Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Beginning to look a little like Christmas....

Sorry all if you're expecting Day 2 of the challege it will have to wait.  Instead we went and got our Christmas tree! :) So our tradition is to pick out our tree together and cut it down.







































When we get it home we all make homemade pizza together,



























and then it's time to decorate the tree!




























We did decide that the tree we got this year is a tad fat for the space we have but I think it still looks great! Joe and I hung the lights and we let the kids decorate it themselves, partly because at that point I was wiped out! I'm sure I'll have to do a few miner adjustments to the placement of ornaments! :) I made hot apple cider this year, a tradition I'd like to add every year! Yum! And decided next year I'm bringing hot chocolate to the tree farm! :) Now it feels a little bit more like Christmas!


Monday, November 28, 2011

21 Days-Getting Organized Challege ~ Day One

So I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed with all the "stuff" that seems to have accumulated in our home in only a few years! Seriously it's hard to believe that it's been four years since we had a house fire and lost most everything! How is it even possible that we have filled it so quickly with so much "stuff''! It is seriously ridiculous! Anyhoo I'm having a go at a plan to get organized!! 21 Days - Getting Organized Challege to be exact! Found it on Pinterest! Love that site! The blog A bowl full of lemons is where it's at! Not sure I'm gonna follow it exactly to the tee everyday but it's a start. Is it pathetic that it took me almost all day to clear out 3 junk drawers!! :)
This is before:
Drawer #1

Drawer #2
Drawer #3

Scary right! I'm actually embarressed to show these!! And it's not just one, but 3 junk drawers!! Hello you have so much junk you need 3 DRAWERS!!!

Moving on it was actually impressive what I found inside!
Mason was excited I found his Robin mask! Now Batman has his sidekick!

1 Kindle charger, 5 earphones, 2 Mp3 players, 1  2-way adapter, 1 USB charging cable, 1handsfree cell phone set.


2 childproof safety latches, 4 childproof outlet plugs, 1 attachment for child safety gates. Apparently my house is not very childproof :)


3 toy cars, 1 leapfrog game, 2 3-D Dinosaur puzzles, 6 misc Lego/K'nex pieces, 2 puzzle pieces from 2 different puzzles, 4 misc game pieces, 2 diary locks with 1 set of keys, 5 Nerf darts, 2 colered stones, 2 barrettes, 1 haritie, 8 bracelets +1 watch bracelet, crayon sharpener, 2 mini notebooks, 8 misc Go Fish game cards, 1 set of playing cards, 1 matchbox toy jet, friendship bracelet string, Fish Net magnet puzzle piece, Learning counting bear & Learning link, silly key chain, Dinosaur toy, Hunting figurine hat, Handy Mandy screw, mini flashlight keychain, bracelet links, train set piece, matchbox set wrench, and one googlie eye! 


6 pairs of sunglasses


3 tape measures, 1 mini tape measure, compass, screwdriver, 2 lighters, wire? (not sure where that came from) 4 rubber round somethings??? 1 pegboard hook, 3 flashlights, black tubing? again not sure about that one, and 1 set of kids garden gloves.


2 Special notes one from my mom and another from my sweet little girl, 1 handmade coupon book from same sweet little girl. :) 1 birthday card for Eli with money still inside! Stack pile of coupons most of them still useable, 5 gift cards, 6 Pizza Ranch Gift Certificates, 47 pizza ranch tickets,  3 YMCA free passes, 17 scoopie tokens (yep already used 10 for free kids meal) 8 free ice cream tokens.


Rabies certificate and tag for cat, 2 measurement cards from doctor appts for Eli and Mason, 2 YMCA Swim progress reports for Emma and Eli.


This is the organizer I bought in my attempt to become more organized. :) See how organized it looks. Drawer got too full so I moved it to the counter. :)


2 old cell phones, 1 back massager, 1 dry erase doorknob message board, 1 set of ear plugs, 1 barbie bathtub scrubber,4 foam chair protectors, 1 Mr Potato Head glasses, Hot Wheels Car Silly Bandz, 1 small notebook, 1 foam bathtub letter, Zhu Zhu pet Kungfu sword, Bracelet, Stylus, owners manual, K'nex instruction manual.

3 Birthday candles and 9 old clothespins


1 coaster, 2 remotes, 1 battery charged candle, 2 sticky tack packs, feathers, 1 button, 1 small dowel rod, 1 sun catcher, 2 rock tumbler kits.


2 bags of allowance money (totaling $1.38) and $2.40 more in loose change.


3 wallets


a bunch of magnetic photo holders.

In addition to all of that: 3 small notebooks, 6 phonebooks, 2 MOPS directories, 2 student directories, 3 take-out menus, 2 rulers, 1 kids scissors, glue, 7 markers, 5 crayons, 7 colered pencils, glitter scratch-it notebook, 2 devotional books for kids, 2 Bibles, 1 container for batteries. And the finished results.........Drum roll please..............

Wah-lah!




I actually have extra space! Now if I can just keep them that way! Day 1 I'm feeling pretty good!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Photo Project 365- Day 8


After Eli's t-ball game went out with the fam to the Pizza Ranch! Kids had a blast but it got late. I have to admit when the kids wanted to read books I was tempted to tell them it was too late and we needed to get to sleep, but I was glad I didn't. I definitely needed the extra snuggles!


Sunday, June 19, 2011

Photo Project 365- Days 6-7




June 18
Emma - For once we had a free Saturday, and we spent most of it outdoors! In between helping mom plant flowers and pulling weeds in the garden the kiddos found time to play! :) Unfortunately the extra large soccer ball didn't make it through the weekend.

Eli- My little tough guy! He loves to be active, he enjoyed playing baseball with dad, and wrestling around with everyone! He definitely sleeps well at night!

Mason - Reading time with daddy!

June 19
Emma, Eli, and Mason
Father's Day! After church we took Joe's dad to Swan City Park for the annual Car show. After many reminders not to touch we found a nice guy who let both Emma and Eli sit inside and toot the horn, a much needed break for some impatient kiddos who couldn't wait for ice cream! Ice cream was greatly appreciated by all, and we realized again that Mason does not like to share cones with Mommy or Daddy! Thanks to Grandma he got his own. Daddy, Mason, and Eli went with some matching superman t's and Eli did his best to cover his head when we got a little rain, Mason followed suit.

Photo Project 365 - Day 3-5




June 15-
Emma, Eli, & Mason- It was rainy outside today so we decided to have a little music jam session to get our bodies moving!

June 16-
Emma- This is our I'm not ready to go to bed face! :)
Eli- Bubble time, for some reason all the kiddos decided to walk around the house chanting "We're Not Scared" Not sure whose idea it was but realized today how loud 7 kids can be!
Mason- This is Mason's "smile for the camera" face! Typically I try to have clothes on my children but this was the day we were having family photos taken and I didn't want them getting pizza sauce all over their white shirts! :)

June 17
Emma- Her kitty Tommy! She's an animal lover!
Eli- Eli absolutely loves to play in the water! He found this hose attachment in our shed and wants to play with it all the time!
Mason- He ♥'s McQueen!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Photo Project 365 - Day 2




Emma - Little miss personality! Loves the camera, either in front of it or behind it! :)

Eli - Look mom I'm Santa!

Mason - Enjoying a Culvers treat, along with some free face painting and balloons, after Emma's softball game.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Blogger Idea Stealer!


So I admit it, I probably spend more time stalking other blogs, trying to find fun ideas from anything like recipes, activities for kiddos, craft projects,etc etc than I actually do following through with said ideas. That being said I'm going to attempt a follow through of actual idea stolen...

Photo Project 365!!
Ok so technically I was probably suppose to start Jan 1st but I'm not a rule follower! Who says I can't start June 13! I'm gonna try for a photo of each of my 3 special kiddos a day, not too tough, I'm hoping! So here begins my journey, and hopefully a successful follow through!

Keep hanging in there all you blog readers, I have high hopes for myself to keep you informed in the awesomeness that is my life! :)


Photo Project 365
Day1 - June 13

Emma Marie - 1 day after her 8th birthday, my beautiful girl looking so grown up! Lovin summer, they'd be in their swimsuits all day if I'd let them!

Eli - Big sweet smile, my always active little man hanging with his buds and having a blast! Riding around in the jeeps is a big thing right now! Thankfully I haven't had to break up too many fights over who gets to ride in them. Considering we have 3 and the neighbors have 2!

Mason- My little stinker! Chillin at Eli's T-ball game! Later he was sneakin gum and attempting to hide so that we wouldn't see him! Goof!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Layered Mexican Bake

I didn't get a photo of my own because honestly I didn't think I could do it deliciousness justice so I stole the photo from the actual site I got the recipe from. Check it out at Kraft Food and Family here! Fairly simple to make and it was a hit with my whole family!


3/4 lb. extra-lean ground beef ( I used venison hamburger)
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 tsp. chili powder
1-1/4 cups Thick 'N Chunky Salsa ( I used our homemade canned salsa)
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn
3 whole wheat tortillas (8 inch)
1/2 cup Sour Cream
3/4 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided


HEAT oven to 375ºF.

BROWN meat with onions and peppers in large skillet on medium-high heat. Stir in chili powder; cook 1 min. Add salsa and corn; mix well. Simmer 5 min.

SPREAD 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 8- or 9-inch square baking dish; top with layers of 1 tortilla, 1/2 cup meat sauce, sour cream and 1/4 cup cheese. Cover with 1 tortilla, 1 cup of remaining meat sauce and 1/4 cup of remaining cheese; top with remaining tortilla and meat sauce. Cover with foil.

BAKE 25 min. or until casserole is heated through. Top with remaining cheese; bake, uncovered, 5 min. or melted.








Thursday, April 7, 2011

Project Life

I had to take a break from blogging for a bit. In addition to taking on two new kids we had a series of hospital visits between Joe and I . So our family is short one appendix and a gall bladder and one member of our family has had the experiance of dealing with cracked ribs! The one good thing so far after my surgery is that it appears I've lost some poundage! Last I checked I was down 9 lbs! Booyah! Anyway, so in the weeks I was off I was hoping to get organized with life. I thought I'd have time to organize clutter, pack up kids clothes that no longer fit, give everything a home, come up with a schedule for my day care kids, my own kids, meals, cleaning etc etc. Basically move a mountain in 2 weeks. Needless to say not much happened other than one junk drawer somewhat cleaned out. Anyway so I realized getting organized (especially for a gal who isn't organized in the least and is a terrible procrastinator!) isn't as easy as it looks! So in all this time I've had to contemplate getting organized I've had time to think a little about the bigger picture. As much as I'd love to be that perfectly organized mom who has everything planned out and completely together, this is me and it's how God made me! That being said it doesn't mean I should give up and except it, there is always room for improvement. But I need to so as a part of God's plan for my life, not my own! So my attempts at organization at this current point in time don't include stocking up on storage solutions to the chaos, or making beautiful charts for the strategically planned out day. Someday soon maybe, but for right now it's me trying to accept what I am and learning to trust in God's plan for my life. Enjoying life, not wallowing in doubt or beating myself up for what I'm not!