Marriage

I heard Katie speak at our Mops Auction earlier this year and have been following her blog ever since.  She writes about her kids, books, motherhood and yesterday about marriage.   I just loved her post and wanted to pass it on to you all.

You can go to Katie's post here

I think my favorite thing she tries to do was this one 

When I do my husband's laundry or something else for him I use that as an opportunity to pray for him. Whenever I am hanging up his work shirts I am thinking God for how hard he works for our family.


 I just loved it.  What a great idea!  It's so important to pray for our spouses and what better time than when you are doing things for him or come across something like his clothes that make you think of him!  


It's so easy to become like "roommates" in marriage or to put the kids needs above your hubby's!  But she definitely has some great ideas to combat those!  Marriage is work and there is definitely some things I could do much better and these are great ideas to put into practice!  

Hope you all enjoy her post as much as I did !  

Homemade Granola Bars

I have made the time this week to  try some of my pinterest pins.  I finally tried one of the homemade granola recipes I have been looking at for months so I thought I would share.  There are so many out there but here is the one I actually made.

http://laurassweetspot.com/2012/09/20/homemade-quaker-chewy-granola-bars/

I took pictures and was going to post them along with this, but lets face it I stink at picture taking and this bloggers are way better so you get to enjoy her pictures instead!

Mine weren't setting up as fast as they should have ( I think I put in a little too much honey) so I put mine in the fridge.  They are a little sticky but taste really good!   I will try them again with a little less honey next time to make them more like store bought ones!

The thing about these is they aren't "clean" since there is brown sugar in them, and crisp rice cereal but hey it's a starting point and still much better for you than store bought!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

My husband loves tacos.  Each week when I ask if there is anything he wants me to make he always says well I always like tacos. Of course I don't mind either, they are EASY.  And since I have been trying to make healthier meals tacos are a good one.  We can use whole wheat tortillas, some veggies and to top it off homemade taco seasoning.  Taco seasoning isn't expensive but at $.50 to $1.00 a pack making your own can save a little bit, it's easy and the most important it's so much better for you so why not!  We've all seen a million different pins of homemade taco seasoning but I made this one a little while back to try it, loved it so made some more today.

I took the recipe and x'd it by 10 so  I would have some for awhile.  I bought generic spices when I could and still have plenty of spices left over to make more again when I use it all again.  

Here is the recipe that would season 1lb of meat.

1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper

All you have to do is mix it up and it's ready for the beef!  

Family Night

Can I just say Saturday was wonderful.  We didn't have anything we HAD to do or anywhere to be all day!  

We thought about going to the pumpkin patch in Arthur but since we didn't know how Carson would do we decided to just get some pumpkins in town.  When we went to get pumpkins Noah was way more excited than I expected and he picked one out for Carson and him and then I picked out a bigger one for Matthew and I.  Once we got in the car they both wanted to hold their baby pumpkins.  

Just love their happy faces!

Excuse my boys in their scibbies, didn't want to ruin any clothes!  Also not sure how it happened but yes Noah is missing a sock, haha.  

Noah was very into painting his pumpkin. Carson on the other hand wasn't so much. He dipped his hand in paint and messed around with his pumpkin  for a little bit and was done. 

My little cutie, snacking while we finished pumpkins

After Noah was done with his,  I let him put his hand in paint to put prints on our big pumpkin.  He acutally liked it for bit then asked to wash his hands.  Some things never change!

The front side of the finished pumpkins with help on the faces by Matthew

The back side, kids did on their own.  Pretty ugly, but we still love them!

We had such a great day/evening, wish every day could be that relaxing!

Proud Momma

 Don't let these faces fool you.  This boy is ornery, ornery, ornery and doesn't listen to his mom one bit.  However, for others he is usually the opposite and such a  good boy.

I was so proud of Noah yesterday when I got a text while he was at daycare letting me know my boys were doing great and that Noah was the kid of the day.  

Jen (his in home daycare mom) sent him home with a new book for being such a good boy.  After some fighting I finally got him to stop playing "shapes" ( don't judge, trust me we have been doing plenty of shape time) and hold his book for a pic.  Whenever he says cheese he always scrunches his face.  His eyes disappear just like his mommas!  

No matter how ornery this boy is, still love him sooooo much! Someday we will figure out how he ticks and get him to listen to me once in a while.  (crossing my fingers, anyway)

2nd Attempt

 At our last house, I always had color and lots of it mostly on the walls. When we moved to our current house, it had all white walls.  I was excited at the chance to start fresh in every room and really get it right.  Well anyone who knows me knows I change my mind a lot so to think I will every really get anything right can happen just not for long.   First off I knew I wanted to go neutral on the walls.  The first space we painted was the living room and it wasn't what I had exactly planned out the color was a little too gold but it still matched the big canvas I had bought for inspiration so we left it and went with it.  Below was the first after picture I took  after we painted and decorated which later we mounted the TV and added more curtains but I was never really in love and the room never truly felt like home or that it was "us".

Most of you probably saw my facebook post about the curtains but in case you didn't, one day Carson was playing peek a boo and pulled one of the rods halfway out of the wall.  I had to take the other half down and when I really looked began to realize maybe I liked the windows without curtains better.  However the way it was set up that wall just really needed something else besides a mounted TV and that is why we had got them in the first place.  Well after some talking and convincing Matthew agreed to let me re paint and get a "few" new accessories.

 The first thing I did of course was to scour pinterest for some new ideas.  I like to think I'm creative but I'm really just a big copycat! I really don't know what we used to do for ideas before Pinterest was around.  I use it for everything anymore.  

An idea for the color scheme came from this.  We have light brown microfiber and since it was just barely a year old, it had to stay so I loved seeing some colors with it. 

 Absolutely loved these ceiling medallions like most Pinterest projects theirs are much better than mine!

 Idea for our entry

Here is what we ended up with

We painted the room mostly tan (twice actually, the first color was a complete fail, instead of tan it turned out a weird shade of purple)  with 2 accent walls the one with the windows and the wall our stairs are in in the kitchen, moved the furniture a bit, mounted the TV over the fireplace instead of in between the windows, and got some new decor that I love !  

 Someday  hopefully sooner than later we will  replace those sweet fans and get some bookcases for under our ceiling medallions.  The space there still looks funny with it being so empty and it's one big wall.  

Closeup of my spray painted medallions 

 Our entry way, idea used from Pinterest

 Closeup of the pillows I made.  I ended up making 5 chevron, 2 green patterned and bought 2 orange.  We will never be short on pillows in this room!  

Since all the decor in the kitchen/dining area was red too I had to  wanted to change the decorations in there as well.   The picture is terrible but you can see my trellis curtains I love.  (I spotted them a while ago in Target and have been dying to find a spot to use them, I actual saw them in blue first but was even more excited to see them in a burnt orange color when I went shopping for stuff).  I also have always wanted a big spoon and fork and so I found the perfect ones at Hobby Lobby and the Eat letters.  They don't look that big in the picture but trust me in real life they are pretty large!  

Overall I really do like how it turned out.   I feel like it's a lot cozier with how we changed the furniture around and the look is more us!  I'm sure we will add stuff here and there, it's just to expensive to buy everything at once!  Decorating isn't cheap!  

Our Bedroom

When we first purchased our house last May, our room looked like this

Blah, blah,blah.  And for awhile it looked like this,  I wasn't going to put anything up on the walls until we had painted so bare it stayed until we finally painted earlier this year!  

 After well over a year we finally have somewhat of a finished bedroom. We painted, the hubby made me headboard and did a great job on it.  He knew I wanted a sleigh bed/ upholstered look and  he nailed it!  You can't really tell from the picture but the back is curved to mimic a sleigh type look and the middle is a creme canvas.  We got matching side tables and the latest addition was the 3 new family canvases to go over the bed.   I have known what I wanted up there ever since we painted months ago but just had to wait for the right family pictures to put up there!  Minus our dresser situation ( we still have the white ones) it feels pretty much finished!  

I forgot to take a picture but for a different wall I made flower boxes, here is an example and tutorial here.  I didn't follow all the directions but got them to turn out and love them.  I used creme and purple flowers to match our room!  Easy and cheap wall decoration!  Thanks again Pinterest!

Fun Mom Fail

Does anybody else feel guilty when they see all these pins on Pinterest of fun things to do with your kids?  I sure do,  I always see them, pin them, and never do any of them or even look at the actual link I just pinned. This morning I wanted to be the fun mom and do something different.  I really did have good intentions but it went downhill fast.  

Carson wasn't very happy about  the fact I had put him down.  

I couldn't get the packing tape off of the roll  

While I was working on the tape Carson got a hold of the blue paint, took off the lid, and spilled it all over the table, his hands and managed to try and eat the paint off his fingers.

Cleaned him up, got Noah situated, the fun only lasted about 2 minutes.

Noah wanted down, I was bummed he didn't really think it was that great.  

Then the kicker..........

Once Noah got down, I ripped off the tape and gunky residue stayed all around the bag!  Awesome!  

I had had it!  I put Carson down for a nap, I got Noah busy doing something else and I began to attack the gunk on my table.  After trying multiple things, I finally found my Norwex cleaning paste did wonders on this mess.  I was thinking of trying it first but for some reason just really wasn't thinking it was the right thing for it so I tried 3 other things first.  Anyways about 45 minutes later I finally got the gunk off my table.

I finally tried one of my fun things to do with your toddler and it failed! Thank you Pinterest!  I ended up ticking off both my kids, mad myself and a mess!  Also learned a big lesson, never put packing tape on our table!  

Has anyone else ever had any Pinterest fails?

Would love to hear your stories!

Walmart Fun

Every Monday we usually go grocery shopping in the morning after Carson naps.  Some weeks I put it off until Matthew is home but usually I tough it out, go and hope for the best.  This week we didn't make it Monday and I tried to go Tuesday night after I picked the kiddos up. Matthew was out of the town for the day and I knew he wouldn't be home until too late for me to go so I figured I would just get it over with. 

The actually shopping went pretty well, we didn't need a ton so I zipped through most of the store then we got to the checkout.  Boy I really dislike checkouts and I try not to get all excited and relieved that I made it through another Walmart experience with two boys while I'm standing there because I have learned too many times that those few sometimes many minutes there can be the breaking point where everything falls apart.  And..... this week it did!  The normal Noah kept trying to climb out to get the candy, I'm fighting to keep him in, Carson's trying to get out as well and Noah yells at him telling him to stay in.  Then Carson sees some Teddy Grahams in a cup thing and he is reaching out and crying for them.   I give in, we have 2 people in front of us with full carts so it was going to be awhile.   I grabbed the Teddy Graham cup and give Carson some, he shoves all of them in his mouth.  He starts screaming while his mouth is full and mush is getting everywhere.  I pick him up, try to clean him off and he is done, throwing his arms and legs and screaming.   Everyone is looking (that's how it felt anyway)  and the people in front of me started talking about when their kids were little and how things like that don't bother them, it's always the worst for the mom.  

Then a lady in the next lane brings over a pack of smarties and asks if they can have them.  I must of looked/seemed/ to be pretty desperate.  I felt like junk for a minute thinking no one thought I could handle my kids but had to bring myself back to reality and realize she probably has smarties for moments like these with her kids and that no one was judging me.  Kids throw fits, kids get upset, they get tired of being in Walmart, I'm sure the employees see it all the time ( at least I tell myself that so I can sleep better).

I also am torn on what to do in this situation, I know with Carson's he's too young to rationalize with I can't really do a whole lot but with Noah I used to bring a sucker or something for him every time and as soon as we got inside he would reach for my purse because there was something in there for him.  I worked hard on breaking that before Carson was born but now I'm starting all over because I need something for Carson to make it through.  I hate letting them eat stuff to get  them to behave, I want the reward to come after not the reinforcement that if you act like this, you can pretty much have anything you see in this store so mom doesn't  get embarassed. I want my boys to someday behave in the store because that is what they are supposed to do not to get a treat or be bribed the entire time.   Parents out there who have been here and dealt with this any good ideas for us?  

Missing keys and Undies

This morning I was in the shower around 9 (extremely late for me, I decided to have fun with the kiddos outside first this morning) and as soon as  I got out the doorbell rang, Noah ran.  I was in my towel, I had a slight moment of panic.  I quickly grabbed some clothes, put them on and ran after him.  Noah had already unlocked the door and opened it for the Fed Ex man, awesome!  But not only did he open the door, he told him mommy putting on her undies!  Yea... things were a bit weird as I stood there to sign for my package.  The 10 seconds seemed like 5 minutes of awkward conversation making!

Then tonight I got the boys in the car to run an errand, got in my purse to grab my keys and they weren't anywhere in my purse.  I ran inside looked around and didn't see them.  Went back out to the car to really go through my purse and told the boys I couldn't find my keys and Noah quickly says, "keys downstairs in the  white bucket".  Little turkey had stolen my keys from my purse and put them downstairs in a bucket, in the toy box.  Definitely would have been a while until I found them there without his help.   On the bright side at least he could remember he did that and was able to tell me.

At this rate, I will be lucky to have hair in a few years!  These boys are keeping me on my toes!

Bad haircut

Wednesday I went to Champaign for the morning and when I left my baby looked like this.  His hair was getting pretty long, a little bushy and sometimes just down right crazy but I secretly loved it.  He looked so sweet and innocent and like a baby.  

When I got back, he looked like this!  Dad decided to help out and took him to get a haircut.  It didn't turn out the best needless to say.  It wasn't quite even in the front so Matthew tried to fix it but it only ended up getting shorter and shorter and now for awhile we are stuck with this short silly looking cut until it grows.  I know toddlers move and especially Carson so I wasn't mad, I know no one meant to ruin cut his hair too short.  Hair grows back, right? 

Bedtime

Bedtime has been pretty entertaining around here lately.  We have had Noah and Carson sharing a room so we can have a playroom as well.  We have always put Carson to bed first and spent some alone time with Noah for awhile before putting him to bed.   Well for awhile now Carson has been fighting bedtime a little more and has been crying for a bit instead of talking himself to sleep like he used to. He would usually be asleep by the time we would put Noah to bed.  However Carson now has pretty much stopped letting me rock him and he tries to escape from the chair and runs right back out to the living room to play with big brother.  Because Carson has been wide awake we have been putting them to bed together and have had some good laughs. Carson stands up and will start acting silly, Noah does something in the dark and they both end up laughing at each other.  Then Noah gets mad and starts yelling at Carson to " ssshhh, be quiet Noah sleeping" or my favorite he decides he is done playing games with Carson and yells " Carson not funny, time for bed".   Love these two, we have years of fun ahead.  They can be such buddies!

Smarty Pants

Well, the whole " crap" saga has continued.  The other day Noah decided to say "stupid crap" in the checkout lines at Walmart a few times while I was putting our stuff on the belt.  Yes, it was pretty embarrassing.  I stopped ignoring him saying the word because that wasn't working and he started getting in trouble.  Well then his brain went to work and Noah decided to start saying "crack" or  "quack" instead so it wasn't quite the same but felt close enough.  The first time I heard him, I was like Noah what did you say? Then he really enunciated for me so I would  know he didn't say crap just something really similar.  I tell you toddler brains are amazing!

Oh crap

Call me a failure!  Noah was walking around the house this morning saying "stupid crap" .  Yeah no idea where he got it.  I honestly don't know of us using those words together.  The word crap yes we are guilty of a few times..

Yesterday he was playing and said " oh crap, Noah said crap. Oh crap,  Noah said crap. " I just ignored him because I thought if I made a big deal he would for sure start saying it all the time. Well that didn't work, he knows he isn't supposed to say and continues anyway.  This morning he also even told on himself at one point.  So apparently ignoring is the wrong route to go.  My sweet son of mine just loves to test me for some reason (maybe the fact that he is a boy and an almost 3 year old have something to do with it, haha)

Disciplining is not my favorite aspect of parenting for sure.  There have been many times lately I am just speechless and have no idea what or how to respond to the things Noah does or says. Its a battle I feel like I'm losing more and more ground with everyday!

Even though we have our struggles, being a mom is still the bet job ever!  I love being a mommy to our two little boys.  They keep life interesting to say the least!

Carson at 13 Months

This month we have really seen you grow up in a little toddler instead of a baby.

At 13 months, you

- have finally got more teeth you now have almost 6 teeth.  One on your bottom just popped through less than week ago so it's still barely threre

-are down to just your bedtime bottle with milk

-don't like to eat hardly anything off silverware.  Most of the time if you can't pick it up or hold it you won't try it.

- love playing on steps and we worked with you some and you have gotten much better so we have been letting go up and down them some

-still take two naps but really fight me on them sometimes

-can open our doors throughout the house and the door to the garage.  You scare me with this one because we leave the garage door open a lot throughout the day and I don't always think to lock it after daddy leaves in the morning.

-are starting to like toys more and more thankfully!

-are so cute when you play with cars, you push them around and make a funny car sound

-still don't like tv, but that's fine with me!

-loves outside so much, anytime someone comes, or leaves or we open the door for anything if you don't get to go out, you through a major fit!

-are such an imitator, you try and say and do a lot of things we or your brother does.  The other day it was so cute, you and Noah were in the living room taking turns spinning around and just laughing at each other!

- you don't say too many words yet but you have a few done, you say mama, dada, bye, ball, banana, all done, and have tried to say some others but just because you copy what we say

-you love when mommy plays lion with you, I run around or crawl and chase you and Noah and go roar.  You just run, laugh and roar back!  It's our favorite game we pretty much play every day!  Sometimes you just look at me and start roaring to get me to start!

-make the funniest faces sometimes.  Not sure where you got it, but you scrunch up your face, show your teeth and blow out of your noise, then you usually start laughing.  You think you are pretty funny!

-still let mom rock you.  I like to believe it's your favorite part of the day but I love that I finally can and love to rock my babies.  You usually let me every day that we are together at nap and before bed.

Carson, you are such a fun little boy.  You are so playful and just adorable!  We love you !

Breakthrough

After what has seemed like forever (4 months) Noah has finally done it!  #2 on the potty!  Wahoo!  Now we aren't consistent yet but in the last week he has 3 times, so at least we are making progress!  I will take anything at this point.  I was so shocked the first time he did.  You better believe I made the biggest deal possible.  I cheered so loud, I scared Carson to death and he started screaming and ran behind me.  I gave Noah some candy that I had been bribing him with this whole time and yesterday he asked for a balloon since I had also been using that one over the last month.  I am so excited that we have finally got somewhere and are another step closer to moving on from this potty training business!  It's the pits!  I was worried we would be potty training Carson by the time Noah was done, we may have a little bit of a break after all, haha!