Weekend Recap

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We had a lazy weekend around here. We did go to church Sunday morning and then went to our churches harvest carnival. That was fun because my daughter got to go down the blow up slides, get candy and play games. It was a little chilly but it was fun. We came home and watched football...I'm playing my sister in law in fantasy football this weekend so that's been fun.

Oh and this happened

                                 

My daughter painted my nails...I had a friend on Facebook tell me I could clean up the sides and it wouldn't be too bad...I agree, almost looks like something you find on Pinterest! 

This also happened

                        

                       

My son fell asleep on me and I had to capture it...it's been a few months since he's done this and I've missed it. He is such a little cuddler when he wants to be. Plus these pajamas are so soft...I left him in them until bath time Saturday night...we didn't go anywhere, we were lazy like I said. :-) 

Mondays are always busy around here so time to go and tend to the children. I have a few fun recipes to post this week and another fun toddler activity. Can't wait! 

High Five For Friday

I've had a pretty good week. We are still trying to get used to this whole third shift thing but I think we are finally getting it down. Here's a few of the fun things I've done this week and things I've enjoyed.

                  

1. My friends like to have Pinterest parties once a month and this month we made pumpkins out of books. I have to admit I didn't cut the book out...my more crafty friend did it but I did put the bow on and add the color to make it look orange...I think it's super cute though and I love fall decorations!

2. The third book in the Divergent series finally came out and I bought it the first day. I was able to buy it and use my Nook app on my iPad. I'm so happy I have that! It was way cheaper to get it that way too. I stayed up until 2 in the morning and finished the whole book. I don't know how I feel about the ending...I'm still processing it. I am excited for the movie to come out though! 

3. We went to the pumpkin patch this week and my husband helped my daughter pick a pumpkin out. I got out with her last year but stayed on the hayride with my son...I had him all wrapped in the Moby wrap which was great...we both stayed warm and comfy. We all had so much fun on the hayride. This farm makes the path the tractor goes on very muddy and it's bumpy...they have a part of the ride called suicide hill...it's a great ride and we all love it! Next year we may invite a bunch of family because seeing some of my families faces as we go over those bumps and hit those ditches will be hilarious!

4. I made this pumpkin spice coffee and it's so yummy. I keep drinking it! I do make it "skinny" or low fat so it's only got about 30 calories in it. I just love fall! I will probably drink this as I make my pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (I got the recipe I'm trying from skinnytaste.com. If you love pumpkin she has a whole section of pumpkin recipes to try). 

5. I have had this song on repeat. I think I'm a little behind...people have been loving this song for months but I am so glad I found it. I love worship music and this song is definitely at the top of my list now. 

Well I hope everyone had a great week and has a wonderful weekend! I feel so blessed after this week...I love weeks like this!

4 Years

It has been 4 years today since I said I Do to this man and I can't believe how far we've come.

Our story is kind of long but I won't bore you with details. We met at a youth retreat when our youth pastors introduced us to each other. We talked all weekend when we could, then talked on the phone quite a bit when we got home. He told me after two weeks that he wanted to marry me. In fact he told his mother, I'm going to marry that girl. Well...I was only 21 and that pretty much freaked me out. I ran. Fast forward a few more years and a few more tries at dating him and by the fourth time it finally stuck! He proposed to me a few days before Christmas at an ice skating rink in front of some of our friends. My parents were off to the side hiding so they got to see it as well. It was a sweet engagement that I almost ruined but I'm glad he kept going. I said yes! We planned our wedding and on October 24, 2009 we were husband and wife! It was a fun wedding but I will be honest...I should have eloped! I don't make the quickest decisions so trying to make decisions for a wedding were tough...and there was stress of course but I'm glad I had a wedding where all our friends and family could be there for us. It was very beautiful! We never did get to go on a honeymoon because we got married while he was still in nursing school so I told him he needs to plan something for our five year. We did take a week and shop for new things for our first apartment. That was fun!

I am not a perfect wife and he's not a perfect husband. We've had our share of arguments but I love that no matter what it is we fight about we end up working things out. We are both stubborn, we can be selfish at times and we sometimes say the wrong things but I honestly wouldn't change any of that because it's helping to grow us and helping our marriage to grow. 

I am proud of him and what he has done for our family. I'm now able to stay home with our kids because he went to school and got a great job. He's a wonderful man of God. He prays for our family, prays with our daughter when she goes to sleep and I know he has a servants heart and he is always willing to give to others. I love him and love how he interacts with our kids. I love how he can make me laugh. I love that he still gives me butterflies when he gives me hugs. I love the way he looks at me no matter what I look like. I just love him! 

I don't tell him nearly enough so I'm making a promise, with this anniversary and from now on, I will let him know. I won't let a day go by without telling him I love him and letting him know know daily how much I appreciate him. 

So here we are...four years after getting married...we have two beautiful children and a marriage I'm proud of. I can't wait for more years to come...especially next year when we hopefully have our long awaited honeymoon! :-)

I love you!

                                   

Fun Toddler Activity

My daughter is a go go go type of little girl. She is two and a half and loves being active, she loves going outside, she loves running and being loud...she's a typical little toddler girl. I try to get to the park when I can but my son is only five months and my daughter is a little clumsy so it's hard to go with both of them. Don't get me wrong, I still do it, I just have to make sure I'm watching out for both of them. The life of a mom of two...I don't know how you moms with more kids do it! :-) I applaude you all!

I've done the typical look on Pinterest for ideas and I've got a few fun things off of there but for the most part I just go with what my daughter likes to do. She loves to run and play outside...if she wakes up and the sun is shining she is ready to go. I hate to admit I do not like the outdoors very much so she tends to go outside with her dad or my mom a lot more than me but I suck it up and have fun with her! It's all about making memories right? She typically likes to run around with her soccer ball...we may put her in soccer when she's older but her cousins play it and she wants to be just like them so we "play." She also likes to play with chalk and what toddler doesn't? I usually draw things and have her guess what I'm drawing...she isn't quite old enough to write her name and such but we do try to work on it a little. My daughter also loves to get dirty...such a little tomboy this one! She will sit and play with the rocks out in front of the house for hours digging and picking them up. I also try to make this into learning as well like counting the rocks. She has her own little play yard where she plays in her house or her slide. We've started playing Red Light, Green Light with her recently and she loves that. She's also in a gymnastics class and tries to tumble outside...she asks me to join her and I may do a cartwheel or two but that's about it. Any chance I can get her outside to run off energy is a plus. 

                                         

As for indoor activities. I had to clear out the kitchen for this one. Playing with indoor snow (flour). Sure, it's not quite cold enough for snow outside but she knows what snow is and was very willing to play and make a mess. I like things to be clean so this one was a little tough for me but I let her play. 

               

                         

I used her little people and she played with them in the snow; covering them up, having little conversations with them...it was cute! I have a friend that did this with her son and he used cars and trucks. It's great...kids love the mess they get to make!

We play with puzzles, read books, color, finger paint...when the weather isn't good and with it getting cooler I try to take her for more play dates so she still gets energy out but we are indoors. So give the indoor snow a try and let me know if your kids love it. If they love getting messy like my daughter then they will for sure have a good time! 

                        

                           

Healthy Breakfast

I struggle with what to do for myself for breakfast. I usually eat a breakfast sandwich that I make at home; egg and cheese on a sandwich thin but I'm trying to stay away from bread. My downfalls when it comes to eating healthy is cheese, bread, potatoes and pop...so I'm trying to limit my intake of those as much as possible. I always hear that breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I try to make myself something lasting and healthy. I can't just eat a breakfast bar and call it a day because I'm hungry thirty minutes later and if I don't eat breakfast at all then I eat way too much later in the day. I randomly made meal one morning that I actually liked and thought I would share it, if you're like me and you can't always think of something, maybe you can add this to your mornings!

                               Scrambled egg whites with peppers and spices

               

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

1/4 cup of peppers, diced (this may sound like a lot but it isn't much, depends on how fine you dice your peppers)

1/8 cup hot sauce

Spices of your choosing (I used some salt, pepper, garlic powder and a little chili powder)

Directions:

Cook up your pepper, spices and hot sauce until tender

Add egg whites and scramble until done

I topped mine with a little Monterey Jack cheese because, well, I like cheese...I just didn't use as much as I would have in the past.

This definitely has a kick to it so you can add or subtract what you like. This kept me full and at times I use it as a midday snack. I'm working on figuring out more healthy ideas so I will post those when I come up with them and if you have any ideas for breakfast let me know, I'm always up for trying new things! 

  

Pumpkin Spice Latte

I'm not sure I can call this a latte...I actually used strong coffee but it was still very tasty!

I looked on Pinterest over the weekend for a recipe or some way to make a pumpkin spice latte and everything looked difficult so I came up with my own idea and I think it worked pretty well. 

I used Black Silk from Folgers and made about 4-6 ounces. I have a Keurig so I actually set it on the smallest cup size. Then I took some unsweetened almond milk and heated that up with a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice on the stove. I simmered the mixture and poured it into the coffee, added a little sugar and it was done! I'm sure you can use regular milk or sweetened almond milk but I was trying to make mine "skinny." 

                      

The finished product! Well half of it's gone but you get the idea.. :-) 

Enjoy! 

High Five for Friday

Well it's Friday once again! It's been a good week but I've been sort of lazy...that's how it goes I guess!

                     

                    

1. Monday was fun. I took the kids out of the house so my husband could get some sleep. We shopped, ate lunch together (we had Chipotle...one of our favorites!) played at the park for a bit and then came home for naps. I love spending some time with them. 

2. My husband decided he is going to stick with third shift for right now. I'm ok with it...we could use the extra money to save and he will get it done so when the kids are older he can do first...he's learning a lot so I'm happy for him! 

3. I went to an Usborne book party the other night and it was a lot of fun. I got to see my friends which is always good too. I ordered some books for my daughter for Christmas because she loves books. I may consider having a party so I can get more books for her. They have some cute stuff! Plus my friend had some really yummy food there, which is always a good thing!

4. I started out the week doing really good with my cleaning routine and then I didn't feel good yesterday so I was pretty lazy...I'm feeling lazy again today but I am catching up on some much needed sleep so I guess that's a win! 

                                     

5. I woke up with the kids this morning and came out of the kitchen to see this. They are so sweet! Hopefully this means a start to a great Friday! 

Life Moments

What a weekend and week it's been so far! My husband started third shift last week and we are both trying to get used to it. He's doing better than me which is probably a good thing...I'm not taking care of patients like he is. He has worked the past three days so he comes home and sleeps most of the day, gets ready and eats and heads back into work. I don't have my night time helper with the kids so I'm up with them if they are fussy and then up with them the next day...like yesterday when they were both up by 7am...awesome. I know in time we will get the whole routine down! So here are a few things that have been happening around here lately.

I started doing my cleaning routine this week and it's been going well. I feel like I've accomplished a lot by crossing things off my to do lists. I've had fun with the kids too...since we are trying to stay out of the house some for my husband to sleep we were able to go to the park and go to the outdoor mall and eat lunch...run some errands...it's been good bonding time with the kids. 

We will be going to a pumpkin patch this weekend and I'm pretty excited! They have a fun tractor ride that takes you out to the pumpkin patch, you pick your pumpkin and come back and get apple cider slushies...which I have mentioned numerous times. After this weekend it will be officially Fall for me.

I wanted to say a quick Thank You to all the new readers I've had recently. I can't believe how much attention my little blog is getting and it means a lot to me! I enjoy posting things that may help other moms or recipes that I've tried or other random life events...and I've got a lot more to come so be sure to check back often. Thank you again! :-) 

Hope everyone is having a good week so far and a great Wednesday! 

High Five for Friday

I can't believe it's Friday and that it's almost the middle of October! Goodness time goes fast...

1. I had a dentist appointment this week and I love my dentist office. They are all so nice and helpful. I had to take my son with me and my husband took my daughter to her gymnastics class. I fed my son before I left hoping he would have a full belly and fall asleep. Well he did about half way through thank goodness but the hygienist was so helpful in making sure I could get him to sleep while still getting my teeth cleaned. After 28 years I still have no cavities! I've never had one and I hope I can keep my streak going. 

2. I've said it before but I really enjoy the Bible study I go to on Tuesdays. It's refreshing and it's a chance for my daughter to get some play time in with her cousin. The ladies that go are older but they are so sweet! I keep my son in with me and they don't mind at all. I hope they have another one after this.

3. My husband started third shift this week. It's different going to bed without him and I'm thankful we are with my parents during this time because being home alone makes me nervous. Although having kids makes me feel better...someone has to be the grown up! 

4. I forgot to post about it last week but my guilty pleasure show Vampire Diaries is back on tv so me and a few friends got together for a little premiere party. It was so much fun! I watched it last night and I am so glad it's back. It's a favorite for sure!

5. I'm helping my sister in law with a garage sale tomorrow so I'm working on finding things to sell in it. Extra money is always nice! I think it's going to be a really nice day for it so I'm excited to help.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Crock Pot Potato Soup

I am a big fan of potato soup. I could eat it every day but that probably wouldn't be the best. I found a recipe on Pinterest making potato soup in the crock pot and I thought it sounded perfect! You don't use any cream of chicken soup or cream of potato...it's simple ingredients and it's delicious! My family loved it and we plan on making it more since it's getting nice and cool outside. This recipe is from Mama Loves Food with a few notes of my own.

Ingredients:

-5 pounds russet potatoes (I washed mine and peeled them because no one really cares for skin in my family, I know it's good for you so keep it on if your family likes it!) dice into 1/2 inch cubes

-1 medium, yellow onion, diced

-10 cloves of garlic, minced (I use garlic powder and put about 1 tbsp in instead)

-64 ounces chicken stock or broth (I buy fat free, low sodium)

-16 ounces cream cheese, softened (you can use low fat if you like)

-1 tbsp seasoning salt

Optional garnishes: crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, green onions

Directions:

1. Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning salt and chicken stock to slow cooker.

2. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.

3. Add the softened cream cheese and purée the soup with an immersion blender (I don't have one so I divide the soup in half and put half the cream cheese in each and use a hand blender, then put it all back together and blend a little more. You may have a few more chunks doing it this way but it's till yummy!)

4. Stir well and top with your choice of garnish.

Yields about 10-12 servings

                                        

Enjoy!!

Yummy Treat

I made a yummy treat yesterday for a snack: dark chocolate covered peanut butter bananas. Long name but they are so good! Here's what I did: 

Ingredients:

4-5 pieces of dark chocolate, melted (I had a bag of ghirardelli dark chocolate squares so I used those)

One banana cut into 10-12 pieces

Natural peanut butter

Directions:

Melt the chocolate in the microwave. I did it for 30 seconds and stirred each time, altogether it was about a minute and a half.

Put a little peanut butter on one banana slice, and top with another banana slice.

Stick a toothpick in the bananas, it should look like this

                 

Then dip the banana in the chocolate so it's completely covered. It should look like this when it's done 

                 

I stuck mine in the freezer but I'm sure you could eat them like this if you don't want to wait. 

A quick and easy snack. I only made five but you could easily make larger batches. I'm also sure this has been done before but I don't have a recipe I followed, I just did it cause I wanted something sweet. 

Enjoy! 

Cleaning Routine

I mentioned in my managing time post that I had a daily cleaning schedule I like to use. I decided to show you how I plan to start getting the house clean and still do what I need to get done with the kids and my family.

                                      

 

As you can see I have cleaning bathrooms on their twice a week. I do a really good cleaning of it on Mondays and then a light cleaning later in the week. We all take showers and my kids take baths so I usually wipe the tub out before every bath but it needs a good cleaning a couple times a week. I like a clean bathroom! 

We are actually living with my parents so I'm cleaning their house but I figure since I am home and they both work all day it's the least I can do for them. They do take care of their own laundry and my dad and I switch on and off cooking but like I've said, I don't mind cleaning, I actually like it. My parents have five miniature dachshunds so I wash their dog blankets once a week, just to keep things smelling fresh. If you are looking for a template to use and don't need to wash animal blankets then wash your bedding instead! I do laundry every day...most days anyway...if I'm caught up then I will wash bedding. I'm able to wash the bedding a couple times a month. I wash the kids bedding and blankets with their clothes so they get washed a little more. I vacuum every day, dust and dishes. That's not on my list but it's something that gets done every day. 

I may add things some days...like the other day I cleaned the counter tops really well in the kitchen and on Fridays I usually clean out the pantry, fridge and freezer so it's ready after we go to the grocery store that night. As I said in my last post I try to get cleaning done in the morning or nap time. I like to have my evenings free and any other time with my kids and family. 

What cleaning do you do that I may not have added on here? And go ahead, use this as a template, add in what your family may or may not need. My cleaning usually stays this way but I am constantly thinking of new things I can clean or organize. Hope this helps!

A Must Read Book!

What a gloomy weekend we had around here! I'm glad it's getting cooler but I'm ready for nice, fall days.

I used to love reading on gloomy days and while I haven't been able to get a lot of reading in lately I did manage to find a great trilogy that I loved reading. I'm pretty sure I read the first two books in about three days. I could not put the books down and I've actually re-read them a couple of times because they are that good! You have to read the Divergent Trilogy. I guess it's like Hunger Games, in a sense, but I actually haven't read those books but if you liked those books I hear you will love these! There is suspense, action, a love story...it's a great all around book. The third book is coming out October 22nd and I can't wait to find out how this story ends. Also, they are coming out with a movie in March 2014 because all books get turned into movies don't they? I'm sure the book will be better but I will be seeing this movie for sure! 

So if you are looking for a good read on a gloomy day...get this book...then you need to get Insurgent and Allegiant when it comes out. You won't regret it! 

                                       

                                      

Managing my Time as a Stay at Home Mom

                        

I have never really been good at managing my time and now that I've had a few months with two kids I feel like I finally have a daily routine I love to follow and am striving to follow.

It's no secret I love to make lists. Every morning I make a list of what I want to accomplish during the day, these are items that go along with my daily cleaning schedule (which I will be posting about soon) and extra items that may be needed for the day. I usually try to wake up at 6 every morning, no later than 6:30, to get my work out in for the day so it's done and out of the way. Then I start working on cleaning and getting laundry going. My son sleeps till 7:30 most days so I'm able to at least get my work out in before I need to feed him. He's at the age where he can sit in his jumper and play or roll around on the floor and I'm able to get a few things done before I get my daughter up. Now most people probably think I'm crazy that I wake my daughter up but to be honest she's up by 8 most days and if she isn't up by 8:30 then I get her. I get her ready for the day and fix her breakfast (watch for a blog post coming soon about breakfast ideas for your kids!) and then we start playing. I was teaching her a few things...and I use that term loosely because she wasn't really paying attention so we started playing, using some flash cards, coloring, playing outside, going to the park...anything to keep her moving and going until 11 when we watch Price is Right. Yep, I love that show...and now my daughter does too. I have lunch ready to go around noon and then we get to watch some of her tv shows. I'm working on limiting her tv time...it's something that's hard because some mornings I'm tired and would love to let her sit in front of the tv, don't get me wrong...I've done that before but I'm working on interacting. It's something I strive to get better at every day. Now don't think I've neglected my son during this time because I feed him when needed and he still takes a morning nap which gives me alone time with my daughter. After a few of her shows it's nap time. I try to lay her down around 1:30...she may not fall asleep till about 2 but she always gets a good two hour nap in. My son has been napping around the same time as her so that helps out a lot. They at least overlap by about an hour so I've got a little time to myself. Here is what I usually do during nap time:

-prep dinner

-work on blog posts

-work out (if I oversleep)

-shower 

-finish cleaning

-relax!

I found recently that by prepping dinner during nap time gave me more time with kids...call my captain obvious but I'm just now figuring this out! I do a lot of crock pot meals which helps give me more time as well. I love cooking but there are some meals that have a lot of steps and if I can save myself some time later I will do it. The other day we had sweet and sour chicken. Usually I start on dinner around 4:30 and for this meal I need to cut the chicken, dredge it in egg and cornstarch, fry it in a pan for a few minutes, make the sauce, pour it all in a casserole dish, bake it for an hour. Doesn't sound like a ton but it is time consuming. So I actually had a chance during the kids nap to do all of that and put foil on it and pop it in the fridge. It was so great to have that done at 2 and stick it in the oven later in the day instead of doing it all and missing out on time with my kids. If I have the chance I try to actually prep some food in the morning as well. I'm all about using my time as best as I can.

I love writing and wish I could write a post daily and maybe I will get to the point since I'm learning time management. If the cleaning is caught up, the dinner is prepped and I feel like my list is at a good place then I will sit down and start working on posts. I actually have a few drafts lined up so all I really need to do is proof read them and publish them in the mornings and I'm good to go. I also work on them at night after the kids go to bed. I'm finding out I can be a mom and still get some good, helpful blog posts out there without ignoring my kids in the process...I've done this before in case you didn't pick up on that. :-)

Working out is something I am trying to get into a habit of doing. As I've mentioned in past posts I am doing turbo fire and the workouts range from 30-60 minutes each day. I've found that waking up early and getting them out of the way is the best way to do it but if I oversleep, which I usually do and am trying to work on, I will do it during the kids naps. So far it's worked out well. I was able to work out today and squeeze a shower in before my son woke up. That's a big deal! There are times where my son will wake up and I'm in the middle of working out but again, he's at the age where he doesn't mind to watch mommy for a few more minutes while I finish. Plus I secretly think he's laughing at me.

If I've worked out in the morning, most of the time all I have time for is that and washing up bottles before one of my kids is awake so I never really have time to get a shower in right after...may seem gross but most days I'm home and don't need to go out till later. If my husband is home I can usually get a shower in and those are the days I usually do errands. So I'm able to shower while the kids nap which works out well.

I mentioned I have a daily cleaning schedule that I try to stick to so I will work on that while they nap as well. I'm doing laundry, washing bottles, filling the dishwasher all through the day but I have a list that I get to like cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming...things I can't do when the kids are up. I like to have all of this done by the time they are up. As you can see I really am trying to be more of an attentive mom. 

And of course I try to relax if I can. I actually do more relaxing after the kids go to bed for the night because I've done all I need to during the day and I like to have my nights free. I may meet up with a friend if my husband is home that night or I will take a bath, whatever I want. It's my me time! I'm actually looking into starting a new Bible study and that may be what I do before bed. 

I love getting this stuff done so when the kids get up we can go to the park, run errands if I need to and I'm not tied to staying in the house. Now don't get me wrong, if it's a gloomy day, one of the kids is sick or I'm not feeling well we call it a pajama and movie day and that's just how it goes. I'm not going to put the cleaning and laundry before my kids. Those things will still be there but my kids are growing up so fast!

We eat dinner and hang out and then I give the kids baths starting around 7, 7:30. My husband gets home from work around 8 and likes to take a shower right away, being a nurse and working 13 hours I don't blame him, so I try to have the kids ready for bed by the time he gets home. My daughter goes to bed about 8:30 and my son falls asleep anywhere between 9-10. I'm working on going to bed about 10 since I'm waking up early.  

I really feel like this schedule works well for us. My husband is going to be starting third shift next week and that will be something to get used to. He will be sleeping during the day but I've told him my daily plan and he understands that he will most likely need to buy earplugs. I can only keep the kids quiet for so long. 

I hope this gives you some sort of idea as to how my day goes. I love being a stay at home mom and I love cleaning, cooking and blogging! I'm still working everyday to spend more time with my kids, play with them, make time for myself and the things I love and take care of my home. I wouldn't trade any of it! 

Toothpaste Results!

I promised you results from my toothpaste challenge and here they are!

I was using this toothpaste to see if it would be just as good or better than using white strips.

I will say it works. If you are looking for a quick fix then yes, grab some two hour white strips and go but this toothpaste is great for every day use. I drink coffee everyday and would notice my teeth had a little stain to them after drinking but once I used this toothpaste it was gone. The more you use the toothpaste the better your teeth look. I know that's an obvious statement but I really do like this toothpaste. While white strips give you immediate results this toothpaste helps keep your teeth white the rest of the time. I'm sure Crest wants you to buy the white strips and use this toothpaste to maintain but if you can't afford to get white strips, buy this toothpaste. It works great! 

*I was not compensated for this. Crest has no idea who I am. This is my opinion.