Our Week In Photos (and scroll to the bottom for a semi-lame request....)

Yay for normal life! Parker started back to school last Tuesday and we have been enjoying the routine again. 

I actually don't have many photos from the last week--whoops.

Here's what I've got:

Lily the photographer. 

We made another trip to the fire truck park on the last day of Christmas break and had a picnic. The weather was perfect and the kids were happy (for the most part). 

We had a BIG day on Saturday because Bryan turned the BIG 3-2! Are we really that old?

We celebrated him with homemade lasagna and Texas sheet cake. 

We sure are thankful for him!!!! He is my favorite.

Our other treat of the weekend was having a very spontaneous overnight visit from the one and only Nonnie! My Mom had flown into Dallas to drive down and see my grandparents, but she also surprised the kids and gave us all a day of fun.

She was there for Bryan's birthday celebration and was also there to sit with us and watch the Cowboys lose (not the best birthday gift!). She also went to church and Uncle Julio's with us before heading off. (And have us lots of play/rest time!)

I am fairly certain my kids wore her out! But I'm also sure she loved it!

Parker was very upset when my Mom had to leave on Sunday night and the next morning when I went in his room to make his bed I found the book that my sister made him to show where our family lives propped open to the Colorado page. So darn sweet!

Other things that happened that I have no photographic evidence of and/or feel are worth the mention:

1. I went to see the Rachel Hollis documentary with my friend Aubree and it was SO good. She also texted to tell me that Rachel announced she is coming to Dallas for a RISE Conference! Anyone want to give me $200 so I can go? ;) (KIDDING.)

2. My friend Tara told us about a new podcast called The Bible Recap that gives you a reading plan to read the Bible through chronologically in one year and provides recaps to listen to after each reading. I'M DOING IT. I'm so pumped! I've attempted to read the Bible through about 45 times and always quit.

Anyways. It is very good and very interesting so far! I highly recommend checking it out on your preferred podcast app and catching up! Tara Leigh Cobble is the host and she is hilarious and just happens to live in Dallas and I'm really thinking there are too many people around this place that I could potentially stalk. ;)

3. Lily is sitting in my lap "talking" on my phone about birthdays and yelling "Bryan! I can't hear you!" Um, where on earth did she get that? (Insert raised hand lady and embarrassed emoji face here!)

4. I made a very tasty one-pot pasta dish last night that was deemed good enough to go in the recipe binder! It is called Creamy Sausage and Spinach Pasta and it is DARN GOOD. I found the recipe right here via Pinterest. (Maybe use normal tomatoes instead of the green chile mix if you don't like spice!)

(via)

5. I finished a book! And I may have read it in one day! Oops. This is why my reading is so sporadic....that whole "live a normal life and be a good mother" thing really gets in the way! Ha. BUT SERIOUSLY. I loved "Where The Crawdads Sing" just about as much as I can love a book. I keep thinking about the characters and I finished it a week ago. It's a little slow to start but the writing is superb (one of those where you feel like you are there because the setting is described so well) and it's got a good mix of heartbreak, young love, and mystery. All good things. 

6. OH!!! IMPORTANT: I've been hard at work on my Etsy shop! It's still FOR SURE a work in progress, but to anyone reading this: could you pretty please click on the link below and click around in the listings in my shop and spend time looking at them??? I know, such a weird request (!) but Etsy analytics and algorithms rank listings in search based on how many times they are viewed and how long each person stays on a particular page and since I don't have a single item from my old shop still listed, I'm really needing some help! 

Pretty please click over to my shop RIGHT HERE. Thank youuuuuu!!!

On a side note: Lily has now moved on from making phone calls to "taking selfies" and then saying things like, "Awwwwww, dat's so cute!"

Bye!!

Sanity-Saving Lunch System and Podcasts I Love.

Bryan came by for lunch (hallelujah!) and is currently playing Sonic with Hayes so I said to myself, "HEY, I should use this time to write a blog post!" 

I thought it might be fun to share a couple of things that have been saving my ever-loving-sanity lately. The first has to do with my "lunch-packing system" and the second is a list of my current favorite podcasts. Yes, these are the exciting things in my life. ;) 

A very, very big part of my day consists of walking in and out and around the kitchen---cooking, cleaning, wiping, refilling, doing dishes, more cleaning, making grocery lists, complaining about cleaning, and PACKING LUNCHES. When you pack at least 14 lunches a week (I just counted--that is a minimum and will only get worse), it gets old quick, but thanks to a good ole' Instagram creep, I have adopted a nice little system that makes my mornings so much easier (and me a lot less grumpy!)

I make about 3 weeks worth of sandwiches at once and then bag and freeze them in their own little bin in the freezer. I do PB&J (with the peanut butter on both sides to keep it from getting soggy---literally how did it take me 30 years to figure this out), PB& Nutella (or "chocolate sandwich" as Hayes would say), and then turkey and cheese sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls. I love making that last one because it is super quick! I just slice the whole loaf of Hawaiian rolls in half, layer on turkey and cheese, place the top back on, and then cut them into individual squares. I ordered the "hoarders box" of Miracle Whip packets from Amazon so that the sandwich-eater can grab one to add later.  

I know none of this is rocket science and is probably pretty obvious but it literally makes me SO happy to finally be in on the secret and not be so rushed in the mornings. Thank you, Super Moms of Instagram!

For the "sides", I designated different boxes and drawers in the pantry and fridge to hold everything, and then grouped them by fresh fruit, dried fruit/ applesauce, dairy, salty, and sweet. I numbered them from 1-7 so Parker could pack his own lunch in the morning and just follow the numbers (he rarely does this but it works when we need it!)

ALSO: Our fridge is NEVER this clean--I had just cleaned it out because a coke got too cold and exploded. 

To get everything in our (very fancy cardboard) bins, I either buy prepackaged lunch snacks (like the little bags of chips or string cheese), or separate a big bag or box of something into little baggies. I also have a bin for straws (for yogurt smoothies), juice boxes, and those little lidded condiment cups (also from Amazon) for dips/dressing, if needed. 

The foods currently on rotation in the bins:

Fresh fruit/veggies: bananas, apples, grapes, broccoli 

Dried fruit/applesauce: dried mangos from Costco, raisins, applesauce pouches (Lily could live off these....so could Bryan ;)

Dairy: string cheese, go-gurt, drinkable yogurt smoothies

Salty: Chips, pretzels, Goldfish

Sweet: Famous Amos snack cookie bags, cheap-o striped fudge or oatmeal cookies, fruit snacks

I grab one from most every bin for each lunch (according to what each person prefers) and then we are good to go!

I've done this for two months now and IT WORKS. It's so weird that things actually happen when you plan in advance! Who knew?!

Other things that are giving me life:

These memes. 

Don't deny it!! I served my time! (I'm kidding! Usually.)

Literally every summer from 2002-2009. 

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And last but certainly not least: my current favorite (new to me) podcasts. They make me laugh and think about hard things and talk to myself and probably look even more like a crazy person than I already am! I love them.

First up is the Journey Women Podcast. I love the host and wish I could be her friend! The "When The Holidays Are Hard" episode was eye opening and so good for many reasons. 

That Sounds Fun with Annie F. Downs. Yet another girl I want to be friends with! I just listened to her episodes with Banning Leibsher (I'm sure I butchered that last name) who is the lead pastor at the Jesus Culture church, and with John Crist (basically my fave instagram comedian) and was obsessed with both.

Coffee and Crumbs Podcast (have I mentioned this before?) A few weeks ago a friend texted the link to the "This Is How We Don't" epidsode and it made me feel like I am not alone in the world after all! It also made me laugh. Highly recommend that one and all of the "This Is How We Do" episodes (I've listened to every single one!)

The Rise Podcast with Rachel Hollis. I've read a bunch of controversy on her book but went ahead and  listened to part of it and think she has some great advice on pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and not feeling sorry for yourself. Her podcast is the same and while I maybe want to roll my eyes at some parts (probably because I'm envious of her and her drive!), I do think there are A LOT of takeaways!

And that's all I've got! Byyyyyyye. 

My Grandmommy.

My lapse in posting this week is mostly due to the fact that my grandmother, Virginia Carter, or "Grandmommy" as we called her, passed away on Monday. I've had so many memories going around in my head this week and finally decided it was time sit down and sort them out and write a few down. She was and is one of the most influential women in my life and was such a good grandmother to me and my sisters when we were growing up. 

Wasn't she beautiful?

She lived 88 years and was happily married to my Grandaddy for 67 of those years! What a legacy. She grew up on a farm near here and used to tell us so many stories about her childhood and all the crazy things they would do before we would fall asleep at night. It's a bit bizarre and sad that my own little family moved to North Texas just a few years too late to be near her as they had recently moved her down to Longview to be near my Aunt. We only live 30 minutes away from Sherman, which is where she lived most of her life and contributed so much to her community and church. She taught bible class, led the PTA, was a member of multiple community, church, and choir groups, helped run my Grandaddy's insurance agencies, and even owned her own little store on the square in downtown Sherman when I was really little. 

She is someone who I always, always, think of when someone mentions the word "hospitality"--their big old historic home (that I'm still convinced is haunted, ha!) was always open to guests. I remember being a little kid and going to and from my grandparents church and constantly seeing their friends, both in and out of their home. They were both the life of the party--my Grandaddy with his big laugh and magic tricks for any kid willing to sit still, and my Grandmommy, always talking to everyone and always looking so elegant. Bryan commented several times this weekend that so many random people kept coming up to him and telling him that my grandparents were "the best people they ever knew"--looking back, I can see why! Grandmommy was a career-minded woman back in a time when that wasn't very common and always wanted to learn new things---she took lessons in speaking, singing, piano, and painting, and even attend college after getting married. She was a naturally talented artist, a great cook, and had a beautiful singing voice that she passed on to both my Dad and my Aunt. 

She supported my Grandaddy in all that he did with his life, in fact (and I didn't know this until today), when my Grandaddy's health began to fail and he decided to resign from his eldership at their church, he didn't talk about himself while standing in front of the congregation; instead he praised his wife for her constant support and love for him that had allowed him to live his life the way he did. I want to be that kind of wife! They were constantly finding new things to do together and traveled SO many places together--I find this so admirable as an adult looking back--as a kid I didn't think anything of it--but it was big deal and a great example of a strong marriage and I am so appreciative of it.

I will never forget watching my Grandmommy put on her makeup and allllll her jewelry while I sat on the window seat in her bathroom (usually with the window open which made me feel like a princess in a castle but was probably kind of dangerous, ha!), and then walking down into the stairwell to hear the AM radio playing in the bathroom under the stairs where my Grandaddy would shave his face every morning. I will always remember her old white Christmas tree and pink ornaments, her messy art room filled with paints, papers, and canvases, the breakfast room where she would let us drink Dr. Pepper, and  how she bought us grandkids those super cool ride-in electronic cars and would let us drive around the courtyard and pull up to her "drive-thru" where she would then give us a glass of sweet tea. She introduced me to the wonders of orange pimento cheese (don't judge, it's delicious), oven-baked nachos, Klondike Bars (our late night treat), and my favorite Christmas movie, "The Muppets Christmas Carol". She let me stay up late during the 1996 Olympics to watch Kerri Strug nail her landing for the gynmastics gold (which was BIG deal to me!), and more than once took me and my sisters to explore Grapevine Mills Mall and Six Flags for days that were so fun we slept the whole ride home while she listened to her favorite show tunes and classical radio. (I remember a lot of "The Phantom of the Opera" soundtrack, ha!)

One of the things I know I will never forget is how important church was to her. Even though my family lived several hours away--if we were in Sherman, we were going to be at their church and at every event that had to do with their church. I have so many sweet memories of afternoons spent at potlucks, running around barefoot with the "local" kids and sliding down the stair banisters that led to the gym. (I dared Julie to slide down a banister after service today, and she just laughed....I like to think she halfway considered it!) She helped me to realize the importance of bringing children to church no matter where you are or how hard it is and I am so thankful for that. 

She suffered from dementia for the better part of the last decade and had been unable to walk for a lot of that and unable to remember much around her. As sad as I am to see her life end, I am also so, so happy that she is healthy once more and has been reunited with my Grandaddy and all of her loved ones that have gone on before her. 

I wish I could tell her this now. I wish I had made the trip down to see her after she moved.  

But I know I will eventually get the chance to talk with her all I want when I see her again someday, and for that I am grateful!

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 I thought I would end the post with some of Grandmommy's own words (in her pretty handwriting). I took these photos (and about 50 others) from her "Memory Book" but thought I would share a couple of favorites. Some good wisdom in here. I am so happy she took the time to do this.

I love you, Grandmommy! Thank you for showing me a life well-lived. 

Crafty Projects For Our Home

Hello, hello! Haysie is sitting right next to me and is telling me so many sweet things. "Mom, I want to sit and watch you work.", and "I like your 'puter (computer). I guess I'll get a wittle 'puter cause I'm a wittle boy." Not being much of a Fournado today---too busy being cute!

This past weekend I stayed up into the night working on a few projects that I actually somewhat completed so I thought I would share!

First up is this new (to me) cane back chair that I found during my first-ever trip to a furniture consignment store. I have a thing for cane back chairs and have been looking for a "petite" chair to fit in our little built-in bathroom vanity and was so happy to find this cutie! It was already in pretty great condition (I love the way the wood looks) but the seat needed to be recovered so I took my first go at upholstery and let me just tell you that I quickly found I am not destined to work in the upholstery business!! 

I went through my fabric stash and picked one of my favorite favorite remnants from a clearance bin a few years ago. I only had to purchase the trim from Hobby Lobby which cost me a whopping $2. 

I spent most of the evening watching Christmas movies and pulling and tugging and trying to get the dang corners to look the same. I eventually pretty much gave up and decided to give the chair a "pleated" look in the corners (which actually still took me half a Hallmark movie to get right) because, as I said, furniture upholstery is apparently not one of my gifts. 

This is what I got in the end, and I'm pretty happy with it especially since it was such a cheap project.

I still need to get another strip of smaller trim to put on top of the first because you can still kind of see some of the staples and fabric edges, which is why I said at the beginning of this post that these projects are almost complete.

Cute little thing in its new nook!

My second project of the evening was to spruce up my good ole' Christmas wreath that has hung on our front door since before Parker was born. I purchased this wreath at a WONDERFUL store called Paul Michael's when my in-laws lived in Louisiana and I kid you not, I stuffed it in my suitcase to fly back to Lubbock (MUCH to my sister-in-law's amusement, and I think, amazement). 

I re-did this wreath last year as well but in a more understated way with my usual neutrals and greens....but this year we went crazy outside and put up RED and white Christmas lights so it opened me up to a whole new world decorating-wise mostly because, for anyone who doesn't know, I don't use red in my inside Christmas decor which always makes me a bit sad, but it's just not in my house at all and doesn't fit! I was pumped to get to use some traditional red outside. (It's the little things, guys.)

Usually we go all white with our exterior lights, but both boys were begging for "fun" lights, and since we are in "Christmas Prime-Time" for them, we just had to oblige!

Anyways! I am so good at rambling.

Here is the wreath.

(I'm kind of impressed that these are iPhone photos--phone pictures have come a long way recently!)

I made me another trip to Hobby Lobby--WHICH, I need to tell you, my new pop-up-shop friend (her name is Aubree) is from California (just moved here) and SHE HAS NEVER BEEN TO HOBBY LOBBY.  I kind of freaked and told her to change that as soon as possible!

Anyways, I made another trip to HL and got some battery-operated lights and a few little red berries and ribbon (I already had the magnolia leaves, seed pods, and pine cones) and wah-lah! A traditional (but still natural and kind of messy--as I love) RED Christmas wreath. 

It's hard to tell, but our door is really tall (like 8 or 9'?) and it looks so grand and festive with the "new" wreath!

Also, wreath-decorating is best while watching DVR'd marathons of "Trisha's Southern Kitchen". Trust me. 

That's all I've got.

 Bye!

I like Mondays.

My favorite days of the week are Sunday and Monday. Does that make me weird? I love Sunday for the obvious: church, family, naps. 

I love Monday because it is typically our slow day of the week. I get to play with the little kids in the morning while putting away laundry, we build legos and eat goldfish and crash cars and read books while PBS kids plays in the background. We sing songs and eat grilled cheeses and stay in our jammies for most of the day. We ride bikes and watch movies while Lily naps in the afternoon (today it was WALL-E), and sometimes I take them to the grocery store and attempt to get the fridge organized (but sometimes not). Then Bryan comes home (hallelujah!), usually right at the moment I am out of steam and then I make spaghetti--because Mondays are always our spaghetti day. Then I usually halfway pass out on the couch while Bryan wrestles with the kids because he's their favorite and I'm always a little zombie-ish around 7pm. In addition: tonight the boys discovered the the exhilarating game of throwing their toys at the spinning ceiling fan, so that was super fun, too. (I'm kind of kidding.)

Sometimes (okay usually) I feel that these little days are passing too fast and that I'm not soaking it in. I write this to tell my older self: YES, you had many quiet days with your children at home. Many days when you didn't get out of the house. And you DID (usually) enjoy it. It was sweet, and it was and fun!

Please note above photos: The boys holding their "kids" in their shirts while riding bikes. (Their "kids" are a teddy bear and an old beanie baby lion usually known as Bumblebee and Optimus.) Parker wanted everyone to know that this was Optimus's first time on a bike. 

Also note: babies with straws kill me. Those pouty lips are the cutest and you just cannot argue it. Do not tell Lily she is not a grown up because she totally thinks she is, at least while she's carrying around anything with a straw stuck in it. 

What a wonderful Monday!

From Lillie to Lily

You may have wondered why my the spelling of my daughter's nickname changed from Lillie Mae to Lily (sometimes Mae).

It's because I should never be allowed to name babies while super hormonal pregnant.

Totally my bad.

Lillian Mae was always a top contender when I was pregnant as Lillian is my beloved great-grandmother Isca's middle name and Mae is my beloved great-grandmother Ethel Mae's middle name. So the full legal name was easy but we wanted to give her the nickname Lily or Lilly or Lillie, because hello it's pretty and sweet and very vintage sounding which we both like for girls names.

Bryan pulled for the simple "y" version, because it was the most logical and meaningful way to spell it: both he and I have common names with the uncommon "y" spelling. (I am Katy not Katie and he is Bryan not Brian. )

In my hormonal, large, itrrational state (I cry a lot when I'm pregnant), I pulled for the "double l, i-e" version because it seemed the most obvious way to shorten Lillian, and since I'm the mom I won on the name argument. ;)

I like all spellings of the name. I do. But about a week after she was born and Facebook-announced I started to regret my resistance to use the more sentimental and flower-spelled "y" version, so in true Katy-fashion, I admitted my fault a little too late and we did our best to patch it up. We did a slow transition to the new spelling. I called her baby girl or sister a lot on social media in the hopes that people would forget how her nick name was originally spelled. (This was not entirely the case once I publicly switched to the "y" which is why I am offering this explanation.)

So there you go, blame the hormones!

Lily is currently not looking anything like the above adorable photo, but is crying straight at my face and I think it's because she knows I screwed this up. Bye!

Doing a Load of Laundry.

If there is one thing I have learned in my time as a mother, it is that you never finish doing laundry. (Well, I've learned a few other things--but all of them involve either mushy gushy love or messes.) I used to be pretty good at staying somewhat on top of the laundry but now that we have outnumbered ourselves with children, I am very, very bad at it.

Here is why:

Saturday: This is (supposed to be) the day that bedding gets washed. I wash the boys sheets and coverlets. Done.

Dirty clothes pile up.

Dirty clothes pile up.

Dirty clothes pile up.

Monday: (The day I'm supposed to go around and catch up on clothes laundry.)

8:00am - Hayes wakes up. He has pottied out of his diaper and all over his bed. Change diaper. Change clothes. Make breakfast. Forget potty on bed. Feed Lily. Take shower. Clean up breakfast mess. Feed Lily oatmeal. Clean up oatmeal mess. Do ALL the mom things (except for laundry.)

11:00am - Remember pottied-on bed. Strip down bedding. Put in washer. Add detergent. Kids fighting over chalk outside. Pick up random pieces of trash (mostly straw wrappers from juice boxes) around the house. Blow dry hair and put on makeup. Keep telling kids that "IT IS SUMMER, GO OUTSIDE".

12:00pm - Shoot, I forgot to turn on the washer. Turn on washer. Realize it's only an hour until Haysie naps and he needs bedding to sleep on. Strip Parker's bed to move mattress pad to Hayes' bed. Kids yell, they are hungry. Put Easy Mac in microwave. I have 3.5 minutes. Use the restroom. Return to boys room and but Parker's mattress pad and sheets on Hayes' bed. Microwave dings. Finish making lunch. Run back to bedroom. Finish making bed.

12:30pm - Walk to laundry room to switch bedding and hear Lily cry. Go feed her. Play with Lily and take videos for Instagram (duh). Clean up Easy Mac off the rug that Hayes has spilled. Clean up water that spills while I was cleaning up the Easy Mac. Start making my lunch. Remember to switch bedding from washer to dryer. Go switch bedding. Darn it the laundry in the dryer was never turned on and is still wet. Turn on laundry that should already be done and rescue Lily from her love/hate relationship with the door jumper. Send boys to playroom, realize it's a mess. Ask boys to help clean up. (I mostly clean up but Parker is a good helper!) Hayes is screaming and banging his hammer on everything. Time for nap--must find blankets, paci, and a fresh sippy cup of milk.  Tuck him in. Turn on sound machine. Hallelujah nap time.

1:30pm - Realize that I didn't finish making my lunch. Make lunch. Get Lily and eat lunch with her in my lap. Send Parker in playroom. Put Lily down for nap. Pull out finally dry laundry. Switch pottied- on bedding to dryer. We are almost there guys! Maybe by midnight I will have the lunch mess cleaned up and bedding that I literally washed (on time) two days ago back on the bed. Or piled in a laundry basket. Happy motherhood! ;)

---And this is why I'm tired.

$1 Fancy Valentine's Table (And Our Traditions)

My Mom was in town for Valentine's Day this year which meant that Bryan and I had the option of going out on a date. We didn't. We were tired. 

That's saying something.

Oh yes, we have three small children! It all makes sense again.

I decided to make the evening fancy. It was Taco Tuesday after all, and I had boxed strawberry cake mix in the pantry and Bryan had surprised me Valentine's morning with a pretty bouquet from the grocery store. 

Don't read me wrong--any bouquet is a beautiful bouquet (especially when given by a wise Husband), but I really do think that flowers truly strut their stuff once arranged in a pretty vase all fancy-like. 

After the flowers were strutting around, I stole the candle sticks from the mantel, pulled out some moss, our wedding registry glassware, a fabric garland from a bridal shower, those MAGIC twinkly lights, and every votive candle and holder I could find in the house. It was a great combo. The only thing that cost me was the $1 heart shaped doilies that became the table runner. (Thanks Target, for keeping me poor with that dang Dollar Spot.) 

I feel I should mention that my two little boys were quite literally bouncing around the house working off their post-class-party sugar highs while I decorated. I've gotten really good at ignoring it. I think that means I'm officially a Professional Mom!

We ate our green chile chicken tacos (GRACIAS, MOM), our strawberry cake, and discussed Rescue Bots over candlelight and amid the yells of The Haysie. (Or Crazy Hayes. They both work.)

I really like little holidays like this. I believe that we should all sit around fancy tables every once in a while on Taco Tuesday and enjoy the chaos and exhaustion and the people God gave us to love. That's the best kind of Valentine's Day. 

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Bryan and I have been working hard on family traditions this last year as Parker has entered the land of long-term memories. (I believe this happens on the 4th birthday, FYI.) Our Valentine's Day traditions consist of the following:

1. Wake the kids up to cards and boxes of chocolates.

2. Hopefully wake myself up to a bouquet of flowers from my thoughtful Husband.

3. Maybe surprise Husband (and me?) with a nice gift if funds allow (they did not this year, but that is alright).

4. Take Valentine's cards and treats to school and return home with ALL THE CANDY after some sugar-crazed class parties. (I loved this part as a kid!) 

5. Go through candy and cards. Begin consuming. 

6. Play "Love" themed music while we decorate the table, cook dinner, and bake semi-homemade pink cake. 

7. Thank the Lord for those we love!

8. Fall into bed tired but happy. 

Now that's a great day.