MIA

Friday, May 29, 2015



Haven't really felt much like blogging lately but I do want to share a few pictures from the past couple of months, so here goes:

Yes, this is way back at Easter...dyeing Easter eggs

having fun outside

End of the year AWANA celebration

Mother's Day sass
Last day of preschool (5/29/15) for Lily. She does have one more year of pre-k, thanks to a very late birthday but for now, she's on summer break. Note the embarrassed look on her face.

Katie is still in school and only has off July due to her being at a year-round school but we're looking forward to swimming at the pools (neighborhood and the Y) and a beach trip later this summer. I'm going to be very busy trying to fill up the days trying to keep Lily busy...playdates, anyone??


Master Bathroom Renovation

Sunday, April 12, 2015

We have finally finished the master bath renovation...I'm so relieved it's over and we can enjoy a proper bathroom now. I guess I should post some of the before shots to give you an idea of what we were dealing with...


crazy-tall "bathtub" that was only good for storing random things


I could add more photos, but you get the idea. So here are a few after shots (sorry, I'm no photographer obviously)...As you can see, we didn't change the footprint of the bathroom but we did gut it.




We chose to go with medicine cabinets for more storage since our space is limited and we're really happy that we did. 


We did away with the regular door that divided the spaces and added a pocket door






So glad Rob suggested adding in the transom window because it gives us some more much-needed natural light


I've ordered a bamboo shade for the window above the toilet and I still need to figure out something to put on that blank wall, but for the most part, this reno is done!!



Due to the shower door swinging out, we had to choose wall hooks for our towels instead of a towel bar, but so far I don't miss the towel bar


Phew, so glad we're done!

Easter

Tuesday, March 31, 2015


I'm going to be taking a break from the blog for a bit. I want to savor this week leading up to Easter and spend more time with my family (Katie is tracked out for 3 weeks).  I hope you all can take some time to really think about just how special and awesome Easter is. He is risen!

Easy Paleo Pumpkin Bread

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

I've had this recipe for awhile and have adapted it several different ways and each time I make it it's great. I try so hard not to eat many sweets due to my history of gestational diabetes and my blood sugar issues but sometimes I just want something yummy! The girls love this recipe as well and I can give them this without feeling badly about any of the ingredients. The recipe was originally for making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and I still do that when the mood strikes but when I don't feel like cookies I make this bread. One of the main ingredients is almond butter, my new BFF. I use it daily when I eat my beloved sweet potatoes, but that's another post.




The ingredient list below has been doubled to make the bread (half it if you just want some cookies).

Ingredients:
1 cup almond butter
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup maple syrup or honey ( I used coconut sugar in the above rendition) all work well
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda (which I forgot above, but still turned out well)
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix-ins of your choice: I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Baking Chips but you can use whatever you want and I never measure.
Little bit of coconut flour IF you want a firmer dough. I found that when making cookies especially, I needed to add about 1 tsp or so of coconut flour to firm them up or they were super runny. I added some to the bread above but may not have needed to


Directions:
Pre-heat to 350
Mix the eggs then combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Drop by the tablespoon on a greased cookie sheet for cookies or into a pan (as above) for bread.

For cookies, bake about 12-15 minutes. For the bread, I baked about 30 minutes, but the middle was still not done so I baked it for about 10 more minutes.

See, so easy!!




I went a little crazy and topped mine with a bit of Kerrygold butter...so good if you can tolerate a small amount of dairy!



Friday Favorites

Friday, March 20, 2015

Happy Friday! We had some nice weather this week and I'm so thankful it's now officially springtime. Our bathroom remodel is still going on but I'm hoping that we get it all wrapped up by this time next week.

Linking up with AndreaErika, and Narci for Friday Favorites.


First, I had to take some pictures of my two little leprechauns on Tuesday. Both girls came home from school with hats they'd made. I love that holidays are a big deal at this age.




I don't buy a lot of earrings, maybe I'm just too lazy to change them out, but I saw these featured on this blog and loved them. Most of the earrings I do wear are small and I thought these would be perfect. I just got them and haven't even worn them yet, but I really like them and I think they'll hold up well.


My mother-in-law got the girls these plates a few years back and I love them. Anything to get them to eat their veggies!


This next thing is not necessarily a "favorite" but it was a wake-up call to me and for that, I'm thankful. My oldest had a rough day this past week...long story short, it became clear that she has been having anxiety/panic attacks. If you're interested, I blogged about it here. If any of you have an experience with this or any strategies you can recommend, please share!


I'm so ready for this weekend. My husband and I are actually getting a babysitter and going out--we still haven't celebrated Valentine's Day yet!

Anxiety

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

A blog post on stress and anxiety isn't something I ever thought of writing but honestly, it was pushed into my face this morning (more on that later). It's not that I mind sharing some really personal things, but I created the blog mostly as a way to document the changes we've made to our home. So far, blogging has been fun and provided me with a little creative outlet. But this is real life, so why not share and maybe we can all encourage one another. Be warned, though, this is a long post.



I have one or two friends that have this magical quality of not appearing to be anxious or stressed out about life. They go with the flow, roll with the punches and almost always have a smile on their faces. I want that! I view them as I would a unicorn. Are they for real? How is this possible and how can I  get some of that?? I can't remember a time in my life when I haven't been stressed out or anxious about something. How sad! I admit I am a recovering perfectionist.  My type-A ness has gotten better now that I'm out of school although, if I'm truly honest, it's probably just seeped into the nooks and crannies of being a stay-at-home mom.
My mother can testify to the fact that I was typically an anxious, overly serious child who stressed about picking the "right" lunchbox before the start of a new school year and cried every Sunday night about going back to school on Monday morning. Hearing this makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time and I wish I could tell 5-year-old me that it's so NOT that big of a deal.

 Fast forward to 40-year-old Brooke stressing about bathroom tile and lighting choices. Or whether a traditional calendar school year is better for my children than a year-round option. Heck, just driving in the Whole Foods parking lot at lunchtime looking for a parking space is nerve-wracking for me. Freedom and choices are a wonderful thing, but for someone that second-guesses everything it can be exhausting. Oh, and attempting to grocery shop with young children? Get behind me, Satan!


As a Christian, I've struggled for years with "taking every thought captive." There's no quick fix in controlling or conquering anxiety, that I know of. Rather, it seems to be a journey and a process through life's ups and downs. What I do know is that no matter who you are, bad times, stressful times, change, and weird health situations will happen. We are not guaranteed  smooth sailing through this life. I've probably grown the most in my faith and my relationship with Jesus just in the past 10 years which coincides with getting married and starting a family. My husband and my children are without a doubt the biggest blessings in my life but have also caused me the most stress and anxiety I've ever experienced. We've been through career changes, miscarriage, illness/health, and colic just to name a few. And parenting two girls? Where do I even begin? So.many.things.to.stress.about.
Or maybe I should say so many things to potentially stress about. I'm self-aware enough now to realize that living in a state of worry and anxiety is a sin and something I need to be on top of. I think that going through bad times in life has been a blessing in the sense that I needed to be reminded that I cannot control and be the architect of all the details in my life or the lives of my husband and my children. This is where spending time in God's word has been the biggest comfort to me. The Gospel always points us to Christ and not to our own ability to do anything.  Just this fact has been life-changing for me. 2 Corinthians 12: 8-10 has become one of my favorite passages to cling to in times of trial when I feel the most stressed and out of control in life.

source

How did I get so far off track? Anyway, the point is that this morning, my 7-year-old had a major meltdown before school. I sent her to her room and told her she needed to get it together but she just kept crying and being "dramatic." Typical, really for us these days. She kept escalating to the point that I just pulled her down on the floor with me and told her to talk to me. I asked her if there was anything I could pray about with her. Through her tears, she told me that she had been afraid to tell me something. She described what are essentially panic/anxiety attacks and that she has a hard time breathing. (We ruled out that it was a medical issue). She told me that this happens to her at school sometimes when they have lockdown drills or even if they simply close all the doors. She also told me she was worried that a burglar was going to break into our house or that we'd have a fire. At this point, I was trying not to cry as I realized how much fear and anxiety she must carry around. We had a long conversation about how those are things that we cannot control and that God is sovereign and that we trust Him.

This has been a wake-up call for me. I had no idea she really worried about anything. I mean most of the time, she's happy and silly and asking to play video games after school. But, the world creeps in, even when you're 7. I immediately started asking myself where I failed her, where I went wrong. I need to be stronger, better, more organized, less stressed, etc. But then it hit me...she needs to see that I worry and that I get stressed. But she needs to see me take my worry and fear to Jesus and to leave it there with Him. Parenting is hard. I don't have any of it figured out.

What about you all? Have you experienced this with your kids? How do you handle it?

Life Lately

Monday, March 16, 2015

Not a lot going on here lately that's truly blog-worthy.  We stalled on the bathroom last week as our contractors were waiting on other things to be completed (granite, shower door, electrician). Finally today our electricians were here most of the day to put in new outlets (there was a pipe in the wall right where we wanted to put an outlet) so they had to come up with something else.  It's been a bit stressful and the 4 of us are still sharing one bathroom which is not ideal to say the least. All of this makes me wonder how those of you who've lived through a really big renovation or even had a house built did it.

No bathroom pictures to share, but here a few random ones:

My partner in crime as I run errands on the days she doesn't have school. I've been overindulging in my coffee lately and I had to bribe Lily with a cakepop. We had to psyche ourselves up to go to Wal-Mart so it was totally warranted!!


Currently the only vegetable I can get Lily to eat--Katie is better, but I always keep broccoli on hand for dinner for Lily. These plates help put them in a "good" dinner mood. Oh the games we have to play.


So when you are eating paleo and also trying to limit your sugar (why, oh why must I be prone to diabetes??) you tend to get creative with your food and especially your treats. I know this may sound weird, but it has become my new snack/dessert....sweet potatoes mixed with almond butter and cinnamon. I bake tons of sweet potatoes each week and then keep them in the fridge for when I want my "dessert". I mix some almond butter and cinnamon and warm it all up. Sounds weird, but it's really good. I've even gotten Lily hooked on it.


That's pretty much all I've got...ha ha. Just thankful that spring is just about here and our days are longer now! Bring on the warmer temps and sunny days.
 
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