Happy 3 Months Baby!

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Happy 3 months BABY! And I mean it, it has been a happy, joyful, journey! There have been tough times, but many more happy moments than sad.  & knowing that babyhood passes all too quickly, I choose to celebrate the happy.

At one of the first MOPS meetings I attended 5 yrs ago I first heard the saying,
“It takes a village to raise a child”.

Today, I want to thank our village.  Our village is made up of family, friends, neighbors, a lactation consultant, our pastors, church family, & even strangers offering help with doors (as I carry a heavy carseat/baby/diaper bag & hopefully have two other kids trailing close behind), & offering random encouraging words.

Thank you all!
Thank you Jesus!

Welcome 2013!

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If you remember back to my posts in Dec. of 2010 I said I’m not much for New Years resolutions.  I feel like we should always be trying to be better.  I mean, why wait until a new year starts to make a change?

Well back in Dec. 2010 we did take that time to implement changes.  My husband and I made some big changes that have been great for our family.  Mostly our food choices.
Since being pregnant and having a baby in the house I’ve gotten a little more relaxed and have had to rely on some moderately-convenience type foods more often than I’d like to admit.  We went from being a no pasta family to having pasta every couple of weeks- and guess what- nothing major happened, other than of course we were more tired than usual when we consumed it.  But it did pull us through another day, even if it wasn’t nutritionally the best choice, and I just have to be okay with that.  Over all I feel like we’re doing good when it comes to our food.

So for 2013 I want to focus on spaces.  I fully believe that the spaces you are in have a huge impact on your overall well-being.
Our home was built in 2005.  At the time Mr. Awesome & I were dating/got engaged, we only had the princess, no pets, and I was working.  Now a little over 7 years later we’re married,  I’m a SAHM to our 3 kiddos & we have a cat.  Our space has had to change to accommodate our growing family.  Not only that, we also have changed some of our hobbies, and what we do in our spaces.

In fact the room I’m typing in right now has been:
My bedroom (before we were married).
My home office while I sold Mary Kay & did eBay.
The Princess’s bedroom.
The Princess & Prince’s bedroom for a short time.
The Home school room.
& currently is Blackie’s (closet- since she doesn’t sleep in here, but does store her clothes here!) room/computer room.

Home improvement takes time & money.  It seems like getting the two together is a challenge.  I wish we could do it all at once and be done.  & to be honest, if we took out a loan we could.  But I do NOT want to still be paying on it when I change my mind and want to redo whatever we’ve just done.
So things will be slow going, that’s alright.

For 2013 I’d like to see:

  • The Laundry room turned into a mudroom (But where on earth will you stick the laundry room you ask?  Well, uh, actually…..I don’t know yet!).
  • If it works, maybe pull out the big tub and put the laundry in the master bathroom.
  • Build a swing set for the kids that flock here in the summer.
  • Put blinds on the windows.
  • Make a backyard patio/seating area.
  • Fix the kitchen faucet that has leaked for y.e.a.r.s!
  • Install shelving in the basement bedroom closets.
  • Paint the stairs leading to the basement.
  • Move the TV downstairs.  This means rearranging the living room.  I’m terrified of picking new furniture for that space. Furniture is expensive, and what if:  It doesn’t look good, I don’t like it, or it isn’t as comfortable as our broken-in sectional?
  • Install new flooring in the dining room/living room.  It looks just awful, awful awful!  Next time we will pick a better quality floor and something that can stand up to a lot of traffic.
  • Fix up a room for Baby.
  • Decorate the big kids’ rooms.

There are probably more things I will think of here and there.  And maybe none of these things will happen, maybe some of them will.  If they do, I’ll try to blog about it.
My favorite DIY project of 2012 was when we painted our shutters & then did my FIL’s shutters.  What a transformation!  I wish I would’ve blogged it!  Maybe I will some day, I did take pictures fully intending to post it here.

So what will your 2013 look like?

$5 Amazon Gift Card Winner

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Hello Fans, Friends, and Family!

I really quickly wanted to announce the winner of the $5 Amazon Gift Card GIVEAWAY!

The winner is my friend Autumn! Yay! Congratulations Autumn! I’ll be sending the e-card your way shortly!

There were *SO* many great responses.   I’ve been away all day and am really longing some family time before the kids go to bed, so I’ll real quickly sum up the tips I received:

*Try not to run the air as much as possible

*Don’t use lights unless it’s dark outside! And then we usually only use enough to see.

*When we are putting things away after meals, we try to gather all refrigerator items, so we only have to open the fridge once.

*Clean your air conditioner yearly and change the filter monthly.

*Use quilted window curtains.

*Turn the Heat down in winter.

*Set air hotter in summer and use your fan on slow or medium.

*Keep curtains on sun side of house closed.

*If the humidity isn’t too high, once the temp drops in the evening, turn off the air and use fan on low.

Here was my favorite tip of all:

Invite my daughter over; then she unplugs everything.

HAHAHA! I wonder who wrote that one… hmm 😉 I love my mom!

Thank you to all who entered! I look forward to hosting another giveaway in the future.

 

Have a Happy Fathers Day weekend! 

Don’t forget to take time to thank your Heavenly Father for all you have, and wish Him a Happy Fathers day as well.

DIY Table Top S’mores

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Last night we made Table Top Driveway Smores.  I had everything on hand already except the charcoal and the pot.

Driveway S’mores
Being impatient we roasted some while there was still a little flame, this makes deliciously burnt mallows. 😉
The Basics.  I think this bag of charcoal will last us all summer, and then some!
Update: 6 years later, we’re still using the same bag!

What you’ll need:

First I made a ball of tinfoil to put into the pot (about softball sized).  This way the pot wasn’t so deep.  Then I lined the pot with another piece or two of tinfoil.

Next, I added about 5-6 pieces of charcoal along with a little dryer lint to start the fire.  This wasn’t successful, so I resorted to lighter fluid (back up when you squirt this on-  It really works fast! Be so safe with this, please)

The coals will get hot while the flame goes down, then you will have flameless table top s’mores!
Much safer for little people, although it is still crazy hot up close, you won’t have to be quite as paranoid about the flame catching their clothes on fire (maybe that’s just me that worries about that), or burning little hands if the wind comes along.

The heat of the coals is enough to roast your marshmallows, and I’ve read the pot gets hot enough to melt whatever it’s on- that’s why we chose the driveway for this.  You could also put it into a stoneware bowl or something if you wanted it on a table outdoors.

The original pot of 5-6 coals stayed hot enough to roast on for at least 3 hours.  After that we just called it a night, we maybe could have gotten more time out of it, but we were exhausted from being out all day!

Best of all-  Our clothes didn’t stink like smoke when we were done!  Yeah!

Go on, try this out and make some memories with your precious family!

Perspective: From the eyes of a 9 year old

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MOTHER’S DAY WEEKEND:
I had the best, easiest, relaxing weekend in as long as I can remember.  My husband drove us 2 hours away to satisfy a pregnancy craving for Fazzoli’s, bless his heart.
The day before that I had brought home a broken, old wooden rocker that I picked up off of city wide garbage pickup.  My husband just smiled, knowing it was another one of my “projects”.  With the help of the nice neighbor man, it was fixed & rocking again!  Woo hoo!Just before we went out to eat we made a stop at the Spam museum in Austin, MN for a little family field trip.  The kids had a fun time exploring & playing there.

After we had eaten we drove around for about a half hour looking for a Goodwill that I had visited once before and so loved.  GPS led us all over town & had us both frustrated, but my guy did not give up.  Once we found it, the greatest thing happened, he spent an hour and a half in there with the kids & I.  We ended the evening with pizza and visiting with my father in law.

Sunday was filled with flowers being planted, spending time as a family & ending the evening with putting together our new firepit and enjoying hamburgers and smores.  Delightful.

Even with all the goodness, later that night I felt bad.

I was just getting ready to wash the smell of the smoke from the fire off in the shower when I caught a glimpse of my growing belly in the mirror.
My first pregnancy I was thrilled with my expanding midsection.  This time around it’s tougher to be excited about stretching out, because I know it’s never the same afterwards.

My 9 year old princess comes in the bathroom to say goodnight & smiled “aww you’re getting stretch marks!  That’s exciting, it means the baby is healthy and growing”.

Exciting?!?! I took a deep breath, looked at the joy in her eyes, I smiled and said, “yes it is”.
I chose not to be a joy sucker.  I chose not to whine about how those were left over from nearly 5 years ago when her brother was growing in my womb.  I didn’t tell her that those would always be there & that I’d probably even get more in the coming months.  She said good night & went on her way.

After she left the room, I got in the shower & decided to take on her perspective & leave mine behind (because mine stunk & hers was beautiful).  Thank you little girl, for reminding me I’m who God made me to be, & he made me perfectly.

I’m stretched out from carrying my babies & that’s okay.  I love my babies, no matter how old they get, they will always be my babies.  These marks really don’t cause me any harm & I’m thankful to be alive and well enough to enjoy my family each day.  That is what I will focus on, the good, because there is just so much of it!

Declutter: Magazines

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The neighbor just stopped down for a few minutes.  While we were all talking in the kitchen I sort of mindlessly started a recycling pile of store ads & magazines from around the kitchen. Isn’t it funny how you realize your messes so much more in front of company.
It wasn’t a terribly big stack, but I knew all those papers were holding me back, & making me feel guilty that I hadn’t yet dealt with them, so they got tossed into the recycling bucket.  After he left, instead of trying to skim the magazines I decided to leave them be.  I went to lay on the hammock & blog.  I enjoy this activity much more.  & I’m sure what ever was in the magazines wasn’t all that important anyway.

What material thing is holding you back or dragging you down, even if just slightly?  Make a point to deal with it before the next week begins.  The sooner the better.

TV Free Summer?

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I’m thinking out loud tonight and wondering what it would be like to go the summer without TV.  I mean like actually unplug the TV for the summer & buy a weather radio.

Woah!  Did I really just say that?  Well yes, faithful blog follower, I actually did!  You’re thinking I’m crazy, & I slightly agree with you!

The main concern I hear seems to be that we wouldn’t be able to know if bad weather was coming our way.  I just disagree though.  I have a smart phone and have signed both my husband and I up for weather alerts from the local news station.  So in the event of poor weather we get a phone call to let us know what is coming our way.  So that issue is taken care of, for the most part.

I really have a strong desire to “unplug”.  But I wonder if I’m being unfair to my husband.  He uses TV in his down time to relax and be entertained.  But truthfully, he doesn’t even watch TV most nights in an average week.  He’s good at occupying himself with other things.

I’m not too worried about the kids, I mean that’s a big part of the reason I want to do this.  To help them explore more, and not be sucked into meaningless shows strictly for entertainment value.

Here’s where I struggle though…  There are so many times that I’m guilty of letting the kids watch a 30 minute show just so I can get some rest or tackle a project.

I wish watching the tube was a special treat and not the default option as soon as someone feels bored in the house.

I think summer is a perfect time to try this, because the weather allows us to spend more time outdoors.

In my dream world the kids would help me for hours (rather than minutes) in the garden, they’d play in the yard and in the evening we’d all go inside and enjoy dinner together followed by several board games & laughing the night away.

I’m going to keep dreaming, and if our entertainment center that I posted on Craigslist earlier in the week sells, I’m going to do my best to make this dream a reality!  Of course, after my husband and I agree on  the terms of being “unplugged”.

Would you ever consider this?  or have you done it?  We’ve gone TV free for almost a month before, it wasn’t so bad at all, but this time I want to actually take the TV out of the living room, which is a whole different ball game.

Monday Madness: Donation Station

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Monday Madness
As if Mondays aren’t busy enough, let me add one more thing for you to consider adding to your “to-do” list.
If you haven’t already, set up a donation station.  For us it’s a table in the basement.  Whenever the kids are getting dressed and a shirt doesn’t fit, or a pair of shoes get too snug they know just where it goes.  This helps me because it’s taken care of right away.  We aren’t dealing with the same shirt not fitting a week later, and I’m not faced with  looking in the closet to see how many t-shirts they have thinking they have oodles when really only half of them fit.
So First- set up the station.  It could be just a paper sack in the corner of your closet, or whatever works for you.
Next think quickly what could be added to the donation station.  It might be something you want to donate it to a friend, a second hand store, the church, wherever.  The point of this pile is getting it out of your everyday sight so you can live more simply.

Recipes: Organizing

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I mostly just pull my recipes from the internet these days. Somtimes it’s something great I see on pinterest other times it’s something I’m craving (or saw on TV & had to have) so I Google how to make it and use which ever recipe seems easiest.

There are times that I taste what I’ve made and I JUST TOTALLY LOVE it, occasionally even the little people here love it too (praise the man of the house, he never complains about what I make)! So I have decided that some recipes are so worthy & that I must make them at least one more time while I’m on earth. Those recipes get added to my little index card recipe collection.

I also have a 3 ring binder filled with my grandma’s recipes, I love that binder & all the wonderful recipes inside. I am so honored to be able to make the things she made and hopefully someday my children will be using thoes same recipes in their kitchens.

What do you do with your favorite recipes?

Recipe: Baked Oatmeal

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Here is a peek into my oven this morning:

I must have made breakfast too early this morning, or maybe I just didn’t eat enough, Because this delightful dish came out of the oven at about 10:30 this morning.  Yes, that’s right, I had baked oatmeal at 10:30 in the morning.  I chalk it up to being one of the perks of being a stay at home mom, no one tells me when I can take a break & indulge in something so amazing.

Mix all of these dry ingredients together in your baking dish.

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chocolate chips (because chocolate chips are so high in calories I tried to use the least amount I could and still get a good covering of them on the oatmeal).

Add these over the top and push some of them down in a ways.
3/4 cup sliced strawberries- I use frozen, some were sliced, a few were whole.
1 sliced banana

Whisk these 3 things together and pour over the top.
2 cups milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon homemade vanilla

Baked at 350 for 35ish minutes.

Yummm!
For leftovers:  Since we don’t use a microwave, I scoop what I want into a small pan and heat it up on the stovetop.  It only takes about 3 minutes and it’s heated evenly and stays warmer longer than if it were nuked.

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