High Five for Friday #90 | Vacation Time!

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // September 30, 2016 // 7 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Tif, and Della! Come, read up on what we’ve been up to this week and get to know some amazing bloggers down below!

Today’s featured blogger is Tanya from Prairie Girl in the Big, Scary World! It’s always fun to feature bloggers that have been linking up with H54F for a long time! Tanya is a lifestyle blogger currently lives in Maryland but loves a good adventure! She just got back from a fun trip to Nashville, so swing over today and check out her trip highlights.

We are currently in Michigan visiting my parents. It’s been a fun but rainy trip so far! Our road trip was tons of fun but took longer than expected. So I thought I’d just quickly share our 5 favorite moments from our road trip drive.

1. We decided to leave at 2am Tuesday morning on the theory that it was early enough that both kids would go back to sleep. It worked for William! But Elizabeth stayed awake the entire drive. She fell asleep for about an hour the whole trip! HAHA! In fact, when I opened her door to wake her up, she immediately sat up and said “Is it time to go yet??”.

2. Even though the mountain part of our trip was dark, rainy and foggy, it was still pretty to see the hills that were up close.

3. If you’re ever doing a long road trip with kiddos, the BEST thing to do is stop at rest stops and haul a picnic with you. We had tons of fun eating on the run and playing in the grass. Our major stops were all in the Ohio countryside and it was so lovely!

Sure… This road trip to MI has taken us an extra 3 hours… And we were on the road at 2am this morning, BUT taking time to run in Ohio grass was mandatory during our lunch stop. #roadtrip #lunchstop #ohiolife

A photo posted by Katie (@ktcupoftea) on Sep 27, 2016 at 12:53pm PDT

4. Another amazing thing about road trips? Road trip snacks! I really didn’t actually need to pack a proper breakfast and lunch. We could have survived on snacks alone. Did you have a go-to road trip snack as a kid? We ALWAYS had plums… not sure why plums (one of those “fast acting fruits”) were important… but it seemed like a poor choice.

5. And is there anything better than just listening to random things while you drive? I love giving the local radio stations a cruise when we’re driving through. You never know what you’re going to get!

What was your highlight from the week? Can’t wait to hear about it!

I’m also linking up with Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre, 5 on Friday & Diary of a Real Housewife

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Menu Monday | New Recipes To Try

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // September 26, 2016 // 6 Comments

It’s the last Monday of the month! That means I’m teaming up with my friends Come Home for Comfort, Polka-Dotty Place and Wife Mommy Me to share our favorite recipes from this past month that you HAVE to try!

So… we tried quite a few new recipes this month… but I neglected to take a single picture! Which means that everything we tried was so delicious we didn’t stop long enough to snap. That’s an endorsement!

Here’s a rundown of what we tried!

Easy Pumpkin Muffins from A Touch of Grace (super moist!)

Applesauce Cake from Ever After in the Woods (Elizabeth saw a TV show that made applesauce cake, so this was a total random find, but SO delicious!)

Sweet Corn Chowder from Maebells (the only chowder my husband will eat!)

Harvest Quinoa Salad from Recipe Runner (so yummy and easy to make ahead)

Thai Red Curry with Vegetables from Cookie and Kate (our new favorite!)

After scanning my dinner Pinterest board I’m pleased to announce that I’ve tried about a quarter of what I’ve pinned (haha!). There are just so many fun recipes on Pinterest it’s impossible to keep up. I also noticed that my dinner board has quite a few varieties of curries and Mexican food.

What are some amazing recipes you’ve tried lately? Are you guilty of the Pinterest board that goes neglected like me?

Check out Come Home for Comfort, Wife Mommy Me and Polka-Dotty Place for their recommended recipes from this month!

We’ve also created a Pinterest board where we’ll be pinning all of our tested and approved recipes we find! Head on over and follow for more ideas!

Follow Whitney’s board New Recipes We Tried And Loved! on Pinterest.

High Five for Friday #89 | The Plague

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // September 23, 2016 // 19 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Tif, and Della! Come, read up on what we’ve been up to this week and get to know some amazing bloggers down below!

Today’s featured blogger is Lindsey from Brushing Our Way Through Life! Lindsey’s blog is all about family life while one person is going through intense education and training. Since I’ve lived through the medical journey (and lived to talk about it) I know her journey of supporting her husband while he is in dental school is no easy task. Lindsey is pregnant with their second child (hooray!) so she has a great roundup on her blog right now of a month’s worth of crock pot meals! Swing over and say hi to Lindsey!

Happy Fall!!! Around here, it’s been a pretty raining, overcast week, which helped make it feel more Fall-like. Woohoo!! But, this week didn’t exactly go as I had planned. Of course, when was the last time that happened?

1. This weekend was full of food with friends! After church we went to a friend’s house for lunch and it was just a hoot watching all the kids run around and play! We had such a fun time we didn’t get back home until about 5. That made for a super long day, but a fun day. On Sunday we had a birthday party to attend! I love when our weekend is filled with fun times with friends!

2. Tuesday morning we were getting read to go to school when Elizabeth announced that she had to “burp in the potty”. It was such a weird phrase… it threw me off. But I heard the word potty to I walked her over to the bathroom. And she puked…. I declared “no school!” and we settled down on the sofa to prepare for the plague by watching a hearty amount of Daniel Tiger. About 2 hours later…. my husband comes home from work. Same thing. The plague.

Thankfully, I never got it. And as far as I can tell, William isn’t sick either. Hand washing and hand sanitizer works, people.

3. So we’ve been desperate for fun things to do inside, instead of just constant TV. I hauled down my husband’s old set of Brio trains and Elizabeth loved it! We sent up a huge track and she just chased trains all over. Anyone else grow up with a set of these?

4. I’ve been desperate to get out of the house without sick kids in tow, so Thursday night we had a girls’ night get-together at a coffee shop. It was SUCH a fun time! I had to chuckle, though. I was digging through my purse to find lip stick and realized I was still toting around a teether…. you know you’re a mom when….

5. Speaking of finding teethers in purses, William is getting into the “everything in the mouth” phase. Watch out fingers! And he’s now starting to “play” with toys and books. I’ve hauled out a little collection of things for him to play with and keep it in the play room. His favorite right now is that sweet teether from Little Peaches Shop. The wood ring obviously gets chewed on, but the little fabric bunny ears? Those are his favorites. They are SO slobbery! But isn’t it cute? Go over to the shop, poke around and pick up some sweet items for your little one or for the best baby shower gift EVER for a friend! Use the promo code CUPOFTEA between 9/23 – 9/30 to get a free gift with any purchase! Plus, the Fall Collection with new fabrics launches today! We’ve really loved the teether and the pacifier clip. It saves having to constantly pick up a dropped pacifier, and it’s super cute!

What was your highlight from the week? Can’t wait to hear about it!

I’m also linking up with Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre, 5 on Friday & Diary of a Real Housewife

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High Five for Friday #88 | Finding the Funny

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // September 16, 2016 // 19 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Tif, and Della! Come, read up on what we’ve been up to this week and get to know some amazing bloggers down below!

Today’s featured blogger is Lisa from Peridot Skies! She’s an amazing fashion blogger who loves color! Just a flick through her IG account and you’re in color/pattern heaven. Really love this post on 3 ways to style a button down. Swing on over and wish her a happy Friday!

This week was a weird week… we’re back to our normal routines, which made for a busy week. And then William has entered in to that 4 month sleep regression… so I’m a zombie. BUT some funny things did happen this week, all thanks to our little comedian, Elizabeth! So let’s share!

1. Sunday we did something we haven’t done in a long time – go on a family hike! When we’ve tried, Elizabeth usually gets “tired” after about 10 minutes and you’re forced to either carry her or turn back. But this kiddo did the 1.5 mile loop all on her own with GREAT enthusiasm. In fact, at one point, she was our line leader and shouting “great job, Nature Explorers!”.

2. I mentioned that William is in that 4 month sleep regression… basically it means he’s having a hard time getting himself back to sleep after a 45 minute sleep. Well, he woke up super early one morning and started squawking, which woke Elizabeth up. She came stopping over to William’s room, climbed up the crib to look at him, and then said “William. Stop that. It’s not nice.”. HA!

3. Elizabeth has been trying to play with William, and it’s adorable! We stuck William in the high chair, for fun, and both kids loved it! William loved being high, and Elizabeth loved that William was at eye level. She kept peeking at him and saying, “Hello, William. I’m your big sister.”

4. Remember the Unicorn back pack from last week? Turns out there are 4 other unicorn back packs at school, so it’s hard to know which one is Elizabeth’s when they are all in a pile by the playground at pick up time. I tried to convince Elizabeth to use last year’s bee backpack for school and save the unicorn one for church. She wasn’t buying it… until I mentioned that another mommy might accidentally grab HER backpack and take it home. And then, the light bulb went off…. she remembered that her precious blankie is in her school backpack, just in case. “MOMMY! They will take blankie with them! I can use my bee backpack instead so blankie stays safe.”

5. Yesterday we went to the park with a friend. After a GREAT afternoon of playtime, we loaded up to head home. Elizabeth’s new “independent” thing is heading straight back to the 3rd row in the van and refusing to come to her seat. SUPER frustrating. I finally drag her to her seat and as I’m buckling her I tell her when we get home she will need to sit in time out for not coming when I asked. She wanted to know the exact method of the time out… to know what to expect no doubt. I told her it was sitting by herself until mommy told her she was done. After considering her options, she said, “Could I have a spanking instead?”. Trying my best not to laugh, I asked why. And she answered “I don’t like to sit by myself. Can I have a spanking, please?”. Clever. Swapping the 3 minute punishment for the 2 second one. Genius!

What was your highlight from the week? Can’t wait to hear about it!

I’m also linking up with Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre, 5 on Friday & Diary of a Real Housewife

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High Five for Friday #87 | Back to School!

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // September 9, 2016 // 16 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Tif, and Della! Come, read up on what we’ve been up to this week and get to know some amazing bloggers down below!

First up, a VERY day after Happy Birthday to our sweet co-host Della!! I hope this next year is such a great one for you, Della!

Today’s featured blogger is Kenzie from Connected in the Kitchen! I love delicious desserts and Kenzie has some delicious-looking ones!! I love gingersnap cookies when cold weather hits, and her lemon bundt cake is going in my rotation. I love anything with lemon! Swing over, drool over her delicious recipes and wish her a happy Friday!

As always, I’m just surprised that it is already Friday… where did the week go? I WILL visit you all, comment, reply to comments…. I will…. I miss catching up with you all.

1. Our Labor Day weekend was restful, especially some fun on Saturday. We had our usual hectic Saturday full of church activities, but we did manage to sneak in a wooded walk in the rain. It was such fun! We started off in hopes of walking to the river there, but we quickly realized that someone short wouldn’t make the 2 mile hike. But Elizabeth was SO excited to find the “Little River”. So when we stumbled upon a small creek, we declared it the river, threw some rocks in, and walked back to the car. I think she ended up walking about 1.5 miles!

2. One of our major accomplishments this week was blitzing through Season 2 of Narcos on Netflix! So good! If you haven’t watched Narcos yet, do it. It’s like watching House of Cards and Breaking Bad, set in Columbia. We watched those 10 episodes in just a few days.

3. I managed to get all of my Fall decorations up early this week! It had slowly trickled out in stages but everything made it up. I decided to do simple decorations this year. I tossed a few things that weren’t really a part of my decor now. And set up just a few things. But my favorite is the mantel. All I did was swap out the flowers in the large urn and stick a few faux pumpkins in a container. But I like how it all came together!

Loving my K.I.S.S. Fall mantle this year. Just added a few faux pumpkins to the canister and lantern and swapped doodads out in the mercury urn. Easy! #falldecor #fallmantle #finallyfall

A photo posted by Katie (@ktcupoftea) on Sep 7, 2016 at 12:24pm PDT

4. But can Fall weather please show up now? Earlier this week we had low 80s, but now we’re back in the mid 90s! Ugh…. September around here is so tricky. You get all psyched up for Fall, but it takes forever to cool down. Fall decorations going up is one thing, but I really can’t wear my beloved plaid shirts and jackets until it gets cooler. HURRY FALL!

5. Yesterday was Elizabeth’s first day of school! She is in the same Parents’ Morning Out program as last year, and is in the same room with the same teachers. So it was pretty easy for drop off. She ran right in and lept into her teacher’s arms. So sweet! This year she is the oldest kid in her classroom. We’ve been talking for weeks about being a “good influence” in her classroom, being helpful, and showing the younger kids how to take turns, share and be kind. It stuck! Because one of the first things out of her mouth on the way home was “Mommy, I was a gooooooooood infwence”. Elizabeth is no dummy, so she followed up that statement with “so can I watch something?”. HAHA!

But her first day of school pics were hilarious!! We received a new Skip Hop backpack a few weeks ago (this is our second of the toddler backpacks. LOVE them!) and she wanted pictures with it. After the step pics she walked down the sidewalk and, with her super cool backpack on her back, she began twirling, singing “I love my backpack!”. It was adorable!