what's up wednesday: march 2017

Hello friends!  Today I'm excited to be linking up with Shay for What's Up Wednesday!

What we're eating this week.....

So far this week I've made Sloppy Joe Casserole (just ok so no link) and Lo Mein (so good!).

What I'm reminiscing about.....

On Monday, I took my two big kids to see Beauty and the Beast and y'all, I was a ten year old girl all over again!  I loved that movie so very much as a kid!  Makayla and I have been singing the songs all week!

What I'm loving.....

We have had amazing weather lately!  We typically have a very short window of beautiful spring weather before the summer humidity kicks in and mosquitoes take over, so we are enjoying the outdoors while we can!

What we've been up to.....

Bobby's been into his March Madness shenanigans (my bracket is beating his!), the kiddos have been doing quixels and perler beads every chance they get, and Ashlynn is somehow getting cuter every day!

What I'm dreading.....

The baby has a checkup and the big kiddos have their dentist appointments coming up.

What I'm working on.....

For some reason, I decided that March would be a good month to organize all the things, all at once.  It started with one closet and it snowballed from there.  I see an end in sight, but I'm not there yet!

What I'm excited about.....

My baby boy is turning nine next month!  We have lots of fun things planned to celebrate him!

What I'm watching/reading.....

Not much!  I started off the year with some great book choices (see my book reviews here and here), but the book I started this month was a dud and I haven't been motivated to pick up anything since.  And I haven't had too much tv time lately.  I've kept up with Grey's and Scandal, but that's about it!

What I'm listening to.....

I stumbled upon this when I was looking for some hymn renditions for our morning time.  It has been on repeat ever since!

What I'm wearing.....

Currently - pajamas!

What I'm doing this weekend.....

Bobby will be holding down the fort while I head to a homeschool convention that is here in town.  I am really looking forward to it!

What I'm looking forward to next month.....

Easter!  I love celebrating Easter with our kiddos more and more every year!

What else is new.....

I can't think of a thing!

Bonus question: What is your favorite spring thing to wear.....

Sandals!  I love me some sandals, and they're normally much more comfortable too, so bonus points for that!


That's it for this month's What's Up Wednesday!  Thanks for stopping by!

last week: snow in march

Ummm, how is it Monday?  We woke up to a puking child at 5:45 this morning, but after the fun little time-change yesterday, it felt more like the middle of the night.  Needless to say, we are dragging around here, and we are really hoping this is a short little bug that is not contagious.

So, how about we start off with a baby pic?  Because there's not much better than morning snuggles with this cutie.

These two have been making little art creations all week.  They are always drawing and cutting things out and taping things together.

And this guy has been really into his Snap Circuits lately.  I am definitely thinking we need to invest in one of the larger sets because he was at it for hours.

After a crazy week of weather, including thunderstorms, hail storms, and a beautiful 75 degree day, we woke up to snow on Saturday.

This totally cracked me up.....

So we made homemade biscuits and gravy since calories totally don't count when there's snow on the ground, and we enjoyed a cozy day indoors.

And to all you other women who lose your husbands this week to the madness, I stand with you!

;)

Hope you all have a fantabulous week!

xo

a day in the life

I've never done a Day in the Life post before, but I always have fun reading when others do them, and I think it's such a fun way to look back and see what all we were up to!  My days are in no way glamorous - I change a lot of diapers, do a lot of laundry, wash a lot of dishes, and make a lot of food.   And I love it.  There is nowhere I would rather be!  I get to spend my days with my favorite people who are growing up way too quickly, and I know that one day all too soon, I will miss these days terribly!

So I chose a regular Monday when I knew that we had nowhere to be.  Absolutely nothing exciting happened on this day, but sometimes, those are my favorite days!

6:37 a.m.

My alarm clock woke up.

On an ideal day, I will wake up with my real alarm clock at 6:00, but I had a killer headache this morning, so I slept until the baby woke up.

I gave the baby a bottle, and then I took a shower and got ready for the day.  The big kids were up by now and playing legos together.

We all headed downstairs for breakfast.  I heated up some cinnamon rolls from the freezer for a yummy treat that day.  (Pioneer Woman's recipe.  So good, y'all.)

After breakfast, it was time for school!  We try to get started with school by 8:30 or so every morning, and we try to get as much done as we can before lunch time.

This girl got some daddy-loving in before she went down for a nap at 10:30.

12:15 p.m.

Lunch time!  This is my favorite lunch right now - a piece of toast with cottage cheese, grape tomatoes, avocado, and black pepper on top.  Bobby thinks it's the weirdest combo, but I swear it is so good!

After lunch, the kids had some free time while I took care of some housework.  I feel like it's always a mad dash to see how much I can get done before the baby wakes up.  I got a load of laundry washing, the dishwasher emptied, and then just did some straightening up until 1:45 when my sleeping beauty awoke.

I got her up and gave her a bottle, and then the kids and I had a bit more schoolwork to finish up.  This is them checking on some popcorn seeds that were part of a science experiment.

Daddy left for work around this time, and then it was quiet time/reading time for these two.

While they read, I made myself a cup of hot tea, and then Ashlynn and I folded some laundry.

After quiet time, the kiddos had a snack and watched some tv, and then they headed back upstairs to play legos again.

5:00

Ashlynn and I headed into the kitchen to get started on dinner.  I try to have dinner ready by about 5:45 every night.  Fortunately, baby girl is usually pretty content to hang out with me and watch while I cook.

Dinner that night was Panko Crusted Salmon, rice pilaf, and sauteed spinach.  Yummo.

We got started with the whole bedtime routine as soon as dinner was over.  Baby girl was in bed around 6:45, followed by the big kids.  They know the sooner they get into bed then the more time we will have to read, so ideally this motivates them to pick up toys, straighten up their rooms, and get ready for bed fairly quickly.  I read to them until 8:00, and then it was lights out.

I headed back downstairs to clean up the kitchen, and then I sat down with a glass of red wine and my planner.  I needed to look over our schedule for the rest of the week and respond to a few emails.  

Then I finally got around to doing my quiet time.  In a perfect world, this would have happened first thing in the morning, but it's not and it didn't and sometimes, you just have to make it work.

I headed up to bed, watched some tv and read a little bit more before I called it a night at 11:15.

And that is a regular old uneventful day in the life of us.

february 2017 book review

Woohoo!  It's time for another book review!

This month I read two books, and I really enjoyed them both.

Eve's Daughters

by Lynn Austin

This book told the stories of four women and how they each impacted the next generation.  It makes you think about how what you believe and the choices you make can have such lasting effects.  A beautiful story of God's grace being evident in each of their lives.  This was my first Lynn Austin book to read, but I will definitely be reading more!

Deconstructing Penguins

by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone

This book went through how to analyze books and play "detective" to find deeper meanings.  It was very eye-opening for me, as I don't typically approach fiction in the way that they suggest.  I learned so many tools that I am excited to put to use with some of the reading that the kids and I are doing.

So that's it!  Another month of reading is "in the books"!

(To read January's Book Review, go here.)

all about ashlynn

This month, I've been talking about each of my sweet kiddos.  If you missed it, you can read all about Caleb here and all about Makayla here.  Today is all about our sweet little bookend, Ashlynn Bree,

This precious girl can light up a room with her smile.  All you have to do is glance in her general direction and she will give you one of her big old grins, and you just cannot help but smile back.  Also, her dimples totally make me swoon.

She adores her brother and sister.  As soon as she hears their voices, she will start kicking and looking around for them.  She will just sit and watch them play around her, and you just know that she cannot wait to be right there playing along with them.

She loves her daddy.  She will slap her little hands on his face because she just gets so excited to see him.  They're her little love pats for him!  I'm sure that she will grow up to be a daddy's girl just like her big sister.

She loves to eat, she loves bath time, she loves silly songs, and she loves being tickled.  She has the most beautiful curly hair, the funniest little giggle, and she has rolls for days.

She is very vocal, which I guess you have to be at our house!  She will sometimes just sit there and scream - happy screams, but wow, can she get loud!  It's as if she's saying, "Hey guys!  Here I am!"  So yes, we have three very vocal, very loud children.  (We also buy our tylenol in bulk at Costco.  ;))

She is just the most precious baby girl, and she brings so much joy to our days.  Makayla always says that our family is like a puzzle and Ashlynn was our missing piece, and I think that sums us up pretty perfectly.  She completed our little family, and we simply could not love her more.

last week: the flu

The kids are I came down with the flu last week, and it was all kinds of awful.  We basically spent 7 straight days laying around, which is really not too much fun when you feel like crapola.  Somehow, Bobby managed to stay healthy and he took wonderful care of us all, but I think we were quite a handful!  Something tells me that he was more than happy to leave us and go back to work!

We are trying to get back in the swing of things this week, but we all still seem to be dragging a bit.  Is it Friday yet?

all about makayla

This month, I am doing blog posts on each of the kiddos.  Last week, I talked all about Caleb, and today is all about my sweet girl, Makayla.

Makayla is a girly-girl.  She loves a twirly dress, having her nails painted, and she throws a mean tea party.  But she doesn't mind playing in the dirt and mud or breaking into a sweat.  She can hang with a bunch of boys with no problem, but she is no pushover, and she will let the boys, or her brother, know it!

She loves food.  Like she really loves food.  If she's not in the kitchen with me then she is probably in her play kitchen cooking up something.  She loves to look through cookbooks and she would choose to watch a cooking show over a cartoon.

She is so smart - she is constantly amazing us with how she puts things together or the big words that she uses.  She loves to learn and she asks a lot of questions.  I've often wondered what her daily word count is because man alive, can this girl talk!  She knows it too!  If for some strange reason she is ever quiet for a few minutes, she will notice and say, "Wow mom!  I've been quiet for a really long time!"

She is an awesome sister!  She loves her brother and always wants to play with him, and she loves helping with the baby and she has great little maternal instincts already.  I feel like she's not quite a typical middle child, at least at this point, because there is such a big age gap between her and Ashlynn (5 1/2 years).  But I do think that she has a great personality for a middle child - there is no way she will every get lost in the middle!  She is stubborn and loud and so very vocal - this middle sister always makes her wonderful presence known!

She loves to draw and do any kind of craft.  She could eat mac & cheese or spaghetti all day, every day.  She hates chocolate.  She loves doing ballet and showing off her moves.  She likes her hair pulled up at all times, but she will humor me and leave it down on occasion.  She loves listening to princess music, and she can sing "Let it Go" with the best of them.  

She is just the sweetest girl.  She has a very sensitive heart and is kind to everyone she meets.  There isn't a shy bone in her body.  She has a quiet confidence in herself that I truly believe will take her far in life.

She is growing up way too quickly!  She is beautiful inside and out, and we are so proud of our precious girl!  I am so very grateful that I get to be her momma.

my four loves

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Today I am talking all about the four people that I get to spend my life with!  They are the ones who light up my days and fill up my heart.  They are my four loves!

Bobby

Bobby and I have been married for 12 years, and together for 17 years, and how am I old enough to have just typed those numbers?!!  He proposed on Christmas Day of 2002, and we were married the summer of 2004.  He is super friendly and outgoing, he is silly and definitely keeps me laughing, he is incredibly hard-working, and he loves our family well.  I cannot imagine doing life without him by my side!

Caleb

Caleb will be 9 years old this April (slow down, time!).  He is a deep thinker, a question asker, and he loves big.  He is very sensitive and caring and is always concerned about others.  He is a wonderful big brother.  He is silly and funny and he has the greatest laugh!  He is a lego-building pro, he loves Super Mario and Minecraft, and he hates math!  He has taught me more about life than anyone or anything else.  

Makayla

Makayla turned 6 years old in November.  She is a girly-girl, but she also isn't afraid of getting messy and having fun.  She is a foodie big-time!  She loves to watch cooking shows and go through cookbooks with me, and she loves to help in the kitchen.  She loves to do any kind of art or craft, she is crazy smart, and she loves learning.  She asks a lot of questions and she talks non-stop!  She is super sweet and easy-going, and she is such a great middle sister.

Ashlynn

Ashlynn will be 8 months old next week, and she is one happy baby girl.  She eats up all of the attention that she gets, and believe me, she gets a lot!  She definitely knows who her people are!  She has the best giggle, she is incredibly ticklish, and she gives the greatest slobbery kisses ever.  She is the perfect little bookend for our family!

So those are my people!  We are a silly and loud bunch, we have a lot of fun together, and we love each other like crazy!

Linking up with Andrea for Show and Tell Tuesday