PaRtY oF 5!

My 1 Month Post

2012-08-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

Looks as thought today makes it a full month since my last post- I actually think I like the idea of just posting once a month for now, although they will probably be pretty long if I want to mention every detail of our month! Eh, that's alright.

This past month has been loaded with summer fun! It seems like it all picked up right after July 4th....

Lots of Disneyland!

And Jack finally got picked for the Jedi Training Show! He was so excited, but a little afraid too- I love this nervous face of his :)

Swimming in Our Red-Neck Pool :)

A Trip to our Favorite Local Zoo with Great New Friends!

One on One Dates With Daddy!

Averie Got Breakfast (and had to wear a dress)

Jack had a Lunch Date & BB Gun Time

Aislinn Insisted on a Dinner Date (like Mommy gets- she even did nail polish for him & dressed up in her Sunday School Finest- she kills me!)

Late Night VBS (we did a total of THREE this year- jeesh!) And yes, it was the awesome sort of VBS staff that hyped our kids all up on sugar before they went home! So fun!

That's only about HALF of our Summer adventures over the past month- I'll post more on the next post :) like ONE week countdown until Back to School! Crazy!

"You're a Grand 'Ol Flag..."

2012-07-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

Is what I enjoy singing loudly to embarass the hubbs every 4th of July at the local community parade! hehe I just love being annoying sometimes....

We had a "grand 'ol" time on the 4th of July! Ya know, it really is one of my most favoritest holidays. I think mainly for my obsession with Navy, Red, & White ;)
We always head down to our little town parade and watch the local cheerleaders, pageant girlies, horses, fire trucks, etc. march down through Old Town. It is normally very hot and steamy but this year was FABULOUS weather! We had a nice little breeze and sunshine!

Then we headed over to a friends camping site near town for a BBQ and some sprinkler fun. Such a good time. I never realized how much I appreciate good, real friendships until just recently. It is such a blessing to be around like-minded people who love Jesus & each other. So thankful.

After that we took the late night plunge to go see fireworks- they didn't start until 9pm and the sprinklers came on in the middle of the show so we watched the finale from the car!

All in all, it was another wonderful Independence Day! So thankful for this country!
Hope you all had a great one too!

Love, Me
(Colleen)

Psss...Don't Look At the Date!

2012-06-26T20:49:00.002-07:00

Alright, Alright....so it's almost July. Who knew?! Time flies with summer break I tell ya! We have been having OOOdles of fun and it wouldn't be honest for me not to mention- I'M TIRED. Thanks to goodness for swimming pools, my new found love {crochet}, and VBS or I would be pulling my hair out with trying to keep my 3 crazies entertained all day! Hope to be checking in again soon {as if anyone really cares but me! haha!} Love, ME (Colleen)

God is Amazing

2012-05-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

I can't post enough at the moment but wanted to leave a little note to myself for future reference... Don't think the Lord overlooks your faithfulness and trust. Even in the littlest things/efforts, He is watching and guiding you. He is more than enough. He is far above our circumstances. He loves us with a love like NO other. He gives us the desires of our hearts. His will is perfect. You are not worthy, but He calls you into righteousness anyways. He blesses His children beyond our wildest imaginations. The trials and waiting is a blink of an eye once His blessings pour out. God is Amazing. Thank you Lord for your amazing power. "Nothing is impossible for you. You hold my world in Your hands." Amen.

Ahhh...Retreating

2012-05-06T20:34:00.002-07:00

Why, hello lovelies. I just got back from a retreat- very fun. very relaxing. very quiet. very HOT. very encouraging. A good time for sure. Loved the reminders to leave a legacy & grow deeper in my walk with Christ. Ya know what's so cool about God? He never gets old. Ha! His Word (the Bible) teaches us in so many ways and on so many different occassions. It could even be a verse we know so well that was used in multiple ways through our lives, to speak to us. He is a living God, that's for sure! I'm tired- oddly enough- relaxing away from my 3 kids is sort of exhausting. ha! Honestly, I just didn't sleep too well in the hotel. And Hubbs is away on work stuff :( boo. But thank you Jesus for a job, right? I'll be back later, hopefully going to start beefing up the recipe page....i've been cookin' up a storm lately :) yay. Love, Me (Colleen)

The Daily Word

2012-04-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! What better "word" could there be other than God's Holy Word.... Through this week I will be challenging myself to read it daily, but not an hour long study, just a few verses a day to start, and this is why {other than the fact that every Christian should do this!).... I've recently been fighting a strong battle with my flesh on negative thinking. It has been a life-long habbit I formed about the age of 7- probably in much relevance to my parents divorce. I will have moments when my thoughts will encircle this belief that I will never be good enough & my life is bound by my circumstances. This has carried into my adult life and the longer I struggle with it, the more I am realizing {more than ever before} this is not only crippling my relationships with the ones I love most, but it is sin. It's a self-punishing sin. It's ugly and I hate it, but I have felt helpless against fighting it {due to really not noticing it's grip on my life but just thinking "this is just the way I am"}. So I push people out, especially the good people, and I isolate myself so that I can keep myself comfortable in this sin and not have to face it. In doing so, I go further into punishing myself and giving my thoughts over to the enemy instead of to the Lord. I will value what the enemy is telling me and grow comfortable living with the lies. But I'm coming to a break through. I'm finding myself asking this question: How can a child of God- the creator of the universe who simply breathed all things into exisistence with a single word and then send his one and ONLY son to die in our place to secure an eternal life with our Father in heaven (the Father I didn't have, who meets my every need)- tell themselves, "I'm not good enough". As if we even have the slightest idea what the Lord thinks of us. It's as if my own son, who I love immensely, came up to me and said "why do you love me? why did you give birth to me? you made a bad choice" How would I as a mother feel about that? We NEVER want our children to question those things with us because we build them up in love and gave them life, they are a treasure to us. As so to the Lord are we a treasure, a blameless (thanks to Jesus' death), pure, righteous (when living through the Holy Spirit), LOVED, child of the King! It's a slap in the face to God when I go about living in pity, negative thinking, comparing, being jealous or envious, and questioning my worth. It takes away His ability to use us, to grow us, and to love us. It seperates us from the Lord, and anything that hinders God's full calling on our lives is called sin. And I don't think I have ever recognized it in this way before. It's so AWESOME. Yeah, it took 20 disgusting years of battling this before I've noticed my need for repentance on it {I've always thought I just need to fix it or change it- not really repent of it}. God has given me the simple answer to the horrible lie of not feeling good enough: We don't have to be. Our price was paid. Our short comings, bad choices, regrets, mistakes, our parents mistakes, spouses mistakes, circumstances, doubt, fears, insecurities- ALL of that was paid on the day Jesus carried that cross up the mountain and put himself in our place- so that we can become a child of God. Any time those feelings come about in our lives we must recognize they are lies and the enemy is feeding them into our minds. The best way to fight them is with God's Word. It is my sword in the battle, it's what I can use to fight against any ill thought the enemy feeds in. We are NEW creatures in Christ- we are not helpless against fighting sin. We are more than conquerers in Christ. So, I've honestly never been more excited to read the Word and I'm eager to live my life differently- in pure joy. Thank you Lord for new beginnings! If you find yourself ever struggling with this sort of thing {I think a lot of us do}, bring it to God- whether you trust in Him or not- and see how much He can change you! Love, Me (Colleen) Women Living Well

Bye-Bye Brother!

2012-04-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

I've never felt more weird about life until last weekend. If you're wondering why, read this. (towards the middle)

Kenny got married last Saturday.

It was a beautiful ceremony and I am so very happy for my little bro. His wife is very sweet and I know they will make it as a couple.

It's just so strange to go from being care-free kids together to having our own families & spouses. Granted, I got married 7 years ago and left him first....I guess as an older sister {Kenny probably doesn't care as much}, it's just like saying a final goodbye.

Goodbye to those childish ways and on to the real deal of life.

Goodbye to the many mindless joking & banter and on to more discussions on how to deal with financial hardships and newborn sleepless nights.

Goodbye to spur of the moment concerts & throwing parties while Dad is out of town {sorry Dad} and on to scheduling a month in advance for a time to hang out.

Goodbye to midnight singing & guitar sessions, dreaming of being rock stars.

Goodbye to being the person he needs to talk to about girls and struggles {that will actually be nice}

Goodbye to our innocense.

Goodbye to many things, things that at one time were taken far too much for granted.

In my own selfish thoughts- I want them back.

But then I would miss what is to come in this new chapter in his life. Being there in a different way for him, a more mature and perhaps even more meaningful way- as adults, spouses, and parents. As far as I can see it, it can only get better. It will be a "new normal" eventually. It makes me feel blessed to have a sibling I care so much about- a real friend. Congratulations Kenny & Ingrid Robertson!

In Case You're Wondering...

2012-04-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

I'm alive.

Barely.

With 2 different Spring Break schedules & Easter stuff- life was pretty nuts around here for the past couple of weeks!

We enjoyed EVERY minute of it, but Mama is ready for school! haha!
Jack and I enjoyed a date at the park {just the two of us}, Pump It Up, a local zoo & Disneland {yes, both of those in one day}, and his FIRST trip to Legoland {just the two of us!}. It was a BLAST of a week and I think he thouroughly enjoyed his break. The poor kid has had a rough first year in school (and his school is not easy) with a new schedule and lots of homework- so I spoiled him :)

The girls have just finished their spring break and we had lots of fun little playdates with their preschool girlfriends & a mommy-date to our local Family Fun Center, Mulligan....

All that PLUS Easter festivities has made for one tired, but blessed, Mama!

Hope to post more later! Starting a new "challenge" with Women Living Well this week! I'll be back soon to give more details....

Love, Me
(Colleen)

The Weekend Re-Cap

2012-03-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

Maybe it should be better known as the "WRC"...

We had a very busy weekend! It started with Friday because that was Jack's first official day of Spring Break! We got the Hubbs to take off work and go spend the day with us at Disneyland. It was a very long day- we have typically been going for 1/2 days (after church) so to be there all day was quite a different experience. But so much fun- as always!
The crowds were much better too, which helped. I can't believe how packed that place gets! Isn't the economy hurting??! jeesh! The beauty of a season pass means we can miss a ride and put it on our list for next trip. So far, we already have 5 rides on our list for next trip...the Haunted Mansion was all Jack's idea- he was set on going- we get to the entrance {that spooky elevator} and he startes losing it! Then of course, Averie {in her most determined brave face} begins to cry too. Luckily, we were able to just turn around and get out! LOL Aislinn started crying too as we left, but not because she was scared, she wanted to STAY! Oh-EMM-Gee- these kids are crazy! So we get off and have a little "pow-wow" {more like a frenzied conversation to calm them all down} and then Jack is crying and wanted to go BACK on! I, of course, told him no way we will try again next trip. So, it is on our list for next time...we'll see how THAT goes!
Our disneyland survival mode is now set to letting each child pick their very favorite ride that they would like to go on, and no matter how long that line is, we ALL go on it. Then with our extra time after those rides we try to catch a show or Mom & Dad get to pick, or maybe {on a good day} they will agree to a ride.
This trip was long and crazy {ended up at Chik-Fil-A for dinner at 9:30pm} I don't think we will do more than a few ALL-DAY trips this year.

Saturday Our morning was spent resting, hanging around the house, and such. Later in the afternoon, I went to San Diego for my friends 30th birthday party. We had dinner in Cardiff and went to the Belly Up for a Beastie Boys tribute show....it was actually a lot of fun! I couldn't believe how talented the musicians were in Karl Densons band!! Very good show. It was a late night (I think I got home at 3am) but worth it!

Sunday Our church had it's One Year anniversary party, so we stayed afterwards and had a BBQ on the lawn. It was pretty cold, so it didn't last all day, but it was fun. Free lunch is always a great thing! We came home to do the normal household chores and hang out.

Last Weeks Goals:
1) Homeschool 2 days....We did 1 day! And a library trip.

2) Take a vitamin each day....Sadly, I kept forgetting! The kids always have theirs!

3) Drink 4 water bottles a day....Yes!

4) Read 5 chapters of Matthew...Got through 2, plan on finishing more this week

5) Watch a Movie with the Kids...Yes! It was fun :)

This Weeks Goals/Desires

1) Do two adventurous activities with the kiddos for Spring Break

2) Read Matthew 2-10 and change memory verse board

3) Research Campsites for this Summer and maybe book a couple!

4) Take Jack on a date while girls are in Preschool

5) Challenge Spend two complete evenings with my hubby (no computer, reading, etc.) We get busy doing "things" and then our evening is over before we got to spend time together. I hate that.

Happy Monday!!
xo
Love, Me

Drool Worthy Inspirations

2012-03-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

One of the many things I can not wait to do when we buy our home is to do my kids' rooms! {again}

We have had their current sets for about 3 years now...I know, that's not a long time but when you enjoy kids room decor as much as I do- 3 years is time enough to switch it up!

Jack has had a camping/outdoorsy room with mainly browns, greens, and blue. Very cute set that I pieced together from different places. Unfortunately we haven't stayed anywhere long enough for me to totally complete the look I was going for with it, but it was still cute. You can see his room here.

But when we move, and as he is nearing 7 years old now {yikes!} I am really excited to "beef up" his room a bit. That sounded gross. I just mean make it more grown up looking, ya know? I saw all of these today from Land of Nod, and I just LOVE the bright colors!

This rug is super cute- probably not for Jack's room, but I love it anyway. Why can I just picture myself gluing thousands of those craft pouf balls together to make my own version?? Hmmm...

Loving RED for his new room. Anyone who knows me well will tell you I am a sucker for navy, red, and white- and of course, nautical items.

I see, "Nautical goes Pirate" in Jacks new room...These pillows are neutral enough to pair up with bright colors- I think :)

Too cute!

This would definitely be easy to make on my own, but again, perhaps too young for his "beef'd up room"- still SO cute! {I'm thinking birthday}

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I also hope to put a cool loft type bed in his room...and depending on the size of the room- his own writing desk {with hutch possibly} or if size is too small, I hope to do a loft bed with desk underneath.

Somthing like this, and put my own desk underneath...

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Or this would be cool (in a dark brown or navy) if we were really limited on space...I think Jack would love this idea...

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Ok, dreaming is over for now. Can't wait to see what we come up with after we move!! {don't even get me started on the girly room!}

On another note- I can not WAIT until Spring Break!! So many fun little things planned with the kiddos....starting with Disneyland on Friday! w00t!
This mama needs a break and some fun times with the little guys :)

:)
Colleen

Better Late than Never!

2012-03-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

I say that a lot as a Mother of three....

Happy Monday?! So, yeah, a little late this week but I'm still going to give my quick recap of the weekend {I'm the one who reads this like my family journal, so who cares}.

Saturday- St. Patrick's Day! This year we had So. Much. RAIN. Ick! We were inside all day. The hubbs set up leprachaun traps with the kiddos the night before and then ater they were asleep, we had so much fun setting up a little treasure hunt for the kids- I make every "holiday" sort of a big deal around here {well, not every, but the ones that mean something to us and that I want my kids to be a part of}. I got to the craft store ~~the night before~~ at the last minute, so there wasn't a ton to work with {why do my ideas always come too late?!!} but I found some giant clovers to write the clues on, a glitter clover garland (for his magical trail), some "gold" (wanted gold coin chocolate but ended up with yellow skittles), then printed these ideas out (changed a few things), and set it all up. It was time consuming, but so worth it.

My son was hilarious that morning. He always changes right when he wakes up {because he still wears a pull-up...don't judge- it's not that uncommon for a 6 year old boy to have this issue} and when I walked in he hasn't even gotten to his ~~underwear~~ pants yet {ahem} he was SO excited about looking under his traps! So I come in and he is going nuts over these clues, and of course, the sisters follow his lead (always).

(the clues)

(the gold)

(the magical Leprachaun Pete trail)

(the evidence)

(the end result of a fun treasure hunt- pots of gold, sugar cereal & green milk with shamrock toast)

I just LOVE how my son is so excited about the little things. I know our day is coming (too soon) where he will not wake up pantless out of too much excitement over the house leprachaun that came to visit...so I cherish every moment of this, as often as possible.

This is what makes being a Mom, a "Mommy"- you know? Someday it will just be "Mom" but right now, I am Mommy {or more so around here, "Mama"}. I never want it to end, but that's the beauty of it all, getting the time to enjoy every stage of our children's lives and making memories along the way. Such a blessing!

Later Saturday evening, the Hubbs and I went to see a movie. He has been wanting to go for awhile {not my favorite pass time}. It was a great movie. One that changes your prespective. I like movies like that. Meaningful, real, and impactful. Wished we took our picture!

Sunday- The rain stopped for good periods through out the day. We had a great morning at church and then ended up at Jersey's Pizza with a few families afterwards. After all that, it was cleaning time...deep cleaning, I guess perhaps even "Spring Cleaning" around here. My amazing, sweet hubby even did a bunch too- all on his own- that always makes me want to clean even more when I see him helping me. It was sparkly clean around here without a piece of dirty laundry in sight and the kids had some great playtime outside while the sun was shining. Love Sundays!

Last weeks goals (major failure on most)
1.Get to the gym twice (its been hard to get back on track after sickies)
Nope! But my exscuse? My girls have been getting sick way too easily over the past month and I'm very afraid of them catching anything right now. Too many parents at the gym, sadly & honestly, are more concerned with their "workout" than thinking about bringing sick kids to the childcare and spreading germs. But, I am going to try better this week.

2. Pray in-depth for my family at least once a day- CHECK!
Yes. God has been speaking to me a lot recently about being patient and giving Him the power to move in our life.

3. Two homeschool sessions with the girls- Technically, No.
We had some educational discussions- you know, the kind where you're driving and you ask them to name that letter {I give them the sound, they tell me what letter it is} and homework times at the table. But no, nothing formal this week.

4. Menu Plan for the next 2 weeks- Not Quite.
I usually ALWAYS plan for 2 weeks at a time, but this week I actually wanted to see how it would go to do just 1 week at a time. So I did plan out this week's menu. Next week, I think I'll have better ideas to plan stuff.

5. Challenge Goal- Read the word each day.- Not Quite.
I know, this one makes me sad. I read alittle of the Bible everyday, but I wanted to actually READ this week. Didn't happen. One day I got through a whole chapter. But not as much as I was wanting.

Goals for this week:

1) Homeschool Time with girls, two days. (usually the days they are not in preschool)

2) Take a vitamin each morning.

3) Drink 4 water bottles a day. (thats a lot for me)

4) Read the first 5 chapters of the book of Matthew

5) Challenge Watch an entire movie with my kids. (Mom of the year, I know, but I have a hard time sitting through ANY movie!)

That's All for now! My posts keep getting longer and longer! Does this mean I'm getting old? I have noticed I talk a lot more about things....LOL
Oh well. The beauty of blogging is you can always just click that upper right red box with the big "X" on it and be done! haha {but don't tell me you do that before reading all this super important, mind-blowing stuff?!!}

:)
Colleen

Weekly Goals

2012-03-13T20:40:00.001-07:00

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I've recently been inspired by this sweet little blog called Alicia's Homemaking, where she mentions goals, recipes and shares about her journey as a Mom and Wife- alot of what I desire to do here at PaRty of 5 {just probably a way more crazy spin because, well, I am crazy}.

I love the idea of setting goals. In fact, this evening the kids and I read our Proverbs Book and talked about Ambition. I think I can naturally be pretty ambitious in a lot of areas, but I really want to become more ambitious in the stuff that, for the most part, does not come "naturally" {like meekness or self control to name a couple}. Just for fun, since I have so much extra time on my hands once those 3 little ~~monsters~~ angels go to sleep, I thought I would look up the best definition I could find for this word.

This was my favorite:

Ambition- strong desire for success, achievement, or distinction.

It would be wonderful if I could say I am ambitious in ALL areas of my life, but I'm pretty sure normal human beings can relate to the impossibility of that. I mean, how can one truly become successful without at least ONE failure? {true success is rising above failures, in my book}

So, this spoke to me in a way and I want to implement more ambitious qualities in my life- even in the areas I'm weak in {probably best place to start!} I guess I will start setting a weekly goal(s) and go from there. I'm going to try to put one goal on there that is challenging {I think meeting any goal while raising 3 crazy kids and maintaining a household is kudos enough!} So, for this week, here are my Top 5 Goals :)

Goals for the week:
1. Get to the gym twice (its been hard to get back on track after sickies)

2. Pray in-depth for my family at least once a day

3. Two homeschool sessions with the girls

4. Menu Plan for the next 2 weeks

5. Challenge Goal- Read the word each day. {I know you're so shocked to find out this is my challenge- that I'm not spiritual enough to read the Bible everyday- it's ok, God still loves me! haha}

I'll be back on the following Monday to post how the week went. {yes, I know it's Tuesday already but I'm being ambitious remember?} I'm sure, soon, I will try more goals in a week but for now 5 is a good start!

fUn? :) thanks for the idea Alicia! (she has no idea who I even am or that I wrote this LOL- is that scary? beauty of blogland I guess?!)

Do you set goals? What is your biggest struggle/distraction in achieving them?

xo
(Colleen)

Weekend Re-Cap

2012-03-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!

This weekend was very uneventful, for the most part. The kids had to go into Doctors on Thursday for antibiotics- this time it was bad sore throats and I knew if we were going to kick this thing, it was time for medicine. Sure enough, by Friday {next day} they were already doing so much better.

Saturday the kids were back to normal, so we just hung around and got a lot of sunshine outside painting and playing with the dogs {lots of movies too}

Later Saturday evening, we met with friends, after kids bedtime, to hear our favorite Irish band play {same one from Justin's birthday}. Always a fun time, but on Sunday I woke up with a major ache in my calf- I'm gettin old! It's pretty hard to dance to Irish music for too long, I'll tell ya. My poor friend had a bruise on her arm from all the swinging of arms we did LOL Well. Worth. It.

Sunday was spent at church most of the late morning/early afternoon- our church sells produce (mainly vegetables) after service and I finally got a bag full today. Farm Fresh and only $5 to load up a bag! It's so great. I usually don't have the cash on me -why is it so hard to carry cash now days?!- or one time I got there too late and it was picked over, so I was one happy {vegetable} camper today!

{it's a good thing my hubby loves tomatoes and squash!}

Then after church we had some fun family time watching a new movie- "Little Rascals" so cute!- and I ran a couple errands with my mom and sis (in-law) which really brightened my day. Then I came home, made dinner, and hung with the family until bed. Simple days are sometimes the best days.

My Weekend Reflection: I am so very thankful for my family & friends who know me, understand me, trust me, and believe in me even when our views may not line up all of the time {love you guys}.

I'm always learning a little more about myself as I near 30 {still will claim to be the best age ever!} and right now I've come to a conclusion that forgiving will always be easier than forgetting. I am the first to forgive someone {and truly forgive with my whole heart}, but the past always haunts me. When that happens I am encouraged by a verse:

"The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation."

I'll be very clear on what I know to be true through my walk with Christ... this verse does NOT mean God never forgets our sins or uses our sin against us. The Bible says "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions (sin) from us" Psalm 103:12

However, the Lord is JUST and He will not allow us to reap ANY benefit from wrong doing...yes, we learn from our trials and become blessed through them eventually....but we will always pay a price for our wrong doings.

The Lord gets the final say on our choices and actions, He just does. The longer people fight with that truth, the longer their lives will go without peace. And if anyone is going to judge me, I'm glad it's Him because He is a loving God.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved". John 3:16-17

I can rest in forgiveness with someone because I have two promises from my Savior...
1) God is just &
2) No matter who hurts us or judges us, God is loving and He has our back.

He is my heavenly Father (the kind of Father every girls needs and desires- not the kind you may have gotten- don't relate the two)

I can be free from guilt, shame, emotions, hurt, and anger because HE takes care of me. I'm learning this slowly. Sometimes I want to react right away for an instant gratification {sadly and honestly, I usually do this}. But God knows us and only He gets the final say on how things are going to work out. I'm thankful for this truth in my life.

Some deeper thoughts this weekend, but its a good thing to dig deep once in awhile, especially when trying to walk like Jesus! {because its not easy!}

Looking forward to a beautiful week! xo
Love, Me
(Colleen)

My Motivation for Doing the Dishes

2012-03-07T09:43:00.000-08:00

Is coming on here to blog about needing to do dishes.

We have an inside joke in our family, made possible by a very verbal and bright young boy named Jack and it's this simple phrase:

"I don't wanna!" :) It was his famous line as an independent 2 year old.

That's how I feel today. I just "don't wanna" do DISHES. And my eye will not stop twitching!! I think it has something to do with doing dishes and I should take it as a sign to rest my little stressed-out self. Unfortunately, I do not know how to do that.

So, I'm off to do dishes. *sigh*

But before I leave, I must give a very important Birthday shout-out to my beautiful, smart, funny, sincere, mouthy, strong, passionate, courageous sister-in-law {who now I just would rather call sis} Eliizabeth!! Happy Birthday Sis!! love ya!

xo
(Colleen)

The Weekend Re-CAP & Mondays

2012-03-05T17:45:00.000-08:00

As my huBBS just said, like 2 minutes ago as I'm getting on here, "I wished weekends were longer". Of course I agree, but I also get a little eager for Monday and a FRESH start to a new week. I'm like the girl who thinks starting a diet on Sunday is the best way to be successful- as if it declares a new beginning or something. lol. But seriously, Mondays are nice, especially because Jack doesn't start school until 8:45am! Gosh, I love his school. Of all the days they had to choose from for a late start, they picked Monday. This means we can ease into the "work week" a little better. ScOre!

It all started with a MUCH needed night out with the bestie girl :) We had so much fun hanging at the Yardhouse {a personal fave of ours} and then walked the mall being our silly, crazy {normal} selves. We had both had some hard ~~weeks~~ days with sick kiddos, so we were ready to have a little free time. I love this girl to pieces :)

Then we spent Saturday hanging with family {best way to spend time!}. My Sister-in-law is celebrating her birthday on the 7th, so we went up to the beautiful San Diego Botanical Garden. I honestly wasn't sure how this was going to be, with having the kids and all, but it was lots of FUN! This garden is gorgeous! They even had a "Children's Garden" for the kids, packed with a ~~fake~~ Tree House, the "Spell & Smell" garden, Tic-Tac-Toe, fun art pieces, and even a building blocks area (my kids always love building with those). It was a BEAUUU-Ti-FUL day outside and I enjoyed soaking up the sunshine with my loved-ones :)

I totally wanted this for our yard, it was only about 7k, we all decided we would just take turns with it and split the cost :P I LOVE carved wood sculptures! Isn't this one amazing?! It speaks to me....

MY little beauty girl wanted to pose by "Grandma's favorite color flowers"

The tic-tac-toe game in the Children's Garden- they loved this, and how easy would this be to make for the backyard?!

My little Daddy's girl- I love this little moment captured in time of these two.

Averie posing in front of a beautiful little waterfall, so beautiful!

The birthday girl and my mother-in-law

On the walk back we saw this very cool piece made of bamboo

Before we headed home we had to stop by one of our favorite beaches, in Encinitas. It was so bright and sunny- which made for some fun quick pics.

California Peeps never keep their shoes on too long ;)

Happy Monday!

I Demand A Do Over!

2012-03-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

The Month of February was difficult. We have never been so sick! We must have played "pass the flu" around here for at least 3 weeks! Horrible.

I'm thankful for the little "sessions" of being just well enough to not miss out on the big things like Justin's 30th Party, Anniversary, and a Mat Kearney show we planned a couple of months ago. But, still, through even those little celebrations we missed out on so many other weekly/daily life things- like CHURCH {hate missing church}, Bible Studies, School (girls missed 1 1/2 weeks of preK), Family Game nights.... such a bummer!
Good news is- we seem to be heading toward wellness now and I am looking forward to a NEW month.

St. Patrick's and Spring Time, oh my! Yay for March! I totally failed on the Photo-A-Day Challenge in February too, so I'm hoping I can try again this month. I feel like LIFE is back- such a great reminder to be thankful for good health! Thank You, Lord!

So here is the list for March's Photo-A-Day Challenge, Courtesy of Fat Mum Slim of course :)

Looks FuN :) I hope I do it this month! I think I took a total of ohh 4 pictures in February? pit.i.FUL.

HuBBs' 30th Birthday PaRtY & Our 7th Anniversary!

2012-02-25T15:39:00.000-08:00

It's sad that I have had this post waiting to finish up and post for over a week now- but life has been less than hectic around here. I feel like we've been in a twilight zone of up and down coughs/fevers/head colds and plain old sickness. Just when I thought it was over, one would wake up sick again....I am so over it! Seems like now 2 of the 3 are well, but my little Averie is having a hard time battling this. I will probably be at the Doctor's office Monday morning, demanding some antibiotics for her {tried over a week ago and He said she should tackle it herself- which I usually agree with but after 2 long weeks- nope!}

But anywho-What a weekend we had last week!! It was a long 4 daya off and even though we had the sickies with the children, and then the Hubbs & I also started to feel it from time to time (thankfully I got in for antibiotics right away to help), we still managed to have a very fun time.

The Lord kept us well enough to get through it and I'm so thankful because it really turned out to be a very memorable weekend for us.

The Hubbs turned 30 on the 18th, and we went to our favorite Irish Pub! This place has such delicious food! Then we stayed and danced the night away to some fun (loud) Irish music with the live band. So many wonderful friends came to help celebrate along with our family members. It was fUn- a night to remember for sure- some funny moments (my brother's ripped jeans) & some sweet moments (birthday slow dances for Mom & I).

Just being in a room full of people who care about my hubby, was so special to be a part of. He was so happy and I'm so glad I finally got a turn to make him happy as he makes me happy every single day and always goes out of his way to help me and support me. He usually claims to "not want to do anything" but this year I didn't let him get away with that and I'm so glad I didn't!
(pics to come soon- we didn't get many and most are on other people's cameras)

We celebrated 7 years of marriage on the 19th with my brother and his girlfriend. We went down to our favorite (most local) beach town, Carlsbad, in San Diego. We walked the beach, Went to dinner, Walked through the town, then ended at a local place for drinks. It was simple & fun. I can't believe we are at 7 years already. It has been a journey, and we have had some rough patches along the way {both still growing spiritually, raising 3 babies at once, learning about each others needs/desires, financial hardships, losing jobs, losing our home, losing loved ones, moving 5 times, etc}, but we fought and will continue to fight to keep our marriage Godly and healthy. We have come a long way in the past 2 years especially. The Lord continues to lead us & guide us as we battle our flesh and learn the worst & the best part about ourselves with one another. I actually joke and tell him that I feel like we are finally ready to marry and have children now. haha! Yes, it has been a journey and I am so very thankful to have my wonderful Husband who loves me for all my flaws and who continues to grow and change anything about himself to strengthen our marriage and lead our home.

He always puts up with my craziness- this picture is so horrible but it's so us, so I had to put it up here. I was laughing so hard because my brother kept asking Justin to look back at the camera, but Justin couldn't because I was in the way- and it was just an akward pose in general. {obviously} LOL For the record: I never thought this would turn into a snapshot worthy pose- I just felt like jumping on my hubby out of the blue.

Then, my little brother proposed to his girlfriend! It was so sweet and so special for me to get to be there as he made this huge life decision. My lil' brother & I are very close. It was always him & I growing up. Of course we had our days where we didn't get along & had sibling fights, but the majority of my childhood was spent playing with my little brother, Kenny. We have the same personalities and are always laughing when we get together.

Aren't they adorable :) She is the sweetest little thing and he is her gentle giant haha! {I just realized how true that statement is as I made it up}

He is near and dear to my heart and I am so proud of him for finding this great girl. We also just found out she is holding my new little nephew in her belly- I am so extremely excited beyond words for another nephew- I'm sure this little guy will bring back cherished memories of my baby brother {a squinty, brown-eyed-baby always on the go and into everything- but such a little lovey to me}
Congrats Kenny! Your sister loves you dearly.

Looking forward to many more years of celebrating with my wonderful Hubbs and now watching my little brother learn the ropes of parenting and marriage, being there when they need me. Life is GooD.

Love, Me
(Colleen)

Possible Shortest Post in history

2012-02-20T22:56:00.001-08:00

Still sick.

The end.

Sickies Round 2!

2012-02-13T15:39:00.000-08:00

Such a bummer when the little ones get sick! Seems like all 3 of the kiddos have a cough- Aislinn was hit the hardest with an on/off fever the past few days.

I even got a sore throat and some {fun} body aches yesterday.

Ugh. Just praying God heals us before our fun-filled busy weekend this week!
So much planned this 4 day weekend, it will stink to have to cancel anything.

My prayer for today:
Lord, please surround our home with your healing hands. Help our bodies to be strong enough to fight off this bug and keep us healthy. I pray your will be done for all of our plans, and help me to have a good attitude when things may not go *my* way. Continue to work, lead, guide, and bless our little family. Help us remain in the Spirit regardless of our circumstances. I pray for a special touch of healing on Aislinn, help her little immune system fight and please heal her quick. Protect the rest of us from illness. Thank you for loving us, for dying for us, and for always wanting the best for us. We love you so much. Amen.

Time for a tall order of hot water with lemon & honey.

Shhhhhh!!

2012-02-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

{I'm hiding}

Apparently this blog is my hiding place {not literally, of course I have the Lord}. This blog is helping me keep sane.

*sigh*

Today has just been one of those days of motherhood where every minute is a self-LESS one. *deep breaths*

It all started with last nights message at church on Self-Control. Greeeeeeat. Anytime we find an area we seek God's help with, He never fails to put us to the test. So of course today was a day of non-stop need for self control.

Starting at 9am. Went to help in Jacks class with some paper work. I do this every other Thursday for his teacher-she totally rocks and deserves the help- I love helping his class. But today I got asked to cut 1,000 leaves by hand and I needed to get it done in less than 1 hour if I wanted to get to the gym {ya know, its ok for us Mom's to do something for our health... right?}. Well, I ended up doing what I always do....I started and couldn't stop until it was done. Which meant, staying almost 2 hours. I thought to myself "it's ok, you can still rush to the gym and at least run on the treadmil for 30 minutes before picking up the twins". Got back to the class, handed the teacher the ziploc full of freshly cut leaves, all 1,000 of them, and went to go say good-bye to Jack on the playground.

Well, God had other plans for my day. I finally found him on the basketball court (where most boys are playing) and he had his arms crossed across his chest {his famous pouting/upset technique}. I stood back to see what was going on- I didn't want him to see me.

Apparently his feelings were hurt and he was telling another classmate why he was upset and then he started to cry...this is where I almost had that wonder-woman-ish mommy moment of saving the day and coming to my little baby boy's rescue...but I didn't. I waited to see what would happen next. Sure enough, he just started crying harder.

As he looked up, I was standing a little ways in front of him and motioned with my hands to come over to see me. His face was priceless. He was so relieved that I was there and he was so in need of a hug from Mom. As I held him he told me "They wouldn't pick me for soccer (2nd grader boys being "big kids") and I was standing right there!" then he went on to say "I just don't feel good, I (sob) wanna (sob) go (sob) home Mama". *heart sinks to my ankles* Of COURSE I took my baby home. But not until we went back to those kids and got a good understanding on how to treat one another! {the kids were actually very sweet to Jack}

So, forget the gym, Mommy needed to be with her one and only son today.
So I did what any other mom would do when their child is sick- we went home and I made him lay in bed, do nothing, and eat soup the rest of the day....sort of.....we went to McDonalds and I got him a treat first :)

This taught me that although I might make some great plans for my day, God will always have His plan as well and I need to be sensitive to the Spirit within me. Missing the gym today was hard because it's the first day I've missed in 25 days. But, I had a better blessing today and got to be there for my sweet little boy.

We've always had a special bond, him & I :)

Love you so much Jack-Jack

Should mention the day ended with a BIG 'ol bite mark on Aislinn's leg from her dear little monster-sister Averie. What is with my 5 year old biting all of the sudden?! Needless to say, that little girl went to bed 30 minutes before everyone else for it. {which is when I decided to come hide here and vent} She was also sound asleep within 5 minutes, so I think that was a divine appointment for her and ME. lol.

Looking forward to another day in Motherhood tomorrow- it's like a box of chocolates...."you never know what you're gonna get" {I personally thought that movie was ridiculous and think I just earned a big cheese-ball award for repeating that! lol}

xo
(Colleen)

A Home Means More than a House

2012-02-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

I miss our rental house so much, we just moved from it in September to stay with my Mom and save some $$ in hopes of buying our OWN home {soon, yet not soon enough at times!}

I just wanted to look back and remember the place on Red Oak St. where we called Home. I loved working on this house, even though we only lived here a year- it was worth every ounce of work to make it our style and comfotable for my family. It was simple, but it was home.

Here was the Family Room {just overlook the horrible picture quality and adorable children}

Love these pillows so much! Our first pillow splurge purchase, and Justin actually helped pick them out! {$60 for 3-not too shabby!}

The Fireplace- that was once red {I'm not totally against red, but with the natural slate flooring they had, I never did quite get their choice of color}

(that rocking chair is very special- it is my best friends from her son's nursery) {don't mind the broken lamp shade with light bulbs sticking out the top- just keepin it classy}

See what I mean with red not going with the slate? Someone please agree {or disagree and enlighten me} on this!

Here was our Kitchen {favorite place in the house} Wanted to do something very subway artsy above the kitchen window- but time went by too fast!

This was the little Dining Room Notice, there is no picture of the actual dining area...haha we didn't really have one- we had a little hand-me-down table that sat only 4 of our 5- still waiting on my dream dining room table! (it will be made from old rustic doors- I hope!)

I miss this little "Command Central" Spot that was off the Dining Room so much!

The Den/Office/Workspace {this room had gone through 3 different uses in that one year- this is the only picture I have of it now- again, wanted to do so many things in here too!}

Oh how I miss sitting in this chair with my laptop or favorite book in the evenings!

Here is the Hallway

Loved this storage area for our blankets and towels {and my growing stacks of catalogs & magazines}

Jack's Room {still had more ideas, but a year really does go by fast! he desperately needed a curtain rod too! haha}

The Girlies Room

I threw these up above the window just for fun- after making like 20 of them for my cousins baby shower! I didn't keep them up long, but they're fun!

The Green Dresser- this was one of my favorite transformations. It was a chipped up white dresser with boring white knobs. Now a sWell shade of GREEN- I could marry this piece! {again, no blogging at the time or I would have a tutorial on how I did it- nothing major though- lots of sanding, painting, and sealing thats all}

The Bedding I LOVE so much, from Walmart! {looked online for weeks for bedding I loved- PB, Land of Nod, Etc. and ended up at Walmart! $30 for the set! it was exactly what I was wanting...score!} The picture is awful- it is a lot more vibrant in colors, greens, blue, pink, and even this awesome burnt reddish color.

Threw in some inexpensive bird houses from the craft store- painted them and hung from the ceiling {tried to stay simple- but again, wanted to do so much more!}

The Bathroom {I took these pictures quickly so please look past the fact that I left the toilet seat open, again, just keepin it real haha}

And This is the part of the post where I want to CRY....loudly....I have no pictures of Our Room! It was probably the hardest room I worked on because it had high ceilings and I painted the entire thing PLUS hand stenciled a wall with this wonderful, beautiful stencil.

The Best picture I can find so far is this....{squint past the cutie to see the wall behind her!}

I just want to cry!! This is why I NEED a blog! I have done so many little {& big} projects without documenting ANY of it! *sobbs*

Oh well. Hopefully I come across a picture of it soon, Justin thinks we have one on a hard drive somewhere. It was very pretty though- beachy and modern. I even did our dresser {still haven't finished it- probably will post about that in the future because I love it!}

Well, that was home. I am so looking forward to having a home we never need to move from {Lord willing of course}.

But, as much as I anticipate what our own home will look like, what I will design within it, and where it might be... I am reminded of our 5 years of renting houses and how much it didn't totally matter where we were, the House was only a Home when we made it be.

A House is made up of just walls, rooms, and floors. A Home is where memories, love, relationships, and warmth is made; it's where LiFe takes place- and THAT can be done anywhere.

I'm thankful the Lord has brought us to where we are today and I am hopeful and trusting He has yet to show us the House we can finally make our permanent Home.

Hope you're having a gReAt week!

Love, Me
(Colleen)

25 ThinGsss....

2012-02-08T15:51:00.000-08:00

1. I'm already drawing a blank on what to put down.

2. We're implementing this new "consequence" in our home for not going to bed {getting out of bed, asking for a drink, using the bathroom again, talking, singing loudly, etc. etc.}. If bedtime doesn't go well each child who is guilty will have to take a "nap" the next day. {1 hour quiet time, on their bed, they're 5 & 6 yrs old so real naps are long-gone}

3. Little did I know, this "consequence" is more of a pain for ME. Ugh.

4. Probably because all 3 of my children share a room. Yes, 3. in. one. room. Ugh.

5. I'm tired.

6. Yoga helps wake me up a bit, thankful I got to class today.

7. I believe I am on my 4th week straight of gym-going {minus Sundays}.

8. Wished I could say I felt skinnier, or that my jeans fit better. They don't.

9. I do feel stronger, so that's got to mean something is working??

10. I should probably eat less brownies. That could help.

11. Why are brownies sooo good though? And of course I had to make special Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies for coffee night with the church ladies the other night!

12. Confession- I ate like half the pan, in 2 days. {they were cut small! ok, I know, still so gross!}

13. I threw out the rest today- promise! I almost shed a tear...

14. Did I just talk about brownies for the past like 3 numbers? Yikes.

15. I need to get out more.

16. My hUbbS is turning 30 in 2 weeks!

17. The day after will be our 7th Anniversary *grins*

18. Looking forward to that fUn weekend of celebrating.

19. Maybe I'll make him brownies :P

20. I am only on 20?!! I wished I was more interesting.

21. I cleaned the entire kitchen today- it's so great to put the bread on the counter and have it not stick! {yeah, it was that bad}

22. I must sound really gross today LOL

23. Ya know- sometimes LiFe is just sticky!

24. Looking forward to Young Family Night at church tonight- it's amazing how much my hUbbS has grown in the faith. It makes him so much more sexy.

25. Time to start dinner {and dream about more brownies}

xo
(Colleen)

LiNkinG to Perfectly Imperfect's Linky PaRtY

Procrastinating at it's Finest...

2012-02-07T13:59:00.000-08:00

I should be getting in the car to pick up Jack from school but today I'm having one of those "I don't wanna!" days.

Could be the weather {ick- no sun!!} or could be that my new gym-going is killing me {quite literally}.

I just want to lay in bed all day with complete silence and warm blankets.

*sigh*

....ok better go....officially running late now!

(Colleen)

Photo-A-DaY ChaLLenGe!

2012-02-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

So I just stopped by The House of Smiths {lOvE it} and found this post.

What a sWell idea, right?!

So I'm thinking of taking the challenge and going with this photo-a-day concept for tWo reasons:

1) I am horrible at taking photos {my mom overwhelmed me with it growing up}

2) TiMe is so PrEciouS! I really hate to miss the little things and I think this is a great way to capture at least a tiny bit of our life- even if the picture is of my foot- it's still capturing something and will spark up a memory right?
{or more so make me realize I needed a pedicure that day}

But, LiFe is GooD, yes? Just the fact that we are God's creation and have been given life is amazing to think about even in our simplest mindsets {however, not so simple, last time I checked I couldn't create a living person-technically-I mean we made/gave birth to our children but He helped in that quite a bit lol }

So, I will be posting my photo-a-day here on my teeny-tiny piece of blogland. Hope you follow along and perhaps join in on the fUn with your OWN photos! I'd lOvE to see them!

Also, Head over to where this all started, at Fat Mum Slim to see the list for February and join in!

Then, don't forget to check out Shelley's adorable pics over on her blogland at, The House of Smiths! fUn stUff!

Here is my first Picture of the month {yes, I realize it's the 3rd already so I'm just starting there}

HanDs

{of course I picked the hand with my ~~dirty~~ wedding ring on it because I'm sappy like that...and please don't look to closely at my nails *blushes* hehe}

I'll be back soon with a few organizing projects I've done recently- stay tuned if you'd like :)

Love, Me
(Colleen)

My new found loVe & a Giveaway

2012-02-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

I lOvE yoga.

I feel empowered and relaxed all at the same time- it's amazing. Every mother, neeDs yoga! I also use it as a prayer time and reflecting on the many blessings my 3 crazy children fog up for me sometimes {even though they are the 3 biggest blessings of it all}. Let me tell you- this has been hUgE in keeping me balanced {literally- my falling over on the ground is even getting better!}. Thank you JeSuS, for yoga :)

Anywho- when I got home from yoga today I found this great giveaway on a sWell blog Perfectly Imperfect.

Head over there to check this place out! I was just about drooling over some of their goodies on there. And if you're a Cali girl to the cOre as much as I am, you must agree that there is no greater testimony of God's beautiful creation than when you're sitting right on the sand watching His waves in the ocean. Sounds a bit extreme, but it's pretty much one of my favoritest places to be!

Here were a few of my favorties from Cottage Costal

Isn't this adorable and so sweet?! Especially to put out at Valentine's- but neutral enough to leave out year round! lOvE it.

These frames make me feel all warm inside- I love the vintage vibe I get from these- and circular frames are so much more fUn!

This pillow is probably my absolute favorite. It just makes me smile.

This is pretty much 2nd place- anyone who knows me well enough, knows my deep ~~obsession~~ passion for tReeS! {which is horrible because I hate to see them get chopped down but I love the natural beauty of them in my home!}

Hope you swing by Perfectly Imperfect and enter to win this great giveaway!

Have a sWell week!
Love, Me
(Colleen)