The Queen’s Chronicles
I’ve been slacking a little with both taking pictures and keeping up with this little diary of our happenings! We have been busy celebrating birthdays and watching football and have made a good dent in our volunteer hours. Riley made it home his past Wednesday and I’m super excited to celebrate his birthday on Tuesday. We will round out the birthday marathon by celebrating my birthday Wednesday and Keith’s birthday on Thursday! Really hoping Keith and I find a way to fit in a little date night!
Here is a look at our past few weeks in pictures!
I asked this little girl to watch my camera while I changed outfits and she had her own little photoshoot! Finding this sweet little smile on my camera made my day!
Not the greatest picture but we did manage to snap a shot as we met up with big sis to celebrate her 26th birthday! Italian is always a win for this group!
The crosstown showdown against our rival high school and these little sisters were all so excited to see one another even if their brothers were not on the same team!
The Cougars won the battle this year and Dillon was all smiles and willing to take some pictures with one of his biggest fans!
We had a good laugh that the boys numbers added together = 100! The rivalry of course ends on the field.
It really is true these two are more like brothers than just friends. Even while they want to see their own team win, they also want to see the other succeed.
Texas A&M holds an annual event every year to raise funds for the State Employee Charitable Campaign. The division I work for has held a bowling tournament each of the past 10 years to raise funds and it’s a really fun day to gather and give back. We didn’t win any prizes but we sure did have fun!
Tortellini Taco Soup…..another win from the Mix and Match Mama!
Holly and I ran into Old Smokey while we were tailgating. Truth be told, we grabbed our girls to head over and take a picture only to turn around and realize they had left us! We decided we would have our own picture taken!
Dillon has a soft spot for this little one. Who am I kidding….we ALL do!
A little pre-game fun as Holly was showing me the shortcut past the long ticket lines. 🙂
We were all smiles to start the game! We had zero clue we were going to end up sitting there for 5 hours!! Thankfully the Ags did finally pull out the win!
We have been attempting to try out a new place for lunch on Sundays and even though this restaurant was not new to town, there is a new location near us and we headed on over to enjoy some yummy food. Blue Baker is one of my faves and I grabbed a side Greek salad thinking surely someone would have an extra slice of pizza to share with mom! Boy was I wrong!
It must have been the great weather because this one was in rare form. He would not cooperate for a “serious” picture.
She pulled this together all on her own! Guess she’s not afraid of mixing black and brown OR wearing white after labor day! Love her!
Dillon and I are members of the Young Men’s Service League which is a national organization which encourages moms and sons to volunteer together in the community. We headed out to pick up tailgating trash left behind for a few hours Sunday afternoon.
Of course we really felt like that earned us a stop at Bahama Bucks! We were even nice and took home treats for Carly and Keith.
The kids were out of school both Monday and Tuesday so I took the days off work as well. I made a huge list and hit the gym first thing at 5:30am to make sure I was up and moving. So many things checked off my list including new tires on my car, haircuts for the kids, all of our donation items dropped off at Goodwill and I finished the shelves we have been working on in Dillon’s room.
This one with his new preppy haircut. He was super excited to take a picture for me. The apple does not fall far from the tree with this one for sure!
Little miss also got a trim and was of course much more agreeable!
She has been dying to head to U Paint It to paint a dog bowl for her sister’s dog, Pesto. I failed to mention that Pesto ALSO will be celebrating her 1st birthday the same day as Keith’s birthday. 🙂
Painting is relaxing for some but not for me! It stresses me the heck out trying to decide on a design and I’m not patient at all. I opted instead for sitting out and enjoying the beautiful weather while reading.
We headed to my hometown on Monday night and I dropped off a care package for my niece and nephew. I love, love getting some fun treats for them here and there.
Tuesday morning I headed to pick up my Mamaw. She has an autoimmune disease, myasthenia gravis, and has to see a neurologist once a year. We were way over due so I took this opportunity spend the day with her. We headed to la Madeline for lunch and after seeing Emily’s tomato soup recipe that morning I knew this was my choice!
Then we headed in to Ulta to grab her some makeup. Y’all, my Mamaw is a hot mess. She is very opinionated and can be quite the bossy butt. Looking nice is still important to her and she is just shy of 90 years old! I am always cracking up because she is constantly pointing out people who look “tacky”. She’s definitely having more trouble walking longer distances and getting herself up from sitting and I just crack up as she will pause, close her eyes and say to herself “come on Dorothy”. It’s just the cutest thing.
While we were busy with Mamaw, Dillon logged some more volunteer hours at the food bank with these boys!
Carly and I decided after the long day that we really needed to hit DQ before heading back to College Station. Riley also headed home from Orlando so we were super excited knowing he would be arriving in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
Let me just say, Carly Jo has the best attitude when it comes to being the baby sister with two brothers who can sometimes be buttheads. One more than the other! We can always tell Riley’s home for sure. She had this test hanging on the fridge for weeks so proud of herself. When I saw what he wrote I was so made at him!! Then I realize she took it all in stride and totally responded to him with a positive attitude. Love her to pieces! Hope she never loses her confidence in herself.
What? Three times volunteering in a week? Whew…that doesn’t happen often but we are really motivated to finish our 20 hours over the fall. We worked a few hours with this fun group for special olympics. We were at a somewhat remote location and I was a little sad we didn’t have more interaction with some of the participants but it was a good day.
Saturday night Holly’s girls came to stay with us while they had some time with Colby. This girl helped me mix up some brownies!
And they all finally settled down after 9!
Sunday morning I was up at the crack of dawn to take a few senior shots of a friend’s son. I love when boys are willing to be cooperative because they know how happy it’s going to make their mom and this one is a keeper. He never complained one time
I did manage to pull together some pictures for a post later this week and this girl finally agreed to come join me for a shot. She was a little sassier than usual this afternoon. 🙂
The rest of my Sunday was kind of blah. I had a host of things I really needed to do and zero want to. The grocery store was non-negotiable as in order to keep my one trip a week rule I had to go pick up a few things.
Keith requested smothered steak for dinner so I cooked up deer steak all day in the crockpot and it was melt in your mouth delicious! This could be made also with round steak and it is so darn easy. I simple brown the meat a little and then add to the crockpot and cover with a can of cream of mushroom soup and about 1/2 to 1 can of beef broth and let it cook all day long. I also added a few shakes of worchestire and our fave fajita seasoning. We serve over egg noodles but it would be yummy over rice too. Bonus there is plenty for Keith to have for his lunch the next few days.
I grabbed a butternut squash and brussel sprout salad and sauteed in a little olive oil. I divided along with some chicken sausage to meal prep my lunches this week. My weight has always gone up and down but typically only within a 10 pound range. Well, friends, I have exceeded the upper end and have got to stop the madness before I’m down to zero clothes to wear!! I finally have been back at the gym consistently but it’s really time to stop allowing myself that extra glass of wine and all the sugar! It’s tough but I know if I focus I can be back into all my pants soon!
What else did I do? Well, only about 6 loads of laundry but I’m happy to say it is ALL folded and ALL put away! #goals I also made it through season 6 of Gilmore Girls and started season 7. Oh my gosh…I am so close!! I have to say I did cry at the end of season 6.
Wishing you all the best week ahead! I really do have tons to do but am kind of thinking of taking it easy even if it means paying for it later. We will see how long I can stand it!
Click the image for all my faves!
Let’s Get Social
What a week! I always feel so boring after reading your posts :P. That soup just convinced me I HAVE to get that cookbook too. I mean Mexican and pasta, together?!?! My two love languages combined into one. I hope you have an awesome week of family and celebrating.
Holly's game day shirt was the cutest on her
Oh my goodness! I don't know where to start! Carly and her modeling pictures – LOVE! Weeks where we get to see you guys more than once or twice – LOVE! Carly's rebuttal to Riley – LOVE! Laundry folded and put away – AMAZING! Thanks again for keeping the girls for us! They had a blast! Can't wait to celebrate your birthday this week!!!
Such a busy week. Love the football shots.
Lots of goodness in this post. I love the silly picture of you and Keith and also the one of you posing with Carly Jo. I hope you are having a FABULOUS BIRTHDAY week! 🙂
Do you like that cookbook? I've read some really bad reviews and would love to find a new book to cook from but am torn as the reviews make me think that it's a lot of calorie and sodium filled recipes.
I do love it Stephanie but she definitely does not claim these are "healthy" recipes. I definitely think there are ways to make them lighter or less sodium…like making your own taco seasoning instead of using a packet but I would probably agree that if that is big concern this may not be a great cookbook for you.
Thanks so much Tanya! It's been an amazing week with lots of sillyness
She is the best at finding cute game day attire Jasmine!
Haha…Beth…I think we all look at each other's happenings and feel a little bit that way. It never seems to me like there is that much going on until I pull the pictures together. The mexican pasta though….so good!
Taking your Mamaw to Ulta for make up is my favorite! She is precious!
She's a mess Kellyann.