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I'm Shay! I’m a cookbook author, lifestyle blogger, travel agency owner, wife and mama who loves making every day special for my family.

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Mix & Match Mama

Everyday Life, Fashion, Shay's Closet ·

Thursday Things.


Happy happy Thursday, friends!

We have finally arrived at that amazing time of the year called “fall break” here in our area.  Fall break is a new-ish thing (only three years old in our district) and well, I plan on enjoying it 🙂 .

This year, Smith’s school district and the girls’ have overlapping fall breaks but not the exact same AND Smith has a football game and practice every day during his, so in lieu of a big family trip, we’re doing things a bit different.  Even though the girls’ break doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, I’m going to post this today and then enjoy a nice long weekend with my peeps.  I will be back here in blog world with you all on Tuesday where we will immediately resume all the fall fun!

Don’t forget…

…my OCTOBER GIVEAWAY is still going on!

Want the details and/or the place to go to enter to win?  It’s all RIGHT HERE on THIS BLOG POST.

Here we go, grab that Pumpkin Spice Latte and settle in.

It’s a little Thursday THIS & THAT to wrap up our week…

Amen.

So, I have a friend who is as equally obsessed with the holiday season as I am.  She’s the one who texted me and told me we both needed to buy…

…the dog to go with our skeletons.

She’s “that” kind of amazing friend who gets you to purchase seven foot skeleton dogs 🙂 .  She’s also “that” kind of friend who texts you her new idea for this season.

She turned…

…one of her skeletons into an “Elf on the Shelf” kind of thing.

You guys, how amazing is this?!  It’s BRILLIANT!

Every day, she moves it and dresses it up, and poses it in a different way…and seeing her Instagram picture of what it’s doing that day is one of my new guilty pleasures in life.

If you have littles at home and a skeleton lying around, how fun would it be for you to do this too?!

I just love it.

Something else I love…

…my favorite protein powder has seasonal flavors AND really yummy seasonal butters too.  I’ve blogged many times about my love for Clean Simple Eats, and I’m oh so happy with both of my recent pumpkin purchases.

On Saturday morning, I was making myself a protein smoothie (ice + water + half a frozen banana + one scoop of pumpkin protein powder + one tablespoon of the pumpkin spice butter), and Smith walked past me and said “that was made for moms” which made me laugh out loud because UM, YES!  Bahahaha! It was made for me, Smith Shull, and I’m so happy that it was 🙂 .

Speaking of Smith, here are a few sweet pics from our Friday night football game…

…Britty and Mades are just the sweetest!  I love any evening when all six of my peeps (and the Slaughter crew!) are all in one place.

We ate terrible Mexican food together (it was really bad…but it gave us a lot to laugh about) and then headed to the school to cheer on….

…the Leopards!

Look at that score!  It came down to a field goal with three seconds left on the clock.  We got home late (and were up early for soccer), but it was such a fun night!

Today, I’m sharing…

Spooktacular Pumpkin Recipes

…51 PUMPKIN RECIPES!!

From sweet to savory and even a cocktail too, you can check out all 51 PUMPKIN RECIPES today!

I haven’t done a big “this is what I’ve been wearing lately” post in a while, so here you go…

This outfit on REPEAT over here!  TANK + JOGGERS = my favorite “everyday” outfit.

Speaking of which…

…another day, another pair of JOGGERS + TOP 🙂 .

Well, on this day, I actually “got dressed” in my JEANS (on sale!) and HENLEY TOP!

I loved it so much that I wore it…

…on this day too with THESE JEANS which I LOVE!!!  They do run slightly large (I bought a 25 instead of a 26), but they are so comfy and cute and on sale!

For church on Sunday: MOCK SWEATER + DENIM SKIRT + CHUNKY HEALS.

And then these next three tops arrived this week, and I haven’t had the chance to wear them but wanted to share them with you…

THOSE SAME GREAT JEANS with A SHELL SWEATER (on sale now and available in other colors!).

My CREW SWEATER TEE is also on sale and comes in other colors too!

And finally, MY NOTCH-NECK SWEATER also on sale and available in other colors 🙂 .

Wrapping up our week…

…my pups…

…because Hi, my name is Shay and my camera roll is filled with…

…dog pics 🙂 .

Happy long weekend from my family to yours!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you all back here on TUESDAY! xx

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Comments

  2. Susan Jeffries says

    You sold me on those jeans! I love the fit and the way you styled them with so many different tops. I have been looking for a lighter wash pair and will add these to my cart today! Happy fall break!

  3. Nicole says

    Hi!! I’d love to hear about how many days a week you run, how far? Also!! Supplements you take, what you typically eat in a day? Thanks!!

    • Mix and Match Mama says

      Oh it looks completely different now than it did a year ago. When I’m on Nantucket, I run more because I just LOVE running around that island, but here, I run less. Today, I walked four miles with my friend so we could chat and such, so I didn’t run at all. Maybe I run one day a week and then walk 4ish miles the other days? On my non-lifting days (so three-ish days a week), I get four miles in whether that’s running or walking. I am going to do an entire post on supplements too. Yesterday, I had a protein smoothie (identical to the one I put on this post) at 11:00 and then lunch around 1:30 (I had rice with scrambled eggs, bacon and avocado on top). I had dinner (which was a homemade pasta…I ate way more of the meat than then pasta) with broccoli for dinner. Two big “protein based” meals a day with typically one protein smoothie is my “norm”.

      • Nicole says

        We are literally the same!!! Hahaha! I used to run so much more too! And I’m typically doing exactly what you said! Also smoothie, lunch is also usually with eggs and dinner with my fam, prioritizing proteins and veggies! I do add a protein bar, maybe a chomp meat stick, or nuts too! Maybe one bite of dark chocolate post dinner too. Love it! Can’t wait to hear about the supplements too! Thanks!

  5. Sheaffer says

    Fall break is coming at the perfect time, because I can literally not imagine having to get up for school tomorrow. And I LOVE that next week is such a short week! WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

  7. SS says

    Shay,
    That should be a post…what is in your camera roll???
    Mine is full with dogs, Northern lights right now (hoping to get more tonight), and ransom things from our adventures!!!
    Have a GREAT weekend!!!

  9. Sarag says

    Have a great fall break! I laughed at the “made for moms” comment. Teens; they keep us feeling uncool!

  10. Jennifer P says

    I LOVE high school football season!! The atmosphere, the crowds, the smell of popcorn. And now I’ve added “purchase plastic skeleton” to my shopping list. The girls are going to LOVE IT! Happy Fall!!

  11. Carole says

    Your pups are the cutest!! Enjoy Fall break with your kiddos! My college freshmen comes home tomorrow for her break through Tuesday. 🥰😝

  13. Jess Wade says

    Where did you find your Skelly (is it just sold at Home Depot)? And what time of year did you get it? I got on email list last year when they would get it back in stock and by the time I saw the email, it was out of stock again. I want one really bad! But maybe I need to wait until the off-season???

    • Mix and Match Mama says

      I ordered mine online from Home Depot. I bought it mid-September, and it shipped right away.

  14. sandi says

    It is homecoming weekend for our high schooler. One of our college daughters arrived home last night and she is here on break until Sunday. She brought her roommate who lives too far away to go home. Another daughter will be home from college Saturday and here through Tuesday. The college boy is working and not home until Thanksgiving, but at least two are here and their breaks overlap a little bit. It will be a fun, loud weekend with homecoming activities and a full house. I stocked up on groceries and have several Shay treats brewing… blender pumpkin muffins will be made later today. The girls love to bake and mess up the kitchen. Have a great break with your crew!

  19. Deb Weber says

    Enjoy the fall breaks! Your friend’s post with the skeleton in the pool is so great!! Made me giggle. And I love the dog skeleton. Have a great long weekend!

  20. Abby says

    Our fall break is this weekend too and I am so excited! Can’t wait to do fall/pumpkin/halloween things all weekend with my kiddos 🎃

  21. Stacy King says

    I’d love to see a post on your jewelry-what you wear everyday, where from, sentimentality, etc. You have some beautiful pieces!

  22. Faith Kapp says

    I can’t wait to hear how you spend the break! We don’t have that in our district. But now that my girls are in college, it doesn’t matter 🙂 all 3 have different breaks though! We will have one short weekend together. Enjoy!!

  23. Katherine says

    Enjoy your Fall break! The skeleton in the pool is hilarious! 😂 I could totally get on board with watching a friend move their skeleton around every day, instead of doing something like that myself! 🤦🏼‍♀️ The Elf on the Shelf wasn’t around when my kids were little, thank goodness, because I know I would forget to move it! 😉

  25. Angela says

    Hi there! Curious why and how your oldest 2 go to different schools? is one private? What made you make that decision? I have 4 kids as well and am always evaluating that what I”ve done with my oldest might not be the best option for the next kiddo!

    • Mix and Match Mama says

      They both go to public schools. In Texas, public schools can opt to have open enrollment (allowing non-district kiddos to apply). Smith going to a different high school had been a conversation for quite some time, and when we found out that they were going to offer open enrollment for students this school year, we prayed, applied and were so happy when he was accepted. It has been the perfect fit for him. Now, I am COMPLETELY rethinking all of their options. You’re exactly right, what was right for one does not mean it’s right for all.

  26. Robyn Beers says

    Enjoy your fall break. Mine happens in two weeks and I cannot wait for a break and a chance to regroup before the craziness of the holiday season hits at school and with my awesome family.

  30. Suzanne says

    We have done the same thing with our skeletons before. We created scenerios in our front yard each day. It was so much fun!

  31. Melissa says

    Our kids are spread out across different Christian schools, and the break thing is tricky. Thankfully all the schools in town use the same fall break, but surprisingly not the same Christmas break. It can be nice to have just one or two kids home on a random teacher workday though!

    Also, it’s our first year with no believers left, and the only thing I was excited about was losing the stress of that silly elf! He’ll still come, but the pressure of not forgetting after a super late activity or getting caught touching it, I will not miss. And trying to think of new hiding spots for a whole month… Can’t imagine adding that for another season! Grateful for people who are creative like that, but I am not!

  32. Laura Holmes says

    I love the pool skeleton! We bought a $5 one from Target and have been moving him around the house in poses also. It’s been so fun! I also cannot wait for the weather to finally cool down. We are in the suburbs of Chicago. It should not be in the 80s in mid October! No fun fall clothes at all yet. But, I think we have maybe a week left and are headed for a cool down. Thank goodness! Bring on the sweaters!

  34. Jill says

    If “uncool” moms are influencing the pumpkin industry, I am happy to participate. Both the nut butter and protein powder are on my list for purchasing!

  35. Candy says

    Hi Shay— looking for the name of the company you sent your bible to have a new binding put in? Could you let me know the name cuz my bible is way over due for repairing !!

    • Mix and Match Mama says

      Of course! Legacy Bible Reminders. They were amazing!! They did Andrew’s as well and we both could not be more pleased.

  38. Nikkie F. says

    Love all the outfits! Really loved the Sunday church look ❤️ Super cute! Have a nice fall break ☺️ 🍂🍁

  40. Stacey says

    Thanks for the pumpkin protein suggestion!! Must say, can’t wait to try It! Thanks for being a happy part of the day, and to echo a comment from earlier this week, it’s fun to read content! Have you read Good Emergy by Dr Casey Means? Sorry if you’ve mentioned It and I’ve forgotten…it’s so good, along the lines of Outlive, which I also enjoyed, thanks for the recommendation! Happy fall break glory!

  41. Alana says

    The dog skeleton 😵🤣 I wish I were that person to put out skeletons but I’m just not.. so I’ll admire you for doing it, hahaha!

  42. Cindy Winfield says

    Was in one of your favorite places this week! First time to Boston and had to tour Fenway Park. So much history. Loved the tour and sitting on top of The Green Monster!

  45. Jen Weber says

    Camera rolls full of dog pictures are the best! If our pups weren’t so dang cute we wouldn’t take so many pictures – It’s not us, it’s them ;)!

  48. ~B~ says

    The pumpkin protein powder was just what I needed to inspire me to try Clean Simple Eats. I just saw it in our local Scheels and almost bought some – now it’s early Saturday morning and I’m regretting not getting some to try for breakfast later. Off to check out the website I go! Happy fall break!

    • Mix and Match Mama says

      Already?! Wow! That was fast! My favorite is chocolate pb but I also love brownie batter AND toffee!

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