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!