Train potty

Senin, 03 April 2017

Scenes from the 4th of July

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that the 4th of July is one of my FAVORITE days of the year.
We have a lot of tradition on how we celebrate 4th of July.
Our day starts out going to our friends house for their annual French Toast Breakfast.
It is so fun & their house is just a few blocks from our town parade.

We always take a 4th of July photo every year at their party on these steps :)

Our friends Ben & Kelly do this party right....all the French Toast you can eat, mimosas, a bounce house, a face painter & a balloon maker. Such a fun way to start off the 4th!

Then we headed down to our town parade:

Gotta love a small town parade!

So.many. people!

Then it was time to head back to our house & get ready for our annual 4th of July Pool Party!

You know me, I love a dessert table!

Patriotic Dipped Strawberries:

Patriotic Fruit Puffs:

Patriotic Cookies:

Mini Cupcakes:

Appetizer table, including Corn Dip! {Recipe HERE}

7 layer Dip {Recipe HERE}

Amy made these amazing pesto flat bread bites:

And, of course, swimming...lots of swimming!

I am a little obssessed with decorating my yard & house with flags for the party :)

The main event of the party....the food!

Quinoa Salad:

Avacado Bacon Corn Tomato Salad...so good. I will be blogging this!

Colorful Cole Slaw:

Tortellini Pasta Salad {Recipe HERE}

Fruit Salad:

We had TONS of Tri Tip, and about 8 different kinds of sausages.

So much Sausage!!! This was Sundried Tomato Kale Sausage...delicious!

And, of course for dessert...Jimmy's Homemade Ice Cream.

This year he made 3 flavors:

Oreo (My favorite!!)

Peanut Butter Cup (SO good!!!)

Coconut Banana:

YUM.

Usually our party ends around 8, but this year Kevin had a great idea to set up a movie on our front lawn with a projector for all the kids to watch. They wanted to watch Frozen (shocker!)

While the kids watched the movie, the adults played cornhole!

It was SUCH a great 4th of July, one of the best ones yet!

I hope you had a fun filled 4th!

Happy Birthday, America!

Motherhood with Vitality! Part 2 of 2

In part 1 I covered practices to encourage being well-rested; in this part 2 I will cover additional practices for being energetic, and for looking energetic! *smile*

Daily time with the Lord
Water
Green smoothies
Vitamin D
Shower before the children are up
Make-up tip
Avoid sugar
Choosing thankfulness

I am often asked by people who know me or just see me out and about, how do I have such vitality and joy with my children - and especially with so many children? I'm happy to share with you what I've learned along my life journey, and I hope it will bless you as well.

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In addition to being well-rested, there are several other things I do to not only help me be more energetic, but to help me look as energetic as I feel! *smile*

Daily time with the Lord

Honestly, parents cannot do parenting, marriage, and life in own strength. We need the Lord every single day. We do not have in our own ability enough patience, creativity, endurance, joy, peace, faithfulness, or meekness - but God has all of this and so much more. We need to draw on His resources every morning, and start my day off right. We need to spend time with our Lord so that we can know Him intimately, lean on Him better, trust Him more, and understanding Him and the life He's given me to best serve and care for the people He's put in our lives (including our husband and children). The Lord, Jesus Christ, created my inner most being. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He has great gifts for us and great plans - but we cannot receive His gifts or follow His plans if we do not spend time with Him every day.

Now there is no rule that says this time has to be first thing in the morning. I've tried having my "Quiet Time" at varying times of day. I've had it at night in certain seasons of life, or during the children's afternoon nap time, but for me personally neither of these times served me nearly as well as first thing in the morning does. When I begin my day with the King of Kings I have a good outlook on life, and good things occupying my mind when I've focused it on Him instead of myself. This brings a smile to my face, and a bounce in my step; it effects my energy level, and whether or not I look energetic as well. *chuckle* *wink* When I know that God loves me, and that all I have to do today is follow His lead as He is ultimately in control of all things - I can enter in to my day with joy! And, time with the Lord actually helps me sleep better at night because I know that He is protecting and providing for His child even while I sleep. Focusing my mind on my Lord every day helps me always have something to smile about!

Water

I strive to drink 8 cups of water a day, but 10-12 would be even better; this is my future goal. Eight cups a day, however, initially felt daunting to me going in to my day with such a goal, and I was finding that I rarely drank even 3-4 cups a day just trying to remember to have a glass here and there. My mind is highly active with our family of 11, and I simply didn't think of drinking water periodically. So a few years ago I began filling a 32 oz. water bottle every morning and drinking that entire bottle before leaving the bathroom after my shower and preparations for the day. It feels great to know in the morning that I already have 4 cups down for the day!

My system gets a good washing through, my skin looks nice, lips don't feel too dry, I feel more alert, and I feel full and less inclined to eat too much for breakfast. Now honestly, I drink the first 8 oz. or so feeling thirsty, and the other 24 oz. I try to view as "gasoline" for my body. *laugh* The first cup tastes nice and inviting; the last 3 cups feel like necessary fuel. So I don't necessarily feel thirsty for the whole bottle, but I choose to drink it all none the less. I mention this so that if or when you find yourself thinking, "...I just don't want that much..." as I do sometimes, you can say to yourself, "That's okay, but it's necessary and invaluable, so drink up!" *smile* I know water does countless additional good things for our bodies.

Green smoothies

These are a delicious way to start off a day! Vegetable and fruit smoothies bring clarity and energy in the morning, instead of bogging our systems down with heavy, sweet carbs (which tend to put me to sleep around mid-morning *chuckle*). You can read more about green smoothies, our recipes, and the health benefits of them in my post on this subject.

Vitamin D

Like water, vitamin D gives us countless benefits both in daily results and proactively for our future! This liquid sunshine is especially valuable for us Washingtonians here in the great North West of the united states, who do not get quite enough sunshine because it is so often raining or wet outside! (Which makes our state beautifully green, by the way, which we love. *smile*) I read all about vitamin D online and from our naturopathic doctor and chiropractors, and determined that we all would be taking "D drops" every day. And one of the great immediate benefits is that this miraculous little vitamin builds our immune systems! We've hardly been sick at all since we began taking vitamin D drops every day a couple of years ago. We use a high quality Carlson's brand, which I purchase at our local Super Supplements store.

Some of the benefits of vitamin D, according to www.WebMD.com, are: improves calcium absorption, preventing osteoporosis; minimizes the risk of type 1 Diabetes, muscle and bone pain, and cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, and esophagus, heart attacks, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis; and lower your blood pressure, just to name a few. *smile*

One tip for purchasing these nice little drops: it costs about $23 for a bottle of 4,000 IU per drop vitamin D, and it costs the same amount for a bottle of 400 IU per drop for the children. So instead of buying one bottle for the whole family, you can just buy the more concentrated drops for adults and take only 1-2 drops per day.

The vitamin is tasteless and we just put the drops under our tongue for fast absorption, however the drops can be put on a food, or in a drink, or wherever to get them in to your system. But I figure if it's such a tiny quantity I don't want to waste any of it as it lingers on my drinking glass - so we put it strait in to our mouths, every one from parents down to newborn babies. Healthier family equals more energy for mom! *smile*

Shower before the children are up

Being showered and feeling fresh and clean every morning HUGELY effects my attitude and how I approach my day! And if I do not have a shower before the children are up, then I cannot have one until nap time at 2:00. But I highly value this break in my day and do not wish to use it up taking a shower. So - I rise early enough every morning to have a shower before the children are awake as part of my preparations to be ready to have a great day. I feel and look fresh and clean. My eyes feel alert (not puffy tired, which makes me scowl and feel crabby), I feel my prettiest for my husband especially, the children think I look pretty which makes them feel valuable that I take care of myself for them, and I'm ready to greet anyone who comes to our door, or go out if we need to spontaneously. I do not like to feel afraid that someone might come by and see me looking like I just woke up, and I do not like to feel frustrated or angry because I have to go in to public looking like I just woke up if we need to leave to take a child to the doctor, for example.

Also, my husband delights in periodically stopping by to stay 'hi' during his work day. I desire to look my best for him, and for him to see that I'm enjoying the life we have together! I am the only wife he's ever going to have, after all - he deserves to have a wife that is pleasing to his eye. I don't know that wives should expect to be their husband's delight when they as wives are not striving to look delightful, hm? *smile*

Now mind you I didn't say looking perfect (no one is perfect, and that is not a reasonable thing to strive for). I mean making an effort to look pretty every day. And of course our husbands do not delight only in our appearance, but in our inward beauty especially; but I'll tell you, when I'm feeling frumpy and haven't had a shower yet, I'm convinced it effects my "inward beauty" as well, or lack there of. *laugh* *wink*

Make-up tip

I have had several make-overs in my life, and I've learned a lot each time about how to do my own make up well. How to emphasize my good features (not try to create features that I simply do not have), and how to use make up that lasts all day and looks natural. One thing in particular I learned is how to use a "vanilla"-white type color of make up in order to bring "light" to my eyes. This really helps chase away the shadows or natural redness around the eyes which make people look tired. I use M.A.C. cosmetics for just a few of the important items (the rest is Almay or Loreal), because it's high quality staying on all day. It may cost twice as much as the grocery store products, but each item I purchase literally lasts for at least 2 years before I have to get a new one! Anyway, I brush a "light"-enhancing powder on to my eye lids just above my eye liner, the entire length of the eyelid and toward the outside of my eyes, and also just below the edge of my eyebrow, center arch and toward the outside.

Our teenage daughters have studied cosmetology extensively from home (many books from the library and the entire My Lady text book which the cosmetology schools use), and they confirm that this strategy really transforms how awake a person looks. It brings "light" to the eyes, giving an awake, bright, younger, no shadows and no redness look.

I would encourage you to learn to enhance your own naturally beautiful traits by treating yourself to a free-with-purchase make over at the nearest department store that sells nice cosmetics, such as Macy's or Nordstrom. You don't have to purchase all your make up there, but you can learn how to emphasize your best features from the professionals! *smile*

Avoid sugar

Too much sugar has always caused me to feel depressed. I often have had an "I can't do this" mentality about life and parenting when I've had sugar, which has brought me to sobbing tears. When I stayed away from sugar I also started losing the "baby weight" I had acquired during pregnancies, which is of course an added blessing! So avoiding sugar very much helps me personally to feel my best - energetic and joyful, not depressed and tired. For more details on how and why I do this you can read my post, Freedom From a Sugar Addiction. *smile*

Choosing thankfulness

Second Corinthians 10:5 talks about "...bringing in to captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"; and Philippians 4:8 says,

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things".

What we allow our minds to dwell on does very much effect how we are feeling. This has become an almost daily admonition to our children at our house,

We need to choose our thoughts carefully, for this effects how we feel, which effects how we act.

We should never allow our feelings to be "in charge"; feelings are fickle. Feelings are real, but they're not reliable; our mind should be "in charge" in helping us make decisions. We should consider our feelings - but not do things or not do things depending upon how we feel. We need to choose to do what is right no matter how we feel about it. If you like, you can read more about why Choosing Thankfulness is valuable and how to go about doing it.

Blessings on your efforts,

You may also be interested in reading my related posts:

Motherhood with Vitality! - Part 1 of 2
Freedom From a Sugar Addiction

dear blog you may be second best but you could rise up a notch or two

{UPDATE Friday morning: It's back!! My IG is back! Got an email this morning apologizing for the inconvenience. I will keep this post up anyway, even though my rant is old news at this point}

Well, this has been an interesting night.

While giving Cecelia a bath, I decided to check Instagram. I fully admit to having an obsession with IG and would love to say that I never focus on my phone when I'm with my kids, but let's get real here. I do check my phone and IG frequently because I really enjoy connecting/sharing/documenting life via this stupid little app.

Yes, stupid. IG is stupid to me right now. If we are friends on FB you know why I say this.

So anyway, I'm checking IG and it returns me to the log in page, which I think I've seen about once ever. Hmm, weird. But I plugged away my user name and guessed on my password. Got it wrong. Tried again. Got it right but also got a red alert saying, 'Your account has been disabled due to terms of service violations.'

WHAT?

Okay, don't panic. Play with the cute baby in the tub. Must be a mistake, maybe I got locked out because I tried the wrong password.

Then I get a text from my mom asking if I removed my pictures from IG because she couldn't see any.

Oh, crap.

That is when my heart rate sped up a bit and I just knew this wasn't good. After getting CC out of the tub I looked up the actual terms of service of IG. Noted the 'no nudity' policy and wondered if my beloved naked baby butts were to blame for this. But seriously? Those images were pretty old and incredibly harmless and HELLO---they are baby butts, people. And adorable, if you ask me, but whatever.

So anyway, I keep flipping through the IG site and there is no phone number to call. There's some mumbo jumbo on the site about 'disabled account' and how you are basically at their mercy and pretty much screwed, 'unable to restore your account' if they deem it unacceptable. I google and see other people complaining about this in the past and how emailing them doesn't even matter because IG doesn't return their emails.

Sweet.

Again, try not to freak out. Text a few friends on IG to inform them of the non-freak out I am having (ha). Move through stages of grief including: shock, panic, sadness, and then anger. Oh, I was (am) so angry because how dare IG decide to delete my pictures! Sure, I probably have most of my original iPhone images backed up on Flickr and maybe even my computer, but I love the ease of IG and looking back through my account makes me smile. ESPECIALLY when I'm feeling as emotional and sentimental as right now, when my baby girl is about to turn one. Flipping back through her newborn pictures, or even a few of my pregnancy pictures brings me joy. I love our IG photo album I made for 2012---there is no way I can do that for 2013 now. So sue me for 'needing' IG so much. I am also annoyed with myself for even caring this much. Because, really? It's just a stupid app and maybe it's a sign to chill out on the social media and the phone and be more present.

I posted on FB about this (ironic since I'm angry at social media and all it entails, and now I'm blogging and FB'ing) and apparently this happened to a lot of people tonight. Especially to shops on IG, but also to regular old users like myself. So perhaps it's a fluke and they got hacked; maybe we will get our accounts back. But I can assure you that I'm way too stubborn/angry/annoyed to create a new account right now and try to hunt down my IG friends again. Um, no. Maybe in time...but not now.

Moral of the story: something really weird is happening to my first choice of social media. And it's made me deep and reflective tonight. Also, it made me angry enough to vacuum and do an extra load of laundry I wasn't going to do. And it made me blog just to say, 'I have OTHER sources of connecting to my internet friends, thankyouverymuchIG.' Perhaps this will force me to blog more and not rely on the simplicity of IG as much.

Don't they know I have a first birthday party to post about? The nerve.

If you are my friend on IG now you know why all of my images are gone. And now I shall resume my birthday party projects and pretend like this doesn't bother me at all.

Come on, IG. Get it together. And if not, expect me a lot more over here ;)

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Minggu, 02 April 2017

Hello August!

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People...It's August!

You know what that means, right?
It means I am going to have a baby *THIS* month!
As of yesterday, I am officially 38 weeks pregnant which means the countdown is on.
In 2 weeks (or less!!!) I will be holding this baby & will not be pregnant anymore.
Can I get an Amen?
I am so excited to meet him/her and find out who the grand finale of our family is!

Don't mind how tired I look in these pictures, I haven't been getting much sleep lately.
Not because of anything pregnancy related, but because I have been staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning watching The Olympics! I am OBSESSED with the Olympics.
(You can read about when I went to the 1996 Olympics HERE)
And, 4 years ago during the 2008 Summer Olympics, I was 9 months pregnant with Claire, so I am having deja-vu.

Now, onto some pregnancy stats!

How Far Along:
38 Weeks

Size of baby:
About 7 lbs (my Dr thinks I will have another 8-9 lb baby)

Total Weight Gain:
Gained 42 lbs (YIKES!!!)

Gender:
I am leaning toward boy. I think.
But, we are having 2nd guesses about our girl name, so maybe that means It's a girl?!?!
I put up a poll on the side, so you can guess!

Movement:
Movement is slowing down. I think the baby is running out of room.
Most active at night when I am trying to go to sleep.

Sleep:
I am getting REALLY uncomfortable and having a hard time falling asleep (but that is also due to the Olympics! ha!) Once I am asleep, I am pretty much sleeping through the night. I don't have to pee in the middle of the night, but sometimes I wake up with leg cramps/charlie horses. Ouch!

What I miss:
Wine. Beer. Margaritas. Diet Coke.

Cravings:
I've lost my appetite lately - I think maybe my stomach has run out of room?

Symptoms:
I'm 9 months pregnant - I'm huge, I feel like I waddle. I can't bend over or get comfortable in any position. And, it's hot this week...in the high 90's. BUT I'm SO thankful for this pregnancy and I'm trying to enjoy the very end. And, I am trying to be patient and

Best Moment this week:
Having it become August 1st and knowing that I will be having this baby SOON!
So excited to find out if it is a boy or girl! And, this week I am trying to soak in the time with Kate & Claire because their world (and ours!) is going to be rocked shortly, so I am enjoying time with them & checking things off our Summer List!

It was a Beautiful Day

All aspects of Saturday were just beautiful...

The weather, 70 degrees and sunny (Thank you, God!)
And, my sister....she was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen!

I was able to snap a few pictures of the day.
Can I tell you how hard it was not to have my camera by my side the whole day?
I was Matron of Honor, Kevin was a groomsman & the girls were flower girls which meant I had a lot of responsibility during the day & there was no way I could take all the pictures I wanted to!
I can't wait to see the professional pictures...we won't get them for several weeks, so I will try to have patience!
I don't have any pictures from the ceremony or the church.
But, let me give you a play by play.
Kate & Claire were the flower girls, but only one of them actually walked down the aisle.
Guess who chickened out?

We were all lined up outside the chapel & the wedding procession was beginning.
Claire was starting to scream & yell at Kate.
I was trying to get her to stop, but I was panicking inside because it was almost my turn to walk down the aisle. Gail, the wedding coordinator grabbed my arm & said to me, "You are not a Mom right now, you are a Sister & Matron of Honor, don't worry about Claire, I will deal with her"
Those words from Gail were awesome & gave me permission to not worry about it.

Kate did an awesome job being a flower girl & was smiling ear to ear walking down the aisle dropping the flowers. We keep waiting for Claire, but she never made it!
Didn't my mother in law do a great job with the bows on the dresses?

This is Torrey (her dad officiated the wedding & also married Kevin & I)
Torrey was a LIFESAVER! I had her babysit/help me with the girls all day and with out her, it would have been crazy. When Claire failed to walk down the aisle, she hung out with Claire in the hallway of the church during the ceremony.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Torrey!

Bridal Party walking to take pictures:

With my parents:

The Wedding Party:

Kevin & I:

Pictures are done, heading to the reception!

Here are some pictures of the reception room:

Close up of the flowers:

Place setting & Menu:

My bouquet:

The cake:

First Dance:

She had a photo booth during the reception & one of her friends took a picture of us while we were photo-boothing!

Leaving the reception & off to Maui!

Congratulations Jason & Rebecca!
{I promise I will do another post of wedding pictures once we get the professional ones because they are going to be AWESOME!}
As for me, I am officially on Spring Break!!! So thankful to have a week off to hang out with my girls & recover from the wedding weekend!

It was a beautiful, lovely & all around wonderful celebration!

The Big Gender Reveal!

We have some big news to share!

I think I will just let the pictures tell the story. Details to come in a separate post because I still have to find the words. Andrea really outdid herself with these photos, didn't she? Thank you, Pinterest, for the great idea!

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I thought it was a girl after our ultrasound on Thursday. And Nate thought it was a boy---hence these 'what will it be?' photos before we actually found out.
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