October Recap!

October came and went like a blur!  It was crazy!  

As a gentle recap, over the past 365 days I have taken on three new positions, I am now sitting on 2 boards of directors, and still homeschooling away.  It's crazy busy and most days I feel like I have lost my darn mind, but in a good fulfilling way.  And when I remember to lean into God's power and might (which I need to remember to do constantly...) I am reminded how much I can do when I do not rely on my strength but His.  

Anyway, October is my favorite month for the crispness of everything.  Do you know what I mean?  It's so great!  I was thinking of this the other day...it's crazy, weird that NOVEMBER isn't my favorite month since that one holds gratitude, my birthday, Christmas decorating, and shopping, but no, October still holds to be my favorite month.  

It started with this crazy brood!  We went to the pumpkin farm, picked the perfect guy, and came home to carve away!  It was so much fun.  I love our little family so much!  

And then blur, blur, blur, blur, blur and before I could fully blink we were to Halloween!  

This year Calvin was ninja (in New Balance Tennis shoes because that's how I roll) and Emma was Nancy Drew.  

Seriously how stinking cute are these two kids of ours?  Oh, and since we fast forwarded to Halloween from the Pumpkin Farm you can see that the majority of my pumpkins are now rotten.  Gross!  Guys, I need legit ways to keep these suckers alive.  Help!  Every year pumpkins fall victim to my pumpkin killing and the massacre just has to end.  Do I need to bleach them?  Talk to them?  Stop singing to them?  (Just asking that last one for a friend...promise!)

Anyway, now's where we talk about the no spend challenge and you wonder what happened to the girl who started out so gung-ho at the beginning of the year and now you haven't heard from about it in a million years.  So, we are still TRYING to do the no spend challenge.  Y'all it is so hard!  So, so hard.  So we'll use the kids' costumes as an example.  Emma totally went with the no spend idea and came up with something brilliant.  We didn't spend a dime on her costume and she kept getting so many compliments.  Calvin on the other hand had one specific thing in his mind...the kid wanted to be a ninja...again.  We tried making one at home for him, talking him through it, but alas, he was insisting on the costume.  So we compromised and we purchased him a less expensive costume than what he wanted.  No kid wants to have a costume that they hate and we didn't know what to do other than compromise.  We spend $20ish dollars on this versus the $75 costumes in previous years.  See?  We're making some progress!  

The pumpkins were another issue with our no-spend year.  I had to decorate my porch. Sorry, not sorry, that's just the case.  So I took a fence panel from my neighbors free pile at their garage sale, dragged out other things I already had but had to have some pumpkins.  Last year I spent over $60 on pumpkins.  You all!  That is crazy!  So this year we found a new place to get pumpkins and for all of them they were $20.  So I spent some but not nearly as much as I was in previous years!  

But back to Halloween...

We don't really "celebrate" Halloween but we trick or treat.  

For those of you just joining us, we live in a National Historic District and we just love it!  

From the street lights to the brick paved streets, we love our neighborhood.  Trick or Treating always helps me to take time to pause and reflect on how beautiful our neighborhood is.  The kids trick or treating is like going through a 1950's neighborhood.  All of the historic homes and picket fences make it so cheerful and nice.  

And I have to show you this because it was hilarious...

When there's a construction project why not be silly? 

So there's our recap of October!  I hope you all are enjoying your November! I've missed having time to write...gah!  Hopefully I'll be writing more! 

Making the Every Day the Everything

Last week my uncle passed away.  It's been a whirlwind of family in town, memorial services, moving furniture, cleaning, crying, and more.

And in those times is when family is reiterated as being the most sacred of all blessings God gives us here on Earth. 

Where would we be without our tribe to hold us all up collectively?

My extended family is amazing.  We all seem to get it, we all laugh about the same things and more.

And when I come home from funerals and look around at the life Wit and I have been blessed with around these two blessings of ours, I'm astounded by how it all is going by so quickly.

Like a blink it will all be over.

I was on Facebook a couple of days ago and while their intent is not to inspire me, I have a few friends who post photos of their children all.the.time. And while for others it may be annoying, for me it is inspiring. 

I think at times when you have babies and toddlers around it is easy to see things as exciting and photo worthy.  But then the play-doh's been played with so much it's not fun to take the pictures.  And the sledding's been done so many times you are convinced you'll remember them on your own, you don't need to soak it in.

But you all remind me to relish the small things, to soak in the moments in the every day.  I want to remember it all so I can look back and see that these every day moments that just could have gone by unnoticed amidst the laundry and the cleaning and dishes, these every day moments are everything in life.  Aren't these moments why I wanted to be a mother?  Aren't these moments the ones who define who I am as a caregiver and nurturer?

And so, after seeing my friends posting pictures of their kids eating a donut in the backseat, or giggling after a bubble bath, inspired, I set off to capture my own every day moments.  To preserve them in photographs to commit to memory time and time again.

May I not forget the mornings where the snowstorm raged outside while the tangles in dolls hair laid flat and we giggled and swapped outfits on dolls.

May I not forget the excitement of pieces being put together and constructed into something that has been dreamt of for a year.  Of a toy saved for and cherished, of the learning moments through frustration and toil.  May I remember it all. 

And so you Momma's on social media, please keep posting your photos. 

You inspire me. 

To take my every day and to once again pick up my camera, put down my laundry basket, and to stop and see my everything around me.

I thank you for helping me get back to the root of what is important.

Our Winter Trip to the Indianapolis Zoo

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day we went to the Indianapolis Zoo.  I wasn't sure what to expect going to the zoo when it was only 7 degrees out but we went anyway.  It was amazing.  Even though not many animals were out we had an amazing experience.

As I mentioned in this previous blog, to get in we only had to pay with canned goods to help the local food bank.  How amazing is that?

The first thing we went to see was the indoor aquarium. 

There is something so magical about taking the time to just let the world go by behind you while you gaze at the fish swimming contentedly around.  And then there is something to ethereal about watching your children be able to do the same thing.  It is such a joy to watch them enjoy God's creation and to discover all of the attributes about it.

I think our favorite part was getting to watch the Dolphins.  They have this walk through thing where the tunnel is under the water and the dolphins swim by. Because it was the winter and there was hardly anyone else there we had the whole place to ourselves and the kids and I laid down and watched the dolphins swim over us.  At first Emma thought I was crazy but after we left she said that was her favorite part.  See?  Sometimes it pays to be the weirdo mom :)

Other things the kids loved were the penguins waddling around,

the walrus under the water eating his fish and then spitting it out at us (I refrained from posting those pictures on here.  You're welcome! :)  ).

The orangutan exhibit was so neat and we spent lots of time there watching the apes (not monkeys as we learned!).

We also saw a polar bear,

a tiger that looked like he just wanted to be pet (or eat our face off but you know, whatever), and more!

All in all it was a super fun day.  I think our most memorable thing though were the dolphins. After lunch we returned to the zoo for the dolphin show.  The kids had no idea that dolphins were capable of performing and doing all of the neat tricks.  They were squealing with delight, it was so precious.

So there ya have it, our fun, freezing trip to the zoo.  If you go in the winter I do highly recommend it because we were able to have so much more interaction with the cold weather animals and with such low attendance it practically felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Have you ever been to the zoo in the winter?  Did you like it more than other times? Comment below, sweet friends!

Cupid's Fantastic Float

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, love is definitely in the air!

The love of all things sweet that is.

The boys went to Boy Scouts sometime and Emma and I got together to concoct this yummy drink to share with y'all. We came up with this which we're calling Cupid's Fantasic Float (isn't the name adorable?  Emma came up with it...love her!)

Here's what we love about our float: It's super easy to make, super cute, super yummy, and a tad healthier than other drinks we've seen around.

So without further ado here's the recipe and step-by-step directions:

Cupid's Fantastic Float

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups Raspberry Juicy Juice

1 cup club soda

2 scoops vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt

1 red vine or twizzler

Steps:

1. Measure out juice and club soda into a glass ball jar.

2. Gently plop a scoop of ice cream onto the top of the drink. Stir gently to combine and when it melts in a little plop another cute little scoop on the drink to float on top.

3. Snip both ends off of a twizzler to make a fun straw. (optional)

Voila!  A fun drink to surprise your kiddos with!  Emma loved this! 

I called the twizzler optional because you could always serve with a fun-colored straw and then you would have a completely natural colored drink.  No red dye 40 in sight if you forego the straw! Or you can purchase these panda red licorices that are all natural and amazing!

I hope you enjoy this drink as much as we do. It's a sweet thirst quencher for sure.  

Give these a try and we're sure you'll LOVE them like we do!

Be sure to let us know how you like them!

Homeschooling Science: Bouncy Ball Fun!

In science we've been learning about Chemical Reactions and rubber and naturally we decided to make bouncy balls!  How fun, right? 

I thought I would show you how we made a bouncy ball.  The ingredients are for making ONE bouncy ball so if you want to make TWO bouncy balls then you need to double the ingredients...I'm so smart, right?

Okay so here's what you need: 

List of Supplies: 

Safety Goggles

1/2 tsp. Borax

1 tbsp. Cornstarch 

1 tbsp. White or clear school glue

2 tbsp. warm water

few drops food coloring

2 small plastic cups

a spoon

a timer

zippered plastic bag

Have your supplies together?  Okay, here we go...

First things first we're going to mix the water, food coloring, and borax together in one of the cups.  

Stir, stir, stir until it is all dissolved. 

Okay, next up you're going to take your other cup and pour in the glue and 1/2 tsp. of the borax solution from the first cup. 

Now add 1 tbsp. of cornstarch to the borax/glue fun in your cup but DO NOT STIR YET!!!

Allow it to sit for 15 seconds EXACTLY...<cue the Jeopardy song>...

Then you're going to mix the solution with your spoon until it becomes impossible to stir.  

And then we mix it, mix it...

Can't stir no more? 

Take it out of the cup and form it into a ball with your hands.  As expected this is kind of a stick mess so if you have a sensory sensitive child like I do, you may have to do it for them.  

So there you have it...how to make a bouncy ball so your kids can have tons of fun with their very own creation!  

I got this recipe from the kids Science book: Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics by Apologia.  You can get your copy here.  

Note: This blog contains affiliate links.  You can read my full disclosure policy here

Tigers and Bridges and the Randomness of it All

Sometimes life is a bit odd...

Like maybe you have a tiger for dinner.  

His name is Hobbes by the way.  

He wasn't thrilled with us not having tuna but he was a trooper and stuck around. 

There are some deep conversations going on.  

Deep. 

And then there's this girl.  Oh my, she has our whole big heart.  This girl is now a Junior Girl Scout.  No brownies for us around here.  

Sniff, sniff.  

I usually can make it through things pretty nonchalantly.  

Like sands through the hourglass...so are the days of our lives...

But this was taken during bridging ceremony which had me tearing up.  I think specifically because I kept remembering this silly girl in a blue daisy vest who had no problem wearing pigtails wherever she went.  

Where have those times gone?  

She just looks so grown up, I can hardly stand it!!!  

Aah!  

So that's the gist of what we've been doing in these parts.  

Oh and traveling.  

Lots and lots of travel.  In the last month we've been to Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.  Whew!  I'll blog about those sometime but not now.  

Now is built for randomness.  

Along with randomness comes random thoughts and here ya go...

 I was thinking about this past year that happened. I know that is something that generally people do around the first of the year but I am a late bloomer so here I am. 

I am just in awe of how God has shaped my life.  I have made peace with things I've struggled with for years.  FOR YEARS!  Things that you want to talk to people about and wrestle with and fret over and then it just eats you up .  Anyway, I finally took the plunge and answered God's calling to make things right and you know what?  It really was no big deal.  I mean it was a big deal but not nearly as big as my worried mind had made it into over the years.

I've also made things right with someone I was mean to in the past.  Do you have those people where you think about your past with them and kind of cringe?  Am I the only one who has done that?  Anyway, this person isn't really in my life anymore, but thank goodness for Facebook and its reconnecting ways!  I was able to reach out and apologize and I felt so much better.  Whether it was accepted or not I at least tried to make things right.  And you know what?  They forgave me and we were able to move past it which is so amazing.  God is just so good!

And on the other end of things I was able to finally bury the past with someone else who it just didn't work out with.  Someone who we had tried to make things right with and it was not reciprocated.  Shortly after we decided to cut ties (by we I mean Nicholas and I as we try to make decisions together) I read this devotion about not being close with everyone.  It gave the example of David not being all buddy buddy with Saul when he was trying to kill him but fled.  So I have felt such peace with the need to flee after a season of trying.  

And that's just the way God is.  I am so reminded of Romans 8:28:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

And I could go on and on with other examples about how God has helped us in family situations or I've seen God stand up for me.  In things with our house and car and traveling mercies, so much God has done this past year.  God is working everything out for our good.  It's so awesome to know that and have the peace that that brings. 

And so whatever you are going through, whether it has to do with having tigers over for supper or big girls walking over a bridge towards you and their future, just know that God works it all out for your good.  

Love you friends! 

Dear New Mommas...A letter from a Mom Celebrating her Baby's 9th Birthday

Today my little girl turned 9.  Even typing that seems absurd to me.  As I look back I just can't believe how quickly time has flown by.  

When Emma was born I was a working career woman.  I was exhausted.  And confused.  And I felt alone in the whole new-mommy thing.  I wish there had been things people had told me.  Here are a few things I've come up with along the way that I would tell all of you new Mommas.  Or even Mommas who aren't so green to this game we are all playing:

1) Write it down.  When I was with Emma and she was tiny I remember smelling her and looking at her so intently that it was like I was trying to consume her.  I was sure I would never ever forget those moments, that those would be permanently stamped in my brain and when I get old and gray those would keep me warm at night.  But the fact of the matter is that due to hormones and lack of sleep and life moving so fast, I can hardly remember any of it.  In fact when I squint really hard and cock my head to the side, trying to remember the newborn days, all I can really remember is the feeling of engorged breasts.  And let tell you, I'd rather that doesn't follow me into my golden years. 

I wish I had scribbled things down.  Things to jog my memory or little moments that have all meshed together into a giant fog of love. I started this a few years ago and it does help.  I write them in a format that I can someday give to my kids or at least share with them if, when I try to give it to them I find myself screaming "mine!mine!mine!".  After all, they can have it when I'm dead.

Just write stuff down. 

2) Do not wish the days away.  Ever. Even in your worst day there is someone laying in a hospital bed praying to the Lord to have one more day.  Never ever think "God please let this day just be over".  I've been there and I've done it and now I really would do anything to be back in those nasty days of diaper pails overflowing, three days of dishes in the sink, and a fussy baby wanting nothing but time with their Momma. Those days don't come back to you, trust me, I've tried.  No DeLorean can do it for you. 

3) Just savor it. Multi-tasking: that's my middle name.  I blog while family movie night.  I do devotions while folding laundry.  It's totally a mom thing to do.  But while you are sitting there breastfeeding, I invite you to put the God-forsaken facebook down and just breathe in the moment you are in.  Cry about it.  Pray about it.  Thank God for it.  He will meet you wherever you are.  Just take it all in and don't let the moment pass you by. 

4) Don't forget they're still little.  My Emma-Kazoo is 9 and I so often find myself thinking "wow, she's so big" but the truth is that she is so much smaller than she will be in 9 years when she is out making her own way in the world.  So don't stop doing the handprints and the painted feet just because they aren't simply toddling around.   You'll want these soft small hands recorded as well.  

5) It all works out.  If you are having your first baby, you're probably freaking out about everything. I remember Emma had really bad cradle cap and fretting and worrying about it.  But here she is 9 years later and not a smite of cradle cap exists.  Even the big problems all work out.  It all seems to work itself out in the end and nothing ever seems as bad as it does when you have too many hormones and too little sleep.  Just remember that.  

I hope my experience with my sweet baby girl helps you to stop and enjoy your sweet littles. They are such a blessing from God and worth every bit of worry and sleep deprivation and vomited nights and engorged boobs :)  

Thankful For My Babies

What a rollercoaster of a year this has been!  

As we roll into the week of thanks, I find myself particulary thankful for these precious children of mine.  

So blessed God chose me to be their Momma!

As we go through life doing this super, crazy busy life, I am thankful for the opportunities God has afforded us...that I can stay home, that I have such an amazing husband, and such a great family network surrounding us.  It's just amazing.

Not sure how much I will be on here this week with Thanksgiving preparations under way.  So in case you don't see much of me I hope you have an amazing holiday with your family and stay safe!

Count your blessings, name them one, by one, count your blessings...

Sobbing With Thanks

Today I just started reading "Louder Than Words" by Jenny McCarthy. Have you read this? I am in the first chapter and had to stop because I was crying so hard. Her experience with her son's seizure was so much the same as mine...the feeling helpless, the feeling of your son being ripped away from you. The experience of begging God to take your life so your son can live. The fear of not knowing if your son would ever wake up. How she described the seizure too was painfully similar: the goneness of his soul, the gasping for breath like a fish out of water, the whispering to him that mama's here, mama's here. Watching the minutes pass and thinking "seizures don't last this long". All of it just ripped at my heart and although I could stop reading I couldn't stop sobbing.

You see, now we are on the opposite side of it. Calvin is healthy and thriving, and mine. All I could do is lift my hands in my dressing room and thank God for his mercies. Feeling those raw emotions again in the midst of Calvin growing and maturing was awe-inspiring. It was like God gave me his scrapbook and said "look at what I have accomplished with him". Amazing.

I just checked on Calvin tonight and he was sleeping so peacefully. Again I found myself sobbing with gratitude to God. Two months ago I didn't know what was wrong with Cal...ever. I never knew what if he was hot or cold, in pain or uncomfortable. Nothing. His words changed everyday so his word for milk could me something different every single day. It left him completely frustrated and it left me feeling like such a complete failure as a mother..."what kind of mother can't help her child?" This evening he bumped his head and was able to come to me and point to his head and say "boo boo, mama, (kiss noise)". How unfathomably awesome that he can tell me he needs me to kiss his booboo.

I know this sounds simple but watching him starting to emerge and be silly and kind is something that is just amazing to me and is such a priceless gift from God. Its as if his personality has been covered with a giant piece of swiss cheese. Sometimes I can peek through a little mousey hole and see his silliness and kindness, but most of the time its masked with this stinky cheese layer of not being able to communicate.

I know that all things are from God and all of this is God inspired and made. Our new therapist said that Calvin was healed and I believe that with all of my being. With two different therapists from two different institutes diagnosing him with severe apraixia I know it wasn't a mis-diagnosis. I know that God heard all of our prayers and has been massaging his little mind to get those neuro pathways carved out. I can't thank you enough for your prayers and support.

Here's to what God holds in our future. :)

A Week in Pictures

Here's the way this last week looked.

We did a little sledding at our neighborhood hill, which I LOVE:

As you can see they loved to sled. Then we went to Lowes. What do you do when you're bored with Lowes? You're silly of course!

And maybe a little contemplative of if your family MIGHT have gone off the deep end. Especially when you look in the rearview mirror to see....

'Sup?

And then there's our little diva, Miss Kazoo

Also we are not really keeping Gingerbread house kind of people...

We also like to play dress up althought to Aunt Jan's chagrin, this is no dress...

I have no idea what in the world is going on here. Do I even try to ask?

So that's us in a nutshell. Enjoy!

Chicago!

Last weekend we took the kids to Chicago. I was a little skeptical going as I didn’t want to spend vast amounts of money but I decided to let my frugal guard down and just enjoy the weekend. And boy did we have fun! We went to Ikea and did some shopping as well as Trader Joe’s before heading downtown. There we parked (Which by the way cost us a whole $.75) and went to Millenium Park and the Garden of the Art Institute of Chicago. We had so much fun! There were so many neat things to see and do and there was a fountain for Emma to play in…she loved it! The thing I loved about Emma playing in the fountain was that she didn’t seem to mind the scads of other kids surrounding her, lately she has been a little intimidated by other kids. Anyway, we had such a wonderful time! We look at one another on the way home from days like this and revel at all of God's blessings and wonder if there is a family as wonderful as ours. Um, I think not.

Here is a picture of the bean in the park...it is sooo neat! This is a picture Nick took of me at the beanAnd here we are inside of the bean...this is kind of hard to explain

This is the picture of the fountain...the pictures are of people in Chicago and they change periodically. It really is amazing! Here she is at the base of the fountain

My New Home!

So I am going to be blogging here. Unless I absolutely am hating this, and then maybe I will move back. Either way, here I am right now. Well this weekend went well. I think that I am really liking this whole, cool weather thing going on this October. At first I was freezing, but once your body gets used to it, its not so bad. We went and got a pumkin at the pumpkin farm. As you can see, Emma is not too sure that she wants to share her wagon with a pumpkin.

We went to Babies R Us today and I can now say that we have all of the bedding for Baby Calvin. It is going to be cute. When we got home, Nick primed the walls and Emma and I booked it to the library (ha, gotta love puns!) He is now officially done with sanding the drywall so I was even able to hang some of Calvin's clothes in his closet. Here's a question for you...how is it he still isn't even born and yet Calvin has more clothes than me? Life is just odd. So I hope you enjoy this blog. Let me know what you think with comments. Love you all!