Easter. (2017)

  Ten years ago, I would have guaranteed you that I would be living in another state (likely along the coast) or another country altogether by 2017. Oh how my ten-year-ago self would be surprised by my life now. Though I do still really have dreams of moving closer to the water one day! Instead, I'm still here in my home state and really only 45 minutes from my hometown. Even more, I'm only a little over a mile from one of my sisters and just across town for the other. Not at all what I would have predicted, but a really sweet surprise in life.

  Living close to my family has its perks and it seems as if those are only highlighted now that we all have kids of our own (six, going on seven, cousins!). Those cousins love love love each other and it is fun to see them developing little friendships and memories. We try to spend lots of time together in normal life, but holidays are always an extra fun excuse to get together. Easter was no exception this year! (We missed my oldest sister and her kiddos, but we were able to see her for lunch this week so Caleb was excited to have her all to himself!!)

  Highlights from Easter this year (so I can add to the boys' Project Life books!): Tyler being old enough to join the egg hunt, Caleb's solid love for his Uncle Adam, my mom's yummy spread, Caleb's new microphone, continuing the 'cousins on the couch' photo, every kid playing with the big cat toy instead of the bagillion toys in the playroom, Leo's sweet attachment to the first thing he found in his Easter basket, Mia's domination of the egg hunt, and just seeing everyone together 😊

hashtag REAL LIFE

Just what I wanted.

  It's probably a little silly for me to be sitting down and blogging right now. I need to finish the dishes and fold some laundry and get ready to host book club tonight- and the boys will likely wake up any minuted from their naps. But here I am, blogging anyway.

  I'm tempted to say that this week seems to have kicked off the holiday busy season for us, but then I thought about it. We actually hosted Thanksgiving and then Tyler's birthday party a few days after and that is probably what kicked off our busy holiday season. We seem to have something going on (one, both, or all of us) every single evening from here until Christmas. That's probably a slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean. 

  All that to say, this morning as I was sort of rushing around packing up teacher gifts and baking breakfast to share at Bible study and loading the boys in the car- I had a moment where I let myself feel a bit overwhelmed and said to myself "just get through these busy weeks." You've been there too, I'm guessing.

  Then I remembered something my friend Chelsea had said a few months back in reference so balancing motherhood and marriage and keeping up with housework and everything- this is just what I wanted! The very things that were overwhelming me this morning are the exact things I intentionally added to my calendar and have been looking forward to doing. Even more, they are things I specifically prayed for! (mom friends to spend time in the Bible with every week, a safe place for my kids to be loved on by others, making gifts of food to love on others) So I snapped out of it instantly! I decided to stop complaining and embrace the crazy of this busy holiday season. I want it to be busy and full of the best things! And who cares if my house is really really clean or my Christmas decorations look good or my gifts are perfect? 

  Maybe you still have 90% of your Christmas shopping to do, ten parties to attend, teachers gifts to buy, treats to make,  challenging family members to host, whatever. I know I'll have to remind myself of this at least a dozen more times over the next few weeks, but will you join me? The very things that can stress us out or frustrate us this Christmas, they are just what we wanted to begin with. Take a step back. Embrace them and love them (and stop trying to making everything picture/pinterest perfect)! And while we're at it, we should all probably embrace this saying too!

Simple and inexpensive Thanksgiving.

  Ok, I realize I'm no expert when it comes to hosting holidays. In fact, this is our first year ever taking the lead on either (both!) holidays. And to be honest, my entire family is doing the work for Thanksgiving- we're all bringing dishes and no one person is doing the majority of the work. Justin and I are simply hosting it at our house!

  If you're like me, you want simple and easy but still pretty and fun this Thanksgiving. Oh, and also inexpensive! So I thought I would share some of the ways I'm saving money and making life easier on myself while still (hopefully!) having a great day with family. And since Thanksgiving is only 3 days away, I promise these are easy things you can get done before then!

// Need greenery or something to pretty up your table? Trader Joe's has big bouquets of eucalyptus for only $2.99 each! Don't live near TJ's? I've seen bunches of eucalyptus and pine at Kroger, too. Layer three of those babies along your table and top with some oranges or bud vases or pumpkins or pinecones and voila! Easy, pretty, cheap, and it smells soooooo good.

// Make people think you're fancy by printing off these 'thankful' placecards and handlettered menu! They're absolutely free and Caitlin even printed hers on cut up paper grocery bags. (find the downloadable file here)

// Go grocery shopping tonight (if you haven't gone already). You can buy nearly everything 3 days out, so sit down for 20 minutes and make your list and go pick up everything! Don't wait until Wednesday.

// Need a salad idea? I love this one.

// Top your table with pretty mercury glass votives for only $2 each (!!!!) and some pretty chargers for basically $1 (!!!) from Michael's. (Bonus- if you download their mobile app, you can get an extra 20% off your entire purchase)

// But the biggest tip? Don't worry and genuinely try to have fun this Thanksgiving! We legit have a big hole in our basement wall and SO many unfinished or just not-pretty parts of our house right now, but I'm got letting that bother me. Let's all agree not to let imperfect homes and recipe-flops and stressful relatives and whatever bother us this year! Just be thankful and look past those things and have fun! This tip is as much for you as it is for me :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monster Treats.

  I'm terribly predictable and cheesy. If there is a holiday coming up, you can pretty much expect I'll be putting together little treat bags with Caleb for all of his friends. We keep them super simple and affordable (hello, dollar spot!) and always add in some sort of baked good.

  This year, I wanted to do something a bit more fun since Caleb loves to help me bake and is more and more aware of holidays. My only rule? It had to be SIMPLE and EASY. And you guys, these silly monster Rice Krispie treats are definitely both. They are basically impossible to mess up and look adorable!

What you'll need: one batch of Rice Krispie treats cut into rectangle slices, colored candy melts, big and small candy eyes.

How to: I feel silly even writing this because they are embarrassingly easy to make. But in case you want the step by step: Let Rice Krispies cool, flip out of pan onto cutting board and cut into even rectangle slices. Spread slices out on waxed paper. Melt colored candy per instructions on packaging. Dip the tops of each Rice Krispie slice into the melted candy and top with candy eyes, alternating sizes and positions to make them look monster-like. Let melted candy harden, wrap individually with Press 'n Seal or store in airtight container. Voila! Like I said, crazy simple. And your kiddos will love helping you! (See more ideas by googling "rice krispie monsters")

Christmas 2015.

  Christmas was such a fun whirlwind this year. What started out as a plan for a simple celebration sort of spiraled out of hand and we've basically been going non stop since Christmas Eve. Caleb is definitely feeling it and we're all excited to get back to normal when things wind down tomorrow. But it's all been worth it! 

  We were able to wake up slow and have the entire morning together on Christmas day before the craziness began- which was perfect since Tyler decided to have a growth spurt and eat like a maniac all night/morning. We watched a little of the Curious George movie while we waited for Tyler to finish eating and then let Caleb open the little gifts we had for him. He loved his stocking and had so much fun pulling out all of the little presents. Our 'big' {but super inexpensive} gift to him was a magnetic chalkboard that he LOVES. Mostly he loves swiping all the magnets off and then slamming them back on- but it is hilarious to watch! 

  After we fed Tyler {for the millionth time}, we headed to my sisters' to celebrate with my family. With six grandkids under 4, our get togethers are entertaining and the best kind of crazy. Caleb is obsessed with his older cousins and just follows them around and it is pretty precious. And oh my goodness, it was quite the scene while we {read: the kids} unwrapped gifts. Chaos might be the best way to describe it? But they loved it and its so fun to be in this new season as a family where the focus has shifted from my sisters and me and onto our kiddos. Honestly, I don't need any gifts at all because watching them is so much fun in itself! 

  All of the big kids crashed by early evening and we came home to help finish putting together the awesome play kitchen my parents gifted Caleb. And, shocker, he loves is so so much. Like, more than I can really express. If you need a gift idea, get your kiddo this play kitchen. Worth every penny already, and we've only had it for 3 days {and we've been gone 2.5 of those!}. Thanks, Mom & Dad!

  We packed up the kids and headed to Ohio all day Saturday to visit more family and my in laws are visiting right now. So much family time! Its all so great and we love it. 

 I also love the idea of finally taking the tree down tomorrow {I'm a day-after-Christmas kind of girl}, put the living room back together, sift through all of the generous gifts, and get my toddler back to his normal self. Christmas season is so much fun, but I also so love the decluttering and simplifying that comes when its all done and we move into the new year. With a newborn and probably the busiest Christmas, we're all pretty ready to settle in and find our new normal around here! One of my resolutions? More & better family photos- I am never in any shots and we always forget to snap a family photo together until the last {less than ideal} minute. Let's change that in 2016!

  Happy Labor Day! It's hard to believe, but we said goodbye to summer this weekend. We've been at the lake since Friday and head home today and honestly, it's been the best. We're staying at quirky lake cottage on one of the busiest lakes in Indiana and we've had no agenda besides maximize our time on the water. 

  Such a great weekend. But we're still excited to head home today and settle into Fall and these last few months before our family grows by one. Here's to summer 2015- you were a good one!

Easter.

  I love Easter. So much hope and joy and reason to celebrate! I've been reading in Leviticus and Numbers lately, and all the Old Testament law  {so many rules and sacrifices and regulations} have highlighted this holiday for me. We aren't bound by Levitical law or separated from entering into God's holiness or required to make physical animal sacrifices because Jesus was our sacrifice. That story and what it means just won't get old to me!

  After going to the early service at church, we headed to my parents house to celebrate with everyone. My mom does such an awesome job making a great meal, setting a beautiful table, planning a kid and adult egg hunt, stuffing ELEVEN baskets with goodies, and organizing a fun challenge for the guys. I mean, she seriously outdoes herself! 

  With all the kids {we went from two toddlers last year to FIVE grandkids this year!}, its a bit hectic and getting good, family photos is nearly impossible. But the candid ones are so special, too. I'm thankful for cousin shots and capturing my dad with his littlest grandsons. I also learned that the newborns get completely overshadowed by rambunctious toddlers, but really its their fault because they sleep so much! Here's to getting a full cousin photo before the littlest turns one. 

  It was, all in all, such a full-to-the-brim weekend. I washed some windows! We made some real headway on our bonus room {after 3 years!}. We discovered a new AMAZING pizza place! There were Reese's eggs involved. And most importantly, we celebrated the best thing ever. Hope you had a great Easter, too!