Friday Favorites- May 28, 2021

Today I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites! I can't believe it's already the last Friday of May, but I'm certainly not mad about it! Next week is my last week of school, and I am so ready!

I have a random assortment of favorites for today. 

First is this dress from Amazon!  I originally searched for this after seeing it on Cassie's blog, and I liked it in the monochromatic color scheme she showed it in.  HOWEVER, after looking at the dress online for myself, I saw this navy & orange color combo and just had to have it for my Auburn Tiger loving self!  I ordered in the medium size for better fit in the shoulders since reviews said it ran a bit small there.  Overall, I'm glad I went with the medium fit because it is very flowy and it's just a tad away from being too tight across the shoulders.  The length was great out of the packaging, and I even took special care to let it hang dry and not put it in my dryer.  However, it still seemed to shrink a bit and I was a tad uncomfortable at school today with the length.  

Snuggles with this girl are a favorite for sure!

Most mornings, she'll wake herself up and come into our room bundled up in her blanket and holding her baby doll, which she did declare to one of her brothers today that it's "not a doll.  It's a baby."

I love this little festive dress for summer!

The back of it is my favorite part!

Gigi bought each kid new clothes at Wal-Mart this past week.  Michael got some new PJs and he loves them!

Noah got a NASA outfit and this is such a sweet homage to my aunt who worked for NASA. 

Avery received lots of bright colored clothing to include this butterfly shirt and unicorn shorts!

Last week, we had our roof replaced and good gracious alive... the mess was certainly NOT a favorite, but the new roof within 2 days (really, a  day and a half!) is fantastic!  Today we're actually getting our first bout of rain in over 2 weeks, so I'm pumped that I don't have to worry about water leaks!

While we waited for the roofers to be done on the first night, we took the kids into town to waste time.  Wasting time is actually just code for spending time together doing fun stuff.  We took them to dinner, then to wander around Bass Pro Shops.  

Avery was pleased to play with Color Wonder markers and princess paper and I love Color Wonder markers too! 

I ordered this flag t-shirt on Amazon with part of my birthday money and it's so soft.  I love it!  It's an extra thick t-shirt material which is kind of nice.  I ordered a medium for better fit. 

I checked out one of my favorite library books.  I'll probably end up buying it for myself.  It's just a nice easy read without a lot of conflict, but still enough of a story line. 

Having my boys get along (in a vehicle no less) is a blessing. 

The boys finished up their school year this week with awards ceremonies.  We are so proud of them!

All of my kiddos are on summer break now and I'm ready for my turn too!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Photos by Avery

One of Avery's favorite things to do is to take pictures with my phone.  Here's a collection of her latest photographic accomplishments. 

Obviously her favorite muse is our dog. :)

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

New Insulin Pump Case

Michael has used the Omnipod insulin pump for 6 years now. We've had to replace the personal diabetes manager (pdm) (the hand held part that we enter his carb grams into for it to calculate his dosages of insulin) twice over these 6 years which isn't bad. However, we've used the original case this whole time. We began using the Omnipod when he was nearly 3, then he's used it continuously since then to include all of his years of school so far. Needless to say, this case had been through the ringer. 

Over the last couple months, the zipper stopped functioning which was annoying. The case holds the current vial of insulin, so it's not really okay to go without a zippered pouch since the insulin could fall out of its little elastic band holder at any time. Within the past two years I've researched replacement cases but haven't been satisfied with prices or styles until recently. I'd heard of the brand "Sugar Medical" before but didn't know they sold items on Amazon. When I found a "blood sugar meter" zippered bag, I knew we could make it work for Michael's insulin pump supplies. 

I chose a masculine bag design and it arrived super quickly and in great quality.  Although it's still a fabric bag, it has a bit of sheen on it which adds to the durability of the fabric. I think this will last us a long time. It doesn't have a flexible plastic sleeve to hold the pdm in like the original bag did, but it came with a 3M velcro strip so we attached that to the battery cover on the back of the pdm and it stays in place nicely. Originally we inserted the insulin vial into one of the elastic bands below the pdm, but I've since changed it and I now put the insulin vial in the elastic band in the center of the bag. It's more secure here and I feel better about that. I'm really happy with our purchase!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

This is the made-up recipe we use for chicken pot pie.  I hesitate to even call it a recipe per se because it's so simple.  The only reason I even had to come up with this approach was because I've tried and failed several times in making a real chicken pot pie from scratch, so this is how I have to get my fill instead. 

What You'll Need:

-a frozen deep dish pie shell that you've thawed

-a refrigerated pie crust that you can unfold or unroll (I let this sit on the counter for 20-40 minutes to soften up so it doesn't break upon opening)

-cream of chicken soup (1 regular size can ~ 14.5 ounces)

-can of Veg-All (bigger can ~29 ounces)

-3-4 chicken breasts (boiled and cut up or shredded, or you can use a rotisserie chicken that you've pulled the meat from)

-sprinkling of dried parsley

Directions:

1. Assemble chicken (either boil, cool, and shred or cut it into bite sized pieces, or gather the meat pulled from a rotisserie chicken)

2. Preheat oven to 350* F

3. Place thawed out frozen pie shell on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.  (The frozen pie shells that I buy come in a foil pie plate.  If yours does not, then you'll need to insert your pie crust into a pie plate before placing on cookie sheet). 

4. Stir together the chicken, Veg-All, and cream of chicken soup in a large bowl. 

5. Pour chicken mixture into the thawed pie shell. 

6. Unroll or unfold the refrigerated pie crust over the top of the pot pie.  Pinch sides to seal crusts together. 

7. Cut a few steam holes in the top of the crust.

8. Swipe a slightly wet (and clean!) hand over the top of the top crust. Sprinkle dried parsley over the crust.  

9. Bake at 350* for 40-50 minutes (watching it within the last 5-10 minutes to make sure it doesn't burn.  This is dependent upon how thawed your crusts were when you began.  Add a few extra minutes if crusts are still pale). 

10.  Broil on high for 2-3 minutes (set a timer and watch the pie closely!).  This will help create a golden brown crust. 

See? Super simple.  Super delicious.  And it's certainly not anything I can create a claim to fame on.  It's just a recipe for busy moms.  Usually I'll cook my chicken on the evening before I plan to make the pot pie.  That way, on the day when I'm going to cook this for dinner, I can just assemble everything quickly and get it in the oven.  

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Sayings of my Children

Here's another collection of funny things my kiddos have said over the past few months. These posts are always so fun to look back on later, and they create lots of laughter in my children when they read about the silly things they've said over the years!

(While I'm putting in the movie Inside Out)
Avery: Are we watching Sin Died Out?

(While watching Boss Baby. In the movie, the boss baby says "Try to say 'chiweenie' without smiling.)
Noah: I can do that. Chi-woo-noo

Noah: Do you know how tanks say thanks a lot?
Me: "Tanks" a lot?
Noah: Yeah! How did you know?!
(5 minutes later...)
Noah: I'm still surprised you knew the answer to my joke, Mom.

Avery: I'm not putting my hands in my mouth so I don't need hanitizer (hand sanitizer)

When Avery is browsing on my phone with me and wants me to go back to look at something...
Avery: Look up! Look up high!

(While reading through her Wizard of Oz book)
Avery: Mom? Do we have brains?

(After bedtime one night)
Me: It's time for you to go to bed
Avery: Why? Are you tired and sick?

Avery: (in the bath, picks up a cup full of soapy water, makes a slurping sound) I drink this just attend (pretend)

Michael: I love the snow! The snow tastes wonderful!
Noah: I hope it doesn't taste like broccoli!

Avery: (while watching Supercross) I would do that! I would win!
Me: You would race those?
Avery: Yeah! On my mini bike! Would you come watch me?
Me: Yes! I would watch you race
Avery: Can you bring the camp chairs?

Noah: These crackers were baked so far away. It says "made in the USA."

Avery: I made you a list. It says "no corn a virus."
Me: Coronavirus?!
Avery: Don't get in it. It's dangerous. With lions and tigers.



(At 6:30 on a Saturday morning)
Avery: I just thought I'd come out here. But I did. But I didn't call you. I called me.

Michael: Ok. We're not playing games, people! We're decorating for Easter! (Three claps). Time to take a break!

(While watching Booba with Avery)
Me: Ahh! A show about Halloween!
Avery: That's okay! We like Halloween! It's not that pooky

(On our way to the beach)
Me: Michael, could you do a cursory check for baby p-a-t p-a-t?
Michael: (loudly) Avery, do you have Pat Pat? 

Avery: Smell my feet
Me: No thanks. I don't want to die.
Avery: (sighs) I won't die you.

Avery: How do you spell wheelbarrow?
Me: W-h-e-e-l-b-a-r-r-o-w
Avery: That's "blueberries!"  Here's how you spell. E-r-s-t-o-s. That's how you spell.

Me: Michael, stop being a know-it-all
Noah: Don't call me a doll.
(I had to stop and think, and eventually realized he thought I told Michael "don't be a Noah doll.")

Hope you've enjoyed this latest assortment!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba