Weekend, where did you go?

I love a weekend with my husband, even if it is a weekend that we have something planned just about every minute of every day.

Friday afternoon, I was having some major pregnancy cravings. I'm talking no amount of other food could help out this craving, believe me I tried. I sent the Mr a text...

And I learned when he walked in the door empty handed that he thought I was joking. He even asked if I had the stuff in the house to make chocolate cake and red velvet cupcakes. Ummmm NO! Trust me, he has since learned that I was NOT joking and he said he would not be taking these texts lightly over the coming weeks.

The next best thing since I couldn't have my cravings was a plate of comfort food. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Pregnant or not, this will always be my favorite dinner!

We ended up in the bed early because I had an early class the next morning. Yes, breastfeeding class. It was a learning experience for sure, of course I have no idea if I will remember everything she said when that time comes. But, she said not to worry about it because they are there to help if we ask for it, and gave us their hotline number to call day or night. They may regret that come March! Ha!

Saturday at lunch we met our friends Stephanie and Tadd for lunch at Baumhowers. It was great to catch up and have a lot of laughs. They went to the BCS bowl in California and told us all about their adventures in Beverly Hills and at Disneyland, too.

I got a text from Babies R Us and they were having a demonstration for the Tommee Tippee diaper disposal we registered for. This was something the Mr really wanted us to register for, so we went to see exactly how it works. And needless to say, even if we don't get it at our shower, we will still be purchasing it. No stinky diapers the Mr says!

Afterwards, we went to Sams to take care of my pregnancy cravings from the day before.

I'm now a happy camper!

While we were at Babies R Us, we picked up some organizing bins for AC's room. Yep, it's time to get her room ready. Two months or less before we meet our little girl. So my question is... we need two more bins, but should I do the bottom row like the middle row: polka dots, beige, polka dots or beige, polka dots, beige? Need your help here...

The rest of the weekend was spent trying to do stuff we've been trying to do for months. Organizing the garage, taking care of the leaves, putting up the rest of the Christmas decorations, etc.

How was your weekend?

Friday five — link up #30

Hello last Friday of July. Wait, what? Summer is officially flying by...

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the Sowell life's Friday five...

1) {Happy Birthday Mr Sowell} The husband had a little big birthday on Monday. He officially turned 4 with a 0 behind it. We had fun celebrating with him. Even though I don't think he loved the "over the hill" balloon or the other black balloons that accompanied it, I think he enjoying his evening of celebration. And we're still enjoying that delicious cake from Delicious Bakery!

2) {A little porch sittin'} One of the favorite things about our home is our covered deck. The Mr had a wonderful idea of adding three ceiling fans out there, and it makes our porch sittin' time in the summer, bearable. And this little cutie loves it, too.

3) {Southern Cooking} We cooked up a big southern meal Tuesday night. It involved bbq chicken, fried squash, mashed potatoes, green beans and cornbread. And I could eat it all over again right now.

4) {Napping} We've done our fair share of napping this week. The rainy weather has been perfect for it, and I haven't complained about it at all.

5) {CANE'S} Here in Alabama, I've yet to find a Raising Cane's in the Bham area. And honestly, I do love Zaxby's, but there's jut something about Cane's sauce, their fries their toast.... yeah, I'm making myself pretty hungry here. So if you know of any Raising Cane's in the Bham area... PUH-LEZ let me know. =)

Now, who's ready to link up?!! Thanks for stopping by, linking up, sharing the link up on your blog and on twitter! I appreciate y'all spreading the word more than you'll ever know!! Enjoy your weekend, y'all! 

Our long weekend in an instagram...

I kept thinking yesterday was Monday. This long weekend had us all messed up. But, I'm so grateful for the extra days with the Mr at home. It was needed and wanted — even if we did sleep all day Friday. So technically, the weekend was Thursday — Sunday, right?

Thursday we went to the lake to visit with our family. It was a little rainy and dreary, but seeing the smiles of family and hearing the laughter of kids had us so thankful for the time together.

Friday, as a mentioned above, was a sleep day. We didn't get out of pjs all day. Of course, all the rainy weather didn't help our motivation, either. I do remember watching a lot of movies between our naps, and somehow I managed to cook dinner before we called it a night and crawled into bed. Yeah, we're such party animals.

Saturday was a little more eventful. It all started with someone ringing the doorbell at 10:30 in the morning. And because we weren't expecting anyone, we just ignored the first ring. However the second time, the Mr did a little snooping. And I finally convinced him to just go open the door and see who it was. Well, it was our termite guy. Ha. T made an appointment with him earlier in the week and completely forgot about it. #itsokaywereold And the good news is... NO TERMITES. #itsthelittlethings

All week I had been watching the Pizza Hut commercial for the $10 anyway you want it deal. So to celebrate no termites, we got P I Z Z A. Btw, Darby and I had been talking earlier in the week about the food we were wanting to eat. Mine was pizza, and hers was a hamburger. I'm not sure if she got her fix, but I enjoyed every bite of my half of the pizza!

We decided to get out of the house later that afternoon and took a trip to CVS. #bigshoppershere We needed to exchange our gas tank for our outdoor fryer, and I wanted some flavors for my water. If you haven't tried these new flavors, you must!

Sunday morning we decided to go grocery shopping. Yes, you read that right, I said "we". And when you bring your better half with you grocery shopping, this is what ends up in your buggy. (For those of you who aren't sure what a buggy is, that's the southern term for "shopping cart".)

That evening we had Stephanie (Plain Chicken) and her husband, Tadd, over for a traditional southern meal. We had fried chicken, loaded mashed potatoes, baked green beans and Plain Chicken's recipe for southern cornbread. I didn't snap a photo of the meal, but you can see Stephanie's picture, . For dessert I made Brownie Balls.

After dinner the men carried on conversations about cars, Harley's and more while Stephanie and I talked more about our blogs and blogging. I don't know about y'all, but when you find someone who is just as passionate about blogging as you are... it just warms my heart!

And that, my friends, is how our long weekend panned out. We hope y'all had a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!!

the Friday five — link up #24

Who's ready for the weekend? And Father's Day weekend at that!!! We can't wait to celebrate the special men in our lives this weekend, and hope y'all get a chance to do the same, too.

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the Sowell life's Friday five...

1) {Day Lilies} Mom was sweet enough to transplant some of her day lilies from Mississippi to our yard here in Alabama. They started blooming this week, and they are all gorgeous. Beautiful colors, and huge blooms.

2) {Alabama Weather} The weather here has been beautiful. The perfect color blue skies with clouds that look like cotton. However, it's been hot has hades and that means we start "glistening" just getting out of the vehicle. Welcome to our Alabama summer. 

3) {I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight...} And that's exactly what we had. Fried chicken and fresh veggies. What could be better, right? Seriously, nothing makes a southern girl happier than a good dose of fried chicken.

4) {Reading} I've been catching up on my reading, and finally finished a book I started Mother's Day weekend, Sparkling Green Earrings. (Note, I finished it in three days, just didn't have three straight days to read it at the same time.) LOVED it, and I highly recommend any moms in waiting, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, cousins.... READ it. You'll love it!!

5) {Reality TV} It just might be our favorite TV shows of all time. We're excited that Big Brother is starting in a few weeks, and so happy to see some of our favorite summer reality shows back on. And yes, we're even watching The Bachelorette. The Mr might not admit to watching it with me, but he does. And just so everyone knows (if you watch the show) I'm hoping she picks Bryden. And seriously hoping she gives Ben the boot, soon. Cute couple, right?

Now, who's ready to link up?!! Thanks for stopping by, linking up, sharing the link up on your blog and on twitter! I appreciate y'all spreading the word more than you'll ever know!! Enjoy your weekend, y'all! And Happy Father's Day!

Our busy little weekend...

If you don't trust the present enough to make the best of it,

 you'll never be able to give up the past.  #lifelessons

{Friday} morning before heading to work, I put our dinner in the crock pot. What was on the menu? Potato Soup, of course! This is the second time I have made this recipe. Honestly, I think we could eat it once a week!! So once I got home from work, dinner was ready! 

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and catching up on the shows we had DVR'd. And, then an early bedtime. Did I mention how much I love early bedtimes?!

{Saturday} morning started early — I'm talking REAL early. I was up and at em before 8... we're talking showered and ready to go. The Mr and I went to look at two houses, one was a job he was about to start, and the other was one he just finished. He brought me along so we could get inspiration for our future home. And, boy did I get some inspiration: beautiful southern chandeliers, textured ceilings, huge double shower entry from her side, and his side, and more textured ceilings with wooden beams!

Next up was my massage appointment from my Vday gift from the Mr. And y'all... it was heaven. She worked out some of my knots, and our conversation was needed. It's always nice to have someone share some enlightening information with you about the new area you live in, and about her life experiences. I felt so much better when I left. And I'm excited to have my next appt already scheduled for March!

After my massage, it was time to get ready for my blate with other Bham bloggers! Y'all we had so much fun, and can't wait to meet up again next month!

Of course, after the blate, I met the Mr and officially said goodbye to my Honda Accord that I've had since 2006. I put all 118,000 miles on it since the day I got it, but I stopped driving it in Dec when we got the Acadia! Well, we traded it in for a new truck for the Mr.

Saturday night, we were exhausted and starving after a long, busy day. And since we hadn't been home  all day, nothing was prepared for dinner. So we went to Outback. The wait was forever, but luckily we found an empty table in the bar, and were served really quickly. In and out in an hour! We had aussie cheese fries, salads and were hungry, but decided to share our entree because we knew after the appetizer and the salads we would be stuffed.

{Sunday morning} we tried to sleep in, honestly we did try, but it just didn't happen. And the Mr was sweet enough to stop after dinner Saturday night to Krispy Kreme for some donuts!!! So our breakfast was ready when we got up... and it was delicious!

Originally we planned to have a calm and relaxing day, but that plan was quickly thrown out the window when we realized we had quite a lot on our to do list that we really needed to finish up. So the Mr went off to get some of those things checked off our list, while I did laundry. It wasn't long before he returned home with lunch, and we were both out the door again.

We finally finished up just about all of our to do list, and it was time to head home to wind down the weekend. The Oscar's red carpet on E! was on, and seeing Jessica Chastain looking so beautiful for the evening. I decided to make dinner in honor of her role in The Help... #soulfood However, we left Minnie's chocolate pie off the menu. Ha!

My plate on the left, and his plate on the right. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and corn.

And for the Oscars this year, I decided I would wear matching pajamas — by Hue. #yourwelcome

We ended the evening sitting flipping between the Oscars and a movie. Oh and just because I know y'all want to know who my best dressed and worse dressed were...

Best Dressed on the left — Worst Dressed on the right

So that was our weekend in a nutshell. Did y'all have a great weekend? I'm ready to do it all over again!! But we've got to get through a work week, first! No worries though, we can do it!

 

Happy Birthday Papaw!!!

I mentioned in my last post that we were celebrating something this past weekend... and that celebration was Papaw's 83rd birthday!!

We all met up at The Kozy Kitchen to have lunch with the birthday boy.

Ms. Gloria makes some pretty fantastic fried chicken. And her carmel cake wasn't too bad either.

 
Before we all headed back to Papaw's house for him to open presents... we had to have a group pic!

And a daughter-in-law (my mom), father (papaw) and son (my dad) pic!

And then... it was time for presents!

Papaw, we had a wonderful time celebrating with you the day before your birthday, and hope this has been your best birthday yet!!. Can't wait to see you again next month!!