Friday Favorites: Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!! What an exciting day! I am so happy Halloween landed on Friday this year! It makes things so much easier! We have a day packed full of parties, trunk or treat, and lots of food! ;) Some of my favorite things about Halloween....

*Favorite decorations- We have plenty of decorations. Jagger is obsessed with decorating for any holiday! He would rather spend his money on decorations than toys!

and yes this skeleton plays the banjo!!! 

*Favorite movie- Hocus Pocus!! One of my all time favorite Halloween movies! It isn't Halloween without watching it!  

 For the kids- Jagger and Hudson both have enjoyed Spookley the pumpkin! Its a super cute movie!

* Favorite candy- One word- reese's!! These are killing me this year!! so good and of course the little debbie pumpkins..oh my word! I know they aren't candy but I could eat them like candy!

* Favorite throwback Halloween pictures-  the cutest shark I Know!!

 Last year we all dressed up as super heroes! We ended up using this as our Christmas card!! It was my all time favorite Halloween!!

Link up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci for more Friday Favorites!!

Hope everyone has a super Halloween!!!
Lots of love..

Remembering Halloween

Ghosts, pumpkins, costumes, and of course candy!! I am not a huge Halloween fan, but since I have had kids, I will say that its more fun! Halloween in my book basically means we are that much closer to Christmas! ;)
Halloween has changed so much over the years! I have been sitting here thinking about what Halloween was like when I was little- 25-26 years ago.... I laugh because just like everything, I think Halloween is overdone. What happen to just putting on a costume and going trick or treating???  Times have for sure changed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all the fun things that come along with each holiday. Treat bags, homemade treats for school, "spooking" our friends, making sure we have the most creative costumes, etc... This is Halloween now, but here is how I remember Halloween...

*Back then I don't remember creative costumes. You went to the store and picked out what favorite character you wanted to be! The costume came with a very uncomfortable plastic mask with a string that went around the back of your head. The body of the costume was basically a printed bag that you put over your body??? That's creative... I called mom to ask her what is when I was younger. She said Tweety Bird and Alf!! I couldn't help but laugh! Alf!  Who remembers Alf?

Kind of creepy huh?? and why Alf and Tweety Bird? I wasn't normal!

*Candy bags- Now we get our kids candy bags made. They are super cute with their names on them and some sort of design on the front. Or we spend a ton of money to make sure the bag matches their costume, thank you Pottery Barn! When I was a kid we did things simple...Your candy went in this..

I know they have them now but they come in every color and with different faces!! All I remember was one color, and you didn't get a new one every year unless the handle broke, then you could use a Wal-Mart sack! ;)

*Candy- the best part of Halloween! I remember being so excited about getting candy! We would go to door to door. We didn't have trunk or treat to do. It was just the old school way... Walk up to the door. Knock. Me: Trick or Treat! (and my mom made me say, Trick or Treat!! I can't stand when people let their kids come to the door just to hold the bag out! Come on people at least say trick or treat!) Anyways, by the end of the night my bucket was overflowing. I couldn't hardly wait to run home and dump it all out to see all of my loot! I would be super happy until my eyes saw theses...

Yuck!! I never did like these and still dont!! My heart was set on hersheys, milky way....well, basically anything chocolate!

There was not much to Halloween when I was a kid. We dressed up, went trick or treating, came home to check out the candy, then went to bed! Nothing exciting. Here are a few more things that bring back Halloween memories!

What are some of your Halloween memories??
Lots of love

Slow Down!

I really need life to slow down! I think it keeps moving faster and faster. Am I the only one that feels this way? I feel like the weeks and months are flying by! How is it already the end of October? How is it my babies are going to soon be 2 and 6?
Matthew and I were talking the other day about when we were kids and time seemed to move at snails pace. I remember thinking summer break was the longest thing ever and now you blink and its over! The older we get the faster time goes. It really makes me sad sometimes because I feel like I don't really get to enjoy things. I don't slow down and enjoy that moment to the fullest, and that moment is gone never to be had again.
I think our generation gets so caught up in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tv, and everything else that we forget what is going on around us. We forget that we have kids that need us. We forget about our spouses that are there. I know for me, it does make me sad when I think about the time that I have wasted on all this instead of giving that precious time to my family!
I am ready to slow down. I want to start living each moment to the fullest and giving my all to Matthew and my sweet boys! I know that I am going to blink and they will be grown- that is when I can start worrying about a clean house and laundry, but then I won't have any laundry to do because it will just be Matthew and I.
Here is my challenge for myself. I would love for you to join me!    It's time to slow down! It's time to enjoy my kids and husband.  Its time to not get upset over a dirty house and piles of laundry- that just means there is love in my house! It's time to unplug from social media/tv/technology when my kids and husband are around, they need me more than the computer does! It's time to not get so wrapped up in worrying if things get done- if I don't get 4 Christmas trees put up, I'm pretty sure Christmas will be ok! If the kids don't throw out reindeer food, I'm pretty sure they will still have a good Christmas morning. If their birthday parties aren't completely done from Pinterest/homemade, I'm pretty sure they will have a blast! and so many other silly things I waste time on! So, today lets all slow down!!! If you don't get everything done, God willing, there will be tomorrow! Slow down and enjoy today!
Hope everyone has a blessed day!
Lots of love.

Faults!

Faults...I think this is a word none of us like to hear because we all want to think we are perfect! I have some news for you! None of us are perfect! I am not perfect, and really don't want to be. I think the older I have gotten the better I have accepted my faults. I know I have them and one of my main prayers is for God to help me become a better person, faults and all! There are many things that I am constantly working on with myself. I never want to hurt anyone or do things on purpose. Last week it was brought to my attention that I have not been the best of friend. I was very heartbroken. I never meant to hurt anyone, and the only thing I knew to do was pray about it. I instantly felt better knowing that God was with me.

* I am so horrible about answering the phone. I do not do this on purpose. I will lay my phone down and not pick it up for hours at a time. I am one of those that would be very content if phones did not exist. Sometimes I don't answer because I don't have my phone and sometimes its just because I don't want to talk.. I know this makes me look horrible and this is something that I am truly working on!
This whole phone thing seems to have gotten worse when Hudson came along. Over the last two years, it has been so many ups and downs. There have been days I just wanted to stay in bed all day with the covers over my head, and not speak to anyone. This last spring and summer were pretty rough on us. We were all sick and it was just beating me down. Every two weeks, Hudson was getting sick, and I ended up staying sick a lot.  Between the sickness and all the bills that still were rolling in, I wasn't sure what to do. I knew I was starting to fall back into the ugliness of depression. I really did not want to go down this road again, but the truth was it was happening. Yes, I have been there before and its not fun. You can read about it here.
It truly has been a trying two years. You would think after two years, I would be fine and living perfect, but there are nights I wake up crying because I see Hudson gray and flat lining. I see Jagger being pulled off of me screaming down the hallway. I hear Matthew crying because the doctors ask him who he wants to let survive. It was not a fun situation for our family. Hudson and I both looked death in the face. I think the whole time we were in St. Louis and even a year after, I never "dealt" with it. I just pushed it all away and did what I had to do- take care of a husband and two boys!
The last two months I have felt more like myself than I have in a long time! I have had to spend a lot of time in prayer, but I refuse to let Satan steal my joy and the precious time I have here.

*Jealousy- I am not proud of this one. Now,when I say jealous, I am not meaning "mean jealous", if that makes sense. It never fails with me, I will want something and then Bam, someone around me gets it! Many times I think this is God telling me that I do not need this thing, and I need to be happy for others and what they have! I feel so selfish and yucky admitting this, but I think we are all guilty of having the "wants"..

*Short tempered.....This one comes natural.. It stems back to my maiden name- Bennett. We call it the Bennett temper! If you are a Bennett, you have it! (I'm starting to scare you, huh?)

*Stressing over the small things- I am getting better since Hudson came along, but I have been known to worry so much about details, I forget to enjoy the moment. Who cares if my house is dirty? Who cares if the laundry is all done? Who cares if the boys birthday parties are elaborate? Who cares if Johnny the Elf doesn't do amazing things every night during the month of December? I am so tired of Pinterest and other things telling me if this or that isn't done, I won't be happy. I want to slow down and enjoy every moment regardless of what gets done.

I could probably go on and on about my faults, but these are the main ones I have to pray about on a daily basis. I hope you do not think I am a crazy psycho after this, but instead you can totally relate. We all have faults and again no one is perfect! I think most importantly we know our "less than perfect areas" and try our best, with God's help, to move forward and become more like Christ.
Hope everyone has a blessed day!
Lots of love..

Things Change!

One of my favorite things about growing up and becoming a parent is how much things change! My 10 year reunion was a few weeks ago and the whole weekend flooded my mind with wonderful memories. While in the car Matthew and I began discussing life before children. Even life before marriage. Before these two things, I would say that I would never do things a certain way or "blah, blah, blah".....If only I knew back then!

Before marriage and kids....

*Before children when my Mama would say something to me that irritated me, in my mind I was thinking, " when I have kids, I will never say that".......I am pretty sure in the last year I have said a lot of things she said!
*I would always say I would not spank my kids...........sometimes a spanking is the only way they get it (not a beating, a spanking!)
*Why am I such a crazy hormonal woman???? There have been times I have cried and laughed in the same sentence!  When Jagger was two days old, I was holding him in the hospital bed. Just looking at the precious baby boy, my heart was flooded with a love that you can't explain. You feel like your heart is going to explode..I immediately started crying...Matthew: "why are you crying?"  Me: "I dont' want him to grow up. He's already two days old!"  Yes....crazy hormones!
*I never knew I could pray so much over coughs, bowl movements, kids being mean, boo-boos, etc!
*Before kids and marriage, I worked out, took care of myself and always dressed "cute"....kids basically destroyed that! I am lucky if my hair is washed several times a week ...or makeup at least twice a week! Don't judge! and don't even start on cute pjs/ undergarments! I was one of those that always had matching undergarments that came from "Victoria who doesn't have any secrets!" Enter kids and marriage.....baggy pants, big t-shirts.....COMFORT ladies..that is what is about! I will never in my life wear a string anything again!  Thank you Fanny for sharing with us some products that may change our life!!!
*working out? is chasing kids around the house count?
*I never in my life thought I would pick up poop, or wipe boogers with my bare hands! Yes, gross, but it has happened!
*I never thought I would enjoy buying clothes for someone else but myself! I have so much more fun shopping for the boys than myself!
*M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E...its the Micky Mouse clubhouse. Come inside. Its fun inside! This song is in my head all the time! The only music we hear comes from cartoons!
*What's Revenge? Dancing With The Stars? NCIS?
* I never knew I could love 3 boys so much it makes me want to cry!!! Matthew and these boys are my life and I can't imagine life without them! Even when life changes so much..it is totally worth it and I would never ever want to go back to life before! ;)

Before kids.....

Wouldn't want it any other way!!!

Hope everyone has a blessed day!!
Lots of love..

My Other Half!

Well, here we are...another Monday! This year is flying by! I can't believe that October is almost gone! WOW! I woke up with a grateful heart and I just can't stop smiling!

Today, I am grateful for my other half....my hubby!

I am so guilty! I do not give this man the praise he deserves!! I am beyond blessed with a man who loves me and would do anything in the world for me! He has so many wonderful qualities, it's almost scary!
* He loves me and ALL my faults! Lord knows I have faults and lots of them! I am controlling, OCD, short tempered....hhhhmmmmm?? what else does he put up with!? :) I really am a good person- just a few issues!
* He is the BEST dad in the world! I promise you if you are around him for 5 minutes you will know how much he loves his boys and what he does for them! I have been known to be stubborn and want some of that attention from him ! ( Wow..I am sounding like a weirdo!)
*He is so talented.....he can sing, play guitar, play piano, build stuff, hunt, play golf, ..He is just naturally talented. Things just come to him so easy and he is good at all of it!
*A huge heart! He cares for everyone and doesn't want to see anyone hurting!
*Giving.....always gives to others instead of getting for himself!
* Loves God!
*Have I mentioned how handsome he is???

I feel beyond blessed that God would give me such a great other half! I don't know what I would do without him. We have been through so much in the last 8 years, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I pray today that he would know how much he is loved and appreciated!!

Link up with Ember Grey and tell us what you are grateful for!
Hope everyone has a blessed day!
Lots of love..

Consumed!

My life right now feels crazy. I feel consumed! Sometimes this can be a bad thing, but right now it has been good. Megan's Daily Bread is taking up a lot of my time! Time that I used to do laundry. Time that I used to blog. Time that I used to read. Time that I used to organize and so many other things I use to do! I am super excited that Megan's Daily Bread is growing and blessing so many people! I do not consider myself a good cook. I am just mommy/wifey that loves God and loves to cook! I can't think of a more perfect way to combine to of my favorite things!
So, all this craziness has caused my blog to take the back burner! It makes me sad, but I will do the my best to keep up with it! I still have many things to write about.
Hope everyone has a blessed night!
Lots of love..

Magic Kingdom: Parades, Characters, Oh My.......

I'm back!!! I was hoping to finish telling you about our Disney trip this weekend, but we were out of town for my 10 year reunion. Friday was spent packing and cooking "daily breads". You might be wondering what "daily bread" is..you can read all about it here. Anyways, I didn't have all the time I thought I would, but here I am now! ;)

Magic Kingdom was my favorite park!!! It is a true Disney lovers paradise! When I think of Disney, Magic Kingdom is what comes to mind! If you are wanting the true Disney experience, this park is a must! It is truly magical!

Thought before going to park:
Didn't have any....I was SUPER excited!! I did know that if we were going to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train we needed to get there early!
I couldn't hardly wait to see some of the original rides- Dumbo, It's A Small World, Pooh, and the Teacups.


It's the night before Magic Kingdom and we are all in bed by 8:30. We were dead tired and new Magic Kingdom would be a big day! We had extra magic hours that day, so the park opened at 8am instead of 9. *Extra Magic Hours are extra park hours for guests who are staying on Disney property. The extra magic hours change between the parks everyday! I felt it was very important to take advantage of these hours!

Thursday 6am- I am up and getting ready! There is no wasting time this morning. We are going to all get there with smiles on our faces! We are all ready to meet Mickey Mouse! By 6:45, we are all in line at the buses. I am feeling good about the morning and the crowds! We get to Magic Kingdom and the closer we get the more excited we are! The excitement in the air is so awesome! At 7:15 we are line waiting. There are quite a few others in line. Guess we were all wanting to take advantage to that extra hour! Around 7:45, the characters come and out to Welcome you and say good morning! It is so cool.

In my mind, I knew we had to make a mad dash to Seven Dwarfs, but I also wanted to enjoy everything. When the gates opened it was like a flood of people. Everyone was singing and just happy to be there. I just stood there for a few minutes to soak it all in. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! The detail on every building is unreal! I just wanted to cry because I was so happy!

 The whole rest of the day was spent riding every ride we could. There was no crying kids. No drama. No huge lines. Nothing..just perfect! I could not have asked for a better day!

Jagger and I riding the Mine Train!! Tons of fun!

Big boys riding Splash Mountain

One of the parades!

Towards the end of our day we finally got to meet Mickey Mouse! I had no clue what to expect, but he was in the Townhall. We had fastpasses so we did not have to wait! When the door opened and the lady asked us to come in, I was jumping up and down! We got to spend probably 10 minutes with Mickey by ourselves!!! It was the most precious memory ever.. This Mickey talked so it made it even better! Even Matthew was smiling the whole time! It totally made the whole trip! The rest of the night that is all we talked about, our special time with Mickey!

Thoughts after the day!
*Magic Kingdom is still my favorite park.
*The parades are a MUST!!!
*Jagger's Favorite rides: Barnstormer, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Do it first thing, or you will be waiting 70 minutes or more), Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean
*Mommy's Favorite rides: It's a small world, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan, and Dumbo!
* make sure to take breaks for snacks and food! It makes the day much better!
* try and meet Mickey at Townhall

We ended up getting back to our hotel around 6pm that day! We were completely worn out! We ate pizza for supper and called it a night! Or at least Hudson and I did. Matthew and Jagger ended up going swimming, and playing in the arcade! It was our last official night on Disney property, so I was happy they got to make the most of it!

Hope everyone has a blessed night!
Lots of love.

Hollywood Studios: Characters and more character!

Here we are at Day 2 of Disney, which was spent at Hollywood Studios! Before we get started, let me give some thought I had before we went!
*I had it in my mind that Toy Story mania would be so busy we might not be able to ride it! This is supposedly the busiest ride in all of Disney World.
* I had a plan of action and running to Toy Story was #1!
*I was worried Jagger wouldn't have much fun at this park because it would be more geared toward Matthew and I.


Right before we went to bed, I had ask Matthew what he thought about getting up even earlier and getting to the transportation earlier than we had for Animal Kingdom. He thought this was a great idea! We wanted to get the most out of the park and I had to make sure we could ride Toy Story. Everyone had scared me too death about the wait times! I refuse to stand in line for 90 minutes with two small children! We decided we would be at Hollywood Studios around 8:15. Well, I think everyone else had the same idea :) The line wasn't horrible but there were several in line! As soon as the gate opened, we ran to Toy Story. It was making me laugh because basically you just follow the crowd and guess what? We all came to to Toy Story! Just walking into the entrance of the ride was so cool! The detail on everything was so cool...It's like you walked into the movie...

 This is one excited boy!!! We had not even got on the ride and he was having a blast! Hudson even got to ride this one!

Once we got off of Toy Story I felt like we could breathe a little! The one major thing accomplished and it was only 9:15! Of course Jagger wanted to ride it again so I thought ok we could hop back on. Wrong...70 minute wait! Nope..not this family!
Right next door was Pirates of the Caribbean and there was no wait! Perfect! We walked right in and it was super duper cool. We were in the Pirates cave and we got to see Captain Jack! ;) I was worried the kids would be scared because it was dark and so loud but they both enjoyed it. So much that we did it again!

This was an exciting park for us because we got to meet characters for the 1st time! Pluto, Goofy, Woody and Buzz Phineas and Ferb, Lighting McQueen and Mater, . Jagger and I were literally jumping up and down we were so excited! I am not sure who the bigger kid is? The characters are so sweet! Jagger would just give them hugs and high fives. I loved it! Hudson did not really care for the characters. He liked to watch from a distant but not get super close.

Army man and Jagger: He was so happy about this because this is what he will be for Halloween!

 So sweet!

 Jagger's face when he laid eyes on Woody and Buzz was the ultimate gift! (it makes me want to tear up looking at it!) This is what Disney is about......

 Mama even needed a hug from Woody!!

 These two were a lot of fun and totally worth the 30 minute wait! One thing I love about Disney is everyone is nice. All the "cast members" are overly nice! I love it. The only encounter with someone not nice was here at Woody and Buzz. A lady and her kid cut in a huge line after we had been waiting 20 minutes. I wanted to step up and tell her this was the happiest place in the world, we don't cut in line here!! ;) By the time we got almost to see them, her child started screaming and crying. They left without even getting to see them! Serves them right for trying to cut at Disney!

On to Goofy and Pluto......as you can see Hudson was not as happy as the rest! He couldn't quite figure out why some big dog with a big head was reaching for him!!

 Jagger made friends!!!

All the time in between was spent going to all the different shows and rides. Jagger's favorite ride was Star Wars. He rode is 4 or 5 times. Thankfully, he had Matthew to go on it with him because the 1 time I did ride it, I felt so sick. It was a really neat ride, but Wow..those 3D glasses are crazy! With all the boy stuff going on, I did manage to drag them to The Little Mermaid. At first they were whining but by the end of the show everyone was laughing! It was a neat 3D show.....We ended our night at Hollywood Studios with Fantasmic! Now this was worth the all day wait. Probably one of the neatest things I have seen. A wonderful light show with fireworks and Characters!  It was a great night time experience. I was afraid the boys would have been grouchy, but they were troopers. The worse part was trying to get out of the park. 5,000 people trying to squeeze out of one spot! The boys both passed out on the bus back to the hotel. None of us had any problems falling asleep after this wonderful day!

Thoughts at the end of day:
* Jagger:  Mom, there are not many rides at Studios, its just a bunch of movies with 3D glasses except tower of terror, and rockin coaster!!!!
This is pretty much true....there are not a lot of "rides" but everything is so much fun! Matthew and I loved this park. I feel like it was a more relaxed day especially since you get to sit in many of the attractions!

* Fantasmic is a must!!! and be prepared for your child to want to buy some sort of light up souvenir - $20 at least.....who can say no when they are walking around and flashing pretty things right in front of your kids eyes!

*We stood in the gift shop of Tower of Terror, which is also where you get off the ride. 3 kids came off crying! Happy we didn't get on this! ;)

*Do Toy Story Mania 1st thing or you will be waiting. We only got to ride it 1 time.

*Disney Jr was a cute show for small children! Hudson really loved the music and dancing!



 Tomorrow: Magic Kingdom!
Hope everyone has a blessed night!
Lots of love..