Brown Eyed Kiddos

We have been easing into 2019 so far, but our lazy vacation days have come to a screeching halt. Jonathan went back to school this past week after having three weeks off for Christmas vacation. We had a great time with him being home and by the end of his vacation it seemed like our non-regimented days would last forever, but we all had a wake-up call when Monday came around. Lunches needed to be made, laundry cleaned, and alarm clocks set. We had a very busy week with his return to school, orthodontic appointments, check-up appointments, and snow interfering with it all.

Miss Jasmine Eve had her eighteen-month check-up on Thursday. She is 34 in. long (98th percentile) and 20 lbs (10th percentile in weight). She is tall and lengthy! My husband and I think that the scale must be a tad off because this little lady eats constantly! We can never eat in peace without her climbing up us asking for one bite. However, with her constantly eating she is constantly moving. She loves to run, jump around, and play with her brothers. Her favorite books are Moo, Baa, La, La, La, Little Blue Truck, and Mommy Hugs. She is the best helper right now. She will put our dogs in the cage (which neither of the boys would ever do), put things in the trash, and she loves to bring her brothers their milk at night. She loves to eat bananas, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, french fries, and noodles. She gives the best hugs and says, “lub you!” I hope she never learns to say love properly because it is the sweetest ever!

Switching gears to Jordan he has been crafting his little heart out. We got him this Eco Art set for Christmas and he has completed all of these goodies below. It is such a great set if your little one loves to do art. Jordan needed a little assistance on some, but completed the bulk of them by himself. He loves to craft which I love, but I can’t seem to throw any of this precious stuff away!

Our weekend plans will consist of making a snowman, soccer, and searching for a new series on Netflix. My husband and I binge- watched all of Game of Thrones and Stranger Things (both were soooo good)!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Xo

Happy New Year! I still can’t believe that we wrapped up another year and are heading into 2019. I love the possibilities that each New Year brings. I was reflecting upon my last year’s goals (which you can view here) and not a lot has changed for 2019. I will continue to focus on my family, health, and try to let go of the things that I can’t control. My focus word for 2019 is going to be simplicity. Less is more. I want to enjoy each moment with my kiddos. Make more memories, laugh more, and cherish this time while the kiddos are still young.

Our New Year’s was very mellow. I made taco soup, we played games, and watched a recap of 2018 that you can view here. By the end of the video, Jonathan and Jordan were both crying and very emotional. Jordan said, “those slides were just so sad!” It was the sweetest thing ever. We all agreed that time is just going way too fast!

I am so incredibly blessed and thankful for the wonderful year we had. I am excited to see what 2019 has in store for us.

Happy New Year! Dream Big!!!

Christmas Eve is finally here and the kiddos are so excited! We have been patiently waiting for this night. I can honestly say that the days leading up to Christmas Day are my favorite. We did some baking, Christmas crafts, and watched Christmas movies. Our tree hasn’t been unplugged for the past few days and we are soaking up all the twinkle lights. We plan on staying in our pajamas for the next few days and enjoying all the Christmas magic.

We are supposed to get a snow storm this evening that will last through Christmas Day and the kiddos and I keep looking out the window to see the first snowflake fall. We haven’t had any snow in a few weeks so the kids are really hoping for a white Christmas.

Below are a few pictures of what we have been up to the past few weeks. For now, we are going to turn the Christmas music up, drink hot chocolate with whip cream, and wait for Santa!

Merry Christmas and I hope you have the most magical night with your loved ones! Xo

Our Elf (Max) has returned, our tree is bright and sparkly, and the kiddos have all the Christmas spirit! Jordan is the most excited so far about Christmas. He will just randomly say, “Mom, I love Christmas time” throughout the day. It’s the sweetest! Christmas time is pure magic when you have small kiddos. They can’t wait each morning to go run downstairs to see what Max was up to the night before. So far he wrote them a message on some bananas to be good! He has been moving all over the place and was caught swinging from the ceiling fan this morning!

We have lots planned for this month. We will be baking and making lots of yummy treats, making gingerbread houses, driving around to go look at all the pretty Christmas lights, reading Christmas stories and drinking lots of hot cocoa with marshmallows! It really is the best time of the year.

The other weekend Jonathan’s school had a Holiday breakfast where you could meet Santa, craft, and eat breakfast. I took Jonathan and Jordan while Jasmine and Dad hung out at home. The boys were very excited to see Santa! However, we might end up making one more trip to see Santa because Jordan was puzzled at the fact that Santa didn’t ask him what he wanted for Christmas. I told him I think Santa was a bit nervous so later that day they wrote Santa a letter and put it next to Max so he could deliver their letter to Santa that night.

Jordan and Jasmine both love stickers and thankfully I had a few Christmas stickers on hand that I bought from Target a few weeks ago. Jasmine decided she wanted to decorate her hand once she was tired of putting them on paper. Jordan always surprises me with his creativity. He really puts a lot of thought into each project that he does and I love the outcome each time!

Jasmine’s headband / Kids Table / Snowman pillow old from Crate and Barrel similar here / Jordan and Jasmine’s slippers old from the Gap similar here

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and it’s filled with lots of Christmas cheer!!!

We got our first real snow of the year yesterday! Even though, Jonathan was pretty bummed that he still had to go to school the snow makes the Christmas tree and lights just a bit more magical! Jasmine was unsure of the snow at first. She definitely was curious and wanted to be outside, but that was about the extent of her curiosity.

The boys absolutely LOVE the snow! They enjoy playing in it, having snowball fights with one another, and creating snow angels! I’m sure Jasmine will be joining in the fun in no time.

We are supposed to be getting a few more snow storms over the course of the next few days so the kiddos will have plenty of opportunities to get to play in the snow. We will be sipping hot chocolate by the Christmas tree after the adventures of getting the kiddos in and out of their snow gear a hundred times! I don’t know about you, but getting three kiddos bundled up is quite the task! The boys are determined to make a snowman this Winter. We have yet to create a good one, but I think this will be our year!

Jonathan’s hat and scarf / Jonathan’s boots / Jasmine’s Coat

Stay warm and have a great weekend!

Our Thanksgiving this year was very memorable! We had my Mom and Grandma come up and celebrate with us. My Grandma turned 90 in May and each year we get to enjoy another Holiday with her I feel so thankful. Also, extremely thankful for my Mom for being an amazing caregiver!

Thanksgiving is a time for family, food, and reflection. We create side dishes that our Mom’s, Grandma’s, and Great Grandma’s made. It’s one meal that takes all day to prepare (even though we skipped making a Turkey this year because nobody wanted to get sick with the salmonella outbreak and little information was being provided) and cook, but is soooo worth it! As a child, I have vivid memories of being with my sisters and watching our Mom and Grandma cook while listening to Frank Sinatra. Now, that it’s my turn and being a mother I hope my kiddos will remember Thanksgiving Day as they watch me in the kitchen and cherish these moments!

Thanksgiving Day we always try to watch the Macy’s Day parade. The boys love to see all of their favorite characters as giant inflatables! We have Christmas music on in the background, appetizers out, and usually a game of some sort being played while we are waiting for a dish to finish up cooking. My husband had to work so we waited for him to get home before we dug into the food! I never can get any pre photos of our meal because usually one of the boys or Jasmine is crying that they are starving and the timing is off.

All in all, we had a great time and I am so extremely thankful for my husband, kids, and family! Now onto the most festive time of the year!

Thankful placemats sold-out from Target similar here / Jasmine’s dress and tights

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

This past weekend started off with my husband and I replaced the garbage disposal that took us ALL day on Friday! We realized there was a leak under the kitchen sink so we dismantled the sink and after troubleshooting, we came to the conclusion we needed a new garbage disposal. Let me just say that is something I do not wish to do again for a LONG time!

So once I had a working sink and cleaned the kitchen I was feeling much better about heading into the weekend. I don’t know about you, but having a non-working sink and a hot mess in the kitchen makes everything feel off!

The boys found some pressed leaves we had placed in a book a few weeks prior and we decided to make a little leaf art out of them. They turned out so cute! All you need is leaves, popsicle sticks, googly eyes, and Elmer’s glue. You can really get creative if you have other supplies on hand. Maybe some different colored noodles, sequences, and even sticks to make arms or legs. Really your preference but we kept it pretty simple.

We were able to get outside for a bit as well on Saturday. The weather was so gorgeous! I was cleaning up from Halloween (since we haven’t even started in the backyard), but we are supposed to get some rain over Thanksgiving so I wanted to put our outdoor chair cushions in storage etc. Jordan and Jasmine found dirt to play in and were filling a bucket up and dumping it out countless times. Jonathan started out on his scooter but ended gathering leaves in the backyard. Sunday, Jonathan had a soccer game and we ended our weekend just relaxing.

We will be prepping for Thanksgiving for the next few days, staying in pajamas, eating all the yummy comfort foods and enjoying this beautiful time of the year! Happy Thanksgiving week!!!