Photo Round Up: February

Here's an assortment of photos from February. We've tried to stay busy, but safe in this wintery weather. Noah and I have both had the flu. Michael & Noah have both had strep. Noah finished out this last week of February with pink eye. Avery & Aaron have so far escaped unscathed. I'm praying it stays this way!

Here's to welcoming in March with open arms and a new set of busyness and also a much needed anticipated Spring Break!

Avery had a couple days where she wanted to wear "hairbows."  This was a day when we needed to show Aunt Bethany how pretty the hairband looked on Avery.  Aunt Bethany bought this hairband when she found out that Avery was on the way!

Avery has recently discovered Frozen so we've watched it a thousand times.  One day, I paused it so we could go to the library and grocery store and Noah thought Elsa froze the TV.

Avery is obsessed with brushing her "teef."  She loves to brush them, but then will smile so that I'll say "Oh wow! They're beautiful!"

I told her to stay away from our old Christmas tree box that I was going to throw away.  This is how I found her ten minutes later.

Noah and I battled out the flu together.

Michael has always been my reader rabbit.  He devours books and is always so excited to get a new one!

This was the set-up on the night before Valentine's Day!

Valentine's morning!  Noah and Avery were up first and both of them found their Skittles and Reese's heart right away!

Avery loved her little Princess dress-up set!

Michael got a new book and was already lost in the pages before school this day.

Noah got a Lego street sweeper that we put together that afternoon.  He LOVES it!

Avery found her brothers' stickers from school and they were both nice enough to let her have free reign with the sticker packs.

Avery and her trusty royal dog, Akuna.

I love it when the weather is nice enough for us to all play outside after school!  This was a rare day last week in between all of our days of down-pouring rain.

My oldest and me.  He is such a sweetie!

The two younger ones playing with slime or Playdoh.

One is reading for homework and one is listening.

She wanted to be Yoshi.  Immediately after putting this hat on her, she asked me if we could go look in the mee-row (Mirror). :)

He reads so much that he falls asleep while doing it.  I snapped this picture earlier this week.  I thought it was too cute to pass up!

She likes seeing herself in the selfie feature of the camera!

Noah used some balloons earlier this week to be police lights on top of his head.  He would then walk around our living room and kitchen making siren sounds. :)

We have watched a lot of "Doc McStuffins" lately and Avery was pretending to make this stuffed animal all better.

On Tuesday of this week, Avery got to go to Michael's school to have a picnic lunch with him.  So sweet!

That wraps up our February photo collection.  Hopefully March isn't met with as much sickness or rain!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Recipe: Kielbasa, peppers, and onions

One of the quickest weeknight meals we make is kielbasa, peppers, and onions.  Sometimes, we forget about this meal and once we bring it back into our rotation, we wonder how we ever forgot about it at all.

This is a recipe my mom and dad would make when I was growing up.  It's so easy and simple and Aaron loves it as much as I do.  With our kids, it's still hit or miss because of onions and our kids' semi-make-believe aversion to them based upon how they feel on any particular day. :)

Recipe:  Kielbasa, Peppers, and Onions

Ingredients:
-kielbasa (we buy the Hillshire Farm version)
-1 or 2 green bell peppers
-1 sweet onion
-sesame seeds
-egg noodles
-(butter for the pan)


Process:
-Start boiling a pot of water for the noodles.  When the water is rolling, drop in about a cup of noodles.  You'll serve the meat & veggie over the noodles or you can mix it all up together at the end.
-Cut the kielbasa on the bias.  We use the whole sausage roll but you can use half if you prefer.
-Add some butter to a skillet and bring it to medium-high heat.
-Chop the onion and bell pepper.
-If your skillet is big enough, you can add the sausage, peppers, and onions at the same time and cook until the onion is transparent.
-If your skillet is smaller, cook the sausage first until it's slightly charred and warmed all the way through (the Hillshire Farm brand comes pre-cooked).  Remove the meat from the heat and add in the veggies to the skillet and cook until the onions are transparent, then add the meat back to the skillet.
-When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, then return to the pot or you can add it straight to the skillet.
-Sprinkle sesame seeds all over the meat, veggies, and pasta.  This adds just the right finishing touch!

Try this out and let me know what you think!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Little Valentine's Day Touches

Every holiday is automatically ramped up in excitement when viewed through the eyes of a little kid.  Add in school Valentine's parties or special snacks, and you've got yourself some excited kiddos!  Any chance I can take to make the holidays (and even some "regular" days) fun and interesting and memorable to my kids is certainly a heart-cry of mine.

Several years ago, before my boys were old enough to remember Valentine's Day, I bought these little felt envelopes from the Target Dollar Spot and on a whim I bought the only pink felt envelope that Target had.  At that time, we had no plans to have a third child anywhere in the near future.  It was about two years after that when Avery was born and I knew I'd get to put that sweet little pink felt envelope to use!  So now each year on Valentine's Day, I stick a little prize and/or candy into the envelopes for each of my kids. They get so excited about it and it's just something extra special to remind them how very very loved they are.  This year, I grabbed some simple candies a few weeks ago and Aaron & I were able to pick up some little gifts for each kiddo earlier this week that I'll stick into their envelopes tonight so that they're ready in the morning for the kids to see as soon as they walk into the living room!

This year, each kiddo will get a Reese's peanut butter cup shaped heart and a little plastic heart filled with Skittles.  These are candies that each of my kids can easily eat and since all the candies are the same, then I eliminate the potential bickering of "I wanted to have that candy instead!" :)

Michael has been begging us for the latest "Dog Man" book, so his wish is coming true and he will receive the book "Fetch-22" in addition to his little candies.

Noah will receive a little street sweeper Lego set that he can build over the weekend. It's so super cute and it comes with a little trash-can and some Lego "trash" (ie, a banana and some random little Legos that are supposed to resemble trash).  He received several little Lego sets at his birthday party and he's really good at putting them mostly together on his own.  This little street sweeper set will be right up his alley.

Avery has recently become obsessed with the Frozen movie and will break into the song "Let it Go" at random intervals.  :)  We decided that since she's getting to the age of dress up and liking all things princess, etc., that she should have one of those little princess dress up kits with the plastic high-heel shoes, little crown, and Tiara.  We chose to get her a Cinderella set since she's seen the movie and liked it, and also because this set was light blue and she can pretend that it's a "Frozen" set if she wants to.

I'm SO PUMPED for the kids to see their little gifts tomorrow!  I almost gave all the gifts to them on Monday night when I got them just because I was so excited about them!  My parents always had some small gift for my brothers and me-- a little chocolate heart box or game we could play. It's so much fun getting to do similar things for my own kids.

In addition to these little gifts, I have also tried to add in some extra fun to our home this past week.

I hung up a little "XOXO" garland on our mantle and displayed a little string-art heart that one of the boys made at a Home Depot craft day.  I also changed out my Season's Changing Wreath to showcase the February felt flowers and banner.  On our coat closet, I hung up my Valentine's foam-heart craft.  All of these little touches were noticed by my kiddos and it makes them feel like our home is extra cozy and festive.

Earlier this week, I made a brownie pudding trifle.  This is hands-down my favorite dessert and I'm not sure why it took me so long to bring it back into rotation.  I chose sugar free pudding mix to make it a little easier on the carbs.

I made my own homemade brownies, let them cool, then sliced them up into one-inch squares.  While the brownies baked, I whipped up the pudding mix-- I chose Chocolate Fudge, but the white chocolate pudding is also really good. Once the brownies were cooled and the pudding was set, I layered brownie pieces, a few big spoonfuls of pudding, and some thawed Cool Whip into a glass bowl.  I repeated the layers three times then added a few chocolate chips to the top.  The boys were super super excited the whole time I was making the dessert.  We talked about what a trifle was and both of them helped me mix different items at different stages.  That night after dinner, we each got to have a bowlful (in the living room no less!) while watching "The Princess Bride."  Believe it or not, that was my first time watching it all the way through.  Aaron was shocked when I told me I hadn't seen it, so we rented it from our library and decided that it was going to be perfect when paired with the trifle.

All three kiddos got to have some leftover trifle yesterday after school which they loved.

These little touches and additions to our home or routine just help make holidays all the more festive and memorable and I'm overly excited to do these things for my kiddos!

Happy early Valentine's Day!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Lyrical Fridays: Burn the Ships

This is Michael’s current radio favorite.  Every time it comes on he says “Yay!” and stops whatever he’s doing to listen to it.  I love the song also, and can relate the lyrics to things we experienced or are experiencing in our own lives.  

I loved the song before Michael came to like it, but the fact that it’s his favorite makes the words all the more special to me.  There are certainly times that I get bogged down and worn out with what we go through on a fairly regular basis (and sometimes daily) just to live and keep my own kids alive.  Then I am reminded of the struggles others are facing or have faced and I tell myself that everyone is going through hard things.  God isn’t punishing us or disfavoring us because of the things we’re going through.  Rather, He is our hope to cling to during these times and I’m so happy that I have Him in our lives because these roads would be hell without Him and without hope.  

This song recognizes hardships—it doesn’t make them seem unimportant or try to sweep them away and ignore them.  It gives them their due, but then encourages us to leave the past in the past.  Yesterday is over.  As a mom, sometimes I relive certain experiences over and over until I’m able to find peace with the scenario.  Some instances I’ve been reliving for years because certain pains still weigh heavy on my heart.  

Just this last weekend, I had to give Noah his Auvi-Q injection (similar to epipen) because of a severe and lightning quick allergic reaction.  I was alone with all 3 kids—Aaron was at church and I was frantically calling my mom who instructed me to give him the injection and come straight to the ER where she would meet me.  I told Michael to get Avery and himself into the van, then I got Noah into the kitchen and told him to give me a hug while I gave him his shot.  It was scary.  I am emotionally spent, even now on a Friday.  

My mind continues to mull over the process, the seconds, the outcome over and over and over and the “what ifs” haunt my thoughts if I’m not careful.  Tears have spilled.  Voices have caught in my throat as I’ve tried to process what happened and what could have happened.  “Burn the Ships” can apply to us for diabetes care, and also for allergic reactions, and the sickness traveling through our family at the moment as well.  In all things, I need to make sure my compass is pointed to God.  Nothing that has happened to us took Him by surprise and He knows my mommy-heart and how hurt it was this week.  He is the ultimate Healer and I fully trust that He will care for us.  Listening to songs like “Burn the Ships” serves to remind me of this promise.

Burn the Ships

By For King and Country

How did we get here?
All castaway on a lonely shore
I can see in your eyes, dear
It's hard to take for a moment more
We've got to

Burn the ships, cut the ties
Send a flare into the night
Say a prayer, turn the tide
Dry your tears and wave goodbye

Step into a new day
We can rise up from the dust and walk away
We can dance upon our heartache, yeah
So light a match, leave the past, burn the ships
And don't you look back

Don't let it arrest you
This fear is fear of fallin' again
And if you need a refuge
I will be right here until the end
Oh, it's time to

Burn the ships, cut the ties
Send a flare into the night
Say a prayer, turn the tide
Dry your tears and wave goodbye

Step into a new day
We can rise up from the dust and walk away
We can dance upon our heartache, yeah
So light a match, leave the past, burn the ships
And don't you look back

So long to shame, walk through the sorrow
Out of the fire into tomorrow

So flush the pills, face the fear
Feel the wave disappear
We're comin' clear, we're born again
Our hopeful lungs can breathe again
Oh, we can breathe again

Step into a new day
We can rise up from the dust and walk away
We can dance upon our heartache, yeah
So light a match, leave the past, burn the ships
And step into a new day

We can rise up from the dust and walk away
We can dance upon our heartache, yeah
So light a match, leave the past, burn the ships
And don't you look back

And don't you look back
And don't you look back

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOVrOuKVBuY

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Birthday Interviews (6 years old, 7.5 years old)

I conducted Noah's "birthday interview" this week and Michael thought it sounded like so much fun that he asked if he could do it too.  So, without further ado, here are my boys' birthday (and half birthday) interviews!

Noah: 6 Years Old

What is your name? Noah! (said with a jump!)
How old are you? Six! (said with another jump!)
What is your favorite thing to do? I don't know.  Look at garbage trucks every Monday.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Work at Dad's work.  Be an engineer.
What is your favorite food? Macaroni, and pizza.
Who do you like to spend time with? Mom.
What do you do really well? Homework.
What makes you laugh? Seeing trains.
What is the best time of the day? Food times.
What are you afraid of? Monsters.
Who is your best friend? Michael.
What do you like to do with your family? Go to restaurants.
What do you love to learn about? Learn how to drive one day.
Where do you like to go? To school.
What is your favorite book? The book from Nana and Popa.
If you had one wish, what would it be? That the rain would make snow.



Michael: 7.5 Years Old

What is your name? Michael.
How old are you? Seven and a half.
What is your favorite thing to do? Play video games with my family.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Video game maker.
What is your favorite food? Supreme pizza, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese.
Who do you like to spend time with? Everybody in my family including people who aren't in this house who I know and love.
What do you do really well? Play video games.
What makes you laugh? When someone tickles me on my belly or my ribs.
What is the best time of the day? Snack time.
What are you afraid of? Most likely reason-- the dark.
Who is your best friend? My friend at school named Ethan.
What do you like to do with your family? Play video games with them.
What do you love to learn about? Science.
Where do you like to go? Out to pizza restaurants.
What is your favorite book? All of my Pokemon books and Nintendo books.
If you had one wish, what would it be? To make my own Pokemon game and my own game company.


Well, there you have it!  Two very different boys with two very different views.  I love them both and their sister so dearly!


Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Noah: 6 Years Old!

Noah turned 6 at the beginning of January, but we had his birthday party this weekend so that his school friends could come.  It might just be me in my emotional mommy state, but I can already see a big difference in his attitude from being a 5 year old to being a 6 year old.  (Not to say the tantrums are gone, because they're not... but he's being more helpful around the house which is nice).

He's VERY much into all things police these days, so that seemed like the perfect party theme!  I searched something like "police birthday party ideas for kids" on Amazon and a whole slew of things came up!  He helped me pick out most of his party supplies and all of his favors.  Here's a glimpse of the invitation.  It was SO CUTE.

On his actual birthday, I let him open one of his gifts right away and then we saved the other ones for that night when grandparents came over for cake.

That night, we had a simple yellow cake with cream cheese icing.  He added the black sprinkles at the end.  He wanted to add all of the Halloween sprinkles but I advised against. He had also picked out bright pink strawberry icing and after tasting a tiny bit, I convinced him to use that only in the middle and to use the cream cheese frosting on the outside of the cake.  I used a badge cookie cutter for my template on the decoration.  Fortunately, Noah thought it was great and that's all that really matters. :) 

When assembling his party favors one night this week, I was so impressed with how cute they turned out!  Noah picked out little sheriff badges, handcuffs, and little notepads (for writing tickets of course).  I grabbed some cellophane bags off of Amazon and bundled the items together to make 12 little favor bags.

On Friday night, I made sugar cookies and on Saturday morning I added some yellow food coloring to cream cheese frosting for the tops.

The tablecloths, forks, spoons, two different plate designs, and napkins (and all the favors) were all Amazon purchases.  Noah picked out a variety bulk bag of chips, and we also added a fruit/cheese tray to the table and Capri Suns closer to the start of the party.

Just like for Michael's party, Noah requested the bouncy house, so we blew that up and had it indoors.  This is actually such a great idea no matter what time of year a party occurs.  In August, it was great for Michael's party because we were in the inside with AC.  For Noah's party, it was cold and slightly rainy, so having the bouncy house indoors was a great idea.

Noah had a few kids from his class show up, then we had our friends from church and all of the grandparents again.  It was a good time to connect and meet some new people and allow all of the kiddos a safe place to play and run off LOTS AND LOTS of energy!

I'll share Noah's birthday interview, and subsequently Michael's nearly-seven-and-a-half-year interview since he thought it sounded like so much fun that he wanted to do it too. :)

I continue to be amazed at how much joy these kiddos find in life and in the special events like birthday parties.  It reminds me to find such joy in my own circumstances.

Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba

3 Things to Start 2020

Happy New Year!

Is it weird for you to think that it's 2020?  I'm not sure it's really sunk in for me yet.  I haven't had to write out the date on a check or anything yet, so maybe that'll be the real test.  Maybe 2020 won't ever seem super "odd" to me because it's really just another year.  I hadn't even really paid attention to the fact that it was going to be a new decade.  I do remember being super excited for the transition into a new day, month, year, decade, century, and millenium on December 31, 1999-- so maybe these transitions from one year to the next and one decade to the next aren't so impressed upon me.  To be honest, I forgot to have my older kiddos count down the new year last night (usually I set the clocks ahead by 4 hours and act like it's 11:45 when it's 7:45, and then they'll count down the last minute to the "new year" before going to bed).  Aaron worked from 6:00am to 10:00pm last night and I just kind of forgot.  Until my neighbors began shooting off fireworks that really should belong in a municipal 4th of July show-- then I remembered it was New Year's Eve and felt a twinge of sadness that I forgot to count it down with my kiddos.  But we woke up this morning happy and excited for it to be January (even if I wasn't too excited one way or another, my kids were excited and that's enough for me). :)

I figured I'd start out 2020 on the blog with a random assortment of three facts about each of my kiddos at this stage in their lives.

Michael:  (7 Years Old)

-Michael is conservative in thought and expression, but loud in voice volume and about topics he is passionate about, which include Pokemon and Minecraft with the occasional Mario tidbit thrown in for good measure. He wants to be included in activities but will hesistate to participate if he's not sure he can do things perfectly or if he's afraid he'll be scrutinized too heavily by anyone watching.  This reminds me so much of my older brother and it makes sense that Michael acts this way too, seeing as he's a firstborn.

-Michael is SUCH a gifted reader.  He'll devour books on the day he gets them.  He LOVES going to the library (whether the one in our town, or the school's library).  I can almost guarantee that he'll have a book or two shoved underneath his pillow or his bed.  He reads books multiple times in a row and prefers very long stories at bedtime as opposed to little quick board books.

-Michael is a jokester.  He loves telling jokes, but will also create jokes and try to make jokes out of everyday statements by adding a drum & cymbal sound ("ba-dum-chhh!") to them if he has thought of a way in which the statement can connect to a pun or double meaning.
Example:
Me: Do you want another slice of pizza?
Michael: Yes, I'll take a slice of "piece-za."  Get it?  Ba-dum-chhhh!  Because pizza, like piece-za?




Noah: (5, almost 6 Years Old)

-Noah is a highly entertaining little boy.  He's very small for his age but makes up for it with a raging personality of exuberance and joyfulness about life.  He literally jumps up and down in place multiple times a day when he's excited about something.  This same excitement can be seen for items or objects of varying degrees of simplicity.  For example, the exuberant jumping is the same when you tell him he can have a sleepover at a grandma's house, or if you told him he could have a pickle for a snack.


-Noah is shocking all of us with his behavior at school.  Since the first day of school in the beginning of August, Noah has only gotten the two highest behavior colors-- green and purple.  Green means "ready to learn" and purple means "super star behavior."  I'm not sure how much longer the streak can go on, and I will say that some days Noah seems to save his misbehavior for when he's at home, but I am semi-okay with this because I can handle his tantrums and I know that if he's been good at school all day that he might be nearly exploding stage inside with all of the energy that's bound to come out of him in one way or another.  I'd much rather have him be well behaved outside of the house and leave his sour moments for his daddy and me.


-Noah is a middle child through and through.  Since I am one myself, it is easy for me to notice the swings that come with feeling like everyone is paying attention to the oldest or the youngest.  Noah and I share a bond in this feeling, but now that I'm a mama I fully understand that there is no favoritism being played; it's just the way that middle children deal with being middle children.  Since I am one, I catch onto it and can redirect Noah into acknowledging his skills and value just as my parents did with me.



Avery: (2 Years Old)

-Avery is really working on saying two syllable words which is equal parts funny and cute.  The gap between syllables is quite evident and most of the time comes with an emphasis on the second syllable.  So for "mommy" she'll say "mom----hee."  On the other hand, she'll say "mama" with super quickness, so it's only certain words she is working on mastering now.  "Potty" is "Pot---hee." "Bottle" is "bott-hole." "Michael" has gone from Mow to "Mow-how."  Noah is still "broo" for some reason, but sometimes I'll catch her saying "No---huh."  This stage is just so cute and fun!


-Avery is very much into imaginative play.  We bought her a super cute kitchen for Christmas and she'll make us coffee and fruit and dessert platters all day long.  She's also still very keen on carrying around her "Baby Pat Pat" and also alllllllll of her stuffed animal dogs and Grinch.  She also pretended to go potty last night on her plastic toddler potty (which is in the living room-- read: convenient) and then proceeded to walk to her toy kitchen sink and "wash hands."  :)

-Avery is in the process of making sense of all the different things going on around her and will often repeat what we say, but in question form.  So if I ask her if she wants her jacket zipped, she'll reply with "zipped?" in a long drawn out two syllable form.  If she's eaten one fruit snack and has one piece left on her tray, she might say "froo snack, where go? Had two." and I'll say "You ate one." And she'll reply "one?" again in a very long drawn out two syllable form.  It's really funny and highly predictable.  These days are surely some of my favorites.


Well, there we have it.  Three little things about three little kiddos of mine.


Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba