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!