Vacation with Littles

Recently, we had a week-long family vacation with my mom's side of the family. Every other year, my Grandma and Grandpa pay for a big house for us all to stay in for a week. We are spread out across the country, and don't really get to see each other, especially since my sister moved to Colorado and we moved to Oklahoma. It is a great time of bonding, catching up with each other, seeing each others kids, doing stuff together as a family, and relaxing. Relaxing. That's a relative term when you have 3 small children. In the past, these vacations had been pretty relaxing. We got sleep. So that's what I expected this time. And although there were moments of relaxation and sleep, it was not what I had expected.
Towards the end of the trip, I got on the computer to look at one of my favorite blogs, Passionate Homemaking, and ironically, the post that was up was Summer Vacationing with Kids. I wish I had read this post before we had left. The last trip we went on, we had an enormous house because we were expecting my uncle and aunt and their 10 kids and then they couldn't come. So we had extra rooms and only 2 kids. This time, we had a house that fit the amount of people who came, and that included fold out couches out in the open. Not too ideal for kids who need to go to bed early. We actually got a room with a couch that had a fold out bed in the room, so we thought that would be perfect. But Judah had never slept in a real bed before, and now he was going to sleep with Maddy as well. Mistake #1. We were going to bring the pack and play, but we ended up running out of room. It took Judah about an hour or more to fall asleep each time he needed to nap or go to sleep for the night! It was exhausting. He kept getting up and coming out, talking to Maddy, and taking forever to fall asleep. One night he got to sleep as late as 11! And then the next day, he was exhausted and a mess. He did manage to take some 3 hour naps though, to catch up on lost sleep. One morning he woke up because he fell out of bed, poor guy!
So, we ended up shuffling Maddy around between her cousins fold out beds, put Judah's mattress on the floor and he slept there in our room, and Ruth slept in her bed in our bathroom. Gotta do what you gotta do!
So, all in all, it was a fun trip. I just wasn't expecting the ordeal it was to get the kids to sleep. And the frustration of them getting woken up. And melting the next day. It is exhausting as a parent when your kids or you don't get enough sleep. I guess I just wish I had different expectations going in to the trip. Which is why you need to read the aforementioned blog post before you go on vacation with your small kids!! It makes things so much smoother when we know what we're in for!!
Also, think through the sleeping situation before you leave and make up different scenarios that could work. That way you are not locked into one situation that has to work. Even if you are all in one hotel room, there are different options. We are doing this at the end of the month, and I'm already trying to figure out the best possible solution!!
When you go on vacation as a mom, you don't get away from mom responsibilities. Unless you are in a high class resort and literally have people waiting on you. But we were in a house, so laundry, dishes, cleanup, taking care of kids, and cooking still had to be done. One of my favorite things that was said in that blog post is that it's called a family trip, not a vacation. That is so true.

I hope this didn't sound super negative!! We really did have fun, but I guess it did shine through that the sleeping arrangements were pretty stressful! But you just have to roll with the punches I guess and not let things you can't control get you too down!! Try to enjoy those little sweet moments when you are on vacation and not let lack of sleep get you down! Needless to say, I'm so glad to be home with my kids sleeping in their own beds!!

 

Head on over to Alicia's Homemaking, one of my favorite blogs, to read more about people's fun new adventures!! 

New Ride

We have been a one car family since we got married. We lived in Chicago for 8 years total including school and then when we got married. We almost always lived downtown so we didn't need a second car. We lived close to Tad's work and so he would jog, bike, or skateboard to work!! We rarely used the car ourselves. We could walk almost anywhere. We walked to the playgrounds, the store, the bank, the lake, the mall, the coffee shop, etc. It is a walking city!
When we moved to Oklahoma, we quickly realized we needed a second vehicle but really didn't have the money for one. Tad started riding his bicycle to work, which was about 6-7 miles. He liked it at first, but it was a hot summer last year, and he rode his bike most of it. Once we started school, he has driven the car most of the year because we didn't need the car in the mornings while we were doing school. But we often rely on Tad's family who lived in the same town for rides when the other one needs the car. His friend at work was trying to sell his motorcycle, and Tad was looking around town for one. He ended up getting a really good deal on a Suzuki Intruder. It is a cruiser! He just got it yesterday and he is so excited!! It will take some getting used to as he hasn't ridden an actual motorcycle before. Before yesterday that is. He was cruising around the neighborhood trying it out!

So we officially have 2 vehicles. Of course the motorcycle doesn't really transport the family around, but it will be nice to have our Pacifica this summer so we can run around town in the mornings before naps! And Tad will have a blast riding to work and wherever else, and not have to always ask for rides to get places!!
Several guys have said they wish their wives would let them get one, or want me to convince their wives to let them get one. But we have laughed at that and said the reason I have been so for it is because it is actually a lot safer than him riding his bicycle on high-speed limit streets. So while it is more dangerous switching from a car to a motorcycle, it is safer for Tad because he is upgrading from a bicycle to a motorcycle!! LOL!

Try New "Adventures" Thursday - Hiding Out

It was kind of a crazy weekend here in Oklahoma. If you watched any portion of the weather, then you heard about all of the tornadoes that ravaged through towns, 2 of which were pretty close to where we live. Scary! Since we just moved here a little over a year ago, I am not used to living in a place that could so easily get a tornado. But the funny thing is that people who are from here don't really get phased about the threat of tornado. Some people do, but a lot of people just roll their eyes when I express my extreme concern!
We ended up packing up and spending the weekend with my in-laws, since they have 4 bedrooms in their basement. We slept there so we would be safer, and the kids were soundly sleeping during the storm instead of being woken up to hide in the closet or drive to Grandma's. We didn't hear much of anything down there. I heard a couple rumbles of thunder during the late-night feedings, but that's all.
We had just gone to the town of Woodward a couple weeks ago for a field trip. That's the town that got hit with tornadoes that destroyed about 89 homes, killed 5 people, injured a lot, and destroyed 13 businesses. They were taking volunteers on Sunday at church to head over to that town to help clean up the mess and move things. That's how real the threat was. That's how scary it was to live where the warnings were.
I guess I am really struggling with God being in control of the chaos. It doesn't mean that bad things won't happen, or that the tornado won't hit your town, or your house, or your kids. I am scared for my 3 kids and their safety, and my responsibility to keep them safe. And I know that this is just the beginning of tornado season. Basically our plan is to be at Grandma's with the basement during the really bad storms. I'd rather be safe there than sorry here in our house where we would all have to hide in our walk in closet. With 3 kids. Involving a newborn. No, thank you!
So, maybe God is really testing my trust in Him. It's hard for me to give this over to Him. To have peace in the midst of storms. I'm not sure what that looks like, releasing my kids to Him no matter what might happen to them. I am so sad for the 2 little kids who were killed in Woodward by the storms. It's real. I've got to get a hold on some peace or I might be a wreck every Spring that we live here! God will really have to work on me!

image credit

Try New Adventures: Goats, Snakes, and More!!

We've been busy doing some pretty random things lately!! One of the fun things we got to do is go out to Tad's Uncle and Aunt's farm where they have goats who have had lots of babies!! When we went, they had about 26 baby goats!! Of course, the kids loved getting to hold them, pet them, and chase after them!! Pictured above are my two sister-in-laws holding baby goats!!
Their chickens laid eggs and each of the girls got one, although we ended up leaving them there for fear they would break in the car on the way home!!
They were like little puppies!!! Judah got such a kick out of them!! Grandma was helping him hold one!

Maddy was pretty good about chasing the goats and getting one that she could hold. She got to help Judah pet one!! She held about every baby goat I think!! She is an animal lover!!

Momma and baby goats!! They were fun to watch!!

They got a big, new dog!! It was bigger than Judah!! It just followed us wherever we went on the farm.

Maddy just loved it! This is her in her element! She has always loved anything involving animals!! Which reminds me of her "Aunt Jess" who loves animals as much as her!!
At our local art and science museum called Leonardo's, Judah got to pet a lot of their animals that they had in cages and aquariums. He loved it! Maddy has homeschool classes there, so Judah and I get to play at the museum during that time. He would pet it quickly and then say "in there!" and point to its' cage! Especially with the snake!!

They have lots of fun dress-up stuff there! Maddy got to come down and play after her classes!! I can't believe how big she is getting! And yes, you have to hear me keep saying it!!

The kids after bath time in their robes. They are such goofballs! And they love getting their picture taken together! These next few are just random pictures that I wanted to share!! They aren't particularly related!!

Daddy and Judah at the library in their cute kid's section!

Daddy and the kids feeding ducks at the park! Don't let Tad's attire fool you, it was actually quite chilly! He just doesn't really like to wear a coat! Below are the kids at the playground!!

Maddy and her tea parties! Sometime I should post pics of her when she was littler and using the same table and stuffed animals for a tea party!!
Judah at Grandma's house for game night. He was too little to play the games we were playing, but these dominoes kept him occupied for awhile!!

And the new baby! Just a few short weeks and we will be meeting our precious new addition to the family!! Her name will be Ruth ____ Davis! Any suggestions for a middle name?? I'm worried we won't pick one until the day of!! There are lots of names in the running!!

Hop on over to aliciashomemaking.com for other fun adventures around the blogosphere!!

Try New Adventures: City Exploring

On one of Tad's days off, we decided to go exploring in our little town of Enid, Oklahoma. We have only lived here a little over a year, and we have come across some interesting, fun little shops over the past few weeks. So we decided to take some time to go around and visit some of the places we hadn't been. We started out at this little, local health food store. We came from Chicago, the mecca of healthy eating with their 2 story Whole Foods store, Trader Joe's, Sunflower Market, and outdoor farmer's markets all throughout the city. So this was a bit small, but nice to find a little place that had some familiar stuff and things that the local grocery store probably wouldn't carry.

Then, continuing on in our health journey, there was a little bakery that people have been talking about that opened up not too long ago. If you blink you'll miss it because it's so tiny!! It's just that little building right there with the little purple sign. But don't let that fool you! There were some good eats in there! Tad got a sticky bun, I got a cream cheese filled croissant, the kids got cookies, and we got coffee and juice!! Yum!! I did think to take a picture before they were totally gone!

This is a cool painting on the side of one of the old buildings in town. Just thought it was worth a picture!!
Tad wanted to check out a couple of pawn shops and just see what was in them, and so we took turns getting out at some different places without the kids.

I went into this cool little school supply store and got Maddy a coloring book that teaches them the basics about the state of Oklahoma. They had lots of good stuff in there, and it was good to know that I had somewhere to get those specific things I will need for Maddy's school!

We just took a picture of this cool little bakery/restaurant. They served food for breakfast/lunch too, and since we had just had our bakery food, we didn't go in. But it looked cute!! You can't really tell from the picture, but hanging from the awning are jeans, like the tops of jean dresses or something. Unique for sure!! Hopefully we will go back and try this place!!
Another pawn shop that Tad perused. We have also found a cool antique shop, great thrift stores, random little shops with trinkets in them, western stores with awesome country stuff to decorate your home, and the cutest downtown you will ever see!!
And on another day, we got to go to our little yogurt place called Cherry Berry, and the kids had a blast at the little kid tables and their candy-filled ice cream!! So fun!!

I'm sure we will continue to find cool little spots here in town, and it is still such a breath of fresh air after living in downtown Chicago for 8 years!! Hope you are having some fun new adventures yourself!! Comment below if you have tried anything new in the past few weeks!! Makes life interesting!

Head on over to aliciashomemaking.com to read about other people's fun new adventures!!

Coconut Snowballs and Coffee Filter Snowflakes

Every year we make and decorate Christmas cookies to bring to our friends and neighbors! This year is no exception!! But the people we have always brought cookies to have changed!! We usually would bring cookies to our apartment neighbor, our doormen downstairs, the office ladies in our apartment building, and close friends!! It makes me miss them thinking of bringing cookies to them in previous years!!
Well, we have made good friends here in Oklahoma and have been here almost exactly 1 year!! Can you believe it? And each year we pick different kinds of cookies/fudge/goodies to make and give to people. I can't give away all of what we have made this year yet, but this is one of the recipes!! I found this recipe for Coconut Snowballs in an old Family Circle magazine from 2008!! I doubled the recipe and decided it didn't look like enough, so I doubled the recipe again since I had everything out already! It was pretty easy and went quickly once I got going!

Coconut Snowballs Family Circle Magazine 2008

1 cup sweetened flake coconut
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
Pinch salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 teaspoons milk

1. Grind 1/2 cup of the coconut in food processor. Chop remaining coconut and set aside. Add flour, 1/4 cup of the confectioners' sugar and the salt. Pulse to blend. Add butter and vanilla; pulse until dough comes together.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place dough balls 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
3. Bake cookies until firm but tender, 15 minutes. Remove to rack; let cool completely.
4. In small bowl, stir together remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar and enough milk until smooth but still thick. Dip cookies in glaze (about 1/2 teaspoon for each), letting it drip down sides. Dip in chopped coconut and set aside for glaze to dry.



Coffee Filter Snowflakes

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am not very crafty. I have to push and stretch myself to do crafts with Maddy; to find them, figure them out, and buy the materials. It does not come naturally to me. But we have done pretty good since last year with preschool, where we had a lot of crafts to make going along with the curriculum we had! Madelynn is super crafty and so I have to get outside my box and do crafts with her! It has been good for me...and her!

I found this tutorial on Coffee Filter Snowflakes via Alicia's Homemaking via Made By Britta via Pinterest via Under the Big Oak Tree.

Did you catch all that? Well, the actual website to click on is Made by Britta which is where you can find a step by step tutorial for how to make these easy, fun, cheap snowflakes to decorate your house and windows!! They were really fun to make and Maddy had fun cutting different designs and making different patterns on each one!!

It was super easy, and I think we are going to make more for our big front window!! All you do is fold a round coffee filter in half, then in thirds and then get creative cutting different designs in each one!! They all come out totally different, and it's fun for little ones who are old enough to use scissors!!! Fun winter craft!!

Well, we are almost to Christmas and I will be happy when all the to-do lists are done and we can just relax as a family on Christmas!! Tad has a 3 day weekend including Christmas off from work, so it should be glorious!! Not to mention that Judah turns 2 on Christmas Eve so we have a birthday party this weekend too!! He is getting so big! Check out other adventures at aliciashomemaking.com!!

Homemade Gifts: Christmas Sweets in a Jar

I have always seen these homemade gifts and thought they were adorable and such a cute idea!! I would love to get these already-assembled cookies or brownies in a jar! I love to cook and bake, but sometimes I don't want to put forth the effort to make something homemade, but this gift saves someone all the effort of measuring everything out! From what I hear, there is some website that has tons of different ideas, like soups and other things that you can put in a jar as a gift for someone! And if you plan ahead and have a lot of the ingredients on hand, it would be a quick, fun way to get a lot of people's Christmas gifts taken care of! And fun for the kids to help make too!
They recently had all the ingredients for us to make these at our Christmas Women's party at our church. Such a fun activity! Although when you are chatting with other ladies and measuring at the same time, there is some room for error!! And also, it was a little tricky to fit all the ingredients into each container, so if you have that problem, you can always add the leftover ingredients in little bags or containers. I didn't write down the exact recipes for the cookies and brownies we made, but I found some recipes for similar things on Allrecipes.com. So, here they are:

Cowboy Cookie Mix in a Jar Allrecipes.com

1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I left the pecans out, also it helped everything fit better too!)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Layer the ingredients in order in a 1 quart jar in the order given. Press each layer in place before adding the next layer. (We actually mixed the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, just like you would if you were making it at home.)
2. Include a card with the following instructions:

Cowboy Cookie Mix in a Jar
1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together 1/2 cup melted butter or margarine, 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Stir in the entire contents of the jar. Shape into walnut sized balls. Place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes in preheated oven. Transfer from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

It's also a fun way to include the kids in making people's Christmas presents!!

Brownie Mix in a Jar Allrecipes.com

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I didn't use them in this recipe either, I'm not a big nut fan, and it also creates more room in the jar for the other ingredients!)

1. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt (either in the jar or in a small bowl first.) Layer the remaining ingredients in the order listed. Press each layer firmly in place before adding the next layer. (It also says here to wipe out the jar after adding the cocoa powder so that the other layers show through!)
2. Attach a tag with the following instructions:

Brownie Mix in a Jar:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 by 13 inch pan.
2. Empty contents of brownie mix into a large mixing bowl and stir to blend. Mix in 3/4 cup melted butter and 4 eggs. Mix thoroughly. Spread batter evenly into pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely in pan before cutting into 2 inch squares.

Once you have the mixes assembled, you can make them pretty any way you want!! You can add ribbons, bows, get creative with the little tags you attach with the recipe, or you can add little pieces of fabric cut into circles with some puffy stuff (I don't know what it's called!) before screwing on the rim. So many possibilities!!
Enjoy! Your Christmas presents made easy this year!!
Head on over to alicashomemaking.com to see other people's New Adventures for the week!! You can get such good ideas!!

Writing a Letter

image credit

A letter. Who does that anymore? Who receives them anymore? Not like a short thank-you note, or an invitation to a party, which are also becoming obsolete, but a true, long, heartfelt letter? I will tell you this much, a letter means a lot more than a quick email, an online invitation, or a quick, one-liner message on Facebook! Now, I'm not saying that I don't do these things, or that I'm offended when I get these things, but I'm just saying that taking the time to sit down and hand-write a letter to someone could make their day.
I was encouraged to do this from the book Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman and also in the book Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Kim Brenneman encourages you to sit down a write a letter once a week to a friend as a part of your office day. Nancy Leigh DeMoss encourages you to write notes/letters to people who have meant a lot to you in your life, and not to wait until you are standing at someone's funeral and wish you would have expressed how much they had meant in your life. She had amazing stories of how people had really touched other people who might not have otherwise known the difference they had made in someone's life.
I just think a letter is endearing, charming, and extremely thoughtful. For someone to sit down, and take the time to get out paper and pen, and to think of the words to write to you, to put that letter in an envelope and find a stamp to put on it, not to mention dig up your address, it really means a lot!
So, in light of this, I sat down and wrote my first letter a couple of weeks ago. I wrote to a friend who means a lot and who I haven't seen in several months. Someone who will always remain one of my closest friends, no matter the distance between us. She received that letter, and said she had just been thinking how we needed to catch up, and then she got the letter! It made her day! I was so glad I took the time to write to her, and look forward to writing to more people who mean a lot to me but are (sadly) far away!

So, who could you write a letter to this week? We could even write love letters to our husbands!! How much would that mean to them if we took the time to write out what we appreciate about them and how we appreciate all the work they do for our families, especially if that means that we get to stay home with our kiddos!

The possibilities are endless! Make someone's day today, and write them a letter!

Hop of over to aliciashomemaking.com to read more about other people's new adventures this week!!

Halloween!

We had so much fun on and around Halloween this year! It was fun being in a town with lots of little activities for little kids, that are geared towards them having fun and not being scared on Halloween! One thing we did this year was go to the big church in town for their Fall Festival! They had carnival games, tickets, food, a bouncy house, a hay ride, and little games for the kids! They had so much fun! Aunt Lydia came and helped me with the kids since Tad had to work, and we had a blast!

Maddy and Judah loved this game! They just grabbed a little duckie out of the pool, and whatever number was on the bottom of it determined which basket of prizes they got to pull out of! They did it several times! And it was just easy enough for Judah to participate!

Maddy at the bottom of the bouncy house. There were tons of kids in there!
Hay ride! Lydia said Judah loved it and was waving to people from it! It was one of his favorite things there!
Finally, we have a front porch to carve pumpkins on! No more messy clean-up in the house, or on our super tiny balcony in our old apartment! And Halloween day was around 75 degrees and sunny, it was beautiful!! Tad mainly did all the work and carving, but the kids had fun watching and playing outside!!


And I got to make pumpkin puree from my pie pumpkins and Tad made some really yummy roasted pumpkin seeds!
It was so warm, the kids didn't have to bundle up to go out!! Another church in town had a little trick-or-treating time at their church where people sat out in costumes and gave the kids candy. So we did that right before we went out to the houses. It was fun seeing all the kid's costumes!
At this age, all Judah "understood" is that he had a bucket of candy, and he wanted to eat it. He didn't really get going from house to house, or people's costumes. He just wanted candy!
After going to some houses on our street, we finally came back and got to hand out candy to the kids who came here, which was fun! Our apartment building always had trick-or-treating, but it's really not the same as having your own house! We sat on the front porch and waited for the kids to come!
Pregnant belly, anyone?
Tad tried to do this whole pumpkin in little dots, cute!!


eJudah, no more candy! Sheesh!!
We finally put Judah to bed a little early that night! He was tired and fussy and only wanted candy!! But they had fun, and we have now hidden the gigantic bowl of Halloween candy to be given out only at certain times!!! We will now have to detox and go see the dentist to make sure we aren't eating too much!!!
So, here's to another adventure in our little house, and a fun time with the kids. They get more and more fun the older they get!! Love those kiddos!!