Happy Halloween!

So here's the deal, I'm kinda glad this day is OVER {work day at least}! We had a class full of anxious tricker-treaters today {well all week if I'm being honest ;)} We have been doing super fun Halloween activities each day... and then we had a big party this afternoon. So I am done, ha!
All of the teachers dress up at my little school. Originally, teachers were just going to put their costumes on during nap before the party {the kids could only wear costumes during the afternoon}, so that meant I wouldn't need a costume since I usually leave during nap... but yesterday {yes, the day before Halloween} they told us we could wear costumes all day. So that meant I had to come up with a costume, fast! I went to Michael's and left with this....

Well sorta... I left with the stuff I needed to make it at least! $6 and 30 minutes later, I had a ladybug costume. I think it turned out pretty cute. Plus I got to wear super comfy leggings all day, so I can't really complain ;) And all of the kids knew what I was supposed to be, so that's always a win! I ended up sticking around for the party after nap. I really wanted to see my cuties in their costumes. And they did not disappoint... adorable! And I know you're not supposed to have favorites, BUT... my favorites were Pete the Cat, a giraffe, Johnny Cash, and Dorothy! ;) Eek! It was a fun and CRAZY day and afternoon. And now all I can say is thank goodness tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Three Years

Three years ago today, this happened...

It was the day I finally got to marry my best friend! And three years later, I'm still wondering how I got so unbelievably blessed. Z is definitely my better half, and I'm so thankful I get to spend every day with him. You'll always be my favorite, babe. Happy anniversary, I love you so much!

We Went Apple Picking Y'all!

We had such a perfect fall weekend! Here's a quick recap...
Friday night we went to dinner with friends... thanks to a gift card from a sweet student, dinner was taken care of! Yummy dinner for free, yes please!
Saturday we woke up and headed to Dunkin' Donuts... they have pumpkin munchkins {doughnut holes} right now, and they are delicious!! Perfect start to a Saturday! We also went to the new Target that they finally finished... remember here when I found out they were building it?! Still super pumped to have a Target close by {although not nearly as close as it would have been before we moved!!} So after Target, we picked up chic-fil-a, because sometimes you just need chicken nuggets! ;) Later that afternoon, we made our way to Joe and Lolly's to watch some football. Lolly made buffalo chicken dip {yum!} and I made taco soup {mmm!} and Alabama won! It was a perfect Saturday ;)
Sunday, we got ready and headed to church. We usually walk since we don't live too far... we were walking along and realized the Chicago marathon was going on and the route included our route to church... and then we realized we couldn't cross the street so we couldn't even get to church! ha! Oh well... we did get to watch the marathon for a while! Speaking of the marathon, the guy that won ran all 26.2 miles in 2 hours and 3 minutes! CRAZY!

So what to do on a lovely Sunday when you can't get to your church because of the marathon madness?! Head out of town to pick some apples, of course! ;) And that is exactly what we did!! We changed clothes, headed the opposite direction of the marathon route and drove to an apple orchard!

The drive was supposed to take about an hour... and it did... until we got 2 miles from our destination... and then we saw this...

It's kind of hard to tell, but this is stopped traffic for 2 miles leading to the orchard. Apparently we weren't the only ones wanting to pick some apples!! It took us 30+ minutes to go those 2 miles :/
Here's what Z thought about that...

I was starting to think we should just go by Stanley's fruit market and get some apples... but then we finally arrived.. and it did not disappoint!! {although next year we might try to find one a little less commercialized and crowded, ha!}

We picked a full bag of apples... gala and golden delicious... and got some apple cider and apple cider doughnuts {oh my goodness! yummiest doughnuts EVER!}

It was a perfect fall day! And definitely my new favorite fall tradition! So now I have a lot of apples and can't wait to make an apple pie... mmm! Also on the menu this week...
Monday- I have small group, so we will eat a quick bowl of soup or cereal
Tuesday- I have a professional development seminar, again something quick... sorry Z!
Wednesday- chicken casserole
Thursday- spicy shrimp pasta
Friday- chili!
Hope you have a fabulous week friends!

From the Mouths of Babes...

So I think every preschool or elementary teacher could probably write a book about the hilariousness that happens during their day... I find 3 and 4 year olds to be especially funny and adorable ;) Here are a few things that happened lately that I just couldn't wait to come home and tell Z...
-I stay at the back of the line during our morning walks... I get to hear all kinds of funny things back there! The other day, a little girl told me ALL about her "Dora themed" birthday party for both "big girls and babies". I especially loved when she filled me in on the fact that it was a "sleep under" ;) SO cute!
-Another day a little friend asked if I wanted to go to his house. "We can have macaroni and cheese. And play with ALL of my toys." Sounds like fun ;) When his little friend beside him asked if I wanted to go to her house, the first friend quickly informed her that she could ask another teacher, I was already taken ;)
-One of our cuties was "sleeping" in the dramatic play area during rest time. She had an accident, and when she let one of the other teachers know, they asked her why she didn't ask to go potty sooner... she informed her that "she was cooking in the kitchen" ha! Never mind that she was supposed to be sleeping...
-One of the teachers asked a little boy what his dad's name was. He told her it was "daddy" {like obviously ;)}. So she asked him what his "grown up" name was... "like what does your mommy call him?" He replied, "you mean like babe?!" ;)
-A cute little friend during circle time informed the other teachers that he wasn't interested in having a job {classroom job} that day... he just wished that he was in Mexico ;) The next day he told me he was going to Mexico for the weekend, ha! {we aren't sure where his obsession with Mexico came from?! So funny!}
-One of our little guys knows every car that we pass when we're out on our walks... he constantly yells out "honda" or "bmw" or "toyota taxi!" ;) cracks me up every.time. My favorite was when he saw a "range rover" said it in his fabulous British accent... so stinkin cute.
-We have a little friend that knows EVERY word to the cups song from Pitch Perfect. Even the line about the "bottles of whiskey for the way" ;) Ha! He also knows the motions to do with the cup... pretty amazing actually.
-The other day when I got to school, a little friend ran up to me and started running circles around me... "Miss Brook, I had TWO energy bars for breakfast!!" Ha! No wonder he was running in circles ;)
So... I'm so glad I started this post yesterday... today was maybe the hardest day I've had at my new little school. One of those days that just won't end and you have to laugh so you won't cry. Glad that those days are a rarity and even when they do happen, they're so worth it. Going to work and hanging out with three years olds that  say the funniest.things.ever is really the best job there is ;) And it turns out that coming home and reading back over this post was just what I needed!
Hope you got a little laugh for your Tuesday!

Our Weekend and Menu Planning Monday

Well somehow the weekend is already over... it went by way too fast ;) We had a really good weekend... the kind that you wish would never end.
Friday night, we decided to have a date night at home... we made a homemade pizza, yummy drinks, and pumpkin muffins. It was perfect ;)

 Saturday, we watched college gameday together... and then headed out for a walk. It was pretty warm out, so we ended up grabbing {iced} coffees and walking to a few other stores that we needed to stop at. Also, Z got a birthday gift from his parents...

 Which was perfect attire for the bama game Saturday night! We watched the game with at Joe and Lolly's and ate some yummy burgers and cheese dip... such a fun night.
Sunday... was perfect. We actually overslept so we missed church :/ but it was so nice to just hang out in our pajamas until noon, ha! Then we headed down to Michigan Avenue and walked around for a few hours. The weather was much cooler, so it was a perfect day for a long walk. Z had some work to do later that afternoon, so we headed over to the Starbucks by our house and sat outside. He worked, and I browsed pinterest for the perfect halloween costume ;) We finished our perfect afternoon with some Chinese takeout. Such a great weekend.
And now it's Monday...
Speaking of Monday, I'm bringing back menu planning Monday... More for my sake than anything else. I love having a menu planned for our week. This week, I took a little help from Pinterest. Almost all of the meals featured came from my pinterest board... So here we go...
*Monday- my small group is going out for dinner!! Yay for a girls' night out! Z will have to have Chick Fil A or cereal ;)
*Tuesday- chicken fajitas... SO yummy! I found this on Pinterest, tried it, loved it, and quickly put it in the rotation. Quick, easy, and delicious!
*Wednesday- skinny chicken florentine...I haven't tried this yet. But it looks so yummy. We love pasta... I'll let you know ;)
*Thursday- shrimp quesadillas... a favorite at our house! Or I might try to make spinach, feta, and onion quesadillas that I had planned for our weekend.. Chinese takeout trumped cooking ;)
*Friday- I'm heading home to Alabama! Z will be on his own this weekend... I might try to make these things for him to snack on...
Peanut chocolate cookies
Mom's homemade chili
French toast breakfast muffins
Although, I think he might prefer to just hit up Chic Fil A and Papa Johns ;)
I'm counting down the days until I head home to see my family and a few of my besties!!
Hope you have a fabulous week..

Happy Friday!!

Yippee for the weekend! I love Fridays... and weekends ;) So here's the thing... I don't really cook much during the weekend. But now that football season is back, I do love to have yummy snacks around... so I like to whip up quick things that we can munch on. I thought today I would highlight a few recipes that I want to make for weekend treats!
But first, I wanted to say a special "good luck" to my dad's football team tonight! It's their homecoming... so go Tigers!! Love you dad!
Now... here are a few things that I'm planning to make...click each item to go to the recipe...{All of these are from my pinterest board}
-For breakfasts- pumpkin bread... my FAVORITE fall treat!!
-For the game- taco pizza, white cheese dip, buffalo chicken croissants, sweet and salty pretzel bites {I sub dark chocolate kisses for the hershey's hugs... so yummy!}, and apple pie snickerdoodle bars  all sound SO yummy! I'll have to decide on just a few things though ;)
-For Sunday night- {I love to make a quick, yummy dinner on Sunday evening. Z and I often watch a movie or just hang out before our busy week!} feta, onion, and spinach quesadillas {for me at least ;) Z will prefer a chicken quesadilla}
Check back monday for a new menu planning Monday... yep, I'm bringing it back, ha!
Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Random...

Hi friends! So happy it's Thursday... and tomorrow is Friday! Lately I feel like I'm always just looking forward to the weekend... I am trying to be more thankful for every day and not just wish each day away! But anyways... here are a few random thoughts...
-I think I might try to get back on a blogging schedule of sorts... Last year, when I wasn't working, I would post a menu on Mondays, what I'm loving Fridays, and other weekly posts along the way. I also love other blogs in blogland that do a "what I'm wearing Wednesday" post {although my outfits for work are nothing fancy... they usually are covered in paint, glitter, and oobleck by the end of the day! ;)} {oobleck is basically green goo in case you didn't know, ha!}. But regardless, I love when other people post about outfits that they wore all week... We'll see.
-We have had the most fabulous weather all week. I seriously love this time of year. I've tried to take full advantage by going for runs or walking home from work in the afternoons. I know it will be miserably cold in just a few months... gotta soak it up while I still can!!
-My little friends at school are such a riot. I come home every afternoon telling Z the funniest things. One day I'll have to blog about some of the hilariousness. I just love that this is my job. Laughing at the cuteness and watching them discover the world around them. It's the best ;) {Even if I am covered in paint, glitter, and oobleck! ;)}
-So I decided to try making kale chips yesterday... Here's the thing. I know they're a super healthy snack, and I thought they tasted pretty good. But the smell. Oh my. I can hardly get past the smell :/ I just threw a whole bag away because when I walked in from work, my apartment STILL smells like kale {24 hours later}. Ick. I don't think I'll be making any more kale chips!
-To cover up the kale smell, I'm burning yummy candles. I really want to get a pumpkin spice candle... I know that Bath and Body Works has some that smell so good... I think I'm going to have to make a trip!
-Speaking of pumpkin... I really want to make some pumpkin bread. Yummy!
-I'm flying home a week from tomorrow!!! So excited. I'm meeting a few of my besties in Tuscaloosa for the Alabama game and a quick trip to my parent's house & the beach!! Can.not.wait!
Well I guess that's all I have for today. I'm going outside to take advantage of this beautiful afternoon! {Or maybe in my kitchen to make pumpkin bread?! We'll see...}
Hope you all have a fabulous Friday!!