Creamy Chicken & Rice

Before leaving for vacation, I try to clean out the refrigerator and pantry. This leads to new recipe concoctions that sometimes turn out well, and sometimes not so well. So before heading to the beach, I pulled this meal together, and it turned out to be a winner! I love a quick and easy crock pot meal that our whole family can enjoy. And this one meets all the requirements. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients:

1lb chicken (2-3 breasts... I use frozen, but thawed are fine too)

8oz cream cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 cloves garlic

1/2tsp Cavender's Greek Seasoning (salt & pepper is fine if you don't have Cavender's)

Directions:

Add everything to the crock pot. Cook for 4-6 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low. Pull chicken apart and mix ingredients together. Serve over rice. Garnish with parsley.

Beach Essentials from Target

We are at the beach with Matt's family this week, soaking up our days in the sun and sand, and loving every minute of "daddy not go to work," as Ryan likes to say.

And since there's a great sale at one of my favorite stores, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite "beachy" items that are worth checking out!

Sandals:

I bought both of these shoes before our trip and LOVE the look, but might love how comfortable they are even more. I'm a comfort over fashion kind of gal, so when I can find something comfy that also happens to be cute, I'm sold.

found here (also in gold and black)

found here (also in white, teal and black)

Cover Ups:

How cute are these beach cover ups?! My days on the beach look a little different with two babies than they did pre-kids, so I am more likely to search for shells or chase sand crabs in a cover up than lounge in a chair in just a bikini.

found here

found here

Swimsuits:

I'm kind of digging the fuller coverage tops this year. Yes, I just gave birth three months ago, but I'm thinking that I may just stick with this style even after my stomach is back in place and my linea nigra disappears (any day now is great with me). Aren't these so cute?!

found here

found here

And IF I planned to rock the 2-piece look this summer, this is the suit I would go for. Love how the top makes sure things stay in place- perfect for chasing a toddler around in the sand. ;)

found here

Hats:

Once I hit my late 20s, and then especially once I was pregnant and nursing babies, my face couldn't decide which shade of brown it wanted to tan, or if it should color my whole face or just certain sections of it- thank you hormones. So after years of loving a sun-kissed glow on my face, I pretty much avoid getting sun all together. I use a 50+ sunscreen and wear hats whenever I'm going to spend extended time in the sun. I currently rotate out baseball caps, but plan to up my fashion game with one of these this summer ;)

found here

found here

Beach/Pool Tote:

I love the size, sections, and look of this bag- such a cute and functional accessory for summer!

found here

Kids clothes, shoes, and accessories are on sale too, and now having a boy and a girl to shop for means I could do some damage in the cute kids' sections at Target. 

I'll be checking out the toddler boys' items here

and the baby girl cuteness here.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, friends!

Life Lately

This week has flown by! 

Ryan and I both caught summer colds this week, which I didn't even know existed. I've never been sick this time of year! I think Matt and I jinxed ourselves because we were literally talking just last weekend about how I haven't gotten sick one time since Ryan's been born. Funny how things like that happen.

But thank goodness for Claritan-D 12 hour and Highland's Cough and Cold medicine- we are on the mend and looking forward to our week at the beach that begins TOMORROW!! (insert allll the excited, party, and beachy emojis here)

Here's a quick look at our life lately:

This sweet girl has been full of smiles lately. She gets so excited when you pop into her view. She also outgrew her infant inserts this week, so this is the last picture I took of her with them in!

Sweet buddy has been talking to and snuggling with his toys on the couch lately. I will hear him from the kitchen saying, "Come closer, blocks" as he gets everything situated. This stage is so stinkin' cute. :)

One of Ryan's little friends needed a cute dress shirt for their family pictures, so I took this picture of some of Ryan's dress shirts to send to her and realized our kids have nicer (and more) clothes than we do. Ha! My sis and sis-in-law handed down so many clothes to us for both of our kiddos so we have been spoiled by their sweetness. Made me think we need a similar setup for ourselves. ;)

This is so random, but a lady in the checkout line at Publix told me about these cute shoes that she bought for her son, who was Ryan's age, off of Amazon. She said they were really comfy and a good price, but I can't find them anywhere! What does that even SAY?! Anyway, if anyone knows, I'd love for you to tell me. :)

:)

Before kids, Matt and I used to volunteer in the kids' ministries at our church. We started with a group of 3 year olds and stayed with them through 3rd grade. This sweet girl was one of our students. And last weekend, we went to a birthday party for her 2 year old brother who recently joined their family. They got him at 7 months through a foster program and have spent the last year and a half praying that he would officially be theirs. Their prayers were answered right before his second birthday. And you guys, I have to tell you, Matt and I agreed that this birthday party had to be the best one we've ever been to. 

There weren't fancy foods with coordinating names that matched a theme, and it started raining right as we sang happy birthday and cut the cake, but this party will always stick with us. It was a celebration of life and of God's faithfulness. He took a situation that was less than ideal and lead that sweet baby boy to a family who will love him forever.

Toward the end of the party, he fell asleep on his mom's shoulder and all she could think about was how he wouldn't even let them hug him when they first got him. The whole thing is such an amazing story of God's faithfulness and their willingness to be led through that journey.

"I walk in Daddy's shoes!"

Matt and Ryan were working in the yard and stopped to bring me a flower. Sweetness. :)

Love this smiley girl so much!

These snuggles don't last long, so we get pretty excited when they happen. :)

Aunt Karen sent a thank you note from Jackson's party and as I was reading it to Ryan, he saw this scribble and said, "That's a sheep right there!" haha- little people are so funny.

Nonna was in town and manning the grill for us while we put the kids down, and Tal was keeping her company. We all love when Nonna comes to visit!

A visit with Noah and Maddox!

A morning spent bubble-mowing the lawn. :)

Yesterday, I shared a simple pasta recipe that I think you will love!

If you missed it, you can check it out here.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!