Wordless Wednesday~Princess

Isn't she?!?!

Sponsor Swap & Facebook Linky

It's that time of the month again... Sponsor time.

Everyone is going sponsor crazy lately!

I am not ready to pay for a sponsor spot yet, so I thought I would ask...

Is there anyone out there interested in a sponsor swap??

Also... If you love my blog, can you "like" me on Facebook?
Remember, soon there will be no more Google Friends Connect... FB will be your only way to check up on us!

Thanks:)

Bath Remodel ~ 3 Years Long

Three long short years ago, when we bought our home, we started remodeling the entire house with a few goals in mind. One being, finish one bathroom completely.

Well here we are 3 years later and we FINALLY have one fully funtioning bathroom:)

I sound like I am complaining... it really hasn't been that bad.  We have made the best of what we have and now that it is "finished", I feel spoiled!

Unfortunately, back when we started the remodel, I wasn't too involved and didn't get many before pictures.

So I will try my best to explain.  This is a picture of what we started with... except this is after Daddy took down the wall and pocket door that was dividing the sink and the bath/tub.  And before he took down the drywall.

Date: March 2nd 2009

 This is the only other picture I could find of the bathroom between then and now.

As you can see, we had a tub but no surrounding tile.  So the kids could bathe, but no shower.  Also, there is no tile on the floor, just cement board.

Date: June 5th 2009

Now to the exciting part!  Mid January Daddy started tiling the shower!

Slowly:)

It took almost 3 full weekends to finish.

Then we had the toilet disaster.

And the bathroom was like this for 2-3 weeks... We kept the door closed this whole time because I didn't want the kids messing with it.

We finally tracked down the wall mount toilets we needed.  They were over two hours away, so my dad took a trip to get them... Thank you Dad!

So this is today:)

Toilet is in, shower is done, everything is clean and back to normal... but better!

We still aren't done, we have trim and lighting and decor to finish. But it is FULLY FUNCTIONAL! And that is really all I care about.

Isn't this cute??  Daddy made it for the kiddos a few months back.  The boards are from an old fence we took down when we moved in.  We saved the wood and have been using it all over the house.

Pregnancy Update ~ 21 Weeks

This pregnancy is flying by!

I can't believe we are already over half way there.  It seems like we just found out.

I had a midwife appointment at the beginning of February and all went well.

Since the last time I had a baby, my midwife has hired on another midwife and an assistant.  So I was able to meet them both and spend some time getting to know them.

Later that week, we had our 20 week ultrasound to see how baby was growing and make sure baby was looking healthy.  All looked great:)

We did NOT find out the sex and we do not plan to.

We didn't find out with Baby C and it was awesome to wait for the suprise!

Here is my reason why...

We didn't put an identity on our baby before he was born.

Even just a name puts an identity on a child and we realized after Baby C, that getting to know a baby before naming him/her is the way we want to do it.  So we have not and will not be thinking of names:)  Also, the older kids both want a different sex... Bubba Love a girl, Buddy Boy a boy.  But if they don't know all along and just get to meet and hold the baby before we revele to them the sex, there won't be disappointment... just excitement and joy for a new baby!  Beside, there is just an added emotional response during the birth, one that I can't even explain, I just know I want to feel it again!

Ready for some pics?

Cute baby, right?

Here is my 21 week photo, taken today.

I was bumming it while cleaning the house, so excuse the PJ's!



Homeschool Happenings

Over the last week, the kids and I have been busy making new creations for our homeschool days.

I was busy making... they were busy enjoying!

For Bubba Love:

Print outs from Confessions Of a Homeschooler

Put into sheet protectors.

If you use a dry erase marker, these just wipe clean.

No more printing and no more buying extra worksheets.

We can use these over and over!

For both the older kiddos:

We found these print outs at Confession of a Homeschooler also.

We have lowercase letters, uppercase letters and 1-10.

I added in the site words so they can start to recognize them.

And we did every one's name and our last name:)

For Buddy Boy:

Bead number sorting.

If you can't tell, there are numbers in each of the ice sections and I have exactly the right number of beads in the ziploc.

So he sits and counts them out ~ it's a perfect 3 year old activity!

You can see credits for all of these and lots of other ideas on my homeshool pinterest board!

While there, make sure you follow me.

Have I shown you all our homeschool "room"?

It is actually in Bubba Love's room.

Since we are a family of 5 (almost 6) and we only have 3 bedrooms, we have to use rooms for multi functions.

She doesn't mind though, in fact she loves to get her room cleaned for school time every morning.

This is our desk and work area.

We are currently working on a character builders study.

First we learned about diligence and now it is on our character builders tree.

We are currently working on gentleness, which we are spending a lot of time on!

Lastly, Daddy saw an ad for ABCMouse.com on Sunday.

He checked it out and got us a free month trial.

So far the kids are really liking it.  They have never used the computer before so just learning how everything works was a great lesson.  Now they get 20 minutes a day IF their chores are done and they have been practicing gentleness.

It has been a great educational tool and motivation for the kids!

What I Am Reading

We do a weekly library run, so for me this mean I get a new book weekly.

Since we no longer have TV, I have been spending my downtime in the evenings reading.  It is much more relaxing!

So I thought I would share a few of the books I have been reading, so you can check them out also.



This is a super cute book about a city girl who meets a cowboy and falls in love, ect.

It is a true story about Ree Drummond who is "The Pioneer Woman" from the blog and food network.  I totally have a thing for cowboys... probably why I married one... and this book reminds me of our life in so many ways!

 

A good midwife story is always awesome, but this one is about a midwife to the Amish.

Great birth stories from a totally different point of view then I think any of us can have. 

So I got stuck on the Amish Midwife thing, haha!  I love me some birth books and I have a fascination with the Amish.  Perfect fit I guess!  I just started this one, so I can't say too much about it yet except that it is a page turner.

 

Lastly... I read this series over a year ago, but I have to throw it out there to anyone who hasn't heard of it yet!



The first movie is coming out to theaters on March 23rd, so go read the book first!

Our Busy Week!

I have been MIA from the blog this week.

That's because we have been BUSY!

Monday

We had a Valentines playdate to attend, so we woke up early to get together our treats.

Although we usually don't have candy in the house, I made an exception because the kids were able to do this all on their own.

 

 

Opening the Hugs

 

All ready to assemble.

Assembling

Just being cute!

Melted the Hugs in the oven and then pressed in the M&M's

Packing up the goody bags.

We also made sugar cookies this morning to take for decorating at the playdate.

We had SO much fun this day, we ended up meeting some new friend and spent 4 hours there.

The kids passed out on the way home, woke up for dinner and then back to bed.

Tuesday (V-Day)

Daddy was off to work early, so the kids and I spent the day just loving on each other.

We started off the morning with waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.

Did a little school work, then took a trip to the Dollar store for school supplies (I can't wait to share what we have been working on!)

The kids were begging me to take them out to lunch, so I gave in and we got a sandwich and apples to share.

Then a surprise trip to the park!  Which was definitely the highlight of the day.

Baby C learned to climb up the structure and then slide down the slide...

Home we came for naps.  And again the kids woke up to eat and then were back to bed.

Tired babes!

Wednesday

Was our first day with our new chore chart. 

The kids were given their chore chart on V-Day, but we didn't have time to work on them.  So today we did!

I got the idea and print out from Confessions of a Homeschooler... she has such amazing ideas, I love her blog.

Anyways, the kids did great.  They are very excited to have goals for the day and enjoy helping the family.  We have been at it for a few days now and I haven't had to ask them to do anything.  They wake up and know what to take care of by looking at the chart.  Simply Amazing!

We spent the rest of the day doing school and lots of reading... As I stated before, we had a busy couple days and this was our recharge day.

In the evening, Daddy and I got to go on a date!  We had a fast dinner of sushi and then had a parent info night at a charter school we were potentially going to use.  After the meeting we decided we don't think that particular one is for us, BUT it gave us lots of good information on what we ARE looking for:)  We have a few more months before we have to make a decision, so until then we are doing more research and lots of praying for guidance as to what is best for our family's homeschool needs.

Thursday

Every other week we have a chiropractor appointment for Buddy Boy.  We were going 3x a week for a month and then once a week and now every two weeks. 

He is doing SO much better!

  Since we started our alternative treatments with him, Buddy Boy has had one asthma attack/cold in late January.  BUT the asthma attack was mild and lasted less then 12 hours (which is crazy considering before he was having severe attacks for 24 hours and then mild for up to 4 days).  Then his cold lasted 2 days (also crazy, because before IF we could get him better it would take 2 weeks!) Since then he has been healthy, so here is to hoping we are finding a good solution for him.

Our appointment was at 8:30, so we skipped breakfast and went in for a quick adjustment.

Then we went to a local diner (which was featured on Diners, Drive Ins & Dives) for banana cinnamon pancakes and hot-cocoa. 

~Eating out like this is not normal, but we had other things to do in town and I was killing time~

Still having more time to kill, we vacuumed out the mini-van and went through the car wash (always exciting)

Finally, it was storytime!

We go weekly to storytime at the library.  While the kids are participating, I usually look around.  But I do most of our library lending online and they have it ready for me to pick up when I get there:)

Home for lunch.

Then we picked up Yammie and headed to Goodwill for some thrifting.  I found Bubba Love a new dress AND a new doll house!  Her old doll house was broken and we promised her she would get a new one for her b-day... but for $4, I couldn't resist!

Did a Costco run and then headed back to Yammie's for dinner since Daddy was working late.

Kids were asleep on the way home.

Friday

We tried a playgroup that was run by a local town and while the kids enjoyed it, Bubba Love & Buddy Boy were the oldest there.  So I am not sure if we will be going back.

Then we came home to play and do some yard work.  Of course the kids had to play in the water!

Beautiful day!

It has been a busy week.  With lots of school work that I haven't even mentioned!  That will be a later post:) 

 We are so blessed and I am really loving were we are right now in our lives.  It is crazy at times, but these moments are amazing and I know I will cherish them forever!

Banana Bread

This is a super fast and easy recipe. 

It takes me less then 5 minutes to get it mixed and in the oven.

4-5 Bananas

2 Eggs

1 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Apple Sauce

2 cups Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

We like to add in 2/3 of a cup each of walnuts and chocolate chip.

Mix & Bake @ 325 for 60-70 minutes.

Not only is it dairy free for Buddy Boy but it is delicious! 

The family will finish this off within a day.

Enjoy!

Toy Story Mania ~ Wii

The kids favorite ride at Disneyland (CA Adventure actually) was by far Toy Story Mania.

We only rode it once due to the 90 minute wait... But the kids asked over and over to ride it again!

If you haven't been on it, basically you sit in the car that spins you through a maze of video arcade games in 3D.  I can't describe the awesomeness of it:)

Anyways, so Daddy and I were at Best Buy browsing when we came across this...



We had to get it.  It is the ride, in a Wii game.

The kids have NEVER played the Wii, but we figured they are old enough to try it every once in a while for a family fun night.

See, we no longer have a "TV"... we have a tv, but no programing.  So we can't watch anything except DVDs.  So we have movie nights every once in a while, but this would be so much more fun!

We brought it home, dusted off and plugged in the Wii.

Then started the fun.

It took the kids a while to figure the whole thing out, but they did really good!

Bubba Love was a lot better then Buddy Boy (obviously due to the age difference), but Buddy Boy just loved being apart of it.

It was lots of fun and the kids have been asking everyday to play.

I am thinking it may become a reward for good behavior... Then it will be truly appreciated!

My Baby Is Crazy!

He loves to clean!

He is so proud to be mommy's little helper.

I hope he still likes to clean in a year or two from now, because I can really use the help.

Here he is at three different times this week, cleaning up without even being asked!

Isn't he CUTE?!?!

Pinterest ~ Food

Anyone who is on pinterest knows how addicting it is!

I am no exception... I LOVE this site.

What have I been looking at you ask??

FOOD & lots of it.  I feel myself getting fat just looking at all the yummy food!

Breakfast tomorrow.

Dinner tomorrow night.

I made this for breakfast the other morning!

I have also been pinning lots of homeschool stuff, crafts for around the house, my dreams for my laundry room (next on Daddy's to-do list) and photography ideas for when this little babe comes:)

 You can follow me here & I will make sure to follow back!

Wordless Wednesday ~ New Hair

Cut off about 12 inches of hair yesterday!!