. upward soccer .

i absolutely love that our church has upward sports programs.  i was involved in basketball and cheerleading when i worked at the church, but since then, they have added flag football and soccer.  soccer is the only one karsyn is able to play at this point, because of her age.  i imagine when she's in first grade, we'll be doing basketball (or cheerleading, i guess.). 

i love the whole concept of upward sports.  and now i love that my girl gets to be a part of it.  and she loves it.  today, however, she played with her braid more than with the soccer ball i think, but she did great!  and now i'm so very glad we stuck with it after the terrible first game she had.

i think her favorite part is getting to throw the ball in.

and she does a mighty fine job at it, too.

. 120/365 .

. words to remember .

notice there are more and more post like this these days?  that's cause my girls are CRAZY and i can already tell karsyn and i are going to have an interesting relationship as she grows up.  we are very similar and both think we are the queen of the house.  i'm trying to work around this to prevent disagreements, but sometimes they just arise.  here's how it went down today ...

karsyn has pretty much insisted that she is going to have a puppy.  and she tells everyone it is a black puppy named penny, but the size of said puppy varies from big to small.  this afternoon, we were sitting in the car in the parking lot waiting for daddy to get in and start the car and i noticed a black dog in the back of a truck.  i showed it to her and she refused to look at it.  me, in the grouchy mood i was in, said "well, maybe you WON'T get a dog one day since you aren't being very nice today."  she said "you just wait.  you'll see."  oh, that girl.  she's a handful!!

. words to remember .

i really just wanted record of this favorite phrase of my mother's. 

the girls are in the living room eating dinner at the coffee table because it's friday and i don't care.  sweet baby walks in the kitchen and says "karsyn's looking at me." 

and so it begins.

. 119/365 .

"CHEESE!"  sweet baby was pretending this plate was her camera.  she is hysterical!  and her smile makes me melt!! 

. words to remember .

karsyn and i were just scanning through pictures from the royal wedding this morning.  we came up on a picture of horses leading the way to westminster abbey.  she said "ah.  is this an aggie wedding?!?" 
well, no, but WHOOP!

. finger lickin' .

i ALWAYS said that my children would not be picky eaters.  i wasn't going to let them.  they were going to like a good variety of healthy foods and eat whatever i cooked.  then i became a mom and reality set in.  i did start feeding both girls healthy food, fruits and veggies from the very beginning.  they ate frozen peas when they could first eat solids and fruits galore.  somewhere between cute baby cheeks and sassy toddlers, their palates changed.  i'm not sure where we went wrong or what changed, but they are pretty darn picky now and it makes this mama crazy.  there's a very select group of foods they will eat, but luckily they eat most fruit and a few veggies with a good bribe. 

tonight, however, i think i found the grand champion of all dinners.  they licked their plates clean.  maybe they were still starving from refusing to eat what i slaved over made last night.  tonight i made these yummy honey drumsticks (recipe on my menu i posted monday).  they were AMAZING, if i do say so myself.  each girl ate TWO whole drumsticks, down to the bone.  i also made corn on the cob and baked beans.  here's crazy baby gnawing on her chicken bones ..

ok, so i'm pretty sure this could qualify as their favorite meal.  there's a good possibility that if there wasn't ice cream cones and cookie cake that mimi brought for dessert, that they would have eaten every last drumstick i made.  that ice cream was just too tempting though ...

what?  you know you have a picture posted with an ice cream cone.  everyone does.  right?  ok, so this was the only way i could get a picture of karsyn.  period.  i told her i needed a picture of her cone.  hey, do what you gotta do.  and when my girl has eyes as blue as those, i do what i can to get a good shot.

. cleaning schmeaning .

i'm admitting it right here.  i'm just not a good cleaner.  i WANT my house to be squeaky clean so badly, but it just ain't happenin'.  i'm not even sure when the last time my entire house was clean all at one time.  now, if i didn't work from home taking care of 6 children at once, it may be cleaner.  or it may not, but the point is, my house ain't clean. 

another factor to the uncleanliness is that i haven't found a product that i love.  until now.  enter in method cleaners.

these are the only two i have bought so far, but on my next trip to target, i'll be getting some more.  and, no, they aren't paying me to say this.  that'd be nice of them though.  i digress.  anyway, love this cleaner!  love the smell.  love the way it cleans.  love the smell.  it's all natural too, which makes it even better. 

so, there you have it.  my house is not clean, but i have amazing cleaning products.  i'm trying, folks.  i'm trying.

. 118/365 .

whoa!  who's that guy whose face never makes the ol' blog?  that's my favorite man.  ain't he cute?

. a little soap box action .

ok, so recently i ran across a discussion in a local forum about removing chocolate and strawberry milk from the school cafeterias.  of course, everyone had their own opinions.  and here's mine.

SERIOUSLY?!  it's the silliest debates that people have and raise heck over.  seriously, you are arguing about whether or not they should let children decide to drink chocolate or strawberry milk for lunch at school.  i don't even understand why this is an issue.  it's flavored MILK.  and it's ONCE, sometimes twice if they eat breakfast, A DAY.  and, personally, it should ALL fall back on the parents if the child is overweight or isn't eating healthy like he/she should be.  that is 100% the parents fault.  not the school.  so why even bring up the petty things like serving strawberry milk?  it's ridiculous.  they should be discussing how teacher's jobs are being cut while administration is still being paid over $100k in some districts.  they should be discussing how their child has a bad attitude or how their child DOES do drugs and drinks alcohol without them knowing.  maybe if we turn our focus BACK to real education, our world wouldn't be the way it is today.

i'm slowing down because i'm rambling.  my point is, why is the flavor milk they may or may not decide to drink at lunch that day even an issue?!?!  drives me crazy!  i'm done.

. 117/365 .

i {heart} new tubs of butter.  it's almost a little crush i got goin' on over here.

. 116/365 .

we definitely have some two-year-old attitude a-brewin' over here.  whew, if you only knew.

. 10 on tuesday {dreaming} .

{disclaimer: i am so very thankful for all that i have.  seriously.  very thankful.  but a girl can dream, can't she?  so here are 10 things i'm currently dreaming about.}

1.  getting a haircut/color, massage, manicure, and pedicure all in one day.  wouldn't that be wonderful?! 

2.  having a big, fluffy bed with crisp, clean white sheets.  you know, like in the pottery barn magazines.  everything is so nice and layered.  fluffy.

3.  time.  i simply need more time in the day without having to wake up at 5:00.  or 6:00 for that fact.

4.  a fountain drink machine in my kitchen.  complete with sonic ice.  big red.  diet coke.  dr. pepper.  apple juice.  and water.  heavenly.

5.  a brand new ford escape.  i'm downsizing people.  currently, i drive a ford expedition and it costs $90 to fill up!  it's ridiculous.  so i seriously may downsize soon.  and i'm looking at escapes, but how nice would a brand spankin' new car be?!  i know, dave ramsey shutters in his boots, but it would be nice.

6.  having a cleaning lady.  and not cleaning before she comes like some people i know.  and who doesn't mind staying to cook dinner while she's here.  for one week.  oh, this dream is getting bigger and bigger. 

7.  a flat belly.  my baby is 2.  seriously?  the belly's gotta go. 

8.  an ipad2.  duh!
9.  a white "L" shape, sectional couch from pottery barn.  weird?  i know, but i want one.  and i want white.  i have a crush on all things white.  what?!  couches with white slip covers can easily be washed and bleached.  easy peasy.  and i want one.

10.  and, of course, rain and world peace.  at this point, all in one would be ok.  it hasn't rained here in forty forevers.

. 115/365 .

the remnants of yesterday ...

. menu plan monday .

i almost forgot to post this.  i got so carried away with my grouchy girls and easter.  here's this weeks menu.

monday - lasagna and garlic bread. last week, i thoroughly screwed this meal up, so i tried again.  it was great! tuesday - sloppy joes, chips, fruit. 
wednesday - crunchy chicken (recipe), cubed/seasoned potatoes, asparagus spears. 
thursday - sesame honey drumsticks (recipe), baked beans, grilled corn on the cob.
friday - homemade bagel bites. (recipe)
weekend - leftovers.

we have so much going on right now, so i'm trying to keep things simple.  daycare kids leave by 5:30, then i start cooking.  some days, if i can swing it, i try to start cooking while they are leaving, but it depends on the day. 

. easter 2011 ~ happy version .

karsyn completely amazed me this year by being able to tell the entire easter story from the Bible.  start to finish.  detail by detail.  they used the resurrection eggs at preschool and she quickly picked up on the story and shares it with everyone now.  she is constantly talking about Jesus and it just makes my heart sing praises.

other than all the grouchiness, we really did have a great weekend.

hunting eggs was a hit this year.  they really got into it, maybe a little too much.  you see, karsyn is a bit like her mama when it comes to competing.  poppy always hides a prize egg for the kids to find and she was determined to find it.  she kept saying "i have to find it before they do!"  i don't even think she knew what was in it, but she was one determined little girl.  she didn't find it.  jude found it.  and boy was she upset.  it turned into a great learning moment for her, but i totally understood how she felt! 

the girls were WIPED out and slept from the time we left at 4:20pm until the next morning, with a few short moments of being awake.  they always have so much fun out in the country.

. easter 2011 ~ grouchy version .

ok, so to start ... my children have been ULTRA grouchy lately.  seriously.  i'm not real sure what the problem is, but i'm trying to figure it out.  and it explains pictures like this ...

and this ....

notice the yellow hand?  yep, we dyed eggs.  i left that to my mom.  she tends to enjoy the messy projects.  don't worry, she didn't look like a oompa loompa very long.

even Easter morning, egg hunting and playing ... we looked like this ...

one big happy family.  we are.

i seriously have no clue what has gotten into them.  karsyn isn't so bad, but mykah is grouchy 90% of the day.  which is A LOT, in case you didn't know.  i do remember karsyn going through this stage when she was 2, PLUS mykah is getting her 2 year molars right now too.  she's just not a fun kid to be around right now.  i'm hoping we're through it soon!

. 114/365 .

. 113/365 .

how cute is this lil' guy?!  {i'm really just assuming it's a boy.  i didn't think to ask.}  he is one of the calves that was just born at my poppy's farm.  i {heart} looking at little baby calves!

. 112/365 .

we've been using these paints a lot this week.  i'm in love with the colors. 

{and sarah would say, if you love it, you should marry it!}

crazy girl.

. april 2011 - karsyn .

i am going to start doing monthly updates on my girls on the date of their birth.  so, on the 22nd of every month, i'll post about karsyn.  on the 10th of every month, i'll post about mykah.  here goes ...

my sweet girl.  she's loving life these days, acting like a teenager.  my most recent thought about life with 2 girls was "i pray the Lord returns before they are teenagers."  how bad is that?!? 

here's a little about karsyn these days  ...
*she still has her blue eyes.  while her hair is getting a little darker, her blue eyes still shine!  i {heart} them!
*her curls are a little crazy these days.  i'm not real sure what to do with it, but luckily she likes it pulled up in a ponytail most days.  not a bun, just a ponytail.  yes, she specifies.
*she is hungry all. the. time.  mainly from 3:00 to dinner time, but she would eat all day if i left food out. 
*she had a teeth cleaning not too long ago and has to have dental work done this summer.  seriously. boooo!
*she is eagerly awaiting the end of dance and the start of gymnastics.
*LOVES fruit.  and will pick fruit over candy any day.
*she really enjoys helping me, even doing the smallest things.  she passes out drinks and plates at lunch.  gets napmats ready for me.  and helps wipe the table.  she LOVES having something to do.
*LOVES soccer!  which makes me happy.
*quickly growing out of size 5 clothes and into size 6. 
*and her feet are growing even faster!  she's in an 11 right now, but we just bought size 12.5 soccer shoes.
*weighs right at 40lbs and is 3'7" tall. 

here's an interview i had with her ...
*what's your name:  "karsyn"
*how old are you:  "why are you asking me questions you already know?"
*because i want to see if you know the answers: "ok, i'm 4"
*what's your favorite color: "pink."
*what's your favorite thing to eat: "waffles."  (seriously?)
*what's your least favorite food: "pancakes." (for the record, she requested pancakes for breakfast today.)
*what's your favorite thing to do: "paint."
*what do you want to be when you grow up: "a princess."
*what makes you happy: "when somebody plays with me."
*what makes you sad: "when nobody plays with me."
*who are your friends: "{sigh}sarah, loo-hoo, ally, caden, cadence, juju.  but ally and caden are my best friends."
*where is your favorite place to go: "mcdonalds."  (we VERY seldom go there!)
*what's your favorite thing to do with me: "do a project."
*what's your favorite thing to do with daddy: "go to the playground."
*what's your favorite thing to do with mykah: "play."
*what's your favorite pet: "a bunny."

{i want to ask these same questions every month to see how they change.  i may come up with different questions though b/c i didn't really get much of a response with these.  we'll see.  but i'm mainly doing these to record how she changes.}

karsyn is so much fun to be with.  she's a bright, shiny little girl and LOVES learning about God.  she's constantly asking questions and singing songs about Jesus, which absolutely makes my heart sing.  she likes to make up her own songs and dance (not in dance class, but on her own).

. 111/365 .

YIKES!  this is some crazy nail polish that my sister bought the girls.  karsyn LOVES it, of course.

. super cute caterpillar .

several people asked for a how-to for this on facebook, so i took pictures while we made the last one.

*first up, you'll need ...
-plastic eggs ... you can make a long caterpillar or a short one.  we used one whole plastic egg for the head, and 8 halves for the body.  we made a pattern out of our colors as well. 
-pipe cleaner.
-googly eyes and a sharpie marker

*NOTE: some plastic eggs already have one hole in the middle of each half.  the ones i had, had 2 holes.  so, i used a small phillips screwdriver (b/c i didn't have an ice pick like i wanted to use) and poked one hole right smack in the middle of the bottom of each half.  make sense?  see picture ...

*then we made a pattern with colors.  i let each kid pick their colors.  now, you can make this super long if you want.  i just chose to make ours shorter.  here's one pattern (the 2 green on the left side is for the head).

*here are the next steps ...

*first, put the pipe cleaner through the very last egg.  i wasn't sure how to do this part, so i made it up.  i just put a small piece of the end of the pipe cleaner through the hole, folded it, then bent it down.  (pic 1)
*then start adding the rest of your egg halves. (pic 2)
*for the head, simply put a whole egg together. (pic 3)
*i added a small piece of extra pipe cleaner for a 2nd antennae, curled them, and added eyes and a smile.

how cute are they?! ...

*i did add googly eyes to some of them.  for the babies, i just did sharpie marker eyes.  i didn't want googly eyes to end up in their mouths!

the kids LOVED this project and the big girls even decided if they were boys or girls and named them. 

. one word .

spitfire.

that's all i need to say to describe this girl.  she's outta control, crazy.  always being silly and making us laugh, but has an attitude beyond words.  we're are definitely in the midst of the terrible two's.

. words to remember .

mykah is pretty much saying sentences now and she tries so hard to get all the words when she's trying to tell us something.  you can see her wheels turning. 

but my all time favorite thing {i'll be so very sad to see it go} is when she says stuff like ...

"my need it."
"my like that."
"my want to."
"my no like it."

my like it very much that she's so darn cute.

. 110/365 .

. church home .

david and i both grew up going to church.  i went to the same church since i was born.  and before we even got married, we talked about how important it was to find a church to raise our family in.  i would LOVE for our girls to be raised in one church for their entire life, but i know that sometimes life changes.  sometimes God moves people.  sometimes God has different plans than what we have.  we have attended the same church since we have lived here, but the main reason for us attending there was because i worked there.  we absolutely love the church, but haven't really plugged into any specific area (which is our own fault, not the church).  it is a BIG church and there is a million things to do, so not fitting in can't be our excuse.

recently we did start visiting other churches.  much smaller churches, in fact, thinking that maybe a smaller church would better suit us.  we left each time feeling exhausted (aka bored) and definitely without the desire to ever visit again.  just being honest. 

skip forward a few weeks and we were scheduled to work in our church nursery.  when we took karsyn into her room, all her little friends were SO excited to see her and that was the moment we knew we were in the right place.  all it took was for God to show us one little thing to keep us where we are.   i realized that sometimes change in other things isn't what He wants.  it's change in ourselves that is what He's asking for.  so we're working on changing our attitudes and mindset about this church to allow us to serve Him there and not somewhere else.  this church is a place of comfort for our children.  a place they love to be.  a place they know. 

thank you, Lord, for showing us that it is more important to fix our eyes on YOU rather than on the petty things.  thank you for blessing us with a church that has loved our family for 5 years now.  please use us in this church to do YOUR work and to bless other families as well.

. 109/365 .

i added a summery scent to my dining room scentsy!  i don't remember the name, but it's coconuty.  i know it's still springy, but it's 90 degrees outside, so i'm thinking summer already.

. 108/365 .

we'll play with LOTS of these at my house this week.  the kids LOVE them and plastic eggs entertain for a long time, believe it or not.

. menu plan monday .

i recently started seriously planning a menu for the week.  i do stay home all day, monday through friday, but i don't technically plan out breakfast and lunch.  we really eat whatever we have unless it's a special day.  we used to eat out several times a week, but with 2 children now who can order from a menu, i decided that eating out was no longer an option, except on occassion and maybe once on the weekend.  it was costing us $40 everytime we went out to eat (we don't eat fast food hardly at all) and i found it so much cheaper to eat at home. 

here's an example.  last weekend, we had a super busy weekend and simply wasn't home.  we spent $90 on eating out that weekend.  just saturday and sunday.  NINETY DOLLARS!  i go grocery shopping on mondays, at that monday, i spent $90 on our food for the entire week.  breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, snacks.  so i am trying my hardest to stick with a menu to prevent eating out if at all possible.  i'm going to post my weekly menu to share with you to maybe give you ideas, but hopefully to keep me going on it. 

here's this weeks menu ...

monday - spaghetti and fruit.  i make my spaghetti sauce (double batch) in the crockpot.  i'll post my recipe sometime soon.
tuesday - sliders (aka tiny burgers) chips, fruit.  we LOVE these.  karsyn has dance on tuesdays, so we have a quick meal.
wednesday - lasagna and garlic bread.  i know i'm having spaghetti and lasagna in the same week, but we love italian food and i already had lasagna.  one less thing to buy at the grocery store.
thursday - orange chicken, egg rolls, and fried rice.  (the orange chicken is a frozen meal)
friday - canned biscuit pizzas and fruit.  we are going out of town, so i needed a quick and easy clean up meal.
weekend - no menu planned.  Easter weekend in LaVernia!! 

this was an easy week.  i'll post my crockpot spaghetti sauce recipe soon and maybe next week i'll have other recipes to share.

. easter bunny pictures .

this weekend, i had mini-sessions at my house and got a cute little bunny from a sweet friend.  {yes, the bunny has been returned.}  mini-sessions were all afternoon and evening saturday, but today before church, i decided to take pictures of my own girls, which seldom happens.  i'm so happy with the results and very glad that they finally let me do a photo shoot with them.  i'm sure they only agreed because the bunny was in the picture, but whatever works.

. 107/365 .

isn't this quilt amazing?  i LOVE it.  i borrowed it from a sweet friend for my photo shoots this weekend and may not give it back.  {joking.}  this cute little water can i bought from the dollar spot at target.

. 106/365 .

this is how i spent today ...

. 105/365 .

. daddy/daughter dance .

tonight was the daddy/daughter dance at church AND the first time david has ever taken karsyn.  we didn't tell her they were going because we wanted it to be a big surprise.  we borrowed a super cute dress from a friend and david got her a corsage AND picked her up in barry's mustang.  man, i don't even get dates like that! 

i got her all ready, bathed, hair fixed, new earrings in, dress on, shoes on and she was so excited to go!  when she was all ready, david went outside and then knocked on the door.  we want to teach our girls the importance of dating and how they should be treated on a date.  he did all the right things.

i wasn't sure if she liked the getting dressed up or getting a corsage more, but i think she was simply in awe of the whole idea of her getting alone time with daddy.  also, the dance was talked up at preschool that morning.  karsyn's teacher said it was like high school prom, all the little girls were so excited.

no dance is complete without a corsage.  that little thing cost $20!  but she was in high heaven and thought her daddy hung the moon {if she only knew i am the one who ordered it.  daddy's get all the credit!}

she said "uncle barry's car is so cool."

the dance was at our church, but before they went there, he took her to dinner at ninfa's. 

i think they had a fabulous time.  the dance started at 7:00.  they went in, took a picture, ate some candy {actually, karsyn's first words were "they had strawberries!"} and david said she danced and danced.  i'm pretty sure she danced on stage even!  and they were home by 8:30.  she partied and crashed hard. 

i'm so thankful that my children have a daddy who adores them and is intentional about spending time with them.  and i'm thankful my children love their daddy and look up to him.  they have a really good model of what a man is supposed to be and how a girl is supposed to be treated.  we're blessed all around.

. 104/365 .

for whatever reason, i cannot, for the life of me, get this picture to rotate, but this is my breakfast most mornings ...

. fun project .

this was one of our favorite projects.  it was more work for me, but the kids loved the end product.

i cut everything out of construction paper, used marker for the legs, and yellow handprints for the baby chicks wings.  this is one we'll keep forever.

i think i have a thing for handprint and footprint art.  a little overboard probably, but they are always so cute!

. 103/365 .

i strongly dislike dirty tennis shoes, so ours get washed quite often.  and after an evening of planting grass, today was the day for clean shoes.

. 102/365 .

i should probably get better about posting these ON the day i am supposed to.  my bad.  i can't help it.  i've been enjoying the weather with my kiddos ...

. 101/365 .

is it bad that since we did communion at church yesterday, i CRAVE grape juice?  no, i'm not pregnant.  yes, it's ok to use the word CRAVE without being pregnant.  just sayin'.  ok, so communion.  tiny little cup of grape juice and now i can't get enough.  i could have drank 10 of those little things.  is that bad?  sacreligious?  i'm not sure, but it's so good.

i'm definitely a person who goes through phases of drinks.  recently i went a few weeks wanting to drink nothing but root beer.  today, can't stand it.  {disclaimer, i do drink water also}.  last week, big red.  today, grape juice.  can't. get. enough.