decorating

Couple sitting by bonfire

Weekend Fun at The Zottola House

Happy Monday! How was your weekend?

Husky laying with child

Jimmy and I were able to sneak in a date night on Friday while my mother-in-law watched Sadie. It was so nice to spend some alone time with Jimmy! We went to a local pool and spa store to look at hot tubs. We’ve been wanting one ever since we stayed at my parents’ beach house last month and went in their hot tub daily.

Time will tell if we actually get one because we are going to be spending a good chunk of money here soon on a fence extension to keep our Houdini dog from escaping, lol.

On Saturday, Jimmy went to a work day at our church and Sadie and I did some cleaning and organizing around the house. She’s been getting into our snack drawer lately and running around with crackers while Niva chases her and it’s just a constant mess. I put all the snacks up high and hopefully it saves me from cleaning cracker crumbs 24/7 😉

I also filmed a vlog on Saturday because I realized I’ve rarely documented a Saturday at the Zottola household. In the evening, we had a bonfire!

Family sitting around bonfire

Couple sitting by bonfire

Remember how I said I was really excited to decorate for Christmas? Well, I made a pom pom garland. I had some twine laying around the house and I used a hot glue gun to glue pom poms I bought at Dollar Tree to the twine.

Simple and easy! I promise I won’t hang it up until November 🙂

White pom pom garland with twine for Christmas DIY

Well, I better get going and start my Monday. I hear Sadie stirring in her crib as I type up this post.

I’ll leave you with a funny occurrence that happened yesterday while we were at church…

There’s a family on our street that has a siberian husky that looks just like Niva. The dog escaped and was running around the neighborhood and a woman a few doors down from us thought she was Niva so she was throwing bologna into our yard to lure her in and even got her into our fence. Our next-door neighbor had to break the news to her her that the dog wasn’t Niva, lol. We have been blessed with some amazing neighbors!

Back porch with string lights

Currently: September 2020

Hello September! I’m not sure how it’s the ninth month of 2020 already, but here we are. What is September like where you live? It’s generally still warm here in Pittsburgh, but the daylight fades faster, the mornings have a slight chill, and the leaves begin to change colors.

Back porch with string lights

Here’s what’s currently going on in my life this month.

Current excitement Starting homeschool with Sadie this week! We’re going to be using the Abeka preschool for 2s program. If anyone is interested, I’ll post a review after we’ve gone through the curriculum a bit!

Current blessing Family. You know when you have one of those rough days where you just need to cry and vent? I was having one of those and called my parents and sister and they all talked me off the emotional ledge, lol. Truly, it’s a blessing to have people who love and care for me.

Current food Sloppy joes. My recipe for sloppy joes is so simple and uses pantry staples like ketchup, apple cider vinegar, and honey. I filmed a grocery shopping vlog recently that also shows how I cook sloppy joes!

Sloppy Joe with corn on the cob and quinoa

Current fun Decorating for fall. I’ve been all about making our house feel festive and cozy lately!

Current craving A date night with Jimmy.

Current joy I’m going to be an aunt again! My sister and her husband are expecting their second baby in March 🙂

Current books I finished up this novel and just started this one. I’m on a roll with Amish books lately. I’ve also been doing a deep dive into the book of 1 Samuel with this Bible study.

What’s current in your life?