I'm BACK!!! / Easter 2019 / Baby's First Easter

Hello, friends! I'm (hopefully) back for good! I had no idea adjusting to life with five kids was going to be so difficult and time-consuming. Adjusting to life with 1, 2, 3, and 4 kids (even with a surprise Down syndrome diagnosis) was a breeze, but 5 is the number that did us in! Liam is approximately 10 kids in 1, and Coen has acid reflux and is such a mama's boy that my husband lovingly refers to him as my little parasite. My hands are never free, but I think I'm getting the hang of things, and I'm kicking off my return to blogging with a quick recap of Easter 2019!

This year, we kept Easter simple. We had no idea that Coen had acid reflux yet, so he was really fussy. We decided to spend most of Easter at home, focusing on family activities. Although it didn't feel quite the same, we had a nice holiday!

This year, we took the focus off of the Easter Bunny. We haven't visited the Easter Bunny in years, and this year we didn't do any egg hunts, either. We briefly mentioned the Easter Bunny bringing baskets, but that was it. Instead, we dyed Easter Eggs together. We had a small family dinner. We talked about the reason we were celebrating. We baked and decorated cookies. We sat down to watch The Ten Commandments together. Perhaps next year we'll actually make it to church, but this year, I decided to let go of the guilt, realize that we can't possibly do it all, and focus on WHY we were celebrating in the first place! And you know what? Once the pressure was off, it was GOOD!

10 Fun Ways To Encourage Family Bonding and Togetherness

This post is sponsored by I See Me! 

Family togetherness is very important to us! I come from a big family, but it's rare that we're all together. My husband's family is often the same way. Neither one of us are fans of that, so we do everything we can to encourage family bonding for our own little family. Our hope is that our tight-knit family will remain close, even when our kids are grown!

10 Simply Relaxing Ways To Enjoy The Holiday Season With Kids ~ Featuring Cozy Holiday Style From OshKosh B'gosh + $50 Gift Card GIVEAWAY

This post is sponsored by Everywhere Agency on behalf of OshKosh B’gosh; however, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

We are in the midst of the busy holiday season, and I am struggling to stay afloat! My to do list is 5 miles long, we have plans every single day, and I'm wondering how we're going to check off all of our favorite Christmas Traditions from our Christmas Bucket List. We should be enjoying the holiday season with our kids, but instead, we spend more time rushing from event to event, and trying to accomplish tasks from our to do list!

Our Winter Family Adventure with Fruit Shoot and Pizza Hut + 10 Questions To Ask Your Kids Today

This time of year is so blah. The holidays are over, the weather is cold, and many families are cooped up indoors with nothing to do. It's easy to understand why so many people dislike the winter months. This is definitely true for my family!

We spend so much time together during the holidays, and in January, it comes to an abrupt end. Everyone is busy with their own activities, and we are rarely together. When we are in the same place at the same time, it's usually because the weather has us trapped indoors.

Sometimes my entire family just needs to escape for a little adventure and reconnect! 

It's easy to fall into the hibernation trap, but it's so important to get out of the house before the winter blues strike! Since our time together is limited, we usually opt to go out to eat. A simple change of scenery can easily improve our mood, and an hour spent reconnecting is often exactly what we need!

My family of six usually heads to our local Pizza Hut. It's family friendly, we all love their pizza, and they have quick service, which is a must for our busy lifestyle. An added bonus is that they serve my kids' favorite drink: Fruit Shoot! 

My kids fell in love with Fruit Shoot the moment they first tasted it! This No High Fructose Corn Syrup/No Artificial Flavors juice drink comes in popular flavors such as Berry Burst, Apple and Strawberry & Raspberry. It is available in both no added sugar and made with real sugar varieties. My kids love the flavors and I love the fact that they are a much healthier option at 100 calories or less per bottle. Fruit Shoot can be hard to find, so my kids are always so excited when they find out we are heading to Pizza Hut!

What makes delicious food and treasured family time even better? The ability to give back while we eat! Until April 30th, 2017,  five cents of every bottle of Fruit Shoot purchased will be donated to the First Book literacy program. Not only do we love to give back, but we also believe in the importance of reading, so my family happily supports this great cause.

We usually purchase additional Fruit Shoot drinks on the way out the door. The sports cap makes it a great choice for kids of all ages, and thanks to the lid, it's the perfect on-the-go option!

When my family goes out to eat together, it's always an adventure! With four kids, there's literally never a dull moment. Even if it's loud and chaotic, we treasure those moments. Taking the time to reconnect during the busyness of everyday life is incredibly important for my family. Sometimes the simple act of going out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants can bring us together and make us forget all about those winter blues!

 

My husband and I believe in making family a priority and we are working hard to pass on those values to our children. We believe in the importance of making each of them feel special and loved every single day, so we make it a point to ask our children the same 10 questions each day.  

1. What made you feel happy today?
2. What made you feel sad today?
3. What made you laugh today?
4. What could you have done better today?
5. Who did you play with today?
6. Who did you sit with at lunch today?
7. What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
8. What are you dreading tomorrow?
9.  What was one important lesson you learned today?
10. What was the best moment of the day?

As many parents know, most kids aren't very open about their day, especially if they go to school. The details are often few and far between. Asking these questions each night gives valuable insight into your child's thoughts and feelings and a glimpse into the aspect of their life that you don't get to see!

My family loves to go on adventures together, even if it's just the simple act of going out to eat! Go on your own adventure and support the First Book literacy project by purchasing a Fruit Shoot product at your local Pizza Hut!

Find more information about Fruit Shoot HERE and HERE.
Learn more about the First Book literacy project HERE.

Thank you to Fruit Shoot for sponsoring today's post and inspiring us to step out of winter hibernation to go on a family adventure!

A Picture Perfect Fall Beginning

As a mom, a blogger and a photography enthusiast, I take a LOT of pictures! Only a tiny percentage of those pictures actually make it to my blog or Instagram. One of my favorite ways to document life with my family and share my favorite pictures is to write a photo recap of each month that goes by!

As Summer eased its way into Fall, we were blessed with the most amazing weather! We tried our best to enjoy it, but September was just a series of tiny moments captured between the hustle and bustle of everyday life. With 4 kids in school, Liam's round of yearly appointments and all of our activities beginning, we barely had the chance to breathe! But once you strip away all the chaos, it was actually a really fun and exciting month!

PICTURE PERFECT SEPTEMBER

Why not start the recap with a bit of love?

{Shirt - Trendy Bubs} 

Lily had an incredibly easy transition into Kindergarten, while I struggled with sending my sweet baby to preschool.

Friday night visits with our horse, Cherokee, continued to be our thing.

On weekends, Grant's music filled our home. I'm so glad he decided to get back into playing guitar because he's actually very good!

Lexie's lifelong dream came true and Arctic and Fluffy (whose name is now Bernie) joined our family!

We enjoyed a long weekend and celebrated Labor Day by picnicking with Grant's family.

Meanwhile, Dylan drooled over Uncle Scott's new car, which is identical to the first car he owned.

The moment I had been dreading for months finally arrived: Liam's first day of preschool!

The next day, Liam had his yearly eye exam and passed with flying colors! That's always a relief!

Separation anxiety kicked in for the first time with Liam and he decided that he didn't want to leave me to go to school. My heart broke as I left him crying in the preschool classroom. (Thankfully his anxiety only lasted a week!)

The girls started their first day of dance! Lexie started hip hop and Lily started tap, ballet, jazz and acro.

The only sadness that September contained was the realization that my sweet, elderly horse was declining. My heart broke but I was determined to soak up all the moments with him that I possibly could.

Grant and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary (we got married really young) by escaping from our kiddos for a few hours. We went out to dinner and watched Bad Moms in a completely empty movie theater!

We were really looking forward to our local community days and fireworks display and we almost missed them. We didn't quite make it to where we intended to go, but we did manage to watch the fireworks from on top of a hill, in a nearby housing development, as a storm rolled in!

Liam had his first official visit to the dentist (everything looks great), the girls had well checks and picnics in the back of our SUV became our new norm.



We battled head lice for the first time ever. I would have never known other than the fact that I'm apparently highly allergic to head lice. I will spare you the picture and the hellish details. YAY, back to school!

The 9 year old hormones kicked in. Woohoo!

I spent some time with two tomboy princesses! Climbing trees barefoot and sneakers with tutus, oh my!

Let's not forget the return of all the Steelers gear as soon as football returned!

We all fell in love with the bunnies...except for Liam, who only loved them when they weren't touching him!

 

Every so often, there was time for an after school cuddle.  Those moments were hard to come by!

We thoroughly enjoyed the last official day of Summer by spending hours outdoors!

We welcomed in a very hot first day of Fall!

Liam rocked his brand rep gig.

{Outfit - Trendy Bubs} 

My mom came to the stable with us and rescued a sickly barn kitten. My girls were thrilled because it was their favorite kitten at the stable and refused to leave my parent's house that evening!  (Just for the record, the kitten is doing amazing after receiving veterinary care!)

Every so often, we were able to enjoy a lazy weekend morning or afternoon but our weekend evenings were always busy.

We enjoyed a brief teaser of Fall weather.

Dylan decided to join orchestra. Our home is now filled with the sounds of the guitar, trumpet and violin!

Liam had his yearly visit at the Down Syndrome Clinic. He's doing amazing!

We started to enjoy the cooler Fall evenings outside while we waited for Grant to come home from the office. We have to take full advantage of the beautiful weather before the cold weather arrives!

The boys continued to bond.

 

All four kids pretended to get along. (HA!)

 

Lily attempted to catnap my parent's kitten.

We spent a stormy Friday evening at the stable.

And what better way to end the month of September than with a double rainbow in between storms?

Although it was incredibly busy, September was a great month. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to Summer, but Fall got off to a picture perfect start! 

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