Monday's with the MOB: Link up!

Happy Monday everyone! It has been another busy, but wonderful week in this household.

Some sweet moments by my boys this week...

My youngest pressing his cute little hands together and bowing his head to say the prayer. Almost made this momma cry.

My oldest singing songs at his end of the year "presentation" at Pre-school. He was so proud.

My youngest and his new word, "CHEEEEESE". He brings me the camera and says "cheeeese" just about every day. I love hearing all of his new words!

Some "boy" moments...

Our youngest has a new favorite "game": Flying from the ottoman to the couch over and over and over. Typically we don't allow this, because we are trying to keep the couches "alive" a few more years, BUT he does it with the biggest smile on his face and it is incredibly hard to say no to.

That's this week's Monday with the MOB. Link up or comment with your own MOB (Mother of boys...of all ages)stories from the week!

**On a side note, still having computer problems. I'm not going to lie though, it is kind of nice to be forced to stay off the computer. This little "facebook vacation" of mine has been kind of freeing. And for those of you who write on my posts, my wall, or send me messages on FB, I can't get any of them :) Promise I'm not ignoring you! My incredibly old laptop made me do it...

Today was the day!!

Today was the day of the 5k I started training for about 2 months ago!

The result?! It went great! I wasn't dying, ran the whole thing (even at my grandma pace) and hit my goal time. I could have actually kept on running. All the "blah, I don't want to go running right now" training moments are worth it for the adrenaline on race day!

I had a great running partner, Cathryn, who was doing her first 5k. It made it a lot more interesting to have someone to run with who kept the same pace.

So what's in my running future? Right now the plan is to keep running at least twice a week 2 to 2 1/2 miles to work on speed and strength. There is a half marathon in October that I am considering doing. Well, let me clarify...not to run the whole thing (I have to constantly remind myself how incredibly bored I get while running!), but to run/walk it. We'll see about that one!

And, yeah....I have pictures of the wonderful day, but of course computer problems are still present! So just imagine the me smiling with the number 43 on my shirt (descriptive, right!?).

Happy Saturday everyone!

S-L-E-E-P

Well, apparently I was one tired momma. I slept from 6:30 last night till 6:15 this morning. W-O-W! Not intentionally. I'm pretty sure that I have never done that before.

This has been happening over the past week. Hoshimotos acting up again? Probably. Stress? Definitely possible. Momma running after a busy pre-schooler and a VERY energetic toddler? Also definitely a possible reason.

When I first got diagnosed with Hoshimotos I decided that to help cope with the fatigue and anxiousness associated with it I just needed to say "no" to things I typically said "yes" to in order to save whatever energy I had for my kids and husband. Lately I had finally been feeling great so I started saying yes to more again. Probably a little too much. Anxiety, stress and exhaustion has crept back into my life and apparently took it's toll.

Last night I took a break. Ha, okay, a LONG break. A needed break. Although at first I felt guilty about it, I am very glad I got some rest.

This morning as I was reflecting on my marathon of sleep I was reminded of Matthew 11:28, "Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Why I didn't go to God with my feelings of anxiety and exhaustion, I don't have an answer, I should have. But God knew. He gave me the rest I needed without me asking.

God is good and has given me much needed REST and peace.

Monday's with the MOB: Link Up!

Happy Monday everyone! If you saw my post yesterday you know that my computers are not on their best behavior. Because of this, I will not have any pictures to post on today's Monday with the MOB.

Some memorable moments from this week...

The boys sharing toys today...this is so rare...

Our oldest begging us to play hide and seek with him. To my surprise I had SO much fun! Made me feel like a kid again...

Coming home on Saturday night after a date night with the hubbs to find my oldest still awake. I went in to tuck him in, he asked me to stay and sing with him. I got to lay there and hear the sweetest little voice singing his "Bible class songs" along with me. Towards the end of "Jesus loves me" I look over to see that he is signing the song while he sings. He told me he learned it at Pre-school and proceeded to teach me as well...made this momma overjoyed.

Some not so memorable moments...

For some reason our boys have chosen this week to be super clingy, over emotional week. Not only did my oldest burst out in tears as soon as he walks into a birthday party for his friend (thus making his younger brother do the same) he also did the same thing walking into Bible class. Yes I was concerned....and, honestly, highly embarrassed.

My youngest screaming his way through Hobby Lobby and my oldest "racing" around it and somehow being ignorant to my warnings...note to self: Don't attempt Hobby Lobby by myself with two boys...they are not made for that kind of stuff.

I'm sure there are more, but honestly my brain is fried and I have laundry coming out my ears (pretty picture, huh?!) so I must go!

Today has actually been a good Monday so far. Here's to a great week!

Technical Difficulties....

Boo...hiss...blah, blah, blah... So, I had some great projects to share, but I am having some technical difficulties. I'm not going to lie, that happens a lot in this house. The hubbs and I don't know much about computers and are always having problems. About 3 weeks ago our main laptop started restricting me from using Facebook. Yes, that's 3 weeks without Facebook. No, I have not exploded yet. But, yes, I feel incredibly out of the loop! And now that same laptop will not let me access my blog! That is the computer with all of my pictures, etc on it. Which means that I can't share the pictures of my projects! The computer I am on is our Mac notebook and I don't put pictures on this one (not mentioning that I don't know how!). So until we figure this out (Modem, new laptop, I don't know! HELP!) this blog will be pictureless...yeah, we'll see how this goes. Any and ALL help is welcome :) I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Fab Food Friday: Crustless Quiche

The past couple months I've been saying that I have been trying to lose the last of my baby weight by cutting way back on flour and sugar while bumping up the amount of fruits, veggies, and protiens. Well, within the last week I went down a size!!! WOOHOO! I'm pre-baby! Needless to say I was pretty pumped, which is even more encouraging to keep up the "plan".

I love quiche. Like, LOVE. I believe it is one of those super cute girly foods that can go, breakfast, brunch, and dinner. Usually when I make it I make it with a pie crust and cream...which of course is slightly less than healthy. This past week since I was loaded up with ham that the in-laws sent home from Easter and I decided I wanted to make a quiche with it. I researched (Pinterest of course!) to see if a crustless quiche could be done and actually look like it would pass the "husband test". I came across this recipe and saw that, yes, in fact it can be done.

I used the recipe for quiche that I came up with a while ago, removed the crust and the cream and well...it was AWESOME! So, I wanted to share...

Crustless Spinach, Ham and Cheese Quiche

1 1/2 cups roughly chopped ham (big pieces to "Man-up" the quiche)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
2 cups fresh, torn spinach
8 eggs
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 of an onion, diced
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dry ground mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Chives if desired

1) Layer ham, then half of the mozza and cheddar, spinach, and then the rest of the cheese in a greased pie plate

2) Whisk the rest of the ingredients together and pour over the ham, cheese, and spinach

3) I took chives fresh from our garden, chopped them up with scissors and then sprinkled them on top...this is optional, but I love chives and the way they look, so I add them to a lot of dishes!

4) Bake at 375 for 35 minutes

This ended up tasting incredible! I didn't even notice that the crust was gone.

We put it together with a bunch of fresh fruit and some french bread for the man :) It made a great dinner...umm and breakfast for me the next day. Like I said, versatile! This definitely needs to go on your, must try list!

Enjoy!

Just a pickin'......some strawberries that is!

Yesterday was a beautiful day. It ended up being a crazy busy day, but a beautiful day none the less. Early in the morning my friend Becky and I took our boys to pick strawberries at a strawberry farm about 25 minutes away that Becky has been to before. It was SO much fun! I loved the fact that we were able to teach our boys about how strawberries grow and also that we got to take home a massive amount of fresh strawberries. Here are some pictures of the outing...

The boys had fun and all came home with red hands and faces :) and I am now dreaming of all the things I can do with these beautiful strawberries...YUM!This is definitely a tradition I want to continue with our family!

Check back tomorrow for an AWESOME crustless quiche recipe and Saturday and Sunday when I share some projects from around the house!

Happy Spring, everyone!

Mondays with the MOB: Link Up!

Every once and a while I have been doing Monday's with the MOB (Mother of boys) recap of the last week with my adorable, energetic, and wild boys. I have decided to do that every Monday and invite other moms of boys to link up and share their week as well! All you need to do is share your own crazy wonderful stories on your blog. You can add the link to your post at the bottom of this post. Fun, right?! Please no complaining (you know the difference between complaining and telling a "funny" story) about our sweet, well meaning boys. This is just a way I have found to help celebrate that, yes, we did indeed survive another week with our boys(of all ages) that seem so foreign to us at times :) If you don't have a blog of your own, please share your stories in a comment on this post!

This past week has been relaxed. We returned from Texas and just spent the week getting back into a routine. The weather has been beautiful so everyday pretty much included a bike ride and/or a trip to the park.

--Some highlights of the week....

The boys actually PLAYING together (no fighting!)

My youngest now uses his milk bottle as a sword and makes the appropriate "swishhhh, swishhhh" sound as he swings it through the air :) Future Fencing champ?

My oldest and his new obsession with water towers. We must have taken about 20 pictures of them to and from Texas. Funny thing is that I have always loved old water towers. I'm excited about this new hobby of ours!

My boys wanting to hold hands with me on the very last leg of the trip from Texas. They were tired and it was incredibly sweet :)

--Now for some moments that are umm, boy??--

My youngest was so excited (picture the cutest, biggest smile) to bring me his newest "treasure".....

a HUGE, dead MOTH! 

Needless to say, I freaked out! Then, to try and not scare my son I smiled as big as I could, said "thank you, baby!" and whisked him away to disinfect his hands like crazy!

--Lesson Learned--

"Pretty" soap and decorative towels DO NOT belong in a boys bathroom. 

I like pretty soap and having towels hanging up that actually aren't meant to be used after a bath. It helps fulfill one of my "girly" needs I guess.

I have learned that "nice towels" WILL be used to accomplish any and all tasks a boy should choose despite how many times I try to explain "pretty towels" to them.

And soap....yes, no matter how good it smells, a WHOLE BOTTLE will be dumped out into the sink in order to "make more bubbles" to play in.

Sweet, functional, boys :)

I wish everyone another happy week in the MOB world!

Fab Food Friday: Coconut Lime cupcakes & more

Hello! Happy Friday to all! This is by far my favorite day of the week simply because it means we get the hubbs home with us allllll weekend! Today we couldn't wait to see him though, so the kids and I went to visit him for lunch. It's a special treat for our oldest to get to see his dad at work.

I have a tendency to send baked goods with the hubbs to work and some were requested today so Caden and I made these Lemon brownies to take. They turned out different than I thought, but the glaze really made the brownie(except as my oldest pointed out, "They aren't brown, Mom."). I like that I can appreciate something other than chocolate :) and everyone loved them, so they are worth a try!

Along with the "dessert appreciation that isn't chocolate" theme, I wanted to share these recipes with you...

The first is what I created really quick before our church small group one night. We were hosting small group and my son wanted jello for dessert (he likes it in individual cups) so we made it. A couple hours before small group I realized that Jello may not be as welcomed by the adults as they would all our pre-schoolers. After looking in our cupboard I came up with an EASY recipe for Mini Coconut cupcakes with lime glaze....

Coconut Cupcakes

--Makes 48 mini cupcakes--

1 box yellow cake mix (made according to package)

1 1/2 Tbs. Coconut Extract

1) Mix yellow cake mix according to package (I always substitute part of the oil for applesauce) and mix in the Coconut extract

2) Grease mini muffin tin and fill with cake batter

3) Bake 12-14 minutes

4) Let cool 3 minutes then add the lime glaze (below)

Lime Glaze

2 Tb Key Lime Juice

2 Tb Milk

1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

(This is my favorite Key Lime Juice to use)

1) Whisk together ingredients till smooth

2) Drizzle over hot cupcakes (Still in pan) till they are covered (the glaze will soak in)

3) Let the cupcakes cool then pop them out of the pan

The verdict? These were gone...quickly. Also, in my opinion, they must be mini cupcakes to get the lime glaze/coconut cake ratio just right :) I think they are a perfect summer treat that isn't too "heavy" on the hot days.

Easy, right? Normally I would try to make the cake from scratch, but this ended up being just right and quick to boot!

Next, is the recipe for Coconut Buttercream icing I made to top these Pineapple Coconut cupcakes (Again, the pineapple cupcakes are from a box) for the baby shower I hosted last week.

Ingredients

1 Cup unsalted butter at room temperature

3 cups sifted powder sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbs COCONUT extract

2 Tbs milk

(Yellow food coloring is optional)

1) Beat Butter for a few minutes on medium speed

2) Turn mixer on low and add the powdered sugar

3) With beater on medium add the salt, extract, milk, and yellow food coloring if you choose and beat for a few minutes

To top cupcakes with icing I use a decorating press (I will never go back to using a knife to top cupcakes!)

Another thing I will never go back to is icing from a can...buttercream is easy and SOOOO good! I discovered this after my sweet friend, Jessi, brought us Buttercream cupcakes to reveal the gender of their baby. One taste and I was done with the store bought icing!

Both of these recipes scream warm weather and summer to me. I hope you are able to make some soon so you can welcome Summer as well!

Happy Weekend to all!

Party like it's......

....a baby shower :)

I love having parties! Don't you?! I love the planning, decorating, the FOOD, and the great fellowship that is involved...The cleaning of the house on the other hand......well, luckily the good outweighs the necessary cleaning in the occasion.

Last week I, along with some wonderful ladies, had the privilege to host a baby shower for our dear friend, Meredith.

We decided to do a "Spring" theme which included flowers, eggs, and bird's nests. We did pastels and because we originally did not know the gender of the baby we had a lot of yellows and greens, BUT a couple days before we found out they were having a girl so we redirected a little bit to add PINK to the decor. Pink is so much fun to me, mainly because I don't get to use it often!

Ella Grace banner, shabby candle holders with candle, nest and bird, tulips, pictures of the Mom and Dad, and sign in

The AMAZING food table! Cupcakes, lemon iced cookies(a fav in these parts), fruit, Robin's Eggs, deviled eggs, PB bird's nests, and awesome oatmeal iced cookies

Lovely cookie tray accent!

Pineapple cupcakes with Coconut butter cream icing (AHH) in tulip wrappers...I will share this recipe tomorrow along with another tropical cupcake!

Citrus water and Pineapple sherbert punch...SO Yummy!

The beautiful Momma, Meredith, and her beautiful Momma, Dianne

I'm so excited for this girl!

With the help of so many wonderful and talented ladies this shower turned out beautiful and we had a lot of fun doing it!

We can't wait to meet Ella Grace in August!

Easter Eggstravaganza!

We recently got home from a fabulous weekend spending Easter with my husband's family in Texas. Easter didn't just start there, it began last week with one of 3 Easter egg hunts at our church...

The boys and their sweet friend, Keely, listening to instructions

Dad surprised us with the camera (a little too close...)

Sweet brothers

And the kids playing in the egg tub after the hunt :)

On Thursday Caden had his Easter egg hunt and picnic at his Preschool...

Caden with some of his little friends

Pryce loved climbing the steps :)

After the hunt we were able to stay and have a picnic with the kids and their families. It was really sweet to see Caden with friends!

Later that afternoon we colored some eggs with the boys...Since my husband is an artist he took advantage of this moment to teach Caden about primary and secondary colors. He was in his element...

The boys had a lot of fun playing(crushing) with their newly dyed eggs...we found out that they can withstand a throw onto the carpet, but not the contracting hand of a toddler...

Friday we woke up early and got on the road for the 12 hour trip to Midland, TX to spend the weekend with the Hubbs family. I kept forgetting to take pictures, but we had a GREAT time! Saturday The Hubbs entire extended family came over to his parents house for the day. We had a surprise party for his uncle's 60th birthday which included an incredible chuck wagon (cowboy) dinner cooked over the fire, an "Amazing Race" competition between couples, a huge egg hunt for the kids, and a lot of visiting.

Saturday was capped off by some games of gin rummy and then off to bed...we were SO tired!

*Easter* Sunday morning we went to church with the fam...

Bow ties made for the boys by my friend Krista at Boykee Boutique!

*Trying* to get a picture with Pop and G before church

The boys with Chance's Grandmother

Quick family picture before we head out

My sweet boy after church!

I'm glad we got pictures before church because during church Pryce hurt his mouth pretty bad...long story short: wobbly toddler...falling...no hands...face...two bottom teeth...blood...white shirt...bow tie...Poor kiddo!  He was in a lot of pain, so (and because of a lot of screaming) we left church a little early.

Later that day (after meds and naps for the boys) we got to visit with some friends who are about to have a little baby boy and Chance's sister and her family.

Such a fun weekend! Thanks to Patty and John for being such great hosts!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday and were able to take a moment and remember the real "reason for the season" (Easter season that is...).

"Jesus loves me this I know....."