Marci Coombs

This Weekend:

2020-02-03T17:17:00.002-08:00

* Eye appointment for Carson on Friday.

I'm not sure what I was thinking scheduling his appointment at Costco on a Friday....2 days before the Super Bowl!

The place was sheer madness!!

* We helped get the boys off to a winter campout with their church group on Friday night and then London and I had a girls night.

We ate dinner at the same place I raved about last week...

When I find a place I like....I sorta become obsessed.

{Seriously...try their garlic cheese knots!!}

And before you think to yourself that all we eat is junk....

We did order a healthy green salad before the knots came out 😝. But then....the server talked us into dessert...

Apparently this place makes their cheesecake fresh EVERY morning and they sell out every night. Friday night's flavor was Oreo and it did NOT disappoint!!

{London and I may have fought over the last bite.}

* We attended a beautiful outdoor wedding reception afterwards....

Isn't this idea for a wedding favor adorable?

Who doesn't love a good ole fashioned lollipop?

* Back at home Joe and I Dateline'd the rest of the night.

{Yes...I just made Dateline a verb}.

* Saturday was Girl Time part 2.

London got staright A's last quarter and I've been promising her a manicure ever since! She chose purple nail polish and my heart about burst!

Grocery shopped...

Ugh...who else LOATHES putting away their groceries?

* Churchey-church on Sunday.

I filled in for the Primary pianist and man alive it was crazy in there!! Kids were bouncing off of the walls. So fun though. Playing the piano in primary is hands down one of my favorite things to do.

* We attended our yearly Super Bowl party with dear friends on Sunday night.

So...much...food!!

We laughed, ate and laughed some more.

I rooted for the Chiefs {ya baby!} and was one of the ones appalled at the half time show.

Don't get me wrong - both ladies are incredibly talented!

We just had a room full of teenage boys watching with us and it was TOTALLY awkward. I'm not one to blush much but.....I did indeed with this performance!! It couldn't end fast enough!! 😂😂😂

This Weekend:

2020-01-27T17:43:00.001-08:00

* Friday started out with a sickie at home.

Ok, so she wasn't 100% sickie, but she did have a sore throat and we had a big weekend ahead of us so I didn't want to take any chances and I kept her home.

And what does any good mom do when her child stays home from school?

She takes her to try a new bagel shop of course!

😜

I've been wanting to try this little spot for awhile and it did not disappoint! Locals: It's in Queen Creek and I would def recommend it!

* Date night Friday night.

We met Joe's twin and his wife for dinner at another {new to us} spot that I'm already dying to go back to -

Brooklyn V's Pizza . This place is legit New York Italian food and their garlic cheese knots were what dreams are made of.

After dinner we saw...

Image

You guys! This movie was SO good. Like wayyyy better than I expected. It was Joe's bday weekend and he got to choose the movie. I 100% expected to go to this movie, eat popcorn and fall asleep.

😅

BUT IT WAS SO GOOD!

A great mystery movie for sure.

* Saturday was Joe's birthday!!

We celebrated that morning by taking him to try out our new favorite donut spot - Duck Donuts!

It did not disappoint!

Afterwards, we packed up and headed up to north Phoenix for the rest of the weekend for a little staycation. The kids had a dance competition all weekend and instead of driving back and forth, we just made a little vacay out of it.

The kids did SO great!

Watching them perform and light up on stage is one of my very favorite things to do!

We stayed up way too late, ate out way too much....

And had so much fun together!!

And now Joe's shirt at the end of the weekend says it all.

😂😂😂

Fun Finds Friday.

2020-01-24T14:37:00.002-08:00

Target's $ spot is on point right now!!

Isn't that the cutest phrase ever?

There are SO many things you can do with these silver trays.

Who doesn't LOVE cute, felt garland?

These wrappers make for some easy-peasy Valentine treats!

Do you live in a place that actually snows a lot?

I've never seen these before but they look like SNOW much fun! {See what I did there? 😜}

And since we live in a place that NEVER snows...I thought these looked like a fun alternative....

FAKE snowballs!

Having an ice-cream themed party soon?

Wouldn't these canvas bags make fun little party favors?

Lastly...over at Wal-mart....

I about died when I saw this darling romper.

I would've snatched it right up BUT....London is sadly at the age now where she has an opinion in pretty much everything she wears. I've found it easier if I take a pic of what I like, show it to her, and THEN go and buy it upon approval.

LoL.

She's 10.

Sigh.

{Side note: This cute romper DID get approved! I'm going back next week! Think they have them in matching MOM sizes? 😂}

2fer Tuesday.

2020-01-21T15:43:00.005-08:00

2 TRADER JOE'S FINDS:

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about this orzo salad before but it definitely deserves a repost.

It's SUPER yummy {minus the olives, bleh!} and super filling!

If you're not buying your greeting cards from Trader Joe's, you're doing it all wrong. They are only 99 cents and they are DARLING! ALL of them!! It's my very favorite place for cards.

2 FUNNY FINDS:

I sent this to my older sister who's single and we got a good laugh out of it.

{Side note: I have a cute sis who's SINGLE! Anyone know someone?!?😉}

Yup!

😂😂😂

I grew up in a family that laughed at EVERYTHING!

This Weekend:

2020-01-20T13:59:00.005-08:00

* Friday morning I met a dear friend for breakfast at a new donut shop that opened up close to our neighborhood.

It's called Duck Donuts {locals: it's on Az Ave and Ocotillo} and it's pretty much TO DIE FOR!!!!

We each got a breakfast sandwich.....ON A DONUT!!!

My friend got hers drizzled with a maple glaze and I totally wish I'd have had mine done that same way!

The whole thing literally MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH!

Their donuts are made fresh and served HOT!

I brought home a box for my kids for an afterschool treat and they gobbled them right up!

{Poor Joe...I need to go back and buy more!}

* Went grocery shopping afterwards.

Who else shops at Frys?

It's pretty much my favorite....they have the BEST digital coupons!

* Once back home you better believe I changed right back into my jammies

{because who doesn't at 11 am, am I right?😏} and watched more of my latest ob-sesh on Netflix...

You guys!!!!

I finished it over the weekend and it was SOOOOOO good!

{Coach Monica is pretty much my favorite person

ever right now}. I fell in love with all of characters and I was sad when it ended!!

* We ordered takeout from Floridinos Friday night and started watching....

Oh my goodness....another good one, guys!

So much stuff I wasn't even aware of with this true crime.

Mind blowing, really.

And sad.

Sad that someone SO talented just let it all go to waste.

* Saturday the kids had dance practice.

Their first competition of the season is next weekend and we are SO excited to go watch and cheer them on!!

* Date night Saturday night at the Gilbert Temple.

It was OH SO NICE to be there together.

I always feel so much clarity when I'm there.

Joe wanted pizza after and I wanted burgers so we settled with one of our favorite taco joints for dinner....

Rusty Taco!

Hands down the very best chips and queso in ALL of the valley + they have breakfast tacos ALL DAY LONG!

* Churchey-church on Sunday.

London was tired of her brothers not being able to tie their own ties {shhhh} so she had Joe teach her, she pretty much picked it up in about 5 minutes and then she proceeded to rub it in their face for the rest of the day.

It was an EXTRA special Sunday because Grant was set apart as a Priest and Carson was set apart as a Teacher.

{These are groups within the Priesthood of our church and they have lots of special meaning}.

So proud of these two.

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE that they're so close in age?

Joe's parents and my dad were able to be apart of it which made it extra, EXTRA special.

{My poor mom was at home sick 👎.}

It just seemed to be one of those occasions that made my heart wanna burst right outta my chest.

* We spent Sunday dinner over at Joe's twin brother's house with the rest of the Coombs clan.

SO fun getting together with everyone.

I don't know if my kids have realized yet how lucky they are to live SO close to all of their cousins. Getting together with family is always a highlight for us!

2fer Tuesday.

2020-01-14T15:49:00.001-08:00

2 MUST TRY FROZEN ENTREES:

I've tried LOTS of the Healthy Choice frozen steamer bowls.

I thought for sure when I pulled this one out of the oven it was gonna taste like barf because ya just never know!

You guys!!! It was ridiculously DELICIOUS!!!

Like...it might just be my new favorite kind!!!

These ramen chicken bowls can be found at Costco and THEY ARE SO GOOD!!!

Tons of flavor!

2 RANDOMS:

This is making me laugh SO hard right now...

And this new song is my new FAVE....

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Listen HERE.

This Weekend:

2020-01-13T15:23:00.001-08:00

We made it through our first week back to school after Christmas break!

I celebrated Friday morning with my friend by going to breakfast at The Henhouse.

So. Dang. Delish.

When you eat there for breakfast...you don't have to eat again until dinner, you're SO stuffed!

Grocery shopped afterwards....

{Grocery shopping on a Friday is ALWAYS better than grocery shopping on Saturday. Who's with me?}

The kids had dance and hangouts on Friday night and so Joe and I stayed in, watched Dateline and ordered take out from LoCal Eats. {Pretty much the perfect night if you ask me.}

We shared their carne asada fries - - oh goodness!

Best. Ever!

* Saturday was spent at the dance studio with other dance moms, blinging out London's competition costumes with rhinestones.

The things we do for our kids!!!

* Baby shower for my cute friend on Saturday night.

She's having her fifth baby - bless her!!

So fun to get together with friends and visit.

* Churchey-church on Sunday.

London sang a solo in Sacrament meeting...

She sang this new primary song for 2020 and it's hands down my new favorite!

I had to give a talk.

I shared this qoute...

Which is also a new favorite of mine.

{Wish I knew who said it?}

* Dinner at our friend's house on Sunday night.

My sweet friend just knew after speaking at church that I wouldn't want to come home and cook dinner.

Isn't that nice?

Star Wars Valentines.

2020-01-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

Love is in the air!

I've got alllll of my Valentine decor officially out and it's time to start thinking about Valentine cards!!

The last couple of years my #1 Valentine card in my

Etsy shop has been....

I decided it was time to make a girl version of it so this year I bring you....

I've also got....

And who doesn't LOVE Baby Yoda, am I right?!...

Lastly...because my popcorn tags at Christmas time are always a hit...I decided it was time to create some POPCORN themed Valentines....

You can find ALL of my printable Valentines in my Etsy shop HERE!

New Printables for 2020!

2020-01-06T15:51:00.004-08:00

2020 is here and I'm finally rolling out some NEW printables for the year that I'm SUPER excited about!!

Since we're all studying the Book of Mormon this year I thought these gumballs would make a fun little incentive for primary aged children...

The youth theme for 2020 is GO and DO and who doesn't love some warm fuzzy socks??

I even made up a birthday tag that could be use for ministering or Relief Society sisters!

I came across this quote from President Nelson not too long ago {it's from his Oct. 2015 talk, "A Plea to My Sisters"}...

And I just knew I had to make it into something.

If you haven't ever read the talk, I strongly encourage you to do so!

Another quote I love, to go along with the Go and Do theme...

And lastly, yet another quote that inspires me from President Nelson....

This one can be used as birthday tag....or not!

I've created it both ways!

For ALL of my new tags you can find them in my Etsy shop HERE!

Happy Browsing!

This Weekend:

2020-01-06T15:03:00.003-08:00

* Friday morning I woke up to these cuties downstairs...

Nothin' like a cousin sleepover!

Of course Cubby always wants in on the action, too.

We spent most of the day at home and then headed out to dinner with the kids around 5.

Elmer's Tacos baby!!!!

All was well until we had to have the store manager call the cops because of a creeper who wouldn't stop staring through the window at us. True story. {For those of you who don't know...Elmer's isn't really in necessarily the best part of the 'hood. The extremes we go to for good tacos, right?}

* Most of my Saturday was spent working on NEW! printables for my Etsy shop for 2020.

I'm soooo excited to share with you what I've been working on and will get to typing up that post as soon as I'm done with this one!

* We met my sis, nephew and parents for pizza at Buddyz on Saturday night.

If you're local and you LOVE chicago style pizza - - this place is a MUST!!!

Back at home while the boys hung out with friends, Joe continued working on some new office furniture😂

* Churchey-church on Sunday.

Fell asleep on the couch afterwards watching one of Joe's picks from Disney + ....... "Flight of the Navigators"....does anyone else remember this movie?

* Pot roast for dinner...it had been too long since our last roast.

Tomorrow the kiddies go back to school and while I am a little giddy to have a little peace and quiet back during the day, I'm mostly sad that our break is over.

We have LOVED not having a schedule and

not having to BE anywhere at a specific time.

We've LOVED staying up way too late and sleeping in.

And it's been OH SO NICE to not have to nag my kids about school work. Anyone else feel this way?

Sigh.

There is some good getting back to schedule, I know.

But I'm just not quite ready for it yet.

January 2020 Ministering // Friendship Tags.

2020-01-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

Happy 2020!!!

I know I say this all the time but doesn't it seem like just yesterday that it was 1999 and we were ringing in the NEW millennium?!?

AND NOW IT'S 2020!!!!!

As sad as I get taking down my Christmas decorations, which I'll do begrudingly today....I do like the feel of a fresh new year. New possibilities. New opportunities. New ideas.

Today is your day to start FRESH!

Make ministering to a friend a PRIORITY!

Make re-connecting with a friend a PRIORITY.

Make someone's day, week or month! by dropping off a little New Year's bubbly!!

These tags can be attached to whatever bubbly floats your boat! Martinelli's, soda....you name it!

Consider this my New Year's gift to YOU!

😉

I've got LOTS more fun stuff in store!

To download my FREE tags click HERE.

Just one favor?

Please don't copy these tags and call them your own.

And PLEASE tag me on social media if you use them -

I LOVE seeing what you all come up with!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

This Weekend:

2019-12-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

* Friday was our designated day to go shopping and let the kids use up some of their Christmas gift cards and money.

Seriously....how am I old enough to have TWO teenage boys that are old enough to care about the clothes they wear and actually enjoy shopping at the mall?

I feel like it was just yesterday when I myself, was bopping around Fair Oaks mall as a teenager in Virginia....shopping at Wet Seal and Contempo.

😂😂😂

We discovered a few things on this shopping trip...

Carson LOATHES trying on clothes.

And he hates even more...waiting for his brother to try on clothes.

London has a REALLY hard time making up her mind.

When there's a sale and it's 'Buy 3, Get 3 free'...some serious decision making has to go on.

* Friday night we had a girls night with my side of the family.

We ate dinner at the Olive Garden which was PERFECT because it was a cold and rainy day and their Gnocchi soup completely hit the spot!

And then we went to the movies and saw...

Image

Ok here are my thoughts on it:

It was a cute movie with cute characters BUT....it was SUPER hard to follow.

Like it's not a kids movie at all because London {age 10} had no idea what was going on. Nor did I. Or my mom. Or my one sister. 😂😂😂

Maybe it would've helped to read the book?

LoL.

They kept doing flash back scenes and then switching to current scenes and it was just too much.

There. I said it.

Don't hate me.

* Saturday was spent loafing around.

Loafing has been a common theme around our house this Christmas break and I am AOK with it!

I did manage to put on a bra for a few minutes and run to the grocery store + Crumbl to try their new Gingerbread cookie before it was gone.

{SO yummy! VERY ginger-y!}

We ordered chinese takeout Saturday night and loafed some more.

* Churchey-church on Sunday.

Grant gave a talk on the new mutual theme "Go and Do" and knocked it outta the park.

For reals...when did Grant become SO MUCH TALLER than my parents?!? How did this happen?

* I finished up "The Crown" on Sunday night.

I LOVE THAT SHOW!!!

I'm sad I have to wait again for the next season.

I LOVED the new characters.

Especially Phillip.

And did anyone else finish the series feeling bad for Prince Charles? Who would've thought, right?!

Christmas Day.

2019-12-27T14:32:00.001-08:00

Christmas morning began at 4:45 am when I got up to go to the bathroom and heard that my kids were already up waiting and giggling in their bedrooms. I chose to ignore them and go back to bed until 7:00 which is when they were allowed to wake us up to go downstairs.😂

Santa came! Even for Cubby!!

Seriously wish we owned some stock in Vans.

Yup! He ASKED for this shirt!

After Santa gifts, we opened up gifts from under the tree.

The kids all got their ornaments.

Grant's this year was.....a Hershey's kiss!

Why you ask?

Because he got his very FIRST kiss this year from a girl.

😱

We ate a big breakfast and lounged around in our jammies until it was time to go over to my parent's house for the rest of the day.

My mom had her table set so pretty!!

Before we feasted....we took a few family pics.

My sister reminded us that this may be the last family picture with ALL of us Lamoreaux's in it for 10 years - - if everyone in line goes on a mission! Crazy to think.

The entire Lam Fam Bam.

Grandma and Grandpa with all of their grandkids.

We opened up cousins presents, grandparent presents and doggie presents.

Golden Girls lovers....isn't this shirt that I bought for Adam AWESOME?!

We continued on our Christams tra-dish of all going to see a movie together. This year it was....

Image

Oh my goodness, I LOVED this movie SO much!

{All of us did!}

It brought back SO much nostalgia for me.

Tom Hanks was phenomenal as Mr. Rogers.

The world NEEDS MORE Fred Rogers out there

that is for sure!

We went back to my parents house afterwards for dessert and games!! My brother makesTHE most DELICIOUS homemade pies. Like - he puts Kneaders to shame!

It was such a lovely day...I really didn't want it to end.

I was SO stuffed by the time I went to bed that night.

My heart AND my stomach.

💗💗💗

Christmas Eve.

2019-12-26T13:47:00.002-08:00

We had such a lovely Christmas this year.

I feel like the time from Thanksgiving through Christmas was just wonderful and I'm sad to see it all come to an end. I'll keep my Christmas decor up until New Year's to revel in it all for just a little bit longer.

Today....I continue my tradition on the day after Christmas of staying in my jammies all day and sitting on the couch all day, only to get up to go to the bathroom, eat and refill my Diet Dr. Pepper.

Oh - and UPDATE MY BLOG!!!

Yes, I'm back.

I finally have some down time and it feels wonderful.

I have so many fun things to share with you in these next few weeks and into the new year!!

I'm also looking to get my blog re-done....

You know...a new look, maybe a swtich from Blogger to WordPress or something else? If anyone has ANY tips and ideas of people who can make this happen for me {I'd much rather pay someone than figure it out myself because let's be honest, I'm sort of a tech moron}....

please feel free to message me!

Anyhoo - - here's a recap of our Christmas Eve.

I got up early-ish and picked up the rolls I ordered from

Rise Up Bakery {for Christmas dinner}.

Locals - - it's in Gilbert and their bakery is MY FAVORITE!!!!

If you haven't tried it - you MUST!

We continued our tradition of decorating a gingerbread house on Christmas Eve...

We started this when the kids were little to help pass the time by on a day that seems SO super long for kids.

The tradition just stuck and my kids {thankfully} still get excited to do it.

While the kids were working on that, I finished up the final touches on my tables for Christmas Eve dinner.

Aren't those scalloped PAPER plates adorable?

They're from the Pioneer Woman and they're my FAVORITE find of all at Wal-mart. Yes, WAL-MART!

We had a mexican FIESTA with

my side of the family for dinner

{minus my one sister and her family

who were at their in-laws}....

We feasted on homemade tamales {that I bought from someone because have you ever tried making tamales?!? THEY ARE A PROCESS!!!} green chile shredded beef tacos, homemade refried beans, cilantro lime rice, cilantro ranch, chips and alllll the fixins. It was all SO yummy and I think EVERY Christmas EVE from here on out should include mexican food.

We played a white elephant game that was SUPER fun.

Everyone brought their 'A' game when it came to the gifts.

A few favorites were....

The Donald Trump paper weight//pencil holder

Monkey Butt

A sweet pic of my sister as a teenager

{yes...her glasses were REALLY that big!}

A People of Wal-mart adult coloring book

{can you EVEN?!}

But my dad came out the REAL winner with $20 cold hard cash. Oh....and London...

She scored the beloved BURRITO blanket and she couldn't have been more thrilled!

We watched THIS nativity video which is hands down my new favorite portrayal of the Christ child. Everything seems so accurate and I can't help but cry when the Wisemen finally make to see our Savior, a few years after his birth.

We ate delicious desserts made my brother Kirk and Adam and the kids carried on our tradition of opening up Christmas jammies before bed time.

So much work and effort was put into making this day a success and boy oh boy it was worth it! Our home was filled with the ones we love, good food and lots of laughter.

All of my favorite things!

An Update...

2019-12-08T20:24:00.002-08:00

I am indeed alive and well!

Thank you for all of your sweet messages asking if I've been ok. It's been almost 3 weeks since my last blog entry - - I think that's the longest I've ever gone without typing.

Things are fine but I've been OH SO BUSY.

The busy-ness of the Thanksgiving // Christmas season is crazy enough, but add to that raising teenage kids {who knew teenagers had so many emotions?}, running an Etsy shop that BOOMS at Christmas time, family time, decorating my house and addressing and stamping Christmas cards....I feel like there just has not been NEARLY enough time during the day and my little ole blog has taken the backseat because of it. Will you forgive me?

Here's a recap of what I've been up to....

MOST of the hours during my day have been spent upstairs in my craft room completing orders for my Etsy shop.

And when I'm not in my craft room....I'm at the Post Office, shipping out packages of completed items.

We did manage to sneek away up to the mountains for Thanksgiving with Joe's side of the family and it was JUST the break we've all been needing.

It SNOWED which was pretty magical for us desert rats.

I lasted about 5 minutes out in it.

My kids lasted well over 5 hours in it.

We made lots of crafts, played lots of game and ate way too much. It was pretty perfect.

This past weekend, London and I continued on our very favorite Christmas tradition of all by attending

The Nutcracker ballet.

We've been going since she was about 2 or 3 years old and we look forward to it EVERY year.

Last night we headed over to my brother's home where we were treated to the yummiest dinner served on the finest of china.

His house is pretty dreamy....but it's EXTRA dreamy at Christmas time.

We attended our 2nd year of the Luminaries at the Desert Botanical Gardens with my side of the family...

It rained but we still managed to have fun and make some memories. My dad even rode one of these around {much to his chagrin...}

Lastly, this weekend we attended our kids'

Christmas dance recital....

I BEAM when they're on stage.

They're so much fun to watch.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So there you have it.

That's where I've been in a nutshell.

This week I hope to: finish up all of my Etsy orders that need to be shipped out, prepare for and host 2 parties at our home, attend Joe's work party, finally figure out what we are going to do for our Christmas neighbor gifts and do some more shopping on Amazon for Christmas presents.

I have SO MANY NEW FUN things to share with you guys coming up!! Bear with me and I hope to be back to my regular blogging schedule SOON!!!

2fer Tuesday.

2019-11-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

2 THANKSGIVING RECIPES TO TRY:

Homemade Creamed Corn

Mostly Homemade Mom

This one is SO yummy AND...it can be made in the crockpot!

Lamoreaux Family Dip

This one's a family favorite.

We serve it as an appetizer on Thanksgiving and it's SUPER yummy!

Here's what you'll need:

1/4 tsp. salt

1 - 8 ounce package of cream cheese

2 Tbs. milk

1 Tbs. grated onion

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup sour cream

1 - 2 1/2 ounce package of dried Buddig beef

1/4 c. finely chopped green peppers

Mix cream cheese with milk, onion, garlic salt, pepper, salt and sour cream.

Cream until smooth.

Stir in chopped beef and green peppers.

Serve with crackers and ENJOY!

2 THINGS MAKING ME LAUGH

RIGHT NOW:

You guys I laughed WAY too hard for WAY too long at this one!

This Weekend:

2019-11-18T14:57:00.001-08:00

* Friday morning errands with a sidekick.

Poor Londy was home sick for a few days last week with croup. No fun.

We made my daily stop at the Post Office {which I will say has gotten much, much faster lately.}

I worked on Etsy orders while London watched about 4 different movies.

*Friday night I finished {yes! finished!} putting on the final touches to all of our Christmas decor and we put up our kids' trees in their bedrooms.

I'm thinking London's room needs a little more pink, no?

LOVE the tradition we started when the kids were babies of giving them a new ornament each year {usually something that has to do with that year}. For instance, in 6th grade, Carson played the drums and so he got a little drumset ornament. So fun unwrapping them each year and hanging them on their trees.

* Dateline and sodas on Friday night.

If I have ONE pet peeve with Dateline - - it's that they make 2 hour episodes that should only be an hour.

I mean really, how much can they drag it out sometimes?

{I'm sorry Dateline. I promise you're still my #1}.

*Saturday the kids had dance and so I snuck off to run some errands and hit up a cute little local boutique...

My motto in life is right below:

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to stop by TJ Maxx. On a Saturday.

Good idea it was NOT, but....

I scored the cutest little 4 foot flocked pre-lit tree for our family room....because one tree just isn't enough I guess 😉

{Seriously though....never again will I do that store on the weekend}.

* Saturday night Joe and I took the boys to see THE cutest movie out right now.....

Image

Oh my goodness, we loved this sweet story.

It's definitely quirky but oh so sweet.

{Fun Fact: The actor who plays Hitler is also the guy who wrote and directed the film}.

* No churchey-church for London and I on Sunday.

* Fun friends over for dinner on Sunday night.

We introduced them to our butt rolls....I feel like our friendship is really going well 😂😂😂

This Weekend:

2019-11-12T13:33:00.002-08:00

* Friday morning started out at Swig with a visit with my sweet friend over a Diet Coke and a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie.

Swig's pumpkin choc chip cookies with cream cheese?

Not bad!

* Grocery shopped afterwards...

Holy Moly! Fry's had some good deals!!

* Date night Friday night at the Gilbert temple.

It was just where we needed to be.

Things are so still and peaceful inside of the temple.

It was nice to just sit and be with my own thoughts.

* Tacos afterwards...

It was Joe's first time at Rusty Taco and he LOVED it.

I love it too!

Their breakfast tacos + chips and queso are my favorite!

* Back at home for the rest of the night I worked on

Etsy orders....

There's something very therapuetic about working around in my craft room with the windows open and Christmas music playing. Yes....Christmas music.

I could not hold off any longer!

* Saturday morning London and I hit up a cute, little local boutique nearby.

She felt like she had hit the jackpot that day because I let her get Mountain Dew Voltage on our Circle K run.

{Don't judge}.

* The kids had dance all of Saturday afternoon.

Quick nourishment at the TB afterwards...

And yup...even more Etsy orders Saturday night.

{I 💜missionary ornaments!}

* Churchey-church on Sunday.

Carson gave a sweet talk in Sacrament meeting about 'Asking the Lord in faith'. I was so proud of him. Hearing my children share their testimonies of our Savior makes my heart about want to leap right out of my chest in gratitude.

Also: the dude who sat in front of us in Sacrament wore his sunglasses backwards and Joe and I...being the 5 year olds that we are...could NOT stop laughing at the fact that we had to stare at our reflections for the ENTIRE meeting.

Also, also: Thank you to whomever hung up these sweet signs in the womens restrooms of our ward building.

Needed it!

* We spent Sunday evening over at my parent's house.

It was our annual tra-dish of having the grandkids help my mom decorate her Christmas tree.

Also, per tradish, my brother made his famous Peanut blossom cookies.

Don't let Joe fool you.

He didn't help.

Just taste tested.

Lastly...we drew names for our 'Cousins Gift Exchange' which the kids love so much each Christmas!

It's completely normal to have a doggy gift exchange for all of the dogs in the family too, right?

Please say yes.

We are slowly on our way to becoming that weird dog family.

November Ministering Tags.

2019-11-07T15:09:00.003-08:00

Happy November!!

I've been up to my eyeballs making orders for my Etsy shop so I've got bad news and good news.

The bad news is - - I don't actually have a fresh, NEW tag to download for the month of November.

The GOOD NEWS is......I've compiled THREE of my favorites from years past for you to use again.

Surely, you haven't ever used ALL of them, have you?

😜

Enjoy! And please tag me on IG - @azmarci with what you come up with!

Download HERE

January Ministering // Friendship tags

February Ministering // Friendship tags

March Ministering // Friendship tags

April Ministering // Friendship tags

May Ministering // Friendship tags

June Ministering // Friendship Tags

August Ministering // Friendship Tags

September Ministering // Friendship Tags

2fer Tuesday.

2019-11-05T20:00:00.001-08:00

2 NEW MUST TRYS:

Picked this up a few weeks ago from Bath and Body Works and it is my NEW favorite scent!! Smells SO good!

These are absolutely delish!

We bought a rotisserie chicken last week and made sandwiches with these sliders and they were SO VERY YUMMY! Found em in the bread section at our grocery store.

2 EASY THANKSGIVING TREATS:

Chocolate covered Oreos, Flipz chocolate pretzels, candy corns and candy eyballs.

Chocolate pudding cups with construction paper!

Clever, huh?

This Weekend:

2019-11-04T11:21:00.000-08:00

* Friday morning errands which included a trip to the $ bins at Target.

More happy than you know to see that they're slowly putting out alllll of their Christmas goodies!

A quick stop by Goodwill with a browse though the book section, of course. IG stories will be updated later with my funniest finds 😂

* Lunch with Joe and his mom and sis at the hospital.

{Banner Desert cafeteria - your Philly Cheesesteak did not disappoint!}

Joe's dad recently had surgery and is thankfully back home now recovering!

* We stayed in Friday night, ordered takeout and hunkered down on the couch for a 2 hour Dateline.

We really know how to live on the edge.

* Saturday I tore down alllll of my Halloween and Fall stuff.

This year is a first.

I'm going STRAIGHT to Christmas now and skipping over ALL of my Thanksgiving decor. Before you say I'm crazy, I do have 2 good reasons....

1. We'll be out of town this year for Thanksgiving and so I want everything put up and out before we leave town so that we can come back to a Christmas-y home.

2. The lights on my 9 foot pre-lit tree went out last year {ugh} and instead of buying a brand new one this year {they're like $400-$500!} I am going to strand each and every branch with fresh new lights. With my mom's help of course, because she is the stranding genius. Anyhoo - - this might just take forever because my tree is so big, so I'm getting started on it EARLY!

* Saturday night we attended a SURPRISE 40th birthday party for my cute sis-in-law Tauna.

We ate soups and rolls and s'mores outside and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

November in AZ is the start of our DREAMY season.

* We dropped by Crumbl afterwards to pick up a thank you gift for a friend...

Bad pic, but we tried their Midnight Madness cookie and YUM! it might just be a new fave.

{Joe said it tasted more like a brownie. I'm ok with that!}

* Churchey-church on Sunday.

I couldn't make it through our closing song without tearing up.

Yet again.

This song just does it to me.

The words, the melody....it's my favorite!

It seems like each time I sing it, a new line stands out to me.

* Sunday dinner at my parent's house.

My mom's roast and potatoes always taste better than mine.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On tap this week:

* Etsy orders, etsy orders and more etsy orders.

If you haven't gotten your ornament orders in yet....you'll wanna do it sooner than later as I do sell out each year.

* Putting up the Christmas tree!!

{Which means technically, it's AOK to start playing Christmas music now too, huh? 😃}

* Uber driving my kids EVERYWHERE.

Anyone else feel this way lately?

😝

Coombs Halloween Party 2019: Part 2.

2019-10-29T17:35:00.001-07:00

This year instead of our usual FEAR FACTOR gross yourself out games....I mixed things up with some Halloween MINUTE TO WIN IT games! I think everyone was happy about that because no one had to eat pigs feet this time!😛

ROUND 1 - Fruit by the Foot Challenge

One person from each team had to eat an entire Fruit by the Foot with no hands. Just their mouth. First one who finished and opened their mouth with nothing left inside, WINS!

Round 2: The Peep Face Game

Whoever successfully sticks the MOST Peeps to their face within one minute, WINS! {They had to get creative. The most successful way for this was by biting the ends off of the Peeps, licking them, and then sticking them onto their skin.}

ROUND 3: Candy Corn Stick Ups

Whoever succesfully sticks the MOST candy corns standing straight up on their plates, WINS! {This one is tricky because they tend to fall over. Again, biting the ends off, helped!}

ROUND 4: The Licorice Challenge

2 players on each team particpated in this one.

Each duo stuck an end of a piece of licorice rope in their mouths and ate towards the middle. First duo that kissed {or finished! think Lady and the Tramp} WON!

My last 2 games were a little different.

We had a NAME THAT CANDYBAR challenge...

I gave the little kids the easier ones like Reeses and Snickers and then the adults the harder candybars like Whatchamacalit and Clark Bars.

This one was still done in teams, each member of the team took a turn guessing. They had to close their eyes and I placed the small piece of candybar into their mouths.

{Fun Fact: I've never had a Chic-o-stick OR a Big Hunk.

And I'm ok with that.}

The team {family} who had the MOST points after these 5 games won a Dairy Queen gift card!!!!

Lastly, just for the kids....I made up a ginormous Saran Wrap ball.

I stuffed inside of it everything from candy, to bubble gum, to glow sticks and slinkys and the big jackpot in the middle which was a $5 bill!

If you've never played this game before, it's super easy.

All you need is a pair of dice.

One person begins to unwrap the Saran Wrap ball while the person next to them rolls the dice. Once the person next to them rolls a DOUBLE - - the ball is passed onto the next person and so is the dice. Whatever items fall out while you're unwrapping - you get to keep!

We had so much fun!!!

Grateful for good friends {and my family!} who are all such GOOD sports!

This Weekend:

2019-10-28T18:17:00.002-07:00

* Friday morning was errands, errands, errands.

I stopped at my very least favorite place on the planet {Costco} to pick up my contact lenses and managed to get a few tiny samples while I was there...

There are so many reasons why I loathe Costco....one being their parking lot. It gives me severe anxiety. I'll save my other reasons for another post.

* Friday night was our elementary school's annual Fall Ball.

London dressed up as 'Squints' from The Sandlot.

She and her bestie were determined to be twinzies this year.

Aren't they cute?

Oh and remember last year when London won her school song contest? I discovered Friday night that not only do they sing it at every assembly....but they've printed the lyrics onto a BIG banner and hung it in their cafeteria, too!

Seriously....I was never as cool as her in school.

* Last weekend we had our dear friends from Heber, Utah staying with us and so on Saturday morning Lori and I ditched the dads and kids for a much needed pedicure.

We then picked up the dad's, continued to ditch the kids and went out for a double date to one of our very favorite spots: Floridino's.

* Saturday night was our ward's Trunk or Treat.

We have a ranch right by our house that we always hold ours at. It's fun because they have a big rodeo arena that the kids can run amuck in along with horses to see.

Is this not THE CUTEST 'Frozen' trunk you've ever seen?

Our friends go ALL OUT each year with their trunk and we LOVE seeing what they come up with!

* Sunday night family dinner at Joe's brother's house.

Our sweet niece turned 3 so we celebrated with all things PUPPY including the most adorable HANDMADE puppy pinata that my SIL made.

{She's incredibly talented!}

I wish I had remembered to take a pic of the front side!

Coombs Halloween Party 2019.

2019-10-23T13:58:00.003-07:00

I know, I know...I've been M.I.A.

Do you ever feel like your life is just on fast forward?

I feel like ever since last week I've been going 90 mph and have barely stopped long enough for a bathroom break!

Also - how is Halloween almost here?!?

Sigh.

Last weekend we held our annual Coombs Family Hallowen Party with some of our dearest friends.

It was SO much fun and I have SO much to share about it

{the menu, recipes, the games....} but today I'm sharing the costumes and favors I handed out.

EnJoY!

Our family went with a tv/movie theme, I guess...

The boys dressed up as Wayne and Garth from

"Wayne's World"....

London was Dwight from "The Office"...

And Joe and I were DA-vid and Moira from our very favorite TV show on Netflix: Schitt's Creek.

Not so sure about black hair on me 😅

DA-vid might just be my favorite tv character ever.

{I'm slightly obsessed with Dan Levy now.}

All of our friends dressed up as well...

This blow up giraffe might be the BIGGEST blow up costume I've ever seen!

Kip from Napoleon Dynamite, Miranda Sings and a sumo wrestler

Uncle Rico and Deb from Napoloen Dynamite

It was so much fun seeing everyone's costumes.

I wanted something EASY to hand out as party favors at the end of the night so.....

Each family got a box of pumpkin flavored Joe-Joe's because....a play on words is my jam 😎

* * * Tomorrow I'm sharing ALL of the games we played! There was a DQ gift card on the line for the winning family so it got pretty fierce 😏

Minestrone Soup Recipe.

2019-10-17T16:01:00.003-07:00

It's that time of the year where I'm hopping from one Goodwill store to the next, all in an attempt to gather everything for our Halloween costumes. I'm not a big dresser-upper but I WILL always dress up for the annual Halloween party that we throw at our house every year.

We have some family friends that we've been friends with since before kids and it's always SO fun getting together with them each year at our party.

I've been coming up with games, ideas, favors, etc. and I can't wait to share everything with you all next week!!

I also can't wait to share with you our costumes!!

{Fingers crossed...they all turn out as I have them envisioned!}

This year for our party, I'm serving 2 different soups with a spread of other stuff. One of the soups is a NEW recipe so I'll be sure to share it with you if it's a hit.

The other soup is one of our all time favorites....

SAUSAGE MINESTRONE.

It's super yummy and super easy because it's all thrown into the crockpot!

Image

And every year when it comes time for me to post this recipe, I realize that I have yet to take a pic of this yummy soup, usually because we snarf it all down too fast.

Anyhoo - the soup Nazi pic will have to do for another year.

😂

Sausage Minestrone Soup

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

2 cans diced tomatoes with garlic, onion and basil

{not mandatory to get this kind but it gives it extra flavor for sure.}

2 tsp. dried parsley

2 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

3/4 tsp dried and crushed rosemary

1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup diced onions

1 cup diced carrots

1 - 1 1/2 cup diced zuchinni

{I peeled most of mine}

1 can drained, dark red kidney beans

1 can drained, white navy beans

Throw ALL of this in the crockpot together. Mix it all up with a spoon so the seasonings go everywhere.

BROWN: 1 lb. sausage.

Drain and add to the crockpot.

Cook on low for 4 - 6 hours.

ABOUT AN HOUR BEFORE YOU PLAN TO EAT - - cook 1 cup of mini shell pasta {elbow pasta would work too!} per package instructions. Drain the pasta and add to the soup.

ALSO ADD: 1 can of Italian green beans, drained

Boom shacka lacka - - it is SO good. Serve with warm rolls and crackers to dip.