Meet the Shaneyfelts

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!

A Little Saturday Joy!

It’s the first Saturday in November and while I wish it were nice and cold, I’ll just pretend it is while I’m sipping on my coffee.

I know I normally don’t blog on Saturdays, but it’s hard to find time to write a blog post with three young children :). Today I’m sharing a few things that bring me joy!!

one

This is me! I’m decorating for Christmas today! Dustin and I were going to at least put the tree up last night but we were both exhausted. In between the errands I’m running and housewarming I’m attending, I’m going to get the fall decorations put away and get the tree put up at the bare minimum. Banks really loved the light up pumpkins I had with my fall decorations, so I’m excited to see his reaction!

two

I bought a small set of drawer organizers before Harrison was born, and I’ve put off needing to buy more. These drawer organizers will be delivered on Sunday and I’m going to finally move Banks’s clothes out of Merritt’s dresser and into the big one in Harrison’s room since they’ve been sharing a room since Merritt moved out of the bassinet into her own room.

three

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After I finished listening to the Branch Basics episode on the Primally Pure podcast Grounded Wellness, I looked up their blog and found this natural fever reducer bath. Now I wouldn’t use this for high fevers, but for those lower grade ones that make you feel yuck, I’m going to try it out next time!

four

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This crockpot recipe looked so easy and healthy, so I’m trying a variation of it tonight for supper! I will also probably use minced garlic and then add in onion powder. Hopefully it tastes as good as I think it will haha! Has that ever happened to you? You have an idea of how a recipe will turn out and then it’s not that great–never fun LOL

five

And last on my list of joy but most definitely my #1 joy in life, these Halloween babies! We had Catboy, a dinosaur, and a baby duck! And because it’s now November, you may not be aware that November is National Adoption Awareness Month. I’m going to talk more about it over on IG this weekend, but adoption changed my life in the best way possible. I became a mother because of the gift of adoption. I love talking about it and encourage everyone who has that tug on their heart to consider it and to not be afraid of the cost (which honestly should be reformed but that’s a whole other conversation). You can search for adoption on my blog to read older posts if you’re new here.

I hope y’all have the best Saturday and find something that fills you with joy! For me, I’ll be listening to The Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack!