Little Pumpkins

          It is that time of year! My FAVORITE time of year! FALL!! Oh boy, oh boy, oh pumpkin fun! I am just a smidge excited for this time of year. The smell of the outdoors at this time of year alone just makes me giddy. So much fun gets to be had in the fall and the snuggling weather is upon us. I am lucky to live in a state where the leaves are so colorful that they attract people from all over to come and enjoy their beauty.
         In the spirit of getting ready for fall, my kiddos and I decided to make a footprint wall canvas. And this is how we did it.......
          We just started with a canvas from a craft store (mine is a 20 x 16). Paint the background in a color that will compliment your pumpkin prints and also the wall you will be hanging it on to display.

            Ready your supplies after the background had COMPLETELY dried (I am terrible at                           watching paint dry....no patience but I'm slowly working on that..haha).

               Paint your kiddos feet orange (or another color you find represents pumpkins), and                                     help them carefully place them on the painted canvas.

                                                      More waiting for paint to dry.......

                        Now lightly trace the saying you would like and trace around your children's footprints to make pumpkin shapes out of them. (My kids had so much fun doing this little project and wow have their feet grown since our last one!) 

End your project by making  little polka-dots all around the canvas. ( I decided to do this after I was done because it just looked like it needed something more and it turned out so cute!!) 

           This was such a fun, easy, and fairly cheap project to create with the kids. Bonus I get to use it every year and think back on those tiny feet as they grow even larger in the years to come. A sweet keepsake with my favorite people to celebrate my favorite time of year. Doesn't. Get. Any. Better!!

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Heart Warming Morning

          I had a morning like one I do not believe I have had since my daughter started Pre-K 2 years ago. We are always so busy in the morning and the kids are always distracted. I have made it a point this year to pack lunch the night before and lay out clothes/shoes, everything to streamline mornings. It has been going much better than last year. Still though it is hectic and maddening. EAT YOUR breakfast is an everyday phrase (no matter what I make, really how do you get them to eat breakfast, anyone???).

          This morning was different though....they got up without a struggle?! Got dressed by themselves. All 3 of them put their laundry in their baskets. Then without warning my boys, together, carried out their laundry  basket. It was heart warming to watch my eldest son showing his baby brother how to throw the clothes into the washer. It was such a simple thing that melted my heart. "Now you take a handful of clothes and throw 'em in", he explained. I just stood their watching them and wondering now what made them decide to do this for Mommy? Directly after that thought I decided not even to ask, just to bask in the glory that motherhood can be. Even if it is few and far between these moments really make everything worth it.

(I swear that is his "cheese" face; not his cry face)

          This may sound strange to you, most heart warming moments are Mommy I love you's (and those are still my favorite, there is something about arms wrapped around your neck with a head nuzzled into your ear that makes your heart sing), but this act of service and independence just really moved me. I felt very proud of my boys watching them work together on something so simple. I believe it was more that they did it without me asking than anything, either way raising children is hard, but soaking up these moments is easy. Liking everything about motherhood is next to impossible (at least for me) and even taking a moment to sit and watch them is something I have to remind myself to do (a bit of a busy body), but this morning was a morning unlike any other. It was a morning where I thought, huh maybe we are on the right track here......maybe. 
          Thank you for laundry day (which wasn't going to be this morning but surely is now thanks to my helpful little boys). I hope you take time to enjoy your children, nothing like it in the world!

Getting it together....or trying to at the very least.

   This week I am working on trying to be better with my schedule. I am usually fairly decent at following a schedule due to my type A personality my husband says I have. I LOVE when things go as planned, but having 3 kids under the age of 7, along with a husband, and 26 chickens that rarely happens. Rarely. As in not a a single day goes as planned. I have learned only recently that the world will not stop spinning if my house is not perfect and my kids have some dirt on their hands. We all seem to be much happier without having to live these perfect little organized lives. But a schedule is still a good thing that keeps me from spiraling out of control and keeps the kids happier knowing what to expect for the day.
     My schedule start out something like this:

• 5:45 am- wake up, check Pinterest (because I am obsessed), get a shower and start getting around for the day
• 6:20 am- time to rouse the munchkins- get them up and going...the older two dress themselves while I get the youngest around
• 6:30 am- Breakfast for the kids- which includes arguing with them about sitting to eat (my kids are not good eaters, while they are not picky they have a hard time sitting down and just eating.always.)
• 6:45- Start picking up around the house and wait for kids to be done with breakfast.....then wait some more haha
• 7:00 am- all kids into the bathroom to brush teeth/hair ect.
• 7:05 am- get oldest daughters back pack around (with her help because it is part of her responsibilities) this includes putting in her snack for school and her lunch pail that I pack the night before
• 7:10 am- All shoes that are to be worn for the day are brought over to the door usually by my middle son-I have the shoes laid out in the bottom of the shoe closet the night before (LIFE SAVING MANEUVER HERE)
• 7:15 am- Mommy out the door to feed, water, and let loose chickens (morning run, haha, away from the chickens as fast as possible, they chase me for treats everyday)
• 7:20 am- Kids get shoes and coats if needed on
• 7:25 am- in the car and off to the bus stop
• 7:45 am- arrive home from bus stop and get boys to put away their shoes and sat down for their 1 hour of TV time in the morning
• 7:50 am- START cleaning- I usually give myself an hour to clean up the house and do my "day" of chores-sometimes I get it done other times I finish it up in the afternoon
• 8:50 am- get out "preschool" necessities for the day
• 9:00 am- Start preschool with the boys
• 9:30 am- Snack time-after snack we continue with preschool activities

• 11:00 am- Finish up preschool and have boys get out blankets to sit on for story time
• 11:10 am- Start story time and sing songs
• 11:30 am- Bible story
• 11:40 am- Recess (that is what my middle child calls it) -the boys go outside to play weather depending

• 12:30 pm- Get lunch around for boys and have lunch time
• 1:00 pm-Finish cleaning up from lunch and finish chores while boys have free play time
• 2:00 pm- Devotional for Mommy time
• 2:30 pm- give boys coloring books/ blocks/ or playdough (Mommy is usually prepping dinner)
• 3:00 pm-Clean up and get around to pick up sister and a little boy my youngest calls Play from the bus
• 3:30 pm- hit the bus stop to pick up those cool kids
• 3:50 pm- Snack time for the kids
• 4:00 pm- free play either outside or inside
• 5:00 pm-Play goes home-Time to finish up making dinner-have daughter doing homework
• 5:30 pm- Dinner on the table (now to get everyone else there)
• 6:00 pm- hang out/clean up from dinner
• 6:30 pm- kids start getting ready for bed time (baths/showers/teeth/pjs/clothes out for the next day/story-you know the drill)
• 7:00 pm- kisses/hugs/prayers and lights out for the boys- daughter stays up another 15 minutes to read in her bed
• 7:15 pm- kisses/hugs/prayers and lights out for the pretty girl
• 7:17 pm- ya know directly after she gets lights out I am outside with my chickens collecting eggs, counting chickens, and filling up their water during the warmer months

• 7:30 pm- Generally I will tidy up the house and then work on little projects around the home with my husband until about 
• 9:00 pm- when we hit the bed and either read or watch some TV depending on the night
• 9:30 pm- we are usually turning off the lights and heading to bed

Ofcourse all of this is in theory, ok. We never get it all done at the exact time so think of that or as an -ish time. We try and we fail almost everyday but just having the general times that we do things really helps keep the home running smoothly. I have tried life without the schedule (last summer, oh was that awful) and had crying miserable, bored kids. I learned a valuable lesson that summer after our move to the country. There is something about having a schedule that really keeps my home going, but I also learned that being to close to that schedule and not allowing for that relax time is a recipe for disaster. Everything in moderation.....right?