Mid-month Goal Check In

Is anyone else having a hard time believing it is the middle of February?! Crazy! The month is flying by and with this pace, it's important I stay focused on the tasks at hand.

At the beginning of February I made a list of goals to help purge our home of anything we don't want to take with us when we move. The goal is to put the house on the market April 1st. It's coming way too quickly.

However, I must say that I'm pretty proud of our progress.  I have a couple of bags and two very large boxes ready to donate...and we've only gone through the living and dining room! I'm dreading this week's task...the kitchen.

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These goals have taken a lot of discipline.  My husband and I would both much rather do almost anything than clean out junk drawers and fill boxes with things that have collected unnecessarily over the years. However,  we're seeing great reward. It's refreshing to look in a cabinet or on a shelf and see order. I love knowing things in our home have a purpose and a place instead of just wasting space. (This is also helping fuel these early nesting feelings I've been having).

What's more exciting is that I have off today thanks to winter weather that's on the way; maybe I'll get a jump on the kitchen today. If we get what they're calling for, I may have tomorrow off too...it looks like the groundhog was right.

Linking up for Mommy Moments

Here Comes Valentine's Day!

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow!!! We’ve opted to spend a low key evening at home with each other. We’re really working on reigning in our budget (even though I think we’re doing pretty good) to better adapt to the coming of our second child. July will be here before we know it! I thought I’d share a few things that Valentine’s Day 2015 will hold.

[Good Food]

I adore my husband. I love seeing a smile on his face and often times this comes from my cooking. There really is something to the old adage, "the way to a man's heart is through is stomach." Once again this year I have a tasty menu planned. We will enjoy a rare treat of savory cooked rib eye steaks, a special potato casserole, green beans and homemade brownie sundaes. We found an excellent deal on the steaks and even with that splurge, we’ll still be spending so much less than if we went out to eat.

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[Goodies for G]

Last year I had a snow day on Valentine’s Day and got to spend G’s first V-day with her at home. It does not appear that I’ll have the same luxery this year. Regardless, she still gets a few goodies. I opted to get her a couple of books (shocker, I know) that go along with the holiday theme.

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[Sweet Attire]

I’m quickly growing my way out of my standard wardrobe. I’ll be doing good to find something red or pink in my closet to wear that fits. I do have some pretty cute heart socks that I’ll sport. G is in a much better position to wear cute Valentine attire. I picked up this cute shirt at Crazy 8 on sale…



Crazy 8 Sparkle Stripe Heart Tee

[Homemade Goodies]

I made some yummy red velvet cookies and cute Kool-aid Valentine treats for my students. I’ll send a few of the cookies to my awesome babysitter as well. I also made these cute applesauce Valentines for my daughter’s daycare.

 

[Above All Else]

Of course, while I savor the memories and treasure the sweet moments with my friends and family, I also remember that the ultimate gift of love has been given by Jesus Christ. He is our example of how to love unselfishly and unconditionally.

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I hope you have a sweet Valentine’s Day!

Linking up with Oh Hey Friday! and Five on Friday

Baby Ballots are Being Cast

At the time of our anatomy scan of our daughter (December 2012), I was eager to find out the gender and I wanted to make the guessing fun. My group of students that year were very excited and I was constantly asked questions about the baby...the most frequent being "boy or girl?"

I had them join in the guessing fun and majority guessed boy...

We had a girl...

This time around was no different. While my students are not as curious this year, they are eager to know the gender. 

This year's results. We'll know soon who was correct!

I also used this super cute activity from TeachersPayTeachers.

I really wish I had been able to use this with our first. It will make a wonderful treasure for the baby box.

Here are some of the overall guess results from the activity. 

Hair color: 9 blonde, 3 black, 2 brown

Eye color: 12 blue, 2 green

Average baby size: ~5 lbs and 20 in or 10 lbs and 20 in

Most guessed due dates: June 14th or July 31st (I'm due July 12th...eek!)

They also came up with some cute names such as Karly Linn and Rosie Blossom for a girl and Brock Dane and Jack Ross for a boy. 

While we're keeping the name a surprise until birth, it's so much fun getting suggestions. 

Linking up with Annie for Thoughts for Thursday

You're My Main Squeeze

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I can’t believe that Valentine’s Day is almost here! Doesn’t it seem like New Year’s was just the other day?! Time is flying and as hard as I try, I can’t slow it down. With the holiday quickly approaching, I decided to get a jump start on Valentine goodies for both G’s daycare and my students. I currently have all of my supplies for my students’ gifts at school so I’ll have to post about them later.

Check out Valentine's Day 2014 here

Fortunately, I now have everything I need to make the simple treats for G’s daycare buddies. I don’t know about you, but my daughter is in love with the squeezable apple sauces. In fact, she doesn’t really care what is inside (or so it seems) because she will eat whatever pouch we give her. Her favorite however is the flavored applesauce. Most of the kids at her daycare are at an age where they can eat these pouches independently. I thought they would make a cute Valentine goody. So with the help from some cute (free)clipart and a little creativity, I put together a little Valentine’s Day message and attached them to the applesauce pouches.

I think they turned out really cute and I know G will love sharing them with her friends.

What are you sending with your kids this Valentine’s?

Linking up for Mommy Moments

5 Reasons I Love...

Our Little Girl

There are so many things that I absolutely adore about our little gal. I thought I’d take this month of love to hone in on a few specific things that I love about some of the people in my life. I thought it only appropriate to start with the one thing that has changed me in ways I never expected, has made me a better person, and captivates me every day.  She is my heart’s song.

[Miracles Happen]

One of the most special things that I love about our daughter is the fact that she is such a special miracle for our family. In the midst of battling infertility, God granted us victory with the conception and birth of our beautiful babe. I count myself blessed daily to be her mother.

Family pictures
May 2013

[Baby Blues]

When I first learned that I was pregnant, I began dreaming about what our child would look like. When I learned that we were having a girl my imagination really began to roam. I secretly wished for the following: my red hair, my blue eyes, her daddy’s eyelashes and her daddy’s dimples. Don’t get me wrong, my prayer was constantly for a healthy and whole baby. But alas, the Lord far exceeded our expectations. It was as if she was custom designed based on my secret requests.

[Handy Helper]

I can already see so much kindness and the presence of a servant’s heart developing in our little one. While we will all battle the egocentric personalities of our toddlers from time to time, I adore the wonderful things I am seeing. She willingly wants to help pick up her toys and help with laundry. We’ve been told by her sitter and nursery workers that she is such a big helper. She loves to give the babies their pacifiers and toys. She wants to make sure everyone has what they need. She is also developing some great manners. She asks for things by saying “please” and ends with “thank you”. She is beginning to learn how to pray and to hear her sweet little mouth say the name of Jesus and amen always melts my heart. I hope we can help her develop these beautiful character traits and habits as she grows.

[Sweet Snuggles]

Those moments of snuggle time are my favorite. I love it when she asks for Bella, Mo-Mo and her blanket. It’s at those moments that I know she’s ready to refuel her little love tank. We sit in the chair and rock or cuddle on the couch. I’ll never get enough...and neither will daddy.

[X’s and O’s]

While I’m sure most mothers feel this way, I truly believe that my little girl gives the best hugs and kisses. Her hugs are firm and so warm. I love the feeling of her tiny little hands around my neck…and her kisses! Oh her kisses! Sometimes she’ll take our faces into her tiny little hands and just plant one. She’ll give sweet kisses before bed and loves to get plenty from mommy and daddy throughout the day. She keeps us laughing and on our toes and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Linking up for Oh Hey Friday! and Five on Friday

Tasty Tuesday: Butterscotch Haystacks

I'm giving credit to my first grade teacher for this one. If I had tasted these before her then I apologize.  I remember her bringing these to school one day and I was hooked.

Now it's been several years since I've made these but last night I had to have them. The cravings with this baby have been very similar to my first.  Eggs and sweets. Normally I can take or leave dessert but currently I'd rather eat it as the first course.  Last night's craving revolved around butterscotch...not the candies, but the chips, pudding,  pie, etc.

I happened to have what I needed for this recipe...so now present to you Butterscotch Haystacks!

Ingredients :
1c. butterscotch chips
1/2c. Peanut butter
2c. Chow mein noodles

Directions:
Combine the butterscotch chips and peanut butter into a medium-sized microwavable bowl. Heat for about 2 minutes and make sure to stir about every 30 seconds until the chips and peanut butter are well combined and smooth. Spoon the mixture into little piles on a sheet of foil or wax paper and allow to set completely. This recipe makes 12 to 15 generous haystacks but will easily make many more smaller ones. You could also mix it up and instead of using butterscotch chips use chocolate or white chocolate chips for a different flavor.

Enjoy!

Linking up with Green Fashionista for Tasty Tuesday

February: Organization

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I'm not one for making so called resolutions,  but I decided to embrace the term and dedicate February to organizing our home. Jess, over at Sweet Little Ones, joins a monthly link up that specifically focuses on making monthly resolutions. This got me inspired.

We've decided to officially put our house on the market April 1st. We're trusting in God's provision and timing on this big step. It's all a little tricky...I'm due with Baby #2 in July and we'll definitely need a place to live once our house sells. Unfortunately we can't begin building our new house until we sell this house. We have a plan that we're hopeful will work, but once again, there are a lot of factors involved. I know this sounds crazy with a new one on the way but we really feel now is the time to move forward.

With all that being said we still have some things we'd like/need to do before April. My hubby and I sat down and came up with a plan that will serve as my resolution for the month of February. We're resolving to organize/purge one room a week.

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Week 1: Living room
This will include cleaning out the drawers in both the entertainment center and the DVD cabinet. We'll go through the DVDs and donate any that we get rid of. We'll also give the walls and ceiling fan a good wipe down and wash the curtains.

Week 2: Dining room
We have a little coffee cart that desperately needs organized. I need to reduce the number of mugs considering we have quite a bulky, eclectic collection. I need to go through my cook books and the other shelves on the other cabinet. We also have a bookshelf that I need to sort through.  I have plans to get rid of it, much to my husband's dismay...but it makes the space cramped and I'm ready for it to go.

Week 3: Kitchen
This one has me flinching. We need to go through all of the cabinets and the island. The fan needs dusted. I'd like to get the bead board officially painted this week but we'll see.

Week 4: Playroom
This room is still a work in progress but even so it needs some organization.  Our sweet girl has so many toys...too many really. We know that there are more than enough to keep her and future kids busy for years to come even with a decent purging.

I'm really looking forward to making some headway. I'm already working on a resolution for March...maybe it's some early nesting or just feeling the time crunch but we're motivated. Let it begin!

Linking up with Andrea for Monthly Goals.