31 things

1. mild january weather
2. less travel for tim during january
3. volleyball season starting for jo
4. a healthy month!
5. young living oils.
6. ellie's volleyball practice time from 7:30 to 8:30 pm.
7. jury duty
8. our finished basement. seriously every night they are down there playing. praise hands.
9. my sister. she helps me out soooooo much.
10. our little home.
11. celebrating jake's second birthday.
12. oreo dessert.
13. a new vehicle for tim that fits our "whole big family" maggies words.
14. pork roast. this fall i realized our family l.o.v.e.s pork roast.
15. good sleep.
16. morning coffee.
17. our leader board to keep track of good behavior.
18. sunday walks with tim.
19. getting family pics framed.
20. magnet blocks.
21. great report card for miss ellie.
22. magascar and tangled.
23. clean laundry.
24. cuties.
25. tim's midweek grocery trips.
26. a big sister who takes time to play with her little sisters.
27. pigeon games.
28. trying out jojoba oil and loving it.
29. family.
30. fresh fruit.
31. meal planning.

pour from a full cup.

2016 was a fast and full year.

so much good.

also....a little bit of hectic and just plan crazy.

you know just normal crazy. lots of good stuff going on. running behind here and there.

the stuff that can overwhelm.

especially if one is not taking care of self.


you can't pour from an empty cup.


there were several points during 2016 that i felt weary. tired. empty.

this does not bring out the best in me.


you can't pour from an empty cup.


in hit me a few months back that the routines i had in place for a number of years i had suddenly let go. things i had being doing for myself....gone. things that once gave me great joy.

i can't pinpoint why those changes happened exactly. but i can say that it has hard on me. i realized i needed to make a change. there were many moments where my cup was dry. empty. i knew i needed to get a routine in place to fill it up.


you can't pour from an empty cup.


here are things that fill me up....quiet time in the morning, reading my devotional and bible, exercise, cooking for my family, spending time talking to tim, house projects, organizing, photography, playing with my kids.

right after the first of the year i made changes to include several of these things. and three weeks in. i feel a difference. a bid difference.

here is what i have been doing.
1. waking early.
2. trying to exercise daily....i have to be careful with this as i am still recovering from a stress fracture in my foot. i am mainly going for walks and doing some yoga.
3. weekend walks with tim.
4. reading she reads truth devotionals daily and out of the spin cycle by jen hatmaker.
5. limiting my time on facebook.....basically i try to just check it once a day during the week to see pictures my daycare may have posted of the kiddos.
6. i started a online photography class.
7. meal planning. spending time in kitchen cooking and baking for my family.


this list feels like a lot but many of these things are just smallish changes. but they make a big difference to me.

these things fill me up.

they bring out the best in me.

they help me give the best to my family.


they help me to pour from a full cup.

photo wall

something i have wanted to do for a very long time was to create a rather large photo wall some place in our home. doing something like this on the scale i wanted is a little tough. this type of wall can be a bit overwhelming, so it didn't seem the right fit for our main floor space. and honestly there wasn't a wall that was big enough to do what i wanted to do. for a long time i was at a loss for where to display all of our family photos.

then we finished the basement.

big empty walls.

perfect.

for this i wanted to fill that wall.

can you see it?

the one behind belle and her goofy sidekick.

i have been gathering pictures and frames for quite some time.

then i saw a picture honey holden posted on her instagram account of a photo wall in a guest bedroom. it was the nudge i needed.

get those pictures on the wall.

that weekend cece and i worked on pulling out all the frames we had. which was a lot. many of the frames had been thrifted or picked up a the flea market, most had been used previously somewhere in our home, and a few were new. some had a picture in them and were ready to hang. others needed cleaned up and a picture added.

we pulled out all of the pictures and started adding them to the frames. oh we have sooooo many pictures. old and new. a few more that needed to be printed. and lots more that need to be framed. we came across some of my favorites.

like these two....

oh my heart. sweet cece and sweet ellie. we were living in arizona when these pictures were taken. so a tough time in our lives...even though it was hard there were plenty of sweet moments too. these pictures need to be on display.

cece and i worked for a couple hours. she loves to help with this stuff. and she is a darn good helper.

the next day we started hanging them up.

i followed no rules. some of them are crooked. the wall is full of so many sweet faces. it makes my heart so very happy.

after standing and staring at the wall i have come to a few conclusions.

i love it.

every family picture session has been worth it. the money. the time. the bribery. and you know...the battle. capturing those faces is worth it.

i also have decided i want to fill the entire wall.

yes.

the entire wall.

i plan to fill the space next to and above the book case as well as the space behind the christmas tree. i want it to be all pictures.

trust me we have the photographs to fill it. i still have sweet baby ellie pictures, toddler and preschooler cece pictures, more baby maggie, and we need to add more jake! plus we have a one family picture session from a few years back that i need to print.

last weekend we did a little thrifting and i picked up a whole stack of frames (my girls may have been embarrassed). some i will paint and some i will leave alone. i can't want to get pictures in them and get them up on the wall.

this.

this makes me so happy.

happy day y'all.

lately....

1. the littles (mags and jake) are obsessed with saltine crackers and marshmallows right now. like we cannot keep them in the house obsessed. cracks me up. mags just cannot get enough. and if you give jake a bowl of saltines and he struts around so proudly. add a few marshmallows. oh boy. over the top.

2. actually Jake is obsessed with snacks right now. in the evening he spends his time rummaging through the pantry to come up with snacks.and he likes to put his snacks in bowls and line up all his options. he also thinks he needs multiple spoons to eat one or two yogurts. this boy.

3. my new years resolution (if you want to call it that) was to get up earlier. the morning seems to go better for everyone if momma gets up early enough to workout, get things around, sit and sip some coffee, read my devotional, and not be rushing. my alarm goes off at 5:00 am and i try to be up and out of bed by 5:10am. i really enjoy this quiet morning time. it helps me feel prepared for the day.

4. ellie is busy finishing her basketball season and starting her volleyball season. she enjoys it all and never complains about practices. this year her volleyball practices during the week are from 7:30-8:30 or 9:00. at first i wasn't sure how that was going to work. but actually it is pretty awesome. she gets the evening at home. time to finish homework and play with her siblings (who would do about anything for play time with ellie! seriously, maggie gets so sad when ellie is busy and can't play with her.) and have some dinner. then off to practice. tim has been able to take her most nights. and then the littles get to be at home all evening and go to bed on time. ellie is pretty good about winding down, having a snack and getting to bed after her practices.

5. cece chose to continue gymnastics for the spring. it makes her so happy. you should see the smile on her face as she practices. it is a little bit of running for us to get her there. however, i would rather invest a little time getting her to the one thing she loves than run her around to 5 things that are closer that she doesn't really enjoy. plus cece can't handle being overly busy. having one activity that she really loves is great for miss cece.

6. maggie's current favorite princesses are Ariel and Belle. we have watch the little mermaid and beauty and the beast over and over again.



7. one of our favorite christmas presents this year was magnet blocks. they have been enjoyed by all. maggie builds amazing houses and towers. and jake spends a lot of time matching and lining them up. they are awesome. wish we would have had some sooner. definitely a hit at our house.

 

8. the girls decided they wanted to spend a little of their christmas money at build a bear over christmas break. this is something we had never done before. they had fun picking their bear and watching them come to life. jake got in on the action too.....he just didn't really have much say in the whole thing :)

happy weekend.

meal plan monday.

i know what you are thinking.

3 blog posts in 3 days.

well i do love blogging and miss it when i can't get it done.

so i am trying.

really trying.


anyway.....

here is a meal plan.

monday: chicken noodle soup

tuesday: poor mans hamburger soup

wednesday: pw seasame noodles

thursday: quick and easy calzones

friday: pizza


happy monday y'all.

celebrating jake

one last picture as a one year old...

waking up two.......not so sure...

 

we celebrated jake first thing in the morning with donuts and presents. 

pretty good way to start your birthday!

 

and then i dropped him off at daycare and suddenly he was 14. 

oh jake. you are too cool. 

snacks and cyclones. 

perfect way to spend your birthday. 

he spotted cy and was sooooooooooo excited. 

then cy got closer. 

and closer. 

we went to say hi. 

jake was not so excited anymore. 

cy walked away. 

jake said bye-bye!

jake had a great second birthday! 

and it's not done yet. 

he has a family birthday party with cece later in february. 

jakers is one lucky and loved boy. 

2.

yesterday jake turned 2.

2.

two whole years of good stuff.

adventurous and rambunctious.

testing the limits.

yet oh so calm and easy going.

your happy attitude makes you a joy to be around.

you love big.

and we love you big back.

your big sisters.

well they would do pretty much anything for you.

you might be a little bit spoiled.

but what are we to do.

jake you are so good.

jake at two you...

• weigh 29 pounds and are 35 inches tall. 
• enjoy eating. especially off someone else's plate. 
• love to eat blueberries, raspberries, and donuts.
• are well rounded. 
• wear 2T and 3T clothes.
• wear size 5 diapers.
• love to climb all over the furniture. 
• say "mama dada waa-tsh" and then do something funny/silly/naughty.
• are getting tired of sitting in your highchair at the table. 
• like to play with balls, cars, trucks, and blocks. 
• love to get out a yogurt and a spoon and feed yourself.
• sleep from 7 pm to 7 am in your crib. 
• love watching "moo-bees" in the van as we run around town. 
• can name your family "mama, dada, ya-ya, yil-ya, gee, and ake"
• give the best hugs, high fives, and the occasional head bunt. 
• have a bit of a sweet tooth.
• are not the biggest fan of seeing santa or cy up close. 
• still take two naps.
• can run on only one....but not for more than a couple days in a row. 
• get your hair buzzed about once a month. 
• enjoy bathtime and putting your face in the water. pool time should be fun this summer.
• are really good at drinking out of a glass. 
• say hi to almost everyone. 

oh jake.

you are our best boy.

happy birthday jakers james.