{Grateful}

Wednesdays are by far the worst day of the week... no matter how fantastic they start out they always end up being crazy.
So instead of nit-picking about the day here are some things that I am very thankful for.

1. A sleeping baby... finally 
 For quite a few days little F hasn't been sleeping very well... Thanks to my dear friend Victoria last night we figured out what it was... I guess be drinking so much coffee keeps him up and I just didn't put two and two together. But I stayed away from it all day and he is now sleeping like a cat. (I would say baby but we all know babies don't really sleep that well!) 

2. Toddlers
They are the funniest, silliest, cutest, most handsome toddlers that I have ever seen and I love them to pieces! Their hearts matter way more then the mess, the noise, or the dishes that are still sitting there from yesterday. 

3. Growth
I'm so thankful that I get to grow as a parent. I won't be stuck in situations that I think I can't handle, I learn from them and move on. I'm also very thankful for the three growing little miracles, they grow so fast and watching them learn is so rewarding. 

4. Girlfriends & Family
My girlfriends are always there for me, lifting me up and helping me see things through a new light. I am so blessed to know these amazing girls. Anna, Grace, Sierra, Rachel, Kelli, Victoria. Seeing (some of) them (almost) every week is pretty amazing. I love you guys! 

I'm also very lucky to have my family so close by to help me out when I need it and to love on my little guys. We are a really blessed bunch! 

5. My Husband
last but certainly not least
There aren't even enough words to express how thankful I am for Joshua. He is truly a wonderful man. He works hard every night and is away from his family and all the comforts of home for 40+ hours a week just to provide for us. We are a team and we work hard together for these boys and for each other. Thank you Lord for putting us together. 
.... and he's really handsome. :) 




OH! And we got a new lap top today!! So no more ghetto keyboard sitting on top that doesn't work! I can type with all the keys!! :) 
So as soon as I can get pictures uploaded I have a lot to share! 

{Faelan - 4 months}

{DO IT YOURSELF!!!}

I wouldn't say it is a new passion but maybe a rekindled passion for making as much as I can product wise at home. (and very slowly working my way into the food area as well) 

So far this last week I have made my own:

Shampoo and Conditioner

or 

No-poo and rinse 

(scroll down to the baking soda and apple cider vinegar recipe) 

http://simplehomemade.net/green-gorgeous-my-homemade-beauty-routine/

Also in the above link, started the oil cleansing face routine

Deodorant

http://www.whitehouseblackshutters.com/2012/08/how-to-make-homemade-deodorant.html

Carpet Freshener

http://www.gerberadesigns.com/triedandtrue/?p=672  

Started using pure lanolin as lip moisturizer (yep the same stuff you use when you are breastfeeding!) it stays on for such a long time! I can't wait to see how it works this winter! I always have terrible trouble with my lips in the winter. 

All of the above mentioned are working wonderfully! I can't believe how well the deodorant works! 

And here are some of the things I FAILED at .... 

Growing my own sprouts... I have no idea what happened but in less than an hour my sprouting screen rusted and I had my nut milk bag sitting on top of it because the seeds were quite small and it molded and I couldn't get it clean so I had to throw it out. I'm not sure if I want to keep trying this method... it made me very sad! Sprouts are one of my favorite foods! If only GRACE was around to help me out here! 

Making homemade tortillas... I know what I did wrong here... I measured the flour way wrong... my one cup turned out to be a 3/4 cup and it just went downhill from there. I do not have a dough hook attachment for my hand blender, nor do I have a mixer. I do not have a rolling pin either... so I just cleaned off the one the boys use for playdoh... Fail. 

I am going to try again with the tortillas and hopefully (with my mothers supervision) try baking my own bread tomorrow. I have borrowed a bread machine for the task. 

We also created a family purpose statement this week. I don't have any pictures of it yet, it is still a work in progress.

We choose to:

Live Simply

Be Intentional 

Work Hard 

Show Love

Be Grateful

Laugh

Scatter Sunshine

Follow the King

There are a million other things I have rolling around in my head that I think apply to our family so this will change as we grow together I'm sure. 

{On Lock Down}

Since the boys have had a case of hand, foot and mouth we are stuck home until they are feeling better. 

Right now they are feeling stuck in the house, and ready to be out in the world again! Serious cabin fever! Luckly though it seems to not be so bad for them! They don't have any of the symptoms that I've heard such awful things about! 

They really miss Grapes (Keren) and Anna! The boys talk about them every day! 

Here are a few (ahem...) photos of the last few days.

Sweet little Faelan. Luckly he did not get sick. 

I am in LOVE with his little toes. 

Wyatt insisted on wearing his shirt this way and wouldn't even take it off when it was covered in peanut butter and jelly. 

Getting silly on the couch. 

"Neigh Neigh" - Mahon

"Hey!" - Wyatt

I don't think Wyatt wanted to be Mahon's Neigh Neigh

Mahon loving on baby. 

Mahon trying to shove his binkie in Faelan's mouth, they have a serious problem with him sucking on his fingers. They pull his (faelan's) hand out of his mouth and say "No! Binkie!" 

Telling me that he is "Sick" 

I didn't get a picture of him actually doing it but he kept trying to put it under his arm. 

I asked him to take his temp and he said "No. Sick" 

I am so ready for fall to be here, I am trying so hard to not jump the gun this year like I do every year but I had to get a pumpkin candle out... the rainy day and the smell of this candle has me longing for cold weather! 

{Finally Thursday}

Thursdays are quite possibly my favorite day of the week! It is Joshua's day off and we usually don't have anything to rigid planned.  We ran some errands today, World Market, Visited Gma Peg, Returned some clothes at Babies R Us that I had gotten (they were too big WOO HOO! :) 

World Market is such a fun place we can spend hours in there shopping.

Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! 

and Quinoa... I have no idea how to pronounce it all I know it that it's good for you. 

Chai Cola! 

Joshua and I love pretty much anything with clove in it. 

(notice the first picture... clove coffee) 

And here is Big Boy Faelan! Discovering his feet today! 

They are the cutest toes ever. 

                                      

{Wacky Wednesday}

Wednesdays are always our hard day, its like the boys know that I am coming to the end of my rope without having joshua here at nights. (his day's off are Thurs, Fri) Today we had to get out of the house   so we went to Babies R Us, and made it out of there with $10 worth of puffs, a new elmo and two toys for Faelan (among other things) Then we went to visit Great Grandma and Great - GREAT Grandma. That took a lot of stress out of the day

Playdough is our new favorite game and even though they make a huge mess they are so cute rolling it and squishing it.

Here are a few photos of our evening.

This is what was left from the box of macaroni that they had for dinner.

(I didn't have any) 

There was hardly any that got dropped on the floor even! 

Yum. 

Here they are cleaning up. 

His "Cheese" face! 

Here is their room tonight... 

Some people post pictures of perfect rooms on pinterest... I don't have any of those in my house but I do have some happy boys tonight. :) 

It might be hard to make out in this picture but there is a rainbow! 

Well I gotta go because someone is yelling "MAMA YUCKIES" from his room which means "Mommy, I have pooped my diaper and I would please like you to change me". 

{Keeping Busy}

There are a lot of times when I run out of things to do... not things that I need to do but things to do to keep little hands busy so here are a few of our recent adventures... 

Coloring on the window with dry erase crayons

(It washes right off with water!)

They even had fun cleaning up after them selves! 

Here is some of our artwork...  

We went to visit Aunt KIKI at the Hasty house and Brooklyn had a grand ol time rocking Faeland in his carseat! It was adorable! 

They were loving the stairs at the Hasty house 

Rockin mama's shades. 

I walk away from the table for one second and they started eating right out of the jar. 

They got insanely messy. 

How terriable is it that I can't remember off the top of my head how many weeks old he is! :( 

He is a big, happy, wonderful baby! 

Someone got caught peeing on the slide... if only he would pee on the potty. ;) 

Skinny Dipping!! :) 

They thought it was really funny to slide down into the water with no pants/ diaper on.