the first post of 2015

January.  The month for New Year's resolutions.  I definitely have a few goals for the year, yet I don't think I'm doing so well thus far.

Per the recommendation of my blogger buddy, Sarah, I started an Instagram account.  This may or may not be contributing to my lack of blogging.  More than likely, it is.  However, I confess that I've been really enjoying not being on the computer much lately.  And I confess: I love Instagram...like, really love it. 

Plus, I have that fancy new smart phone.  And who blogs from a smart phone?  No one.  I Instagram and Facebook from my smart phone.  They're so easy, but they're certainly not my blog.  And I love my blog.  

One of my New Year's resolutions is to blog once a week.  I'm obviously not doing well because it's January 23, and this is my first post of the year.  I'm not even including a picture.  Shameful, I know.  We'll see how I do.  

We've been enjoying a lot of downtime since Christmas, even since school resumed the first full week of the year.  It has been nice.  One of my other New Year's resolutions was to go to bed earlier and get up at a consistent time in the morning.  I'm always all over the board.  My friend, Deanna, is totally keeping me accountable for this one.  And until tonight, I've done extremely well at keeping my curfew.  Tonight? I've blown it already, so why not blog a little more?

Claire and I are spending a weekend together next weekend, Meredith's 10th birthday is just around the corner, and I have weekends out of town for various reasons through May.  I feel like I've been a planning fool over the last couple of weeks, and it seems that there is still a lot to do.  Putting out the hottest fires first.  I know everything will come together, but I've got way more tabs open in my mind than I'd like.  

Did I mention that our Christmas decor hasn't yet left the house?  I didn't, I know.  That's because it should be embarrassing.  Most of it is finally in boxes, but the tree is definitely still standing in our kitchen with lights on it.  This is, BY FAR, the latest it's ever still been standing.  You can call it "festive," but it's definitely because I'm lazy and didn't insist that my husband find the Christmas boxes in the barn until this week.

You know those people that pull their Christmas decor out in October?  Yeah, we're like them only backwards.  We're leaving ours up until February...maybe.

I must admit, though, I haven't minded.  It's made January a bit more festive in our home. :)  Sometimes our trees are literally falling apart if we stare too long at them, but I'm pretty sure we bought the most hearty, glorious tree of the bunch.  As soon as we saw it, we claimed it.  (The Hallelujah Chorus may or may not have played as we looked at it for the first time.)  We definitely got our money's worth this year.

Okay, back to 2015...I'm completely looking forward to this year.  It feels like we're growing up a lot.  The girls' birthday stretch is upon us, and when it's through, we're going to have a 12, 10, 7, and 4 year old.  Boy, those numbers look big.  

Parenting this 9-12 year old stage is an interesting journey.  It has reminded me of my early years of parenting when I had zero clue on what to do.  I read so many parenting books then, and I have felt the need to do the same with this era.  I feel like I am constantly sponging information off other moms who have been there/done that.  They are secretly my mentors, and I am beyond grateful for them.  I have found myself praying for my children more than ever.  Obviously, as a parent, I know that I'm having an impact on my children, yet the weightiness of it all has really been impressed on me recently.  I'm stepping it up.

There is so much more that I could say, but I really do need to get some sleep.  I do have to run my household in the morning.  And Deanna will probably text me first thing in the morning, and I'll have to confess that I didn't get to bed until 2:21.  Hopefully, she'll spare me public humiliation.  Anyway, if I can keep my blogging resolution (and snag the computer from time to time in the evening), I'll have time to say more.  Until then, I pray 2015 is a blessing to you.

olivia: age 3.5

There is so much sweetness wrapped up in this child that I don't even know where to begin.  Age three and a half suits her well.  Josh put together the top bunk of Amelia's bed, and now Olivia is sleeping in the bottom bunk with Amelia on the top.  

After 11 1/2 years of constant use, the crib is unoccupied.  Bittersweet, for sure.

Olivia has transitioned extremely well to her big girl bed...probably better than any of her sisters.  She likes to follow those three big sisters, and since they stay in their beds (mostly), she stays in hers.  

She loves her Grandmas, Grandpas, sisters, Pipper (her stuffed dog), and flashlights (see story below).  She has a weird habit of talking about dying.  I have no clue why, but she is constantly asking about people dying.  We just roll with it. :)

She is a total giggler, and the girls can make her laugh in a heartbeat.  She is so affectionate, and she just gives great hugs.

While the girls are doing school, she plays by herself so nicely.  Playing in her little kitchen, looking at books, and playing with her dolls keep her pretty distracted throughout the mornings.  

Okay, so the flashlight story....

This photo is framed on my bathroom counter:

Olivia was in the bathroom with me the other day while I was getting ready.

Olivia: When did you take this picture, Mom?

Me: That was at Thanksgiving a few years ago at Aunt Jill's.  You weren't born yet.  You were in my belly.

O: Yeah...I couldn't see then...it was really dark...and I couldn't see...uh-cause I didn't have my fwashwhight.  

If only she could have had her flashlight in the womb. :)

Love this little stinker pot.  She is a joy every single day.  

home sweet home addition

Our house.  We purchased our house seven years ago.  It was repossessed.  It was disgusting.  And that is a kind description, really.  

Really.

The short version of the story is this: We walked into the house, and part of the ceiling was lying on the floor.  I looked at Josh and said, "We are not buying this house."  

Josh is a visionary...not to mention he was obsessed with the 5 acres, the barn, and the 1/4 mile long driveway.  He was in love.  I was disgusted.  

We discussed it.  It met and surpassed all of my expectations except for the condition of the house (we were looking for a paint and carpet house since we had two kids and were trying for a third).  

We put an offer in, we found out we were pregnant with Amelia the follow week, and our offer was accepted a couple of weeks after that.  

We couldn't believe that we owned it.  It was amazing, exciting, and overwhelming.  

Josh worked tirelessly...and then some.  Of course, there was so much more work to do than expected.  We thought we weren't going to have to redo everything.  We were wrong.  The house was torn down to the studs, and Josh worked on it for 7 months straight.  Amelia was born 17 days after we moved in.  

There was only one major thing missing from our house.  An attached garage.  It originally had a garage, but a previous owner had turned the garage into a family room and a laundry room.  So, no garage.  

We have wanted to add a garage since day 1.  There is never a good time.  

Then, we had to decide where to put this garage and if there would be more than a garage.  Our house was built in the 70s.  It is obvious to me that people who designed houses in the 70s had z.e.r.o. clue that people need to STORE things in their houses.  Closets, anyone?!  Seriously.

Please allow me to whine for a moment about my "first world problems".  

We have closets, but they are itty-bitty.  Josh and I share the one in our bedroom.  Claire, Meredith, and Amelia share one in their bedroom.  Olivia shares the one in her room with all of our homeschool curriculum, winter coats, Halloween costumes, the pack 'n play, and kites.  

Seriously, though, we only have 3 small closets in our house.  Three...for six people.  We had a front coat closet when we first moved into the house.  We stored all of our coats, hats/mittens/scarves/etc, our luggage, and all of our board games/similar items there.

Then our furnace died.  And it was in the attic.  And the furnace guy said that the new furnace had to go in the coat closet.  Cue dread from Jackie.  

I had to find new places for all of the things in the closet.  And these aren't random we-don't-need-these-things items.  I'm not a hoarder.  I get rid of so much stuff on a continual basis around here.  Josh accuses me of not having a sentimental bone in my body. 

So, we currently have 3 bedrooms plus an office (doesn't have a closet {of course!}, so it's not considered a bedroom).

When we decided on the addition, we needed an entryway to the existing house.  The most logical place was our current office.  However, if we enter through the office, we can't use the office as an office.  

The current office is hardly usable because it tends to be the "catch all" room in the house.  It currently houses two desks (one for each of us), a huge utility shelving unit that holds pantry-type food/our canning jars/old photos/etc, a bookshelf, our safe, random Christmas things that can't go in the barn, my nice cooler, and 126 other things that are randomly piled everywhere.

It is a disaster.  I organize it once or twice a year, and it never holds because it's just a catch-all.  Horrid.  I just keep closing the door.  

Okay, so with this being our new entryway into the house, we needed a new office.  What else are we lacking?  Storage.  

Josh cannot stand the thought of adding on to our house and not doing it right.  We're already spending the time, money, and energy.  No regrets.  We're planning on staying here forever.  No regrets.  Storage room, it is!  

One thing that I've always disliked about our current house is the entrance and entryway.  It is small, tight, awkward.  I could go on...I'm whining again, I know.  So, we're getting a beautiful new entryway.  

Our current office will be converted into half entryway, half pantry.  I am so spoiled.  

Do not let me complain about anything house-related again...ever...I mean it.

The new entryway meant that we needed a new driveway to the new side of the house.  

Can I take a moment to completely brag on my amazing husband?  He designed all of this himself.  This man continues to impress me with his skills.  How do you learn how to do things like this?!  I have no idea, but I'm beyond thankful for it.    

And here is where we (finally!) begin with the photos, which are in chronological order...

This is our current driveway.  It continues forward, then curves around to the left.  This will remain the same...we're just adding the new driveway there on  the left where you see the dirt/opening in the trees.  This photo was taken pre-construction, and you can see our house back there on the left.

The concrete guys pouring the foundation!!  They were supposed to start at the end of January.  This was the beginning of October.  Patience, patience, patience. :)

Josh even got in on the action.  The foundation is being poured!

Foundation complete!  This photo was taken from the back yard.

This is the opening for our new driveway.  I love it.  I'm standing right in front of our future garage looking down to where the current driveway crosses.  We are considering connecting them in front of the house, but our septic system sits near that location.  We'll see if we can make it happen.

This is kind of a hard one to see, but this shows what is already there.  House in the middle, barn to the right, the new addition is going out the left side of the current house.

The builders came early on a Monday morning.  These TWO guys were incredible.  It was amazing to walk away for an hour and come back to see what they had accomplished.  

This is after Day 1.  This is our new entryway: porch, front door, a window on each side.  The garage is on the left (not pictured).  The office is behind the entryway.  

This is after Day 2.  Sorry for the crooked picture.

The backside after Day 2.  The opening that you see is one of the windows in the office.  The remainder of the wall to the right of the window is the storage room that goes across the back of the garage.

Day 3.  Eek!!  The design of the roof makes it look ginormous.  It's all aesthetic (plus attic storage!!).  

Day 3.  See those big tire ruts?  Yeah, a large delivery truck got stuck there for a couple of hours during Day 3.  

Another view.

Backside.

Day 5.  Amazing.

Up close.  

They did everything in 7 days.  It is now roofed and wrapped as well.  Once all of our doors arrive, they'll come back and install them.  

Now comes the hard part.  The DIY part.  We've barely picked anything inside the house...lots of ideas just nothing in stone.  There will be plenty of decision making to do over the next several months.

We are super excited to use these new spaces. I can't wait to have a garage!!  

halloween 2014

I'm a week late here, but I feel like I rarely take photos of my girls in their Halloween garb despite their continued cuteness.  This year, I vowed to document it.  I even made Olivia dress up in her costume JUST to take her picture...the other girls were already dressing up for another party.  

Claire and Meredith decided that they wanted to have a theme this year.  Meredith chose to be a detective (Nancy Drew), so Claire went with a robber.  

Claire put together her own costume this year.  She already had the pants, sweater (that used to be mine...gasp!!), and hat.  She made her mask out of felt and duct tape, and she made her money bag from a cheap reusable shopping bag.  So easy.  Loved that she did it herself.  

I wish Meredith could have sewed hers herself. :)  I made her detective cape from a Martha Stewart tutorial.  I've never made anything with the bias tape on the edge.  It was pretty easy to use, and I thought the edging really dressed it up.  She didn't want a hat (which probably saved me a ton of time), so I made her a quick headband to match.  She had a little magnifying glass earlier that week, but it broke, so she had to stick with just her notebook which had a photo of the robber inside. :)  

My little minion. :)  She won the creative costume award at one of our parties.  Yellow shirt and suspenders ordered from Amazon.  We took a sock hat and covered it in yellow duct tape.  With the help of Pinterest (of course!), I added goggles (Ball jar rings), pipe cleaner hair, and printed eyeballs and laminated Gru emblem.  It really was a fun little costume. :)

And my cute little chicken.  Awww.  This one probably came from a resale for less than $5. :)  I love that I can put her in anything and she's happy!  Makes things easy.  The best part of these kinds of costumes is how WARM they are!  I can't appreciate it enough for a little 3 year old on a cold Halloween night.  

oh those pirates!

Amelia is currently sitting at the counter drawing out of a How to Draw People book.

She's drawing a pirate.

A: I don't know...I guess I'll use this one for the skin color.

Me: Yeah, it's hard to choose a skin color since everyone has different colored skin.

A: Yeah, I know...especially pirates.

dusting off the blog

My poor, poor blog.  It is a little dusty around here. :)

I have so much I need to document in this location, and we have been beyond busy with everyday life.  Thankfully, November tends to be a slower month until Thanksgiving, so I'm looking forward to a little downtime.  

November also brings lots of hunting from the husband which means I actually get to upload photos and sit at the computer after all of my little people are in bed.  

There are several topics that I'd love to post on in the next several weeks.  Seriously, so much has happened around here.  I have a smartphone.  Our house addition is in full swing.  All of my girls are sleeping in the same bedroom.  Our youngest child is 3 1/2 (which totally changes my outlook on life).  My oldest child is working on 12 (which totally changes my outlook on life).  Needless to say, I have some posting to do.

We've been so busy that I haven't even uploaded photos.  I have a funny Olivia story to share, but as I looked at my uploaded photos, the most decent one I could find of her was from August at the lake.  Seriously, shame on me.  I'll work on it.  

Okay, so funny Olivia story...

Olivia LOVES to help me in the kitchen.  I was baking cookies this morning, and she brought our step stool over to the mixer to help.  She got her hands messy with something, so I told her to wash her hands.  This conversation followed:

O: (as she's getting off of her stool) Don't let anybody take my stool.

Me: Okay.

She then moves her stool over to the sink to use it to reach the sink while she washes her hands.

O: (looks over to where her stool was previously)  HEY!!  WHO TOOK MY...(looks down where she's standing)...oh...I'm standing on it.

Three year olds are lovely.

b.i.f. thirty

Amelia is getting her hair cut in a week.  Here was our conversation about it:

Me: How do you want your hair cut?

A: I don't know!

Me: Do you want it just trimmed a little or do you want it cut shorter like mine?

A: I want it cut short like yours!!!

(pauses for a second)

A:  Well, no...I don't think anyone would recognize me.  I better not.