Mid Week Randoms.

Some mornings Jacob teaches super early and then comes home for a little bit before he goes to teach more classes. The kids love to watch for him and he likes coming home to this! :)

For several weeks now, I've been going to the gym with my sister and dad at 5:30 in the morning. I love it! I love getting out of bed and getting my day started early. I get home and can have my quiet time before anyone else is out of bed.

The other day while the boys napped, Lily and I had some girl time. I gave her a mani and pedi and we played together. She had the best time.

Jacob's brother's wedding and my bro's wedding are coming up so soon! I have so much planning and packing to do! The weddings are a week apart, one is in Indiana and one is in South Carolina. Craziness!

Whenever I go to a thrift store, I always check out the books. These are some of my most recent finds - almost all of them are like new!

So much of our days are spent reading. We read these little books, but we also read chapter books. Lately we've finished Charlotte's Web, Hello Mrs Piggle Wiggle, and the first Boxcar Children book. Lily and Levi are so funny - at the end of a chapter they beg me to read more. :) I'm so glad they love books!

Levi is a rascal! He climbs on everything. The other night I walked into the kitchen and he was standing on the table! He had been sitting in his seat eating his supper, but I guess he decided he was done.

We got 4 hens over the weekend! So far we've been getting 3-4 eggs each day! The other day, Jacob was finishing up the coop and we got to talking about our plans for a garden, the next thing we knew, two of the hens were running around the yard. It took us awhile to get them back in, but I'm sure our neighbors got a laugh at us if they happened to look out their windows! :)

L&L love finding flowers in the yard to bring to me. It's so sweet.

My little ones are starting to wake up, so I must go fix a bottle and breakfast, and oh, coffee too! 

Psalm 145:8

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

Happy Wednesday!

Going out and what we eat.

Just answering some questions and comments...

I got several comments recently about how much I get out with all three kids. I wanted to clarify, that we do not normally get out that much. Jacob was recently out of town for 4 days, and it seemed to help the time go faster if we got out of the house each day.

Here is a look at a typical week for us -

Sunday - morning church, dinner with family, evening church, supper with family.

Monday - stay home all day unless the kids have chiropractor appointments (about once a month)

Tuesday - I may run some errands while our babysitter is here, then take babysitter home

Wednesday - errands in the morning, prayer meeting in the evening

Thursday - stay home

Friday - go out for supper (we usually eat out on Thursday or Friday night depending on Jacob's schedule)

Saturday - grocery shopping, visit Memaw (doesn't happen every week)

We do go to the park a lot when the weather is nice, and we do other fun stuff, but none of it is weekly/set in stone type stuff. I've found myself doing more spontaneous stuff lately because it's easier for me to see how the day is going before I decide if we'll get out, than to plan something and have a rough day and then be disappointed or feel guilty if we just need to stay home.

I love being at home. My sister and I joke that having kids has turned us into home-bodies. Ha!

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I got a question about what kind of meals I fix. Basically, quick, easy, healthy and cheap. :) This year I started grocery shopping every other week instead of weekly. I love it! I usually do end up going to the store on the "off" week to get a few things for our meals with extended family since it's hard to plan with everyone so far in advance. 

After reading this post by my friend, Lauren, I decided to try her idea of simple menu planning. We have the same meals for two weeks in a row. It has simplified my grocery shopping so much! We do a new set of meals every 2 weeks. So far we haven't gotten tired of it or felt like we're in a rut. :)

I plan to cook 4 suppers every week since we go out one night. Saturdays we usually eat leftovers, and Sundays are our meals with family. 

Here are some of the meals we've had in our rotations:

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole made in the slow cooker

Bean Burritos (I'm going to use this recipe next time to make them ahead)

Bacon & cheese lentil pie

BBQ baked potatoes (using leftover smoked pulled pork from the freezer)

Beef Enchiladas

Twice Baked Taco Potatoes

Beans and Rice

Pasta night (basically whatever kind of pasta we have on hand, pasta sauce, ground beef (cooked with spices, onion, and garlic), and cheese)

Black bean and corn topped potatoes

Baked lentils and rice

• We eat meatless meals about twice a week. 
• We have salad or a vegetable and fruit to go with each meal. 
• I buy organic whenever I'm able to. 
• We eat very little processed foods.
• I make as much as possible from scratch.   
• I know these may not be considered the most healthful meals you'll ever find, with all the potatoes and tortillas, but in this season of life cheap meals are a necessity...at least it's not fast food. :)

I hope you enjoy this little peek into how we "do" things around here. Let me know if you have any questions about my life or whatever. :)

Snapshots.

levi's first time having hot chocolate.

learning with Daddy.

Curious George is a favorite here. Daddy's "earrings" make it better. :)

we {heart} legos!

my three year old stylist rocks!

reading.

lily "decorated" her lamp.

mmm, strawberries are good. 

maybe momma should have taken off the white shirt first though.

levi loves dress-up.

special snack after behaving perfectly at the eye doctor.

good morning!

uncle josh is awesome.

happy.

brothers.

cooking. levi was looking up the recipe online.

goofy boy.

miniature peter rabbit tea set.

Happy Friday!

Our Valentine's Day.

Ok, so don't laugh at this attempt of decorating. My sister gave me some leftover fabric and felt for the garland and the other little decorations I had on hand from years past. The kids liked the decorations, so that's what matters, right? :)

While Jacob was out of town last week, I made this wreath out of a hanger and some old shirts that were in the bag to go to be donated.

I made this super easy dress with dollar section dishtowels. Lily loved it!

We made homemade valentine's cards. We shaped a toilet paper roll into a heart and stamped heart shapes onto one side of card stock. After they dried, we wrote notes on the other side of the paper.

Lily and Levi love all things crafty!

I love to make little treats to give to family. This year I made brownies, cut them into heart shapes, and added a little cream cheese frosting on top. They were really easy!

We gave the kid's valentine's stuff at breakfast - cards, squeezable fruit pouches, and silly putty - some of their favorite things! They were excited! 

My sister invited us over for a little valentine's party. We had so much fun! The kids played really well together - a huge blessing! 

One of my sweet little valentine's.

Another little sweetie!

Lily loves baby Cameron. She had the best time playing with him. 

In the evening, we had to attend a formal valentine's fundraiser event for one of the youth orchestras Jacob conducts. We enjoyed getting all dressed up and going out together. I know you can't really tell what my dress looks like, but it's the bridesmaids dress for my brother's wedding in a few weeks. I love it!

11 months.

How can my baby be almost a year already?! 

He wears 9 month clothes, although some one piece pants outfits are too short on him. 

He still takes 3 6oz bottles during the day and 1 8oz at night.

He seriously loves food! Anything I put in front of him, he eats. He is still grain free except for the few stray cheerios and bits of bread crusts he's found under the table after his brother and sister have eaten. :)

He crawls so fast and is cruising around the furniture, but he doesn't seem to be interested in walking alone yet. He loves to push things around and walk behind them.

He still takes two naps each day and sleeps from about 7:30 - 7:00 at night.

He is such a momma's boy. Seriously, if I go out of the room or if someone else holds him he has a come apart. It's pretty ridiculous. At home he's fine, and plays well with Lily and Levi. He also won't take his bottle from anyone but momma...not even daddy. Whenever I leave him with our babysitter or grandparents, he's a hot mess. Makes me so sad! I'm praying this stage is over soon.

He has 4 teeth and has 2 more about to pop through. 

He needs to move up to the convertible carseat, but we need to get Lily and new one and then he'll get her old one. 

He loves going in the bathroom. Ugh! We try to remember to close the door, but if we happen to forget, we can count on finding him playing in the potty. So gross!

He loves music. He'll sit and watch/listen to Jacob play his violin for the longest time. 

He likes to read. His favorite books are the animal ones that have little patches of fur that you can feel.

Yes, I give him whole pieces of fruit to eat. He'll sit in his highchair for the longest time gnawing on apples and pears. 

No matter how many times I sweep, this rascal will still scrounge around and find leftovers on the floor.  

We love you, sweet Asher-boy!