1. 3 Gratitude every day (each gratitude must be unique for 21 days)
2. Journaling
3. Exercise
4. Meditation
5. Random Acts of Kindness

I don’t know about you, but after the holidays, I seem to get a rush of the winter blues so I’m giving this a try.  I’m sharing my gratitudes on Instagram (username debaverett) if you’d like to join in.  I’m on day 9 and I have to say, it’s been a lot of fun, and I find myself smiling more each day and looking for the positive in all situations. Hope you’re all having a great New Year!! xo

My husband and I have been talking a lot about how we can raise confident children. Like all of us, I want our children to be happy and in thinking about what happiness stems from, I believe confidence is a huge part of it. Not only outward confidence, but also inward confidence of knowing who they are and what they stand for. I hope I can exhibit this in my daily life and be a good example to my little ducklings.

Just curious…. do you have a motto in your home? Or phrases that you live by?

If you’d like to download this printable, I’ve created, click below. (size: 8.5″ x 11″)

To be used for personal use only, no commercial sales please. Thank you!

As a side note… I am very thankful for the election, and the voice that we’ve each been given. Though I don’t agree with some of the outcomes, I am very thankful for the reminder that my husband and I are the leaders within the walls of our home. We are building little leaders everyday and that is a powerful thing. I love America! And hope we can build a strong nation once again!

I have a friend here that could score a good deal on apples and I got the wild idea to make applesauce with them. Since this was my first time, I only bought (2) 10 lb. bags of apples– one Sweet 16 and the other Honeycrisp. I knew we’d eat a few of the Honeycrisps, but we wouldn’t be able to finish them all off.

I borrowed a food mill to help me do the process a little more quickly, but it still took me nearly 4 hours and I only ended up with 3 quarts of applesauce. The Honeycrisp apples hardly made a sauce, it was more juice.

It did feel good to try something new and accomplish it by myself… my mom is a pro-canner when it comes to tomatoes so I’ve always leaned on her for this sort of thing.  However, when it comes to applesauce, I don’t know that I’d do it again. I paid $20 for apples and spent way too much time in the kitchen making a huge, sticky mess. If I have an apple tree one day, I might sing a different tune, but for now, I’m stearing clear from making applesauce.

Have you ever done applesause before? Or do you do apple butter?

Watch out! We had a ladybug, SuperMan and Tigger out on the loose last night!

Caden was going to be a Storm Trooper, but at the last minute changed to SuperMan.  (In my opinion, it was the better choice). Porter caught on quick to Trick-or-Treating and kindly told everyone “thank you” as they dropped candy into his bucket.  Gabby went to a few of the neighbor’s houses so they could pinch her cheeks, but then she stayed inside where it was nice and warm.

At the end of the night, Porter realized one piece of candy at a time just wasn’t enough.

And Caden had fun going back to his blonde hair.  As you can tell by this picture, he had a fun Halloween.

My little towhead Porter is 2. I can hardly believe it. He is one of the best kids around, seriously. He is soooo quiet most of the time, I always have to keep checking to make sure he’s still around. Here are a couple things Porter loves:

Favorite toy: Thomas anything

Favorite shirts: button down (I think because he can put them on himself and I just have to help with the buttons)

Favorite buddy: Caden

Favorite sayings: “Go Big Red!,” “so cool,” and “Mark, Set, Go!”

Favorite foods: Pizza, cheese and oranges

Favorite past-time: Teasing Caden and riding Jonzy like a horse

Favorite bedtime song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Dear Porter,

My oh my, you’re 2! I have no idea where the time has gone, but I’m sooooo glad you’re a part of our family. You are the glue that holds us all together. You always have been. I remember shortly after you were born, we found out we were moving to Minnesota. You were the little patient and laid back baby that reminded me everyday that everything would be okay. That being a “single mom” for 6 weeks while dad started his new job was only temporary and sanity would return again. I thought it was Heavenly Father’s way of blessing me, but I now see that is your personality. You still continue to remind me that situations are temporary, time is fleeting and that I should just enjoy the here and now. Thank you for being so wise and smart, little guy!

I love you so, so much. I love your cute little face and your wrinkled nose. I love your little snort laugh. I love that you talk and communicate so well. I love that you’re the quiet life of the party. People have a way of flocking to you, and wanting your cute, quiet attention. I love baking and cooking with you. You are always so excited to help and eat what you’ve worked so hard on. I love that you share. I love that you want to be like your big brother, but just remember, you have plenty of time to grow up. We don’t need to rush anything. I love cuddling with you and tickling your back until you fall asleep. It doesn’t happen often enough.

I know it’s hard being the middle sibling. Trust me, I’ve been there! I sure hope you get the attention you deserve. You are an awesome little guy and I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.

Love,

Mom

Good news! Gabby finally likes the camera! It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 2 months since Gabby was born! Where oh where does the time go? I’ve been enjoying my snuggle time with this sweet little girl as I know this time doesn’t last long. I’ve also been teaching her how to Zumba in our spare time.

She’s pretty good at it and loves to coo along the way. Have you ever done Zumba? It’s one of my new favorite ways to work out. I tried it a couple years ago and didn’t like it. I tried it again last week and loooooved it! (Just like every other class, the instructor makes a HUGE difference).

In case you’re wondering, our mornings still move pretty slow around here. We’re lucky if we get moving before 9am. Here’s a quick peek at how the boys stay occupied while I get Gabby & I ready.

These boys have been so awesome and patient as we transition to a family of five. And they are the best of buds. Giggling, laughing and wrestling throughout the house all day long. I love it and it makes me smile.

A couple of my biggest challenges have been grocery shopping and meals. My new work schedule is from 3-6pm during the week (I work part-time for a community college and have an after school helper). I really have to plan ahead for meals and try to get them cooking before my helper arrives… otherwise we eat a lot of pizza and corn dogs. Which, is okay for now. I have to cut myself slack as I know things will get better. But, I have found some great meals that I really love lately. I thought I’d share them with you.

Buffalo Chicken Tacos via Jamie Cooks it Up!
Though this one doesn’t cook while I’m working, it’s super easy to whip up.  For the kids, I leave out the buffalo sauce. Also, she taught me one of my new favorite tricks… buy a cooked chicken to use in meals. I’m terrible at remembering to thaw meat. A $5 chicken usually gets us two meals around this house.

Coconut-Macadamia Crusted Shrimp via Our Best Bites
We are trying to eat out less as it’s pure craziness when we leave the house these days, but I still like a special treat on the weekends.  This was a lot of fun to make, as well as delicious and easy. I made the sauce, but really don’t think it’s necessary. There was a lot of waste with the sauce and I don’t think it added that much to the dinner.

Shake n’ Bake
I’ve again fallen in love with shake n’ bake. It’s easy and the kids gobble it up! Also, have you seen the new shake n’ bakes in the cheese aisle by Kraft? They are a nice spin on the boxed versions.

Notice I don’t have any crockpot recipes listed. All the ones I have tried haven’t been that great. If you have any tried and true recipes (or recipe blogs that you love), please share! I get really sick of the same recipes over and over and have noticed that I love being in the kitchen since we don’t get out of the house much these days.  Love to you all and hope you’re well!

xo

When Gabby was 10 days old, we drove back home to Nebraska to watch Casey receive his MBA. This has been three years in the making and I completely broke down when I saw him receive his degree. He has worked so hard and we as a family have sacrificed so much to make this happen. We debated whether to make the trip back for his degree as we knew it was a little crazy, but we thought it would set a great example to Caden. And it has…. he now has a piggy bank that he “saves for college.”

Speaking of school… Caden started preschool last week. He goes three days a week for 2 1/2 hours. He has the same teacher as last year and loves it! When I asked Caden what he wants to be when he grows up, he said “a football player.” Here is his giving a 4 year old forced smile to the camera. (He does this every time the camera comes out).

Then I tell him to be himself. Ah, that’s better.

Now for the goofy shots.

And one with brother.

For those of you wanting a Gabby update. She is doing really well. I tried to take good pictures for her announcement a few weeks back and this is what I got.

Fussiness. Pure fussiness and I haven’t been able to take pictures since. Blame it on the light, or the pure craziness that is our household currently, it just hasn’t happened.

We love our patio, as I told you a little while ago. It’s been hotter than usual this summer so we’ve spent a lot of time with our water gear. It’s a great way to get everyone outside without dying of heat exhaustion. Because being outside is magic, remember? Hardly no fighting and lots of energy expelled. (Chalk up two wins for mommy!) As you can see, Caden loves dumping full buckets of water on his head. This happened to be a bucket full of cold water. Oops… I forgot to fill the pool ahead of time so it could warm up. He didn’t seem to mind. “Here, Porter, let me help you.” Porter doesn’t like the ice cold water. But, he does love his water table. And Caden thinks it’s perfect for reloading his water gun.

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I will say that so far adjusting from 2 to 3 children has been better than expected. The boys play pretty well together and keep each other occupied when I need to help or feed Gabby.

And Caden is a great helper all around. Most days, he serves up breakfast for himself and Porter. It is so awesome to have such a big helper!

Welcome to the world, Gabrielle Lucinda!  We’re so glad you’re here!

She was born Sunday, July 29 at 7:40pm weighing in at 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 20.5 inches long.

She wasn’t due until August 21 so you can imagine how unprepared we were!  My water broke Saturday night and I quickly packed a hospital bag, went for a walk with Casey and the dog, and checked in to the hospital.  In the delivery room, she was called a prima donna over and over and since being delivered, the nurses repeatedly call her out for being feisty.

Casey called her out yesterday for being a little diva in her tanning bed. 

She’s been in the NICU since Monday morning, but should be released today assuming all labs come back okay.  We’re excited to take her home and spend more time as a family!