Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for a Saturday night trip to Ames last weekend to have dinner with Kent's family.  Later we went back to his aunt and uncle's house to Skype with his cousin who is in Korea.  The kids were so happy to see her!

I'm thankful for a giant, awesome fort Kent built out of blankets for the kids.  He and I had some pretty serious football-watching plans on Sunday afternoon and I knew the kids would get bored of it after awhile so he built them a fort, rented a couple movies and they had a blast.

I'm thankful for people who say, "Wow you look great!" and not quite as thankful for those who say, "Wow, your belly has reeeeallly popped since I saw you last." Actually I don't really mind that either...being pregnant rocks.

I'm thankful for Sunday morning pancakes.

I'm thankful that when I went to eat lunch with Kael on Monday, I ended up not staying.  See, I had been volunteering and had told him I'd stay for lunch afterwards, but then lunchtime rolled around and there were several kids asking him, "Kael, pick me to sit by you! Pick me, Kael!" I didn't want to take up a spot next to him when clearly there were other kids who wanted to hang with him, so I headed home, happy to see Kael having fun with his friends.

I'm thankful for my three favorite times of the day: morning coffee with Kent, afternoon cuddling in the rocking chair reading books with Kylee, picking Kael up from school and hearing about his day.

I'm thankful no one told me that I'm starting to waddle.  I totally caught myself the other day as I walked out to the mailbox.  There was no one else around and I just froze and started laughing out loud.  "Oh my gosh, I'm waddling." I thought to myself.  "I'm only 6 months pregnant and I'm waddling already."

I'm thankful that when I asked the kids "If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?" they played along.  Kylee wishes for: glasses, a cell phone of her own (already?! she's only 4!!), and a new house.  Kael wishes that he could eat Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza every day, he wishes he had a dog, and he wishes that goblins were real (???).

I'm thankful that the new Protein Plus cereal I bought in an effort to eat  healthier isn't terrible.  It smells a little like dog food but when I mix it with my beloved Special K Red Berries, the dog food smell is almost indetectable. :)

I'm thankful I figured out that my camera can do this color sketch. I finally cracked open that user's manual and found some pretty cool stuff.  My goal is to not just keep it on the "auto" setting forever. :)

I'm thankful for snowball fights with neighbors.

I'm thankful for a YouTube tutorial on how to use the selective color setting on my camera.  Kylee's lips are so pink!

I'm thankful we made a snowman before the snow all melted away.  This guy stood for about two minutes before falling over. :)

Lastly, I'm thankful for me and Kylee's last Girl's Night of the season.  Evidently last night was the last night of wrestling practice for the first graders so I'm glad Kylee and I did something special.  We went and saw Beauty and the Beast in 3D. Can you believe it's the first movie I've seen in the theater in 3D? That tells you how often I make it to the theater. :)

Happy Thursday!

Pinterest- I did it

Remember when I promised myself that if I finally got on Pinterest, I wouldn't just pin things without doing them? A fairly lofty goal, eh? :) Here's a handful of things I've done so far.... (I haven't totally figured out how to credit the source on Pinterest so I'll just put a link to the blog it originates from.  Baby steps. :)

One of my girlfriends had a baby shower and I found this cute baby gift idea. It uses onsies, washclothes, socks, hairbows and a bath toy to look like sushi! Too fun.

Special K No Bake Cookies:  These could be dangerous.  I make scotcharoos alllll the time and this is a very similar idea.  I had bought some Special K the other day and needed to use it up.  Why not just eat it, like, for example, in a bowl of cereal, you ask? Random fact about me is that I really only eat Special K Red Berries for cereal, but I actually pick out those dehydrated/freeze dried strawberries because I don't like to eat them.  I have been doing this for years, you guys.  So, finally I bought plain Special K but just as I suspected, the flakes from the Red Berry box taste much better than those from the plain box.  So, back to Red Berries it is. :) Anyhow, so I found these little no bake cookies on Pinterest and consider yourself warned...they are addictive! Plus, using a cookie scoop is just so fun. :)

Strawberry Cream Cheese Croissants: An absolutely delicious addition to breakfast.  Mmmm.

Cool whip on hot chocolate: (I can't find the original source on this one) Basically you spread hot chocolate out on a cookie sheet, freeze it, and use cookie cutters for desired shape.  My star started to melt by the time I got the camera out but they turned out pretty cute!

Questions with kids: There are several of these floating around on Pinterest but we've had fun with this one. It gets us talking about things besides, "How was your day?"

Valentine's Day teacher's gift: People are so creative.  Other people, that is.  Not me.  But there are so so many creative ideas out there for teacher's gifts.  I thought this Fortune Cookie one was cute and the kids were excited that I had bought enough extra for them to have one after dinner the other night. 

Valentines for kids:  I loved the Valentines we made last year but didn't want to do exactly the same thing this year.  So, we did almost the exact same thing.  Took a picture of the kids, wrote "I like you. You make me SNICKER!" then attached the mini candy bar so it looks like they are holding it.  I used double sided tape for mine and am starting to think I might have been a bit too hopeful, thinking the tape will keep them stuck 'til Valentine's Day.  That's what I get for being on the ball, I guess. :)

Organizing school papers: Cute printables!

Organizing keepsakes: Oh my.  This has been such a task.  This is what my family room looked like for about two weeks. I've made quite a bit of progress but it's certainly not finished yet.

Snowman Donut snack for preschool: Kylee was so excited to get the snack basket last week at school.  We made these cute snowmen faces out of donuts, orange slices, and mini chocolate chips. Kylee proudly reported, "Mom! Everyone said my snack was delicious!!!"

Pregnancy pictures: I took a picture with myself, Kael and Kylee at 20 weeks and 25 weeks.  Now the trick will be to remember and keep taking pictures every few weeks until the baby gets here!

Happy pinning!

Thankful Thursday

I'm really thankful for the camera Kent got me for Christmas.  I really need to read the owner's manual, but even as little as I know about it, it takes wonderful pictures and I'm so happy to have it.

I'm thankful Kael is having fun at basketball.  He really loves being out on the court and he does a great job!

I'm thankful my kids are early risers.  I love that I don't have to drag them out of bed in the mornings- they wake up early and they wake up happy.  I'm also thankful that my earliest riser (Kylee) has learned how to get some yogurt all by herself then read books in her room until I'm awake.  This is VERY helpful on the days (probably 6 out of 7) that she's awake by 5:15.

I'm thankful Kylee's preschool decided to bring back their kinderprep program for next year.  Since Kylee's an August birthday we're not going to send her to kindergarten.  One of the boys I babysit will be going to kindergarten next year, so, selfishly, I'm really looking forward to next year being home with the new baby, Kylee and Brooklyn. Kylee would be more than ready to go to kindergarten in the fall but I like the idea of her being old for her grade, and I happen to know the teacher that's going to run the kinderprep program does an amazing job helping the kids learn to read and things like that.  Kylee's going to feel like such a big kid being at school 3 days a week from 9:00-2:30, and will even get to bring a lunch along! She's going to love it.
I'm thankful that people are interested enough in my blog that they remind me it's Thursday and I need to get something posted. :)

I'm thankful I got bunches of groceries last week so I'm all ready in case we get the predicted snowstorm this weekend.  Actually, the hot cocoa and marshmallows are already sitting out on my counter just waiting for me the kids.

Kylee would like to add something to this week's Thankful Thursday. She says, "I'm thankful for my grandma and grandpa, my brother, my cousin, my dad, my mom, my baby brother, and like, everyone else that I know." :)

I'm thankful for my job and my husband's job.  First and foremost, I suppose I'm thankful for Kent's job, which allows me to be able to stay home and do my job.  I love that it's 9:00 in the morning and I'm still in jammies and slippers.  :) It's not that I love my job just so I can be lazy...I love it because I feel like I can get so much done during the day- that way, when Kent gets home, dinner is ready, the house is tidy, laundry hasn't piled up, and we can spend the whole night just hanging out as a family.  Life's little luxuries, ya know?

What are you thankful for this week?

Tonight...

...I made a slow cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe that literally had the kids gagging. We don't really do a lot of Chinese food around here but it was a healthy recipe that I'd been wanting to try. Kent declared it Best Meal Ever- not because it tasted so good but because of the reactions from the kids.  They HATED it and it couldn't have been funnier.  Kent and I were laughing through the whole meal as they tried to choke down tiny bites of their food.


...I got the kids to stop wrestling for two seconds to snap a picture. Only 15 weeks to go, folks!!!

...I am really excited that we have someone looking at the house tomorrow.  I needed an excuse to stop crafting/pinning/baking and finally get around to tidying this place up.  With my mom's help 'cause she's the best. :)

...I am loving the snow.  It's so pretty and the kids love playing in it.  We have a backyard full of snow angels right now.

...I am so happy that I get to spend my days with this:

Climbing not cleaning

The kids and I spent all of our no school Monday at Climb Iowa.  And I literally do mean all day.  I wasn't sure exactly how long the kids would last (4 is the youngest you can be to even try climbing- I knew Kylee was up for giving it a try but didn't know if she'd love it).  Turns out they both love it.  A lot.  We were at Climb Iowa for four and a half hours! I'd packed a (mostly) healthy lunch so that we weren't tempted to burn all those calories then waste it all on lunch at McD's or something and sure enough, the kids were starving just 45 minutes into our climbing expedition.  "I'm soooo hungry!" they both declared.  I was afraid if we left they wouldn't want to come back but turns out, once they ate they were good to go for several more hours.



Kael near the top.



You can't really see her...but just to give you an idea of how high Kylee had to climb to get all the way to the top!



Climbing side by side.


I had anticipated getting a few more things done today than I did since I didn't plan on being away all day.  When we got home I realized there was a big pile of laundry that needed to be tackled, kids school papers that needed to be filled out, and a house that desperately needed to be cleaned.  Also I had nothing planned for dinner and Kael reeeaally needed a haircurt.  He is so lucky- he has the thickest, quickest-growing hair! Anyhow, I quickly tidied things up so the place wouldn't look so disheveled when Kent got home and started some spaghetti.  Good enough, I thought.  :)

Later in the evening Kent said to me, "Where's all the stuff to clean the downstairs bathroom?"

"In the upstairs bathroom under the sink.  Does the bathroom need to be cleaned?"

"Yes, Laura.  It's like a truck stop bathroom in here."

Oh.  I was kind of hoping he hadn't noticed that I haven't seriously cleaned since December 21.  I happen to know that because we showed our house that day and I had spent the day deep cleaning.  I was just about to get a little defensive and make up some excuse about being pregnant and not having had time to clean as often as usual (normally I keep the house very tidy, in my opinion) when he said, "Well, I should probably clean it." And then he did. 

It would have been totally justified if he would have said, "Well, maybe you should stay home every once in awhile to clean instead of always running around doing things for the kids." But he didn't.  He's the best.

Third Child

With the rush of the holidays behind us and with my belly growing bigger by the day...this whole having a baby thing is suddenly starting to sink in. 

Do you find that you were super prepared for your first kid? Pretty familiar with the routine and organized for your second? Then completely scatter-brained with your third? Yeah, that's me. I feel like I've done nothing for this poor kid, which totally supports all birth order theories that I believe in- third children are kind of chill and easy-going because of how they are brought into this world.  They just get dragged along to older sibling events and wear hand-me-downs.  Even though I understand it's just a reality that you might not be as organized for your first child as you might be for your last...I've recently started to freak out a bit.

The other day I said to Kent, "Do you realize if this baby came today it would have no where to sleep and it would have no name? I haven't filled out a single preadmission form for the hospital, made a list of stuff to pack for the hospital, bought a baby book or bought a homecoming outfit for the baby? Also did you know that when I went to my doctor's appointment the other day I didn't even have a clue that I was going in for my glucose screening (an hour and a half long appointment) so I hadn't really eaten an appropriate breakfast and I was almost late to pick up Kylee from school because I hadn't anticipated such a long appointment?!" Luckily, I passed the glucose screening (I had failed the first time I took it with Kylee which means you get to endure a 3 hour test at the lovely downtown location of my OB, and get your blood drawn like 5 times which I am just terrible with).  With Kael and Kylee I knew what was going on at every.single.appointment, which test was going to be done, how much weight I had gained and all that stuff.  Not this time.

So in the last few days I've filled out paperwork, made lists, bought and filled out a baby book, and checked out some hospital photos online to get cute ideas for baby's clothes, blankets, etc. Kent and I have narrowed down names, but certainly haven't decided yet.  As far as a place for this child to sleep...that's still up in the air.  We have 4 bedrooms, but it's looking like someone is going to have to move bedrooms before baby gets here because our only current "open" bedroom is downstairs.  I'm crossing my fingers we sell this house before the baby comes so we can move into a new place and I can set up a cute little nursery. 

It's been a fairly productive weekend so we're all looking forward to a lazy no school day tomorrow!

Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful Kael had fun at his basketball game last Saturday.  Thus far, our family rule has been for the kids to do only one activity/sport at a time but right now Kael's doing both basketball and wrestling because we signed him up for basketball long ago before we really knew he would be interested in wrestling.  Since he's loving wrestling so much I kind of figured he wouldn't be too into basketball and told Kent before we went to the game on Saturday, "If he doesn't like it I'm not going to make him play every weekend.  We'll just drop him from basketball and let him keep wrestling." This was not the case.  He really loved being out on the court and I loved seeing him being so aggressive- stealing the ball from the other team several times and taking (almost) every shot he could.  When his coach suggested he pass the ball he willingly obliged. It's fun to watch Kael develop as an athlete and see which things he's interested in.

I'm thankful for the snow.  Well, I'm only a little bit thankful for the snow because the kids are so excited about it, but I could do without these suddenly blustery temps.

I'm so thankful for girls night.  By that, I mean that Kylee and I hang out while Kent and Kael are gone at wrestling every Wednesday night.  I know you're supposed to "be a parent, not a friend" but Kylee is just so...friend-able.  Tonight we shared cookies 'n cream right out of the container (shhh don't tell Kent) then played four games of Guess Who.  On previous girls nights we've watched old family movies of Kylee when she was a baby, painted our nails and snuggled in the rocking chair reading stacks of books.  Earlier today I was reminding Kael that he would have wrestling tonight and Kylee's face lit up, "Yesss!!! Girl's Night!" she declared.

I'm very thankful I stumbled across this recipe for mini cinnamon rolls.  They are soo easy and oh-so-delicious.  Also the perfect excuse to use my mini-muffin tin that rarely makes it's way out of the cupboard.

I'm thankful for a long weekend ahead.  Kent and I are having a little date night on Saturday and no school for the kids on Monday- I adore our weekends.

I'm thankful that a last-minute trip to Ottumwa was so fun last weekend.  Also thankful that Kevin's Bulldogs are now 5-0 in the Metro!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Monday Morning

I'm a Thursday kind of gal.

Monday mornings have such a way of snapping me back to reality after a fun-filled weekend and for that, I used to dread/hate Monday mornings.  Lately, this has not been the case.  Perhaps it's because the start of the new year and my intent to keep my resolutions, or perhaps it's because the wonderful second trimester energy burst just keeps on lasting and I'm trying to not waste a precious second of it! :)

The last two Monday mornings I have been in such a good mood which leads to me being productive, which makes me happy So far this morning, I've done three loads of laundry, played carpool mom and successfully carted four kids off to school (each to their appropriate school at the appropriate time- I know, there really should be awards for this kind of thing ;), planned menus for the week, and volunteered for an hour and a half at Kael's school. 

Another thing contributing to my good mood is that Kent and I found a house yesterday that we really both loved.  Chances are we won't get that exact house in that exact location, but we really liked the floor plan, and there are several lots for sale near that house so building something very similar could be a real option.

Lastly, I've been diving into the overwhelming task of ogranizing my sea of blue tubs that have amassed in my basement.  I've sorted and labeled the kids' keepsakes and school papers.  I've filed papers, gotten most of the stuff together that I need for tax return time, and created new files for things that previously didn't have a place.  I'd show pictures, but it's still a work in progress so it's not so easy on the eyes yet.  However, if you follow me in Pinerest I did find some super cute labels for kids' keepsakes and school papers (by year) that motivated me to stop dragging my feet on this project.  Why is it that simply having some cute, colorful labels make it so much easier to start a daunting task? :)

Also, I have dinner plans with some friends tonight so that always makes the day go fast.

Happy Monday and here's to a great week!

Resolutions 2012

Sorry for the Thankful Thursday interruption...I really do have lots to be thankul for this week but this is what was in my head today. 

I don't really do New Year's resolutions, and if I have in the past, I usually resolve to eat healthier which lasts a full two days until I'm back into my chip-eatin', sweet tooth self.  It's my hope that this year is different.  I've come up with a few things that are important to me as we move into a year that is sure to be full of changes- new baby, maybe a new house....and who knows what else?

Be impeccable with my word.  Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love. (The Four Agreements)

I talk a lot. Just ask Kent, he'll tell ya. ;) I think it's time that I listen more, talk less, and make the words I use really count.  Ironically, I'm teaching Kael's Sunday School lesson this week and the virtue of the month is Self-Control.  His memory verse is, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.”

I've already had to bite my tongue several  a million times.

Don't let others do for me what I am able to do myself.  You guys would just about die at the amount of things I let Kent do for me.  In our relationship there are things that have just come to be understood that Kent will take care of.  For example, I don't do anything that involves cords, batteries, chargers, etc.  I also do not do cars- honestly I'm impressed with myself when I can answer the oil change guy's question, "Make and model of the vehicle?" In the short 4 days of 2012 I have been trying so hard to not just let Kent take care of everything.  As it turns out, when left to my own devices, I am perfectly capable of charging the camera.  Who knew? ;) Also, I have hooked up a printer to my laptop all.by.myself AND when I was struggling with the PinIt button on Pinterest I finally figured it out.  (I did ask Kent for help at one point to which he just kind of rolled his eyes and said, "Laura, I love ya but I am NOT figuring out Pinterest for you.  You're on you're own, lady.")

*I'm kind of hoping this resolution rubs off a little bit on the kids.  I have a tendency to do a lot of things for them that they are more than capable of doing themselves.  For example, a lot of mornings I end up making their beds because it looks nicer when I do it, which is really not serving anyone. If I just let them do it, 1) they'll get more practice and it will look nicer and 2) they'll gain some independence which will be so helpful once the baby arrives.
Speaking of Pinterest I refuse to let myself pin without doing.  I can see how easy it would be to rack up hundreds  thousands of pins without actually ever doing any of the projects and ideas. So...even though I've only been on Pinterest for a couple days I have already bought ingredients to make two of the recipes I have pinned, and I've printed off some of the organizational labels I found and have a plan to use them.  I'm actually really excited about this last bit- with a potential move this year, it would be really nice to get things organized before we leave this house.  So, I've got labels, tubs, Ziplocs and am ready to get the kids' keepsakes/school papers/clothes sorted into nice, neat boxes before (if) we move.

Well, that's about it for now- I'm sure there's more but I figure if I write these down I'm much more likely to hold myself accountable.  That means if you follow me on Pinterest and you see my pins climbing into the thousands, you can feel free to remind me of resolution #3. :)

Here's to an amazing 2012!

Christmas Break Fun

This year's Christmas break has been a perfect combination of hanging out at home, and getting out and doing a few fun things.

Before Rob and Tam left town we went bowling at Bass Pro with them, my parents and Brooklyn.  Kael and Kylee both got strikes! I also happened to win that round which NEVER happens. 

We hit the Botanical Center for their "Glitz In the Garden" event.  There were crafts and such, but as far as my kids were concerned, the scavenger hunt was the best reason for going. 

My mom, my grandma, the kids and I all went to Chuck E. Cheese.  Thankfully we were there early because it got busy later in the afternoon.  Kael was a skeeball champ and Kylee had fun playing in the climbing structure.  If only my kids had gotten to experience the joy of the ball pit that my sisters, cousins and I used to play in when we went there when we were little.  Seriously, that was the best part! We scored more than enough tickets to come home with plenty of uselss junk toys and candy for the kids.

New Year's Eve was a wonderful, laid-back night.  We went for dinner with my parents, then back to our house to play cards and have dessert.  Kids had fun watching the New Year's Rockin' Eve on TV while jumping off the couches onto big piles of blankets and pillows.  Yeah, I'm that kind of mom who lets my kids get away with stuff like that on special nights.



Brownies and ice cream sundaes by the fireplace.



Hot fudge on Kylee's ice cream....and face. :)



The boys.



Fancy glasses and fun hats for breakfast on New Year's morning.



Cheers to 2012!

 

Mimosa for one on New Year's morning.  Kent's always been the life of the party but lately he's been the only party around here. :)





New Year's Day we all stayed in jammies all day.  We spent the whole day playing with the kids and their Christmas toys. Kylee asked, "Mom, isn't this the best day?"

 

Santa brought this Mr. Beer kit for Kent so he could brew his own beer.  Here he is on NYE getting his first batch started.

The last day of break we had talked about going to Sleepy Hollow to take the kids tubing since there's no real snow.  It was awfully windy and a bit chilly so we ended up staying home which proved to be a perfect end to a wonderful break.  I thought we'd all go stir crazy being in the house two days in a row but it turns out that Kael and Kylee really have a lot of fun playing together when there's not other kids around.  They're so used to having babysitting kids around during the school year that they rarely play with just each other and they had fun playing legos, dressing up, and just being silly.  Kent spent the afternoon watching college football while I cruised around Pinterest a bit. We played LOTS of MarioKart on the Wii and Kent even helped Kylee conquer several of the chapters on her Disney Princess Wii game, which was pure comedy to watch.

Now, back to reality! :)