Goodbye 2018........

As I sit here reflecting on the past year, it's hard to believe that it is coming to a close.  Each year brings new lessons, losses, changes, opportunities, etc....  I have been through the lowest lows and highest highs this past year and have learned that no matter what is going on in my life, it is so important to trust God and truly "Walk By Faith".  Although 2018  had many challenges, I am always so grateful for all of my blessings.  My three kids continue to be my purpose for basically everything and I have been working so hard to spend the best quality time with them.  Today we went for a walk around the Riparian Preserve because of it's close proximity to our house.  What a good time!  The highlight of the walk was definitely feeding the ducks.  I hope everyone is ready to take on this new year!  I know our crew is excited for everything that 2019 has to hold for us!!!!!

Sunday Funday

Everyone knows that Sundays are meant for church, lounging, watching football/tv, catching up on Facebook, etc. right?  Well, not in this house (at least not today)!  Our carpets have gotten to a point where I am no longer able to take them (mainly because of the dog having accidents).  So, instead of hiring someone to clean them, I bought a Bissell Proheat 2x Deep Cleaner.  OMG this machine is amazing!!!!!  And thanks to my vacuuming partner in crime, we got these carpets cleaned up in less time than I expected!  It is a process to do an entire house (well 6 large rooms), but they look and smell SO MUCH better!  Amen for modern technology such as carpet cleaners that are easy and effective to use.  Thank you #bissellproheat for making my day easier🙏.

A Space To Work

One of my biggest personal goals is to always be as efficient and organized as possible.  I spend quite a bit of time at my desk at home, and I recently decided that my desk was not big enough.  I like to keep my work space very organized so I can get everything completed in the short period of time that I have.  So, I bought a new desk and moved my current desk upstairs for the kids (which will be great for them to go up and do homework in peace and quiet.)  After many hours of sweat, the new desk is finally assembled and ready to be worked at!  A special thank you to my desk construction partner 😄

Spending Quality Time With Kids

As a busy working mom, the thing that is hardest to manage is spending quality time with my kids.  I mean normally after a day of work, I barely survive feeding them, helping with homework, taking them to activities, packing lunches for the next day, dishes, laundry, etc.......  So, I have been working very hard to find that good quality time to spend with them.  Since they are off school, I let each of the boys have a friend spend the night last night.  Whew, that means that we had 4 boys + Tayvia here for 24 hours.  All in all, it was a fun time!  The boys mainly wanted to play Fortnight, but we also listened to music, played pool, watched tv, and of course we went to the new Spiderman Movie today.  And through all of the chaos, I just keep thinking about how quickly each day seems to fly by and how time feels like it is speeding up the older I get.  So, thank you Lord for the days of chaos and sleepovers and lost sleep because it means that my house is filled with love, laughter, and happy healthy children!

From the mouth of babes.......

I love how kids just say exactly what they are thinking!  Here's a conversation that occurred today between Tayvia and I 😂.

Mommy: "Tayvia, do you want to rearrange your room today so your Barbie house is out by your couch?"

Tayvia:  "Yeah mommy that's a good idea.  That way my Barbies can be in time out with me!"

As you can tell, her couch is the "time out" location.  So now she can have her "friends" (aka her Barbies) share in her time out misery.  Oh Tayvia I love how your little mind works!!!

National Champions

We are a football family 🏈.  It's just who we are.  We start football conditioning in May and continue with that until practice begins the middle of July.  From that point on, football is life and the rest is just details.  Paxton likes football for the social aspect of it (and the cheerleaders)!  Kyser just loves to compete, so football is his favorite thing on the planet.  During the 2018 season, Kyser's team played themselves all the way to the National Championship Tournament in Orlando at the beginning of December.  When I say that Kyser played lights out, hard nosed, show them who is boss football, that's the honest truth and not just mom's opinion.  And the effort that Kyser put forth during the tournament was definitely a factor in them winning the whole thing and becoming the AYF 9u National Champions.  The thing that makes me most proud of Kyser's whole football scenario is that he tried to quit at age 5 the first day of practice and mom wouldn't let him.  I guess sometimes we crazy mom's do know what we are talking about.............  Congratulations Kyser on working hard to make your dreams come true!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!  As I sit and think about the true meaning of Christmas, I can't help but think how truly blessed I am.  There are so many things that I am grateful for, but the number one thing on my list will always be family.  The uniqueness of my family is so amazing that I know only the big guy upstairs could have created such a masterpiece.   So thank you God for constructing my amazing family and for sharing your one and only son with us today on his birthday.  I hope everyone has had a blessed day and is ready to move into the new year!!!!!

The Sweetest Little Boy.............

My middle son Paxton could possibly be the sweetest little boy on the planet 💚.  Ok, let me start off by saying that he is not so little anymore, but to me he will always be my little boy.  Here's a conversation that recently occurred to show you how loving and sweet he is..............

Paxton: "Mommy, do you still have the same last name as us"?

Mom: "Yes I do.  I never changed it mainly because  I like having the same last name as you kids.    
                   You know though, if I ever get married again then my last name would change".

Paxton: "That's not true mommy because you are going to marry me and your last name will stay the
                same". 😍

How can you not just want to hug and kiss this sweet little face?  Thank you Paxton for your genuine love, kindness, and for always being the same little man that I love so much😘

The Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy has been especially busy in our house due to Kyser losing 4 teeth in the past month.  So after his last lost tooth this week, the tooth fairy was greeted by a hilarious note that accompanied the tooth.  Here's what the note read 😂😂😂😂😂

How can you not love his witty humor and the fact that he appreciates mom's love for teeth?  There are times when all of my mom duties can be overwhelming (like the tooth fairy duties), but notes like this remind me how much I am shaping these little minds and how the little things we do as parents have a big impact on our kids.  Thank you Kyser for reminding me how important I am in your life and for always keeping me on my toes!  I love you 😘

Something Random.........

One of my favorite things is to find something random that one of the kids has made.  Like most kids, mine DO NOT like to clean out their back packs.  So, it's become my job to clean out all of the papers, projects, old home work, etc.  While doing this the other day, I found something so cute in Tayvia's bag.  Now, keep in mind when you read this that she is only 5 and has only completed half of Kindergarten.

"My name is Wonder Woman.  I like slime.  I fight bad guys".

After I found it I asked her who helped her write it and she said "no one mama, I wrote that by myself".  How adorable and smart is this?  The thing that makes me most proud is the fact that what she wrote was truly genuine and 100% true about Tayvia.  She is fearless, fierce, strong, independent, and still so loving all the time.  Thank you for being true to yourself baby girl.  I love you and know you are going to take on the world some day!!!!!!

Sleep 💤

This holiday season has been especially exhausting💤.  Between Thanksgiving and today, we have had a birthday/party for Paxton, traveled to Florida to watch Kyser play football in the National Championship (in which his team won-more to come on that), had a birthday/party for Kyser, decorated the house, sent out Christmas cards, had 2 school programs, studied for and took finals, got all of the teacher gifts made and delivered, adopted a family for Christmas through our church, and celebrated Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Brewster.  WHEW-how are we all still standing?  I think most everyone can associate with the feeling of a "busy" Christmas season.  The thing I keep constant in my mind is the whole point of Christmas.  A miraculous baby was born on this day and we are celebrating him!  Only 4 more sleeps until Jesus's Birthday (aka Christmas) - hope everyone is ready!!!!!!!!!!

Healthy Food Preparation

Due to our busy schedule, I needed to figure out a healthy and inexpensive way to have fruits and veggies available to grab and go.  So here's what I figured out works best for us: meal prepping bags of fruits and veggies.  Every weekend during my shopping trip, I buy enough fruits and veggies to last the week (another reason why you need to pick GOOD produce so it will last all week and not go bad).  I try to buy berries to leave home because they are easier to crush in a cooler or on the go.  For the fruits on the go, I choose apples (which I buy in bulk already pre-sliced to ease the preparation process), oranges/clementines, and mangos (watermelon and cherries are also good but very seasonal).  My on the go veggie choices are those vegetables that are hearty and can hold up to being in a cooler part of the day (carrots, cucumbers with the skin on, peppers, celery, broccoli).  I also add a small container of salad dressing to each veggie bag.  These containers are inexpensive and easy to pick up at Walmart or even the Dollar Store.  Each evening when I am packing everyone's coolers, I grab a bag of their favorite fruit and a veggie bag.  If I know we have a busy activity schedule during the week, I will prep extra of everything so we can have enough for lunches and dinners.  So my hour worth of prep work on Sunday allows us to all eat healthy throughout the week!

The best way to be efficient is to..........

I have found that the best way to be efficient and maximize productivity is to be VERY prepared.  One of the best ways I have learned to prepared for a great week is through meal preparation.  The first step in this process is to create a weekly menu.  There are many ways in which you can create and post your menu and there are also many ways to come up with your meal ideas.  Here are a few of the things that have worked best for me.  First, one night each week one of my kids gets to choose the meal (and since I have 3 kids this automatically fills up half of the week).  Second, I always have a built in leftover night.  I realize that not everyone loves leftovers, but if they are from the current week they will still be fresh and I cannot handle just throwing away the leftovers.  Another good idea for using leftovers is to build them into another meal.  For example, if we grill chicken on Sunday, I will use the leftovers to make fajitas later in the week.  Third, I make my biggest and most time intensive meals on days when I have more time (aka Saturday and Sunday).  Forth, this family only gets to eat out once per week (unless it's a birthday week or we have special guests visiting us).  My reason for this is two fold.  I know that when eating out, we often eat more and the food is never as healthy as home cooked meals.  I also think that spending a ton of money eating out is not the best use of anyone's hard earned cash.

Another key to meal preparation and being ready for the whole week is to make ONE grocery run for the bulk of all the supplies sometime during the week.  I go to the store on either Friday or Saturday for an hour and get everything I need.  I have a very organized list that is in the order of the aisles.  I also go to the same store every time so that I know exactly where everything is.  For me, wandering around a grocery store looking for items is frustrating and not efficient.  I also make one big trip because constantly going back to the store for items is tough to fit into a busy schedule.

When it comes to posting my menu for everyone to see, I went quite BIG when I moved into my new house last year.  I decided to paint my pantry doors with chalk paint and then I use one side for the weekly menu and I use the other side for my grocery list.  If this is not an option in your house, you could use a dry erase board, chalk board, paper, etc.  Remember, everyone needs to eat and being prepared is the best way to have healthy and tasty meals that everyone will enjoy :)

We never seem to have enough.........

What the one thing that everyone wants more of and we just never seem to have enough?????  My answer to that is.............. TIME!!!!!  Here's the thing about time that sets it apart from everything else.  You can NEVER get time back-ever!  You can earn more money, make more friends, take more trips, buy more stuff, etc.......  But when it comes to time, the second it's gone, it will never come back.  I fear that too many people take time for granted and think things like "I will do it next time or I will get to that tomorrow".  This my friends is the art of procrastination and in the end, you are just making things worse for yourself.  The other thing about time is how much of it we all waste, and social media has become a huge contributor to this problem.  I have found it ever important to be the gate keeper of my time, how it is spent, who it is spent on, and how to be as efficient as possible in order to not waste away my precious time.  In future posts, I will be sharing how I have worked to because a master of productivity in order to get everything done in the least amount of time!  Happy Monday :)

Just Winging It........

How many of you feel like you are just winging it most days?  I can't even begin to explain how my life is a constant sequence of me saying "ok God, how are we going to figure this one out"?  I know that life is always throwing us curveballs and the Devil is alive in so many places.  When I feel like things are becoming difficult or life is just moving too fast, I have to make a conscious effort to just pause and reset my mind.  We often can get to tied up in the "fluff" of life and easily forget about the really important things.  Remember, life is short, enjoy the blessings of each day.  If you feel like you can't see any blessings, look deeper and you will see that they really do exist - you just are't recognizing them............

Conversations With Kids

On a day like today when I have been sitting in front of a computer watching a continuing education seminar for 6 hours, I can't wait to go pick up my kids and have a great kid conversation.  You see, I find that these conversations with my kids are so real, honest, and amazingly refreshing that they help me keep a great perspective on the real issues in life.  My oldest son (with a VERY old soul) will talk about how school isn't really necessary and that I could just teach him everything he needs to know.  My middle man/comedian will tell me some sort of a story about a different kids nerf gun, and my baby girl will tell me about how "someone else" got her into trouble today 😂.  These conversations mean so much to me and that drive home is always something I cherish because they are all contained in the car and they HAVE to talk to me.  Once we get home, they all split into different directions and I have a much harder time with uninterrupted conversations.  Remember that as a parent it is sooooooo extremely important that we always listen to our kids and show them how much we care about what they have to say (even if it's the same conversation most days).  As I always tell my kids, God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason - listen more than you speak😄

Don't Be So Hard On Yourself.......

There are some days as a parent, that I can't help but wonder "what the heck just happened"?  My daughter and I had one of those moments yesterday.  When I grabbed her hand to leave school, I noticed that she didn't want to grab my hand like normal.  When I looked at the palm of her hand, I found that she had not one but two areas of pencil lead were now embedded into her hand.  When I asked her how it happened, all she answered was "It was an accident".  Mind you, she has become kind of crazy with her pencil since starting Kindergarten and I have found graphite marks on her teeth plus the day that she came home with 5 holes in her shirt from her pencil.  She and I have had many conversations about how pencils only go on paper and every day she doesn't listen I wonder "what am I doing wrong and how do these things continue to happen"?  So, we went home and let her hand soak in a looong bath before digging the lead out of her hand.  Some days I wonder how I survive as a mom of three.  I guess by the grace of God and lots of love 💜.  We all need to know that life will just continue to happen and not to be so hard on ourselves.........

Find Your Happiness

How do we measure happiness?  I think that is a individual question and we all have or own notions regarding the answer.  Speaking from personal experience, a person can only be "fake happy" for so long.  And I find so many people in life are living with "fake happiness" and not truly living with the internal peace that comes with true happiness.  The real question at hand is how can we all find that true happiness?  I think we need to start living for ourselves and not worrying so much about trying to please or do what others think we should.  Sounds simply easy right?  Not so much..........  But it isn't until we can find that true happiness that we really start loving life fully.  If it scares you to try, then maybe the thought of doing it to teach your children how to really love life will be the push you need to get started working toward it.  I know my kids definitely helped me see the light and find my internal happiness and love my blessed life 😍.

I Truly Am A Blessed Mom..........

"Whatever you are, be a good one" 

- Abraham Lincoln

If there is one thing certain in life, it's that there are no certainties.  Looking back at my life and what I envisioned would happen, only one thing has consistently stayed on track - I would be a mom 💗.  But even that process was much different than what most would consider "normal".  You see, God took me on the most amazing journey.  He blessed me and allowed me to become a mom through the wonderful gift of adoption.  My babies are the love of my life and my reason for living my mom life by the quote - "Whatever you are, be a good one".   I hope you enjoy following the adventures of this "REAL" Blessed Mom!!!!