holidays with the family, dinner nights, & being a toddler mom

Luckily, he was feeling a little better the next day, though he still had a nasty cough and runny nose. Since this kid absolutely hates naps but will crash in the car if he’s super tired, I decided to give it a shot. I grabbed a decaf oat milk latte and drove around my favorite neighborhood for about an hour—and it worked! He slept a solid hour, which was exactly what he needed. I just wanted him to get some rest and fight off this bug. My mom was with me, so we drove around enjoying the perfect overcast day with bright fall trees. holiday fun with kids, holiday celebrations, mom blogger, mom blog, lifestyle blog, healthy eating, lifestyle blogger, todder boy mom, toddler mom, charlotte, fort mill, north carolina, south carolina, gluten free meals, healthy family dinners, healthy toddler food, family visits, healthy, dinner, park, breakfast, lunch, snacks, energy balls, butternut squash, pasta, gluten free pasta, butternut squash sauce with chicken, christmas fun, christmas, sushi, turkey, disc golfing, family things to do, pictures with santa, date night, fall things, winter, mall trip, restoration hardware, mall santa photos, mall trip, shopping, black friday, cyber monday, decorating house for christmas, For dinner, we did air fried potatoes and grilled chicken breast.
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The next day, we made a Costco and Trader Joe’s run to stock up on things for Thanksgiving with the family. Afterward, I grabbed my son a kid’s smoothie at Green Juice Brothers and a gluten-free vegan chocolate chip cookie (to share with mom!)holiday fun with kids, holiday celebrations, mom blogger, mom blog, lifestyle blog, healthy eating, lifestyle blogger, todder boy mom, toddler mom, charlotte, fort mill, north carolina, south carolina, gluten free meals, healthy family dinners, healthy toddler food, family visits, healthy, dinner, park, breakfast, lunch, snacks, energy balls, butternut squash, pasta, gluten free pasta, butternut squash sauce with chicken, christmas fun, christmas, sushi, turkey, disc golfing, family things to do, pictures with santa, date night, fall things, winter, mall trip, restoration hardware, mall santa photos, mall trip, shopping, black friday, cyber monday, decorating house for christmas, The Honeybear Bake Shop chocolate chip cookies are so good! I love that they’re both gluten-free and vegan. I spent the rest of the day steam cleaning the carpets in the house, and getting ready for all the guests to arrive.holiday fun with kids, holiday celebrations, mom blogger, mom blog, lifestyle blog, healthy eating, lifestyle blogger, todder boy mom, toddler mom, charlotte, fort mill, north carolina, south carolina, gluten free meals, healthy family dinners, healthy toddler food, family visits, healthy, dinner, park, breakfast, lunch, snacks, energy balls, butternut squash, pasta, gluten free pasta, butternut squash sauce with chicken, christmas fun, christmas, sushi, turkey, disc golfing, family things to do, pictures with santa, date night, fall things, winter, mall trip, restoration hardware, mall santa photos, mall trip, shopping, black friday, cyber monday, decorating house for christmas,  holiday fun with kids, holiday celebrations, mom blogger, mom blog, lifestyle blog, healthy eating, lifestyle blogger, todder boy mom, toddler mom, charlotte, fort mill, north carolina, south carolina, gluten free meals, healthy family dinners, healthy toddler food, family visits, healthy, dinner, park, breakfast, lunch, snacks, energy balls, butternut squash, pasta, gluten free pasta, butternut squash sauce with chicken, christmas fun, christmas, sushi, turkey, disc golfing, family things to do, pictures with santa, date night, fall things, winter, mall trip, restoration hardware, mall santa photos, mall trip, shopping, black friday, cyber monday, decorating house for christmas, 
For dinner, I had roasted butternut squash (I’m on a serious butternut squash kick lately!) paired with Siete chips, ground turkey taco meat, and lettuce. To top it all off, I drizzled some Primal honey mustard dressing—it was so good! holiday fun with kids, holiday celebrations, mom blogger, mom blog, lifestyle blog, healthy eating, lifestyle blogger, todder boy mom, toddler mom, charlotte, fort mill, north carolina, south carolina, gluten free meals, healthy family dinners, healthy toddler food, family visits, healthy, dinner, park, breakfast, lunch, snacks, energy balls, butternut squash, pasta, gluten free pasta, butternut squash sauce with chicken, christmas fun, christmas, sushi, turkey, disc golfing, family things to do, pictures with santa, date night, fall things, winter, mall trip, restoration hardware, mall santa photos, mall trip, shopping, black friday, cyber monday, decorating house for christmas,On Tuesday morning, the week of Thanksgiving, we woke up early to get more shopping and cooking done! We also made some yummy chocolate chip cookies to kick off the holiday festivities. the best chocolate chip cookies, thick chocolate chip cookies, ooey and gooey, crispy and chewy chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chunk, easy chocolate chip cookies, should I chill cookie dough, 24 hour cookie dough, chocolate chips, the best cookies ever, best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever, best chocolate chip cookies, easy chocolate chip cookie recipe with baking powder, sea salt dark chocolate chip cookies, taralynn baking, thick chocolate chunk cookies, thick cookies, best cookie recipe on the internet, famous cookies, famous chocolate chip cookiesYou can now find this cookie recipe on my blog!

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After baking, we headed out on a long walk! Of course, I let him take one of the mini cookies he baked with him. I also scooped some starter into little containers to bring to a neighbor, along with a printout of my recipe. Honestly, this could be a cute Christmas gift idea!holiday fun with kids, holiday celebrations, mom blogger, mom blog, lifestyle blog, healthy eating, lifestyle blogger, todder boy mom, toddler mom, charlotte, fort mill, north carolina, south carolina, gluten free meals, healthy family dinners, healthy toddler food, family visits, healthy, dinner, park, breakfast, lunch, snacks, energy balls, butternut squash, pasta, gluten free pasta, butternut squash sauce with chicken, christmas fun, christmas, sushi, turkey, disc golfing, family things to do, pictures with santa, date night, fall things, winter, mall trip, restoration hardware, mall santa photos, mall trip, shopping, black friday, cyber monday, decorating house for christmas, We headed out to the front to do more chalk art on the driveway. Our previous artwork had washed away with the rain, so it was time to make some new creations.
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Despite the vote leaning toward keeping the trim boards white, I vetoed that idea and went straight for Accessible Beige—and I’m so happy with my decision! We’re not done yet since it was a lot of painting, but what we’ve done so far, I absolutely love!holiday fun with kids, holiday celebrations, mom blogger, mom blog, lifestyle blog, healthy eating, lifestyle blogger, todder boy mom, toddler mom, charlotte, fort mill, north carolina, south carolina, gluten free meals, healthy family dinners, healthy toddler food, family visits, healthy, dinner, park, breakfast, lunch, snacks, energy balls, butternut squash, pasta, gluten free pasta, butternut squash sauce with chicken, christmas fun, christmas, sushi, turkey, disc golfing, family things to do, pictures with santa, date night, fall things, winter, mall trip, restoration hardware, mall santa photos, mall trip, shopping, black friday, cyber monday, decorating house for christmas, We’re about halfway done! I’ll take more photos when we finish, and we’re also planning to add more wall woodwork in some areas of the dining room.
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On Sunday, I met Becca for an oat milk latte before we headed to see Wicked. Gosh, it was so good—I cried so many times during the show!!

When I got home, I made an egg white cauliflower and Parmesan crust pizza with cashew cheese, tomato basil sauce, and pepperoni. It was amazing! I need to go back to Trader Joes to pick up more ingredients and make it again. holiday fun with kids, holiday celebrations, mom blogger, mom blog, lifestyle blog, healthy eating, lifestyle blogger, todder boy mom, toddler mom, charlotte, fort mill, north carolina, south carolina, gluten free meals, healthy family dinners, healthy toddler food, family visits, healthy, dinner, park, breakfast, lunch, snacks, energy balls, butternut squash, pasta, gluten free pasta, butternut squash sauce with chicken, christmas fun, christmas, sushi, turkey, disc golfing, family things to do, pictures with santa, date night, fall things, winter, mall trip, restoration hardware, mall santa photos, mall trip, shopping, black friday, cyber monday, decorating house for christmas, 
On Monday night, we made some of my son’s favorite energy balls! They’re made with organic peanut butter, pure organic maple syrup, dark chocolate chips, sea salt, and oats. We all love eating them in this house—they’re so easy to make! You just wet the oats, add in all the ingredients, and give them a taste test to see if they need any extra ingredients.