Five Loves on Friday // DIY Drive-In Movie Theater, Mother's Day, & More!

Happy Friday, friends!  It's been such a lovely week!  I can hardly wait to capture and share some highlights with you here today!  Let's jump right in!  

One  //  Mother's Day Eve DIY Drive-In Movie

We kicked off our celebration of Mother's Day on Saturday night creating our own drive-in movie theater!  We started this tradition last summer when Jason and I were telling our girls how fun old fashioned drive-in movies were.  Since we no longer have one in our area we decided to chose our favorite scenic spot in the city, take a movie on our iPad, and enjoy!  This year we were able to kick it up a notch as our new vehicle allows us to hook up to its excellent speaker system.  We took full advantage of it with the incredible audio in the movie of my choosing!  

We wanted to see The Greatest Showman from the time it was first released.  Throughout its theater run my husband was battling an illness though, so this was our first time seeing it.  The anticipation and enjoyment of it in this fun setting actually made me glad we had to wait!  We started at sundown with delicious takeout from Qdoba Mexican Grill for dinner.  Shortly after we finished our meal the sky turned black making for drive-in movie atmosphere perfection!  

I know we are very late to the party on this fab flick, so you likely all know how wonderful it is already.  If you haven't caught it yet, I recommend it for your next movie night!  I danced in my seat, cheered, and shed a decent amount of tears.  It made for such a fun start to Mother's Day with this family of mine who has my whole heart!

*If you follow along on Instagram you may have seen that burrito bowl on a midweek repeat.  Low cal & low carb + incredibly delicious = too good to resist craving it again and my hubby was happy to oblige.  He's the best!

Two  //  Mother's Day


Cheers to Mother's Day!

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather on Sunday with another trip to the lake, this time with diet cherry limeades and Sonic slushies in hand!  Sunshine and sips with my loves made for a fun afternoon out!

A Delightful Dinner at Home

Love this handsome and sweet hubby who spoils me so!

I don't typically like to dine out on holidays as it's always loud and overcrowded in restaurants and all I really want to do on a holiday is enjoy my family.  This year I requested steak and mashed cauliflower for a celebratory dinner at home.  Jason did an amazing job on it!  First he smoked some beautiful NY Strips and then brought them inside to sear them on the griddle on our stovetop.  The melt-in-your-mouth mashed cauliflower he whipped up was the perfect accompaniment!  This seriously may have been the BEST steak I've ever had!  (And I love steak, ordering it basically whenever it's on a menu, so that's saying a lot!)  

Table Time Q & A

While dining, my family enjoyed a bit of Q & A fun!  I printed off some unique "getting to know you" type of questions, cut them into strips, rolled into little paper scrolls and put them in a decorative bowl that matched our table setting.  This is something I really like doing when we have guests over for meals as it makes for a fun ice breaker and allows you to get to know people better.  Believe it or not you can always learn a thing or two about those you're closest with too!  It even brought out a few stories we'd never shared along with a happy helping of reminiscing about our favorite memories as a family!  If you're looking for a way to liven up table talk time, I recommend googling for some "getting to know you questions" or thinking up some of your own either about specific topics or a variety of things.  Then enjoy all the fun of the free flowing conversation that follows each new question! My girls enjoy it so much we went through every last question before leaving the table!  I love lingering around the table with those dearest to my heart!

Game Night

When I asked these silly sweeties of mine if I could take their picture one began posing ultra-seriously while the other couldn't stop laughing.  This was followed by a gazillion silly faces and one sweet smiley snapshot.  I tell ya, these girls make life fun!

I love Scrabble!  However, my family rarely wants to play it.  So, this was my chance! Ha!  We kicked things off with some wordy wonderfulness and then moved on to a classic favorite, Disney UNO.  I won three out of four games.  I couldn't believe it!  Must've been a Mother's Day gift. ;)

Three  //  Sweet Visitors

Last week our home improvement project brought my husband's side of the family for a dinner following the work.  This week we had some loves from my side come by!  My nephew was spending time at my parents' place so my mom brought him over to visit while my dad was here helping.  My sister lives a bit of a drive from us so any opportunity to see her family makes my heart smile!  They also came bearing snackible gifts, including this chocolate chip cookie pizza he helped her bake before their visit.  So "sweet"!  My mom and I caught up with a nice long chat and flipped through some new cookbooks while the kiddos enjoyed some gaming goodness.  Fun was had by all (of us in the living room anyway, elsewhere hard work was happening).  Thankful for afternoons like this!

Four  //  Beautiful Birdies in my Backyard

A fine finch made a home for her baby birds in our yard recently.  This is the first time we've had a nest with these cuties here so it's been a delight to watch this spring!

Five  //  Loveliness in Full Bloom

Irises don't last long, but they sure are beautiful each and every day that they're in bloom!  This purple beauty is one of the many reasons spring makes my heart sing!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead!

In Case You Missed It...

Earlier this Week at Chatting Over Chocolate:

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Trip Report Tuesday is BACK! WDW Day 1 // Thanksgiving Day Arrival + A Disney Dream Come True!

Join me in the adventures to come!

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