Wednesday, January 31, 2018

What's Up Wednesday (January 2018)






Yeah for the first "What's Up Wednesday" of 2018!  These are my favorite linkups because I love to see what everyone is up to AND I love looking back at these posts too!  Linking up with Mel, Shay and Sheaffer HERE


Here goes nothing!


What We're Eating This Week


Monday-  Lemon Piccata Chicken Tenders with Roasted Broccoli (Recipe HERE )


Tuesday- Rob's Whole 30 Meat Sauce with Pasta for Kiddos and a Sweet Potato for Mama and Daddy.  (Recipe HERE )


Wednesday- Italian Chicken with Mushrooms and Spinach with Cauliflower Rice and Brown Rice for the Kiddos


Thursday- Greek Marinated Steak Tips with Greek Salad and Roasted Asparagus



Friday- Friday Night Pizza Night for the Fam and Mama is making dinner for Kathy (haven't decided on the recipe yet!)


What I'm Reminiscing About


Summer....our trips to our friends' lake houses...camps...the beach.  We have to sign the kiddos up for camps early here so I just put our deposit down for Diana's Triple Threat Camp and it got me to thinking and reminiscing about how much I LOVE summer!






What I'm Loving

My Lilly APS Purchases.  I plan on doing a separate post on these once everything arrives- I am still waiting on the very first item I had ordered.  Once that is in and I get myself motivated, I will try on my outfits and do a post!
 My favorite item to come in so far is the Zia Skirt in Royal Lime, Tiki Pink 



What We've Been Up To


We enjoyed all of the Christmas Festivities with Family and Friends






 
Diana left cheer to give it a go at gymnastics and she was placed on the Silver Team at Palaestra Gymnastics Academy and she is LOVING IT!


We rung in the new year at the Batsons with some of their neighbors and pals





























We completed another successful Wolverines Awards Day!


We celebrated Ally's 25th Birthday!


Diana has been really enjoying basketball


Mama and Daddy enjoyed a Beatles Cover Band


and we celebrated Sam's Birthday!


Eva has been picking up the hockey stick more and more and can't wait to start a hockey program this spring!

and Diana has been loving holidays and snow days...hanging out with pals...Mama wonders if the kiddos ever go to school?  ;)



We loved watching Diana in the Winter Concert at School

Mama enjoyed the annual Team Will Kick Off

and a weekend away to Ogunquit with Mimi!


and of course the NH Winter Wine Festival!

Eva has been loving "Nastics!"


and we have been enjoying family dinners with great friends



and Diana and Kayla enjoyed their annual tradition at Disney On Ice!


What I'm Dreading

Daddy traveling next week- it is my least favorite week of the year- lonely, stressful and trying to do it all on your own is no fun- will be mommy'ing and working hard from home AND counting down the minutes until he returns!


What I'm Working On

My New Year's Resolutions- Head Down- Plugging Away- Moving Forward!


What I'm Excited About


The Olympics Starting Next Week- Yahoo!  Can't wait for the opening ceremonies and then following all of the ice skating...I may just let my littles stay up late to enjoy some of it too- we always make it a family affair :)  So proud of our country!
What I'm Watching/Reading



This Is Us



American Housewife




Teachers



Grey's Anatomy



Scandal


and Rob and I have really enjoyed the first two Tom Vs. Time Videos on Facebook.  He is a specimen and a focused one at that.  The videos really give you a behind-the-scenes look at how Tom keeps himself disciplined and focused-very inspiring



I am losing interest in Jane The Virgin and Riverdale- they are just not holding me


and I am eagerly awaiting the return of Billions next month and then The Affair and Odd Mom Out this Summer!

A few recent movies I loved watching again for the thousandth time include....
Back To The Future (in my top three of all time!)

and....because I am a sucker for wedding movies....

The Wedding Date



and I have been devouring as many Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan documentaries as humanly possible too!


and as for reading, I have been on a roll....LOVING reading this time of year....I read FOUR count 'em FOUR books in January and loved them all for different reasons...here they are....



The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand

Such a heart-wrenching story about soul mates and a talent for truly matchmaking while keeping everyone on Nantucket happy, informed and entertained





A Stranger In The House by Shari Lapena
Just as good as her breakout hit, The Couple Next Door, this one kept me on my toes and kept shivers on my arms- so scary and so suspenseful- loved every minute







The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pakannen
Oh wow...this was an incredible tale with twists and turns and lots of suspense...another thriller that kept me turning the pages (well on my Kindle)....reminds you that you may not know who some people really are....freaky!





Night Road by Kristin Hannah

This was our first Book Club Book and it did not disappoint.  I love stories about families...especially moms and how they raise their children in suburbia...pick up tips where I can and love delving into different characters and why they behave the way they do...this book was heart-breaking...vivid....and so real...Kristin Hannah did it again!  What a writer...enjoy her stories and all of the details in her wording...her words make her stories so beautiful




What I'm Listening To....


So I just put a playlist together for our girls trip to Fort Lauderdale...I hope to be able to add some more tunes to it but I think we are off to a great start for our hotel room dance parties...my favorite part of any girls' trip!  Here are some of the tunes that have made the cut so far....



Goodbye Stranger (straight off the I, Tonya Movie Soundtrack)- Supertramp



How Long - Charlie Puth




Cake By The Ocean- DNCE




What Lovers Do- Maroon 5



Breathless- The Corrs (going old school with some of these choices obviously)



Barbie Girl- Radio



You Make My Dreams Come True- Hall and Oates


Don't Stop Believin' - Journey



Attention- Charlie Puth


Follow you Down- Gin Blossoms



Believer- Imagine Dragons



and Pour Some Sugar On Me of course!

What I'm Wearing


Black Jersey Dress (old from Macy's), Royal Blue and Leopard Suede Pumps (old from Amazon), Kendra Scott Pendant (old from KS)

Ruffle Sweatshirt (Macy's,  Find it HERE ),  Leggings (Old from Marshall's), Toms Sneakers (Old from Ebay)

Gray Cold Shoulder Sparkly Sweater (Nordstroms, find it HERE ), Bootleg Jeans (Old INC at Macy's) 


Gray Heather Sweater (INC at Macy's Find it HERE



What I'm Doing This Weekend


Mama is making dinner for Kathy on Friday night and then the whole fam (and Kathy) are heading to the Partingtons for First Friday.  On Saturday, Mama is headed to the beach with some besties for some QT and Sunday will be family time ALL day and night as we cheer on our New England Patriots in the Super Bowl! :)



What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month


Lots of snuggles during the cold winter month BUT hopefully the last of the winter months for this year in these parts!!  Also excited about helping a friend who is running for school board- not as fun as running Robby B's campaigns but almost ;)




What Else Is New

The Days Are Getting Longer- Can I get a What What??


Bonus Question Of The Month:
What Is My Favorite Soup?  

I would have to say Mel's Chicken Tortilla Soup.
Find the Recipe HERE

So warm and so yummy and you make it right in the crock pot!

Can't wait to read all about what you have been up to!


6 comments:

  1. I can't wait to watch Tom vs. Time and think that Hockey Guy will like it as well. Go Pats!!!!!

    Patty
    GoodBetterBestFood.blogspot.com

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  2. Good luck next week with your hubby gone!! I feel your pain. Here's to hoping Winter is winding down..it is sure going by slowly!

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  3. Adding some of those books to my list now! And WOW, your fam has had an AWESOME start to 2018! :)

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  4. Everyone seems to be watching This Is Us... I think this might be my next show to binge watch. And I love The Wedding Date! Happy Wednesday. :)

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  5. You sure have a lot going on! It's great that your kids do so many fun activities. I am looking forward to spring too and I have the same dread - my husband traveling. He says he's going away twice in the next two months - ugh!

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  6. That soup looks awesome! I really enjoyed The Matchmaker as well. I’ve been working my way through all of her books...only two left! I just added The Wife Between Us to my goodreads...it looks great!

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