Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

A day with me.

Every day, I wake up with my 3 oldest kids to help them off to school.
I make them breakfast.

I help them pack their lunches and zip up their coats.  I sign their binders, load up their backpacks and see them off to the bus.  I give them hugs and kisses.  I tell them, "Remember to be kind and make good choices" as they walk out the door.

My youngest 2 are still sleeping.  I quickly change and workout.  It is a time I look forward to every day.  The house is usually quiet.  I can focus on me; strengthening my body and mind.


Babies wake up and we all eat breakfast.

After breakfast, I clear and wipe the table, then I sweep.

Jake and Jane help me  unload the clean dishes that were cleaned the night before.

Some day, we go grocery shopping to restock our fridge and make meals.

I try to do a load of laundry every day so I can keep up with it.

We play with their toys.  Puzzles are their favorites right now.



We have reading time, where we read the same book 30 times.  Jake also works on a school workbook.  He loves anything that has to do with letters or numbers.

We have lunch and around noon, I put Jane down for a nap.  This may or may not be a happy relief for me.

There are those who want me to walk away from all this today.  To ignore my responsibilities, my family and my role as a wife and mother.
I'll pass.  I'd rather take care of my babies and run my home like our family likes it.  Why?  Because I love them.  

This phase in my life is temporary as my kids continue the grow, despite how much I fight against it.  I am very fortunate to be able to stay home, to take care of the house and nurture my kids.  I wrote this post as a way to show that women who stay at home aren't worthless, inferior or weak.  We are the backbone on society.  It is mothers who raise the next generation.  It is up to us to teach children to be self-reliant, confident, kind human beings.  So many important responsibilities fall on our shoulders.  No one should lessen that important role & privilege.   And why do we do these things?  Because we love our family and want to help and support them.  And its this love that helps us to do these things.

There is nothing wrong with family, children, and being home with them.  Women aren't less when we choose to be home.  Women aren't less when we choose to be more.
More present.  More loving.  More kind.  More nurturing.  More generous.  Women are naturally nurturing.  We love to love.  The day-to-day things I do for my home is a gift to my family because I love them.    And I get that there are days where I do not feel that way.  I promise.  There definitely are days where I long for just 24 hours all to myself.  But again, Motherhood is such a privilege.  We sacrifice our time, careers, education, bodies, sleep, etc for these little ones.  In return, we get glimpses of heaven when they laugh at your silly face, or snuggle into your arms when they have just woken up from their nap.

The world wants us to feel less, to feel ignored or we are worthless.  But we must realize that our role in the home, to our family, is what really matters.

*note*
This world is imperfect.  So is life. I realize many of you aren't in ideal situations and can't be home with their kids.  This isn't a guilt post for you.  The desire of your heart is what matters.  I wish everyone could live their lives how they would want to.  Only in an ideal world, right?  The point of this post was to just help the world see that those who choose to be home or are able to be home to be "just a mom,", there is nothing wrong with it!  It is an amazing role and much more important than what the world wants you to believe.  I know every mom out there is doing the best they can with the cards life has given them!  XOXO

Back to school festival


We went down the street to the Altus ER building where they were having a fun back to school festival. There were bouncy houses, vendors, samples, demos, free snow cones and a view of a helicopter landing. It turned out to be fun and different than the usual boring Saturday's we have these days. We are still getting things figured out with not only my doctor but with Joe's job. It's awesome...

So here are some pictures from yesterday.  The kids thought the gator was pretty cool to hold!



Then Emma did a work out routine with a local gym. She hasn't stopped talking about them! She wants to sign up to do their kids class... That or Kung Fu....


They gave everyone a snow cone but just let people in charge of putting the syrup on. Let's just say they definitely has 80 % juice and 20% ice๐Ÿ˜



 Those alone were worth going for. It was super hot. Like every day...

Kate's Baptism Announcement


I just can't believe she is 8 years old!
Kate has decided to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints this next Saturday.  We are so proud of her. I am so happy she is part of our family.

She is the mini mom.
She is the peacemaker.
She is kind.
She is nurturing.
She is loving.
She is content.

She's ours!

29 weeks



So let's just get something straight. My timing with my pregnancies have been just horrible. Why do I think being full blown pregnant during the hot sure months is a good idea??

I'm 29 weeks this week. The past month, I've just exploded. I definitely can't move around like I used to anymore. My fitness goals have slowed down. And pretty much any goal I had had flown out the window. Haa haa. I'm hitting the " I don't give a crap" phase.  Seriously I'm at a point where I'll deal with the weight and weakness afterwards. I just can't right now.  I've started walking in the mornings, about 3 miles each time. Feeling good but I feel it for sure by night hits.

On top of all this, our family is dealing with the stress of moving and figuring out when and where we are moving. That's always fun. That causes more sugar binges than I'd like to admit.  We will see what next week brings✌๐Ÿป️

Banana Bread Cookies



A good friend of mine gave me a mini loaf of banana bread a few days ago. It hit the spot and I wanted to make some with the bananas that were starting to brown. I told Kate that we should make some and then she suggested making banana bread cookies! I told her that it could work out since we have made pumpkin bread cookies the same way. 
So this evening, I gave it a try and they turned out amazing and delicious! I'm trying to stop myself from eating the whole batch!

Wanted to share them with you invade you want to give them a go!

Banana Bread Cookies

1-2 c. Butter, softened 
1 c. Sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1/4 c. Sour cream
1 tsp. Vanilla 
2 c. Flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Set oven to 350 degrees.  Cream sugar and butter. Then add eggs & bananas and mix well, leaving no clumps.  Then add sour cream and vanilla.
In a seperate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Then add it to the wet ingredients and mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips.  

Spoon out desired amount of dough onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or silicone cover.  Space about 2 inches apart.  Place in oven for about 14 mins.  Once done, place on cooling rack. And then eat them all before the kids find out you made them ๐Ÿ˜‰

Enjoy!



Kate's Soccer Season

Kate had an amazing soccer season!  She really loved playing and told me she wants to play forever!
Joe was able to be one of the coaches this year, which is awesome.  They kids love that :)
Kate loved playing goalie and also charging up the field to score some goals!



Easter 2015

Took the kiddos out to an empty lot down the street and took some easter pictures.  Really love this time on day!  Perfect light!
My little bunch is growing up.  It continues to feel weird to look back at pictures and realize how fast it goes by.
Happy Easter 2015!




5 Facts About Me 2015


#excited #nervous #sick #happy #tired #excited

Halloween 2014

This year, the kids picked their outfits pretty early on.  So it was easy.
Of course, it was freezing on Halloween day here in Memphis.  But they were troopers and stuck it out.
We had an amazing amount of people come to Halloween Cove this year.  Our culdesac looked amazing.  Halloween Night was so fun.  Once we ran out of candy (10 costco bags), we went and ate at Mr. Steve's house with his family.  They are the genuine Southern family and I love it.  I feel very welcome there.
We didn't get back in until 11 pm.  The kids stayed up late too.  But it was worth it.  This will be our last Halloween here in Memphis & in Halloween Cove.  And i'm sad about that.  We are so lucky to have been living in this special little neighborhood.  We've never had such amazing neighbors before.

I love every one of these pictures and couldn't decide just one.  They are growing up too fast.














Memphis Zoo

We were able to head to the Memphis Zoo on Labor Day.  Joe had school off so he was able to come with us.  It was nice to all go as a family.  We have a pass but we don't use it nearly as much as we should!  But the kids had so much fun.  I was surprised how much Jake enjoyed it.  But then again, he's really into animals right now!






Jake's First Year

So i'm going down memory with this kid.  As of right now, every day it's just Jake and me.  I love it.  It's been so fun being with him.  And I just happened to finally come around to finishing this project....don't worry that he's going to be 2 in Nov.
I'm glad I did this every month, to see the changes and growth.  That first year is a doosy but there are times that I miss it!  Miss those baby stages!

Some things I would have done differently:
-Made sure it was the SAME place, SAME position, SAME lighting each month.  Would have looked more unified.
-Written down more info about him.  I did write more detailed posts each month but didn't write down like height like I did for his weight.  Not a big deal but still would have been fun to see.












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