Amazon in October

...coming in a little late here to show what I grabbed from Amazon in October. 

Some strategies I use when it comes to sites like Amazon that offer 1-click ordering:

1. I use it for what I need that I cannot get here at the regular grocery store (eh, Walmart).

2. If it's something I want, I put it on a wishlist and usually put a price alert on it via Chrome so I'll see when it drops. 

3. I always check the address for where it's going. Seems silly but we have 15 addresses in our account and I cannot say for sure how many times an item's gone to the wrong place. But the answer is more than once. 

LG Universal Remote for SmartTV. We bought a new tv in June. Maverick chewed up the remote about 3 days after we got it. It still worked so I procrastinated this and last week he got it again and then it didn't work. I overnighted this for an extra $3. There are rules about keeping things out of a 1 year old dog's reach but 7 year olds and 3 year olds don't follow rules. 

This $4 math workbook is worth it if you want to encourage review and extra practice. We started it this week. 

Scott puts these bells on the dogs' collars when they hunt in high grass so he can hear them. We've had them before but have misplaced them over the years. 

Another hunting purchase: Scott used a GPS collar on Scout last year because he's deaf and Mav got a GPS collar this year for his first real hunting season. 

I told myself I was going to start taking inositol again. They didn't have it at Walmart the one time I checked. It has so many benefits. I used to take it twice a day, years ago. 

Handwriting Without Tears is my favorite writing series for kids. After we finished our first handwriting practice book from The Good and The Beautiful, I had this ready to go. For 2nd grade, they make a print book and a cursive one. This one reviews print first and then moves into cursive. Highly recommend this writing curriculum. I used it in the classroom too. 

We used to have two orthopedic dog beds. Both were destroyed slowly over the last 4 years, so I finally bought a new one and I accidentally bought the jumbo size. So now it lives in the basement. It's holding up so far. 

These boot/slipper combo shoes are fantastic. I would put a price alert on them because I got them during Prime Days for $35. Black Friday deals start next week so if you, too, refuse to pay $124 for Ugg slippers/boots, this is a great compromise. 

Affordable phone case. I've been doing well with not buying phone cases in 2025! I bought a Casely with a gift card from my birthday back in January and then I tried a new Loopy over the summer, hated it, and sold it on Poshmark since it was still so new. Better to get something from it than nothing (I don't think all Loopy cases are created equal). But my Casely was starting to get beat up so I got this and it's pretty much exactly what I wanted. I got it during Prime Days for $8, so if you're like me and don't prefer those silicone cases that attract fuzz, fur, hair, and dirt, this is for you. 

I have some lists in Amazon for Christmas but I haven't been in the spirit this year yet so I'm not ready to start buying/thinking about gifts. How about you? 

BBQ Chicken Nachos and Memes

Once in a while, I make shredded bbq chicken in the crockpot for chicken sandwiches and then the next night we do nachos.  

To make the chicken, I usually do 2-3 chicken breasts in the crockpot with seasoning (I like Weber mesquite) and then I pour in bbq sauce to cover it (maybe half a bottle? I like Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet and Spicy) and let it cook on low for 5-6 hours. I take it out, shred the chicken, and then put in more sauce to coat well. I toast, usually, Hawaiian rolls and top the sandwiches with tomatoes, pickles, and sometimes coleslaw. 

I put the leftover chicken in the fridge and make nachos the next day. 

You need chips, the chicken, cheese (shredded or jarred queso, or both if you want), and homemade pico de gallo (tomato, onion, cilantro, and lime) or whatever other toppings you like on nachos. Sometimes we do sour cream, lime, guacamole...whatever is on hand. I also love the green verde sauce I mentioned a few weeks ago and a sprinkle of Tajin. Most people would probably do lettuce but I rarely buy it. 

These ingredients are pantry staples for us, so I know I can make this as long as I have the chicken pre-made.

You can make this one of two ways:

1. Layer chips, shredded cheese, and chicken right from the fridge onto a baking sheet. Broil until it's heated through and the cheese is bubbly (about 5 minutes). Top with pico and whatever else and enjoy. 

2. Spread the chips onto plates. Reheat the chicken and the jarred queso (or get crazy and make your own) in the microwave or on the stove, separately, and then top the chips. Add the cold toppings after that. This could also be a nacho bar for each person to customize. Sometimes I add black beans, or a packet of that microwaveable cilantro rice on the side. 

So this is either a sheet pan meal with minimal clean-up or repurposed leftovers just warmed up into a whole new meal. Either way it's two full meals made from one protein. For us, it's really just two adults who are eating and then the 7 year old will eat but he doesn't eat that much and the 3 year old won't touch the chicken. It's plain rolls and plain chips for her with maybe some queso.

Literally, it could not be any easier. I've been doing this once a month or so for the last few years and figured I should've shared it long ago. 

My favorite thing when watching football is when the announcers get in on it. There were so many penalties in this awful game on Thursday that, when the flags were thrown, the announcers started saying things like "there's a shock" and "big surprise".

I have been staying up til midnight and it's not good for me. 

Friday Recommendations, 11/7

I'm going to start with a confession:

I haven't read a book in like 2 months. I don't know that I expect anyone to do anything about that, but I just want to put it out there and now I feel better. 

1. The Mayor of Kingstown is back. Cannot recommend this show enough. It's currently on season 4 but all the episodes are on Paramount+. It's a wild ride from episode one.

2. I posted a few things I've bought lately, now that shorts season is over. 

3. This week I posted a comprehension guide to my favorite book to teach for Thanksgiving on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

4. I made this soup for dinner last night. 

5. And I made pumpkin muffins to take to our co-op today. 

6. I also posted some meal ideas on Monday. I'm trying really hard to only go to the grocery store once a week so I'm planning ahead when I can. Any fall recipe staples? I'm into soup again. 

Stuff and Things, 11/6

Scott brought this matcha back from Korea. It’s been a great afternoon drink lately when I don’t always feel like making a pot of coffee. I’m kind of over the Diet Coke and lime I had all spring and summer. 

Scott told me that every guy he worked with the last few weeks was tasked with bringing back hundreds of dollars worth of Korean skincare for their wives. My actual Korean friend said it’s more “Korean genes, diet, and lifestyle + skincare” so it’s not like one pot of moisturizer will change your life. 

I did pick this up the other day. I don’t want to try something too potent because I reacted pretty strongly to tretinoin when I used it for acne. I feel like almost 26,000 reviews can't be wrong, right?

We saw a snake on our walk the other day and Wells was beside himself that I wouldn’t let him “pick it up”. He would not have caught it because this was not a garter snake. It was a black racer (google image search told me). I have spent all of our walks this week arguing with him about snake hunting (as in, he wants to). He asked for a snake hook. 

And then Scott took him to the store the other day and Wells came home with an orange Mountain Dew (?) and a bow and arrow...

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Alright here’s some clothes I’ve grabbed lately and highly, truly recommend, as well as what I sent back.

I got these sweatpants from American Eagle. LOVE. They are 100% the perfect sweatpants. I'm over the jogger trend but these are actual sweatpants in every way. 

I got these bounce fleece pants from Old Navy. Actually, I saw them at Old Navy and ended up buying them at the PX (where they sell ON) for about $10 less. 

They are on sale right now so I'd go for it. They run big. 

I got these jeans from American Eagle and they are pretty much exactly what I've been looking for for weeks now. However, I do not know what's going on with the model here because I'm 5'6" and got a long and they are barely long enough. 

It says she's 5'9" in a long. I had bought them in a regular and sent them back. 

And then, I got these barrel sweatpants. 

Do not. Do not. 

If you are 5'2", maybe. Otherwise, they just look like baggy joggers, without the gathered ankle, that are too short.

Has anyone successfully worn barrel anything? 

Memes and meal plans

I'll get to the memes but I wanted to share this first. I have stopped posting recipes on here simply because I stopped innovating and caring in the kitchen. I don't know when that happened...I think it was after Wells was born that I originally fell into a slump. That went away and then when I went back to work in 2021 and was pregnant and had a baby in 2022, I really lost all desire to try. The last two years especially have been survival mode with groceries and dinner and I even used meal kits on and off in order to find any kind of inspiration. 

Now, being home all day with two kids lends to a lot of assembling and cooking of meals and snacks. 

I had a conversation with someone a month or so ago that was about how people literally do not know how to cook anymore. Like, they can't do it because they don't care, no one taught them, or convenience foods are so easy to buy that they never *have to* cook. 

So while I have a lot of thoughts and opinions on how supplemental nutrition programs are working and have worked in the past, I can say that we all, as people in the 2020s, just don't cook anymore. Hopefully, this can give a little inspiration. It's not hard. You just have to think farther than a few hours ahead and we, as a people in the 2020s, aren't great at that either. 

Here's what I spent on food in October and where I spent it: $910 total but I did that in my head so feel free to check the math. 

And here's my meal-planning over the last two weeks:

Here's some links:

Lasagna Soup

Mongolian Beef

Marry Me Chicken Soup

Chicken Taco Soup (I have been making this since 2012 and it freezes super well)

This was the "mac and cheese" up there. 

For what it's worth, the nuggets and fries nights were nights it was just me and the kids because it leaves no leftovers and when Scott isn't here, I spend all my time eating leftovers. (I do not make my own fries or my own chicken nuggets because I hate breading chicken. Everything else was homemade.)

I bought "barrel leg" sweatpants and "stovepipe" jeans last week. We'll see if they work. 

These are absolutely my favorite kind of movies but the description is exactly right.

I'm coming off of 3 weeks of solo parenting and these are spot on:

Wells has, more than once said, "you have no idea how tired I am" which has made me say, "I was tired before you were born and you were ready to be born in the middle of the night, which means, I literally haven't slept a full night since before you were born".

I can count on both hands the number of times I've taken Sutton to daycare and asked them to flip her clothes around and please fix her hair after Scott got her ready for school and put her in the car for me lol. 

Wells tells Sutton a lot: "we wouldn't even be here if it weren't for mom"

I haven't been skiing since high school. Worst experience ever. I actually had better luck at snowboarding but it wasn't great enough that I'd ever try again. 

How I feel at a homeschool co-op: 

Friday Recommendations, 10/31

It really feels like it's been a week, you know? Lots of rain and wind. Colder temps. I got hit with a stomachache on Tuesday. I was trying to figure out what I ate that the kids also didn't eat because they're fine, but I honestly think it was the 6-8 packs of Skittles from the Halloween candy stash (fun size) on Sunday/Monday. Why I did it, I don't know, but I haven't haven't had a stomachache that bad in years. Honestly, I don't really eat candy much anymore so it's the most likely culprit. 

Onto things I'm recommending...(don't eat too much candy this weekend should be number one, really):

1. No spend days. Since I really have been diving into the idea of overconsumption, I started tracking my grocery spending in September and I did it again in October. But I've realized that it's possible to just not spend money if you don't feel like it. Last week, I spent no money on Tuesday and Wednesday. Looking back, they were just regular homeschool days with dog walks and we had ballet on Tuesday and did a preschool tour on Wednesday. Then I also spent nothing on Sunday and Monday this week. Sunday we went to the zoo and we have memberships and didn't spend on top of that because it was a morning trick-or-treat event and we packed some snacks. Monday was a regular homeschool day and we walked dogs and then it rained a lot. Tuesday, I meal-planned and got groceries and I got Wells two kindle books to keep him busy at ballet. Wednesday, I did buy some pants online because American Eagle decided to have a real sale, finally. Thursday, the dogs had shots at the vet and then we went to buy dog food. Also, mailed a box at the post office. Plus I had a tire issue so I got a new air compressor to keep in my car. Friday (today) is our co-op and I usually crash out so hard after that that I likely won't find myself at a store. 

2. I posted about a gospel print I made for trick-or-treat bags this week. It's available for free. 

3. Urban Decay Naked Palette. I think we should all just boycott everything 2025 and go back to 2016. Make-up was better, hair was better, clothes were better, schools were better, etc. Let's start with make-up. I have been super minimal on eye make-up in the last year because it's all about The Face or whatever and the lashes. Then I realized that I love my Naked Palette from 2016 and I actually look better when I use it. I've had a couple of these palettes but this smoky one is the best. Unfortunately it's discontinued and the best colors have been used up. This mini one is close though. Call me a boomer if you want. I'm an old millennial so it is what it is, I guess. Stop contouring and highlighting and just do a smoky eye again, for goodness sakes. Life was better when we had smoky eyes and side parts. (This Reloaded one looks interesting. They often go on sale for half-price around the holidays!)

4. I made these cookies a few weeks ago and they did not disappoint. Once you start using browned butter in a cookie recipe, you will never go back to "cream butter and sugar". I promise. I added: semi-sweet chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and heath bits. I've made this particular recipe 3 or 4 times now. 

Linking up with Friday Favorites!

Conversations I'm tired of having:

If you're online a lot, there's a lot of conversations that just go round and round, without resolution because we are all inherently stubborn. Here's an example: 

Christians who don't "do" Halloween. 

I'm not talking about "celebrating". I'm talking about the contingent of people, probably all Christians, who refuse to acknowledge Halloween. 

Now, you will never find a bigger party pooper than me. I don't like Costumed Events, as we can call them. I am not creative. I'm not confident of my appearance or decision when it comes to choosing costumes. I have dressed up like four times in my adult life. Halloween at school is my least favorite thing. In fact, I loved my one district that just refused to do it: Halloween was for at home, not at school. But that's a whole separate conversation. 

I'm talking about the parents who take their last stand believing that doing Halloween as a family is evil. They believe they are opening the doors to hell by attending a trunk or treat or letting their kids dress up as Spiderman and Elsa. Like just the very act of acknowledging Halloween is sinful and a testament to the depravity of our fallen world or whatever. 

And I get that. 

Many even choose to do Reformation Day instead and, honestly, if I knew anything about Reformation Day, I might do the same. 

But here's the thing: refusing to let your kids dress up in a costume or pass out candy to friends isn't going to move the needle in your parenting journey. It's going to likely just create a weird divide you have to explain to your small child.

I went through this too, thinking that I wasn't going to do Halloween with my kids. See, because I don't care about Halloween one way or the other, it would've been really easy to be like We're not doing Halloween. But when did I care about Halloween? When I was a kid. I dressed up in costumes and went to parties and trick-or-treated for years....and I am not a devil worshipper as an adult. If we're being generous, I'm totally indifferent on Halloween. So taking a walk on the side of reality would let us see that Halloween is simply a fun tradition for kids. I'm not looking at it deeper than that. 

If your neighborhood has all those weird scary decorations, eh. I don't like that. But carving pumpkins and corn mazes and costumes and trick-or-treating are core childhood memories. I remember Halloween parties my mom did when I was a kid. I remember parties and parades at school. I remember trick-or-treating. I remember all my costumes. It's really fun for kids. 

Over the last few years, my kids have done parties at school and we did trunk-or-treat at Scott's unit. This year, with no school and no unit, I took them to Boo at the Zoo with friends and we'll trick-or-treat in the neighborhood on Friday. 

Here's my plan: for years, we've had no trick-or-treaters because we've lived in the country. This year, I'm going to just leave a container of treat bags on the porch with a sign and the light on. They can take one, they can take them all, I don't care. I'm assuming we'll just walk the block. 

But what I've wanted to do for years was to hand out gospel tracts. I've just never had a chance. This year, I started thinking about the best way to facilitate that. I started looking online for something I could print out and put in a treat bag. Nothing. Nothing that was free was cute. Anything cute had to be ordered from Etsy or something. No thanks. I had an idea, based on something I heard on a podcast years ago. So I made my own. 

I put this file into my Teachers Pay Teachers for anyone to download for free, mostly because I was so annoyed that I couldn't find what I wanted online. I want it available to everyone if you want something to hand out as well! 

It's not fancy or long, but it's super basic and that's what the point is: the less the wording, the more likely it will be read. 

Of all the things to make your last stand on as a parent, I just don't think taking the Christian position of "Halloween is all bad and we refuse to acknowledge it" is the best use of your time. 

The hill I chose last night, for example, was to make Wells stay up late cleaning his room because his little friends came over and destroyed the place. And then he created this out of pipe cleaners:

We have bigger problems, as parents, than costumes on Halloween.