Weekend Festivities - Zoo Trip, S'mores, and New Furniture!

Raise your hand if you're exhausted!  

What a weekend!  Between the time change and just a busy busy schedule, I'm officially already counting the minutes until Friday.  And I kinda want tomorrow (election day) to just accidentally not happen. Can we just skip to Wednesday?  

Is that possible?

  

Now - onto our weekend recap!

Friday, I promised Andrew that I'd take him to the Zoo, because he's done such a great job with potty training!  I LOVE the Memphis Zoo.  If you're in the area, or passing through, it is a must-see.  It's so shaded, there are tons of awesome exhibits and shows, not to mention the 20 million dollar hippo exhibit that just opened!  

The kids had a blast in the 70 degree weather that we had (praise hands!), and Ellie is finally big enough to sit in the double stroller seats, instead of the car seat adapter.  I LOVE this double stroller by the way (it's this one).  

Speaking of animals, 

since the weather has gotten a little cooler, I brought out some of Andrew's old hats, and I had to make this side-by-side comparison of my two wittle mice ;)

(Andrew 6 months, Ellie 12 months)

Saturday, we shopped around for new furniture (see below), and I ran some more errands while John worked on our dining room table.  (also see below.)

Later, our dear friends came over to play and grill out!  It was perfect weather, and we had such a great time.  We even brought out our fire-pit for some s'more making!  It was Andrew's first s'more and he was definitely a fan!  (note the Halloween costume is still being worn on the daily ;))

Sunday morning came very early ;)  But I can't complain too much.  The kids woke up around 6:30am, which actually gave us more time to make our 8:15am church service on time.  Well sorta on time.  We just can't ever get out of the house on Sunday morning!

While the kids napped, I made a Crockpot Beef Stew - and it was delicious.  Perfect for these cooler temperatures, and who doesn't love a crock pot meal?  

Here's the recipe :)

We also set up our dining room chairs!  We got 8 of them, and plan on getting 2 more chairs that will go on the ends of the table.  Looking for similar ones, but with arm rests...

Now all we need is our table!  

Which hubby (and Andrew) are working on!!  The end is in sight!!

This is the base below, and the top is done as well!  

I'll be finishing and staining over the next 2 weeks, and then John will attach the top and base.

Just in time to host Thanksgiving!  I hope ;)  We're cutting it a little close!  

(for those of y'all wondering, it's an Ana White design, although John combined a few plans to make this custom one.  There's a similar table at Restoration Hardware too.)

And before I take down my Halloween/Fall decor, here's a quick shot of my mantle!  

Has anyone started decorating for Christmas? 

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

I'm off to watch the first episode of "The Crown" and do a few loads of laundry while Ellie naps...

 has anyone else watched it??

Ok, before I go.

I won't say much about my thoughts on tomorrow except for this....

the one thing that gives me hope.

God is greater.  He is King.  He has always been, and forever will be.  

No matter what, we can put our hope, faith, and trust in Him. 

Leaders will come and go, but ONE thing remains, and that is God.

We will pray for our country, our leaders, and our neighbors,

 loving them even when they seem un-lovable.  

Because that's what we are called to do.  

Love you ALL.