First day of third grade... THIRD GRADE?!

To my oldest daughter entering 3rd grade...

I'm sitting here trying to wrap my head around the fact that A) summer is over, B) my oldest is in third grade, C) THIRD GRADE... And yes, I got stuck on B. My oldest, beautiful, kind hearted, spirited daughter has somehow entered her last of the early childhood school years. It seems to have passed in the blink of an eye and I just can't believe it. As I hold on to each hug just a bit longer than I have before, listen more intently and savor each chance I have for one on one time, I am painfully aware that these moments will be few and far between in the coming years, I am reminded of a note my mom wrote to me when I started first grade. She gave it to me when I graduated. Here is my own version, personal- yes, long- absolutley but I know almost all mother's sending their babies off to third grade can relate...

My darling Maddie,
I can't believe you're in THIRD GRADE! These first few days of school are so exciting and I know how much you love school. I remember your first day of Kindergarten like it was just yesterday. I lingered in the parking lot talking with other mom's for quite some time before I felt ready to let you go. I watched you, my social butterfly soar when you met so many new friends. You quickly latched on to one little girl, and you went off to climb the dome climber with her. I watched you become BFF's with her and not even look back at me. It was bittersweet, I knew it was time for you to start school, (you knew everything and more that you needed to know in order to enter kindergarten-passed all the tests!) but I wasn't sure I was ready to give up our days together. When I watched you introduce yourself to your new friends and your wonderful teacher, I realized you were more than ready and I had to let you fly.
That first school year was over just as soon as it began, then first grade and second passed even more quickly. You made new friends and excelled in everything. You were amazing to watch... Dad and I couldn't believe we helped form such a beautiful little girl!

The summer of second grade felt as if it was only two weeks long! We had a great summer! When it came time to go to open house and meet your teacher, I felt excited and nervous like it was your first day of kindergarten all over again. You were so excited to see your friends again and meet your teacher. We laughed and joked, met everyone and saw your past teachers. We left the school after packing away your supplies in your desk. It felt just like any other year after we left... Then came the first day.

I helped you get ready, did your hair and helped choose your outfit. Dropped you off and gave you a kiss. You bounced off into the school and I drove off to work. I sat at my desk and looked at your first day photo. You have grown up so much in the past three years, it's unbelievable! Just over the last year even. You're maturing and changing...it's all exciting and very scary at the same time. I listen to you with your friends (and not so friends already...) and I hear this intelligent, kind yet opinionated young woman's voice. I see a child - er...young woman who is kind to everyone, even those who hurt her. I want to scold the mean girl who tells you that you can't play with her. I want to step in to help you avoid any ounce of heart ache... I want to shelter you from any pain. I have been able to do just that for the past few years, but I know now that I can't... Nor should I. I know you have all you need to solve your problems and face the world! I see all of this and more in you... I see a bubbly, silly girl who is exceptionally beautiful. I couldn't be more proud of you.

I want you to know that growing up is not easy. Being a tween is difficult, confusing and can seem like a roller coaster. But your Daddy and I are here for you no matter what ups and downs come your way. We are your biggest supporters and we are always on your side. We will stand up for you, stand beside you, protect you and love you with every ounce of our beings. You are and always will be that beautiful tiny bundle that made us a family and don't you ever forget it!

I love you my angel,
Mommy (Daddy too!)

What's for dinner?!

Isn't that the age old question. I hear it at least once a day from miss drama queen, and now the middle has started it! I think it's in the handbook when children are born. (Yeah, that's my theory... There is a handbook for children entitled "How to Drive your Mother Crazy".) My kids probably add to it and pass it down as one comes up with a new method to make me loony. I digress...

Dinner!

I always have kept the notion that Sunday dinner should be a big to do. Okay, not too big, but still bigger than the rest of the week. Or maybe more effort put into it? That's what I'm getting at. Our family eats dinner at the table together just about every night. We'll have a movie night now and again where we'll eat in the living room, but usually it's at the table. I try to cook as often as I can but work and extra curricular's take their toll occasionally and we do grab a fast bite or order pizza. We still eat at the table. It's just one of the things that "is" in our house! Our family dinner's occur no matter what we're eating, because it is a priority. We love the time spent with our girls! We discuss our days and things we did. We also share the pit and peak of our day. The "pit" being the worst part of the day, "peak" being the best. It's nice to make this a part of our routine. We even ask our little whirlwind though she doesn't have coherent responses! Yep, our dinner routine is always the same. With the exception of weekends. My husband works until 6:30pm, so come Sunday, the kids have to be ready for bed by the time he gets home at 7. I still have the kids to feed and I sit with them at the table so they still get that family time. Hopefully we can continue our family meal time around the table for years to come!

Anyway, one day a week we typically do breakfast for dinner. My kids love it, and we do too! I mostly love it because it's pretty easy... Especially with my go to casserole recipe!
*NOTE*: This dish is very versatile. For this reason, I'm simply giving basic ingredients and how to's. Make it your own and add whatever you like!

Here's what you'll need for this easy, pleasey, more for me-sey dinner:
-Frozen tator tots
-Eight eggs (or more depending on the size and appetite of your family!)
-1/2 cup of milk
-Your choice of breakfast meat
-Your choice of cheese (about 1 cup)
-Veggies of your choice (if you like!)
-Butter or cooking spray for the pan


Grab a casserole dish (I use a 2qt but you can use any size!) butter the bottom and sides of your dish or use your cooking spray. You'll also want to pre-heat your oven to 350!

Cook your meat! Brown the sausage, fry up the bacon. Or not if you choose the meatless route!

Next, you'll need to get a mixing bowl and whisk. Crack your eggs into the bowl and add the milk. Whisk the eggs/milk until combined. Set the bowl aside and get your casserole dish.
Grab your tator tots and fill the bottom layer of your pan. (Just one layer, enough to cover the bottom).

Once you've got the first layer started, pour the eggs over the tator tots. Top the eggs with the cooked meat, then add your veggies. (I sometimes make two small casseroles, one meat and one veggie).

Pop your casserole in the oven for about 45 minutes or until the egg is no longer watery. Once it looks about right, pull the dish out and top with your cheese. Put the dish back in the oven for about 5 minutes, just enough to let the cheese melt.

That's it! You're ready to serve!

I love this dish because of it's versatility. I adore veggies, so I'll chop up spinach, peppers, onion and mushrooms whenever I make two different casseroles. (Let's be honest, my kids will tolerate veggies, but they far from love them...) So their casserole will have maybe a sprinkling of veggies, but also some meat. Do what you like, add what you feel like. Make it your own and I'm sure your family will scarf it down!

Happy Sunday! :) Enjoy some family time around the table tonight!

Phew! Is it spring yet?!

I know I can't be the only momma thinking that... Right?! Aren't you sick of winter?? I know I am. Here in Ohio it has been a roller coaster ride of weather lately! As per usual in this part of the country! Just two weeks ago we thought spring was here with 50-60 degree days. HA! No way, we're right back down to the 30's this week. In fact,we had an ice storm that closed schools just yesterday. Spring can't get here soon enough! The "first day of spring" is tomorrow... Ehem, it's predicted to be another 30 something day. Upper thirties though! Break out the shorts! (insert eye roll here)...

So you may be wondering where I've been the past few weeks... And well my dears, the answer is simple. I have been cooped up in my house nursing everyone in my family back to health! Last week we were finally back to normal and had a busy weekend out of the house. That was nice, cabin fever had started to sink in! We got hit with that nasty flu bug going around. It all began with the tummy bug and ended with a rotten cold. Ick!

Needless to say, at the end of two weeks with almost all of us being sick, we had tried every remedy under the sun. Home made chicken noodle soup, orange juice, Dayquil and anything else we could try! Of course, we used some old fashioned remedies as well... Anyone heard of Vicks on the feet at bedtime? It sounds crazy, I know! But believe me, when you're sick and your two toddlers are sick at the same time, keeping you up to all hours of the night-- You'll try anything! I remember my Daddy used to swear by putting Vicks on his feet when he had a cold. You put the Vicks on, then some warm socks and go to bed. When you wake up in the morning your stuffy nose will magically disappear! Okay, not disappear, but it will be a bit better. I tried it on the little's and sure enough they were a bit more manageable in the mucous department.

I also discovered Hyland's for kids. Hyland's offers homeopathic remedies full of herbs and all natural ingredients to help soothe the common cold and flu. Toss me an all natural remedy and I'll gladly try it over anything else! Especially for my little's! Anyway, we tried out Hyland's Cold N' Cough 4 Kids and it was a Godsend. I will definitely keep on using it whenever we get colds. We had the faucet noses, icky cough and all around feeling bad. Hyland's made it more manageable, and in my book-- that's a victory.

Best of luck surviving this last (hopefully) cold snap of the season! Hopefully spring will be here before we know it! :)

Hearts, hearts and more hearts!

Well, February is almost here! Which means Valentine's day is right around the corner! Yes, some may say that Valentine's day is just a commercial holiday and there's too much fuss surrounding it... I am not in that group of some. I in fact absolutely love holidays, Valentine's day is no exception!

I typically go big. I live by the theory if you can't go big, go home! So, I began to think all things lovey dovey when it came time to decorate for Valentine's day!

I recently purchased a Cricut machine from Walmart, (Best investment I ever made!) and I took to the cartridges I had, which are the two the Cricut came with, Accent Essentials, Plantain School Book and one I purchased on my own Create a Critter. So I flipped through the handy books included with each cartridge and discovered lots of cute cuts.

All I did was cut out anything cutesy with hearts and love on pink and red paper, (sorry hubby, Valentine's day is not masculine!) Then used some pink ribbon and made paper heart chains. I also put cut outs on our sliding glass door and front window. I felt pretty festive!

Here are a few of my designs!

Hope this inspires you to do your own decorating!

Proof that you don't have to spend a fortune on the store decor! Card stock and cricut, plus ribbon and I'm all set!

Vent alert! Mommy meltdown!

I am a resourceful mama. I use every last drop of everything we buy before buying new. I had the same face scrub for months... It finally ran out, but someone else always needs something- so I put that on the back burner. No big deal, that's what a mom does. Everyone else's needs come first!

Well I finally caved and bought my face scrub- (my pores were thrilled!) and it has now mysteriously disappeared...
My oldest let the toddler take it out of the bag while I was putting things away. It's nowhere to be found... No one wants to help look.

Just wait until someone is missing a Barbie or toy... I will sit my pretty little behind right on this sofa and not move an inch. Grrrrrr...

I feel like this has to stop! Mommy has needs too!

Anyone else feel martyrdom gets old?!

Tutus for all!

My latest crafting binge has taken me to tulle. I've been making tutus for a month straight! Some for the littles, some for Maddie's dance class and my latest, for our Christmas tree!

That's right, our Christmas tree!

It was so easy, and looks pretty cute if I do say so myself!
Best part?
It took all of 25 minutes.

Here's how I did it:

Step 1: take some ribbon, a thin satin ribbon is what I used, and measure the diameter of the bottom of the tree. Cut it to that length. You may want to cut the ribbon a bit longer so you have some left to tie once you place your tutu around the base of the tree.

Step 2: take a tape measure and measure the length you want from the base of the tree. This determines how long your tree tutu will be.

Step 3: cut several pieces of tulle in your selected colors to the length you measured. (There is an easy way of cutting tulle, I use it for wearable tutus but I didn't do it this time). Take some cardboard and cut it to be the desired length of your tutu. You can then wrap the tulle around the cardboard. Secure each end of the cardboard with rubber bands. Then cut each end! This method creates tulle strips of equal length!

Step 4: take your piece of ribbon and begin to tie the tulle onto the ribbon. I just knotted it to the ribbon. The top part of the knot will be super short, the bottom will be the length of the tutu.
Continue tying knots of tulle to the desired fullness of your tree tutu.

When the tutu reaches the look you want, place it around the base of your tree and tie the ends of the ribbon together.

Viola! A tree tutu :)

Is your Elf too exciting for the shelf??

Tis the season to be jolly!

Our Elf on the Shelf, Tinsel, has returned from the North Pole! Our kids were so happy to see him the other morning. Of course, I couldn't wait for the season to start and would've preferred him to arrive on Thanksgiving, but the hubbs insisted that Tinsel take a few extra vacation days...

Anyway, when our good buddy Tinsel returned to us, he left his mark on several of our framed family photos, and a note on our sliding glass door in dry erase marker! He put mustaches on each photo in our living room... Little miss diva found this frustrating... She immediately went over to each photo and wiped off the mustaches! She was tickled to see Tinsel returned, and loved the note. 

This tradition has truly become a favorite in our house and we love Tinsel, but it can be so difficult to come up with new and exciting hiding places for him! If you're like me, you've spent some time on Google and Pinterest finding ideas from super creative Super Mom's and Dad's who have some awesome ideas for their elves! Here are some of my favorites, I hope you'll find them to be helpful! :)

Lil Blue Boo

She Knows Parenting Blog

Thank you Google for these first two...





This last one is Tinsel and his finale antic last year! Definitely our favorite we've done so far!




Happy Elfing!