Thursday Thoughts

Another Thursday here and gone. This morning we were off to work bright and early, ready to see our young friends at Sandhills PCA. We had just four kids today, so we had a lot of fun with them. Brianna and Hunter are so helpful with the babies. I really don't think I could get through a lot of those work days without their help. And I'm ever so grateful on these days that God chose to bless me with two individual children, and no multiples!!

This afternoon I found out that Brianna started reading a new series. It is about a dog named Wishbone who travels in time and goes through classic novels, retelling them in a fun way for kids. She read Jack and the Beanstalk.

She came downstairs, so excited about this book, and telling me all about it, when I realized that when I was about 8 or 9 years old, I loved to watch the TV show of Wishbone! The kids had finished all their school work and chores, so that meant they were allowed to have electronic time. I hopped on YouTube and found the entire first episode of Wishbone, which went through the story of Tom Sawyer. They absolutely loved it. I think as we read through these books we will definitely watch the TV show that coincides.

After dinner we made a fire, which always means we roast marshmallows. The kids helped pile up sticks and limbs, and then played while Stephen controlled the fire. Then we got down to business eating marshmallows.

In one of those pictures you see the kids in a ditch in our woods. At our last family dinner night, that ditch was named "Four Cousins" by Brianna, Hunter, and (you guessed it) their two cousins. So when I came outside after cleaning up from dinner, I couldn't see Bri, and I asked where she was. She came running out of the woods, limbs in both hands, yelling, "I was at the Four Cousins! You couldn't even find me, could you, Mom?" They think it is the coolest thing ever.

Brianna's hair is in about a dozen tiny little braids tonight. She wants her hair to be fancy because our cousin Shannon is getting married tomorrow. Bri has a big part in the wedding (in her mind) because she gets to open the door for Shannon to walk out with her dad. She has her fanciest dress set out and she is ready to go!

Wonderful Wednesday

Today was not a typical Wednesday. On a typical Wednesday, the kids and I go to work at Sandhills PCA until lunchtime, then we rush home to eat lunch, have a one-hour rest time (more for myself than the kids, I think), do our school day, and then play a little before we go to evening service at our church.

Today was a bit different. We still went to our job at PCA, but Brianna did her school work in the car because we had a fun afternoon planned. After babysitting a dozen kids during Bible study, we were off to spend the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's house! Hunter woke up really early this morning so I picked out a recipe for him to cook for dessert. They were supposed to be chocolate chip cookie bars, and had only four ingredients - butter, brown sugar, flour and chocolate chips. Only they didn't look like any cookie bars I'd ever made, so I just kept on cooking them until I thought they must be done. They ended up a little crunchy. But they still tasted good, and Grandpa even had seconds! Anyway, after lunch I went to run errands and the kids spent the afternoon playing games, reading, being introduced to Shirley Temple, and eating lots of good snacks. They love their one afternoon a week at Grandma and Grandpa's! My parents also got me an incredibly beautiful bouquet of flowers to celebrate my recent Spartan Race. Mom got them because of the sunflowers in them. They are so beautiful and I never have fresh flowers in my house, so I was thrilled! They are adorning my countertops as we speak and it makes me think I should pick fresh flowers later this spring, or at least get some from the farmers market.

When we got home we didn't have to rush off to church. Instead, we decided to "live stream" it which is a new thing our church has started doing. We cooked some pizzas and sat down to watch the revival meeting that is going on this week. I have to say, although there is nothing better than sitting in church with some of your best friends and family, LiveStream is so much easier for nights like tonight! The kids became disinterested in the sermon rather quickly so they went upstairs to play while Stephen and I finished watching the sermon.

After it was over the kids asked if they could watch an Andy Griffith episode, which is our typical TV show we watch on Wednesday nights and Sunday nights after church. Stephen explained to them that I have implemented a new rule, which is no TV after 8:00 (I have always wanted this rule implemented but he has never been in favor of it, so this is a victory for me!), to which Brianna immediately burst into tears and yelled, "Worst rule EVER!" I'm so thankful she was stomping up the stairs so she couldn't see Stephen and I look at each other and start laughing! Although then she tacked on, "It's even WORSE than the rule Mom made about my stuffed animals!" which is: if she obtains a new stuffed animal she must get rid of one old one.

So apparently we rock at making rules.

A Day at the Park in February

Nothing like a sunny day in the middle of winter to make you want to pack a picnic lunch and go to the park!

I have realized that one of my (many) failings as a mother has been that I don't go outside with my kids as often as I should. I make a lot of excuses in the winter months because I can't STAND the cold. Frankly, I am quite content sitting next to the fire, curled up with a blanket, drinking coffee and playing Candyland (and other similar games) over and over and over again. Quite. With small snack breaks. But lately I have come to realize that although it's great I'm spending quality time with the kids, they need fresh air every day, if possible. So I am motivated to get them (and myself) outside every day (weather permitting), yes, even if it's cold to me, just long enough to let them run amuck and I can clean out my car and sweep the garage. It is working out very well for us.

So yesterday, when it was a refreshing 60 degrees outside, we hit the park! A local park is only six miles from our house and yet we have never even been to it. See? I'm telling you, there is a problem here!

Pretty sure I overpacked for the picnic... here you can see peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, potato chips, pretzels, yogurt, raisins, chocolate cake, cottage cheese, strawberries, clementines and their vitamins. But honestly, the only thing that came back intact were the raisins!

Keep in mind we had never been to this playground, so I was so proud of Brianna when she climbed this rock wall all by herself! She did it with ease, probably two dozen times, once she realized how quickly she could do it.

She found this 4-year old to play with and they played so well together for such a long time! They didn't stop to catch their breath once. It was so much fun watching them make up games together.

My goal this summer is - picnic once a month, park twice a month. I'd LOVE to do the park once a week but realistically with our schedules, I don't believe it would really happen.

Other fun happenings have been going on this week!

Monday I finally got to hit up Kindermusik with JUST Hunter. Stephen rarely gets off work when he is supposed to, so Bri has been going to class with us (not a problem, except that I think Hunter just needs some alone time with me at times). So it was really nice that we got to do that together and Stephen and Bri got some daddy-daughter time by themselves.

Tuesday I got to do a coupon class at Pinehurst Surgical. I had a blast with these ladies! I love coupon classes because they are so laidback and fun. One of the ladies I met there exchanged blogs with me. Please go check her out at A Mother's Journal and Dylan's Dress. After looking over these blogs I love both of them! I think Lynn and I would get along very well if we could find time to get together outside of a coupon class. :)

Yesterday, of course, we did the park/picnic thing. We didn't have church because they are putting tile in our foyer, so I took a mystery shop so we'd have a yummy, free dinner. Who can pass that up??

Today we spent the day at Glen and Geneva's house. This is a couple at church who babysits Bri and Hunter for me when I have Fed By Faith errands to run. But today was just a social visit. I like to catch up with them every so often. We made crafts (I need to take pictures) and the kids were treated to baking and eating chocolate chip cookies before lunch! Something special always happens at "Miss Neva's" house! These are my friend Cindy's parents so they are near and dear to my heart but I just love hanging out with them. They give great advice, they are fun, and they don't care how messy/loud/cranky the kids are! The kids love them too, and talk about them all the time around the house.

Tomorrow we have a playdate schedule with a friend from high school. I haven't seen her since I graduated and she's in town for a few days, so I am super excited to reconnect with her! She has three kiddos, and two of them are the ages of Bri and Hunter, so I know we will have a ball. Tomorrow night is a pajama party for a friend of ours from church, so Bri and Hunter are super excited to go to a party in their PJ's! I think they are going to be so confused, haha!

Saturday night is our Sweetheart Banquet at church. We've gone every year since we moved here (so, I think this is our 5th banquet) and we are bound and determined to win the Newlywed Game every year! We'll see... never seems to matter how much we "practice", the questions are never what we think they will be! It's always a night full of incredible food and TONS of laughter, so I'm excited.

We have re-painted our bathroom and I want to post pictures but the lighting is really bad and the picture doesn't do it justice. I'll try to post them soon anyway because the bathroom looks SO good. Next up: master bedroom? Maybe. If you haven't checked out Sandhills Paint, you really should. Joe knows what he's doing and I trust him 1000% with every painting project. 

Okay, I think that's it for now! I'll try to post more pictures soon because they are taking up TONS of free space on my phone!

First World Problem To First World Ecstasy

Here is my "first world problem" from today:

I had a dentist appointment. Thank the Lord it was just a cleaning, so nothing crazy. But after the appointment I was starving. I hadn't eaten in a couple of hours, hoping my teeth would suddenly reproduce all the enamel I'd lost in the last six months, and eliminate all the plaque gained. And I knew just what I was going to snack on - this delicious Reese's Peanut Butter Pie that I made yesterday.

When I realized... I didn't want to mess up my squeaky clean teeth for this pie.

I'm driving home from my parents' house (they kept the kids while I was at the dentist) and that pie is just sitting there.

Do I eat it and ruin the squeaky clean? Do I not eat it and miss out on this totally delectable pie?

The lid comes off.

While glancing in the rearview mirror (I don't want to have to share this pie) I nibble at a couple of the larger pieces of Reese's cups.

Well, I've already screwed up the squeaky clean, may as well get a big chunk of the chocolate whipped cream filling, right?

Brianna: "Mom, what are you eating?"

Dang. Just the question I was hoping to avoid!

Well, of course I had to tell her. And of course then she wanted some. I gave her a chunk and of course she wanted more. Finally I told her we had to quit eating it and we would have some more when we got home.

When we got home, Hunter was asleep. So rather than waking him up, I unbuckled Brianna and we both sat in the front seats of the car, cross-legged, eating our Reese's pie with one fork.

As Bri stated, "This is the best day ever."

I told Stephen that sometimes I feel like Brianna is my best friend instead of my 3-year-old daughter. Times like that, or snuggling at bedtime talking about our day, or when we pray together. I look forward to many times like this over the rest of our lives together, as long as God will allow us the time.

Love my family.

P.S. Our kids had an Oreo for the first time ever after dinner tonight. I sure wish I could have captured the look on Hunter's face. I have never seen his face like that! And then the next thing out of his mouth - "YuuUUUuuummMMMmmmmmmy!" I hadn't laughed so hard all day!

Thursdays

I think Thursdays are my favorite days of the week.

Mondays - from preschool to quick lunch to (hopefully) nap to Kindermusik to dinnertime to bed.

Tuesdays - We meet my parents on Tuesdays to eat lunch and they watch the kids while I run errands and get stuff around the house done. By the time I pick the kids up and get home it's dinnertime and then bedtime.

Wednesdays - from preschool to quick lunch to (hopefully) nap to church to dinnertime to bed.

Fridays - from preschool to lunch to nap to couple of hours of playtime to dinnertime to bed.

So you see, Thursdays we do... NOTHING. Ahhhh, 'tis glorious! On Thursdays we don't leave the house except on rare occasions (like maybe meeting our favorite Kirbys for lunch!) and I love it.

Today is a great example of a normal Thursday for us. Normally I'd pull something from the freezer for the kids (homemade waffles or burritos are a crowd favorite) but this morning I played my lazy card and made my all-time favorite pancakes from a mix - Tenda-Bake maple burst pancakes! Oh yowza, they are so good!

 Thursdays are all about US so what is more important than making sure we are beautiful right off the bat!?

 Okay, fingernails and toenails are painted. Next it's time to think of others. This piece of art will be going to someone very special in the near future!

 
Uh-oh, time to start dinner! I have an audit to do tonight so that means my dinner that was planned (cube steak) is out the window. Gonna throw something in the crockpot instead! That's good news for Brianna because that means she gets to help me make Brown Sugar Chicken!

 Of course, we do have to do those yucky chores. But it's FUN to do chores when you make your own furniture polish and then use it for the first time! Seriously, our furniture looks so good now.

Alright, Hunter is down for his nap! That means it's craft time for Mommy and Bri! Today's craft was Paper Towel Butterflies and we loved it!

She got a kick out of the butterflies fluttering around her room! :)

Just as Brianna is going down for her nap, Hunter wakes up, so we all read together and then I have to hustle Hunter outside. He tends to sit on the bottom step and mournfully cry out, "Brrrriiiii! Brrrriiii!" It's awful. So outside we go, where we tend to the garden and basically just run back and forth for an hour or so.

I did get to tend to my seedlings... I need to blog about this sometime in the future. Someone remind me.

We got back inside, and shortly after, Brianna woke up from her nap. Of course, she knew how beautiful it was outside, so she really wanted to go out too! We got dressed and ready to go back out!

Hunter got a new outfit from Oma! He may not look thrilled about it, but it's just my camera flash blinding him. No biggie.

A lot of our outdoor time is spent picking up pine cones for Daddy, who is coming home late again tonight. We're going to surprise him by having the whole yard picked up!

Wait Hunter! That's not a basketball net!

Stephen was home just in time for me to go do my audit, and then I was home just in time to help get the kids ready for bed. What a wonderful day. I can only pray that God will allow us enough time on this earth that we can have thousands more of these days. I know that sounds corny but it's the truth. :)

A Day in the Life

I think it's safe to say that I'm not the only mother/wife (whether you work outside the home or not) who sometimes feels at the end of the day... "Where did all my time go!?"

I remembered that one time I did this before, snapping pictures every hour throughout the day. Funny - it was almost exactly one year ago. I have a strange way of doing things annually accidentally. If that makes any sense. Anyway, that day was also a Monday, so it's very similar to my day today.

I kept track of basically everything I did today, so although I felt like there were some things I didn't get done (or "fun" things I didn't get to do), looking back on how I spent my day, I feel pretty accomplished.

We started our morning at 6:30, but I wasn't in the mood to start snapping pictures and "journaling" then!! I made waffles for breakfast and we lounged around and played until 8:30 when we left to take Brianna to preschool.

9:30am
Started dinner. Crockpot barbecue, one of our favorites! Also had to start cooking another batch of waffles. I usually cook about a dozen waffles every two weeks to keep our freezer supply up. The kids can normally eat 1 1/2 waffles each for breakfast, so we go through them pretty quickly!

 10:00am
At this point, the waffles are cooking. As I'm flipping them and pouring new batches, I am able to change out the towels in the house (one of my weekly chores), wash the breakfast dishes, start the dishwasher, and start one load of laundry.

10:30am
Waffles are still cooking, so I take this opportunity to change the sheets on all the beds in the house - another weekly chore I can cross off my list!

By the time I finish that the waffles are done. Thank goodness for blueberry bushes - I thawed some of our blueberries from last fall and made half regular waffles and half blueberry waffles! Yummy! Those look so good. Trust me, they're delicious. Try them.

10:40am
I feel like I've been running around ever since we got home, so I take a 10 minute coupon break!

10:50am
I put away a load of laundry that was dry, move some from the washer to the dryer and start a new load.

11:20am
Leave to go pick up Bri from preschool.

12:40pm
Home from getting Bri. Time to get lunch started!

Yes, we ate bulls-eyes and corn for lunch. Don't judge. It is really hard being on this dairy-free diet the doctor put us on. It seems like there are so many foods we can't eat right now!

1:45pm
Lunch is over. I turn on a Mickey Mouse for the kids to watch while I clean up from lunch and wash those dishes.

2:05pm
Naptime routine starts.

2:40pm
Kids are upstairs in respective rooms. Time for devotions.

2:55pm
Guess who never fell asleep?

 I went to work on the barbecue, marinating it and shredding it a bit to prepare it for tonight.

3:15pm
Unload dishwasher, wash the few more dishes that ended up in the sink from the barbecue preparation.

3:20pm
Pick up around the house so it's not so chaotic when Stephen gets home. Go get Bri, who also never fell asleep.

3:35pm
Start a loaf of white bread in the bread machine - I'll freeze this later.

3:45pm
Play time!

4:20pm
I leave to take Brianna to Kindermusik, leaving Hunter and Daddy to fend for themselves for a while.

6:20pm
Home from Kindermusik and a quick trip to Harris Teeter. Make sure everything's going good with the barbecue and start cooking some green beans to go along with it.

7:05pm
Done eating. Time to clean up, give baths, put pajamas on (just the kids, unfortunately), play a little bit more, and read lots and lots of books before going to bed.

9:10pm
Both kids are in bed and I can finally do whatever I want to do! So obviously I cook some more! I make delicious strawberry oatmeal bars, except I substitute the strawberry jam with some of my homemade blackberry freezer jam.

What a day, what a day! A very normal Monday. Most other days of the week I set aside much more "play" time with the kids. I usually try to use Monday as a focus day for lots of chores and home-making things because it's such a hurried day anyway, between preschool and Kindermusik.

I would love for someone else to do this so I can peek into your life for one day!!