What's Up Wednesday

January has flown by.  More so than usual it seems.  Is it just me or does it seem hard to believe that it's the last Wednesday of the month?!  I'm linking up today with Shay, Mel, & Sheaffer to share my What's Up Wednesday for the month.

What we're eating this week

We had chicken enchiladas with Spanish rice, which is one of my favorites.  So good!  :)

What I'm reminiscing about

The warm weather.

I haven't minded winter as much this year, but I'm starting to get a bit antsy about wanting to get back into my capri's and flip flops.  It's gonna be a while still, so I'm trying not to reminisce on it too much.

What I'm loving

I'm loving this bible study on Esther.

So far, I'd say I liked the Thessalonians study better, but I have to keep in mind that they are two completely different books of the bible, so they're going to be different.  Regardless, I'm enjoying it, and our small group time.

What we've been up to

Basketball, bowling, sleepovers, bible study's, school, homework, reading, Orthodontist appointments, dentist appointments...  everyday life.

What I'm dreading

One thing I'm dreading, but also excited about is the fact that Gracie gets her braces on next month.  She gets a special mouth piece put in as well to help her overbite.  I feel bad that she has to get them, but I'm excited for her at the same time, to get going on this.  In the long run, I'm sure she'll think it's worth it.

What I'm working on

I've been doing some early spring cleaning and it feels so good.  I've went through a few cupboards and cleaned them out.  Dan and I tackled our storage room upstairs and got most of it done.  It just feels good to get a few places reorganized and then to know it's actually going to stay that way for a while... unlike the never ending laundry pile.  ;)

What I'm excited about

I filled out the paperwork to start the process of getting the kids passports.

Dan met up with the kids and I after school last Friday and we signed everything and got the paperwork sent off.  I'm excited for them to get their own passports, even if we don't end up going anywhere right away.  But I'm definitely hoping we get to use them sooner than later.

What I'm watching/reading

I've been watching the Bachelor again, because I can't help it.  Have any of you been watching this season?  Between Lace and Olivia, I can't help but laugh and cringe with every episode.

I've been reading, For The Love, by Jen Hatmaker.
This is one of those books where I can only read a chapter at a time.

I also picked this book up at the grocery store the other day and it looks like it's going to be good.  I'm only a couple of chapters in, and already I've found myself chuckling.  I LOVE a book that makes me laugh, or cringe or that is slightly awkward for both the characters and me.  Who doesn't need a bit more laughter in their life?

What I'm listening to

At the moment, I'm enjoying my first cup of coffee and the only sounds in the house are of me typing out this post and the wash machine in the background.  It's definitely peaceful around here at the moment.

What I'm wearing

This month has definitely been a month of vests for me.  I just don't feel like wearing a coat lately, and it hasn't been cold enough that I felt I had to, so vests it is.  I have a black one and a white one, but usually my black one wins out.  I throw a long sleeved shirt under it, pair it with some jeans and I'm set.  It's easy enough to accessorize with a fun scarf or some boots.

What I'm doing this weekend

Jesse has a basketball game on Saturday, that we'll go and watch.  Sunday we've got Church and then afterwards the kids have bowling.  This Sunday they have a Pepsi tournament, so us parents have to bowl with the kids, which will be fun.

What I'm looking forward to next month

I'm hoping this next month to head over and see my Mom's sister and her kids in Washington for a couple of days.  I'm not sure if it'll happen, but I'm really hoping it works out.  They are such a blast!  I can just sit down and be humored for hours.  Crazy weird things always happen to them, so they always have a million stories to tell.  We are still trying to get them to start wearing helmet cams, wherever they go.  ;)

What else is new

  I can't really think of anything new.  Life is just rolling along, and most days, things feel about the same.  I love fun and new things, but I also really just love our day to day life and wouldn't trade it for anything.  Being content is a good place to be.

I'm as nosy as the next person.  If you've linked up to this as well, let me know and I'll stop over and see what you've been up to as well.

Have a great day!

 XOXO

Friday Favorites

Today, I'm back with my Friday Favorites, and I'm linking up with Andrea, Erika & Narci.

We have a couple of things planned this weekend, but nothing too big thankfully.  I'm ready for a nice, relaxing weekend at home. 

I bought a couple new games for around the house.  The kids have loved playing Battle Ship.  Dan and I have been versing the kids, but I think this weekend is the perfect chance to take him on and show him how this game is played.  Ha!  ;)

 Emma asked if I would come up to her school this week and watch their assembly.  They talked about how to handle bully's and who their hero's where.  So sweet!

 

 I love that even though my kids fight with each other constantly, I know that they've got each others backs and that they love each other.  In case you can't understand the video, Emma is saying, "My brother and sister are my hero's because whenever I'm sad, they make me feel better or loved."  Melt my heart!  But what about Mama?!  ;)

 Last night we went up to the high school and watched Jesse play basketball.  They'll have a couple Saturday morning games, but last night they played at half time of the boys Varsity game.  Jesse's the one with the ball in this video. 

It was so fun to watch, and crazy at the same time, when I see how much he's growing up.

 Today I'm filling out passport applications for my kids.  I should have done this a long time ago, so today, I'm crossing it off my list.  I am ready to start planning our next adventure.  It might be a while until we do anything, but it's never to early to start dreaming and planning, right!?

I found this little note the other day just sitting on my desk.  One of my kids left it for me, and I just think it's the sweetest thing. They tried to write, You're beautiful."   It reminded me, that it doesn't take much to make someones day just a little bit better.  I decided I want to leave little notes around the house for the kids as well.  We'll see what they think.  :)

Have a great weekend!

xoxo

Weekend Happenings

Our weekend consisted of basketball, baking, football games, sleepovers, bowling, a birthday party, church, and figuring out how to get cat urine out of a mattress.  Yeah, that's right... be jealous.  ;)

I think it was our old cat that did it, but this is the very reason that I don't want indoor animals.  I just don't love them enough to let them do things like this.  If he wasn't already an outdoor cat, he would be now.  He likes to come in every once in a while to take a nap and then he's back out to the barn.  He might be taking his naps in the barn from now on, because Mama ain't got time for that.

Friday mid morning, Dan took off from work and we headed over to Spokane to pick up my new kitchen chairs.  The table had been delivered the day before, and what's a new table without chairs to go with it.  

Such a good husband to drive me over.  Doesn't he look so excited?  Haha!

Really, he didn't mind.  :)

 Saturday morning, Jesse had a basketball scrimmage after a bit of practice.

His ball handling skills have come a long ways from last year, and I'm excited to see it on the court. 

The Seahawks played on Sunday and it was painful!  It's too bad they didn't show up the first half of the game like they did for the second half.  Yikes!  

Yesterday all 3 kids decided to do some baking by themselves.  I'm glad they wanted to, but on the other hand, I'm not a baker, and I hate the mess.  At least they are old enough that I can tell them, that nobody leaves the kitchen until every surface has been wiped down and everything is put back in order.  

They had fun.  They made little donuts and little cake pops.  They worked on their fractions, worked as a team and for the most part got along.  Me, I just hid out until they said they were done.  After taking a couple pictures of course.

XOXO

Beyond The Silence

I've read a lot of Tracie Peterson's books over the years and I was excited to get my hands on this one. She wrote this book with Kimberely Woodhouse, and I loved it.

In Beyond The Silence, Lillian heads west to become a Nanny for a little boy who is no longer speaking, after witnessing the death of his mother.  Lillian takes care of the little boy, while also developing feelings for his father, who happens to be her employer.  Meanwhile, there is a bit of suspense with the killer still at large.

This book is well written and has good character definition.  As soon as I started reading this book, I knew I was going to like it.  The story took right off from the beginning and kept my interest the whole way through.  Which is seemingly harder and harder to find in books these days.

If you are looking for a fun, easy read, with a bit of suspense, I just know you'll like this one.

 * I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House Publisher, in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Have you read any of Tracie Peterson's or Kimberley Woodhouse's books before?

5 Daily Habits To Help Your Day Start Off Right!

I'm always trying to listen and watch to see how other women and mom's do things.  When I see someone succeeding in an area, I'm all ears.  Whether it's keeping up on house work, making meals, organizing, etc.  I don't believe that any of us are perfect, and I don't believe that any of us have it all mastered.  I know, I certainly don't. 

I don't have any monumental habits, but these are 5 that I've made into a routine over the years, and they help me start my day off right. 

My daily habits:

1.  I run my dishwasher every night.  If I forget just one night, I feel so behind the next morning.  Running my dishwasher at night, allows all my dishes to be washed and ready to unload in the morning, making room for all the dirty dishes to go straight into it.


2.  I make sure my coffee pot timer is set for morning.  I love waking up in the morning, knowing that my coffee is waiting for me.  Yes, I could wait and do this in the morning, but then it's just one extra thing do do when I'm still groggy from sleep.


3.  I like to start a load of laundry first thing in the morning.  I instantly feel on top of my game, if I know the laundry is going right away.  It may take me a little bit to wake up, but at least things are getting done.

4.  I make my bed.  Why does a bed all made up, instantly make the house feel more put together? 

5.  I fill up my water bottle.  This is definitely not monumental, but I think it's important.  It holds 32oz of water, and I try to drink 3 of them a day.  If I don't start first thing in the morning, it's a lot harder to get in all 3.  Plus, drinking a bit of water before I drink coffee, seems to help me feel not so jittery.  This water bottle is the one that I use and love.  I also have this one for when I'm traveling as it's slim enough to fit into my cup holder, and it also holds 32oz.  You can get them off Amazon, but I've also found them at Walmart.

Habits that I'm working on forming:

A couple of habits that I'd like to work on, would be checking my kid's rooms at night when I tuck them in.  I need to take a couple extra minutes and make sure that they are putting their stuff where it goes and that they're keeping their rooms clean.  I am so over, walking into their rooms and being appalled at how messy their rooms have become.  So daily inspections at bedtime need to quickly become a new routine in this house.

I need to make sure that I do my devotions daily, even if I'm not in the middle of a bible study.  I feel so structured when I'm in a study and as soon as I'm done, I feel a bit lost again.  I shouldn't be.  I think it's just from going from a very structured, laid out plan, to having the freedom to read and study what I want.  Anyone else get this?

Some days, it feels a bit challenging to get everything done in one day, so on top of all the other habit's I'm incorporating, I'm hoping to also start waking up earlier.  I get up every morning between 5:30 and 6:00.  I have a couple minutes to myself and then I wake the kids up at 6:00 to start getting ready for school.  A half an hour at the most, doesn't give me much time in the morning for myself.   I'm hoping to start training my body to get up a bit earlier each week until I'm getting up at least by 5:00.  We'll see how that goes.  No guarantees.  ;)

What are some routines, that you have, that help your day start off right?

Enjoying a quiet morning at home

I'm moving slow around the house this morning, regrouping from a couple of busy days.  The laundry is running in the background, and isn't that a beautiful sound?  That is, until it beeps, letting you know you have to get up and do something about it.  Ha! 

Gracie is home today, not feeling well, so we're just gonna have a quiet day at home.  I'll work on catching up a bit around the house, and then I'm going to give myself permission to take it easy as well.  #nottodaymomguilt

I started a new book this week, that I'm loving so far.  I'm hoping to finish it up later today, and then I'll let you all know what I think.

Yesterday was spent out of town with these two for Dr. appointments. 

On our way home, we stopped to fill up our water at this little watering hole.  We've been stopping here for years.   I don't know why, but we just think it's so fun.  I'll take this any day over a water bottle at the store.

Getting a few snapshots of them has gotten harder and harder to do lately.  My kids don't really enjoy having their pictures taken.  We had a little talk the other day, that one of the privileges of being a Mom, is that we get to take pictures of our kids.  Even though, these weren't the best pictures of them, at least I got something. 

We had stopped at the bookstore before coming home, so when I got home that evening, Emma curled up in my bed after her shower and we sat down to read one of her new books.  That is one of the best ways to spend a few minutes before bed.

We've already made it halfway through the work week.  I hope you guys are hanging in there and enjoying it as much as you can.

Be Blessed,

Life Lately

I've been struggling making time to blog this past week, so instead of fighting it, I just took a little break.  Sometimes it can't be helped, right?!

You all know how much I loved my last bible study by Beth Moore.   Well, my bible study leader and I teamed up and we added a second available study time.  This way we can offer it in the morning and the evening, so women who can't make one, can hopefully make the other.  She is still leading the study on Wednesday mornings, and I'm leading it on Tuesday evenings.  It has been a huge success so far.  Well, for our first week anyway.  We went from 5 women in our study to around 25 women.  Huge!

We are studying the book of Esther this time, and I'm hoping that we all love it as much as I loved the Thessalonians study.

I've also taken over the junior high, and high school Sunday school class at my church.  I don't really feel like this is necessarily my calling, but someone needed to step up and do it, so I'm doing it for now.  Our church is small and hasn't had a program for a couple of years.  Mainly because there hasn't been kids that age to teach.  Well there is now, so here we go.

I've been browsing Pinterest for different ideas, which has been fun.  I found this sign and I can't wait to make one like it and hang it in the class room.

I think it's fun, especially with all the social media that kids have now.  Hopefully they'll think it's cute.  Hopefully, I'm not just the old uncool lady who thinks it's cute, when they think it's lame.  Ha!  

We're definitely ready for the weekend at this house.  The kids have been bowling, going to youth group and we've started our year off with Dr. appointments for everyone.  It seems to be the time of year to get into the dentist and eye doctor,  plus we're getting ready to get Gracie into braces.

We've started our year off a bit busy, but I'm hoping it mellows out after we get back into our routine. 

So tell me the truth, is the sign lame?  :) 

Also, if you've done a Beth Moore study, which one was your favorite?

Enjoy your weekend!