What's Up Wednesday (October 2016)

It's that time again- the last Wednesday of the month- and time to participate in one of my favorite monthly linkups!

This linkup is hosted by Mel, Shay and Sheaffer and you can find them HERE

It is the post where we answer all of the questions above so here it goes!

What We're Eating This Week

This week we are keeping it VERY simple- no complicated recipes 

Monday- Roasted Chicken and Green Beans

Tuesday- Baked Chicken Tacos

Wednesday- Paleo BLT Pasta

Thursday- Annual Risotto Night with my BFF*

Friday- Lea's Halloween Party for us and Mac and Cheese for the Kiddos

* One of my favorite traditions is having Cass over for our "Annual Risotto Night." It has been more and more challenging to schedule this night due to our crazy Fall schedule.  We lucked out and found a Thursday night (this Thursday night) that we can make it happen.

I LOVE risotto.  It must be the Northern Italian in me.  It is one of my favorite dishes and I love trying different recipes and different versions of this dish.

My favorite, though, is a recipe I found years ago.

It is Autumn Chicken and Squash Risotto.  I only make it once a year now and it is for Cass.  Rob loves the leftovers but I never end up making it more than once.

Check out the recipe HERE 

What I'm Reminiscing About
My Babies- Always- hope I never forget how they looked or smelled or made me feel

What I'm Loving


The PSL at Starbucks
*with Almond Milk

 

 Soup Soup Soup
Love to be warmed up on a chilly night
A recent fave we have been making is Shay's
Margarita Chicken Soup
Find the Recipe HERE 

Purple Halloween Lights
Love the spooky glow!

  
and the trend of 
Pretty skeleton makeup and costumes

  


What We've Been Up To

We did our fall decorating

  
We celebrated Daddy's 50th with a Surprise Party at Blackwater Grill!

  
We participated in the 6th Annual Wolverines Jaguars Day

  
Mama has been helping to plan the 4th Annual Turf Fundraiser/Halloween Masquerade Bash

  
We went apple picking with our besties

  
Mama snuck in a round of golf and a fun lunch

We went to Pumpkin Lanterns in the Village with the Batsons

  
We hosted the D8 Taco Palooza

  
and then these nuggets placed 1st in our Season Premier Competition!

  
We cheered in the rain!

and enjoyed Screemfest at Canobie Lake Park with some pals

Believe it or not it reached 80 degrees again and Mama snuck off to the beach with Lea

  
and for the first time, we co-hosted our first competition- Derry Windham Cheer Xplosion and it was a smashing success!

  

What I'm Dreading

Winter.....sigh

What I'm Working On
Besides my full time job, I am working on cleaning up our cheer routine for the NH State Cheer Comp at SNHU this weekend and the meal planning thing oh and getting ready for a 10 day cleanse- Rob and I are doing it together and I am actually looking forward to it! 

  

What I'm Excited About
All of the fun fall festivities coming up over the next few weeks...Halloween parties, Halloween Bash and then all of the Thanksgiving festivities!
  

and this weekend's State Cheer Comp- have some friends coming to watch and support us and we are so excited!

What I'm Watching/Reading 
Oh we are in the midst of so many great shows!
Still waiting for a few more to start back up but loving so many shows right now!

The newest fave has to be "This Is Us"

   
and a close 2nd for newest fave is "American Housewife"- hysterical!

and 3rd fave new show is "Designated Survivor"

  
Loving that "Jane The Virgin" just returned!

and have been devouring "Younger" of course

When I have extra time, I binge watch Dance Moms right before I tune into the school board meetings ;)

  
and of course, as always, Grey's

  
and we are slowly binge watching Ally McBeal- just trying to get through the series- how could one series be SO ENTERTAINING and then be SOOOOO boring?  So so disappointing Ally (even with Jon Bon Jovi)

We are still awaiting the return of Life...In Pieces....Scandal...The Affair...and Teachers.  We have to wait until early 2017 on some of them.

I haven't gotten far in the book I started a month ago...The Choice.  I am slowly chipping away at it but know that I will finish it when cheer ends.
   Pretty good so far- you really can't go wrong with Nicholas Sparks!

What I'm Listening To
Lots of cheer music- particularly our routine music 
and oh I love the song by Charlie Pooth and Selena Gomez- We Don't Talk Anymore!  Don't you love it?

  


What I'm Wearing
My two pairs of jeans that I can't live without

I.N.C Curvy Fit Boot leg jeans
Find them HERE 

and the high-rise distressed skinny jeans from Old Navy 
Find similar HERE
  

and I have broken out the puffer vests
The salmon and white ones both from Lilly

and the red one from The Gap

and the Black J Crew Puffer Vest of course

and the army green fatigue vest from JC Penney

It's sold out but you can find a similar one HERE

and on the weekends you will find me in my Wolverines attire right now ;)

Oh yeah and I went with the....Russian Navy!  Love it!

 
What I'm Doing This Weekend

Celebrating Halloween!
We have Lea's party on Friday night- last year was so much fun but this year will be even better
    A shot from last year's party

Then, on Saturday, we have the Rekart's Oktoberfest Party- where Beth Ann and I bonded two years ago- we took this "anniversary pic" at last year's shindig.  The kiddos have just as much fun as the adults do at this one though :)

Sunday means our State Competition in the morning

 and then a CCD retreat and Nutcracker practice for Diana in the afternoon

The fun is non-stop!



What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month
Diana's 1st Holy Communion- it will be really special and I am sure very emotional

  

and then Thanksgiving Eve, The Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Morning and the Big Kahuna- Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday with the BFF and then Diana's Nutcracker performances on Thanksgiving Weekend.
So much fall fun ahead of us!!  

What Else Is New?
Eva's favorite word is CAUTION and we are all mimicking her and having so much fun with it....it is just precious!

Bonus Question For The Month:
What is my favorite Halloween memory/picture/tradition?

Well I have two
1. As a child, it was our annual tradition.  My mom would make a "light dinner" of cheese souffle and my brother and I would wolf it down as we inpatiently waited for my dad to get home from work so he could take us out trick-or-treating.  My mom would stay home and give out the candy and one year, she dressed up as a witch and scared off half of the kids- ha ha!!!

2. As an adult, it is getting together with our neighborhood for apps and drinks and then the Dads take the kiddos trick or treating and the moms stay back and chat over cocktails.  I am so happy that my kids get to grow up in a neighborhood like this :)