It's Been Awhile!!

My friends! It has been so long since I have put out a blog post! Our computer died, and so we spent the summer without a computer, but since we have gotten one, we have been so busy with school (and Judah is doing preschool at home this year!), Classical Conversations, swim lessons, church, and life with 3 kids! I'm sure some of you wondered if I fell off the planet or something! I have missed putting up my favorite recipes, blogging about homemaking, tips I have learned, life, and stuff that makes my life interesting! I have so many things to share as I get back to blogging. In April, I got into a weight loss group on Facebook and have lost about 15 pounds (give or take what day it is!) I would love to share about that! Also, I am in my second year of tutoring (teaching) Maddy's class at Classical Conversations. So I have the children that are mostly in 2nd grade. This year is going great!

Another cool thing is that God has been doing some awesome things in my heart, and I have finished a book that I want to share about that was really awesome! There were 2 things that I realized at the beginning of this school year that have really helped me in my everyday life. The first thing is that I realized I needed to get up earlier than my kids in the morning. I used to do this before I got pregnant with Ruth, inspired by the blog "Inspired to Action" where there is a whole "movement" to Maximize Your Mornings (link on the right hand side of the blog). When you are not in the habit of getting up early, it may seem like an impossible feat. But once you start, and you realize the amazing quiet before the kids get up, and that quiet time you can spend with God, you will get addicted to it! The other thing I realized, with my quiet times seeming boring and not drawing me closer to God, was that I really needed to spend quiet time with God. Not just time before my kids got up, but time where I wasn't doing anything else. Where I could just listen to worship music. Or just sit in the quiet. Or where I could "be still, and know that He is God." (Psalm 46:1) And then, randomnly, I picked a book off our bookshelf (I don't know where we got it, or how long we have had it), and decided to use it during my devotion time. It is an oldie, by A.W. Tozer, called "The Pursuit of God." And boy did God drop that in my lap at the right time. It was about the very thing I had been missing in my walk with God. That sweet fellowship and intimacy that comes from pursuing God and seeking that quiet time of drawing near to God that we all too often miss out on. And when we just read the Bible (check), pray (check), and do all our church duties (check, check), it can start to feel dull. And we can start to get resentful. And feel like we are wasting our time. But when we can turn off the distractions, and actually let God do the talking, when we can just listen, and be thankful, and draw near to Him, He will change our hearst. And it starts to feel different. And new. And amazing. And you will be fed. And as mommies of little children who need us for a million different things all day long, we need to be fed or we will burn out. And we can just feel overwhelmed with a million different to-do lists that seem like they have no purpose. Things that get undone 10 minutes after we do them. And the other reason I felt like it was so important to get up before the kids, was so I could also plan my day right after my time with God. Know what I want to accomplish for the day, check the account and be on top of the finances daily (something I was slacking on), know what we are having for dinner and how much prep time I will need, look at the calendar, and just be prepared for the day.

Before I got up early, I would wake up with kids who needed something, I would be groggy as my husband left for work with minimal breakfast, I had no idea what was for dinner, how much was in the account, or what I was doing that day. And that's when my life was feeling overwhelming and I felt like it was out of control. But with my new plan in place, I was getting fed by God first thing in the morning, having relaxing, quiet time with God to start off my day, and knew what my chores were for the day, and what the plan for the day would be. These 2 things have really helped me a lot during this crazy, hectic season of homeschooling 2 kids, preparing for CC each week, and a load of other responsibilities.

I hope everyone is well. I hope to hear from some of my regular readers from before, and hope to encourage some new moms as well who are in the thick of it, busy but satisfied staying home with little ones. Maybe we have homeschooling in common, our relationship with God, Classical Conversations, being a stay-at-home mom, or a love for cooking, but whatever it may be, I hope this blog will encourage you and give you some new ideas for how to make your life easier, more fun, or at least make your house smell yummy with some new recipes to try! Happy Fall!!

This Time of Year

Well, we have officially been on our CC break for almost 3 weeks! It has been such a nice break and a back-to-normal of homeschooling and taking care of the house and kids! Well, in addition to all the holiday hustle and bustle that is now upon us! We are a little late in our decorating this year; we have been so busy, and honestly, it is a little hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it is 75 degrees outside and we can wear shorts and short sleeved shirts to go outside! But, nonetheless, it is great playing weather for the kids!

Judah doing crafts at our church Holiday decorating party!

Judah is about to turn 3 years old on Christmas Eve! I can't believe how fast time flies! He is such a joy to our family, and I can't believe how fast he is growing up! He is my snuggler and sweet, calm one and is just a delight! We are going to have a small birthday party for him, his first friend birthday party, themed around his puppy pillow pet which he adores. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees his cake that will look like his pillow pet! Of course made by his very talented Aunt Lydia!!

First Thanksgiving!

My sister, Briana and I

The Thanksgiving spread

Tad and his sibs on Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was good! It was fun to have my sister, Briana, and her family come visit from Colorado! They spent Thanksgiving with us at Tad's parents house, and we got to do some other fun stuff with them while they were here!
We have a few more weeks of school and then a 2 week Christmas break, which will be nice! I'm sure it will all go by so fast! And Ruth is about to have her first Christmas! She is getting so big! Well, not really big, persay! She is only 15 pounds at 9 months! She is only in the 3rd percentile for her weight! Both of my other kids had teeth by now and were crawling. But Ruth is taking her sweet time! She is pulling halfway up, and is so close to crawling. She does some kind of scoot thing while she is sitting up which helps her get around some.
Maddy has been sick a lot lately. I'm gonna do some research as to how to boost her immune system because I don't think it's normal how much she has been sick. She has had 3 rounds of the stomach flu (all of which didn't last very long at all), and now she just came down with a nasty cold with a fever, sore throat, and incessant coughing. I'm not sure what's going on with her, but I'm planning on pumping her full of vitamins and healthy food to try to build up her immune system. Any suggestions please leave in the comment section below!
Maddy is also about to have her first ballet recital! Last week, they performed in a nursing home, and I really look forward to seeing their full routine in their Christmas performance! She will actually be done with her ballet, tap, and jazz class after her recital. It wasn't her favorite class and she is actually anxious to get back to swim lessons! So I will savor this recital! I will try to post pictures if I can!
I have really been trying to lose weight during this eating season. Eating is my biggest downfall, and I haven't done so well in that department. But I have really stepped up my workouts, and have tried to vary them so that I can confuse the muscle groups and keep them guessing! A lot of times, I get stuck in a routine of doing the same workouts, and I really want to work different areas and also not get bored!

Tad, carving the turkey on Thanksgiving!

Tad has been working with his clients at work, and also doing some odd jobs for his parents and our pastor. He is running a 50 mile trail race with some good friends from Moody in the spring in Arizona, so he is training some for that right now. He has gotten in really good shape over the last few months!

 

So that's our most recent update! Sorry I haven't been too regular on this here blog! Sometimes I feel more inspired to write and other times I feel like I don't know what to share! So this post was kind of jumbled! But that's where we are at! If you are still reading this long-winded post, Happy Holidays to you and your family!!

Priorities

Right now seems like such a crazy time. I think I definitely feel the most overwhelmed since having my third baby at the end of February. She is almost 8 months already, and I still feel pretty overwhelmed. It's not so much just her. It's all three of them put together. And this new year of teaching Classical Conversations each week that involves hours of prep work. And the ministries that I have at church. Plus the regular homeschooling, which I want to be one of my top priorities because I don't want that to fall by the wayside. And my home, and all the responsibilities that come along with that that pretty much fall on my shoulders alone. And then there are other things that I wish I had more time for. Like working out and spending time with friends. I feel like my friends are totally on the backburner right now. The only ones I really get together with are the few that pursue me to get together. Bless them!
Whenever anyone asks how I'm doing or what is going on, I feel like the answer is always "Busy." "Overwhelmed." "Crazy." "A lot going on." And if I'm not doing anything, or if I'm taking a nap, or relaxing, I feel like I should be doing something productive. And I wish I could get up early and get more things done before the kids get up, but lately, I have been getting so little sleep that my energy levels have been down and I have been struggling with depression so I can't really give up sleep right now. Ruth is up a lot at night, Maddy and Judah are in the same room now and they fall asleep a lot later than they used to, and get up a lot earlier than they used to. And usually about the time I lay down to go to sleep at night, Ruth wakes up for a feeding. And it seems like she is up way too much at night.
There is just so much going on right now. I miss having time to bake, cook, decorate, clean, exercise, entertain, all the things I used to blog about. My passions. The things that used to give me breaks. But now, I barely blog and probably because I don't have anything fun to blog about, it seems like I just keep griping about how overwhelmed I am. And how important things keep falling by the wayside. I know there are tons of systems and schedules out there to keep you on top of things. But when you homeschool, you are in a totally different game. When am I suppose to do those daily chores? My whole morning is filled with getting breakfast for 4 people, maybe picking up the kitchen, nursing Ruth, and getting school done with Maddy. And we are usually doing school in the afternoon after naps too.
I need the professional homeschooling veteran moms to help! When do you get things done? And how do you find the energy to get all those things done? It seems like my house is suffering, my health is suffering, and I cannot stay on top of things!! Maybe I'm just having a little emotional meltdown. I know the rewards of homeschooling and I know that that is more important than having a perfect house and entertaining weekly.
My mother-in-law was trying to help me by reminding me of my priorities: God, Husband, Family, Others/Church, Me. That breaks it down, showing me that my family is more important than church, Tad is more important than the kids, etc. But it can still be hard to break it all down and figure out how to get everything done in a way that I'm not going crazy. And I desperately miss my husband. My love. I so wish we had the money to have a getaway to focus on each other and relax. We have barely had that in our whole marriage. Maybe once. Or twice.
And it can also feel a little lonely being at home. Especially when the kids get sick. Even your husband doesn't understand what it's like to have all the responsibilities of a SAHM and be home with them all the time. And to never get a day off. Or a night off. It can be exhausting. Like today. Tad went to work, came home on his lunch break and saw the craziness for like 10 minutes and went back to work. Came home and took a nap on the couch. Left for worship practice and church while I stayed home with sick kids. Came back and did dishes for me and helped clean up and now he is gone on a run with his sister. I have been here all day. He did offer for me to go run, or for us to run together, but I just don't have the energy.
So there's my life. Crazy. Busy. And I don't have any answers, persay, I guess I'm still looking for answers.

The Most Amazing Thing Happened

Pioneer Woman, at Barnes and Noble outside of Chicago in 2009

Last week, we were out of town because I had a Practicum, which is a 3-day training to be a tutor (which is like a teacher) for Classical Conversations. They call it a tutor because the parent is suppose to be the child's primary teacher at home. It was really good training about a classical, Christian education, training in learning Latin, learning how to teach the Foundations class, which is what I will be teaching, and we got a chance to get all our books and materials!! Maddy got a chance to go to a Geography/Drawing Camp for those 3 days, and Judah was in the nursery when he wasn't napping. Tad got off for all three days, and so he was my "manny!" Major props to him because he took care of the kids so I could take notes, listen to the seminar, and get some really good training in!!
So yes, that was all fine and wonderful, but I have to tell you about the most amazing thing that happened. I went into the sanctuary on the first morning for training and noticed that there weren't too many people there. I wish I had packed some fancier clothes, because a lot of the women were in dresses, all dressed nice and ready for the sessions. I didn't pack any dresses. I saw one lady who was helping people get checked in and seemed to be in some kind of leadership, and she looked familiar but I don't know anyone from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, so I just kind of brushed it off. I noticed one lady in the back of the sanctuary who looked interesting. I noticed her because she was especially tall, had long red hair pulled back, and was wearing an interesting top. I didn't think anything of it until I saw the lady I had previously recognized walk up to the red-haired woman and say something to her. And then, it hit me.
Who do I totally admire and blog about? Whose recipes do I cook, who lives in Oklahoma, and homeschools? Who did I wait for 5 hours while 35 weeks pregnant to meet, and have her sign my cookbook?
If you guessed PIONEER WOMAN you are correct!! I almost peed my pants!!! And the first lady I recognized was Pioneer Woman's best friend, Hyacinth, who is in her cookbook, on her cooking show at times, and was on the Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Yeah, I'm not obsessed or anything!! Her nametag said Cindi which must be short for Hyacinth!! So I wasn't gonna talk to her, since I already met her in Chicago, and didn't want to bother her or seem like an obsessed fan, but the third day, after prodding from several people, I was gonna talk to her. But guess who didn't show up the third day? Yep. I almost stole her and her kids nametags though, when I saw them on the table when she didn't come!! One of her sons was in Maddy's class, one of her daughters might have helped in the nursery with Judah, and I saw the other ones around. So surreal. Because her family has been an integral part of her blog and tv show.
The first day when I went to go pick up Maddy from class, Pioneer Woman and I (I love the sound of that!) were 2 of the only moms standing, waiting to pick up our kids from the camp. Why didn't I say anything to her!!  So I got Maddy and she started to tell me all about her camp, and then she saw PW in front of us, and her eyes got real big and she said, "Is that the lady from that cooking show?" It was awesome. She was as star struck as me!! And she does claim that that is her favorite cooking show!
So in the subsequent days, she asked PW's boy in her class, Todd, if he liked being videotaped (ha ha), and what his favorite meal was his mother made. He said pork chops! Swoon.
So, in my opinion, going to the Practicum in Bartlesville was totally worth it just because I got to see Pioneer woman for 2 days in the sessions. She checks her phone a lot. Probably checking her blog! I loved it!

Yeah, that's Pioneer Woman and I, just chatting!!!!

 So, maybe I will actually blog about the Practicum or Classical Conversations, or starting school up soon, but first things first! Just had to tell you guys about it!! See, I guess it was worth it to move to Oklahoma!

A Juggling Act

 Sorry I have been so MIA lately!! A big part of it is that I haven't been able to transfer all my pictures from my phone to the computer, so all the blog posts that I took pictures for aren't able to be put on my blog as easily. Not sure what is going on with that. The other part is that life is just plain hectic around here!! We only have a couple of weeks of school left, and with Ruthie coming during the school year, we had to take a few weeks off. So we are doing 6 days of school in each school week to try to get done by June 8. I'm ready for summer break!!
I pretty much have to make school the main priority in the mornings. I really try to get it all done by lunch time, or at least before nap time. So between feeding Ruthie, making breakfast, rocking Ruthie to sleep for her nap (which is often pretty time-consuming throughout the day), getting the kids dressed, and cleaning up after breakfast, it's a pretty hectic and busy morning. Ruthie's schedule isn't very predictable yet, so if she wakes up from her nap, then school usually gets put on hold for a little bit. I try to keep Maddy on schedule and doing things without me while I nurse, or reading a book to me if Ruth doesn't get too distracted.
But these days are extremely hectic when it's one on three. One mom, three kids who all need mom. Thankfully, Maddy is pretty self-sufficient so she can not only get most things that she needs, but she helps a lot with Judah too. I count down the hours until Tad gets off work, and until his days off!! It's so nice to have his help! I don't feel as insane when he is here and I can usually eat breakfast at a normal time when he is here to hold the baby!
I will say that it is so nice to live near family during this busy time, and have Tad's siblings stop in to visit, help, and to just go over his parent's house and have the kids run and play and have lots of aunts and uncles to love on them!
I'm hoping that if I can get my picture situation figured out, and once we are done with school here in a couple weeks, I will be much more present in the blogging world!! And if anyone has any advice why all of a sudden my phone won't upload any new pictures to my computer, feel free to leave a comment!!

I know I'm behind on my blog when my husband checks it and says I've been slacking!! I miss it!

Urban Momma: 100 Posts and 1 Year Old!!!

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I can't believe it's already been a year since I have joined the blogging world!! I have really enjoyed it, even though I don't always have time or energy enough to keep up with it how I would like!! Last March I did my first post, and since then have worked all the way up to 100 posts this month!! I hope I am inspiring stay at home moms out there (or working moms, want-to-be moms, home cooks, homemakers, etc.) to cook well, be a little more organized, to be intentional about their families and spiritual lives, and to seek to be better at what they do.
I can't help but notice lately at the gym, as the sweat is pouring off of me and I'm dying during my sprint, the sign (at the YMCA) that says,

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men;" Colossians 3:23

It really makes you think about doing things differently, not half-heartedly and dragging through the day, but really intentionally seeking to serve God through everything we do. I would like you to check out this blog post on inspiredtoaction.com if you get the chance:

How To Be a More Patient Mom in Just 24 Hours

It is a great, short blog post that gives great insight and tips for tired, stressed-out moms.

I hope to get back to my usual, more frequent blogging soon. I have been so busy working out, cleaning house, gardening (more on this later!!), and getting settled in our house that blogging has taken a backseat these days. But I have so much I have been wanting to share here, so hopefully it will be here soon!! I want to thank all my readers for your encouragement and for being a part of my life, especially through the move and everything!! Your comments and feedback mean a lot!!

If you would like, feel free to comment on what types of posts you have liked or would like to see more of on this blog!!

Happy 1 year Urban Momma!!!!

Getting Settled

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Finally, we have internet!! For anyone who missed what is going on with us, we just got our own little house (to rent) and moved out of Tad's parent's house after 2 months. We feel like official Oklahoma residents now!! It is so nice to be in our own place, to have our own space again, and to get into our own routines. It has been great to spend more time with the kids, explore our new neighborhood, and to get into my new kitchen (which I love, by the way!!) and get cooking again!! I have so many recipes to share with you in the coming weeks, including some freezer cooking!!

As soon as I get things a little bit more settled, I'll also post pictures of our new place, room by room, so you can get a feel for our little home!! I'm so glad to be back to blogging, checking up on your blogs, and sharing my favorite recipes with you all!!

Just in case you were wondering, here are some new blogs I love that you can check out if you have some time:

This Italian Family

Little Health Junkie

Provision Farm

Mom's Crazy Cooking

I should be back to normal blogging as soon as possible!! I miss it, and hope to hear from you all soon!! Goodnight!!

Service Announcement

Just a little note: Sorry I haven't been up on my blog lately. We moved into our house this week and we don't have our Internet hooked up yet. As soon as we get it hooked up, I will be back to blogging again!! I can't wait to add more about homemaking now that we are in our own place again!! Hopefully Urban Momma will be up and running again soon!!

Stephanie

Hello, Oklahoma!!!

Tad's family

Well, we're here in Oklahoma!!! It was a crazy last couple weeks, but we made it!! Our last couple weeks were filled with people visiting, getting together with our Chicago friends, and our kids being really sick!! Our last 2 nights we got to stay at the Ritz Carlton Hotel to use up Tad's comp nights that he gets with the Four Seasons. We got a double connected suite to share with Tad's 4 siblings. It was awesome!! Definitely a Christmas to remember!!
Though we will miss Chicago, our friends, our church, and our awesome city, we are excited to be here in Oklahoma. We are hoping it will be better for family life, and an added bonus to be near so much family!!
So with the start of the new year and the beginning of a new chapter in our lives comes the launch of Urban Momma...Gone Country!!! I hope to continue blogging about cooking, family life, updating pictures, and doing book reviews, but also adding posts concerning big family life (living with Tad's family), country living, life outside the city, and some new additions to the site, coming soon!!
I am looking forward to blogging about our life change from the big city to the big, wide open country!!
Happy New Year!!!

Unexpected Oklahoma Trip

We went down to Oklahoma in February and Grandma, Pops, and all the kids got to meet Judah! They knew we were moving down there, and we decided we wouldn't visit again until we made the big move. Well, in October, Tad's Grandma Davis died and we decided to go down for the funeral. About a month later, his grandpa died as well, but we couldn't make another trip. So in tribute to them are a couple pictures of them with the kids. They were great people, and raised 6 great kids who all walk with the Lord and have beautiful families with children and grandchildren. We will miss them, but we know they are in heaven together, and would have been married for 65 years recently!

Grandpa Davis in February with the kiddos! Maddy loved when he would "moo" like a cow, and often imitated him!

Grandma Davis always spoke her mind. She was sweet with the kids, and loved holding them!

Hello, Oklahoma. My soon-to-be homeland!!!

Taking a walk down Tad's family's street with the dog in tow. Peaceful. Quiet. Nature. I loved it!!! And so did Maddy! Walking that dog like a pro!!

She had to stop and inspect every bug, grasshopper, anything she saw. Such a city girl, about to be country girl!! At least she's not afraid to get dirty!

Walking down the street with Grandma. Precious.

Our future home!! Well, Tad's parents house. But we will be living there while we get settled, Tad gets used to his new job, and we find our own place!!

My beautiful sister-in-law, Lydia. She is 17 and studying Cosmetology while she finishes highschool. She just got her driver's license and works at the local grocery store bakery. She is adorable. I love her!!!

Pops and Judah. Chillin'.

This was one of the best things we did while we were down there for our short trip!! Their Pastor and his wife have lots of animals and land and let us come up and see their chickens, cows, horse, goats, and let Maddy feed some of the animals!!! She had a blast!! Here is Judah trying to decide what he thinks about chickens.

We brought apples that had fallen from his parent's apple trees and fed them to the chickens and cows. They were happy.

Well, hello there.

Aunt Anna and Judah checking out the horse.

Here is my country boy! Looks like he'll fit in just fine!

Is this tractor big enough for him?

She was lovin' it!

Maddy has always loved to feed any kind of animal. Dogs. Cats. Her fish. Anything. But here she is feeding the goats and wasn't afraid even though there was one that was pretty feisty. She actually befriended him and got him to eat the food that she had.

Oh yeah. And this place was right around the corner from where we will be living. You can actually see the sky in Oklahoma. The sunrises. The sunsets. The stars. Things I have been deprived of for 8 long years!

Tons of family was there for the funeral, and this is the girls table eating their food!

Tad's cousin Trevor holding Tucker (who Maddy calls Chucker) and Aunt Anna holding Judah.

Adorable. They will be best friends. And have I mentioned how excited I am to be living closer to Trevor's wife Julie? Yeah, super excited. She might have to kick me out of her house.

This was so precious. Judah crawled over and was helping to feed Tucker his bottle!

Sunset from their grandparent's porch.

Everyone pretending to sleep on the way home.

Right outside the church for the funeral.

Maddy, Aunt Naomi, and Aunt Lydia.

Anna and I.

Maddy and Uncle Nathan.

Drivin' and being cool.

My beautiful sister-in-law again!! I just love this girl, and am so excited to be living close to her and being able to be more a part of her life!

Playing in the backyard!

So, with our move just 3 weeks away, we are getting really excited, as is Tad's family. We have lots of visitors coming in the next couple weeks to help us pack and to say goodbye. Tad's job is getting lined up and his future (hopefully) job has been contacting him and they sound really interested. His application and resume have been sent in, and he had a phone interview. So we are just waiting to hear!

Our trip to Oklahoma was so good. It was so confirming and really gave us a peace and an excitement for our move. We looked at houses a little bit, Tad talked to his contact for his new job, and we looked at the place like it was going to be home. I will keep you posted about how we are doing, and will actually have more time to blog once we are down there and I don't have a whole house to take care of by myself (for a short time!). We will of course be helping out at Tad's parent's house, and I hope to blog more about cooking for a big family, seeing how a big family works, and homeschooling while we live there.

Someone asked if I would keep my blog once we moved, and my response to that is...of course!! I look forward to it taking a turn towards more country-ness and I hope you stick around to see our lives change from fast-paced city life to a hopefully more calm slower-paced country life. We are excited!!!