John’s birthday - take 2 & 3

Today we celebrated little J’s birthday... again. If you’ll remember from a previous post we did a party once already with the family before his actual birthday. We could have stuck to just that one, but he really wanted to have some friends over.  So, we decided to invite a few friends over the weekend after his actual date of birth. 

When his actual day came, we did a little fun for his class with donuts and he got to wear a crown all day, which was pretty special to him. When he came home he was all excited because he thought his friends were coming over then. He was in a ball on the floor after I explained to him they weren’t coming yet because it wasn’t his party day. Well, a call from Nana and a call from Mimi helped cheer him up. So to celebrate with him and make him feel better we went out to eat as a family, sort of. It was basketball practice for middle one, so we all drove through j’s choice of fast food and ate in the car before practice. Then we all went in to watch and cheer. 

The day of his party finally came today and he had so much fun!  

It was PJMasks themed, so we had a few decorations up and he had chosen his cake about a week before (which he kept asking for). It was quite delicious from Reasors. We played, ate pizza, make Forkie’s (I know it’s not PJMasks but he loves Forkie), decorated pillow cases, played, opened presents, ate cake, and played some more. Only a couple of friends and the cousins showed up but it turned out to be the perfect amount of people. 

Snowy Saturday

Today is a snowy Saturday. It didn’t snow all night, but just as the sun was supposed to be riding it started to snow... and it kept lightly falling until around lunchtime. 

 while it snowed the kids went out and played. Now that it has stopped they’ve stopped as well. 

Now that they are inside they are drying and warming up in front of the fire while I boil the water for their hot cocoa. For Christmas we got these wonderful wooden spoons with chocolate and marshmallows on them to make hot cocoa, so we are going to try them out. 

Have a safe snow day!

John’s birthday - take 1

Today we celebrated John’s birthday... about 12 days ahead of his actual birthday. We did it for family as some would not be able to be at his actual party later on. It threw John for a little bit of a loop and he didn’t understand that it wasn’t his actual birthday, nor was it his party that his friends were attending. But he enjoyed his birthday very much, as did we all. 

Homemade Pizza Night

So, I was going to make chicken tonight with some rice, but I just couldn’t wait for the chicken to defrost before I got antsy.  Instead, I was spurred on with the success of the homemade noodles the other night, I decided to try my hand at pizza from scratch. 

My kids aren’t fussy, so it was cheese pizzas all around. The recipe I found made four personal size pizzas. I altered it a little bit to make it mine. They turned out great!  Here are some before and after pictures. I will try to add my recipe when I add video of the process in a later post. Until then feast your eyes on the end product (and before I stuck it in the oven). 

New Years resolutions 2020

Well, it’s that time of year (decade) where everyone is promising to better themselves somehow... even me.  So here are my top five:

1. I’m going to try and blog more, maybe even make some money for what I write. 
2. I’m going to try and do better with my calendars (making sure they’re all in sync). 
3. I’m going to try to drink more water. I’m well on my way with the new water bottle a friend gave me for Christmas. 
4. I’m going to try and spend some more alone time with God. I really feel a tug to spend more time with Him, it’s just being more intentional about it. 
5. I’m going to try and catch-up on the lessons I’ve missed and listen to them when they come out. 

Thank you for your support into this new year!

John’s chin-jury

Well, we ended 2019 with a bang... right on the concrete.  The kids were outside playing and John took the ramp down to the cup-de-sac a bit too fast and busted his chin.  He quickly started bleeding. As I took him inside he held his body chin with his hands. I tried to clean it as best I could with warm water before putting a giant bandaid on it. The bandaid seemed to calm him a bit but it definitely still hurt. Hubs and I had plans to go see a movie and the kids spend some time with Mimi and Popi. I thought all was all right, but I was still worried that I hadn’t taken him in. I kept reasoning with myself that it was too small a cut for stitches, but that didn’t ease me. I waited til after the movie to check on him, and received this picture:

!  Needless to say I had to call and ask what the giant bandage was doing around his head!  Mimi calmly explained that he had bled through the bandaid because there was no pressure on it. So Popi decided this was the best solution. It had stopped bleeding and he was fine with it. 

*sigh*

Okay, so today after he woke up we tried to clean his face up a bit more, and put fresh bandages on. We were able to, but he wouldn’t let us have a good look at it, so we don’t know how bad it really is. At least he’s all smiles today. 

Erin’s finger

A week ago yesterday, Erin got her finger caught in the van door. I was just finishing up bible study and had just gotten the kids from the childcare. We were walking outside and it was freezing. The car had frozen.  While walking to the car, I tried to open the doors with he button on the keys, but it wouldn’t open. When we got to the car it opened just a little bit so she put her hand at the opening and then it shut back closed. I kept hitting the button to try and open it and get her fingers out.  Finally she got them out and was screaming. I couldn’t see it that well so I got everyone in the car. I had to climb into the front seat to turn the light on so I could take a better look. I was afraid it was broken how bruised it was. That’s when I noticed the blood. I grabbed some napkins from the car and wrapped her finger in it. Then I called Chris and told him to go straight to the ER where I would meet him. I had to drive there slowly because the weather (sleet), but we made it right after chris did. She was at the ER til past midnight with Chris. While I took the boys home for the night.   It was a scary light where we asked around for prayers that it not be broken. Luckily she didn’t need stitches either. They just used glue. This is a picture from today:

Valentine’s Day

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. And I would have posted then but my battery died. Oh well. It was a fun and busy day. John and I spent the morning with nana and had lots of fun playing with her. While they napped I was able to go to Paul and then Erin’s party.  They handed out the valentines I spent all night finishing up. They were cute heart shaped crayons that I made using the crayon factory.



 I made them over the course of a month whenever I had the chance. And then the machine broke after just a few so I had to get another and hope it lasted longer. It did. 

Anyway. The parties were fun. Then we came home and I made Mac and cheese and chicken. Then Erin and I rushed off to Girl Scouts while the boys stayed with nana. We came home to her with a rose and some chocolate. I came home to a similar box of chocolate and gave a matching one to Chris. Overall busy but good day. 

Erin’s Barbie birthday

We had a really cool party at the Artisan down on Main Street Collinsville where the kiddos got to paint Barbie furniture (couches & coffee tables) for the activity. 








 It was nice and low key. We had chips and cake 
 And punch for snack and just a few friends and family as guests.
 It was a nice intimate yet low key affair. Erin got some stuff for her desks, doll outfits, dolls, a dog set, and shopkins. She was really greatful for all the gifts. 

John’s McDonald’s birthday

For John’s third birthday we decided to do a McDonald’s party. It was so nice and easy. I’m glad I didn’t have to choose between PJMasks and Paw Patrol. We just let them do everything. The goodie bags had some fun stuff in them and the playland was a hit. Who doesn’t want a happy meal when they’re young?  Only two friends RSVPed so it wasn’t too many people. But the addition of the family helped.