Burning the midnight Oil

So I am posting this at 1:30 A.M. because I can't sleep. Even after taking a Vicodin tonight for my swollen inflamed knee and I'm still up! This has happened about once a week for the past few weeks but it took until last week to figure out what has been going on. God has used this time to catch up with me in many ways. I have been in the beginning stages of an online Biblestudy through Proverbs 31 ministries based on the book "A Confident Heart" by Renee Swope.

So far the book is exactly what I need to heart at this season of my life. I found out last week when I was unable to sleep the still, soft voice of God was prodding my heart to go and read Chapter 2. So I did just that -- lo and behold -- it was something I needed to hear at that moment and I slept soundly when I returned to bed. Tonight I was trying to convince myself (and God) that I needed to sleep. However God wins these arguments and I got up and worked on my study and of course God was speaking right to my situations at hand! After completing some of the study I decided it was so good I had to share it with you. At least the memory verses that are speaking to me because they were written JUST FOR ME this week!

During this season in our lives I am putting all of my trust and hope in God. At a time when I should be anxious and worrysome, I am completely at peace.... a peace that passes all understanding. These verses just confirmed where my peace is coming from. God is taking our family in a new direction and I find it very exciting! I don't always understand His purpose or plan but I know that if I just trust it and go with God things will work out for good!

I would also like to share an adorable recipe for kiddos (and adults too)! This is a fun snack for Halloween and it's easy and quick to make! Enjoy the fun treat by Jell-o!!!!

Boo Jell-O Cups

Ingredients:

3/4 cup boiling water
1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Orange Flavor Gelatin
2 cups ice cubes
2/3 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided
8 miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add ice; stir 3 to 5 min. or until gelatin is thickened. Remove any un melted ice.


Whisk in 1/3 cup COOL WHIP until well blended. Pour into 4 dessert dishes. REFRIGERATE 30 min. or until firm.


DROP remaining COOL WHIP by spoonfuls onto desserts to resemble ghosts. Add chocolate chips for the eyes.

Time for an update!

After taking a "blogging vacation" it's time to get back into the swing of things. I have decided to work my "Pinterest interests" into my blog to share some of the amazing things I am doing from my pins! I actually make things from my pinboard -so it's not just a waste of time for me! Chad loves the recipes I gather from Pinterest; the kids enjoy the crafts and fun things from there; and I just plain enjoy it ALL!!!

This past month I have been really excited about my favorite season - FALL! I decided not only would I make some amazing pumpkin and apple recipes but I would make some things for the kids as well. My favorite project was our Fall Felt Wall. It was so easy to make and Jack has loved his felt pumpkins and leaves. It keeps him busy when his toys are just not that exciting for the moment. It is also a great sensory activity as well as a learning opportunity. There are two scenes to the board. One is a tree that they can add colored leaves to and the other is a jack-o-lantern with pieces for his face.

I also had Jack do a "rip and paste" fall tree with me. He did really well with this activity which surprised me. It was a great addition to our kitchen art display!

So for this week let's see what is calling to me on Pinterest. Let's start with the weekly menu: Turkey Breast in the crockpot with mashed potatoes, slow cooker brown sugar glazed pulled chicken, chicken bruschetta bake, wicked chicken, and steakburgers with roasted potatoe wedges. I will post the recipes for each of these recipes along with pictures and reviews of each one. But today is Saturday (grocery shopping and prep day). Today I will be making 3 servings of loaded potatoe casserole - 2 to freeze and one to eat tonight. I am also making crockpot applesauce and snickerdoodle apple cobbler with the bushel of apples delivered from our local apple orchard. Later this week I plan on making pumpkin sugar cookies with homemade frosting as well.

Here is one of those recipes that I think will be a great side dish to make ahead and freeze. I love that is makes 3 servings so I don't have to spend a lot of prep time in the kitchen on one side.

Loaded Potatoe Casserole

2 (16oz) containers sour cream

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

2 (3oz) bags real bacon bits

2 packages Ranch Dip mix

1 large (28 - 30oz) bag frozen hash brown potatoes - shredded kind

Combine first 4 ingredients, mix in hash browns. Spread into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes.

*I divided the potatoes into 3 small 7x7 disposable foil pans and froze them. I wrapped them with plastic wrap and then foil.*



Today for lunch I am trying BBQ Chicken French Bread Pizza! YUM!

This meal is DELICIOUS and can be ready in 20 minutes flat from start to finish!

Ingredients
(1 lb) loaf french bread
•1 (18 oz) bottle bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce I love Sweet Baby Rays
•2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
•1/3 cup chopped red onion
•3-4 Tbsp. finely chopped cilantro
•2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions
1.Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.Cut french bread loaf in half lengthwise.

3.Pour half of the BBQ sauce on the top of one half of the french bread loaf and pour the other half of BBQ sauce on the second half of french bread.

4.Evenly distribute 1 cup of shredded chicken onto each french bread half.

5.Evenly sprinkle chopped onion between the two french bread halves.

6.Evenly sprinkle cilantro over the tops of both halves of french bread.

7.Evenly sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella cheese onto each of the french bread loaf halves.

8.Place french bread pizzas on cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted and pizza is heated through.

Feeling blessed beyond words

For those of you who know me you know I am not a woman of few words..... I usually have many words (many, many words at times)! For the past few days I feel like there are no words however to describe life at this moment. It is as close to perfection as it can get...amid the imperfections in my life!!! I feel so blessed by my family. Who knew a year and half ago that I would have not one but two beautiful children!!!! We were praying so hard for just one but God blessed us with two in the same year! 

 I also have the most amazing husband, one who goes above and beyond normal husband duties! He is definitely my partner in every way. He loves me and the Kids unconditionally and would do anything for us. The other night we came home from a long weekend and got home way past the kids bedtime, after getting both kids to bed we decided to watch a half an hour of a movie then go to bed. We ended up watching a comedy where we couldn't stop laughing- or watching for that matter! We ended up finishing the movie and going to bed after midnight. We didn't care though because we needed "us" time which is a rarity anymore with two under 2. God has been blessing our marriage in abundance lately....not to say its been perfect. We still have arguments and we can disagree but we still end up loving each other more in the end. We are just in a good place right now. 

I also feel blessed by my amazing friends in my life. I got the chance to see my best friend, Libby over the weekend and got to finally meet her new baby girl, Imogen Eve! I love that no matter how much time goes by we can just pick up where we left off. We accept each other for who we are - no questions asked. I have also been blessed by my Girls Night Out group. We go out to dinner once a month and we totally get each other because we all have similarities in our life experiences. The best part is our biggest commonality is our love for Jesus and faith in God! 

There have been bad days the past few weeks of course, but its in those moments that I need to reflect on the abundance of blessings in my life right now. They are there.... I just need to look and see them right in front of me! :)

When it Rains... It Pours!!!!

Last weekend was the beginning of a new chapter in our lives as parents, a scary one in fact. It was the day I had been looking forward to since last year... My annual shopping trip with the girls to Woodfield mall and IKEA. I was so excited about the overnight trip... A night away to recharge my batteries. However my batteries ended up drained instead of recharged. We had just arrived in Schaumburg at the Cheesecake Factory when Chad called. He told me my sister-in-law, Jenna, had called him at work to let him know Jack had a high fever and was having what appeared to be shivers or tremors. He came home right away and was taking him to the doctor. When he got to the doctor's office his fever was 103.6 degrees and he was having small seizures. The doctor sent him immediately to the hospital ER.  One he was admitted I rented a car and drove back, getting to the hospital at around 11pm. Jack looked terrible, very sickly and just not himself. That evening he had several seizures and his temperature would not go down to normal. It would spike 4-5 degrees in 5 minutes. I held him most of the night and finally at 5:30 he fell asleep in the crib. Holding him in the hospital listening to lullaby music was a precious moment even in the midst of all the chaos. 

They did an EEG the next day that indicated he may have a seizure disorder. He was put on high doses of medicine that made him very sleepy and irritable. We were able to bring him home on Sunday. On his new medicine he was stumbling and unable to walk more than 2 steps without falling over. He was sleeping most of the day and night and had a small appetite. My little baby wasn't himself and it was breaking my heart. 

I took hi to the doctor the next day for a follow up and he recommended getting a second opinion from  the children's hospital in Peoria. We also had Lucy checked out because she was extra irritable as well and it turns out she had a double ear infection. So when it rains in our house it really pours!!!!

That evening Jack had bleeding gums so I rushed him back to the ER. It was more than likely a side effect of the medicine and they cut his dose in half. His platelets were low so they wanted to watch him and redraw his labs the next day, I camped out on his floor on an air mattress to make sure he was ok all night long. The next day his levels were back to normal but he was still acting zombie like. Today he was more back to himself and I thank God that He is blessing us with our little boy again. We also got a slot in Peoria tomorrow for our second opinion, praise The Lord!!!!! 

 Picture of a healthier and happier Jack tonight!

So often I would wonder why I was blessed with extra energetic children, but when they aren't like that anymore I really missed it and wanted them to become that again. I don't take my children for granted but situations like this really make you stop and reevaluate how blessed you truly are. Things can change so fast and normal may disappear for a while. Even though rain may come and the world becomes cloudy for a time I believe the sun will shine again! You have to get through the rain to get to the rainbow and I feel like there is a rainbow in store soon! 

Somewhere That's Green!

I have always loved musicals for a young age. I not only love watching musicals but have performed onstage in several shows as well. But having two very small children I have decided to take a break for theater for a few years so I can be with them in the evenings. 

One musical I loved when I was younger and continue to love today is "Little Shop of Horrors." I was listening to the radio the other day and the song " Somewhere That's Green" came on the Broadway station. The song is sung by a young woman who just wants the perfect house and to be the perfect housewife. The song is her daydream about what life could be like if she can get away fro the slums of skid row. She dreams of a life with Seymour who while he isn't a handsome man, is a good man she could love. The lyrics are as follows:

A matchbox of our own
A fence of real chain link,
A grill out on the patio
Disposal in the sink
A washer and a dryer and an ironing machine
In a tract house that we share
Somewhere that's green.

He rakes and trims the grass
He loves to mow and weed
I cook like Betty Crocker 
And I look like Donna Reed
There's plastic on the furniture 
To keep it neat and clean
In the Pine-Sol scented air 
Somewhere that's green

Between our frozen dinner 
And our bedtime, nine-fifteen
We snuggle watchin' Lucy 
On our big, enormous twelve-inch screen

I'm his December Bride
He's Father, he Knows Best
Our kids watch Howdy Doody 
As the sun sets in the west
A picture out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine

Far from Skid Row
I dream we'll go
somewhere that's green.

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/l/littleshopofhorrorslyrics/somewherethatsgreenlyrics.html

As a little girl growing up I used to dream about what my perfect life would look like someday.... A wonderful husband, two kids, a house, dog, white picket fence, etc. Every little girl dreams about things like this and we have an idea of what our perfect life would look like. My life is going according to plan so far... Wonderful husband, two kids, a dog a house... I actually admire the 50's housewife! But it's not all of the things I used to dream. Life isn't always perfect and we don't live  in the perfect "Better Homes and Gardens" home and life. In today's times it would be a perfect Pinterest world.... Lol! 

This year I had the privilege to attend the No More Perfect Moms Hearts at Home conference. The day was centered around being content with the life we have (flaws and all). We can not live in a Pinterest perfect world. Houses just don't look like that if they are lived in.... Women's bodies all look different..... Moms can't be supermom all of the time....etc. God calls us to be loving and to live in a Christ-like manner and as long as we are living out that life we are living a perfect life for Him. 

What were your dreams growing up? What did your perfect life look like? 

Things do happen that turn out great however..... We had a lot of good things go on last week for the summer schedule!

Make Something Monday: We made Father's Day presents and I thought they turned out adorable. Grandpas and Daddy loved them so it was a complete success!!!!

Take a trip Tuesday: this was actually a wet Tuesday instead - played I the wading pool for the first time!  

Wet and wild Wednesday: we took a trip to the Scovill Zoo with my room mate from college and another friend fro EIU and her little girl. First zoo trip an train ride was a complete success!

Thinking Thursday: didn't happen.... We had my room mate from college visiting today and we got pictures taken at JC Penney instead that day. Pictures to come later....

Fun and fabulous Friday: Friday was a day for finding fabulous deals at garage sale. I found a Mickey Mouse Cubhouse play set for $6 In great condition (retails for $60) Jack loves it!!!

Fabulous Finds!

For as long as I can remember I have loved to shop. Even as a little girl I loved going to the mall. On Saturday mornings I remember riding around our neighborhood on my bicycle to seek out garage sales with a couple of one dollar bills in my pocket. Garage sales and thrift stores have always been so much fun for me because it is like a treasure hunt.... Finding something you can use or need for a great price! 

Recently I have gotten hooked onto the online garage sales through Facebook. Each sale is a group based on location. I have bought and sold several items on there so for me it is like trading! I is amazing the Deals one can find on these sales. For example yesterday I purchased a pair of toddler Toms shoes for Jack. Normally these shoes retail for $40-$50 in the store or online. I got s pair that was worn only once for just $10!!!! Deal!!! 

Today I went to a few garage sales in a neighboring town and found a like new Baby Gap wool winter jacket for Jack...$4!!!! This jacket was $80 last winter! Unreal! Today I was driving jack home from the library when we saw a lady setting up for her garage sale for tomorrow. They had a little tikes first slide in the garage. I stopped and asked her if she would sell it tonight.... and she did! $15..... Retails for $50!!!

New Endeavors

Our household has been breaking ground for many new endeavors with the kids! Our biggest adventure recently has been the experience of using cloth diapers. Most of my friends that are stay at home mommies use cloth diapers.

At first I thought ther was no way I could keep up with the laundry. I didn't want to deal with pins, folding, etc. However cloth diapers have changed so much I was amazed how easy it now was. My cousin Michelle was the first encounter I had with cloth diapering. She had told me hw they worked it  out in their house so she was a great resrce for me. 

After talking with several of them I decided it was silly for me to not do cloth diapers to save money - especially with TWO in diapers. So I did research, checked out my friends diapers, etc. We decided now was a good time to buy since the brand we went with had buy 1 get one free. 

We started by ordering 6 BumGenius 4.0 one size pocket diapers. After a week trial to see if we liked them-we ordered 12 more. http://www.bumgenius.com/one-size.php 

I also ordered 1 one size all in one Thirsties diaper. I like the Thirsties better just because they are all in one. However they come in two sizes where the Bum Genius diapers come in one size fits all. So we are still happy with the Bum Genius diapers for now. If I order more in the future I will get the free time All in one BumGenius diapers to save time with stuffing the inserts. But at this point the diapers and the laundry loads aren't that bad. We are also using cloth wipes...on wet diapers only. Poopy diapers  are still being cleaned with disposable wipes. We are also using bamboo flushable liners so we can flush the poop down the toilet. I have figured out we can do laundry every other night and be okay. We are also doing disposable diapers at night because I am just too nervous to use cloth at night. We have also decided when we travel away for the day we will use disposables for convenience. And of course when there is an emergency day (if we are sick etc) then disposables are just fine. Nw i am total clth diaper convert! As I continue his new adventure with cloth diapers I will keep everyone updated on new products and things we try that work for us. Happy diapering everyone!!!!

Starting the Summer Schedule!!!

Like many other moms out there (stay at home and working alike) - I have an obsession with Pinterest. There are just so many great ideas on there and they are all contained in one place. Pinterest has been a huge help to me this year in getting myself organized, many ideas that will be posted in the future on this blog. 

As a new mom I was pleasantly surprised how much schedules have helped me in my day to day staying at home with the kids. We started using the Babywise schedule with Jack when he was 2 months old and it has been immensely helpful in getting him on schedule. Lucy has just gotten the hang of the schedule the past month or so and it works like a charm. Before having kids of my own I used to get annoyed when my other mom friends said they couldn't do something because their little one was on a napping schedule. I used to think "Can't they just nap later? Or skip it today?" Now I understand babies and schedules and am now one of my annoying friends! Lol. 

The Summer Schedule has been one of my favorites so far....a little stressful to start but it gives me a push to do something out of the ordinary each day of the summer! So far it has been fun to figure out what to do each day. Here is what the schedule looks like....

 

We started this schedule yesterday with Make Something Monday. My 16 month son, Jack helped me make Raspberry Sparkle Drop cookies... Yummy!!!! Since he can't really help with baking quite yet I did try to let him stir the flour mixture. He had just woken up from naptime and was still a little groggy so he just held the spoon not really sure of the idea of "baking." But he definitely loved the cookies afterwards!

Today was Take a Trip Tuesday. Last night Lucy was up until somewhere after midnight so we were all tired this morning. I wasn't sure I wanted to brave taking both kids anywhere today but we had to stick with the schedule, after all the point of it was to push us to try new things that were out of the ordinary. So I decided that we would load into the car and go through the car wash..... A fun and new experience for both kiddos! Jack wasn't sure about it at first and Lucy rode through it calmly. All in all it was a great experience. 

Tomorrow is Wet and Wild Wednesday. It is supposed to rain but not until afternoon. I am hoping to get Jack outside to play with the new water table. If it does rain I may have another idea brewing.... Something involving painting with water on a chalkboard! I will tryt o post updates about how this summer schedule is going throughout the summer posts... Along with plenty of pictures!

Should I PAINT my thumb green??

I have never been what many would call a "green thumb." It seems like plants come to my house to die. Luckily I have a stepmother that is a florist and an expert gardener! My in laws are also farmers so my mother in law gardens a lot - which helps! This year I am determined to get my yard looking up to par which has almost become an obsession! So far things are going great. It's been raining like cats and dogs this summer so my yard is bursting with beauty and life! However there are a few troubled plants that need my stepmom to come over to do emergency surgery!

This year I decided to grow pumpkins, tomatoes, cannas, sunflowers, and of course my perennial flowering   plants! So far this year things are looking great and I may actually have a beautiful yard after all!

Here is a rose bush that my husband and I planted during the first summer at this house.... it was the summer we got married! Look at how it has blossemed ... just like our marriage! BEAUTIFUL!

Last summer my Dad and stepmom brought some daisy and hydranga transplants - look at how they are growing! Really filled in!

These are my four clumps of pumpkins coming up. Last year I got pumpkin plants to grow and even had huge orange pumpkin blossems. The pumpkins never grew however because of the extreme heat and lack of rain last year. Maybe this year we will get some carving pumpkins for Halloween!

I planted these wildflowers under the evergreen tree last year but weeds were the only thing that grew last year. This year I have several flowers of different varieties growing! 

Out in the garden area I have a rose bush we transplanted from last year. We cut it way back and it is starting to climb the trellis. I even see some pink blooms coming out! Our Japenese grasses are also growing in full this year - lots of transplanting last year paid off this year!

I also have decided to take some of the yard burden off of my husband so I have taken to mowing the yard in the evenings when he can entertain the kids inside. I love mowing! We have a John Deere riding lawn mower and it is quite fun! Even on hot days I can typically get the yard done within 45 minutes. But the trimmer and I have had our share of issues so Chad is in charge of trimming! I just can't seem to get the hang of it.

Throughout the summer I will keep you posted on the yard and post pictures of what accumulates out there God willing! :)

Just a little about me...

Hello fellow mommies (or soon to be mommies - maybe even fathers as well).... I just wanted to let you know a little about me before we begin our journey together. 

I graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 2005 with my bachelor's degree in Special Education and taught for 7 consecutive years after graduating. My students were my "kiddos" and I always treated them like they were my own. I began teaching K-4 grades in Washington, IL and LOVED my job. I met my husband in 2007 and we married in 2009, moving me to another town and another school district. This time I taught junior high students, even coaching the dance team for one year! 

Life was going great but my husband and I wanted to have children, especially since we were the last of our friends to have children. We knew it was time to start trying after our first year of marriage. After having no success on our own, we tried infertility medication but still no baby. We filled out paperwork for the adoption process and began waiting on a birth mother to choose us. After a short 6 months of waiting we got a phone call that a baby boy had been born in Tennessee and the parents had chosen us to be his parents! We left quickly and met our son who we immediately fell in love with! 

I knew that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom for at least the first few years of my kids lives until they started in school, but now this decision was harder than I expected! It was only the middle of the school year and I was hesitant to leave my students so quickly. But my son was more important to me so I decided to stay at home instead. I was still determined to finish my master's degree in Educational Administration which was over half completed. It seemed very doable with just one baby at home and supportive family who would watch him. 

The day after my first Mother's Day I was surprised to learn that I was pregnant with a baby due the following January! I remember looking at my 4 month old son thinking how am I going to be able to handle two babies only 11 months apart!!! But either way this baby was coming! The pregnancy was a rough one (lots of nausea and dizziness) then a lot of back pain during the last trimester. But we survived it and my daughter arrived on my 30th birthday via c-section! 

Even with two babies at home I walked through graduation in May 2013 and am in the process of finishing my last two classes this summer! After healing from my c-section I decided I was going to treat my stay-at-home job as a full time profession. I did some research just to see what my new new career was worth... Here is what I found!

Knowing I was worth that much I decided I needed to treat this as I would my other job! As a full time profession! My goal was to perfect things at home - organizing our house so we were efficient, going to playgroups, cooking delicious and nutritious meals, etc! I had the 1950s housewife in mind with a little modernizing! This is where the journey begins..... I wanted to share some of my organizing tips and tricks as well as mommy ideas that are working well with my children! Enjoy the journey with me! See you in the blogworld!