2016 in Review

Our family had quite the year! I've been keeping busy with our crew thus, the blogging has been put on the back burner for a long while. I haven't been on for over a year. So here is a recap of all the fun we've been having. Also, my kiddos are HUGE! Let's just pretend that isn't happening. K? Great. Here we go.

We kicked off the year with a fantastic addition.

This precious girl is Phoebe. She was in a shelter. We decided to see her on a whim. We fell in love, and she's been tearing up our house ever since. Truly, I don't care what she eats she's so stinking cute I just love her! She came to us the first weekend of January 2016. So we really did start the year off with a bang. 

 Speaking of adorable. Bubba made this a very fancy year. This was his uniform for the better part of the year. He loves having people tell him how nice he looks. He feels very presidential when he is in a suit. Which is exactly what he wants to be.

 This kid was our first to take on public school. He took on Kindergarten like a boss. He loved mother son day, was student of the month, and won big in the St. Patrick's day drawing.

I love all of his energy and joy. He is always excited and enthusiastic. He is back home for first grade. I love watching him learn. He is just a sweet blessing.

 This spunky girl had quite a year! She turned five, started gymnastics, went to a daddy daughter dance, got pedis with her cousin, and showed me what sass really looks like. Goodness, I love her. Pray for me, girls are much different than boys, and there is a steep learning curve, which I adore.

 This handsome boy is getting far too big. He  is my helper in so many ways. He is funny, kind, joyful, and smart. He reads all the time. He loves his friends. He rides his bike anytime the weather allows. He gives great hugs and is killing it at fourth grade. I'm one blessed mama.

Our family grew this year by more than just our precious puppy. We gained a sweet niece. Isn't she just adorable! I'm going to be her BFF. It's all planned out.

We also had C live with us this summer. We had lots of fun. She traveled with us and kept up with our crazy like a champ. She ate junk food like a Gilmore girl and watched Netflix with me all night long.

For the fourth of July we went up to my hubby's parent's cottage. There were fireworks, S'mores, swimming, boating and family. It was a great time.

We were treated to seeing a South Bend Cubs game. We love baseball games. It was lots of fun. Bubba even caught a shirt from a cannon.

During that trip we made a stop up to my Aunt's house. We rode horses, went to a festival and all the cousins got some hang out time.

Of course, a summer isn't a summer without National Cow appreciation day. So, here we are getting our free chicken.

Oh, and my baby went to camp. For a week. It was like I was dropping him off for college. I may have cried. Dan was thrilled. So was Isaac.

 We also went on the big Disney trip. I want to go back! The food, the rides, the happy kids. It was amazing! Like so so great. We had a great time as a family.

 Seriously, they are precious. Their bond is just the best thing ever. She loves her daddy and he loves his girl.

 Oh my crazy boys.

 This girl loved being a princess. Dreams do come true.

Oh, and check out my prince charming. We were in Belle's castle. Yep, he's the best.

 My bestie surprised me with a visit. We got pedis and did a corn maze and all things fall. It was great. I miss her. She should move back. The end.

 These two! I mean, come on!

 So, we played soccer. Lots of soccer. Some mornings it was early. We were not always thrilled.

 But in the end there were trophies. Isaac's team took first. It was a big deal. It was a long day.

 We joined  a home school co op we love. It is in Cinci so it's a bit of a drive, but we love the people and the atmosphere is wonderful. We are all thankful for a community of people who get what we do.

 Then there was Halloween. That's us as Mary Poppins and Bert. I know, we're adorbs.

We have the best neighbors. Our kiddos all get to trick or treat together and it is a great time. They are all pretty cute aren't they.

We had a great holiday. We did all the holiday fun. We are currently in recovery mode. I love Christmas. I love January, too. Here's to 2017! The past year was so much fun. I can't wait to see what the next year has in store.

Making Applesauce

Oh Fall, how I love you so! One of our yearly fall fun activities is to make applesauce. We have a local orchard that sells seconds and we buy them up and make as much sauce as we can to get us through the winter. This year it was a group effort. I decided to try and use this as a homeschool lesson.

 We split the apples up. Some were peeled and cored by my helpers.

We had a lot of apples.

The apples that didn't fit in the crock pot I cut up and did the old fashioned way in stock pots on the stove. 

The crock pot is such an easy way to make the applesauce. Just throw them in with as much cinnamon as you like and just a few Tablespoons of water. Let them cook on low until they are ready to be mushed. My first go round I just used a spoon to stir and mush. The next time I used my immersion blender. The blender is the better option if you have one. But either will work.

 Meanwhile on the stove the apples were cooking down. I used Macintosh apples which really don't need much extra liquid. My sauce was almost too watery. But you can't mess up apple sauce so it was fine. I have a really poorly designed strainer I used for the apple sauce in the pans. It was much more labor intensive to get the seeds and skins out, but we got a lot more sauce this way.

I used this as a lesson to work on following directions. We also talked about the parts of the apple. My littles collected the seeds and worked on counting and my older kiddos used it as a botany lesson to review some of the concepts we had learned this year. It was a fun way to break up our routine.

I ended up freezing about 10 pints of applesauce and keeping out 2 to eat right away. The kids love eating things they make, and there is no added sugars just apples and cinnamon. Oh, and as a bonus my house smelled amazing!

Soccer Survival

Tis the season in our home when all the craziness of soccer hits our family. With four kiddos all with practice, mini camps, and games our week is very full. Since my hubby also plays, refs, and coaches we are on the go a lot.

Here are a few things we do to keep our sanity:

Plan ahead:
We sit down at the beginning of each week and coordinate our week. Who is taking whom to practice. What other activities and responsibilities need to be taken care of. Then we write it all down on a master calendar. We find that Google Calendar works well because we can share it.

Give yourself grace:
When we have to eat by 4:30 most days and I only have 30 minutes to cook meals will look much less extravagant than normal. Because we are very crunched throughtout the week for time it is hard to even prep ahead. So I use stolen time to prep meals when I can. If the kids are doing a good job of doing their seat work I use that time to prep dinner. Sometimes I double it and freeze one. I also try to make good use of our crock pot. If I can throw dinner in the crock pot before the kids wake up I am free to do school, chores, errands, and the rest of my day before dinner rush.

A place for everything:
We find that hooks are the key to organization for us. Each kiddo has a hook for their soccer bag, back pack, library bag, and jacket. They have to keep all soccer equipment in their bag so in the rush of  practice time we aren't down a shin guard or soccer sock. We also have a basket of back ups since it will inevitably happen that we can't find something.

Savor the moment:
These are crazy days. They will go by fast. They are sometimes frustrating, but I'm told I will miss them. For now, I will do my best to enjoy the excitement of the seasons even if it is a little extra work.

How do you stay sane in sports season chaos?

Summer Lovin'

Summer is upon us! I am so in love with summer. As my kids are getting older it just gets more fun. We have built up quite the list of summer traditions for our bucket list. I thought I would share some of our fave summer activities

 Family Summer Bucket List

Backyard fire with s’mores

Drive-In Movie

Dayton Dragons game

Go to the pool

Catch Lightning Bugs

Summer reading program at the Library

Trip to Grandpa and Grandma’s cottage

Swim at Mimi’s

Traveling playground

Go to the zoo

Play in the sprinkler

Plant flowers

Water gun war

Water balloon fight

Family game night

Half price shakes at Sonic

Wegerzyn Garden

Splash pad

Do Sparklers

Go for bike rides

Explore hiking trails

Have a lemonade stand

Help a friend

Science experiments

Paint, play dough, messy crafts

Make popsicles

Eat watermelon

Play in the rain

Make ice cream sundaes

Go on a road trip

Go to the farm

Go garage saling

Give away toys we don’t play with anymore

VBS

Do a puzzle

Make cookies for neighbors

Cow appreciation day at Chick Fil A

Bubble

Sidewalk chalk

Go to the beach

Build a sand castle

Go to the museum

Explore our city

Watch fireworks

Play outside

 Our friends did a backyard drive in. It was so much fun! The kids made their own cars and we saw Big Hero 6.

 Finishing up our last week of school means we had to stop and grab ice cream.

 To kick off summer we went to the real drive in. We saw "Tomorrowland" and "McFarland USA". Both were great movies.

 This year the library theme is Super Heroes. We have loved going to Super Thursdays each week to play games, do science experiments, and make crafts. We love our library.

 We have hit up several of our local playgrounds with splash pads.

 Oh, and Sonic has half price shakes after 8. We have done that just a few times. :)

 Water guns and splash pads.

 We made it to the zoo. It was lots of fun. 

We have made quite a dent in our summer bucket list. I can't wait to cross off the rest of our list. I'm a little sad that summer is going so fast, but so glad we are enjoying it so much.

Bye bye baby

Today I had a small garage sale. Most of it is gone, but I had a few remnants of babyhood left in my basement. A bouncy seat, a boppy, a few bins of clothes, and some blankets were left. It was long time coming. These were the bits I had held on to "just in case".  Although I "feel done" there is that little piece of me that holds the hopes or memories of the sweet smell of newborn. A dear friend came over this afternoon with her sweet baby boy. I went down to the basement and pulled out a bag I'd secretly been hiding away. You mommas know that bag. The one with the favorite outfits from your babes. The ones that kept making the cut every time you sorted out each size. This bag had so many memories. I pulled each outfit out to give to my sweet friend. Each one that my babies wore when they were so small.  So perfect. Oh gracious, I can almost smell that baby head smell.

My boys now are so big. I realize it will only get worse. Soon I will look up to them. Tonight they all came down in their footie pajamas. Oh how I love those footie PJs. Since it is feeling more and more like fall around here I made an apple pie for dessert. So they each got a slice of pie and were allowed to stay up late to watch a little bit of football.

It was the strangest thing to watch these little boys shouting at the TV like grown men yet wearing footie pajamas. They are getting big. I have rid the house of all "baby stuff". We are moving into a world of sports and video games. We are moving out of a stage that seemed like it would never end. The diaper bags are a thing of the past. My trunk doesn't have a stroller in it. We don't have a highchair in our dining room. My living room doesn't have a bouncy seat, swing, or exersaucer. Those days were long. The feeding, the changing, the crying, seemed endless. But the weeks were fast. the months flew by, and now the years seem like only moments ago.

This new stage is a whole new kind of hard. There is scheduling, schooling, playing referee, and managing of chores. But I am seeing these awesome little people emerging out of those sweet little babies. I'm seeing future men who will change the world. I get a glimpse of those nerve wracking teenage years coming sooner than I'd like. I love the conversations I am having with these rough and tumble football loving boys. I love seeing their brains working as they are learning like crazy. I'm so blessed to be their mama. Even though saying good bye to the baby is a little sad. It is so exciting to see who these precious kiddos are going to be.