It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

I don't know about anyone else, but I am in full Christmas prep mode!  I always like to do Christmas shopping early, but this year I feel like I'm doing it even earlier.  I realized about mid-October that school lets out super-early this year for Christmas, on the 16th!  Our school has half days every day that week as well, except for Monday.  Then you add in all the days I have to be at school for various reasons- field trips (Christmas play x 2), birthday cupcakes for the twins one day, Christmas parties x 2, and I'm sure more things I'm forgetting...and that leaves very few days for shopping, decorating, and wrapping.  I am also hoping to have a more calm December and just enjoy things more.  Instead of worrying about what's left on my to-do list, cause it will all (hopefully) be done!  :-)
This is the first year that I plan to really decorate again as well.  Again meaning, since before my kids were born.  I just haven't been doing much decorating at all for the holidays because they've been too small to stay out of things and not tear stuff up.  I feel like this is the year I can finally put up a nice, big tree and some outside decorations.  We'll see how much I do, but I did spend hours today digging everything out of my storage shed.  The shed is a whole other post.....one day I WILL be organized.  Maybe.  I am also excited because I have a 9 foot, very nice tree this year.  It was a free Facebook giveaway that Meme jumped on for us.   It will be interesting to see how THAT goes!  I will kind of miss my smaller tree though, because I let the kids decorate it however they wished...and it was always interesting.  Maybe we need two trees....??  Hmmm....  And of course the Elf is gearing up to make his appearance on the 1st.  I've been pinning ideas and trying to get ready.  That Elf can be stressful!!  There's nothing like laying in bed, almost asleep....and then realize you forgot to move the Elf.  And try to come up with something cute on the fly.  It's a responsibility not to be taken lightly!!  Hahaha!  The one thing our Elf (Walter) did that the kids still talk about is he drew faces on us on our Christmas card.  He got into the sharpies and gave everyone beards, mustaches, etc.  They are still talking about that from 2 years ago.....so he may repeat that one!  
Of course, I love Thanksgiving and how low-stress it is.  I love all things pumpkin and fall.   And the Macy's parade is my favorite part of the day.  We don't have anywhere to be until night, so the kids and I hang out and watch the parade.  One year we even had tacos for lunch!  We knew we'd be on turkey overload for dinner.  :-)
My cousin and I do the overnight black Friday shopping, and we look forward to that all year.  Most of my shopping is usually done, but I enjoy the hustle and bustle and being out among everyone.
Now if I can just start wrapping!!!!  And work on a Christmas card.....

I'm back!!

Hello blog world!
I think I finally, finally have my internet service running how it should be and I think, hope, pray I can finally get back into blogging!
I have folks asking me when I'm going to get back on here (Hi, Ashley!).
We've had a lot going on lately as well, more on that later.  I am hoping our lives are calming down somewhat and I can get back to regular blogging.
So....look for some posts coming soon-  I just wanted to take time today to say "hi" and that I'm back!!!

Now, I'm off to do some fun stuff at school....which is where I spend most of my time these days!

Summer's in full swing!

Summer is in full swing around our place!  Here I was thinking we might be bored without the routine of school and friends every day.  Boy was I wrong!  We kicked off summer with a week long beach vacation.  It was the first time the 5 of us have taken a vacation with just us.  It was a lot of fun, but also stressful at times (full disclosure!).  Would I do it again?  Yep! 
After vacation, it has been an adjustment getting into a summer routine, but we are finally in one I think.  Just in time for school to start back in about 7 weeks or so. 
We have done lots of play overs with cousins and some school friends.  We also took care of dental appointments, and I guess we'll do check ups before summer is out too. 
Last week we went to see Finding Dory.  I have to say, it is SO cute!  The kids just loved it.  I am hoping to hit a few of the $1 kids movies too.  I am at the point where I can take my kids by myself to the movies, so that is kind of a milestone I think! 
We are swimming as much as we can too.  Probably not as much as the kids would like, but we are busy doing other things too.  I think we have decided to forego a vacation next year and get a pool instead.  The kids are finally big enough, and it would be so nice.  Growing up we had a pool and we would wake up and immediately put on our bathing suits and run out the door into the pool.  For the whole day.  It will be so nice to have that for the kids and not have to impose on others to swim.  I am excited myself, actually.  :-)  We will see how the project progresses!  Projects tend to go a little slow in my world!  Haha! 
Anyway, I hope to get some beach pictures posted soon! 
Hope everyone is having a great summer so far!!!

Well, I had several family members fussing at me this weekend for not blogging enough.  You know who you are. :-) 
You know, once the kids were in school full time, I thought I'd have ALL this free time to get so many things done......
I think I may have even voiced this thought out loud.  I'm sure all the moms who knew better snickered at me to themselves.....no one told me how busy life is once they are actually IN school. 
I think I have approximately 2.5 minutes to myself each day.  It's hard to decide what to do with those precious spare minutes.....I've had projects piling up for 6 years now.  Plus add in the laundry, dishes, messes to clean up.  It's a lot going on.  Then there are the days I help with things at one school or the other.  It's crazy busy and going by so fast!  In August, all 3 will be in school all day.  It makes me sad to think I won't have Henry at home with me.  He is definitely my "baby" and I enjoy the time we have together.  He has grown so much in the past year since he has started preschool, and I am really going to miss his little school next year.  Time definitely flies, and so I will try to remind myself to enjoy these moments.  Even the hard moments.  The moments where no one is getting ready for school and we're running late.  The moments where you have to clean up sand from the kitchen floor (true story that JUST happened.  Not sure who thought of indoor sand sets for kids-I'm pretty sure it wasn't a parent!!).  Moments where the kids are fighting WWF style.  Moments where the 4 year old has a full-on tantrum.  Yep, I need to remember to be thankful on the busy, hard days.  Because there are also the times where I sit with a child reading me a book, and as I see them learning more and more, my heart is bursting with pride.  Or the nights where we light a campfire and just sit there at the end of the day.....so peaceful with my little family of 5.  There are those moments at the end of the day where they are all asleep and you peek at them and are reminded of how angelic they look.  My hope is to cherish these moments more, and worry about everything else less.  

Blast from the past pic- look how little my babies were picking strawberries!!  I hope we can pick some soon!  I also need to get some updated pics apparently!!!

Recovering from Spring Break

Oh my goodness....I have decided that schools have spring break to ease you back into what it's going to be like in a couple of months when it's summer vacation! 
The house is a wreck....I kept up with it for about 2.5 days of spring break, then threw my hands up.  There are laundry piles to be washed and put away and dishes to contend with.  Cabinets and the fridge are looking bare. 
I dropped the last child off at 8:30 this morning and headed to get a few groceries.  By 8:40, I was missing my babies! 
I decided I was a hopeless case....I mean really???  I had been so looking forward to those 3 hours alone this morning. 
Anyway, I will spend this week recovering I guess....getting things back in order and getting back into our regular schedule. 
We did have a fun Easter break though.  It was full with just the right amount of fun versus down time.  We went to the Children's Museum, visited with my Granny, ate at Cracker Barrel, went to a fun park with cousins, went to Monkey Joe's for a birthday party, and more that I am sure I am forgetting.  It was also nice to sleep till whenever and not worry so much about bedtimes. 
Now the kids are counting down till the end of school.....only about 7 weeks to go!  Then we are off for our vacation to the beach.  I can't wait and the kids can't either.  We literally have a countdown on the fridge.  We are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for and to look forward to! 

Now, what will I do when all 3 children are in school all day this fall?  It will be hard for this Momma but also a nice opportunity to get some things done around the house that have been put off for forever.  I also hope to help my grandparents more with getting to their appointments and things.  I think I may also substitute at the school.....so I guess I already have plenty to do!  I love being at the school and having lunch with my kiddos.  At least now while it's still "cool" for me to be there.  :-) 

Where have we been? Everywhere!!!

I have not taken much time to blog lately.  I really do like having this little journal so I will know what we did and the kids can look back at it.  I mean, baby books....what are they???  I think I stopped the twins' at 9 months or something and Henry's barely has his name written in.  Sigh. 

Anyway, we have been so busy doing things since the beginning of the year!!!  I have pictures of most of it, which I will try to upload soon!!!  

Some combination of us have been to Monster Jam, the Circus, "snow" tubing, bowling, Jason Aldean concert, Rock & Worship Roadshow concert, Young Chef's Academy, and a paint your own pottery studio. 

It's made me realize I think we need to slow down a little in the next few months and catch our breath.  Just a little though-if you know me, I like to keep busy! 

School is going well for everyone and we have a countdown going to summer vacation!  Which will also be the start of our beach vacation!  The kids are super excited about that!  It will be our first vacation as a family with JUST us.  It should be interesting to say the least!  Ha!  Actually, I am really looking forward to making memories and enjoying some R & R on the beach.  Dustin & I went in May once before we had kids and loved it.  I think they will love it too.  It may become our tradition, who knows?? 

Well, our house is a wreck a weekend of Momma being away, so I have got to go clean for my sanity.  Yesterday I had to get groceries while I had 3 hours to myself.  Oh how I love my precious few hours I have to myself.  Next year I won't know what to do with myself!  (Next school year that is!). 

And tomorrow I need to finish up Easter shopping.  I also have to plan the twins' class Easter party....so I hope to do that as well.  Didn't we just have Christmas???? 

More soon.....with pics! 

1461 days and counting.....

That's how long we have been loving this little bugger.....

 Happy 4th birthday yesterday to my Valentine's baby!!   Where have four years gone????  Then again, it seems like ages ago since I was in the hospital and this pic was taken.  And for the second year in a row, it has snowed on his birthday!  Fun! 
We love you so much Henry Paul!!!! 

This & That

Well, I have about an hour free before my next kids pickup-and I decided to finally do an update....Well....I may be avoiding housework.  Ahem. 

• We are apparently going to be snowed in come tomorrow.  I am doing what I usually do when there is a storm predicted-whether it's snow, hurricane, or whatever.  I have gassed up the vehicles, made sure Dustin has plenty of clean work uniforms/clothes/cold weather gear (he works whenever there is a storm), made sure Dustin has cash (some stores are open during bad weather, but can't always take debit cards), stocked up on groceries, etc. etc.  You get the idea.  I need to be cleaning as well, but I figure I can do that when I am snowbound with 3 kids.  Yes, I'm sure I'll get lots of cleaning done then!  :-)  I have been trying to get the laundry caught up because even though we have a whole house generator, you can't really run the washer/dryer.  It would take way too much energy.  All of that coupled with a 2 hour school delay has made for an interesting day!  I have to say- the 2 hour delay was harder to deal with than going regular time.  The twins just could not understand that they weren't going to have to stay as long, were basically going straight to lunch (they go at 10:50 a.m.), and would be doing less work & not playing outside today (too cold!).  It was chaotic and wore me out dropping them off! 
• Emilynn also has a game at 5 pm.  She cheers for basketball at school.  She is really enjoying cheerleading and I have to say-they are SO DARN cute!!!  I love sports too, so it's nice to see some games and their school has a really good basketball program.  I am thoroughly enjoyed it so far.  It's funny to see teams with "regular" cheerleaders, and there here comes our school's little mascot girls. 
• Decluttering challenge- Oh my goodness- I have gotten rid of so much stuff already!  317 things to be exact, and yes, I am counting them!!  I decided to make the challenge my own and just try to do 500 things for the month of January.  I am well on the way and I can't tell you how good it feels to drop a load of things off at Goodwill!  I have made 3 trips so far, sent Dustin on 1 dump trip, and taken my sister a load of clothes for my nephew.  I also got rid of 2 trash bags full of maternity clothes which I did not count in the 317 tally so far.  (In all fairness-they were 1/2 my sister's so she gets some decluttering credit there too!).  I am loving the challenge and hope to just continue for the whole year.  I have SO much more to go through.  I am battling pack rat genes (thanks, Dad! :-)  so it takes time.  I haven't even cracked the door to my storage shed yet-yikes!  I have to say, my closet is much better and I'm not done with that either. 
• All 3 kids have been sick, of course, the past 2 weeks so I am hoping we are done with sickness for this winter.  We were also sick back in November.  I guess it's just the whole school thing.  Henry really goes down when he gets sick, so I have my fingers crossed he will get and stay well.  He still has a lingering cough.  I hate for him to miss school, he only goes 3 days as it is. 
• The twins and I went tubing with ALL of my family-it was about 20 of us 2 weekends ago.  It was SO much fun!!!  I felt like a kid flying down the hill on tube.  :-)  The kids really loved it as well.  Carson was the first one down the hill out of our entire group!  Maybe my shy child is coming out of his shell a little! 
• Our family went to a buffet after tubing, and it was the twins' first experience at a buffet.  They were amazed.  Ha!  I told them to come with me to get their food, and Carson was like, "No, mom, we have to stay in our seats."  They caught on quickly and loved the unlimited dessert bar with cotton candy!  Carson ran inside to tell Dustin we ate at a buffet when we got home.  My children really aren't sheltered but I didn't realize they had never experience this phenomenon before-it was funny! 

Well, I am off to make a school run!  Then drop the boys off and head back for a game.  It is nice having one on one time with Emmy-despite all the running around and back and forth to school. 
I will miss all this chaos one day-so I am trying to enjoy it while they are small and I am still cool enough to drive them to school- :-) 

Happy Sunday!

What a beautiful Lord's day after lots and lots of rain!! 

Our sermon today was awesome, and the scripture that I guess I want to share is from Psalm 30:4- "Sing to the Lord, you saints of his; praise his holy name." 

We should praise always, in all things, all times, etc.  The preacher mentioned how here in America what we tend to believe is a real problem is truly just a small issue.  I mean, honestly, we are so blessed on even what we consider our worst day. 

It's funny how when I go to church, I get exactly the message I need, or I get affirmation of what is on my heart. 

Yesterday, we were watching a favorite channel with the kids.  It's called Smile of a Child I believe.  It's a Christian television network, which I think is awesome!  Praise God we can watch a whole channel of wholesome shows ranging from a cute little monster truck religious cartoon that teaches values, to Veggie Tales we are all so familiar with.  Anyway, a show came on and it was showing a Mother in a 3rd world country.  Her precious children had not eaten in days.  My kids were watching and had lots of questions.  What a great teaching moment.  I was explaining to them how many children around the world do not have even the basic things like food, clothing, a home to keep them sheltered, etc.  Henry turned around and so simply said, "Well why don't we give them some of our food, Momma?"  What a perfectly rational solution.  If only we all gave and gave as a 3 year old would, without even a second guess.  I pray that I will learn to be as giving as the children without even a thought.  Then he says, "Mom, it doesn't look like they have a car, so we will have to pick them up to give them the food."  Such a sweet boy. 

It really made me think of how I have said it before and I will say it again, my heart's desire is for my children to have a servant's heart.  I want them to always want to help others.  Honestly, my heart went out to that mom who just wanted to provide for her children.  Isn't that what all moms want, no matter their nationality or place in life?  Just to feed and protect their children. 

I really feel like with it being the start of a new year, I really need to try to give even more.  It's no accident we saw that snippet of that show at that moment.  God knows we need to be reminded to all we have and all we can give.  Perhaps my kids can get by with one less toy and another family somewhere else can eat food they desperately need......

Definitely something to think about this week!  Happy Sunday!!!!

Decluttering challenge anyone?

I know I mentioned how torn up our house has been with Christmas, remodels, and the dryer and hot water heater going out all at once.  ~Big sigh!!~
I was checking out one of my favorite websites this morning- www.moneysavingmom.com and saw a post on a decluttering challenge.  You have to get rid of 500 things in 14 days. 
I think I am going to try this....anyone with me?  I doubt I will buy the $6 online class because I'm just too cheap frugal for that.  Ha!  I will probably just try to do this.
I KNOW we have at least 500 things we should purge.  I will try to post my progress once I start this (I haven't decided what date to start). 
We have so many things to get rid of, things we have promised to give to others and just take to Goodwill, yet life happens and we don't do it. 
This will be the nudge I need to deliver those maternity clothes to someone I promised them to, take the old train table to Goodwill, give Emilynn's Doc McStuffins check up center to the girl we promised it to....you get the idea. 
I am sick of clutter!  Maybe this will be the year we become minimalists!????!!!!  A girl can dream! :-)
Happy 2016!  More goals to come!!!