Our little bakers

It is definately Christmas time here.

Visions of sugar plums are dancing - and if you're lucky you can catch me doing a jig or two to Bing Crosby and friends Christmas tunes.

We are crafting crazy every day...

Rudolph definately makes his appearance on our TV screen everyday...

We watch "The Small One" and everytime..everytime...Brooklyn wants me to tell her why the donkey is carrying Mary to Bethlehem.

"Mommy...why is the donkey taking Mary to Bethlehem?"

She loves to hear the story of the birth of Jesus.

Melt me...just watch me turn to goo.

We made Christmas cookies one evening and they were soooo sweet.

I think we will do it again in a week or so.

I am so excited to have my Christmas baking buddies.

I think matching aprons will find their way under the tree this year :)

Check ya later...

Frank Sinatra is about to serenade me and a lovely fire is waiting for me :)

Nathan 7 month pics...

It has been way too long since I have been on here.

The days are getting away from me.

Guess I have a no brainer for a new years resolution :)

Here are the TWO pics I got for Nathans 7 month day.

He was very grumpy. Not happy.

Turns out...he had an ear infection and here I am sitting him out on a cool day

trying to get him to smile.

I actually like these pics though.

They are real life.

Who wants fakey fakey posey posey?

Melt my heart once again...have I mentioned how crazy in love I am with this

little guy?

:)

The Happy Day Project....

I am so excited to be a part of this project!

I want my blog to be used for the good of others.
One of my favorite bloggers Julie over at joyshope.com and her friend Jeanette at Life Rearranged
have teamed up for a really worthy challenge.

The Happy Day Project

She challenges us to do something good everyday for a week.

While I hope I do good everyday anyways...
Ive been praying that I would be inspired to make the holidays more meaningful...and not just for my kids.
I tend to make my world about my kids...which is fine in certain aspects.

I want to teach them to do good.
To love.
To give.
To enjoy spreading happiness to those around them.
To be selfless.

take the challenge with me :)

Check out the details at joyshope.com 

or just click on the icon above.

It is good to do good.

Its Biblical

Its right

Its good

Have a fabulous wonderful weekend :)

Nathan....6 month pic...how can this BE???

I just cannot bring myself to say my little baby boy is 6 months old.

 What in the world have I been doing for 6 months?

(Oh yeah...changing diapers, cooking, nursing, potty training....etc)

He is so handsome.

I took these last night.

The ones where he is sitting up were quick pics.

Philip would hold him, let go, I would take the pic, then P would catch him.

Little booger (talking about Nathan)

Ok so Philip can be a booger too.

He is weighing in at 21 lbs, 28 inches and he has a big head.

100 % on the charts for his head.

I dont mind.

Its the cutest little baby boy head I have ever seen!

he started eating solid foods this week...sweet potatoes.

Ill post those pics soon too.

Meanwhile...here is a little glimpse into picture time.

My favorites wouldnt upload, so I will try again when P gets home!

Oh he is so precious to me!

He does have a big head huh? haha!

He's a big boy!

Gotta protect his sisters :) 

comfort food...im a sucker

So when it turns cold I get in the mood for warm foods and sometimes they arent so healthy.
I was trying to figure out what to have for dinner last night and found some potatoes my mom gave me because she had too many.
free potatoes? I have to use them!
So I made this for dinner last night...easy on the budget too! YUMMO! :)

Easy potato soup

We dont eat a lot of white potatoes....and a major reason is because I do not like to peel them. And generally we like sweet potatoes better.

I take 5-6 potaoes the size of my fist. Scrub, peel and cut up into fairly large chunks.
Add some water (do not cover the potatoes completely) and bring to a boil.
Continue to cook for about 20 minutes
add 1 cup of milk
add 1/4 onion finely chopped
add lots of black pepper
dried parsley or chopped fresh parsley leaves (optional if you dont have either)
add 2-3 cloves minces garlic
add a little salt

conitnue to cook on medium for about 30 minutes.

Its fantastic. we love it and its comforting and warm and its a good healthier meal for the cooler days!

Hope you like it!

We are loving the weather today...cloudy with some rain and a cool breeze. Yay for fall!

Guest post at The Domestic Wannabe!

I am excited to be a part of the series "A Day in the Life" over at

http://www.thedomesticwannabe.blogspot.com/

Check out her awesome blog and be encouraged!

Mommy "Possible" Williams

Yesterday Philip asked Brooklyn...

"Brooklyn, what is mommy's name?"

"Mommy, possible, Williams" she said.

We just couldnt quit laughing.

What a silly girl...trying to be serious :)

I am LOVING how my girls say and do things like that.

Which reminds me, I have got to start writing more of those down!

Speaking of "possible"...

This little handsome guy is 6 Months old now.

Ummm 6 months.

How is that possible???

This is what I get to look at all day long...

boy...I sure do have it made :)

Budget friendly dinners...

I have written a few posts but havent actually published them.
I got distracted...three kids. You know...

I have really been trying to stretch our budget and be creative with our meals.
So if you are needing some help with the same, maybe this will help out a little.

Each week I buy a whole chicken.
Meal#1
crockpot the whole chicken for 8 hours
season with onions, garlic cloves, pepper, and salt
sides=steamed broccoli, corn on the cobb, and black eyed peas

(After dinner, I take time and pull all the chicken off of the bones, not fun, but I do it)

Meal#2
fajitas
one green bell pepper, half an onion
1 cup chicken from last night
taco seasoning packet OR I like to use a little salsa to mix in with the onion, pepper, and chicken
cook in a skillet for about 15 minutes
serve with corn tortillas, grated cheese, and any other toppings you like

Meal#3
Chicken spaghetti
Use the rest of the chicken you have and mix with 8 oz whole wheat spaghetti (cooked), one bell pepper, 1/4 onion chopped, pepper, 1/2 cup heavy cream, and about 6 oz grated cheese.
cook in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.
serve with salad!

We usually eat a version of these three meals each week.
How can you beat that? A whole chicken feeds the four of us for three meals!
We do not generally eat red meat, so if we eat meat it is chicken or fish.

Hope this can help you spread the grocery dollars a little bit. :)
Ill share more soon...

OH! Dont forget to strain the chicken broth out of the chicken! Freeze it later for soup or for cooking!
Yummo!

It's a Little Wild and a Little Strange...

So Philip and I usually watch some kind of TV show after we put the kids to bed.

Usually it's something recorded on the DVR like "The Office" or "19 Kids and Counting"

(Yes, I am strangely fascinated with the Duggars!)

Lately we have revisited our preteen-early teen years.

Do you remember the show "Hey, Dude"?

You know...the theme song starts out

"It's a little wild and a little strange...when you make your home out on the range."

Early 90's.

Philip and I both thought it was the coolest show ever.

Well...we have been watching it every night for the past week.

How cool are we?

I couldn't find a great pic...but maybe this one will help bring you back down memory lane.

Bringin' back the 90's baby...bringin' it back.

A little acccountability...

I am writing this post as sort of an accountability post.

Before kids I was a decent normal weight, size, etc.

post kids...Its just not that way.

permanent stretch marks on my belly (and thighs).

A little more "junk in the trunk" (ive heard that term a lot recently)

back pain

wider hips

bags under the eyes

etc

however, I do feel so sad that I am not as healthy as I could be.

My body is interesting because after each baby...I lost all the weight I gained within four weeks.

Im talking 52 lbs with Natalie

35 lbs with Nathan

(With Brooklyn I never wanted to know the lb number)

My metabolism kicks into high gear postpartum...its nuts.

Since losing my weight with Nathan...I have gained 7 lbs back.

Thats 7 pounds above PRE pregnancy weight.

How can this be??
Im nursing and burning crazy amount of calories that way.

Ive been running for a couple of months now.

(I am now more consistent)

The scale is not budging.

I have thyroid issues but according to the Dr...my hormone levels are not easy to read because I am nursing and still in the postpartum stage.

(Nathan is only 4 months old)

So my thyroid problems are still up in the air...

and apparently I have to wait 6 months longer to see what direction (treatment)

the Dr wants to take.

Still not sure about that whole thing.

Anyways...
I am super excited and motivated to get into the best shape possible for ME.

I am not interested in being model thin or superbody builder.

I want to be healthy.

For myself

for my kids

for my husband

and mostly because God gave me this body to take care of and

I feel sooo thankful that I have the resources to make it healthy!

What are you doing to keep yourself healthy?
I would love to hear...maybe you can think of something I am not thinking of.

the only thing I can think that I am lacking...and out of my control...is sleep.

I know I do not get enough sleep.

Maybe one day :)

Groceries...

Well yesterday I said I was going to tell you the cost of each item we bought.

I lost the receipt.

Actually I probably threw it away with other miscellaneous paper.

(I am annoyed with any clutter...so I dont keep anything paper that I do not need)

At Whole Foods total we spent 85.49

Reasors I spent 37.00

The pic of Whole Foods products is below.

I didnt take a pic of the reasors trip

Normally I would spend about 80$ in a week on groceries.

I dont usually buy meat but I am trying to include salmon in our diet at least once a week.

Its not cheap!

Reasors:

One whole chicken $11.00

wild caught alaskan salmon $11.27

one organic Bell pepper, half gallon of organic milk, pkg 6 whole wheat organic bagels

one organic tomato

Whole Foods:

All organic foods below and I dont remember everything because I dont have the receipt and I dont really want to squint and figure out the picture! ha!

We also made two more trips and bought a few things...I just cant remember what!

yes there is bacon in there.

Philip loves bacon.

So...it had less than 5 ingredients and was organic...so he bought it.

It has been fun cooking this week.

I have a lot going on right now

So I will share the menu and recipes I used on the next post.

HOWEVER...we made it the first week and today is grocery day already.

Ive gotta get busy figuring out what we will need the next 6 days!

have a WONDERFUL weekend!

(If you look closely towards the front I did buy a $3 bar of goats milk soap...it smelled so good!)

Tiny Dancers...

A few weeks ago my little princesses began dance lessons.

Natalie is in beginner ballet...

Brooklyn is in 3 year old ballet/tap

They absolutely love it.

Natalie was a little shy at first.

On her first day she was frozen the entire class.

The teacher had to physically move her body to do a somersault (sp??)

She is now a little more relaxed and is enjoying it more.

Brooklyn walked into class and was such a good student.

She kept her eyes on the teacher and followed every step she showed.

I am so proud of her for following directions, disciplining herself, and having fun at the same time.

its definately a lot of work taking them.

Natalie's class is first for 40 minutes.

Brooklyns class is second for an hour.

So we are all there for about 2 hours.

I entertain Nathan the whole time.

I am sure that will get easier too.

Below are some pics from the first day.

Look how TINY Natalie is!

She is 2 1/2 years old and wears the same size diapers as my almost 5 month old.

nope...she is not interested in potty training at all.

Fine with me :)

 Love it love it love it

As for my food challenge: Its going well!
I have been making some great recipes and the entire family has loved them all.
It has been hard sometimes not to want to grab a starbucks drive thru drink but I have prevailed.

It is nice to know that all our food is healthy and whole.
I will admit our grocery bill was about 25$ more. But I think some of that was because of my bad menu planning. I bought some things we didnt really need. I also spent more in gas going to Whole Foods three times last week. Also because of bad planning. Ill do better this week :)
Tomorrow...Ill share my past weeks menu-grocery bill (yes I will tell you the cost lol!)and a list of all I bought. If you want the recipes you can message me.
I am getting most of them off of 100daysofrealfood.com

Anyways....have a great Thursday!

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Labor Day Weekend

Our weekend was not so labor intensive.

Philip and I had two dates.
Friday my mom stopped by after work-so Philip and I took a "date" to Whole Foods.
(seriously it is a date. it is not fun taking my kids there...they love going but I need to concentrate!)

Saturday I took the girlies to dance class.
I love them so much...my girls are definately born dancers.
Brooklyn has amazing rythym!!!

Sunday I got to help teach/lead the two year old class at church.
It was caraaaaazy for me.
The other teacher was amazing. She is really gifted.
The hard part about that is I am beginning to teach that class starting this coming Sunday!
I admit I was overwhelmed and scared, but I am praying..and slowly that fear is fading.
I was super tired though :)

Sunday night Philips parents came over so we could have another date night!
We went to a new restaurant and sat outside in the LOVELY weather.
We walked around utica square and had coffee.
We love our date nights (Which always end up in a trip to Target to get wipes or diapers)

My food journey is going awesome!
I have discovered that we eat really well anyways...so this transition isnt life changing horrible.
I have come up with creative ways to sweeten things and have had fun researching new recipes.

I will post pics of our refreshed fridge and pantry tomorrow.

Thats about it today...sorry its so boring. I just needed to do a weekend "report" for myself!

My pantry...yikes!!!

If you didnt read yesterdays post ... todays will make more sense if you do. :)
But you dont have to.

Well last night I stayed up way too late.
Researching recipes.
Printing off my meal plans for the week.

I think this will take a little longer than I thought.

I dont want to rush into this whole thing because then...I am sure I will fail!
I need to be organized.

My goal for today is to make my grocery list and post my menu for next week on the fridge.
If I post my menu then at least we will know what meals are coming up.
I used to do this before I had Nathan...so I am sure this wont be a hard thing to pick back up.

My girls are extra "needy" today...not sure why.
Usually they have periods during the day where they play together well without me.
Not so much today.
So that will determine how far I get.


So here is my before picture of my pantry and fridge. I took the pics far away so you couldnt study and see what I have in there :) Smart huh?
I have a lot of items in my pantry that I never ever use and do not remember buying. unopened canned foods, salad dressings, crackers, etc. I even found 5 hershey bars! Where did those come from and how did they survive??? ha!
My fridge looks horrible...its full of condiments that we never use.
I cant WAIT to clean it all out!

dont judge friends....dont judge :)



Food for thought...

I am thinking about doing something brave.

I have an unhealthy obsession with health.

Especially food.

I LOVE healthy delicious whole food.

Philip and I talk alot about how we would totally live on a farm and sustain ourselves with homegrown food. Lots of gardens with a huge variety of fruits and veggies. Raise chickens for eggs...and maybe for chicken as food. I am sure we would have to have cattle....so Philip could have his weekly steak. (we would take it to a butcher of course. gross!!) We would have goats for milk. Fruit trees.
I would have the best herb garden and always have fresh herbs to season our handpicked veggies.

That is our dream.

Will it come true? Probably not completely.

I do not see myself or Philip riding horses and herding the cattle.
(I would like to see Philip in chaps and a cowboy hat though...just out of curiosity)

Anyways...I strive to buy and feed my family the freshest most healthy food I can find within our budget.

I am SERIOUSLY thinking about going through my pantry and fridge and taking out every food that is processed. Even if its organic. If it has FIVE ingredients or less...it goes.

I really want to do this. I admit...I am TERRIFIED!!!

As hard as I try to buy whole real foods....I am sure there are more foods than I think that have more than 5 ingredients.

SO .... I am asking for help.

I want 2 more people to do this with me...

At first I was going to say 5.

But thats a LOT to ask.

I am going to do this in three steps.

1) Plan meals and snacks for the next week. (using no processed foods or ingredients...whole real fresh foods are priority.)
2) Go grocery shopping and buy everything on the list.
3) Go through my pantry, fridge, and freezer and remove EVERYTHING (yes including ketchup, salad dressings etc) that is processed. yikes!!!

for the record...i am not going to throw it away.
My plan is to box up anything that does not need to be refrigerated and put it in another room of the house.
Anything frozen will go into my deep freezer in the garage.
Anything refrigerated will be placed in the back of the fridge...in a paper sack so there is no temptation.

Who wants to try this with me???

Anybody???

Pleeeease pretty pretty pleaseeeeeee dont make me do this alone!!!!!
there is strength in numbers!!!!

This idea has been in the back of my mind for quite some time.
This lady ( 100daysofrealfood.com ) made it reality for her family.

Join me...Ill update.

My goal is to have the three steps done by Sunday.
I have three kids...simple things take a long time around here :)

Family pictures

It has been over a month since I have posted.

Yikes!

About a month ago our sweet friends came to our home

and took some family pics.

We thought it would be easier to take them at our home

rather than a studio or packing the littles up

to go to another location.

it was perfect

The girls were so relaxed and had a great time.

They were in their element...so it was easy to get fun pictures!

If you need a photographer..

Danny and Mandi Ammann

Ammannphotography.com

They are AWESOME.

The cutest couple and so friendly and the prices are GREAT!

Enjoy!
Brooklyn 3

Natalie 2

Nathan 3 months

Like mother like Daughter...

1984

Left eye turning in...

eyes crossing

blurry

ugly plastic frames

huge lenses

big bug eyes

patch over right eye

Yep that was me at 3 years old.

fast forward

2011

Left eye slightly turning in

eyes crossing occasionally

blurry

Adorable girly "chic" frames

polycarbonate lenses

beautiful eyes

no patches

Thats my three year old

Strange how things happen.

She is adorable in glasses.

we pick them up this week.

She LOVES them.

Thankfully I am VERY aware of my childrens vision.

mainly due to the fact I have always had horrible eye sight.

SHE will most likely grow out of it.

Because

We

caught

it

early.

I am allllll about preventive health.

Maybe Ill do a post on all the "healthies" I give my kids.

If you promise not to make fun :)

And if you do make fun...

well...ok

Different strokes for different folks.

Im lovin that saying right now.

HAPPY MONDAY!!!

Running woes

I am not a complainer.
I really do not have anything to complain about...I am extremely blessed.
Like I've noted before, this blog is also a journal for myself.
So, this post is basically for that purpose, but if its interesting to you, thats great too!

I have been doing the couch25K program the past few weeks.
It is GREAT. I really thought the first run would be hard. It was great!

However, I am currently at a stand still for a few different reasons. I am not happy about it because I am really set on doing the Tulsa Run (or some of it) in the fall.

I have had some major back and hip issues since having my babies. I also have a lot of headaches. So I decided to go to a chiropractor (he is the best ever by the way).
I go a few times a week, and it has helped tremendously!

During my first Chiro visit, he took some x-rays and found some abnormalities in my thyroid.
Ok I thought...no biggie.
Well it is becoming a more in depth issue than I thought or wanted.
My thyroid is enlarged, with multiple nodules on it.
I had blood tests, and an ultrasound on it. My Dr is referring me to an endocrinologist whom I will see this week.
Strangely enough, I have very strong symptoms of thyroid disease.
Basically the entire time, Ive beat myself up because I couldnt seem to get myself healthy enough.
I lose weight really fast during stressful times (giving birth etc.) and then all of a sudden my weight totally changes gears and I gain.
I have been running and eating well...yet I have gained 12 lbs in about 3 weeks. not normal.
I am also so very tired, irritable, and other symptoms that fall under hypothyroidism.

Not a big deal, but an enlarged thyroid with nodules makes it a little more difficult to treat with a pill.

I also hurt my knee when scrubbing the hard tile floor the other day.
note to self, at least kneel on a towel or something.
Ugh. it hurts bad.

So my running has come to a halt the past 3 days.
I dont feel great.
I am tired,
I feel so fat (sorry) because I cant fit into many clothes.

its not fun.

It could always be worse.
So I am thankful that my issues are fixable and treatable.

I am just ready to lace up my shoes and break in my new workout clothes.

Maybe this week...maybe...hopefully!

Randomness...

* We have been grilling a lot. Mostly chicken...just plain grilled chicken with a touch of BBQ sauce. Triple YUM!

* Our garden is flourishing! Lettuce like crazy and zucchini that is super amazing sauteed in olive oil. Im ready for my bell peppers to show up...not much longer!

* Nathan is smiling, cooing, snuggling, pooping, spitting up, blowing bubbles, kicking his little legs, sleeping better (5:30 AM), and we are LOVING IT!!!

*Brooklyn loves nurturing Nathan. "awww brother Nathan are you smiling??? awww brother Nathan is sooooo sweet". Makes my heart burst with joy :)

* Natalie is learning not to hit, smack, lick, bite, squeeze, and yell at brother Nathan. She DOES give him kisses a lot and says "Wub you brother". Oh my heart is going to explode.

* Philip is working so hard. It is so hot this summer and he is out in it every single day. Thankfully his job is sporadic and its not hours upon hours on end. He works hard and takes care of us so well.

* I am trying to do my part on saving us money. keeping the air up to 77 during the day even though my hormones are insane and I am SWEATING all day inside. ugh. thats getting old.
I am nursing nursing nursing to help save $$ on not using formula...but I get great satisfaction that my baby is getting my milk and God is using me to sustain his life. WOW. (Dont get me wrong I have nothing against formula! My girls were formula fed and they are super healthy. This time I just chose to stick with nursing. Different strokes for different folks. right?? :)

* I have been running...I LOVE IT. alot alot alot

* We have been watching "Up" a lot. My girls love that movie and its just soooo hot that I cave and give in to the pressure of the TV. However, we watch "Up" about 3 times a day. I have it memorized.
"SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!!" :)

I love life. Im thankful. I like to be able to write about random things. God is so, so, good!

Consequences...

I really really really do not like "punishing" my girls.

I always try to come up with a way to

creatively discipline them.

Such as the following:

*When I walk into their room thinking they are napping just to find the entire closet of clothes pulled out into a big pile on the floor. Each girl is wearing ridiculous outfits...mismatched shoes and at least thre pairs of training panties on their heads.

Punishment: I make them clean up the entire mess...I along with them...taking at least an hour.

Does that punishment work? No. It is fun...putting clothes on hangers and folding a hundred pairs of socks.

*When I notice Natalie is awefully quiet. I hunt her down to find her looking authentically albino...covered from eyelashes to shoulders to her scalp in DESITIN.

Punishment: an hour of scrubbing herself (actually me scrubbing her) and figuring out that not even DAWN dish soap will "cut the grease".

Does that punishment work? No. Desitin is fun...its white...and it sticks to you like glue.

*When there is crayon all over the walls.

Punishment: scrubbing the walls.

Does it work? No. She did it again...brought me a wet cloth and asked me to help her clean. Again...Natalie.

Did I take pictures?

Um yes.

Did I laugh?
Definately.

Do I wish they never would have committed such crimes??
NOPE.

Memories dear friends.

I dont care how messy it is...

one day they will understand.

When they have kids...

So I will wait.

I will patiently scrub them down when they get messy.

I will mop blueberry juice off the floor.

They will enjoy cleaning with me.

Punishment??

I dont want to crush their spirit.

They are curious.

It gets the best of them.

Why get angry???
Dont we want them to learn??

Now...blatent disobedience is a different story.

For a different day.

On a different post.



Orange Colored Sky...

July 4th...or Independance Day

is becoming one of our families favorite holidays.

Its so summery!

Its hot outside...and perfect for celebrating!

The past two years we have spent this holiday with my sister and her family.

Little cousins playing.

Homemade ice cream.

Crab boil dinner.

grilling.

watermelon.

fireworks.

Everyone wearing patriotic colors.

Its just a fun great time.

A peak into our funfilled weekend.

This was the first year all the kids went to see fireworks.

My girls and my oldest niece cried for a while...

but after clinging on to us for dear life..they enjoyed it.

My youngest niece slept through the whole thing.

I snuggled Nathan...covering his ears from the loud explosions from the Orange Filled Sky.

I cant wait till next year.

5 kids ages 1-4.

Nothing but excitement!

It is such a blessing to be able to give our kids these moments

and memories.

My niece is 5 weeks older than Nathan...they are already buddies!