!

Here are a few tidbits that I'm Lovin':

You know this is true...

This part of the John Mayer song remind me of Chloe.

One of my favorite songs to sing to the kids.

This is a motto I can live by.

What are you Lovin' today?

Don't forget to link up with Jamie

&

I hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Forgot to mention...

Before the fun turkey day festivities at Chloe's school yesterday, she and I met with our favorite Pediatrician, Dr. Roads, for her 5 year check up!  Well, things started off great.  We arrived on time (good), we sat in the waiting room and filled out her survey (good), we got called back in a timely manner (good), etc, etc....well, to jump to the horrific part of the appointment--enter nurse with needles to draw blood from my child.  I initially thought this would go okay...why?  I don't know...my child HATES needles or anything to do with a shot.  Literally, it took 4 grown women to hold her down to get this done.  I guess they really  needed to check that cholesterol.  I think she is scarred for life now.  Chloe screamed bloody murder for the whole 60 seconds it took to take a tiny vile of blood.  Oh, to top it off, they had to then stick her leg for her flu shot.  Needless to say, she was quite hard to calm down.  I'm hoping they won't have to do that every year because I'm not sure she will ever want to go back!

When it was all said and done, I asked her if she was mad at me.  She told me no, "you didn't do it to me Mama."  Well, guess she is just mad at the Nurses!  

Stats from her appointment:

Weight--38 lbs (38%)

Height--44 inches (79%)

She is long and lean folks!  Dr. Roads said she is doing just fine in all categories!  

As of now, a clean bill of health!  She's a growin' girl...that is for sure!

"I'm a little turkey, short and fat..."

This was part of the sweet song Chloe sang at her Thanksgiving Feast today.  Blake and I got to go and enjoy lunch with her and the other Kindergartners.  I'm pretty sure I say this a lot, but I absolutely love everything about the Academy.  There are so many 'extras' they do there that makes things like Thanksgiving so very special for her (and for me)!  The kids sang 2 sweet songs and then we ate a yummy meal of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, green beans & desserts!  Thanks to Mrs. King and Mrs. Samuels for letting us parents share this special day with our kiddos!

Here are a few pictures from our fun little lunch!

My Little Turkey

Singing with her classmates

They had the kids artwork displayed for all of us to see:

I'm looking forward to more Holiday Fun this week!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a jammed packed weekend...are there any other kind?

Friday night, on a whim, Blake and I decided to head to Nashville to do a bit of shopping.  It's been a while since we have done anything by ourselves...it was nice to have a date night.  After hitting the mall, we headed to Cantina Laredo to eat dinner...mole enchiladas and guacamole...YUM!  Afterwards, we hit up our favorite Nashville hot spot, The Big Bang!  It's a dueling piano bar and is SO incredibly fun.  I love an adult night out!

My favorite purchase in a LONG time.  They look so cute on his fat little feet!

Enjoying my Pomegranate Martini @ Cantina Laredo

Mole Enchiladas & the Best Table Side Guacamole you will EVER eat! 

My date for the evening!

Photo Op {FAIL} at The Big Bang.

Even with the ability to see ourselves on the iPhone...we were still not able to take a good picture!

Saturday was low key; we put up our Christmas tree (a tad early, I know).  It feels so good to have it up though...now we get enjoy it for a full 1 1/2 months.  Its a ton of work putting those babies up...I want to enjoy them!  That night, we headed to Birdie and Sams to eat our first round of Thanksgiving meals!  Ham, potatoes, stuffing...the works!  It was a nice way to end the afternoon!

My Little Elf helping with the Tree Decor

The finished product.  

I watched 5 million tutorials on how to make a bow for the top of the tree...I was pretty pleased with the outcome considering I'm not super crafty at all.

This is our 'Santa' tree.  This is where we congregate on Christmas morning.  We also have a tree downstairs in our kitchen / sitting area, but it is more for looking pretty with an all gold theme!

Sunday was spent lounging around and finishing up some Christmas decorating!  Carter had another mini session with Courtney to snap a few more 1 year old pictures!  I can't wait to see what she got!  He was in such a happy mood, which is his norm!

Blake said that Carter looked like a little golfer with his sweater vest...I couldn't agree more!

This weekend was great--relaxing but so productive!

Had to throw in this picture of Chloe..we painted her nails sparkly tonight thanks to the borrowed polish from Amanda!

Speaking of polish, I bought a set of Essie minis from Walgreens...I was so excited to use it; I went home and immediately painted my nails.  Meet my 'new' love--Cranberry!

I think it's a great fall color...it will be worn often!

Finally, for dinner tonight, I made the yummiest recipe.  Chloe even approved!

Cowboy Chicken:

In crockpot, place 3-4 chicken breasts,

1 8oz block of cream cheese, 

1 can of corn (partially drained), 

2 cans of black beans (drained),

1 jar of salsa (I used Picante Sauce)

Let cook ALL day on low

Enjoy over Scoops!

Yum!

Had to get proof that she ate it!  This kid doesn't eat much so it's a HUGE compliment when she says something is good!

Looking forward to a fun filled Holiday week!