The Queen's Chronicles - Cheers to Summer

Oh sweet summer! I loved every minute even though it seemed to fly by at some break neck speed! As the saying goes, the tan lines will fade but the memories will last forever! We made some sweet, sweet memories and I cannot wait to recap our summer later this week! After our long weekend in Port Aransas, things have slowed down but for the sake of documenting our little lives I’m going to chronicle the last few weeks!

With Carly at my moms for a week, I had a little free time on my hands and enjoyed a night out with my fave gals. We headed to see Bad Moms; after wine of course! If you have not gone to see this movie you so have got to see it. I’m sure my silent hysterical laughing definitely encourages these girls to want to hang with me more.

I just don’t know how it went by so quickly! It really seems like only yesterday that Jordan was starting high school and now it’s already Dillon’s turn. Don’t blink mamas..I’m telling you what people say about it going quick is for real!

Such an amazing opportunity to serve along side our sons! The Young Men’s Service League is a national organization and this is the first year for our chapter. I have served on the local foodbank board for several years but had never ventured out to see the pantry side and actual distribution to the recipient. How incredibly humbling! The Bridge Ministries in our area has a choice pantry; meaning the recipients are able to choose from varying items verses just receiving a random box of food. As we bagged their groceries and escorted to the vehicles we were able to ask to pray for them or with them. Y’all…I suck at praying out loud. It is a huge fear of mine to speak out loud to a group much less pray with a random stranger. I truly felt like this was placed right before me to do this along side Dillon so he could witness. If you are not plugged in somewhere in your community make it a goal this year. You will truly be blessed tenfold!

This girl had a week of relaxing with her cousin and my mom. Seriously my mom serves her breakfast in bed and pretty much takes her shopping for stuff constantly. She was proud they organized the art supplies. I miss this lovebug when she’s gone!

And of course I spent some time with my Mamaw doing a little shopping for her. I truly had to laugh out loud when I read her list! She is precious…just precious. I love that she is still concerned with putting on makeup every day and making sure the “girls” are supported!

When in small towns DQ is a must! We headed for a sweet treat before I headed back with my precious cargo!

The very next day we headed off with these girls to the JW Marriott in San Antonio! I will have a full post on this girls weekend away soon. The rain tried to ruin our parade but these two can truly find sunshine anywhere and it spilled over to their moms!

Back to the grind and Holly took the girls for a day of volunteering at the foodbank. This is truly one of my kids favorites.

You can’t beat snow cones AND volunteering!

Carly then headed off to spend the rest of the week with her Mimi and Aunt Amy! What a lucky girl to have so many relatives willing to hang with her. They headed to the movies to see Nine Lives.

My friend Holly and her family have seen a few changes lately and I decided a homemade dinner was the perfect fix. Did you know laying a wooden spoon on top of boiling water (this was for potatoes) will absorb the heat and keep it from overflowing? Works pretty well as long as I don’t keep it totally on high.

This kid right here is about to turn 6…S-I-X!! I was present when she was born and it was truly one of the biggest blessings of my life. So to get a thumbs up on dinner from her precious face? Totally made my day! Prayers for sweet Hope as she heads to kinder tomorrow!

Bonus; I also made a roast for my family so when I came back home this was waiting on me. So damn good!

Still not 100% sold on insta-story verses SnapChat….but I did share my night time face routine on insta-stories last week! Rodan + Fields is my choice for skincare and I cannot wait to share the winner of the Blogiversary giveaway tomorrow! If you are interested in taking skincare to the next level I’d love to work with you!

For serious y’all…this happened on Saturday!! My family totally made fun of me for being so excited over a cookbook! All my faves are in here! Trust me, you are going to want to pre-order Mix-and-Match Mama Eats: Crazy Good Go-To Meals pronto! The baked tacos alone are worth it!

The best party on Saturday night to welcome the class of 2020 to high school! I had so much fun working the food line and seeing all the adorable faces come by. These kids were so good the entire time and I can’t wait to see what God has planned for this class!

No rest for the weary! We were up bright and early heading to campus to assist the new Texas A&M freshman move into their dorms! Can you imagine heading to a city you have never seen far away from home? I cannot! We had fun being a blessing for a few families as it poured down rain. Our sweet little town has grown by 60K+ students in the pats 48 hours. It is always a bit of an adjustment and dining out becomes a little more of a challenge, but the excitement surrounding the start of school can be felt everywhere!

This girl is also changing schools this year! We said so long elementary and she is headed to what we call here Intermediate School. Fifth and sixth grade are housed on one campus. She is so excited to be reunited with her pal Emma from pre-school. Some friends you just know from the start are going to be lifelong buds! Her friend Celeste has grown so much recently so we had to take a little side by side!

The kids requested sliders for the last dinner of summer! Keith was easy to convince which meant no dinner duty for me! They were delish!

Now everyone is in bed but Dutch Buddy and me and I will be headed off shortly! I am really going to have to be more diligent and dust off my time management skills to pull off a new work schedule. Instead of having a sitter pick up Carly Jo each day I’m hoping I can go to work early and leave by 4 to grab her 3 days a week. I really think it will help so much but also hinges on my getting to work early!! Focus…focus….focus!! I did actually plan my outfits Monday-Thursday for the week and I typically take ForEVER each morning deciding what to wear!

I have one last weekend getaway planned with my girls Holly and Katy this coming weekend and I seriously will be counting the hours!! We are planning to have some blogging discussions but my money is on us drinking lots, laying by the pool, reading some books (if we can still see the words) and just enjoying the weekend away. Oh…and there must be Mexican food of course.

Wishing you all the best week! And for those of you heading to school a wonderful start to the school year!