Super Saturday!

Happy Weekend my friends! Aren't long weekends the best? I don't want it to go by too fast, but we are having so much fun having my husband here on these extra days! Today's adventure is the town Christmas tree lighting with friends and then some shopping and other fun stuff along the way. I just wanted to pop in quickly with Elf on the Shelf updates! Check in HERE for all he has been up to this year so far!

Charlie used a scarf to scale the windo and sits atop the curtain! Hot Coffee, he pet, was holding the bottom of the line! Ignore my nasty came-with-the-house-blinds, they are getting a makeover this weekend with new roman shades and a curtain rod and tie backs! 

Charlie loves to change his sweaters and enjoys time spent with his new pet, Hot coffee! A simple jewelry box and pipe cleaner make his suitcase perfect for him! Read more about the SWEATERS HERE!

This morning Charlie was found fishing for pretzel goldfish in a new sweater!

Enjoy every minute of your weekend my friends!! 

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Fun on Friday

Friday is here and just about gone, what did you do with your day? Were you shopping, spending time with friends and or family, relaxing, cleaning? Please share! Ours was a lazy day spent in the theaters and then lounging around our home and you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way!

We shopped in the morning and then headed to an afternoon showing of Mocking Jay (yes, we took the kids, more on this tomorro). As we were headed home and discussing the movie, we chatted about wanting to see Penguins of Madagascar next. My husband then asked what was stopping us from seeing that today as well? We turned right around and were only 20 minutes shy of that movie starting! Hahaha!! We still had our drink and popcorn with us, so we refilled them for free and were ready to settle in with another film!

Our Elf on the Shelf brought Pajamas with his likeness on them and the kids were excited to wear them last night, so we had to photograph them wearing their jammies this morning. Roman absolutely adores penguins, so a penguin always makes its way into our photos! 

We have recently finished watching the Houdini miniseries and my son has now become obsessed with escaping from boxes, handcuffs and anything else they can think of. I only hope they do not attempt any under water tricks! 

Enjoy every minute my friends!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Thankful Thankgiving Thursday...

Happy Thanksgiving my Friends! I am in quite a rush but wanted to stop and wish you all the very best and also stop to think about being thankful during this time.

10 Things I am Thankful For-

~Family & Friends
~All of you out there that care about what I have to say
~Food to eat, a roof to sleep under and a car to get us to see our friends & family
~My husband who was so amazing when I passed out at the blood bank last night
~ My children who warm my heart every single time I look at them
~That my mother-in-law is a great person and not one of those psychos you hear about
~That I still have 2 fantastic grandparents that my children have gotten to know so well
~My Faith that has gotten me through so much
~My parents that have been so supportive with every aspect of my life
~That I wake up every morning with a purpose

Our Elf on the Shelf is back for 2014! He arrived with a BANG and brought lots of gifts! I will share more details on Monday, my family is seriously in the car as I sit on the couch finishing this up!

Enjoy every minute my friends! Let the stressful moments roll of your back and live in the happy moments. Life goes by too quick to not enjoy it all!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Wordless Wednesday

-------------------------
Wordless Wednesday - A moment to let your photos do the talking.
Link to your wordless posts in the comments please!
---------------------------

Enjoy every minute my friends!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Let Them Craft, Cook, Make a Mess and Love Them!

As the years go on and the children get older, I sit and think about how much time I have left with them. I cannot believe that I don't have any babies around the house anymore. 9,8,7...that's how old they are and with them all skipping grades, that ages them even more. This means they may leave my home eaarlier. This is one reason why I adopt the Enjoy Every Minute motto. I want to be able to hav plenty of great memories in my bank when they finally move on to have families of their own. I don't want to have any regrets or be that person that can't function without her kids and has no identity once they are gone.

 I want to enjoy every minute with the babies I had then, the big kids i have now and the teens I will have tomorrow and then when it's just my husband and I, we can go on adventures of our own, knowing that we equipped the kids to function without us. We may be around for big family holiday gatherings or we may be on the other side of the world, but the one thing we will always have? Memories and so much Love! We will visit our children often, not wait for them to visit us, we will let them know with frequen calls and letters how missed and loved they are but understand that their lives are busy too. We will have had our time with out kids and I don't want to miss a minute of it, knowing that as each day passes, that is one day less I will have with them.

This is why I say LET THEM LIVE!! Our house is in perpetual chaos. Is it a tornado where I fear they may be taken away? Nope, it's just got clutter. There are too many pictures on the wall, too much junk piling up on the coffee table and their rooms have probably hidden a secret or two somewhere in the mounds of blanket forts and sleeping bags. Time is running out and I don't want to miss opportunities. What? You want to use a hot glue gun AND a saw to build a birdhouse? Sure, just let me be in the same room. You don't feel good? Let's take a day off from school and read those library books about bridges and then show me that you can build one of your own with proper structure and tell me all about it, what kind of bridge it is and what it resembles...ohh yeah, it's a play day, no learning or fun at all!

Let them create their own lives so that they don't become to dependent on you. Oh dear, are you wearing stripes with plaids and adding a Santa hat when it's 92 degrees out? Okay, you look 

awesome. The last thing we want to do is kill their creativity and curiousity. It may make us look like careless parents when we get the stink eye from someone at the grocery store because our kids have mismatched socks on and pillowcases hanging around their necks but well you see...they are superheroes saving the laundry people of today from the dryer that eats socks...

As long as they are not harming themselves or anyone else, let them try it. There will be bigger battles ahead and they need to learn the results of their consequences today. Every day is a new one to make new choices, let them do it. Oh, you want to climb to the top of that rock wall without me standing behind you...okay I will watch from afar and realize that you did it all on your own...without me. Yes, everyday they get a little bit stronger and a heck of a lot smarter and you know why? Because you let them grow.

Knives and stoves and ovens oh my! Why don't you bang on a pot while mommy cooks. No? What? Oh yeah you are 9. Okay, you wash the stuff and I will chop...no wait. Here. Be careful, tuck your fingers away and have at it. Here is a stool, lean in close and I will share a secret. Okay, you chop, you over there, you stir and you...hey little one, stop sampling! I think sometimes we think they can't do it because we don't want to admit that our children are growing. Too fast if you ask me, but we can't stop it. The time will come that that they want to walk, then run and then fly and it's up to us to make sure that they can dust their knees off when they fall and then keep on going. It's up to us to let them know that we will always be here for a hug or a phone call or even advice but we need to let them go first.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings and remember to enjoy every minute...

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Monday's Moments and Menu Plan...

I think every Monday morning I begin this blog wondering where the weekend went! Well this weekend we stayed home and it still seemed to fly by. We began our Winter projects this weekend and though the list is short right now, I am adding to it as I go through our home binder to see what we put on the backburner to this year. You can see some of the projects HERE.

This morning as I sit here drinking my peppermint tea, looking over our week and wanting to back to bed, I am caught up in moments from the weekend.

~seeing my 8  year old working his own power drill next to dad in the attic.

~holding hands with my oldest in a parking lot and realizing how big she is getting.

~watching my youngest freak out over medicine just as I do to this day...shhh

~having my husband work all day on the attic & still doing dishes so I can get school work done.

~cuddling up in front of the fireplace as we all chat about life

~the crock pot doing all the work this weekend, from breakfast to dinners.

~holding my title as the reigning Monopoly champion

~falling in love with my family all over again 

Menu Plan Monday is here! Most of what I make can be found HERE!

Monday~

B-Breakfast Casserole
L-Raw veggies & hummus with pita bread
D-Kielbasa & Green Beans with Spinach & Tomato salad

Tuesday~

B-Cereal & Grapefruit halves
L-Chicken Soup and Garden Salad
D-Twice Baked Spinach Mac & Cheese with Southwestern Roasted Corn Salad

Wednesday~

B-Sausage, Egg & Cheese biscuits with Kiwi slices
L-Lettuce Wraps and Carrot Sticks with Laughing Cow
D-Parmesan & Herb crusted Chicken Strips with Ceasar Salad

Thursday, happy Thanksgiving!

B-Keeping it light with fruit salad
L-None
D-Ham, Turkey, Enchiladas, Mole, Rice, Beans, Stuffing, Scalloped Potatoes, Cactus Salad, Garden Salad, Green Beans, Broccoli, Tamales.....yes it's a veritable feast!

Friday~

B-Ham & Eggs with fruit
L-Anything Goes
D-Out with friends and family

Don't be afraid to try something new! Remember to enjoy every minute my friends!!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Oh Weekend...Where Did You Go???

Enjoy every minute my friends!!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Happy Saturday!

Today was our Sams Club stock up day, you know the type...load up the top and bottom of the cart so high that you can't see and then have a minor coronary when the total rings up? The ones where you start out so great with boxes and organized packing but then eventually you run out of boxes and are just shoving stuff wherever it fits! This is our one weekend a month that we spend at home deep cleaning, working on another remodel on our list and shopping. 

Today was the start of winter project #1. We finished half of the attic when we bought the house for our daughter to use as a room, the other half remained unfinished. Today the old subflooring was torn up and a new one was put down along with running new electrical. This will be a project that will most likely last all winter but I am glad to get it started. This half of the attic will become a hang out room for the kids and their friends. It will house comfy chairs, bookshelves, a table, tv and game consoles along with board games, a minifridge and other odds and ends. 

Enjoy every single minute my friends!!

   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Elf on the Shelf 2014!

Freedom Friday is HERE! Hahaha, I love Friday's they get me all excited about family time and hanging out and sleeping in...ahhhh wonderful! Anyway, it's almost Thanksgiving and in our house, that means it's almost time for our Elf on the Shelf Charlie to come back!! The kids are super excited and have not stopped talking about it. Of course we have been eager to prepare for his visit!

Check out our previous Ideas HERE and HERE!  I will continue to update this post throughout the season so that all ideas can be in one post!

First, we adopted an Elf on the Shelf pet from Barnes & Noble. He is home and waiting for Charlie to make him come alive. The kids have loved snuggling with him every night since we bought him. They have named him Hot Coffee! I have silly kids that love to come up with funny names. 

We know Charlie will arrive with his old clothes that we have bought him in the past all packed up in his suitcases, so we have a closet ready for him to hang them up on! The boys made this simple closet rod from LEGOS and a dowel rod from the hardware store. He will now have a closet to select his daily outfits from!

What fun is Christmas without an ugly Christmas sweater or 2?! Yup, we are ready for Charlie to be outfitted to the nines for the Holidays!!

I can't help it, we love these sweaters! It makes me want to get some ugly Christmas sweaters for the our whole family and wear them to Christmas as though serious! Hahaha!!

WHAT?!?! Elf on the Shelf Sweaters?!? Yup, they are Christmas ornaments we found at Michaels and they fit the elf PERFECTLY! We are all excited for Charlie to meet Hot Coffee and see his new clothes. Hope he is just as excited to see us again!

Happy Thanksgiving & WELCOME BACK CHARLIE! Our Elf arrived with jammies and books and some for mom and dad too! He brought the Houdini movie and candies and a letter from the North Pole! He even wrote letters back to the kids after they left him notes! How did he arrive?  He emptied out one of our bookshelves of books, tossed them on the coffee table and set up house! He had a felt floor, dora castle furniture, a suitcase and his closet! There as even a space for HOT COFFEE!!

Elf on the Shelf jammies from Charlie the Elf! The kids were in love with their snuggly gifts and were eager to wear them.

There he is! Hiding at the top of the curtain rod, he was difficult to spot until the kids saw the scarf he used to scale his way up there! Hot Coffee, his pet, was holding the bottom of the line.

Charlie the Elf LOVES his suitcase and Hot Coffee, his new best friend!

Charlie the elf has new boots on and he changed his sweater to go fishing for pretzel goldfish with Hot Coffee, his new bff!

Making a castle with K-Cups!

Charlie is making a Marshmallow snowman and sharing his hat with Kermit the frog! Check out his suitcase filled with his boots and scarf. What fun he is having in his new house.

Oh dear! Charlie has a bit of a sweet tooth! He is trying to help us get ready for the big Gingerbread House decorating party tonight I guess!

Flying High! It was hard to find Charlie this morning when he was piloting one of the boys' planes that hang from the ceiling of their room!

Up to his antics Charlie had Hot Coffee, his pet, halfway up in the air to the lamp, it didn't stay for long but you can see him wrapped up. 

There he is building with model bricks and cars 

Sitting in the letter that is in the picture window and Kermit is even borrowing Charlie's jersey!!

Train board started going up and there is Charlie playing trains with Kermit helping him out!

Enjoy every minute of your weekend and Holiday season my friends!!
2015 Ideas HERE
2012 Ideas HERE
2011 Ideas HERE


   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!