My Little Girl is Growing Up

Today is my daughter Kylie's 3rd birthday.  I can't believe she is now 3..it seems just like yesterday I was at the hospital holding her for the first time. The love that you have for a child is something that can not be explained-it's amazing how God can instantly provide you with the love needed to take care of a new addition to your family. The love I have for Kylie is indescribable and continues to grow each day. She melts my heart everyday when she says "I love my mommy"..and "You're the best". 

I still am amazed at how I got pregnant for Kylie- it was completely unexpected: I had been told that I would likely not be able to have children based on some health conditions that I had..along with this and the fact I was on birth control, you can image the shock that Paul and I had when we found out.  Once I got over the fact that this was happening I was extremely excited, but at the same time sad and scared..scared that I had to tell my 3 best friends that I was expecting when they had been trying so hard for a baby.  Why would God give me a baby unexpectedly when my best friends were trying so hard? This is something I still do not understand, but now know that God had a plan.  Although my friends had a hard time having a baby they all have their miracle babies and it is the most exciting thing that my girls get to grow up with their children. 

Children are a blessing and I so thankful for both Kylie and Alivia.  The last 3 years have been amazing and I look forward to many more birthdays with my girls! 

Happy Birthday Kylie- Mommy loves you xoxo
 
 By the way I did the post in green as green is Kylie's favorite color!

 

Challenges of Life!

As I was pondering what to write about for all of you readers...I was working on an album for an amazing couple while checking my e-mails and the latest on Facebook (speaking of FB, we have a page on there, check us out here!), and as I got up for a snack I switched laundry over!  That, my friends, is called multitasking!  I love being challenged every day and apparently I've gotten pretty good at multitasking.  I know when something is not right with my schedule or my life, when the little things are bothering me.  So, I have to take a step back and realign if you will!

I know that there are so many tricks out there to keeping everything organized but this is what works for me!

One my my many challenges is groceries.  I didn't realize how much time was wasted when I would try to pull something together after working all day.  Some people are really good at this but I was not!  So, right now I'm trying to go grocery shopping once a week, I've gotten pretty good with not having to go the store for items here and there!  Plus, I usually go to the store by myself, which is a bonus!

I plan ahead for the next week what I'm going to make for dinner, Jen's idea here is awesome!  I just write on a sticky note what I'm going to make and keep it on the counter but her idea is so much more fun!

I make sure to only get the ingredients for those dinners, then I have to make them!  I also buy the essential staples otherwise I've gotten really good at only getting what is on my list, even if I see something while at the store, I usually don't get it.  We are trying really hard to stay on a budget and save more money and this was actually one of the big areas we needed to improve on.  I did try E-Mealz but I have so many recipes so this helped me to get use to getting only certain items.

While making dinner, I clean up!  That's huge for me since after dinner there is so little time with the boys before they go to bed.  Del will even help me wash the dishes that I do not put in the dishwasher, he loves it, for now!  :)  And I know if I leave everything after dinner, I won't get to it and I am not a happy person when I wake up to dishes in the sink, don't ask me why but it's my least favorite thing!

I also have started making Ry's lunch while dinner is in the oven or on the stove, and if I don't have time during that, then I get it all together after dinner.  I will also get the coffee ready for the next morning!  Waking up and not being stressed about what I am doing makes my mornings much more enjoyable!  I enjoy packing Ry's lunch (I even put little notes of encouragement in them!) so when I'm not stressed about everything I have to do before I start work, then my day starts out so much more positive!

I also do not do much housework between dinner and the boy's bedtimes.  That's our family time!  I will do as much as I can while dinner is cooking (switch laundry, vacuum, etc)!  Did you notice I said SWITCH laundry, I only fold laundry after dinner also!  I will do that if we are watching a family movie or the boys are having fun on their own otherwise I try to spend as much time with them as possible after dinner!

One more thing about dinner, crock pots are WONDERFUL!!!  For tonight I already have cooking boneless, skinless chicken breasts, potatoes and carrots drenched in Italian dressing!  YUM!  I'll post pictures later!!

I also buy birthday and anniversary cards the end of the month for the next month!  Who doesn't love getting a card in the mail?!  I know I love them!!!  I also love taking the time to think of others, it's amazing how much time goes by without a quick phone call, we all text now don't we?!  I do too, but taking the time to pick out a special card for somebody means a lot more than you think!


Those are just a few of the daily items I love being challenged with!

So, make the most of your time and you'll be a lot happier!  You will enjoy the down time so much more also and you won't have that little voice in your head making you feel guilty!  What are a few tricks you do to help you stay sane?!

Have a fabulous week!!!

Breakfast in Bed Anyone?

Not really - but great idea if you wanted to be romantic, especially with Valentine's Day coming up :-).  I LOVE Sunday's with my family.  They usually begin with lots of love, kisses and hugs on our 8 month old.  We normally lay around in our pj's until lunch, watch movies all day, and make at least one big yummy meal for the day!  Last weekend my husband went out of town for a few days snowmobiling, so when he came home I thought of sprucing up breakfast by making "heart-shaped" pancakes!  Very easy to do:  use a heart-shaped cookie cutter!  Make sure you spray it with Pam first :-). 

Have a great week everyone!

 

 

What was your New Years Resolution?

What was your New Years Resolution? Yes I said "was", not "is".  Do you know that over 1/3 of resolutions don't make it past January?  The reason for this is that resolutions typically are based on something that you think you should be doing rather than what you want to be doing: losing weight, stop smoking, etc.  Because of this I never have a New Years Resolution..instead this year I decided to become part of a REVOLUTION..an Evolv Revolution that is.  I was introduced to Evolv 50 days ago from a friend and I am so thankful as I am down 10 pounds, have lost over 6 inches, have lots of energy, am getting healthy, and have made friends along the way.  What isn't to love about all of that?  Evolv is about changing little things every day to be a healthier you- I'm not on some crazy diet, counting points, or taking weight loss pills; I know people have a hard time believing because it sounds too good to be true, it's amazing.  My goal is to introduce Evolv to everyone I know as it is something that will make a difference in health for everyone.  I know that not everyone will be interested, but I feel obligated to at least introduce people as I know it works and changes lives.  I look forward to sharing my success along with others' success on Evolv. Check it out at www.share84.com. 

My Passion!

It's been fun for me to look back over the last few years and see how my photography business has grown!  I have always loved having a camera in my hand, documenting everything!  Although, when I shot with film, I always got prints because I was so anxious to see how they turned out!  

Now, when I take pictures for myself, they sit on my computer, sometimes edited, most of the time forgotten about it.  It makes me so sad to know that I have all of these memories but they are only on my computer, not on my walls or even in an album!

I encourage all families to print their pictures as soon as you get access to your gallery or get the disk in the mail!  If you don't, you never will!

It's so crazy to me to know how many clients never get prints.  Why?  I know why, you get busy or have to put your money toward something more important.  I totally understand!!  I still have yet to make prints from our November session...so sorry Kelli!  I love them, just haven't had time!!

Although, what is more important than a simple print order of a few 4X6's?  And what's even more awesome than giving gifts of photos?!  There are so many neat ideas to do with photos now a days, that's why I'm now offering 1 high resolution, copyrights released disk with all of my sessions!!!  You still have the option to print through me, however now you have no excuse to print your pictures, I do recommend printing them through a good quality lab.  I know that we are all busy and I'm sure Wal-mart has gotten better quality prints however what you are showing your friends and family is my work and if it doesn't print nicely, it's going to look bad on my part.  So, PLEASE take a few extra minutes and ensure you get good quality prints for your precious memories!

With all of that said, if you are ever interested in a photography session through me please check out my website here!  There's nothing I would not love to document!!

This is my very first senior session back in 2007!

And the most current session from fall of 2011!

Enjoy your weekend! 

 

Cookie Dough Pops

So the hot new item these days are "cake pops", yah........ I haven't tried to make them yet because I'm still old fashion--I like to stick to the same old cookies and cupcakes!  However, I thought, I love the looks of the cake pops, so instead why not make cookie dough pops?  With Valentine's Day coming up, these would be a huge hit and they are so YUMMY!!!  All I did was take one of my cookie dough recipes and tweaked it--very easy!!!  I thought I would share it with you-Enjoy!

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp of salt

  (mix dry ingredients in a small bowl and put aside)

1 stick VERY soft unsalted butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the mini ones)

Colored candy melts

Beat wet ingredients together until creamy in a larger bowl.  Slowly add flour mixture until smooth.  Stir in chocolate chips.  If your mix seems dry, you might need to add 1-2 tbsp of water (I had to).  I used my 2 tsp cookie scoop to make the balls.  Roll them around in your hands.  Lay them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.  I got about 32 cookie balls out of it.  Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 30 min or until very firm.  Melt candy melts according to the package-put in bowl.  Using a fork, place the cookie dough ball in the candy coating and let the access drip off before placing back onto the wax paper.  To drizzle, melt some different candies and put in a zip baggie.  Cut a TINY corner off and drizzle back and forth!! 

I put mine in the fridge to store in a airtight container!

Deals for the week

This week, I got some AWESOME deals!!  It took me a while to get my list organized, but I made my rounds to CVS, Meijer & Kohls!  I love my Meijer store, as they double coupons up to $.50, and there's a limit of two identical coupons to double--if I have more (I did this week), I just make two separate transactions! They also have a MPerks coupon thing going on now that I love because you can pile your coupons on top of that deal! Also, having a almost 8 month old, we go thru a lot of baby wipes........so I had a chance to go onto E-bay and won a bid for $2.00(free shipping) for (20) $.50 off ONE Huggies diaper wipes, which Meijer will double to $1.00.  I usually use 3 or 4 at a time when I go to the store, and for sure use ALL them before they expire!  That is a total savings of $20.00!

Here's what I brought home from Meijer for less then $10.00:

2 Carmex chapstick, $1.00 each, use (2) $.30/1 coupon, doubles to $.60/1
Final price:  $.80 for both

2 Pizza Rolls, $1.00 each, use (1) $.40/2 coupon, doubles to $.80/1
MPerks, $.40/2
Final price:  $.80 for both

6 bags of Chex Mix, $1.00 each, use (3) .50/2 coupon, doubles to $1.00/2  (2 bags on separate transaction)
MPerks, $.50/2 (used my husbands mperks for the separate transaction too)
Final price:  $2.00 for 6 bags--that's $.33/bag!!!

2 pkgs Vanity Fair napkins, $2/4, use (1) $1.00/2 coupon
Mperks, $1.00/1
Final price:  $2.00 for both

1 can Wold Chili, $1.00, use (1) .40/1, doubles to $.80/1
Final price:  $.20

3 Huggies baby wipes, $2.39, use (3), $.50/1, doubles to $1.00/1
Final price:  $4.17 for 192 wipes! (need to put one on a separate transaction)
(you can get the "to-go" packages for $2.08, but I have to get the hard tubs with sensitive wipes)

Final price for everything:  $9.97

Here's what I brought home from CVS for less then $5.00:

Pkg of 3 Kleenex, $2.99, use (1) .50/3 coupon

Paid $2.49, recv $1.00 Extra Bucks

Final price: $1.49

Blistex, 3 pk, $2.87, use (1) $.35 coupon

Paid $2.52, recv $2.00 Extra Bucks

Final Price:  $.52

Revlon Toe & Nail clippers, $3.19 & $4.19

Paid $7.38, recv $7.00 Extra Bucks

Final Price:  $.38 for both

Schick Quattro Trimstyle, $8.49, use (1) $3.00/1 from Facebook (like their page)

Paid $5.49, recv $3.00 Extra Bucks

Final Price:  $2.49

Final price for all:  $4.88

I also need to share with you what I got from Kohls.  I have a Kohls credit card and get awesome deals sometimes.  They send you coupons in the mail, and so happens they just send a $10.00 gift for ????, but I wasn't complaining :-).  I also just got a 30% off too!!  So with both of them I was able to get these two adorable boy sleepers for $2.80 each!  I have a baby shower I need to attend in a few weeks, and what a great addition to my gift for this precious boy!

 

 

Vacations...Everyone Loves Them Right?

Have i told you that i love vacations?? I love everything about vacations: planning, packing, traveling, food, beach; however my husband thinks i am crazy. We are leaving tonight for Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos..yes we are spending a week with Sesame Street. Who doesn't want to spend a week with Elmo? Paul does not see the fun in packing for a family of 4 including diapers and wipes, flying 5 hours with 2 girls under 3, and being surrounded by screaming kids going crazy over Elmo for a week....I know I will prove him wrong. Every time we get back from vacation he tells me how much fun he had and that i did a great job planning..i think deep down he loves to go on vacations, but just won't tell me. I know we are going to have a great time as a family and I will have many great stories to share when we return.  Someday I will share with you all the tricks to planning a successful vacation, as  I mentioned before I love vacations and I am always planning for the next one! 

Love For Children - Blood or Not!

There is so much love you can have for your husband, but when you start a family, wow the love you have for your children is 100 times more!  It's different I guess I should say.  Children are God's amazing creation of you and your husband.  

They may have certain traits from both of you, maybe even another family member.  With our now 9 month old, Abram, his personality is coming out more often.  He gets his patience from his Momma, I have known!  He gets his gorgeous blue eyes from his Daddy!  He loves food, probably from both his Momma and Daddy!  :)  

So, as Abe has been showing us his personality, it's had me wondering about our 4 year old son, Del, and what traits he has inherited from his birth parents.  

He means so much to us and I cannot imagine our lives without him!  His smile lights up the entire room, his gorgeous brown eyes look right to your heart and he cares for everybody and wants to give anybody a hug!  He has really opened up my eyes to see good in everybody and every situation!  

We do not know anything about his birth parents, we have 1 picture and we do show it to him and try to explain the best we can to a 4 year old who she is.  We want to be as open & honest as possible so hopefully the older he gets the less confusion he'll have.  I am reading a few books right now on adoption and if I ever finish any of them I will let you all know which ones I found helpful!

Being a Momma to Del and Abe are no different to me, and I'm sure my husband would agree.  They both are our boys, rather they are blood or not.  There are even certain things that Del has always done that are so similar to my husband and his patience is also just like mine!  Poor kid!  :)  

We wake up and go to sleep everyday praying for our children, both of them!  I check on both of them each night before I go to bed and pray over them!  We are teaching them both about God's unending love!  We introduce them both as our sons!  Without either of them, I would not be who I am today!

I love you little man and lil miracle!  

 The car ride home and beginning to his Forever life with our family!

First day at home!

If you are contemplating adoption, foster care or foster to adopt, please feel free to ask any questions and I'll do a blog post answering them the best I can!!!

Love Today!
 

Menu Planner

Being a SAHM, I don't use this planner as often as I used to; however, I've volunteered (i call it begging, lol) to help my old work out for a little while!  Using this keeps me organized and my sanity at an average level so when I get home from the office I can snuggle with my daughter instead of worrying about what's for dinner!  Also it helps my husband, the lucky one who gets to stay home with Maddie, our daughter. Being very fortunate, we are self employed as crop farmers and my husband works only a good 4 months out of the year.  So in other words, we are very blessed we don't need to find a sitter when little things like this happens!

What you will need for the menu planner:

*Paper of your choice (of course, I used cupcakes)

*7 Clothespins

*Hot glue gun (to glue clothespins on)

*Laminated sheet for the base (optional)

*Magnet strips (for the back)

*Sharpie marker (or whatever you like)

I used a gift tag punch to make the dinner cards, and I used white cardstock paper.  On the back of each card is the items needed for that dinner.  That way, I don't have to brainstorm what I need--I can just write it down on my gerocery list! I also write everything in pencil just in case I want to change something :-).  It really makes it creative for dinners; I have about 100 dinner cards!

 

 

I Love My Family.  Here is a Christmas picture of me and my girls..xoxo
 

 

What Exactly is Talent??

 

So when Jen and Jenn asked if I wanted to be a part of a blog with them because we all have unique talents I really started to think..Jen is Very talented- she is an extremely good cook and baker, very artistic and creative, and VERY organized..all of which I am not; Jenn is also Very talented, she has a gift of creating memories through photography..which I for sure do not possess..so when I looked at what talents both Jen and Jenn have I was really wondering what I could contribute to our blog.  I decided to look up the definition of talent.."1. natural abilities or qualities 2. a person who possesses unusual innate ability in some field or activity"  Once I read the true definition of talent I was able to figure out that I do have a talent, it may not be home organization, photography, or cooking, but I have the ability to lead people and help them become successful along with my own personal success: I have always worked hard, I worked full time while going through college and I have a natural talent at being able to stay level headed despite a stressful life.  I often have people ask me how i can manage my life with my young family- and when i really think about it i know that it's one of my natural abilities meaning "talent".   So the point of this blog is EVERYONE is blessed with talent and there is always someone out there that wants your talent... so now my question is WHAT IS YOUR TALENT??

                                                            
 

My Family

There are so many things I want to blog about especially for my first post on this fabulous blog!!!  I suppose I'll just give an overview of what you'll be seeing from me!! 

I will be writing about our family (which we'll be celebrating 7 years of marriage on the 22nd of January!), adoption (we adopted our now 4 year old son 2 years ago in April!), infertility, God's miracles (infertility and our 9 month old son are definitely one of God's many miracles!), working full time while managing to stay sane, exercising (what little I do!), traveling and of course photography!  I have had a side business for several years now...if I had to say how many numbers of years, I'd say 5 years.  Wow, it's been 5 years already?!?! More on that later!!

I love Saturday mornings, hearing our boys playing together, laughter, cinnamon rolls and especially love exclamation points!!  I received God's amazing salvation 9 years ago on my birthday, which is next month!!!  It was such a whirlwind year that year, but God definitely was present that day and I'm so thankful!  I'm also thankful for his everlasting forgiveness!  We are not perfect and I know that God is always forgiving!

Photo was taken by Kelli Wiseman of Clever Creations Photography!  You can check out her website here!

This is my beautiful family!  Thank you for joining us on this journey!

Who doesn't love frosting?

I LOVE to bake.  There's just something about baking that gets me in a good mood.  I just can't wait until my daughter is old enough to wear that little apron and help her momma in the kitchen! Cookies and cupcakes are my favorite sweets to bake.  I'm always thinking of some new flavors and having my family test them out.  My dad, who lives across the road from me gets the majority of my samples :-).  Some day, I really want to own a bakery.  I envison a cute little shoppe dressed up in brown, turquoise & pink with neatly decorated cupcakes all in a row......ahhhh.  Anyways as I'm dreaming, I had recently made some cupcakes for a company potluck, and had some leftovers to share.  I thought I would make this chocolate chip cupcake with fudgy frosting for my husband, who hates a lot of frosting :-)

 

 

Deals for the week

Ok, so I feel honored that I get to post first on our blog!  Wednesday's are my deals of the week, and this week I got some pretty good deals!  Who doesn't LOVE a great deal, right?  I love the feeling when I leave the store with a bag full of goodies and only spent a few bucks!  If you get the Sunday paper every week, then you got some really good coupons this week then!  This week was the shopping trip to CVS Pharmacy.  Here's what I brought home for less then $5.00

Colgate Total Toothpaste, $2.77.  Use $1.00/1 Colgate from Smart Source on 1/15.  Pay $1.77, receive $1.00 Extra Bucks.  Final price:  $.77

American Greeting Cards, $.99.  Buy 3 for $2.97, receive $3.00 Extra Bucks.  Final price:  FREE

Arm & Hammer Spinbrush Toothbrush, $5.99.  Use $2.00/1 coupon from Smartsource.com.  Pay $3.99, receive $2.00 Extra Bucks.  Final price:  $1.99

Glade Sense & Spray & Scented Oil Plugins, $5.00 each.  Glade Sense & Spray refill, $3.00.  Use $3.50/1 Sense & Spray from coupons.com,  $3.00/1 Scented Oil Plugins from SS on 1/15, and $1.00/1 Sense & Spray refill from cvs printer from last week.  Pay $5.50, receive $4.00 Extra Bucks.  Final price:  $1.50 for all three!

Final Price for everything:  $4.26  :-)