Good Reminder

I went to the dermatologist today, for no reason other than reassurance.  I didn't have any issues to discuss or any worrisome spots.  I just felt the need to get a once over and reassurance that I don't have anything to worry about since I haven't been to a dermatologist since I was young.  I wasn't quite prepared to disrobe and be observed from head to toe, but I feel better knowing that every inch of skin was checked out. I got a clean bill of health as far as my skin is concerned!

At the end of my appointment the dermatologist went over skin "safety" rules with me which included the ABC's of monitoring moles and she reminded me to wear sunscreen daily and to reapply every 2 hours when I'm in the sun.  She also suggested that I wear a swim shirt when swimming.  Ironically, I had just bought a new swim suit a few hours prior to this appointment, and it did not include a swim shirt.  The dermatologist also recommended the sunscreen, hats, and swim shirts for my kids and to start them off early as far as sun safety. 

I walked out of the appointment thinking "what a nice reminder this was".  I know to use sunscreen, but honestly I never think of it unless I know I'm going to be in the sun all day long...and for some reason I feel like it has to be really hot before I use sunscreen.  When fall comes around I sort of put the sunscreen bottles "away" because I know there ain't no way I'm spending time outdoors over the winter!  By the way, did anyone ever decide you wanted to move south with me?? 

For some reason having a doctor examine me and then remind me about these good habits made me excited to actually practice them.  First thing on my agenda tomorrow is to return my swim suit and find something with more protection from the sun.  I also plan to purchase swim shirts for my kiddos (Rylee already has one) and try to get them interested in wearing hats. 

This same motivation happens to me when I visit the dentist.  I have terrible dental habits and I'm not afraid to admit it.  I mean, what's the point of brushing my teeth if I'm not leaving the house?? Okay, Okay, I do brush my teeth most days.  Every single time I visit the dentist I walk away excited to floss daily and brush my teeth at night (something I've never been good at because I don't go to bed until I'm super tired and brushing my teeth is the last thing I want to do).  I usually last about a month and then go back to the old until my next appointment.

Anyway...I find caring for my skin much more important than my teeth, so hopefully I can incorporate sunscreen into my daily routine and make it become habit.  I do really want to be a good role model for my kids and want them to understand the importance of protecting our skin from the sun.  Hopefully they won't feel the need to fake bake when they are older like I did...ugh. 

Anyone recommend an awesome face moisturizer with sunscreen that actually moisturizes?

Book a Trip. Use your china.

One day a few weeks ago, I asked myself this random question:  "If I was told I had to get all of my traveling done in one year, where would I go?"  After mentally making my list of places to visit, I thought to myself, "why do we put off traveling?"  The reasons in my household are usually the following:

Time.  I have all the time in the world, but my husband only gets 2 weeks vacation and on top of that, he can usually only take those 2 weeks during a certain time of year when he isn't busy at work.

Kids.  Most of the trips we want to take, do not involve the kids.  This means finding a baby-sitter, and most of them work, so they have to use vacation time from their jobs too.  And then there's the issue of leaving my kids...is the trip going to be worth it?

Money.  It's so expensive to travel and there seems to always be something else we would rather spend our money on. 

I got to thinking about our trip to Disney World that we plan to take someday.  Rylee and I really want to go....soon.  I've never been there.  But knowing how expensive of a trip this will be, we decided to wait until the kids are old enough to remember it.  BUT, the more I've been thinking about it, I can't accept "because it's expensive and for the money we should wait until they will remember it" as a reason to put it off.  Because, if there was a terrible turn of events and either Rylee or I couldn't travel anymore, I would regret not having taken the trip when we wanted to.

 

Also, even though Rylee might not remember the trip, it will be so very memorable to me to see her get excited about her favorite characters, the parade, fire works, etc. 

 

Remember when I wrote the post a couple weeks ago about how much I love listening to live music and that Nashville is at the top of my bucket list??  Well, after he read that, James said to me, "I didn't realize that was such a high priority for you....let's get it booked!"  I was so excited!!  And to top it off, that same day an old friend who currently lives in Nashville sent me a friend request on Facebook, so I was able to ask him for some advice on visiting Nashville.  Our trip has been booked and baby-sitters confirmed!

 

So my point is....as the picture above states...don't put things off that you really want to do, as you never know if you really will have time for them later.  Travel in particular.  There is so much we can learn when we travel.  And traveling seems to do something wonderful for the soul; at least mine anyway.

 

 

 

On a similar note...do you have fancy china, crystal or real silverware that you never use because you don't want to ruin it??  As I declutter my way to minimalism (my type of minimalism), I keep returning to all the crystal we received when we got married.  Five and half years later, we have never used any of it.  I want to get rid of it, at least some of it, but my husband keeps telling me, "we might use it later".  Normally I loathe that remark...if you haven't used something, you are never going to.  But for some reason I do really like the crystal (that's why I registered for it).  Ironically, a few days after debating whether or not to keep it, I saw on Facebook where someone had asked others what they do with their fine china, crystal and real silverware.  There were hundreds of comments and lots of people said they use it regularly, because what is a more important event than life?  I loved this!!  And it's so true.  Every meal you eat at the table with those you love is special.  Why should we wait for that "right" moment to use our fancy items?  Plus, if you are planning to pass it along to your kids, wouldn't it be nice if they could attach some memories to the item..."I remember Mom used these for every Sunday night supper", etc...

 

I'm going to keep a few pieces of crystal and use it whenever I feel like it.  If it breaks, oh well, at least it got used. 

 

My favorite crystal bowl and the only one I didn't actually register for. 
Thanks to my SIL's great sense of beautiful crystal :)

 

I also received my Great Grandmother's silverware last year, and while I normally am not too into heirlooms, this was just too beautiful to pass up.  And why is it sitting in the box in a cupboard when I could be admiring it's beauty at every meal??

 

 

  Go book your trip and serve tonight's meal with your finest items :)

 

 

 

Fruit Infused Water

Water has always been my drink of choice.  I haven't had milk since I was real little and had an allergy to it and pop is too sugary and just not something I normally want to drink.  I like sports drinks and flavor powder (like Crystal Light), but they sometimes upset my stomach.  So, I just keep it easy and stick with water.  It's the healthiest thing for my body anyway.  Some days though I need a little pizazz to my water. 

I started putting lemon in my water a few months ago and have really been enjoying that for a little flavor.  It's very refreshing.  I try to have a few cups of hot water with lemon each week too...usually first thing in the morning or sometimes at night before bed.  I keep reading about all of the benefits to drinking warm lemon water and I have to say that some are working for me very well.  From foodmatters.tv:

• Lemon is an excellent and rich source of vitamin C, an essential nutrient that protects the body against immune system deficiencies
• Lemons contain pectin fiber which is very beneficial for colon health and also serves as a powerful antibacterial    
• It balances maintain the pH levels in the body 
• Having warm lemon juice early in the morning helps flush out toxins    
• It aids digestion and encourages the production of bile    
• It is also a great source citric acid, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium    
• It helps prevent the growth and multiplication of pathogenic bacteria that cause infections and diseases    
• It helps reducing pain and inflammation in joints and knees as it dissolves uric acid    
• It helps cure the common cold    
• The potassium content in lemon helps nourish brain and nerve cells    
• It strengthens the liver by providing energy to the liver enzymes when they are too dilute    
• It helps balance the calcium and oxygen levels in the liver   
• It is of immense benefit to the skin and it prevents the formation of wrinkles and acne    
• Aids in the production of digestive juices
• Lemon juice helps replenish body salts especially after a strenuous workout session

This past week I went out on a ledge and changed up my water routine.  One day I put strawberry in with my lemon.  It was very good and I loved the small change in flavor.   Today I gave strawberry and kiwi a try.  It's de-lish and might be my fav so far.  I'd like to try mint in my water too but I need to figure out where I can buy mint leaves.  There are so many "recipes" out there and I cannot imagine that any of them are bad. 

Though they are available, I don't use any special type of fruit infusing cup.  I like my fruit to float in my water...it looks pretty :) 

College

I have a lot of thoughts regarding whether or not college is really necessary.  In the 10 years I've been out of college I haven't really found my degree to be necessary.  I'm glad I went....but only for the experience of it.  If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't.  I'd be $40K+ richer.  You might argue that I'd be less educated and education itself makes us rich in a different sense.....I don't disagree with that as I love learning...BUT, I cannot tell you a single thing I learned in most of my classes.  It definitely was not worth the money I spent...my own fault though.....

Something I believe so strongly in is that we should not be sending fresh high school graduates to college.  I mean, how many 18 year olds REALLY know what they want to do for the rest of their lives???  I didn't.  In fact, I had no idea what was really available in this world for jobs.  I took the required Careers class my sophomore year of high school and the tests I took all said I should be a social worker (as did a career test I took in college).  Nothing in that field was overly exciting to me at the time and I really didn't know what I wanted to do, so I decided to play the "safe" route and get a business degree.  I saw a business degree as something that could be very multi-functional and help me get a job in lots of different areas. 

The problem with the business degree and why I don't remember anything I learned is that I had zero interest in the business world and found the classes to be terribly boring and uninteresting.  A person (at least me) just can't truly learn and contain information about a subject they don't find interesting.  Luckily I can store information in my brain long enough to take a test!  I still to this day cannot think of anything I dislike more than business.  Bleh.  Everything about it makes my skin crawl....everyone is all about the mighty dollar and will turn into monsters trying to earn it and/or keep their jobs.  Just thinking about this....now I get why I was supposed to be a social worker....work for people not money :)  Although I do have to say that I am very impressed by entrepreneurs who grow a business from an idea. I love Shark Tank and have even bought some things I've seen on the show. 

That brings me to another point.  There have been some very highly educated individuals on Shark Tank with extremely impressive "resumes", who end up not getting any love from the Sharks because they just really aren't that great.  I have seen this a lot in my former jobs and I have to say that some of the hardest working, best employees I had the pleasure of working with at all of my jobs, did NOT have college degrees.  If I had to pick a team of people to work on a project with, I can list 3 right off the top of my head and only 1 of them has a degree.  Ironically they are all female too...best co-workers/employees I've ever seen. 

As a recruiter at a couple different jobs, I saw some very impressive resumes....only to find out during the interview (or sometimes shortly after hire) that they lacked in so many areas that don't show up on a piece of paper.  When someone tells me that "so and so" has their masters, or that somebody went to (insert top university here), I'm like...."yeah, and??"  I can think of a couple of people from my high school who have their masters, but they were terrible students in high school, so it's just not impressive to me.  I've also heard (though I'm sure that this isn't true of all areas of study), that masters programs can sometimes be easier classes than undergraduate ones.

All of this being said, we do have college savings accounts set up for our kids and are actively contributing to them.  If our kids want to go to college, great.  If they don't have a strong passion for a particular career, we will probably encourage them try a community college first, or if they really want to go to a university, I will encourage them to choose an area of study that they find interesting, even if it may not lead to much.  In my experience and from talking to many others about this, most jobs don't require a specific degree, just that the person has one (which in itself makes me feel like college truly isn't necessary for those jobs).  I would be curious to see how many college grads are working in their field of study and how many even needed their degrees for their job.   I realize there are other great things that college does for us....learning to work on projects in groups of people we don't know, learning to give presentations, learning to work with a deadline, etc. 

Don't get me wrong...I love to learn and am all for furthering one's education.  I'm just saying that I don't think kids should be pressured to go, and especially right out of high school if they have no idea what they want to do for the rest of their lives.  It's a lot of money to spend and I would rather see someone go at a later time in their life when they have a genuine interest in learning a specific thing.  I would love to go back now and learn something else, but it just doesn't seem practical to me at this point...plus, $40K is enough to spend on college in one lifetime.  To those who knew at age 18 what they wanted to do and are still doing it (and enjoying it)...good for you!!..your degree has probably paid off!

You know who I think has it made?...those people who end up working with a company they love, but can only advance if they get their degree....and to do so the company helps them pay for it.  Jackpot!! 

More important than college, we want our kids to be driven, hard working individuals.  We also want them to be honest, caring and genuine.  These attributes will take them so much further in life than a piece of paper showing that they attended classes taught by professors (which is basically all I did...except the one class I rarely attended that I still have nightmares about missing).  And of course if they do want to go to college....well, there's only one option.  Go Cyclones!!  <-- P.S. I didn't go there

If you are a Mike Rowe fan, here is an interesting read from him with a similar take on this subject.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/02/18/mike-rowe-was-asked-if-a-college-degree-should-be-required-for-elected-office-his-educated-response-is-a-breath-of-fresh-air/

Honorable Mention #3

While I'm super excited to receive my 3rd award in my 3rd contest, I'm a little bummed I can't do better than HM.  I'm not really a competitive person at all, but dang it would be awesome to get 1st, 2nd or 3rd at least once!  I have three more months to try before the club's year is up.   

This photo won the HM award in February's contest.  There were 18 entries, so "4th" is good.

Here is the other photo I entered and while it did not place, it only received one point less than the picture above :) 

I'll keep trying!! 

Bitter Sweet Move

As most of you know, I live on a very beautiful piece of land and live in a house that my husband and I designed ourselves.  We managed the entire building process and James did a good portion of the work himself.  We built this place to be our forever home and put a LOT of thought into every detail.  We made sure to think of each phase of our lives while planning the layout, floor types, etc.   

Approximately 16 months after we moved into our beautiful home 4 years ago, James took a job in Ames, which is 75 minutes from our house.  He had been wanting to get into the Ag industry and this job was something he was very excited about.  We decided he would try it out for 2 years and then try to get a different job in Ag closer to home.  Well, this past October was his 2 year anniversary and we sat down to discuss our current situation.  Basically, he LOVED his job and had never been more happy at work, but the 2.5+ hours of travel time each day was wearing on all of us.  It's hard on the kids and I to have him gone for 12.5 hours each day and many nights he stays in Ames because he has to work late and it doesn't make sense for him to drive all the way back home just to sleep when he could stay at my mom's house 10 minutes from his work. 

So, we talked for a long time about our options.  At this same time James had a really good job offer with his former employer and he considered taking it, as it would mean more home time and a little more money.  He had also had another job offer a few months prior (both of these companies sought him out; he was not looking for another job) that was a huge pay increase and what appeared to be a pretty stress-free job; we did consider that job as well.  He knew he could be happy at his former employer, but the more we talked the more we realized one big thing:  If he quit his current job, we would both be settling for something.  James would be settling for a job and, living where we live, I am settling because this is actually only my 2nd choice of a place to live.  I have always wanted to live in the Ames area.  We swallowed our pride and admitted that the best option is for us to move closer to Ames so he can keep his job, I can live where I want, and we can have more family time.  So many people dread going to work each day and it is a huge gift that James loves his job as much as he does.  Even if he were to change jobs down the road, there are more Ag opportunities he's interested in closer to that area of the state. 

So, here we are today.  We signed documents with a realtor on Saturday to get our house listed on the market.  Today, we had a photographer in taking pictures-- LONGEST.MORNING.EVER, trying to keep my kids from tearing up the house for 5 hours!!  I don't know how I'm going to keep this place show ready all the time....with any luck the first person to look at it will make an offer and we can be done with that part! 

Anyway, as you can imagine, this is very bitter sweet for both of us.  As we were prepping the house for pictures last night and it is by far in the best shape it's ever been in, I told James, "WOW!! I want to live here!!!"  We did so many things to this house to make it easy and functional to live in for the rest of our lives that even if we build again it just won't be the same.  Some things we included in our house:

1) A boiler system so we could heat our house with wood.  We have over 4,000sqft of finished house and that would be super expensive to heat in the winter, so putting in the boiler system would allow us to have free heat.  Obviously it was a big expense in the beginning, but we knew it would pay for itself really fast.  Also, James has a passion for chainsaws and cutting wood...and we have 130+ acres of timber (ie, free wood), so this was sort of for him to play with too.  For the record, we also have electric heat too.

2) Concrete exterior.  Our entire exterior is concrete forms, instead of sticks.  This was a huge expense, but we knew it too would help with keeping the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer (it is AMAZING for this!!).  It is also obviously much sturdier than a stick house and would hold up in a tornado better.  The other good thing about concrete is it's a sound barrier, which we didn't need in the country. 

3) Metal roof.  As we had planned to live here for the rest of our lives, spending extra on a metal roof that would never need replacing, unlike a shingled roof, was a great investment in our eyes.  On a similar note, we also got put HardiePlank siding on for similar reasons.

4) Heated floor.  Our basement has a heated floor and it is amazing!!  This will be a definite must in my next house if we build again.  It really helps heat the house.

5) Extra wide doorways.  As we cannot predict what our future will be like, we planned for one of us needing a wheelchair and made sure the doorways were all wide enough. 

6) Main floor bedrooms and laundry....in case any of us cannot do stairs.  We made sure to put all of the necessary rooms on the main floor so someone in a wheel chair or on crutches wouldn't have to worry about the stairs.

7) Timeless trim.  I really like the look of white trim, but as it is a bit trendy and those I know who had it hated keeping it clean, we decided to go with a more timeless trim.  We both also really liked the look of thick/wide trim.  Having concrete form exterior walls, all of our windows have wide window sills which adds to the character of the house.  We also have big heavy wood doors too.

8) This is a total James thing, but we put in a safe room with a real safe door. 

9) We have an extra large shower/tub in the master bathroom.  I am a bath person and take at least one each week, and while I love the look of the fancy tubs, I just couldn't see any real reason to have a separate tub and shower, so instead we opted for the largest tub/shower we could get.

10) 100+ year old wood floor.  I mentioned our floor in a previous post, but James pulled all of the wood flooring out of the 100+ year old farm house that was on our property and put it into our house. It's the first thing people notice when they walk in (and then 2nd is our amazing view!)

I'm sure I'm forgetting many other things.  With James having been in the construction industry while we were building, he knew many people in each of the trades and hand picked who he wanted to work on each phase of the house to make sure it was the best quality build possible.  I don't know that much about the mechanical system in our house, but he says it's commercial grade.  We also put a sink in the garage so he could take care of any dirty cleaning out there. 

As excited as I am to move closer to Ames (and my mommy), I very truly will miss this house.  We have so many memories here.  This is the only house our kids have lived in so all of their firsts have taken place in this house.  In addition to memories, I have so many visions of the future in this house that will not be realized.  The view we have is irreplaceable and I will definitely miss the serene beauty of it.  I can calm down in an instant just by staring out my window. 

We never could have imagined 4 years ago when we moved in that we would be leaving here so soon (or ever).  But life happens and it is an adventure.  Whatever the next chapter brings for us, we are ready for it and will embrace it, together as a family. 

Mommy Party

Have you ever heard of a Favorite Things party??  I had been wanting to have one for a while now and finally got that accomplished today with my mommy friends.  We had so much fun!!!

So the point of a Favorite Things party is that everyone brings one of their favorite items for others to take home and try out for themselves.  We set a $5 limit for our item and everyone brought 5 of that item.  We drew names to see which 5 gifts we would get.  It was a lot of fun and there were some great gifts!!  Those of us who didn't get anything for Valentine's Day were really feeling the love from our friends :)  Some gifts were:  Wine - yum!, Candle, Nail Polish, Lip Gloss, Lotion, Socks, Starbucks gift card - yum! and a cup filled with candy and Jamberry wraps.  I loved everything I got, but I have to say that I was most excited about the socks!  I love love these from Old Navy!! 

I have been meaning to get some new socks on one of my Target trips and keep forgetting (because Target has a way of making me completely forget what I went there for). Wyatt even got so excited about these socks that he pee'd on them shortly after I put them on to try them out! 

In addition to the gifts we also played a really fun "favorites" game.  I created a questionnaire with 8 questions and e-mailed it to everyone to fill out ahead of time.  At the party I read answers from the questionnaires and had everyone write down who they thought wrote each answer.  The person with the most correct guesses won a little prize from me, which was a few more of my favorite items (EOS lip balm, peanut m&m's, and a blank greeting card to send to a friend -- because I love to get snail mail). It was pretty hilarious to hear some of the answers and also to hear everyone say "wow, I don't know my friends very well".  We all got to learn some new things about each other :)  Probably the funniest was answers to "What's your favorite underwear?"!!!! 

I also asked everyone what their favorite songs were and created a playlist of those songs.  I included it in the game and had everyone guess who's favorite song it was as I played them out loud.  It was an awesome playlist with songs like "Sweet Home Alabama", "Summer of '69" and "Cruise". 

Of course we had food too....and wine!  It was all super yummy!!  One of our friends is an amazing cake maker/decorator and she brought some cupcakes.  As we all took one to eat, we watched her do something amazing with hers.....

THIS is how you eat a cupcake so you don't get frosting all over (take the bottom off and put it over the frosting like a sandwich).  Mind.Blown!!

This party was so much fun and we all agreed to do it again...soon!  If you've been to one before and have a fun idea to share with me, I'm all ears! 

Our Valentine's Week

We started this fun week with a Valentine's party at one of our friends' house on Sunday.  The girls had heart-shaped PBJ's and played some fun games.

 

On Monday we had a little play date with another friend and we made these fun Valentine picture frames.

At our library story time this week the kids made Valentine's sacks (to put their Valentines card and candy in that they got from the library staff).

The librarian also sent the kids home with some fun Valentine coloring pages to color at home.

Rylee and I made Valentine's cookies.  She has a thing with Sprinkles...wants them on everything! We enjoyed eating the frosting from the can while we waited for the cookies to bake.

Rylee handmade some Valentine's cards for a few family members and our plan was to deliver them yesterday, but instead we stayed home and had some Valentine's delivered to us.  My aunt stopped by with the kids' gifts and played for a bit.  The kids also received Valentine's cards/gifts in the mail from Grandma...Rylee was bouncing off the walls with excitement over all of her fun Valentine's she got!!  She might like this holiday more than I do!!

This morning we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and the kids got their little gifts from us.  Rylee got 2 more Book/CD stories and chocolate and Wyatt got some little bath boats (thank-you Target dollar spot) and chocolate.  Rylee's favorite were her princess chocolates...."This is EXACTLY what I wanted!!"

In addition to Valentine's Day we celebrated my niece's 4th birthday with her on Tuesday and will be attending her and my nephew's birthday party at a roller skating rink this afternoon.  Fun Week!!

Valentine Shmalentine.  Whatever, just let me drive the tractor!

Daddy-Daughter dance night last week

We Love Grandma!

I read this article today http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tina-plantamura/to-my-mother-in-law-i-was-wrong_b_6611276.html and couldn't agree more!!  (It's worth the read, but prepare for tears)

My mom is a "spoil the grandkids" kind of Grandma.  I know some people disagree with spoiling grandkids, and for awhile I was cautious about it, but now I see it as a way of showing immense love for them.  If Grandma wants nothing more than to spend her time and money on the grandchildren, who am I to ruin her happiness. 

I've said all of this before, but my mom is one amazing Grandma!  She puts the grandkids above everything else and loves to make them happy.  The other day we were there and Grandma didn't have donuts and lemonade like she usually does, so when Rylee asked for it Grandma found a way to deliver (literally...she called Great Grandma to bring some over...thanks GG!).  That may have been a little over the top, but she knew it would make Rylee happy and she was content to make that phone call for her.  I'm sure Great Grandma loved being able to make Rylee's day as well.

I love knowing that we can show up at Grandma's house with nothing but the clothes on our back and some diapers for Wyatt and she will have everything else we need.  Normally I bring drinks in the car, but when we are going to Grandma's Rylee always tells me, "I will just wait until I get to Grandma's and use her Minnie Mouse cup."  My mom only has 4 grandkids, making it easy for her to cater to each of their likes.  She has the types of cups that each grandkid likes, plates and utensils they like, and usually snacks and drinks that they each prefer.  Some might think this is ridiculous, but it's these little things that make the kids so excited to go to Grandma's.  My kids know they will have everything they need and be taken care of very well.  This is also true of my aunt's house (another favorite place of my kiddos)...caters to the adorable mini humans! 

Almost daily Ry asks to go to Grandma's.  When I ask her why she likes Grandma's house so much she always says, "Because Grandma and Katee (the dog) are there."  She doesn't say anything about Grandma buying her stuff or that Grandma might take her somewhere fun....she just knows that Grandma will give her her undivided attention and make her feel like the most special girl in the world.  If Rylee wants to have a slumber party on the small living room floor....Grandma sleeps on the floor with her.  My niece also loves that Grandma plays with her and gives her so much attention.

As the article I referenced mentions, these are the types of grandparents who also know the ins and outs of their grandchildren.  This is true of my mom.  She knows my kids' temperments, what's going to make them upset, what their interests are at the moment, where they are developmentally, where their birthmarks are, etc.  Same for my niece and nephew. Personally, I like having people besides my husband and I knowing my kids so intimately.  It makes me so much more comfortable to leave my kids with them and it's wonderful to have people love them as much as my husband and I do.  She also never lets too much time go by without seeing them....like, she can't go 10 days without seeing the kids and she sometimes calls JUST to talk to the kids...good thing the feeling is mutual for Rylee!  Sometimes Mom has all 4 kids at once (we try not to leave her alone with all of them), but she handles them very well...with a long nap afterwards ;)  1 kid or 4...there's no place else she'd rather be. 

Some people were just made to be Grandparents...to adore little people.  I knew my mom was one of these types when she started telling me she wanted to be a Grandma shortly after I graduated from college.  She would always say, "I don't care if you're married, I just want grandkids."  And it isn't just her grandkids that adore her.  Mom has several little friends who like to hang out with her and invite her to their birthday parties.  And when we go somewhere in public, little kids always seem to find her. 

I had a grandmother similar to my mom.  It was obvious that no one was as important in her life as her grandkids.  My brother and I were the only grandkids, so we were extra spoiled loved :)  Even though I can probably list a lot of things my Grandma bought me or did with me, the excitement that those things brought me don't even compare to the joy I had just being around her.  We had a special relationship and I named my daughter after her.  I see this same relationship between my daughter and my mom.  I think it's so important for a child to have a super close relationship with someone in addition to their parents, and there just isn't anything as cute as a child/grandparent relationship...in my opinion :) 


Rylee wanted a picture with her Grandma

Grandma (Fairy Godmother) trick-or-treating with the kids.

Grandma's birthday party!

We Love Books

Sticking with my love theme this week, thought I would share some of the books we love in our house.  I'm so thrilled that my kids love books as much as I do!  Some children's authors do a really great job of making the books fun to read for the parents.  I like books that have a good rhythm when you read them out loud.  These also tend to be the books that Rylee can remember by heart and "read" to her brother. 

Llama Llama -- all of them!  These are by far my favorites to read out loud...I can put lots of emotion and drama into them.  After Rylee was born I received a big box of books in the mail from one of my elementary teachers -- it was a fabulous (and totally unexpected) gift -- and I believe our first Llama Llama book was included in this box.  We have since purchased 4 more!

 

Small Brown Dog with a Wet Pink Nose.  For some reason Rylee really loves this one.  It is a cute story about how a little girl cleverly tricks her parents into getting her a dog.  Between this book and helping Grandma with her dog, Rylee thinks she knows everything there is to know about owning a dog and she is always asking for one. 

Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes.  This was the very first book that Rylee memorized and DRAMATICALLY read out loud.  It is a cute story and very fun to read.  I have read the other Pete the Cat books in the stores and just haven't been as impressed with them. 

Little Blue Truck.  This is one of Wyatt's favs.  The story includes lots of animal noises...what boy doesn't love noises?!?!

Sandra Boynton books.  These are usually rhyming and always adorable.  Blue Hat Green Hat, Pajama Time and Barnyard Dance have been among our favorites. 

Brown Bear Brown Bear.  A classic.  I remember the librarian reading this one to us in elementary school. 

Disney Bedtime Favorites.  We have a couple of these books.  They are pricey, but have been worth the money.  There are about 20 short Disney stories in each book and they are the perfect length for a story before bed.  Wyatt doesn't enjoy them yet as they are a little too long for him, but I'm sure he will in another year or so.  Rylee, on the other hand, always wants me to read from these books!

There's nothing as sweet as watching my kids sit and "read" books. Even Wyatt will flip through the pages of books and point to the pictures and talk about them (in his own language that I wish I could understand).  We have also started doing the books that come with a CD.  I will play the CD in the car while Rylee follows along in the book.  Yesterday she read the entire Frozen book by memory, I was very impressed! 

I love getting lost in a good fiction story, but as there are so many I've read, I can't even start to come up with a list of favorites.  I can tell you some of my favorite Non-Fiction books that I've read in the past couple of years though.  Almost all of these are on my Kindle and I have highlighted everything in them that I wanted to remember and I have (or will) re-read the entire books or my highlighted points. 

Miss Minimalist - Francine Jay.  I have no idea what even drew me to wanting to learn about minimalism, but I reviewed several books on the topic and ended up reading this one first.  It blew me away!  I wasn't even finished with the book and I was decluttering like a mad woman!  I have read a few other books on this topic, but none are nearly as in depth and motivating as this one.  The author did not have any kids when she wrote this book and as she does now, I would be curious if she was able to maintain her extreme minimalist lifestyle.

Smart Money Smart Kids - Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze.  My husband and I talk a lot about how to teach our kids to be smart with money.  Of course they have to have a good example to learn from and I don't always do a good job with that.  I was really excited when this book came out and I purchased it right away.  It did not disappoint.  Dave Ramsey is a very interesting individual and I still can't figure out how he got his kids to save 10k+ for their first cars when they were 16!!  This is a book that I will re-read so I don't lose sight of what I want to accomplish. 

The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy - Thomas Stanley.  A former boss gave me this book when I was in my early twenties and it has always been a favorite.  I have read it cover to cover twice now.  It's stories of Millionaire's who you would never guess have money.  It's the farmer who has lived in the same old house for 40+ years and drives a beat up rusty truck, and the small town auto mechanic who owns his shop but looks like he's homeless.  The point to the story is that we don't have to keep up with the Joneses and those who don't even try to, often are more wealthy than those who try to look like they have money. 

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach.  Okay, I know what you're thinking.....this sounds super weird, right?!?!  Well it kind of is, but I found it very fascinating.  This book was on a "read before you die" list and I thought "what the heck".  I learned so many things I never knew and while I could have lived without knowing some of it, I feel very informed of all of my options for my body when I die.  I had considered donating my body to science and I learned that what I thought that meant, is not what it means at all!  I will spare you the details, but read the book if you are interested! 

Ketchup is a Vegetable: And Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves - Robin O'Bryant.  This book was just too funny.  A light-hearted read that will make you feel like you aren't the only "bad" mom out there.  Someone was gutsy enough to put into writing what most of us moms feel on a daily basis.  There is a "second helping" of this book too, which I have purchased but haven't read. 

So glad for books and wonderful authors who write them!!  I'm also in love with my Kindle that allows me to get a book without leaving my house! 

For the Love of Music!

Thought I would start Valentine's week off with something that I love very much.....live music!  Of course, I'm mostly referring to country as I rarely listen to anything else.  I just can't think of too many things I'd rather do than listen to someone sing...especially if the singer is male.  I have attended a lot of live music events and my favorites are definitely the up-close-and-personal type.  Large arena concerts are okay, but not usually worth the money.  Some of my favorites have been at restaurants. 

Last year at the Iowa State Fair, my husband and I were waiting for the Florida-Georgia Line concert to start when we stumbled across Iowa native Brad Morgan singing at Jalepeno Petes.  He was so good and the small crowd watching him was having so much fun that we actually considered just watching him all night instead of attending the concert we paid money for.

I also really enjoyed Frankie Ballard on Main Street in Ames last summer....can't beat outdoor summer concerts!  It was a small event and he came out in the crowd to sing.

By far my most favorite live event took place in Savannah, Georgia a few years ago.  We were visiting my brother and his family when they lived there and he and my sister-in-law offered to watch Rylee while we went out.  We headed down to River Street and were trying to decide which restaurant to eat supper at when we heard this amazing voice.  We both looked at each other and declared, "wherever that is coming from, let's go there!!"  We were seated right up front near the singer and were just in awe of his talent.  Not only could the man sing, he is one of those crazy people that can sing and play any song on the guitar!  He was looking for someone to stump him and it happened to be the day that Whitney Houston died and someone in the audience asked him to sing one of her songs.  He sat there like he had just been stumped.  You could see how hard he was thinking about it and then all of a sudden he belted out "I Will Always Love You".  It was awesome and people walking below the restaurant started clapping! 

We had already finished our dinner, but were definitely not ready to leave (could have listened to him sing for 24 hours straight!), so we just kept ordering something so we wouldn't be asked to give up our table.  I started to notice that the lady sitting next to us seemed to know the singer.  I told my husband, "I think that might be his mom".  So, loving to meet new people, I asked her if she knew him.  She so proudly said, "I gave birth to him."  She told us his name was Jared Wade.  We talked to her the rest of the night and she asked to see pictures of our baby and wanted to know all about us.  At the end of the night we weren't sure who we liked more...Jared or his sweet southern bell mama!  Jared Wade was named Georgia's Male Country singer of the year in 2013!  He has toured with Tracy Lawrence and I am confident we will hear him on the radio someday soon.  Look him up on Facebook and enjoy his beautiful voice on Mondays when he posts videos of him singing!! 

At the top of my bucket list is to spend 4-5 nights in Nashville, TN listening to live country music each night.  I'm hoping to get this one crossed off soon!  Who wants to join me?!?!?!  I would also love love love to have a private concert on our acreage someday, but I won't hold my breath for that one.

Not Too Girly



I've never been overly girly (I don't think), but somewhere between college and today I have become even less girly.  A blog I read earlier this week that mentioned shaving cream got me thinking about just how un-girly I can be.

Let's start with shaving cream.  I don't think I have ever in my life used shaving cream.  What the heck is the point of it??  Perhaps I just don't know what I'm missing out on, but I think a razor and water do just fine.  I put lotion on right away when I get out of the shower and my legs are plenty soft.  Maybe the shaving cream omits the need for lotion??  If that's the case I will just stick with lotion because it's multi-purposeful versus shaving cream that has just one purpose.

Staying with beauty products, I own very little make-up.  Like, I only have two colors of eye shadow and my favorite one I have had since I got married 5+ years ago.  I know I should have gotten rid of it by now, but it's still 90% full and I love the color.  It might be that I don't really know how to wear eye shadows, but I've just never really felt the need for them.  When I was pregnant with Rylee I felt fat and ugly and just stopped wearing make-up and then I started to get used to how I looked without it and I just never really went back.  When I do try to wear more make-up, I just feel like I look so un-natural.  Prior to kids I wore lipstick every single day...now I don't even own any.  I also do not own powder or foundation...I don't like having make-up on my face because then I have to wash it every night, which I never have enough energy to do.  Since I stopped wearing powder/foundation 4 years ago I haven't had any acne at all.  I do wear mascara nearly anytime I leave the house though.  I go through 3 tubes each year.  Right now I'm loving my Younique 3D mascara and it's the one I wear most often.

Along these lines I also no longer own or wear perfume.  I used to wear it daily pre-kiddos.  As soon as Rylee was born I stopped wearing it because I didn't want her to be smothered by the smell while I held her.  I have one scented lotion that I will wear on occasion if I feel the need to smell good, but most days I don't worry about it too much.  There are so many perfume-y smells out there that make me gag and it's just not something I want to spend money on. 

Hair.  Ya'll know how I feel about hair....want to shave my head!!  Aside from straightening it or wearing it in a ponytail, I have no idea how to do anything fun with my hair.  It's boring.  Part of me REALLY wants to go back to wearing it short, but then I have to actually style it everyday...it's a vicious circle.  I don't own hair spray (haven't in years) or any other fancy hair product, other than a curling cream that I use when I want to wear it curly. 

Dresses -- No thanks.  I used to really enjoy a good dress and loved trying them on in the stores.  I remember one year buying 6 different dresses to wear to weddings.  Now I'm like "a wedding??  I don't want to go, because then I'll have to dress up."  I remember how excited I was when I got my first office job and got to go buy a lot of dress clothes.  I enjoyed picking out my outfit every morning!  Sometime after my accident (having a small limp in my walk) and after moving to an office where jeans were acceptable every day, I decided I no longer find dress shoes comfortable.  Dress shoes are of course required for dresses and dress pants, and there is no way I'm going to have miserable feet for a few hours of looking good.  It just ain't happening for this girl.  Give me a summertime formal event where I can wear cute sandals and I will re-think the dress issue :)  I've never owned a LBD, but have been thinking lately about looking for one....but then I have to buy shoes, and oh by the way....where would I wear it?!? 

Another quick story about why I hate dressing up.....a couple weeks ago I went shopping for a pair of black pants to wear to a funeral.  I tried on, literally, 19 pairs in 3 different stores.  Guess what??  EVERY SINGLE ONE was way too long.  I was so freaking annoyed!!  It dawned on me that the reason they are made long is because most people wear heels with them.  Not this girl (not tall enough heels anyway).  And I absolutely refuse to buy any article of clothing that needs to be hemmed, ironed, or dry cleaned (I keep trying to get rid of our iron and ironing board, but James uses them 1-2 times a year and won't let me).  So, I bought a pair of pants and just didn't care that they were dragging on the ground.  By the way, I also do not own flats because as cute as they are on everyone else, I think they look ridiculous on my feet....why is that?!?!?!

I'm not very trendy at all when it comes to clothes and I don't follow "fashion" other than taking notice what's popular in the stores.  I don't want to purchase an entire wardrobe that I can only wear for a year.  I do most of my clothes shopping in 3 stores...Gap, AE and Maurices.  Mostly I buy solid color tops, but will purchase a few "trendy" items each year. 

Now don't get me wrong here...While I don't do a lot of things that other girly-girls might do, there are still quite a few super-girly things I love and can't live without! 

Shopping.  Always fun. 

Chick Flicks (and comedies) are about the only movies I don't fall asleep through.  I'd like to see American Sniper though.

Anything Spa related....massage, facial, pedicure, manicure!  I also love to paint to my nails and am always looking for my next favorite color. 

Jewelry...LOVE jewelry.  The problem is, I love expensive jewelry.  Anytime I go shopping sans kiddos I make sure to browse every jewelry store I pass.  When I get catalogs in the mail from jewelry stores I look through them at least a dozen times and, like a kid at Christmas, I circle everything I love.   If I could, I would own rings in every gemstone...they are all beautiful!  But of course, my favorite is none other than the sparkly diamond!

Hand lotions and lip balms can be found in multiples in my purse/van/house.  I'm always trying out new kinds of both and love to switch them up. 

I love candles.  I don't burn them very often, but when I do, it's so calming. 

Chocolate.  And Wine.   I consume one daily...multiple times...and the other at least weekly :) 

Love is in the air.

Perhaps you can't tell because your nose hair freezes right when you walk outside, but it's that time of year when love is in the air!  I am talking about Valentine's Day.  I have to admit that this holiday was never really a big deal to me prior to having kids, but the past few years this has started to become my 2nd favorite holiday (after Christmas).  Just like at Christmas time when we are extra kind and cheerful, I feel this way around Valentine's as well.  It might be that RED is everywhere you go and I happen to really love that color, but I think it's more that I get the opportunity to do something extra special with my kiddos to make sure they know just how much they are loved.

I remember always getting a card and small Valentine's gift from my parents growing up (I still wear a bracelet that I got from them 15+ years ago).  I will never go overboard with Valentine's gifts, but I think it's fun to give my kids a little something and remind them that I love them so very much.  Rylee still remembers the chocolate she got last year and she keeps reminding that she wants the same one again :)  In addition to a gift, I will always try to do something fun with them on that day.  This year we have a birthday party for my niece and nephew that day (roller skating - yay!!), but I will probably add donuts for breakfast and making a heart shaped pizza together for lunch.  On Friday of this week Rylee is going to her first Daddy-Daughter dance.  She has never really dressed up before (she hates dresses just like her mama), so we picked out a dress and shoes together and hopefully she won't have a meltdown when she has to actually wear them!

I have to admit that I also LOVE Valentine's candy.  Specifically I like the gobstopper heartbreakers...but I swear they used to be all colors...I can only find them in pink/purple/red.  I'm doing good this year though...I have stopped to look at the candy twice, with full intentions of buying and I walked away empty handed both times :)

Not Valentine's related, but some other things I'm loving this week...

My new pedometer!
Through our health insurance we can earn extra money by tracking our steps each day and meeting a specific goal.  I was contemplating a Fitbit, but decided just to use the free one I got from the program.  It really is helpful to see how many steps you have taken so you know if you need to do more activity or not.  But I have to say...I have no idea how people get 10,000 steps in a day!!  That is the number that the Japanese discovered is optimal for our health.  I thought for sure I would hit that many yesterday.  We have a 4,600 square foot house and I dusted every inch, vacuumed and mopped floors.  I also worked out for about 25 minutes, and made sure to include lots of leg movements. When Rylee took her shower, I marched in place instead of just sitting down next to the tub like I normally would have.  I also had to go out to the garage several times to put wood in the boiler.  This requires several trips back and forth from our wood pile to the boiler each time.  Another thing I did was walk laps around the house while I was waiting on water to boil, brownies to bake and laundry to dry.  But even with all of this and normal walking around the house, I still only made it to 6,100 steps. I guess I need to leave the house to get more steps in (which is probably the point).  I know my calibration is correct, because I will walk 10/20/30 steps and check it and it definitely counts the right number.  The only time I sat yesterday was an hour in the morning to eat breakfast and check the news (some call it Facebook), an hour after lunch when I was writing a blog post, and an hour in the evening when I watched my favorite show....

Chicago Fire!  I love love this show!!  I have been watching it since it first started and I loathe weeks when it isn't on.  I love the characters, the story, and I always have a new realization and appreciation for what fire fighters really do.  I also like following the show on Facebook..they post fun things they do on the set and they appear to have a lot of fun together.  I just have one thing to say though.....Lady Gaga, really Taylor??

I also love the show Nashville and it is finally on again tonight after 2 long months!!  I'm not sure how I would live without these 2 shows.  Here is some really shocking news....get ready....I finally gave up The Bachelor!!  Do you believe it?!?!?!  I watched the first two weeks and even though I really like the IOWA Farm bachelor, I just decided it was now or never. I've been saying for the last several seasons that I'm not going to watch anymore and then I always get sucked in.  As I wasn't overly excited about the first 2 shows this season I decided it was a great place to stop watching.  I have to be honest, it feels pretty good!  I watched the show for 12 years. On that note though, someone tell me when they will be airing clips of Iowa :)

Time to stop typing and get some steps in...only at 807 at 10:20AM...YIKES!!  Have a great day!!

Most Loved Toys

Last week I wrote a post about some of my favorite things.  Today, I thought I would share with you some of my kids' favorite things.  These are items that they both use frequently, have been worth the money/gift and we would recommend to others.  

This fold out couch we bought when Rylee was 6 months old and starting to sit up on her own.  It has been the best purchase we made.  Both kids absolutely love this couch, and it is very well loved. They watch t.v. on it, read books on it, eat their snacks on it and wrestle on it.  I really want to get rid of it because it's getting kind of gross, but my husband says we can just wash it in the tub.....can't wait to see how black that water will be!  Our cats we used to have loved the couch too.

This dump truck was a Christmas gift this past year.  Ironically, James was going to take it back to the store as Wyatt had gotten a different one a few weekends before Christmas from a relative.  On Christmas morning though James decided Wyatt didn't get anything cool enough and got the truck out of his car.  The kids have had hours of fun playing with it!  If you push it from behind (Rylee runs with it), and then let go,  it goes rolling quite a ways.  Wyatt sits in it sometimes while Rylee pushes him.  So glad we didn't take it back!

This ride-on tractor has also gotten lots of use.  Both kids ride it around the house and Wyatt likes to hide things inside the seat that opens.  It came with some farm animals too but they got tossed in the corner real quick by the kids. This toy would only be better if it were the right color.....

Rylee got this doctor kit for her 2nd birthday (I think) and it has been used to treat hundreds of patients!!  I've been very thankful for it, and Rylee's medical knowledge, many times when I've been "sick".  Wyatt is also starting to really enjoy these tools and likes to take temperatures and listen to heartbeats.

Mega Blocks.  What kid doesn't love these??  Not sure I even need to say much about these.  We actually got them as a gift from my former employer for Christmas.  Wyatt doesn't care that they are pink ;)

This little guitar is one of our favorite musical instruments.  I believe Rylee got this for a gift when Wyatt was born.  Both of my kids (particularly Wyatt) love to wear this around their neck and rock out!

This desk was a 1st birthday present for Rylee and it has been sat in hundreds of times and by lots of different kiddos.  We used to have it in our living room and Rylee would sit in it to watch t.v., eat snacks, color, read, etc.  It's in our basement now so doesn't get quite as much use, but Wyatt always sits in it when we play down there.  I'm confident if this was in our living room still, it would get daily use. It has a little drawer under the seat to store things in (coloring books, etc).

Play food.  Whether they are playing restaurant, store, or feeding sick patients in the hospital, we use our play food almost daily and it can be found in every room of the house!  We have a play kitchen too, but the food sees way more use than the kitchen does.

This little folding table and chairs is a must!!  The kids sit here for snack times and sometimes lunch or supper.  They love that they can feel like a "big kid" at their own table.  We also use it as more seating (for the kids) when we have too many people to sit at our dining table.  Rylee will also do crafts at this table too.

So, these aren't exactly toys, but we got this idea from friends and it has become a favorite.  We stack all of the cottage cheese containers and then either run into them or throw balls at the tower to knock it down...lots of fun!  We have had these containers (10 of them) for about 2 years. James stole a couple to use for painting and Rylee noticed they were missing right away!

Lastly, our most recent favorite is the mattress as a trampoline!  I know, I know....terrible idea!!!  It started a few weekends ago when Grandma stayed with us and Rylee wanted to have a sleep over on the living room floor, which they had had at Grandma's house the weekend prior (even though Grandma has a bed they could have slept in).  I didn't want Grandma to sleep on the hard floor (especially when we have 3 beds they could have chosen from to sleep in), so we brought Rylee's mattress out to the living room for them to sleep on.  Little did we know it would turn into a trampoline and would be the most fun they've had at home in a long time!!!  I was hesitant to let it continue because we tell Rylee not to jump on beds....but I just couldn't make them stop.  Now when she asks for it, we drag it out to the living room and let them bounce their little hearts out.  I figure at least they are getting exercise that they wouldn't otherwise be getting.

That's it....some of our most loved toys.  We have plenty of others that they each love independently, but it's safe to say that the above are tried and true by both kiddos in our house and we would recommend them in a heartbeat (even the mattress trampoline, hehe).

I won't count this with the rest, but as some of you saw, we put a tent up in our basement yesterday for Rylee to play in...it was a HIT!!  She has never played in the basement alone as long as she did yesterday!  We are going to sleep in it tonight....she is super excited and already has so many camping activities planned for us (like shadow puppets with a flashlight).  Can't wait!  I bet it comes with a sore back to ;)