On my mind...

I have a few things on my mind. Some say it takes a village to raise a child. I totally believe it. We rely on grandparents, family, and friends to help us mold our kiddos. I will be the first to admit I am not the best mama. Though I try hard to do my best :) (obviously- ha)

A couple questions for you other experienced mamas....

Tithing lessons... how, when, what did you do? Why do I ask? Well, I picked Ay up from sunday school a few weeks ago and her teacher that day said she had a "rough morning". That totally caught me off guard bc she loves her class. She just moved up to this "big girl" class in May and is closely the youngest in there.
Anyways, the lady told me she cried when she didn't have anything to put in the offering basket. Gulp. No one told me that they collected an offerring. But I didn't want to admit to her I was a clueless mama. So did some research and found out details.
This past week I talked to her about the special basket and asked if she wanted to do chores for money to put in there. Honestly, I felt clueless. I wasn't really teaching her how to properly tithe her earnings, just to give. She Happily gave it all. She's been making her bed each day and helping with the pets now. But how did you teach or plan to teach your kiddos?


Next question... Ayla is starting school so there has been alot of talk around the house kinda "pumping" her up! Leah pretty much believes she's going. Tonight was Ay's meet the teacher night. I explained on the way to class to Leah that tonight we'd be playing in her class, but next week we'll drop her off and go play special things on our own. Leah then said, "Mommy I don't wanna play with you- Im going to preschool"
Sheesh... As if I wasn't emotional enough. Thanks Leah! I told her it would be awesome. In my head I will be a mess- who am I kidding! I wanna go to school with Ayla too. ha My question is have any of you ran into problems like this and what kind of things did you do or help (bribe- sorry) your younger child into understanding its not their turn?

HELP! Thanks in advance...

Good Finds

So I have officially been consigning 2x a year for just over a year now. So I am totally new to this, but I am in love. I am in love with the feeling I get when I know I get good deals on things for my family. So the secret my friend is ALWAYS shopping before the public. And I am serious because even though there is an immense amount of items at these sales you obviously want to get quality for you money too!

Or at least I do. :)


I make a point to only get 1 "toy" item at a sale bc my kids have SO much already! This was my potato head family set air drying after I cleaned them in bleach for the kiddos. These 3 taters came in a drum full of at least 50 accessories for the girls to play with.
They LOVE it! $5

Books are great finds at consignment sales, too. Hardcover books are usually the way I go. I think I got 6 books for $1-2 each except the purple one. That is an old school Mother Goose book that I remember having as a kid! $4 and worth it for me. Also 1 dvd for $1

The fall/winter sale is good for costume findage. My friend Jessie went last year and got her cutie a dress that ended up repurposing for her cat costume. This mermaid get up was $5! Its details are gorgeous, I don't know if Ayla will wear it this year or next (or ever) but it was a great find even for dress up.

Obviously, my main reason I shop early is to find playclothes for the kiddos. I am pretty picky (most of the time) what my kiddos wear. I went crazy one year when I discovered yard sales and stored clothes that we never ended up wearing! Silly me. This way I shop just for that season or a year ahead if its a great find. Lots of things I get still have tags on them. This sale last week I ended up finding lots of great condition clothes and some NWT and winter coats NWT.

In all, it feels good knowing that I can shop til I drop and not break my family's budget. Don't get me wrong I spend plenty in stores too, but this really helps fill out their wardrobe! I kinda have a shopping habit!

In all I spent $273 on.... Potatoe Family set, 6 books, 1 dvd, 1 diaper bag, 1 baby bath tub, 1 costume, 1 newest model Medela breast pump (retails 228), 2 new coats, plus 2 tees, 6 pr of pjs, 1 skirt, 1 cardigan, 4 pr of tights, and 9 dresses. All clothes were Janie & Jake, Hannah Anderson, Gap, and Gymboree. I was a happy mom!

Park with friends and new flops

I am trying to get caught up on some life happenings :)
It seems like so much is going on I haven't been so hot at keeping myself up to date on here or getting my camera out at all.
Truth be told, I am still doing the Life 365. Me and Tasha may be the only ones sticking with it. Its tough some days.
Its easier upload quickly to FB bc I don't have to worry about documenting. So they usually go on there first.
I don't just want a mess of pictures on our blog, though most ppl prob browse and move on!


We've spent much more time outside and that is making the girls, myself, and Gus very happy lately. We even made it out to the park to play with friends a couple times this week. The mornings have been so lovely... if only i can get out of my sweatpants before 11!

Leah had a nice conversation with the gorilla while we were there! It was hilarious. This monkey I believe has been around even when I was a kid- correct me if I am wrong. She kissed his forehead (ew) and got a piggy back ride too. Geez...

Just a little side-note... my dancers are selling custom made flip flops. They are so cute. We had a bunch made up already! They come in xs-xl which covers most bases (from size women/men 4-?). Before you ask we did not get Vikings or PC made up... no need. hehe We also slides (like sandals the vecro across). Let me know if anyone is interested and I can get you more info!

Preparing Ourselves

We are "preparing" for all sorts of things.

I have been preparing our home for fall... including some deep cleaning, clearing out closets, many goodwill trips, and dreaming of fall decor and fall scents! I had a little shopping trip for some fall goodies and hope to find some great finds at the consignment sales coming up!

Ayla is preparing for her first year of preschool... we've upped our bedtime and added one preschool activity and/or craft a day. Leah is totally diggin this too!
I had to prepare our home for a preschooler by organizing all of our craft supplies. My storage space keeps getting shifted since our family is growing (a good problem). I really like the Montessori type of activities at home with trays related to real life... such as folding towels, sorting objects, measuring, using fine motor skils (lacing, strings, etc). That's what we're working on, its just hard to find places to store stuff!

I am preparing the girls for a new sibling in the house by lots of talk of how/what baby eats, where baby will sleep, and lots of fun baby facts. Both girls seem very receptive and excited! Even though Leah cracks up if you tell her baby will sleep in her crib! Ah.. hopefully that will change once she gets her big girl bed :)

Ayla took this belly shot almost 2 weeks ago. ha I def have a "bump"!

Most Boring Lunch Ever!

We are running out of ideas for lunch.
I mean check out this sad plate!

Raw vegis, cold turkey, bean dip and cheese.
Though I am not winning any Mother of The Year awards with this lunch.. I did technically cover my bases in the food groups!

Im pleading for you Mamas out there to help me out with lunch ideas.
Especially with school starting soon and not to mention fresh fruits & vegis won't be as readily availiable!

Bring it on!

New Room

Well, its not ready yet (unfortunately)!
But, we did get a good start on it thanks to my helpers... Jeff and Ayla :)

Jeff and Ayla finished painting Leah's new room last weekend. Ayla was so excited to help!
Jeff let her roll some paint on the walls and you'd think she was given an award ha

I thought her furniture would ship this week, but found it won't ship for another week or two! Ugh. Meaning her room won't be ready until September. Not that we are in a rush- just don't like projects sitting around. Leah was so excited don't want her to lose that.

Jeff took down the light to hang the new ceiling fan so the color of the wall is not true in the pics. It reminds me of a clean shade of robin's egg blue. Her new bed & dresser is white and will look so beautiful against it! One step at a time!

Mismatched Week

We were lazy and busy all at the same time this week. I started cleaning out closets and organizing things that I have slacked on while feeling icky this pregnancy. I made 2 trips to Goodwill in one week and feel like I'll be going again this week. I get these little moods every once in a while realizing I don't need to hold on to "things".
We did squeeze in some fun stuff too.

Including swimming with great friends and visiting the traveling animal show.

Leah was so impressed with all the animals, while Ayla was a bit hesitant.

At the end of the week, we topped it off with building a fire and eating smmmmores!

What a great week its been.
Our family finally had a weekend at home.
And that means Leah's big girl room got paint!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Ridge

Last weekend we drove up north to visit Ridge for his birthday. The girls LOVE Ridge.
We don't get to see him as much as we like, so the girls were pumped to see his new house!

Jeff's parents and our brother/sister in-law plus our nephews made the trip up too. It was fun watching them all around around before the party. The ages all range (2-10), but the get along so well. Lots of swinging, cornhole, baseball, puzzles, and blocks to infuse my girls with some good ol' fashion tomboy. But, that's ok. I was the only girl in a gaggle of boy cousins for a long time. And I loved it!

The party started and we had lots of food, fun and guests. Why is it that kids love these things so much? And whoevers idea it was to take out the kazoo noise was a genius!

Ridge was a very blessed little man with lots of cool toys, a tent, and an easel.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ridge!
We had a blast celebrating it with you :)

Ready for Fall

I think most would agree that its been the hottest summer in a long, long time. The girls LOVE picnics and we haven't been able to enjoy since beginning of summer! The slight change of weather has lifted my moods and allowed us to spend more time outside.

My silly girls Loved it. And I can tell that we're gonna love when Fall decides to stick around for awhile. I am hoping for a long fall, but I guess I will take what I can get :) Don't you like their fresh hair cuts?! Ayla really needed it. Hers was down her back and now on her shoulders.

Our furbaby Gus is also a fan of the cool-ish weather. And prob a fan of the girls eating so low to the ground ha

He is getting so big! And is very hard to get a good pic of. He is So handsome and tall! I'll keep trying.

Today is kinda gloomy, but my girls are still sleeping (its 8:41) and so I get to catch up on here and think about all the fun we'll have outside. The girls seem happier when not couped up with their mama all day! Even though its gloomy it feels delish! I think we'll go ride bikes after breakfast

Hope you guys have a lovely day!

Don't do it...

So, last winter my friend Jen. Made these and I thought there is NO way they really taste like AA. Anyone who knows me know I am kinda obsessed with AA and may need a AA-A class, if you know what I mean.
I came across this box in the aisle at Walmart last week and thought for $5 it would be fun for the girls to do with me. We've rolled homemade pretzels before, but they really weren't anything to write home about. Regardless, I bought them. Then called said friend and fought the urge to really bake them.

WOW.
Glad I baked them. The girls had fun rolling "snakes" and forming pretzels. We nearly ate them all. They were Very close to the real deal you get at the food courts. A little less greasy and obv cheaper. We will so do this again!!
However, it makes 8-10 pretzels and you really need to eat them that day.... so if you can live with that guilt, go for it! ha

Just laying around

Early pregnancy nausea has sent this mama indoors most days. The heat really bothers me. And as we ALL know its been amazingly HOT outside. Honestly, the girls really haven't complained much bc I think we're all sick of it. You can only go to the pool so many times, too.

Gus and Leah are chums. Leah truely is his littermate. They wrestle and she headlocks him. Jeff hates it, but Gus just hangs.
He really is a good dog.

Ayla has really been into trying on my clothes, shoes, scarves, whatever. She is so cute. But the booger is causing my closet to be a mess. And since I am pretty much a lump 50% of the day it has stayed that way.

One last snap of Leah in her crib. She is not out of it quite yet, but its nice to savour these moments. Her furniture should be here in a week or so, which means we better get a painting!!! She covers her eyes like this when we come in her room. I guess so we can't see her, then happily says "peek a boo" or "helllllloo" :)

Lastly, cooking.... oh how I miss you. Its always like this in the beginning of my pregnancies. The lack of desire to cook. Which is conflicting. Because I obviously Love to cook. Good thing Leah loves cereal for breakfast. Ps. she got this habit from her father.

The girls really look forward to gymnastics days, especially Ayla.
Even though its sometimes hard to get them there and coordinate it all since their classes are back to back, I feel like its worth it.
Some things are finally starting to click to Leah.


Leah is finally doing a front roll on her own. Something that her more "clumsy" sis accomplished at 18mo... Leah is now independently doing it at 27mo. She doesn't like the bars alot, but is doing well with everything else.

Ayla loves all her new activities and has got to ring the bell (you do this when you accomplish a new task) several times in the last few weeks. We are really proud of her. She is a funny thing to watch. Just kinda akward in some movements, but I can see her growing into her body daily :) Ayla does really well on the bars, and is still a little hesitant on the beam at times. But so much better than last year.

The girls are growing up so fast!

We love them both to pieces :)