Ahhh Mom!

Bits and Pieces

2013-12-13T12:55:00.003-05:00

Time keeps getting away from me! It seems the only way I can capture anything these days is by taking a quick snapshot here and there. Here's a few pictures I picked out to summarize life these days.

We did our pumpkin carving after Halloween this year. The kids were not interested in the actual carving, they just wanted to play in the 'mush' as they called it.

We finaaaallly found out what has been causing all of Aubrey's UTI problems. This was her at UVA Hospital getting ready for the procedure she had that lead to her diagnosis. I'm hoping to write a full post on that later.

Karate is taking off! Aubrey joined her brother when soccer season was over. This is her getting her first belt.

Hubby, my cousin and myself went to see Hunger Games! It was AMAZING!!! I can't wait for it to come out on DVD so I can watch it over and over!

These are some cute kids!

We had a visit with Santa after Karate practice one night. Brandon hopped up with no problem, Aubrey was a little hesitant but finally caved in. Emma was not getting anywhere near that man with the beard. So she told him from about 4 feet back that she wanted a doll.

We looooove our kitty boy. He is just the best little kitty ever.

The kids sat down and wrote their official letters to Santa to let him know what they wanted for Christmas. I helped Brandon and Aubrey helped Emma.

These two were so cute the other night. Cuddling up to watch TV together. I just felt so thankful at the moment I took this picture.

I am just feeling so incredibly blessed and thankful.

Tiny Change: Taking Down A Mini Blind

2013-11-05T12:43:00.000-05:00

This morning I was in some serious DIY, need to do something to this house mode. It's been awhile since my last project and I'm getting the itch to do something new!

My plan is to completely redo my kitchen. It's pretty much the same as it was when we moved in. We haven't even painted it. I'm still in the planning stages but I can't wait and I'm so excited to give it a makeover!

So until I have my plans sorted out I went ahead and did something really simple.

I've been meaning to take down this blind ever since we moved in.

Here is what it looks like.

Here is what it has looked like for the last year. I love to see out the window as I'm doing the dishes and love letting the natural light in, so I just pulled it up so it was out of view.

I finally got the gumption to go ahead and take it down.

It did not come easily! I watched 2 YouTube videos and still didn't get it.

Finally I just yanked really hard and it worked!

Then all I had to do was take the brackets off and voila!

I know it's a tiny change but I love it already!

Halloween

2013-11-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know I've missed a lot! But I just have to start off with Halloween. We had the best time!

This was Aubrey ready for school on Thursday. They were allowed to dress like a book character so she was a kitten from the book 'The Three Little Kittens'. I was really afraid that her face paint would smudge and she would walk around all day with smudgy cheeks but I applied some face powder to it and it held up great!

We live out in the sticks and our town is really small so we don't have too many options for trick or treating. Our town does do a trick or treat on the main street with all of the businesses but we tried it last year and there was just so much standing in line and waiting that it kinda took some of the fun out of it. The kids love to knock on doors and run through neighborhoods so we decided to go back to doing that, like we have done in the past.

Thankfully one of my very best friends lives in a huge neighborhood so we had the perfect place. As soon as Aubrey was off the bus we were off!

Here are the kids lining up for pictures.

Here is some trick or treat action.

I just love trick or treating, especially with toddlers because they are just so darn cute!!!

We just had the best time and enjoyed the company we were with. It was also really great because Hubby was off this year finally. He had to work the past few ones.

On a side note -

Jimmy Kimmel the late night talk show host issues a challenge to parents after every Halloween. Tell your kids that you ate all their Halloween candy when they wake up and record their reaction. He then takes some of the video's and makes a montage of them to play on his show.

So when I work up on Friday morning I figured I'd give it a try. I fully expected the kids to laugh in my face and run upstairs and get their candy. I am always joking with them and doing small little pranks but this time they fell for it. They were very unhappy to say the least.

So I did submit the video and someone from the show contacted me to say they MIGHT use it. So I'll be watching Jimmy Kimmel tonight to see if they do!

eBay is Rockin'!

2013-10-11T13:02:00.000-04:00

Well hellllerrr,

I know I said I was going to post a recipe and I will, I promise!!

Buuuut, I have something else I wanted to share today.

eBay!!!

I have only mentioned it few times here on my blog but I have a part time eBay business. I turned my thrift shop hobby into a moneymakin' hobby and I must say, I LOVE IT.

I'm growing more and more every day and seeing a rise in my profit is super exciting. Paying a bill with money I made on eBay is da bomb!!

I have added my eBay store to my sidebar, which you should be able to see if you look to the right side of the screen. It shows off some of my awesome finds and if you'd like to look some more just click it or click here - AHHHMOM eBay Style

So from time to time I'm going to highlight some awesome finds that are available for purchase.

First off -

The perfect addition to your Halloween Decor! Light up Pumpkin Mold, made by Gemmy.

You can see it here: Gemmy Halloween Pumpkin Mold

Isn't this Sunflower Mixing/Measuring Bowl adorable!!??

Get it here! - Sunflower Measuring Bowl

Who doesn't love Minnie Mouse? Show off your Disney style with this cute mug.

Find her here - Minnie Mouse Coffee Cup

OhEmGee, didn't you love Lisa Frank as a kid?? Grab this Tiger Binder and go directly back to your childhood!

Lisa Frank Tiger Binder

I was so, so, so tempted to keep this Milo Wood Cat Figure. But alas, I like money more than I like it.

Find it here - Milo Wood Cat Figure Statue

So those are just an example of some of the cool finds you can see in my eBay store!

Weekend Review

2013-10-09T08:56:00.001-04:00

The kids and I had the beeest weekend! Hubby had to work so we were on our own to entertain ourselves.

Aubrey had a soccer game on Saturday morning. It was so hot! It is not okay for it to be 90 degrees in October!

The field where Aubrey plays is also next to an airport and on Saturday's they have skydiving. It's so cool to see all the beautiful parachute's glittering the sky! I tried to catch a few photo's.

It's so funny to watch the kids because some of them will stop in mid-kick and look up into the sky!

On Sunday we spent the day at Graves Mountain Lodge for their annual Apple Harvest Festival. We met up with 2 of our favorite people. I have wrote about my friend Julia before, she and I have been friends for many years now and were even pregnant with out first babies together.

We spent the day playing in the stream, listening to bluegrass and catching up. If you don't live in Virginia, you need to come visit. Like now, right now. It is gorgeous! Just driving through the hills and ridges to get to the festival was an adventure in itself. The tree's are in full fall color now and it is amazing.

These kids were completely drenched by the time we left. They went from tiptoeing on rocks to full out swimming in this beautiful stream.

Isn't this just picturesque?

The kids and I came home with a box of delicious fresh picked apples from the orchard.

Don't you love the word orchard? There is just something about it that screams fall and crackling leaves and perfect weather.

Check back tomorrow for a delicious fall recipe.

A Day of Pictures

2013-10-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

Our morning walk...

Tired dog...

Needy cat..

Getting our energy out..

My pretty little girl...

With sandy blonde hair...

Hidden lizard...

Caught..

A gift from my boy...

Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies...

After school relaxing...

Beautiful sunset from the front porch...

Aubrey was finally able to go to school today and has not had any fevers, yay!

Here We Go Again

2013-10-01T19:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

We spent Friday evening and Saturday morning on the soccer field. The Blue Hawks won their game and Aubrey was very happy!

This was Friday at soccer practice. It's so beautiful!

After that we thoroughly enjoyed our lazy Saturday.

Saturday evening came in with a bang though. Aubrey started complaining of stomach pain and painful urination and shortly after her fever spiked.

I immediately knew we were dealing with another urinary/kidney/bladder issue. I gave her some meds to make her comfortable and bring down the fever. I was hoping to make it to Sunday morning so we could go to urgent care instead of the ER but no such luck.

At around 5am after a dose of meds, she started vomiting and of course the meds came up with it. At that point it became an emergency because I knew her fever was going to spike without medication.

So we headed out to the ER to get some help. Once we were there her fever was at almost 102 and by the time they had gotten meds into her and taken her temp again it was at 103.5. Which didn't scare me too much because the last time this happened her fever spiked to almost 106 degrees. The Dr and Nurses could not believe it and kept taking it to make sure it was correct (it was). That was the time she had to have a double injection of antibiotics in both legs.

So this time she only had to have one injection. They tested her urine and of course she did have an infection. They sent us home with antibiotics, anti nausea and a schedule for pain and fever reducer. They sent the urine out for culture.

So here we are on Tuesday and she is still having a high fever if she does not take Tylenol or ibuprofen every three hours.

So back to the Dr we went. The bad news is the urine has not cleared up like the Dr thinks it should and along with the high fever she fears that Aubrey is not as sensitive to the antibiotics as she should be.

The good news is that we finally got the referral that we have been wanting. Aubrey will be going to see the urologist and hopefully we can figure out what is causing these infections.

Here are my two cute girls at the Dr's office today! The strange thing is that as long as she is taking her pain meds you would never know she was not feeling well. It does a good job of masking all the symptoms but by the time we got home it had been 4 hours since her last dose and her fever was already getting high.

To think of a UTI you automatically assume its not too much of a big deal but when you start hearing the word kidneys getting thrown around is when you get worried, especially if it is your baby.

So we will see what happens. I am just waiting to hear from the Dr to find out when our appointment is. Until then they have switched her to a different antibiotic to hopefully get rid of the infection.

Aubrey has already missed two days of school this week and unless this antibiotic kicks in with a quickness she will most likely miss again tomorrow. Hopefully she can be back on Thursday to catch up on all of her work.

So until then we are spending lots of time with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

In Recent News...

2013-09-27T15:43:00.002-04:00

Summer is over, wahhh. But also yayyy!

I waited so long for summer to be here and it's already gone. I do have a love for Autumn though and it takes away some of the bitterness from our lovely summer being over.

Chilled mornings are here, walking to the bus stop while leaves flutter down from the trees, hot coffee... Yes, I must say Autumn is wonderful.

We did have a sweet summer, here's what I don't want to forget -

Lovely lake days, spent swimming, building sand castles, hiking and fishing -

Spending our evenings outside catching lightning bugs and enjoying the stars.

Brandon celebrated his 4th Birthday!!
I told him that he could choose anything in the whole world to do and we would do it. Of course I was just about 100% sure that I knew what he was going to say...

FISHING! So that's what we did for the afternoon.

Emma also celebrated her 2nd birthday!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I have no babies anymore!

We had a yard sale.

And spent a few days at the beach.

We did lots of stuff around the house which I will have to take pictures of at some point. Spent lots of time with lovely family and friends and just enjoyed some good ol' family time.

I love you summer!

Well, Hello Blog

2013-09-26T10:17:00.001-04:00

Dear sweet Blog, I know I've neglected you and haven't even batted an eyelid in your direction. You see I have 3 and sometimes even 4 very needy and demanding individuals who have been stealing all of my time and energy.

See here, here they are, they don't look it but sometimes they can be downright selfish when it comes to their Mommy.

But then something happened yesterday when I was at one of our favorite parks. I started thinking about the last year around this time when we came to the same park. Except I couldn't remember if it was last year, or if it was the year before.

And then I thought, how am I ever going to remember. A Mother needs to know these things!!

And that's when I did remember. I remembered that I have this little corner of the blogging world where I write about our little adventures and I knew I could come back to it and find out if it really was last year or not.

And that's why I need this little blog.

I need to write these things, so that I can remember these things.

So Dear Blog, I promise to do better, even if it's just a little better. I will be here to write about my needy little children so that I can remember them, when they're not very needy at all.

Come back friends, I'll be here again to update everything I've missed.

In This Chair...

2013-04-19T12:40:00.001-04:00

A couple nights ago, as I was rocking my baby before bed (yes,we still rock every night) I heard a snap and then I felt the back of my chair fall to the floor.

Yes that is a picture of what used to be my rocking chair. It slowly fell apart until finally it is now beyond repair.

I used to tell Hubby that I would never get rid of this chair, that I would rock in it as an old woman and daydream about about being young and rocking babies.

It will be hard to throw this stained, broken chair away.

In this chair I have rocked three newborn babies. I have fed them and soothed them, all in this chair.

In this chair I have watched tiny feet and hands grow big, little mouths that cried turn into mouths that talk, all in this chair.

I have rocked infants, toddlers, preschoolers and even a big kindergartner. In this chair I have rocked all hours of the day and all hours of the night.

A new mother with no idea how to care for a baby, learned .... in this chair.

This chair was rocked in when there was not yet a baby to hold in my arms. With a swollen belly and the dreams of the future to come, I would rock in this chair.

I am sad it's broken and I'm not sure if I will replace it with another rocking chair or not. I'm such a sentimental fool but I love this chair.

Perfect Warm Weather Snack: Frozen Grapes

2013-04-15T08:19:00.001-04:00

Oh my, spring has finally sprung and it is glorious! We have been spending our days soaking up the sun and enjoying nature.

We have also been sweating and looking forward to cooling off with a refreshing snack. So last week when grapes were on sale I did some major stocking up so we could enjoy one of our favorite fruits.

We love our grapes and ever since last summer when we discovered how amazing they are drozen , we just can't get enough.

All I do is rinse, dry and place into an air tight container with a napkin. That's it! They are uh-mazing!! I snacked on these for like 3 days straight!

Its sad because they are already all gone!

The Three Bag Challenge

2013-04-03T21:37:00.000-04:00

Last week I was feeling in the mood for some Spring Cleaning. I have been noticing for awhile the mass amount of books we have that seem to be taking over. So I went through and picked out the ones that don't ever get read and the ones that were torn and abused.

It felt gooood to clean up the book clutter.

Then a couple days ago I once again became completely overwhelmed by the tiny toy clutter. You know the tiny toys? The ones you step on in the middle of the night, the ones you get in happy meals or in birthday goody bags. Yeah those annoying little toys that seem to make their way onto the floor at all times.

So I challenged myself to fill up one bag per kids room of toys/clothes, basically anything that didn't get played with or that was outgrown. It was such a great feeling to get a little more organized and have less clutter. I used the small shopping bags since I had already done a clean-out the week before but you could even use a garbage bag. I'm already thinking of applying this to my bedroom, the bathrooms, living rooms and kitchen. It's quick and it makes you feel accomplished. Try it!!

Easter Weekend

2013-04-01T20:29:00.001-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!

We had such a perfect weekend, starting off with the kids Aunt Rhe Rhe visiting us on Friday. Hubby stayed home to make us all dinner while the rest of us headed off to Aubreys soccer practice.

This girl is getting so good!!

On Saturday we headed out to the lake and had the best time. We fished and hiked some of the trails, the day was gorgeous!

The Park Rangers were also having a scavenger hunt. Let me tell you... it was the scavenger hunt from H E double hockey sticks. The objective was to to find certain trees that were on the list and write down the code word that was labeled on a wooden marker next to the tree.

Do you know how hard it is to find a wooden marker in a forest of wood?!?! Hard people, hard!!

Saturday evening we had our first bonfire of the year with our cousins and neighbors.

Yea, that would be my hubbys work of art. It was so nice to be outside in the evening and not be freezing, I am so thankful spring is here.

We celebrated our Easter Sunday with Grandparents. They had overflowing Easter baskets for the kids and there was even a break in the drizzle so the kids could take a tractor ride.

Aubrey is on spring break all week and I am so happy to have my girl here with us during the day.

This was this morning with my loves. It has been the perfect day.

I replaced all the kids winter clothes with their spring and summer clothes and it was warm enough for them to wear shorts and dresses.

Tonight I am watching my beloved Dancing with the Stars and letting the kids stay up late and play with the neighborhood kids!

Happy Birthday!

2013-03-10T23:26:00.000-04:00

Today is my best friends birthday. He's also my Hubby. He makes pretty babies like this:

And this:

I wrote a Happy Birthday song just for him:

Happy Birthday to you,

We live in a zoo.

You helped create it,

I don't hate it,

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you,

I want more babies with you,

Babies, More Babies,

Can I have more babies with you?

Happy Birthday to you,

You're older than me,

Ha Ha Ha - ppy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you,

I love our Zoo.

I love it, I love it,

I love you.

Isn't he pretty yall?? I think he's prettier than me!

Happy Birthday Hubby! I love you more and more every day and these past 8 years have been the best of my life. I will love every day, of growing old with you!!

Thankful For a Little Boy

2013-03-04T22:17:00.000-05:00

I'm so thankful for my little boy.

Yes, he's weird and sticky and hyper.

But he's mine and I love him and if I never had a little boy I may never have known what a worm ball looks like.

I love you little boy.

Easy Easter Craft: Stained Glass Easter Egg

2013-02-28T13:02:00.000-05:00

Here's an easy Easter Craft if you're looking for one. I prepped all the materials ahead of time and it was easy for the kids to complete on their own while I did some cleaning.

All you need:

Construction Paper
Contact Paper
Tissue Paper
Scissors

Prep all your materials

Cut a large egg shape out of your child's chosen construction paper color.
After you have cut out the egg shape, fold in half and cut out the middle. This leaves an egg outline.
Cut up tiny squares of tissue paper, use a variety of spring colors.
Cut two sheets of contact paper large enough for your egg to fit inside.

Directions:

Peel and lay down your first sheet of contact paper in front of your child. Then lay down your egg outline.
Let the kids fill in the egg using the tissue paper, for an older child they could do a pattern.
After they have completely filled in the egg, lay the next sheet of peeled contact paper down on top to create a laminated effect.
Admire your child's craftiness and hang in your window!

The kids enjoyed this craft!

Living Room Update and Some TMI!

2013-02-25T13:00:00.000-05:00

Well HELLLLERRR there! I'm back after a little hiatus.

A couple of weeks ago I came to a really important conclusion.

I'm overweight. Yes, I'm fat. My muffin top and busted can of biscuits completely overflowed so much that I finally had to be honest with myself that my weight was overtaking ME.

The really important factor in this whole conclusion was that I had gotten to the point where I was so uncomfortable in my own skin. I was unhappy with myself and just so self conscious about my body. I finally just got real with myself ... I hit my breaking point. This is a good thing, a great thing. It means I'm ready. Beyond ready to loose the weight.

After 3 kids and my weight fluctuating so often it's finally time for me to take care of myself. Since I won't be pregnant ever again (WAAAHHH) I really would like to get back to my pre pregnancy size.

I was so tired of having boxes full of clothes that I could not wear. Of having only 1 or 2 pants that actually fit and so so tired of wearing stretchy pants all the time. It was so hard to get ready to go someplace and then walk to the closet and realize that I literally had nothing to wear because none of my clothes fit me.

So I woke up one morning and I did it. I started my weight loss journey and I could not be happier. The first few days were ROUGH. I was seriously suffering from food withdraw but now I'm good. It took those few days for my body to adjust to not stuffing my face all the time but I'm starting to feel great. I feel those fat cells shrinking and my skin is looking better and I'm feeling better with more energy.

So just so we're clear, I'm still overweight. But I'm a happy fatty because I'm doing something about it. I'm not sure if I have lost anything or not but I do know that I can wear a pair a pants that didn't fit a few weeks ago so that's got to count for something. I don't have a scale so I wont be weighing in, the plan to go by how my clothes fit and a how I feel.

So I will keep you updated and hopefully be sharing some tips and letting you know how it's going.

In other news, we have finally did some updating in our barren living room. So after the painting, furniture and wainscoting this is how the living room looked for awhile:

Withing the last few weeks we have installed a TV on the wall (thanks to an awesome relative) and I have hung some pictures as well.

Now, I don't actually know those people in the frames but I'm sure they are wonderful.

This area needs some help. We are currently looking for a cute long table/bench that has some storage for under the TV so we can hide all these ugly wires.

So the next few things for the living room:

Get rid of those people in the frames and replace them with people we actually know.

Find a bench/table for under the TV.

Replace ceiling fan.

Replace and cover the pillows with some colorful pretty fabric.

Possibly a rug.

Still deciding on wether or not to hang drapes.

Paint some missed spots and the trim.

New lampshade.

That's not too much to ask is it?

What Is A Poop Bar??

2013-02-10T21:26:00.002-05:00

Sooo, let me set the scene for you:

Out to dinner with family.

Brandon will not stop talking.

I'm okay with this, since he's cute and little and funny.

BUT, then he starts talkin' about my Poop Bars.

And in this house, WE DON'T SPEAK OF THE POOP BARS!!!!!!!!!!

I am cutting him some slack since he is only 3 can't seem to feel the heat of my eyes blaring into him.

So since my secret is out, I might as well tell the whole world what a Poop Bar is.

Yes, I lurve me some Fiber One Bars. And when you have a 3 year old who constantly wants to eat them, the best way to keep them away is to let them know

THEY MAKE YOU POOP!!!

So, Brandon. Please stop shouting randomly, at stores/restaurants/in the car, that you want a POOP BAR!!

Plllllleeeeeeaaaaaaaaassssseeeee!!!

It's embarrsin'!

Crockpot Slow Cooker Recipie: Chickadilla Soup

2013-02-05T14:42:00.002-05:00

Oh. My. Goodness.

I tore this recipe out of a magazine a couple of months ago. It's called Chickadilla Soup and the recipe is from Kashi.

It's super healthy and the taste is amazing. I made it yesterday in the crock pot.

Ingredients:

1lb Chicken Breast
30oz diced tomatoes
10oz mild enchilada sauce
4oz chopped mild green chilies
1 quart chicken broth
2 15oz cans of black or pinto beans
10 oz frozen corn
1/2 medium onion
1tsp cilantro
1tsp cumin, chili powder and salt
1/2tsp black pepper

I didn't have any corn so I did not include that. I used pinto beans and 1 whole onion.

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a 6 qt. slow cooker. Mix. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
After a few hours, once chicken is thoroughly cooked, remove from pot, shred and return to pot for remaining cooking time.

Notes:

After a couple hours I shredded the chicken. Then I turned my cooker on high. After about 6 hours total we had dinner. It was good but I wasn't sure if it was a keeper or not. During a commercial break of The Bachelor around 8 something I went upstairs and realized I had left the crock pot on high and forgot to turn it off. I turned it off and then decided to have another bowl.

IT WAS AMAZING!!! Just those few extra hours made all the difference. The chicken melted in my mouth and all the different flavors had fuzed into awesomeness. It was slightly spicy with just the right kick. I didn't even add anything extra to it besides salt.

I ended up having another bowl.

I also ate it for breakfast and would have had it for lunch but it was all gone. SADNESS!

I will definetly be making this again but I will make sure to make it earlier so it can cook longer, I think that made all the difference.

Sunday Night Musings

2013-02-03T23:33:00.000-05:00

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone!

We have spent our day happily sitting at home resting and relaxing. We have had a busy weekend.

We finally upgraded our family car to a van so it no longer looks like a clown car when five people step out of one mid sized car. I'm super proud of my Hubby and myself for waiting to upgrade. It was so tempting to buy one when Emma was born but we knew the right thing to do was wait until we bought our house first. So for a year and a half we have had 3 car seats mushed together in the back seat of our car. It was a pain and we honestly did get some funny looks and lots of remarks that we needed a van. But we didn't care, we knew our patience would pay off and now it has!

Hubby had researched and researched for months and we are very happy with our purchase! We took it on tour over the weekend and visited some family. It's very nice to have room for extra kids when we need it!

We spent this morning talking about our plans for our home this spring. I love plans, don't you?

There are so many things we can't wait to do when the weather warms up but until then it's fun to talk about!

Aubrey, Brandon and I made some chocolate chip cookies.

My handsome boy.

I put on a pot of homemade potpourri. It's super easy and smells so good. All you need is some cinnamon and I also use ground nutmeg. Mix with peelings from oranges and a couple of cups of water. Then bring to a boil and let simmer for however long you would like. I can usually use the same pot the next day as well, just keep adding water when it gets low. Smells great and very fragrant!

Last week was soo windy!! Brandon has been asking for so long to fly his kite so we flew it for two days until it broke.

I had to take a picture of these huge tree's because they were srrsly creepin' me out. They were swaying so much in the crazy wind.

I also wanted to share this little rambling of mine that I found. It's from a few weeks ago and I never got around to finishing it or publishing it so here it is anyway.

.................................................................

As I'm sitting here at my desk, typing and thinking away the snow beautifully coating the ground outside my window the feeling of thankfulness is pouring from me.

It is a beautiful feeling. Aubrey and I have spent our lunchtime tromping around outside through the woods. Looking for little animal prints throughout the tree's. We walked to the little creek which has frozen over and we climbed through our jungle gym of fallen trees.

And as I watched Aubrey head down this little country gravel road talking excitedly with her friend as they headed to her house to get her snowsuit I could not help but feeling like a dream had come true.

It was a dream for so many years to have a place to call our true home. I prayed for a place with tree's and nature and somewhere safe for the kids to play.

God answered my prayers! It makes my heart rejoice so much to have a yard for running. Tree's for climbing, friends who come through the woods to say hello. And even though we're expecting more snow, I can't help but think of summer and it's beauty. Of the blackberry vines over in the corner of the yard that I can't wait to ripen. Of fingertips dyed black and juicy smiles.

...................................................................

I know it's quite cheesy but I love it because it's true.

A Sliver of Spring

2013-01-30T14:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a gift from above! The weather had been so extremely horrible and cold and nasty here in Virginia. I keep my thermostat very low so when the heat in my house stays on for days, you know it's got to be freezing outside!

Thankfully yesterday made up for it! We saw just a sliver of Spring to come. It was up around 73 degrees and we soaked up every bit of it. Aubrey was off from school so we decided to head to one of our favorite parks for a of couple hours.

It was just perfect and really helped with those winter time indoor blues. We swung, we played we ran and jumped and rolled down hills. I had been longing for Spring and green grass and trees with green leaves. And was thinking how this will be our first spring and full summer in our home. I can't wait to see the flowers and beauty encircle us.

I love how the park works with the landscape and nature.

And on a completely different topic, as I was uploading these pics I couldn't help but think how fast my babies are growing. They are getting so big before my eyes have a chance to blink.

An Owl Hand Print Craft

2013-01-22T09:18:00.001-05:00

I just love Saturday mornings! Even more so, now that Aubrey is in school. Weekend mornings are cherished around here. We have a routine we've gotten into which usually starts with a few cartoons and then we head upstairs for breakfast and some free time.

Aubrey is usually at the table with her coloring books and crayons, Emma has gotten into the groove as well and likes to color with her big sis. Brandon will usually be running around with swords fighting bad guys or sometimes he likes to sit at the table and play with his Yego's (Lego's).

This past Saturday morning we got out our crafting supplies and got to work. I have seen a couple Owl crafts floating around on Pinterest and I think Owl's are the cutest so we decided to go in that direction.

As you can see we make quite a mess!

We did hand prints as the feathers.

So cute!!! I actually had an ulterior motive for making these with the kids. I really wanted them to hang in Emma's room (can you guess the theme I'm going for). The kids liked them so much that they wanted to keep them to play with so I went ahead and laminated them so they wouldn't tare when being tossed around.

Later in the day they did get tired of them so they agreed to let me have them for little sister's room. Yay!

Emma did make one but not until later in the day.

Striped Walls and I'm Still Alive

2013-01-14T17:53:00.000-05:00

I'm finally pulling my head out of the upstairs bedroom that now belongs to Emma. Taking a room from dark purple to bright yellow is no joke!!

But, I am finally done and I'm in LURVE with it! It turned out exactly the way I had pictured it in my head, I love when that happens!

It has been a little over a week since I started and I'm so happy to say that it is 90% done. 100% done with the painting, all of Emma's things have been moved upstairs and put away. The only thing I need to do is hang a few things on the walls. I'm usually slow as molassas at doing things but I really needed the room downstairs for an office so that kind of lit the fire under my butt!

The third bedroom upstairs has been used as a playroom/toy storage since we moved here in August. We didn't do anything to it besides stuff kid things in it. This is what it looked like before:

Ugh yeah, it aint pretty that's for sure!

I thought about leaving the purple and hubby liked it but I just couldn't do it. It was too dark for my little sunny girl she needed something brighter! I also had 2 cans of paint that were originally intended for the kitchen that I wanted to use. We decided to go with a different color for the kitchen so it worked out.

I headed to Lowes and purchased Valspar High Hiding Primer to use over the purple. And since I knew I wanted stripes I bought another shade of yellow to go with what I had.

The primer was great. I did 2 coats on the walls where I knew I was using the lighter shade of yellow and only one on the walls I was using the darker color. Even with the primer I had to do about 2-3 coats of the yellow.

Here is a preview of what the room looks like:

Quite lovely if I do say so myself but even better now that it's completely done. Tomorrow I'll be back with the complete room reveal as long as I can get some sun to take a decent photo!

What I Don't Want to Forget

2013-01-02T09:02:00.000-05:00

I know I say it over and over again. Time is flying by.

I just keep thinking to myself how I need to make sure I'm living each and every day. Really being present and absorbing it all.

And I think as long as I do these things, that I will not let myself be sad when I'm older and in my rocking chair thinking back to these younger days with young babies and kindergartners. I will not be sad because I know that I lived it and experienced it and was there, really there, to enjoy every bit of it.

So, with that said. Here are a few things I don't want to forget.

Christmas Eve night. How we coaxed the kids into peaceful slumber by telling them Santa couldn't come until he knew they were sleeping. How we made sure to leave the tree on so Santa could see it but how I ended up turning it off before bed because I didn't want to catch the house on fire. And then how I couldn't sleep because I was so excited and how I got up around 5 to turn the tree back on so the kids would never know it had been off.

How Aubrey woke me up telling me there were presents under the tree and Santa had come. They were all so excited but they couldn't open until Daddy was awake.

The kids with their letters to Santa.

Leaving them for Jolly the elf to take to the North Pole that night.

How my sweet boy would gather all his blankets and camp out on the couch in front of the tree telling us how much he liked it and how it was pretty. Then we'd all end up on the couch talking about what they wanted for Christmas.

How trying to get a good Christmas picture is very hard with 3 little ones. Especially a 3 year old boy.

Sucking on his bottom lip.

Making extremely weird faces.

Itchy head.

Thinks he's a donkey.

We finally got a few good ones we could use.

And especially how we shared a wonderful Christmas Eve with both sets of Grandparents and how it makes me realize how blessed our family is and how grateful I am that our kids have Grandparents that love them.

I could not have asked for a more wonderful Christmas.

Around the House

2012-12-20T12:07:00.000-05:00

My goodness, time is flying! Christmas is only a few days away and it seems like we just finished up with Thanksgiving!

Today is Aubrey's last day of school until after the New Year and I had to remind her of this a few times this morning in order to get her out of bed. She was however soooo excited to take her Christmas present for her teacher to school. I am so mad at myself that I forgot to get a picture of her this morning.

I will often find Emma sitting in her chair in her room looking at a book. It's the cutest thing.

I just love this book stage. I remember Aubrey and Brandon at around this same age, they would love just sitting and looking at a book or bringing it to someone to read to them. They each had their own favorite which I still have and plan to put into their baby box.

This is Emma's. It's called 'Carl's Afternoon in the Park' and it's seriously the most adorable little picture book. It's all about a dog who takes care of a baby and a puppy and all the cute little things they do together.

During some of these warmer days, we love getting outside.

Brandon's favorite game right now is playing 'swords' with plastic bats. He really wants to be a Ninja Turtle.

The trampoline gets used almost every single day. I think it's the best investment (besides our house) that we have made all year.

After the town Christmas Parade we walked to the church to see the sweet nativity.

Operation Toy Cleanout is in full swing. I have probably been able to remove around 6-7 garbage bags full of old toys/clothes and random other items in preparation for the Christmas toy wave. It feels so good to get rid of things that have just been sitting.

Aubrey does school, even when she is not at school.

These won't last long!!

We made these last night. So easy and sooo good!!!

Aubrey is very excited to be the assistant gift wrapper this year. Last night she helped me wrap a present for Daddy from Mommy. I expressed the importance of keeping this gift a secret and making sure Daddy did not find out what it was. Of course as soon as Daddy came home the first thing she made sure to tell him was that she knew what his present is.

Hubby is a master gift finder-outer, he's extremely good at guessing what is he is getting or what is in a wrapped box.

So once again, Aubrey and I had the keeping it a secret talk. After the kids were asleep Hubby made sure to tell me that I made a mistake telling her and he was going to find out.

Aubrey, I'm counting on you!!! Don't spill!!

Hubby's last day is tomorrow and then he is off until after Christmas. I can't wait to have my entire family home. The Christmas excitement is settling in!!