Friday Favorites!

Hi!! Happy Friday!! How was your week??
My girls have been off of school since Wednesday and it has been WONDERFUL.  I have been able to get A LOT of housework done and the girls have had a blast playing together all day.  We have such a busy day-to-day routine...it really has been so nice to just slow down for a couple of days!  
Today, we are traveling to Southern Illinois to visit my grandfather! My parents will be meeting us at his house and we will also get to see my sister and her family (she lives about 45 minutes away from my grandpa).  Tomorrow, we are headed to the Homecoming football game at Southern Illinois University- my Alma Mater (as well as my mom's, my 6 aunts, both of my brothers and my sister)- we are a Saluki family!! :) It is going to be so much fun to go back to campus and see how much everything has changed (considering I graduated, ahem, 13 years ago)!  
We will head back to Indianapolis early Sunday morning so we can get home in time to get organized for the week.  It is going to be a busy, fun weekend!

Now for my Friday Favorites :)  Being that it is October and it is ALL ABOUT PUMPKIN EVERYTHING- I had to share my favorite pumpkin "items" with you today. 
It is a total cliche' and just has to be done :) HA!
I will throw it out there, that while I love many "pumpkiny" things- I do NOT love the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. GASP! I know! I used to drink them all the time- but then it seemed like they just got to be too much.  
So now- my favorite holiday drink from Starbucks is a peppermint mocha- 
and I usually wait until my birthday to get my first one of the season :)

Okay- let's get started!

ONE
I have mentioned my love for 719 Walnut Avenue candles here and here on my blog. They are almost identical to Bath and Body Works triple wick candles and are $5!!!
One of my favorite scents is Pumpkin Waffle.  At first- I was worried it was going to be too strong...but it is the perfect Fall scent!! I have not seen this scent in the stores- but you can order it online!

TWO
Aaron's favorite dessert, whether it is summer, spring, fall or winter, is pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes with cream cheese icing.  Last week, I posted the recipe for them.  Check it out here and then immediately go to the store to get the ingredients to make them.  
You won't regret it!!  They are the perfect pumpkin dessert in the fact that they are not too pumpkiny and the mixture of the cheesecake middle and cream cheese icing just make them YUMMY.  The next pumpkin dessert I want to make is this pumpkin dream cake. Um. How amazing does that sound?? (Just between you and me- I would probably skip the maple cream cheese icing and just stick to regular cream cheese icing...I am purist when it comes to that sort of thing ;)
(please don't be jealous of my ah-mazing food photography skills!! ;)

THREE
Coffeemate's Sugar Free Pumpkin Spice Creamer has been my all time favorite for years now!! It seriously turns a boring cup of coffee into perfection :)  I always have had a hard time finding it at most grocery stores- except for Target- who always has it in stock!  Well...for about 9 months now, I have cut dairy and products with dairy and lactose in them out of my diet.  So I now use almond milk coffee creamer.  Which means no Coffeemate Pumpkin Spice Creamer for me :(  Buutttt...I was totally intrigued when I found this recipe for a homemade, non-dairy version of pumpkin spice creamer!!  If I can get my hands on some arrowroot powder (????) I think I will try making some!!

FOUR
I LOVE pumpkin bread. Not with chocolate chips, not with nuts- just good ol' plain pumpkin bread.  This is an amazing recipe for it- the 5 star reviews kind of indicate that it is worth making, huh??  If you have a couple hours free this weekend- gather up your kids, make a mess and bake a couple loaves of this pumpkin bread. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon!!

source

FIVE
Finally, what is a post about all things pumpkin if I don't post a picture of my 4, soon to be FIVE, little pumpkins??!? 

YUP. Do you see how I snuck that "5" in there?? We are elated to be expecting our fifth precious baby around April 27, 2016!!

I am 13 weeks and the girls like to tell me everyday how ginormous my stomach is getting- HA!  James obviously has no clue what is going on, Celine wants a girl baby or a boy baby AND a girl baby (not happening sister!) and the "big" girls can't decide what they "want." HA!
We don't find out the gender of our babies, so as always, it will be the BEST surprise to find out what we are having on the baby's birthday!

We are totally humbled and so grateful God has blessed us with another baby.
So, so thankful!

And there you have it- my "all things pumpkin" edition of Friday Favorites!! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a FABULOUS weekend!

I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for their Friday Favorites Link Up!

 I am also linking up with April for Five on Friday!

 Joining Karli for her, Oh Hey Friday Link Up! too!