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A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute. Intentional Outdoor Hours :  32+ hours (of 1000) I'm up five hours this week as we got some beautiful weather days which allowed me to take the dogs for a walk and also get a run in (with the two big kids!) as the sun was setting around the neighborhood.  Grey and Gem did great and jogged the whole 2.5 miles with me (Grey runs super fast then walks until me and Gem slowly catch up) and then they both fussed about their legs being sore the next day (hah).  It is so nice to know that spring is really on her way and we are all itching for nicer weather!! Speaking of itching - I had a tick on me from the dogs' walk this week and then I started googling raising Guinea fowl for the sole purpose that they eat ticks.  The last thing we need is more pets, but seriously.  It was my third tick this year already! Reading  The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison  I particularly liked this quote and find it so true i

It's the end of another month and I'm getting ready to start my next month's meal planning and grocery list building.  If you read here regularly, you'll know that I do monthly meal plans and we do one big grocery trip a month and supplement produce (and lots of gallons of milk!) throughout as needed. I've been planning my meals monthly for about three-ish years now and it suits my sanity levels come dinnertime.  My method is to plan five meals during the weeknights and mark them in my planner on those particular days.  Weekends are left to leftovers, grandparents house visits, eating out/ordering in, or something we are craving (like buffalo mac&cheese this past weekend!) Now, if we arrive at the actual day and I glance at my planner and for whatever reason have an aversion to whatever it is I had planned weeks ago, I skim the rest of the week's plans and swap the days' dinners.  And sometimes if we're having a particularly difficult day (kid tantr

A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute. Intentional Outdoor Hours : 27+ hours (of 1000) We had some beautiful weather mixed with really chilly weather this week.  The girls and I headed outside one afternoon and explored all the deer paths we could find since the weeds aren't all overgrown yet in 'the tunnel' (two rows of parallel pine trees between us and the neighbors).  The girls climbed trees and picked up pine cones and danced in the fields behind the house.  It always feels like a hassle to get every suited up in coats and boots and trek outside, but I've never regretted it - no matter how much of a starved, overtired tantrum it might (always) dissolve into. Reading  The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison   Getting tricked by that sneaky leprechaun! He did fall in our trap, but then cut a hole in the box and escaped!  He even left us one single gold (chocolate) coin just to tease us! That mischievous little guy!! Celebrating (

a glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute Intentional Outdoor hours : 24+ hours (of 1000) ugh.  too cold. I was out for under 10 minutes the other day but I'm not even including it because I was miserable and the wind made my eyes water.  The kids are doing a lot better than me and have been out almost daily for at least a half hour.  Their little skin is tougher than mine!  I can't wait for it to warm up a little bit so I can get back to running.  I'm a wimp, but that cold air hurts my throat and lungs to breathe it in! Reading  The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison  and loved this bit: "It occurs to me that perhaps I don't have to push at life quite so hard after all, that sometimes the best thing we can do is allow our lives simply to take us where we need to go." -pg.86 Buzzing through the weekend with lots of plans and places to go. The kids are down to their final two weeks of soccer (Grey played three games back to bac

our dearest kids,  Daddy and I have been together for eighteen years.   I have been kissing Daddy for over half my life!   This is not all that impressive to you guys because Daddy and I have been kissing for ALL of your lives, but believe us - when you grow up, kissing the same person for over half your life is a long, long time.  Now, we aren't claiming to be experts at love...but we do have a lot of the experience in the things that is needed to make one an expert.  For example, that 10,000 hours theory?  we blow that thing out of the water.   And have great mentors?  yep, got those in our parents, grandparents, and lots of friends who have great love and inspire us to continue to work at it no matter what challenges pop up.   And we encourage each other everyday towards the 'deliberate practice,' living out love in more ways than just 'showing up.'  So, in those ways, we have a little bit to offer you, our babies about what we've learned about love.  Mainly,

a glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute. Intentional Outdoor Hours : 24+ hours (of 1000) Only added an extra hour this week with a beautiful (and much needed) four mile jog.  It felt really good to get out in the 50degree weather even if it was so crazy windy that I was actually laughing at various points.  Four miles feels great right now which is astonishing coming from me - someone who was overwhelmed by the thought of jogging one mile in the not so distant past.  But considering in only two months, I need to run four miles three times in a row (plus another mile and change on top of that)...well that's a little concerning.  Slow and steady though, right? Reading  The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison . plugging along and still really enjoying it. Volunteering at our church's fish fry on Friday night for the first time.  I waited tables while Brandon helped out on the phone with take-out orders and the time flew by.  We actually had a gre