Living my dream

School day fun

2012-01-21T12:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't been posting quite as much lately. I wanted to give an update on what we are doing in school. We are still enjoying K12 this year. Isaac has done an amazing job with the work. He is all the way done with Kindergarten math, phonics and language arts. He has moved into the first grade level and is still doing awesome. I love the literature program that they use. The phonics program is pretty good, but I supplement a bit with where we need to work more and skip some they focus on since we have it mastered. While I like some of the math program I find myself looking for some other ways to cover concepts just a little differently. Overall, though I think this really works for us for now.

Something fun we've been doing is reading through the little house books. I am so excited to start these with my boys. I loved this series as a little girl and it is so fun reading them again.

Bubba is very excited about school also. He is moving along so well. Bubba loves to feel like a big kid, and I love watching how excited he gets to learn.

Then there is little man. He is keeping me on my toes. He wants to do school too. Much of his seat work is coloring and art. This kid may be my artist. He wants to draw all day long. He sits longer than either of the other boys did at his age. That is so encouraging!

We are having a hard time feeling quite as motivated to work after the holidays, but little by little we are getting back into a routine. So, that is what we've been up to.

Close call

2012-01-19T20:15:00.000-08:00

So, Little man is now 2 and a half. Kind of crazy. I'm trying to figure out which of his brothers he will closest follow when it comes to potty training. #1 HATED potty training. He loathed it. He screamed cried and refused until he was well past three. Seriously, this was my biggest prayer concern for months. I was terrified the kid would go to college in diapers. Round 2 was so easy I missed it. I found him one day sitting on the potty. He had taken off his diaper thrown it away put on a pair of his brothers underwear and we were done. That was it. He was 2!

So, the past few days we have been testing the waters a little. After nap when I change the baby he gets to wear underwear for a little bit. Usually about an hour. He thinks it's fun, and it is good to start the foundation. However, today in my forgetfulness I put him in underwear and put his pants back on. Then we played, ate dinner, and went to the store. I forgot completely he was not in a diaper...oops. Thankfully he didn't have an accident and he happily sat on the potty before bed. No luck, but so glad he stayed dry that long. This could be the beginning of something wonderful.

Things I love Thursday

2012-01-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

So, I have only had a chance to use this once, but I'm pretty sure I'm in love. I recently learned about this stuff called "dry shampoo". You spray it in, leave it for about two minutes and brush it out. Voila! you have clean hair. So, if you do your hair the day before and don't want to start over this is a great solution. I had straightened my hair yesterday and I didn't want to do my hair again today. A few sprays and I was grease free and good to go! YAY! I bought some at Target for about $4, but I found it here on Amazon for just under $3 if you use subscribe and save. I am so excited to have a quick fix when I run out of time!

Things I love Thursday: Cuddles

2012-01-05T05:54:00.000-08:00

This morning I got up and went to the Y for a run. When I got home the house was quiet and dark. I quietly went back to my dark room to find a sleeping hubby. I knew it was time for him to get up (45 mins ago) so I started chatting with him a bit.

After only about two minutes I heard the creaking of a door. Tiny footsteps, and then quiet. My little man was my early riser this morning. He crept out of his bed, but had stopped at the stairs because it was all dark. So, I went to pick him up. He snuggled close and softly started patting my back. He is so sweet. He always does this. Cuddles with soft pats or back rubs. Seriously, melts a momma's heart. I brought him back to our room and we all got a little cuddle time. We were soon joined by Bubba. I love our group cuddle times. I love when they all pile in our bed and snuggle under the covers. I love having all my little boys pile for sweet moments that turn into crazy wrestling.

I am linking up with The Diaper Diaries

Cars digital camera

2011-12-12T14:32:00.000-08:00

If you have any little guys left on your list this may be a great value. Right now this V tech Cars digital camera is only $19.99 at Amazon ! That is an awesome deal marked down from $69.99! Just wanted to pass along a bargain. :)

Oh Bub

2011-12-09T16:14:00.000-08:00

One of the things my middle child is famous for is his wardrobe changes. Usually he has at least three a

day. Today he came down in a soccer ensemble. So, I thought I'd take a picture. He apparently was in

the posing mood. He cracks me up.

Then there is yet another outfit that he moved on to. Oh, that boy.

Cookies

2011-12-09T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from our cookie decorating adventures. Dan and I had some fun and decorated some the first night once the kids were in bed. It is always fun to do things together minus kids once in awhile.

The next night we let the kids do some cookie art after dinner. Little man didn't realize that it wasn't just for eating. He did two cookies then fell into a sugar coma. :) Bubba fell asleep during dinner so he missed the first half of the fun, but he was a little happier after a quick nap.

Isaac had a blast this year. He is just starting to enjoy doing these kinds of things. He was not into anything remotely like coloring, but apparently he is moving past that in the name of sugar.

So happy about his man.

So happy about his candy.

YUM!

Mess...

He eventually woke up and joined us.

Concentration...

All done and delicious. I used this recipe I found on Pintrest. It did not disappoint and I think it will be our new fave sugar cookie recipe. What cookies are you making this year?

Mommy party

2011-12-09T05:48:00.000-08:00

The other day I invited a few friends over for a Mommy party. I had the opportunity to host a Winnie the Pooh viewing party sponsored by Oral B. They sent us some fun goodies to share with our friends and the new movie to watch together.

The big boys were very excited to help decorate. They loved the balloons that were in our party kit.

So excited to watch the movie!

Getting snuggly and warm during the show.

Every one found a place to crash in comfort.

Here is more of the gang.

Drinking some hot chocolate with a popcorn snack. Oral B provided some fun goody bags with a toothbrush, tooth paste, baby wash and some coupons! I love to see how excited the kids get over "special toothpaste" and new toothbrushes. In our house that is very motivating to want to brush our teeth often... Thanks, Oral B and MommyParties for all the fun. We loved having our friends over to share a movie, snacks, and new things to try.

Melissa and Doug Sale

2011-12-08T11:22:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for some great gifts this year Melissa and Doug are some of my favorite. Today the gold box deal on Amazon has 50% off several Melissa and Doug toys. I use a lot of these as my table toys for school.

Christmas to do list

2011-12-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

This Christmas I have plans to make some memories. I want to do all the fun Christmas stuff that I did growing up. So far, so good. I am feeling a lot less stress about the holidays this year. I don't know if it has been planning ahead or the fact that the kids are a little older this year. I thought I'd share some of my Christmas to dos for the year.

~~Decorate the house.~~
~~Make cut out cookies and decorate.~~
Make a ginger bread house.
~~Start a Jesse Tree advent tradition.~~
~~Make Christmas crafts.~~
~~Attend a cookie exchange.~~
~~Finish shopping for kids.~~
Finish shopping for grown ups.
Make a few gifts. ( I can't tell what just yet)
Wrap gifts
~~Drink lots of hot chocolate~~
Make white chocolate chex mix
Prep for Christmas travel.
Watch Christmas movies while cuddled on the couch with my family

~~Muppet Christmas Carol~~
~~Elf~~
Rudolph the red nose reindeer
Charlie Brown Christmas
~~The Grinch That stole Christmas (cartoon)~~
The Polar Express
A Christmas Story
Frosty the Snowman

There are a few things we are considering cutting this year to scratch some stress and save some money.

Mailing Christmas cards. We found we were sending almost 150 cards. By the time we got the cards and paid postage we were spending a large portion of our budget. Plus, it is time consuming and it is nice to free any extra time.
Eating out. In the past we have gone out to eat for lots of special events. This year we are trying to celebrate at home a little more.
Busy schedule. Ok, this is a really busy month, but we are trying to do our best to stay home and do fun things here. This is a hard thing for us, but it is cutting back on a lot of stress.

What about you? Any fun to do's on the Christmas list this year? Anything you are cutting out? I hope you are enjoying all the joy of Christmas.

Overwhelmed

2011-12-02T06:07:00.000-08:00

Tonight as we sat in our living room reading our devotion for our Jesse tree, I realized what a gift I'd been given. I have three precious babies that God has entrusted to me. I get the privilege of sharing Christ with these little men. My hubby and I have the chance to raise these guys in a home where Jesus is pursued.

This thought overwhelmed me with joy. I so don't deserve this chance. I am by no means worthy to be an example of my Lord. Trust me when I say, I have some bad mommy moments. Yet, God chose me to be these little boys mom! Each I have opportunity to share Christ with my kids. How special to have that time. What an undeserved gift.

Then there is my husband. We met in high school and I thought I was crazy for him then. I was , but it has only grown. I am so blessed to have married the most amazing man I know. I truly hope our boys grow up to be just like their daddy. He is hard working, a servant, a leader, a friend, and a wonderful husband and father. Plus, he is super good looking. :) He each day points our family toward Jesus. I am blessed beyond measure.

I am blessed to have these guys. I look forward to the blessing of of our baby girl coming home someday. I have amazing friends. I mean, truly, I've got people in my life who I know would be there for me in any situation. I am overwhelmed when I think of the blessings in my life.

Grace is getting what you don't deserve. As my family is taking the next few weeks to remember Christ's love for us. His perfect plan, to come to us as a baby. I am overwhelmed. I am taken back by how much God loves me. He loved me so much that he has given me true friendship, true love, true joy. He has given me beautiful children and a perfect for me husband. And those are gifts I don't ever want to take for granted. But they can't overshadow the biggest gift of all. God of the universe came down from his throne in heaven, to become a baby, and grow up to die as a sacrifice for the sins of this world. He died for me. That is overwhelming.

Betty Crocker giveaway.

2011-11-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our house. The tree is up, the lights are hung, and the cookies are being baked. I don't know about you, but we love our cookies at Christmas. I feel like we are constantly baking for parties, gifts, or guests. I prefer to bake cookies from scratch most of the time, but some days that isn't always in the schedule. Enter Betty Crocker cookie mix!

I was contacted by Myblogspark to try Betty Crocker's new molasses cookie mix. I was, of course, excited to try something new and yummy. I made them up one night when we had friends over. I'd love to tell you they tasted great, but I didn't even get to try one. They were gone before I got one. I guess that says it all doesn't it. :) They did smell good though, and they were so easy to make. I decided to frost them as well. My kiddos LOVED them, and my hubby had a few as well. They made my house smell super festive too!

I'm excited that Betty Crocker through myblogspark is giving away an awesome prize pack so you can try the new molasses cookies yourself. It includes a cookie sheet, spoon, apron, and of course some cookie mix just in time for the holidays.

To enter just leave a comment and let me know what your favorite Christmas/holiday cookie is. Please also leave your email so I can contact you if you are the winner.

For an extra entry follow my blog and let me know you do.

This give away will close on 12/6/11 at 3pm. I will choose a winner using random.org. Good luck and happy baking.

*I was provided with a gift pack by Betty Crocker through myblogspark.com. They provided pictures and links, but all opinions are my own.

Freezer cook

2011-11-15T19:00:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't been posting much lately. It is because I have been really busy. One of the adventures was yet another freezer cook weekend with the lovely Tami. We ended up with 36 meals when we were done. I'm pretty sure it was our biggest cook yet. And I can tell you my freezer knows it. Currently Dan's heavy tool box is on our chest freezer to keep it shut. We are classy like that.

So our day started a little like this... Oh, wait did I mention I started the day off at our local Children's museum before we headed to Tami's to cook, yep, I'm crazy, but...

My good friend came in town to see us, and we miss them tons. So, of course the two of us had to take our six BOYS to Boonshoft for some fun.

My boys loved the robot zoo.

This game was pretty cool. I'm pretty sure we spent at least 30 mins just playing with it.

Where's Bubba?

Precious little Declan is seriously adorable. He is so happy. I love him!

My baby is getting so big! And he always has a messy little mouth. Uh, melt a mama's heart.

Then there is this kid. He is my little buddy. And he is not the least bit camera shy. He is such an adorable little goof ball. Our oldest boys have been best buddies since birth, but they didn't want to get their pictures so they are left out.

After we wore out my kiddos we headed over to Tami's place to do some cooking. We started with four kiddos and no daddies. That makes it much more interesting.

But they are adorable distractions.

Here is Tami hard at work. We had prepped the 75lbs of chicken the weekend before. Tami cooked the ground meat up the night before so we were able to move quickly on knocking some meals out.

Yummy Shepherd's pie. We each got 3.

There was a TON of chicken.

Our awesome hubbies helped us bag and pack up.

He is so stinking handsome!

The end result!

Tami has a list with links to most of our meals we made so I will let you check that out here.

Better late than never

2011-11-15T18:18:00.000-08:00

I know I am a little late, but I wanted to post a few pictures of my adorable little men from Halloween.

For Trick or Treating I had two ninja turtles and a bat. They loved going door to door. Levi actually did amazing. He loved getting candy to put in his bag. He is so funny. He loves filling bags.

We also attended a trunk or treat at a local church the weekend before Halloween. We don't really do a costume for each kid they more pick out of a bin we keep in the toy room. They are happy with it and I can buy costumes on clearance. Every one wins. Levi was a bat for Trunk or treat too. He just wasn't in the picture here.

He was busy sitting on a pumpkin stem. I don't think he understood why this was so uncomfortable.

When we got to Trunk or Treat there was a little boy in a scary mask behind us. Levi looked at him and thought for a minute. Then he started growling at him and laughing. I guess he is hard to scare.

The boys with our pumpkins They were pretty cool.

Levi enjoying a snack of cider and cookies. Yummy.

Here are two of our pumpkins all lit up. See Batman. Pretty cool, huh? I didn't carve it, but I liked it.

So there you have it our Halloween adventures.

2011-11-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

So, more and more I am realizing that my kids will cost more money the older they get. It is those moments when we go through a dozen eggs in a sitting or they eat an entire pizza before I get any. That's when I realize my grocery budget is only going up.

The one thing I kinda thought I would have was hand me downs. I have 3 boys. That means they can all wear each others clothes, right? It has worked fairly well up until now...

These bad boys were bought brand new this summer. Not only did Isaac out grow them he DESTROYED them. So, I guess I can add shoes to the list of things that will be more expensive as my men grow. I am all about buying used, but we looked at both Goodwill and Once upon a child with no luck though.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I would like to say I am thankful I found an awesome pair of new shoes at the Adidas outlet for only $7.48 this weekend, so have no fear my child will not be shoeless. Which was less expensive then used shoes at Once upon a Child. YAY.

Keeping it real

2011-11-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of wonderful friends ask us recently how things are going with the adoption. I love my friends. I love that they are checking in with us and asking how I'm doing, but let me be straight with you. If you ask you are in for an earful.

I'm not good at fake. So, when some one asks how things are going here is the typical answer:

Long....It's taking forever. I mean we probably have at least another year. It's slow, nothing is moving. I'm so ready for her to be home it is ridiculous.

There may be more to my rant depending on the time of day you catch me, but I've given up the happy go lucky moving right along attitude. I feel like at this point it's pointless to pretend it isn't killing me that it is taking forever. So, please feel free to ask how things are going, but know it won't be a quick walk by with a smile. You could be in for a mild melt down depending on how I'm doing at that moment.

Subway

2011-11-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

Did you see the subway deal to get a $10 gift card for only $5 at Savemore.com? I grabbed it up for my hubby since he loves some Subway. This would make a great stocking stuffer if you are starting a little early. Plus, they have lots of deals and coupons to help make this an even better deal. You can check it out here if you are interested. Yay for inexpensive lunches (or dinners)!

Thankful Thursday

2011-10-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

Today is one of those days that I just can't help but be thankful for all the little stuff.
I'm thankful for the rain, because it made my warm bed this morning seem sweeter.
I'm thankful for sweet little boys waking me up, otherwise I'd not get out of that warm bed.
I'm thankful for birthday gift cards for coffee, because I wanted to stay in my warm bed.
I'm thankful for the chilly gray day, because it makes warm coffee even better.
I'm thankful for a mall play area full of boys who WANT to wrestle, because it make naptime a possibility.
I'm thankful for a chance to see friends from out of town,because it is always good to catch up.
I'm thankful for the good in the gray, because the gray make the good better.

Happy Thursday!

Real life

2011-10-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

So, most of the time when I post pictures of my house I like to TRY to make it look presentable. I know it doesn't always look perfect, but most of the time I at least like to have a some order in the background. But I had to giggle at my view of my life right at this moment...

We are working on school. Isaac is alphabetizing ducklings from "Make way for Ducklings". Asher is supposed to be cutting out family members, but apparently they are super heroes and Levi is coloring Isaac's math test. He believes in reusing and recycling.

But as you continue to scan the room...

You see that the dress up bin and the toy bin got dumped to find something that was forgotten about and moved on from...

So, I thought I'd show you a little bit of my real life at the moment. Good times!

Little happys

2011-10-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

With all this rain we have been stuck inside. Which has been the perfect opportunity to finish some little projects.

I have long enjoyed the yarn letters. So, I decided to make one of my own.

Sad to say I have had this wall word for almost a year, but haven't put it up yet. I finally just did it. I love it. Now we won 't forget our last name!

We did some kitchen organizing this weekend. It including bring this bookshelf into the dining room to give us a little more cupboard space. I think I like it there.

Since we already at through most of the fruit that was in the big orange bowl I moved it and now the top shelf looks like this. I get bored easy so I move stuff all the time. It kind of drives my family nuts, but I have to try different things to figure out what looks best. :P

Pintrest addict

2011-10-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to wonder if I will need an intervention because of my pintrest addiction. I will say though that it is keeping me busy. :) Last night for house church I was on dessert. I took advantage of the opportunity to try a new recipe. I had been curious about this 2 ingredient pumpkin cake. I happened to have everything on hand so I went for it. I also made the apple cider glaze to go over it. It definitely needed the glaze in my opinion, but it was yummy. I didn't have any leftovers so it was a hit with our house church.

My favorite part of this recipe though is that it is SO EASY. I mean, seriously, you dump two ingredients in a mixer and bake. The glaze was also super easy and yummy. So, there you have it, another pintrest pin accomplished. Only 593 left to go. :)

Angry birds

2011-10-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but my kids are ~~obsessed~~ very into angry birds. I am not above using this to my advantage. I have been known to use angry birds as ~~a bribe~~ motivation once or twice. That's why these printables will rock my kids' world.

Yep, free angry bird Kindergarten printables are available here. I printed them already and Isaac is super excited to do some angry bird school.

Italia

2011-10-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Today, Isaac had an eye doctor's appointment. Since his eyes were dilated he is having a hard time seeing. His doc's office is right across the street from a very fancy grocery store in our area called Dorothy Lane Market or DLM for the locals.

Our history lesson today is on Italy. So, I thought I'd ~~use this as an excuse to buy myself some of the most amazing tiramisu EVER~~ get a few treats to expose the children to Italian cuisine. I set out a tray to show the kids that many of the foods we eat are inspired from Italy. (I am well aware that Tombstone pizza is far from authentic, but it gets a point across.) Can you say cheese and carbs. YUM. We talked about how pizza originated in Italy and they were hooked. Pizza, spaghetti, Alfredo, and bread are a few popular items around here. They got to smell some garlic, and you can tell that I use it a lot because they all said YUM at the straight smell of it.

We talked about how we eat lots of foods that are from Italy. The alfredo sauce is a special favorite. Bubba was giving it a little hug.

I bought a small package of handmade mozzerella at DLM as well. It was fun because the kids got to see a little of how it is made. There was a display that gave some ideas of how to serve the yummy snack. We decided to try putting a bit of olive oil and ground pepper on it. It was yummy. Plus it was easy to let the kids "make".

We found Italy on the map. We saw how it is shaped like a boot. We learned about the Colosseum, the leaning tower of Pisa, gondolas, and talked about the Mona Lisa (with a brief TMNT reference as we talked about the artist.)

I am not a super adventurous person, but I want to visit Italy some day. I want to see Rome, I want eat the food, I want to take pictures at the Colosseum, I want to eat the food, I want to visit a vineyard, I want to eat more food, I would love to ride in a gondola in the canals of Venice, and did I mention the food. This is one of those places I hope I have the opportunity to visit in my lifetime. I think the kids had fun with this lesson. I know I enjoyed helping them ~~eat the majority of the tiramisu~~.

Pretty project

2011-10-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

Since I first laid eyes on it I have loved the coffee filter wreath. I have said I would make one for forever, and I finally did. I am in love with pintrest. I find so many good ideas and I actually follow through with a few of them. :)

One thing I found and LOVE is the idea to go to the hardware store and buy pipe insulation. Cut it down to the size you desire and use duct tape to make a wreath. This is about 10% of the cost of a wreath in the craft store.

So this wreath cost under $3 after the foam, coffee filters, ribbon, and a bit of duct tape. I just hot glued my scrunched brown coffee filters while watching some Grey's anatomy (don't judge me). I kinda wish I could tie a cuter ribbon, but other than that I love it. Plus, it works well in my front window. So that's a plus. I think I may have a wreath obsession. But they are so fun to make. Plus, it's cool to have wreaths hanging ALL over your house....right?

Not nana's apple cake

2011-10-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

(Excuse the picture. We were hungry and it was good.)

I had a bunch of apples on hand and I knew we were not getting through them quick enough. I decide an apple cake sounded delicious, but I didn't have a mix. My favorite apple cake is from Tastefully simple. So I looked for a copycat recipe. I found this one here.

Tastefully Simple Nana's Apple Cake Recipe
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg or mace
1 tsp. ginger
6 cups peeled, diced tart apples

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to mixture. Stir in apples. Spoon into greased 11 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Optional: Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts to recipe at same time as apples.

It is super yummy. I know this will be a redo.