Basketball - game 3

Last weekend was picture weekend for Kellen's Upwards Basketball team.  They look so stinkin' cute!

The boys did an even better job this past weekend than they had the first two games.  It's wonderful to watch their improvement!

Here they are warming up...

During the game Kellen got a steal, a tie ball, an assist and shot a basket (but didn't make it).  He's really doing a lot better with the fundamentals and is focusing and paying attention quite a bit more when he's playing.

This was the first weekend he wore his basketball shoes, too.  He and his daddy went to buy some shoes just for basketball.  He was so excited about them that he wanted to wear them to school the very next day.

We let him, just to work on breaking them in.  They're cool looking shoes and he likes that he has some special basketball shoes (and we like that they're a little more supportive than his regular tennis shoes).

'Cause he needs that support quite a bit.  Did I mention that he's fallen flat at least one each game?  Sometimes another party is involved, but not always!

Getting organized!

So I posted about trying to declutter, and I'm still working on it.  It's going to be a work-in-progress for quite some time, I believe.

This past weekend I tried to tackle a little bit at a time, here and there.

Container cabinet before:

Container cabinet after:

Kitchen drawer before:

Kitchen drawer after:

And as you can see, I re-purposed some of the plastic containers that were sans lids, found during the cleaning of the container cabinet.

I didn't keep a very good count of the items I de-cluttered, but I know it was at least 10 (containers without lids or lids without bottoms), bringing my tally to 56 items.

I periodically went through clothes (especially as I did laundry!) and pulled out five outfits of Jacey's that she's outgrown.  I also pulled out 4 additional pieces of maternity clothing from my stuff.

Final tally = 65 items

Couponing

I'm trying to venture into the world of couponing.  I have 'liked' a number of sites on Facebook that I'm hoping will give me some guidance to the secrets of this trade.

I want to be able to get my groceries, or toiletries, or whatever, and say I bought some absurd amount of stuff for pennies.  Or a few dollars.  Or saved half.

Or something like that.

If you have any tips, or favorite websites, or groups on Facebook that will bestow upon me this knowledge, please pass them along.

Really.  Please.

Certainly I can figure this out, right?

Adventures in basketball - Game 2

The team worked on rebounding to be ready for their second game.  I think they got the concept quite well, actually.

They all put forth a great effort and are getting better at guarding their guy when they're on defense and trying to get the ball and shoot when they're on offense.

Not too shabby in my book for a seven year old!

This is Kellen getting matched up with his counterpart on the other team.  Note the colored wristbands - each team has a kid in the various colors and that's how the kids know who to defend.  They're solely man-to-man on defense.

Kellen had quite the cheering section on Saturday (see, now I'm at least getting closer to being up-to-date, right?).  Maw Maw and Paw Paw brought Tatum back and watched the game, and some friends from Jacey's day care (her teacher, the teachers hubby, and their three kids - one of whom was on Kellen's football team in the fall) came to watch between their games.

While we were at the game, Jacey decided to flex her muscles - literally - by sitting up some.  Unfortunately for her, Paw Paw overestimated her ability to do so.

Imagine her doing a face plant from this position.

Poor girl.

Good things she comes from some tough genes, because it certainly didn't seem to phase her much!

Adventures in basketball

Kellen is now trying out his hand at basketball.  He's playing with our church Upwards league and seems to enjoy it so far.  His first game was two weekends ago (yeah, my sitting around eating bon bons must come to an end because I seem to get behind fairly easily on this blog, don't I?) and he played a large portion of the game (four out of the six periods).

After the game he was commended on his defensive efforts - in large part because every guy he was matched up to defend was at least a head taller than Kellen.  I certainly hope it was a 'luck of the draw' kind of thing because if the other team did that on purpose, I would be saddened by the ultra competitive nature of a Christian league!  But he hustled and tried his very best, with only the limited knowledge that two practices can bring.

Kellen is #5...just in case you couldn't tell.

Jacey is 6 months old!

As of Monday, Jacey is six months old.

I cannot believe it.

You would think I would remember how fast time flies, right?  I mean, I do have two other kids and I'm sure I was as dumbfounded by their seemingly speedy growth as I am now with Jacey, but still.

Does time have to fly this fast?

Her half-birthday was a holiday for (almost) the rest of the family.  So the kids and I hung out at the house while Daddy worked.

In the afternoon, we all loaded up and went to the doctor for her well-check.

Her stats are:
Weight: 15 pounds, 6 ounces (50th %)
Height:  27.5 inches (95th%)
Head circumference - (80th%)

According to the doctor, she's 'lean and mean'.  Quite a bit different than the older two, who looked like they were put together with marshmallows at this age!

Here is the post where I described Tatum's 6-month well check.

As for the shots, the older two had to stand outside the door while she got them.  I think Kellen was nearly in tears at just the thought of her getting shots.  So sweet!

After the first shot, Jacey let out a cry and then inhaled for another one.  Her inhale was one of those where you wonder when the kiddo is actually going to breathe.

You know the one, right?

Well, she let out another cry and in less than 5 seconds, was smiling at the nurse.

I kid you not.

The nurse even said it was a first!

Later on, she tried oatmeal (again, take 2).

Don't let that smile fool you....while she did eat the oatmeal, she wasn't overly enthusiastic about it.  She wanted to grab the spoon, but wasn't all that thrilled about actually eating the solids coming off of the spoon.

If you look closely, you can see the TWO gleaming white teeth that Jacey has in that adorable mouth of hers.  Tooth #1 came in on December 15th (bottom right) and tooth #2 came in on January 9th (bottom left).

To round out the night, she got a luxurious bath.  Well, as luxurious as you can get in a pink tub on the kitchen counter, but hey...she loves bath time!

Some notable things about Jacey:

• She's a very different sleeper than her older siblings.  She has slept through the night twice (and they were glorious nights for Mommy!), and still sleeps in the cradle next to my bed.  To compare, Kellen and Tatum were sleeping through the night consistently at 7 and 8 weeks, and both were out of the cradle and into their crib around that same time, but certainly by the time they were 2 months old.
• She LOVES silky fabric (satin).  Just like her older siblings.  Can a love of a particular fabric be genetic?
• She has started giving the wonderfully sweet, open-mouth kisses.  Is there anything as precious as a slobbery baby kiss?
• The bald spot she's rubbed on the back of her head is starting to grow back (no biggie..her older siblings did the same thing).
• We started cloth diapering last week with her.
• She spits up. A lot. She totally and completely trumps the amount of spit up Kellen did, and we even named our extra clothes "Kellen shirts" at that time.  She does not (or at least hasn't) projectiled like Kellen did, so he still has that over her.
• She does not like to have her head covered when she nurses.  In case you're wondering, this makes it difficult for Mommy.
• She hasn't attached herself to any particular object - no special lovey at this point.
• She's ticklish.  Very ticklish.  Very, very ticklish.  And tickling her produces the most joyous sound.  We do it often and she loves it.
• She likes to have her head rubbed (or brushed).
• She is sitting up with a little support.
• She likes tummy time quite a bit.
• She's coming up on her knees and is starting to rock a little.
• She's getting bad nursing manners, and wants to look at everyone else while she's supposed to be eating.  Silly girl.

She is a joy - through and through!

De-cluttering

Matt and I worked on cleaning up the house this past weekend, putting away the Christmas decorations, doing laundry, just generally trying to get cleaned up and organized.

My goal for the weekend (specifically Sunday) was to get 100 'things' out of the house.  I didn't reach my goal, so I'll continued to work on it this week.  Unfortunately, it's now Wednesday and I haven't moved much more towards my goal in the evenings.  We started cloth diapering Jacey this week so my evenings have been consumed more with housework and laundry.

I'll get there.

I think.

Maybe.

But if not, it's ok.  Because it's the process that's important, not necessarily reaching the finish line with this one.  If my ultimate goal is to really evaluate my things to determine if they're important to me, then it's that process that's really important to me.  I've been inspired by several blog posts on minimalism.  I have no lofty goals to only wear 33 articles of clothing for a month or to only own 100 items, but the core of what many of them speak to has resonated with me.

My take on it - Keep what you love and love what you keep.  

I think it all goes back to being a good steward of the things the Lord has entrusted to me.....and sometimes I think that not only means taking care of things, but realizing when they're no longer needed for you.  Hoarding isn't what I'm striving for here (those items can bless someone else!).  I am by no means going to be featured on the next episode of America's Messiest House (or whatever new reality show is dealing with hoarders), but I know I have too much stuff.

I know I do.

So I'll probably chronicle my attempt to release some of these items.

Sunday total = 46

• 14 outfits/pieces of clothing
• 17 magazines (sorted and pulled articles out to keep)
• 13 items of maternity clothing that no longer need to be in my closet (can I get a WHOOP on this one?)
• 1 cap
• 1 shirt

Water, water everywhere....

And an awful lot to drink!

I'm working on being consistent this year...consistent with my running, scripture memorization, healthful eating, menu planning, etc...

So, one of the areas that I need to be sure to be consistent in is my water intake.  It's not just for the healthy aspects of it, but I simply need to stay hydrated if I'm going to continue to nurish another human being.  And Jacey has only had a taste of 'food' twice so far (one taste of rice and one taste of oatmeal).  I'll start food 'for real' in another couple of weeks. 

Probably. 

If I'm not too lazy.

Because it's really quite a bit easier just to nurse her.

Anyway, my goal for myself this week was to drink two full bottles of water.  Easy cheesy, you might say, but my specific 'bottle' is a large one.  1.5 liters. 50.7 fluid ounces.

Yup.  It's a big bottle.

This has been my goal for a while now, and keeping the big honkin' bottle of water at my desk while I worked was good.  I managed *most* days to get through one bottle.

I decided to do things differently this week.

I now have a plastic cup next to the bottle and am drinking out of that.  I fill the cup every hour and my smaller goal is to drink the water before the top of the next hour.

Doing it in this method, I finish one bottle right before lunch.  I come back from lunch (liquid intake over lunch doesn't count toward this water goal!) and refill the bottle.

Yesterday I did it - I reached my goal.

Today I'm almost there...just have a little less than half a cup left to drink done with the water.

I'm interested to see if I'll notice a difference this week as I try this out.  I mean, a difference other than having to get up to go potty more often.

Happy Tuesday!

Here's another dare.....

Look at this picture without smiling.

I don't think it's possible....

It's Tatum onTuesday!! 

And 1.11.11 for that matter...

She woke up in a great mood, got ready quickly, let me fix her hair and went to eat breakfast...all without any fussing (yay!).

Then she proceeded to have a conversation with Daddy about superheros...

She says that both Daddy and Kellen are superheros.

Why?, you might ask.

Well, in her words, "They would never let anyone hurt me."

You now have my permission to melt, 'cause her Daddy sure did.

Happy Monday!

I dare you to look at this without smiling...dare you. 

This is Jacey before her bath last night. 

She was pretty miserable yesterday...and tooth #2 finally came through.  I was elated to get this shot, as it was a rare thing for her to smile much yesterday, so I was so overjoyed to have gotten this beautiful smile on camera (especially when I have so many difficulties getting her smiles captured at all!).

Have a wonderful Monday and a fabulous week!

Chocolate covered pretzels

Here's another oh-so-easy treat that is sure to be a hit for those who like a little sweet with their salty snacks.

Take some almond bark.

Melt according to directions on package, which for me was 15 seconds at a time, stirring often.

Grab the pretzels of your choosing. (As you can see, I'm not fancy...)

Place pretzels onto waxed paper and drizzle the melted chocolate onto the pretzels.  Since you control the amount of chocolate you include on the pretzels you can make them to suit your personal chocolate needs.

Enjoy!

Chocolate covered crackers

I wish I had a better name for these delicious dessert cookies, but I just don't.

But they're wonderful.  Really.  

I made a batch of these for a Christmas snack and then again for a New Year's Eve party.

Here's the How-to:

Take Ritz crackers and peanut butter and make peanut butter sandwiches with the crackers.

Melt Almond Bark in the microwave, 15 seconds at a time, until smooth.

Coat the sandwich cookie in the melted chocolate.

Remove from chocolate and lay on waxed paper so chocolate can harden.

And the most difficult step of all....try NOT to eat them all at once!  

Enjoy!

Gingerbread houses

Grandma and Grandpa watched the girls during their 'sick phase' when I needed to go into the office before the Christmas break.

Tatum had one request...to make gingerbread houses with Grandma.  She even had the graham crackers and all of the icing out before they even arrived at the house.

Gingerbread house #2 was actually made with Mommy and Uncle Jonathan, from a kit I believe we purchased last year (which I'm hoping explains why the 'icing' was so difficult to maneuver).

She kept going back and adding additional 'features' to the house, and had so much fun doing it!  We'll see if we end up doing another set of graham cracker houses this year....she's still asking to do them!

Jacey's first tea party

While I was home with the sick girls over the Christmas break, we had many tea parties.  I was fortunate enough to be able to capture Jacey's first official tea party, so I wanted to share it with you.  This was one of the days when her medicine kicked in enough so that she felt good enough to sit on her own rather than in the arms of Mommy.  At least for a little bit.

Just long enough to have a spot of tea....

Tatum was such a gracious host.  I have a feeling I'll be seeing many more of these in the future!

Oh Christmas Tree.....

oh Christmas tree,
how lovely are thy branches.

Tatum enjoys crafts. Really enjoys crafts.

So when the girls and I were home sick (her with the cough and fever and Jacey with RSV and an ear infection) I made the time to let her do crafts.

She decorated these foam Christmas trees that I have had for a while and got them ready to give as gifts.

She had such a fun time doing this and made a list of everyone she wanted to give them to for Christmas.  Let's just ignore the fact that they all haven't been given out like Mommy was instructed, ok?  I'm getting there!