Love the 'Stache!

It's gotten HOT here in Texas....so hot that I'm thinking we will be spending most of our summer in some sort of water to stay cool! Some sweet friends of ours invited us to the splash park for some water fun this week! Here's my sweet boys having some fun!

Sweet Sawyer LOVES the water!

Wet little smile face...

Gavin wanted to bring his sword and play pirates!

Amazing Micah taking a little rest in the shade...

I've also been working on these little shirts lately for the boys! I made one for my nephew for his birthday and it was so cute I decided my boys needed one too. I love all the mustache stuff out there lately...so I whipped these up!

Aren't they cute!!

I got the idea from here.

super hero 'stache

Brother love...

Hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend! We're going to enjoy having the extra time with Dada!!!

Summer Lovin'...

So, my boys are officially done with Mother's Day Out. It was only twice a week for Micah and once a week for Gavin, but still it was SOMETHING!

Here we are celebrating with a little Chik fil A ice cream treat after their last day...

I'm quietly crying in the corner of the booth here...ha! Kidding (sort of!)

Those might just be the "cheesiest" smiled ever! HA!

But now that there is nothing really planned for our days anymore...I am feeling a bit overwhelmed...anyone feel the same way when summer comes??!

So, here's the deal...I NEED IDEAS!

Fun things to do with my kiddos...ages 5,4, and 1!

Games, crafts (remember I have BOYS here!), outings, theme days, etc.

Write your ideas in the comments below and that way everyone gets to benefit from your creativity!

AND GO!

Thanks a Latte!

So, for us, this is Micah and Gavin's last week of Mother's Day Out!

I wanted to do something special for their teachers and I came across this great idea from

Skip to My Lou

There's a great tutorial on there with super easy instructions!!

It was really easy to make and what teacher doesn't love a Starbucks gift card! 

WINNING!

Farm Fresh Saturday...

It was a beautiful day in Waco yesterday...like sunny California beautiful...all we were missing was the smell of the ocean! ha! Today is looking like it will be the same...glorious...thank you, Jesus, for speaking my love language this weekend!

This amazing weather makes me sad we don't have a garden at our little rental house. I spent a lot of time dreaming about what our garden will be like when we finally get settled. ahhhh....can't wait!

In the meantime, I've been trying my hand and making bread from scratch and visiting our local farmer's market yesterday morning (yes, we have one!! it's not much, but it's something! go visit it so it will grow!) We got some blackberries, green beans, and peaches! YUM!

 I decided to make some freezer jam from the recipes I found in this amazing magazine!

Urban Farm

Such a great article!!

So, I had never heard of "freezer jam" before...but it's soooooo much easier and the taste is amazing! Instead of boiling the jam in a water bath, you simple mix fruit, sugar, and instant pectin together and store in the fridge for one week or in the freezer for up to a year!! WHAT?! That's so easy!

Things I like about freezer jam:

1. Duh, it's so easy to make! I made nine 8oz jars in about an hour. Note: make sure you get freezer safe jars. I found mine at HEB.

2. It has a really fresh taste because the fruit hasn't been boiled and cooked down.

3. The consistency is softer and this makes it easier to spread on bread. It can also be warmed and put over things like ice cream.

4. It's DELICIOUS!!

So, there you have it! Either grab yourself a copy of this amazing magazine and try out the recipes or look online for some good ones! It's worth a little bit of time!!

I made Strawberry Orange, Blackberry Blueberry, and Peach Raspberry!!

I also made some honey whole wheat bread from scratch to have with our amazing jam!

My amazing breakfast this morning!! I mean look at the color of that jam! Awesome!


Have a beautiful Sunday!!

I {heart} pinwheels!

I've recently discovered a long lost love for pinwheels!

I think they are so cute and modern! If we had a girl I can guarantee that her next birthday party would be a pinwheel theme...so sweet! For now, however, I'll just have to settle for making them for baby showers and such...sigh...ha!

So, here's some simple ones I made for my cousin's baby shower. I've included a few pics with simple instructions. Mine are purely decorative. There are other ways to make them where they will actually spin when you blow on them, but these were just to look purdy.

Sweet little pinwheels!!

Things you will need:

Scrapbook paper (double sided is great if you have some) cut into any size square you want
Scissors
Tape
Ruler
Wooden sticks
Hot glue gun
Brads

Take the square and fold one corner to the opposite corner to create a triangle.

Do the same thing in the opposite direction and make crisp folds.

Cut down each fold about half way.

Fold every other point towards the center. It can be tricky getting them all to stay put. This is where I put a tiny piece of tape to hold all the points together.

Carefully stick the brad through the points in the center of the pinwheel. I used a knife to start the hole so that the brad went through easily.

Take the made pinwheel and attach to the stick by wrapping the brad around the stick and then hot glueing to secure it.

There you have it! A pretty paper pinwheel! The possibilities are endless! They would look so cute covering an entire wreath, or hanging from the ceiling or topping a cake!!

I added mine to a bouquet of daisies in painted mason jars for the shower!

Here's some more random decoration pics from the shower!

Tissue paper pom poms

Personalized banner in Winnie the Pooh fabric to match her nursery

Diaper Cake

Time For a Little Recipe Exchange!

Are you in a dinnertime rut like me? I'm linking up with Casey today for a little recipe exchange! Make sure you check out her blog and see all the recipes added! Get inspired!

We make this a lot around here and sorry for a lack of pictures...but it's seriously so easy!!!

We LOVE spaghetti!

LEMON SPAGHETTI


Ingredients:
Fresh or dried spaghetti pasta
Lemon juice
Grated Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper (optional)
Olive oil
Basil (optional)


Cook the spaghetti according to the package. In a small bowl put the juice of one lemon, some parmesan, olive oil, and salt. Whisk together. I taste it and add more accordingly. We like it really tart!!


Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce. Top with chopped basil if you want!


There you go! Super easy!

It can be changed up by adding asparagus or green peas...YUM!

Shared Spaces

I have seen a lot of really cute idea for shared kids bedrooms lately! It really is proof that kids can live together in small spaces and do great! I actually think there is something so special about kids sharing a room with siblings...our boys are a perfect example! 


Micah and Gavin shared a room at our old house we moved out of in January...

They had day beds in this room

Here's a peak of Sawyer's room which was also our guest room...

I LOVED the dark blue ceiling...we were going to put stars all over it...hopefully we'll try again in the next house!

In January, we moved out of our house and into a two bedroom rental...can you say "major adjustment"? My biggest worry was all three boys sharing a room. Would they sleep okay? Would all of them fit into one room? Thankfully, it's been an amazing transition and now I'm so thankful that they share! I think it was the Lord's grace that they are sharing now...must have been the perfect timing for them.


So, here's their room now...

They really have plenty of space! Thankful for a big room!

The big boys were so excited to get bunk beds! And each boy got a little book sling to store books in!

Sawyer's crib got an awesome new plane mobile and a little banner to make it cheery!

Enough space for our little reading corner. Sawyer loves to drag books out of the book bin on the floor!

There you go! It's totally doable for kiddos to share a space! We plan on having them all continue sharing when we move as well since they have done so great all together. 


Do your kids share a room? I'd love to hear your storage/decorating ideas!!!!


Hope you had a great Monday!

Mother's Day and Some Craftiness!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of you mama's out there! Hope you had an amazing day and we're blessed by your family or friends today! If you are in Waco...I know you were blessed today because you got to hear precious Margie Atwood share this morning and it was AMAZING...for everyone else...get the podcast in a couple of days...definitely worth it!

I'm so blessed to be the mom of these three boys!! What an honor to have been chosen for these future leaders and world changers. 

It's a weighty thing and it's the greatest adventure I've ever been called to. I recently read something at this amazing blog (Lark and Bloom) about what we do as moms and it said...

"Wanna go to the mission field? There's one right at your feet!" 

I LOVE THIS!! Somewhat because I have days where I wish I was serving Jesus in some far away land or in full-time ministry, but really my work as a mother in the mission field of my children's hearts is just as important, challenging, fruitful and kingdom purposed! Thank you, Jesus!

Ok...now onto a little crafty project.


So, I rarely get to make anything girly since I'm the mom of three boys. Since a friend of mine's little girl was turning 2 I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make something homemade and pretty!!


Here's what I came up with...homemade costume jewelry!

A little bracelet and matching headband!

I found a tutorial for the bracelet at this blog. 2 Little Hooligans.


It was really easy to make and is something a small toddler could wear without you worrying about small beads, etc.


Here's a close up of the bracelet.

The headband was inspired by this blog. Every Nothing Wonderful

I LOVE that the band part is made from tights! So great and it makes for a really comfortable headband. I even made a couple for myself!

It really helps to be able to see it on so...

Look at my sweet Bear! Don't mind the messy shirt...he IS a BOY after all!

Sorry, babe...I just had to! HA!


So, there you go! So easy to make for the little girls in your life! 




Hope you had a wonderful Sunday and Mother's Day!!

There's been some baking going on over here!

It's been a bread baking kind of week!

I made cinnamon raisin bread loafs for each of the boys' teachers at Mother's Day Out! They are all amazing and deserved a little "bread LOVE" this week for Teacher's Appreciation Week.

But...you...know...there was a little dough left over...so maybe Mama needed to make some cinnamon raisin bread for us too!! So, that's what I did and it was...

Ahhhh-maz-ing!!!! Warm out of the oven with a little butter on it...perfection!

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

I check this book out from the library and now I'm pretty sure I want to own it because I'm already getting separation anxiety about having to take it back to the library. That and after this post, some of you Waco moms might be upset at me if I check it out for another cycle! HA!

So, get the book and bake some bread this week! It's way easier than you might think and the taste difference can not compete!! It's a beautiful thing!!

Recipe Exchange Link Up!!!

I'm in a cooking rut for sure! With Chris traveling each week, I get into a slump. I'm so not motivated to cook for just me and the boys and then when Chris IS home, I don't want to be in the kitchen all night?! RIGHT?!! Can I get an AMEN??!

So, here's to hoping we get inspired by some new interesting recipes!

Casey from www.thewiegands.blogspot.com is having a recipe exchange on May 10th!

So get your recipe ready, head over to her blog that day, and link up your recipe! You'll get to see all the fabulous recipes posted by others as well!

ENJOY!

Taste tested and approved!

So, tonight I made pizza pockets for dinner and my 5 year-old literally thanked me for making them about twenty times and kept saying, "Mmmmm...these are sooooo yummy, mommy!"


That in an of itself is a victory for my brave son on a journey of loving different foods!


I figured it was worth sharing, right?!!


Oh...and it's filled with TONS of veggies...did I mention that...V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!!!

So, so tasty....

Click here for the recipe!

And the dough is soooo amazingly light and delicious! I'm thinking it might be my new pizza dough go-to recipe...maybe with some herbs added?!!!!