Five on Friday

Happy Friday!

It’s been a good week and it’s gone by fast! I’ve been hunkered down on gift guides all week and cannot wait to get them done!

Let’s get down to this week’s reader favorites…

Top 5 Reader Favorites This Week

1. Car Cleaning Gel (#1 for the second week in a row)
2. Taylor Swift Stickers (moved up from #4!). But for real, isn’t this the best stocking stuffer for the Swiftie in your life?
3. Caroline’s Puff Sleeve Top (she wore in our family photos) **ON SALE
4. My Sweater Dress (I wore for our family photos)
5. Thomas’s Button-Up Shirt (he wore for family photos) **ON SALE

1. Halloween Things!

We’ve had a few fun festive activities lately!

Scarowinds Double Date

Last weekend Matt and I went on a double date with our friends to Scarowinds! The lines were long but it was super fun…and terrifying. The haunted houses were wild and so well done.

Pumpkin Patch

I wasn’t planning to take the kids to the pumpkin patch this year because I thought they’d probably outgrown this activity. However, a few days ago Caroline asked when we were going. I told her I hadn’t made any plans she replied “But it’s tradition! And we LOVE going!” So I promptly scheduled our outing for the early release day we had this week!

We tried a new place, The Hunter Farm, because it’s seconds away from our house and it was GREAT! I will say, it’s not a true pumpkin patch like some of the others we’ve visited. However, they have a really fun hayride (you need to reserve ahead of time) which was truly the highlight for the kids! We took the hayride to the barn where the kids got to feed all the animals before picking out a few pumpkins!

2. Skillet Lasagna

This week I made Skillet Lasagna and it was a big hit at my house! I used The Real Food Dieticians recipe and made ours with gluten-free noodles. Neither kid noticed the peppers in it too, making it a real victory.

3. Tennis Tournament

Last week my friend Abby invited me to play in her member-guest tennis tournament! We did not win, but we had a blast!

4. Family Photos

Last weekend we knocked out our family photos! This was probably the easiest year yet for me in terms of pulling together our outfits. We made a stop at J.Crew Factory and were able to get 85% of our outfits. Almost everything we wore was on sale too!

OUTFIT DETAILS

5. Two Ingredient Pumpkin Bread

A reminder to make some pumpkin bread soon! I made our first loaf last weekend and we ate the entire loaf in two days. Only two ingredients and it’s absolutely delicious!

If you need gluten-free options: Namaste is really good. Simple Mills is another option (although I haven’t tried this one yet but have heard good things)!

Also, you can add so many fun things to this bread — chocolate chips, raisins, pecans, cinnamon chips, etc.!

In Case You Missed It

• Home Tour: Kitchen, Dining & Family Room
• Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner
• Listened to Lately: Audio Book Reviews
• The Best Damn Chili