Something new

Hello. Its been awhile,it usually is as you well know if you are any kind of a regular here.Lets see...Since last time Ive written, our littlest family member had his first anniversary of his birthday, our oldest became a teenager and our only princess reached double digits. We had a nice Thanksgiving and with fall being Birthday season in our family, I definetly have plenty to be thankful for, and I am, very thankful for each of these four unique people that I love so much. I am very proud to say that my little Gabriel since he has turned two just a few short months ago has potty trained,weaned from the bottle and graduated to a big boy bed! This momma sure is proud(of both of us) *chuckle* I have been thinking and have decided to try something new here and see how it goes.You see, I am one awesome organizer,not just when it comes to things but also most areas of family life and am getting better all the time now that it really counts with a big family. So my goal is to start sharing some organization tips here with you. Whether you have 1, 2 or many children, I'm sure these things will help you be better organized. So today here's my first for ya. Do you find your childrens things/ clothes at random places around the house that they don't belong? I know I do and it can be quite an annoyance. Here's a way to pick it up quick but at the same time still hold them accountable to put their things away. What I do is I purchased 4 canvas bins about two feet high, a different color for each child or you can label their name on whatever container you choose. In our house I set the bins in the foyer next to the staircase.Currently we have 3 bins, one for each of the 2 older children and 1 for our stuff and the little ones. When I find random things ie socks,books, electronics etc, I toss it in their bin and each child knows to grab their bin on their way upstairs to their room's, put the stuff in its correct place and return the bin to the foyer.(We do the little ones with our stuff but are teaching them how to do it as well, they like it!) This has worked well. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Really nice day

Today was a really nice day. It began with a picnic with my mother at a great park with a splash pad.I really like the fact that they are free and just perfect for the little ones. Olivia still enjoys them too. Rome not so much, but hes a good sport about it. The weather was beautiful and the kids really enjoyed themselves. Last night the two older children and I visited Romes new school and I cant tell you how excited I am for him to go there. The school is in the same community as the amazing elementary he attended and has an outstanding record for top test scores, the best sports programs and great parent involvement among many other things. A rare thing Rome and I got to do this afternoon was go shopping together, just him and I. I let him splurge and get lots of good stuff for school and he was very happy and thankful.I was glad I did and glad we got a few hours together just us, to talk,joke around, shop and eat together, where I was able to give him my undivided attention...it was nice. I cant believe on Tuesday my oldest child is starting Jr high and a month and a day after he'll be an official teenager. Seems like just yesterday I brought him home from the hospital, a teenager myself without a clue. And now almost 13 years later I'm proud of the young man he is. Kind, strong, confident and still mama's boy (shh) Good Luck on your first day buddy, your going places and you'll do great

First Little Chomper

I have been wondering when Gabriel's first tooth was going to emerge. I figured it would have to be soon since he is a little over 10 months now and his upper gums have been super swollen. I have been checking with my finger for the last few days because I didn't want to miss the exact day of the big event! Well this evening was the time, I checked earlier and it hadn't but when I checked after dinner, there it was, a brand new little tooth, of course only the sharp little bottom of it but it had finally popped through. More exciting for me than him! I am glad that we are now on our way to more teeth because Gabriel wants to eat everything we do and its been a bit hard without teeth. Such a happy moment of development.

Today the children and I went to Minnehaha Park and rode on a bike cart, something Romeo has wanted to do for a long time. It was really fun even though it was a bit hot for it, we still had a good time. It was a little harder than it looked. My swollen feet are paying for it tonight, but my body definitely needed the workout.

HOT HOT Summer-Finally!

The weather here has been hot and humid lately, I do not mind at all! It seemed that we would never get a summer this year and now here it is full strength, it has been in the upper 90's with a heat index of 105-115! We finally upgraded our little plastic baby pool to a more appropriate size for an 11 and 8 year old. They love it so much and have been taking full advantage of the weather to use it.

Little Gabriel will be 10 months this Thursday, cant believe it! I enjoy everyday watching him grow and learn new things. He is now crawling at full speed, pulling up to standing and his newest milestone is standing without holding on to anything. I am quite sure he will walk before his first birthday. He is such a strong willed little boy and wants to do everything for himself. He has let us know lately that baby food and being fed by us just isn't going to happen anymore, so our biggest challenge has been finding good things he can feed himself that are soft enough ( since he has yet to get any teeth) but easy enough for him to pick up. Its been a bit hard.

I planted a few different vegetables and herbs this year and they are doing very well considering they are in big pots. My first few tomatoes are turning red and I cant wait to make pico de gallo salsa and eat warm tomatoes fresh off the plant, my absolute favorite! My mint plant is huge so I am going to have to make fresh spring rolls and start drying some for winter. I love summer and am not going to complain about the heat, after all before we know it , there will be snow on the ground once again and we will be longing for these dog days of summer.

First Day of School

Today is the children's first day back at school. I decided this year we would change our morning routine and get up a bit earlier so that we would be in less of a rush and so that I would have more time to get things done that I need to do. I can't sleep anyway lately so I got up at 7:00, woke the children and while they were doing their morning routine, I started dinner in the crockpot. I decided last night that I would make beef stew for dinner tonight so I cut everything up last night so all I had to do was put it all in the crockpot this morning and by 5:00 tonight it should be done. I realize that I am going to need to do easy meals like this more often especially when baby comes because it helps me out a lot. I have a book of slow cooker recipes and it has some amazing meals in it that are pretty simple and taste great. It is the Pillsbury Slow Cooker recipes, I recommend it and you could probably check it out from your local Library.

Here is the recipe for the Beef stew:

FAMILY FAVORITE BEEF STEW

1 1/2 pds beef stew meat, cut into 3/4inch cubes ( I just buy the beef stew meat that is already cut)

5 tbsp all purpose flour

1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp oil

1lb small red potatoes, quartered ( I use regular white potatoes)

1 1/2 cups frozen pearl onions ( I just quarter a big yellow onion)

1 12oz can/jar beef gravy

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/4 cup cold water

On wax paper sprinkle your beef with 2tbsp of the flour, salt and pepper, toss to coat. Heat oil in large skillet until hot then add coated beef, cook until browned.

In slow cooker layer potatoes, onions, and carrots. Add browned beef. Top with the gravy and tomatoes.

Cover, cook on low 8-10 hours. ( I notice sometimes at the 8 hour mark that the beef is still not tender enough so at about 8 hours I turn it to high for about an hour or so and that really tenders it up, You may need to experiment)

About 10 minutes before serving blend water and 3 tbsp flour until smooth. Stir into stew. Increase heat setting to high; cover and cook an additional 10 min or until thickened.

So after we had all of our morning tasks done we made our way to school and of course Romeo the

now 5th grader didn't want me to walk him to his classroom (which I completely understand), so we wished him a great day and Olivia and I walked to her classroom. All Olivia's friends from last year were there in the second grade hallway checking out their new lockers, so excited for the new school year and to see each other. She went in and sat down at her new desk that she has been so excited about and we said goodbye. 

As I made my way to the car I wasn't sad at all but happy that the kids have this wonderful school to go to and friends that they enjoy seeing. I feel blessed that we live in the country we do and that they are getting an education that people from other countries only dream of, I mean I am sure my husbands parents would have given anything for an education like this that so many of us take for granted. So today I am very thankful for that, for the opportunities we have here and for the excitement of all the kids on their first day of school ( and I can't lie I am thankful for some time to myself too!)