Meet the Shaneyfelts

Friday (Saturday) Favorites!

Happy Saturday before Christmas, friends! I cannot believe this Christmas season has already flown by this fast. We’re currently all struggling with sickness at my house, and I’m praying we’re all better by Christmas!

I meant to blog yesterday morning, but all of my children woke up extremely early so I did not have any time to blog. However, today I’m sharing a few FAVORITES with y’all!!!

one

We dedicated Merritt on Sunday, December 8th and all of the kids wore their coordinating TBBC outfits. I have been loving being able to match all my kids without any resistance from any of them haha! Harrison is so easy going that one time when I told him he could pick out his clothes for a dress up day at school, he told me no because he’d rather I pick them out. I know one day someone with either fight me on the clothes (or they will be too old) so I’m enjoying it while I can!

And if I hadn’t already had our Christmas cards printed, I would have most definitely used this picture! Everyone is smiling….it’s a miracle!!!

two

We went to our town’s annual Christmas parade and it was COLD!! Thankfully it wasn’t windy, so it was bearable. But man was it cold. I promise Banks really did have fun, but as soon as I took that picture of him and Dustin, a float had thrown candy and he was distracted. This year they threw LOTS of candy and the floats were so pretty–it’s one of my favorite Christmas traditions and I’ve been doing it since I was a little girl!

three

I convinced Dustin to eat at CAVA and it was our first time and WOOOOOOWWWW. So incredibly good!!!! I wish we had one in our town, but then again, I’d probably eat there all of the time. I had the grilled chicken bowl and the flavors tasted so so good.

four

My book club had our Christmas party and we did a dirty Santa swap with books. It was lots of fun and my friend Caroline had her husband 3D print us earring that are books! We each brought a finger food to share and then we played dirty Santa–I love this group of women!

five

Speaking of books….this is what I’m currently reading! I’m almost halfway through and the British banter is so entertaining. So far I’d rate it PG and I have no idea if the rating will change, but I love the description of the setting–a castle in the English countryside at Christmas.

Have a great weekend and I hope to see y’all back here on Monday!

What’s Up Wednesday! (November 2024)

Woohoo it’s Wednesday and our family’s first Thanksgiving meal tonight! We’ve been out of school all week for the Thanksgiving holiday and I AM LOVING IT.

Today I’m linking up with Shay for this month’s What’s Up Wednesday!

What we’re eating this week…

I made chili Monday night and doubled the recipe so we could also eat it Tuesday night. I use the chili recipe from this cookbook but I don’t add mushrooms. Tonight we have Dustin’s family Thanksgiving and then tomorrow lunch at my mom’s. That’s as much as I’ve thought about food haha!

What I’m reminiscing about…

This was last November and now…

…this sweet girl is 8 months old today!!!

What I’m loving…

I started a book club back in June because I was really missing adult conversation about common books. I used to be in a book club for YEARS but everyone in it is now retired so they meet during the work day and I couldn’t make the other meetings once I started having kids. I wasn’t expecting many people to be interested in a book club but so many were! The last book we read (I’ll post about in December in a recap) was one I would have never have read on my own, so I’m thankful for my book club making me read it!

What we’ve been up to…

Just surviving haha! Life is hard with two very little babies, but I know it’s a season. I don’t get out and do much with everyone by myself because it is such a hassle. We went to the grocery store one day after school to pick up a few things and while I was putting everyone and everything back in the car, a woman next to me told me I was super woman LOL

Harrison went hunting during Alabama youth hunt weekend.

We went on a date night–Harrison’s pick!

Lots of our days look like this!

The pantry door was left open and Banks wanted a snack–that was before I had even had a sip of coffee that morning!

What I’m dreading…

I don’t want this Christmas season so go by too quickly and I feel like it always does.

What I’m excited about…

CHRISTMAS THINGS WITH MY BABIES!!!

We went and did the Galaxy of Lights and I can’t wait for all of the other fun things we’ve got planned this season!

What I’m watching/reading…

I’m currently waiting on Dustin to finish Outer Banks. We watch this together and haven’t had a chance to finish the most recent season. I’m also watching all of the Great American Family Christmas movies I can!

I read this cute Christmas book not too long ago and LOVED IT!!! It’s a short, easy read that was quick to get hooked on. I loved the banter between the two main characters (who used to be together) and the premise of the book felt like a Hallmark movie. There is some spice, so I wouldn’t let my jr high girls read this one.

What I’m doing this weekend…

ROLL TIDE!!! If you’re not from Alabama, you might not realize how big of a deal the Iron Bowl is. Hopefully Alabama plays way better than they did against Oklahoma…

What I’m looking forward to next month…

All of the Christmas traditions and outings–and just time together with my family 🙂

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Our Kickoff to the Christmas Season!

Happy Tuesday, y’all! A really long time ago, a blog friend and I hosted a series titled The Most Wonderful Time of the Year where we planned topics for a fun link up. This year I’m going to randomly blog Christmas related posts bringing this series back on my blog–some will be on our Christmas traditions, my Christmas house tour, etc. While this won’t be a link up, feel free to leave a link to your blog in the comments if you’ve blogged the same topic! Now on to today’s post…

Even though our home has been decorated for Christmas since early November, this past Sunday evening our family did something that really felt like the beginning to the Christmas season. There are some Christmas traditions that we don’t do every year–like staying at the Opryland Hotel during their Christmas season (we do that every other year) or driving through the Botanical Gardens light show. But after Sunday night, we’ve decided to do this activity every year!

What was it? The Botanical Gardens light show walking night! Dustin planned a surprise date night one year before Harrison was born and took me to a walking night. Since it’s been at least five year, they’ve obviously added more features and lights, and it was completely magical! I even have an IG stories highlight where you can hear me say “Wow” way too many times LOL.

We went and ate dinner at one of our favorites, Taco Mama, before we headed to the botanical garden. We got there about 6 and spent a little over an hour walking!

They had music piped through speakers the entire walk (which I think is over 3 miles?) and in some areas they even have fake snow! They have concessions along the way, too. One tent was for cocktails, one for hot chocolate, and one for snacks. Since we last did a walking night over five years, they even had interactive areas like the swing above. It was seriously so incredibly magical and the perfect weather–cold but not too cold.

Now was it expensive? Yes. But we felt it was completely worth it in order to make memories. Hopefully our kids will look forward to this each year just like I looked forward to certain traditions with my parents each year!