Friends Visit

Last weekend we soaked up the company of some of our closest friends. We had Rachel, Victor and their five sweet kiddos stay with us for a few days. We enjoyed catching up with them and the kids had a blast playing together. We sure miss them.

It was so wet the weekend they came up, that baseball was canceled, so we loaded up the vehicles and headed to the mall.

Legos were the center of most of the play time. The boys {and Ally} love creating scenes with their legos.

I share so much of my life with Rachel. She is great sounding board and listener. What a blessing she is.

Here are all of the kiddos lined up before they headed back home. Looking forward to seeing them again when we go back to visit. And the next time I visit, she will have had her baby boy, Archer. Very exciting!!

Maebry Eats

For a few weeks now, we have been in full swing at the dinner table with Maebry. She has loved everything I have given her: apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, avocadoes, carrots, and green peas.

Our blender bit the dust once we moved up here, and we just have not replaced it yet. I've looked at a few of the really nice ones like a Vitamix, but I'm not ready to commit that type of money to something I don't use regularly. I will say that I missed it for making mayo, but came across a recipe for mayo and ranch using an immersion blender. It is a hand-held blender you put in a cup to blend. Amazon Prime to the rescue!

Not only has it came in handy for mayo and ranch, but I've started pureeing baby food with it and it works great. If I make a big batch then I will pour the food into ice trays and freeze them. Then when I need them I will set them out ahead of time and let them thaw. You can also put them on defrost in the microwave, if needed. I have really enjoyed making the kids' first foods.

General George Washington

We just finished our unit about George Washington about a week ago. The kids really enjoy our history portion of our lesson. I think Jase wishes he was a Pioneer or could have joined Lewis and Clark on their expeditions. For art time, Ally's curriculum suggested making three-cornered hats like George Washington wore.

Next, we added some hair!! The kids got a kick out of that!

The kids want to be just like big brother Jase. They copy just about everything he does. Finn's little salute is just the cutest. They are all growing up so fast.

Shopping with Ally

Most of the time when I go grocery shopping, I like to go solo. It is a time for me to take a quick break and have some alone time. The last few times I've been to the store, Ally has wanted to join me. Sometimes she can get pretty restless while out and about, but if I keep her involved in the shopping, she usually does ok.

Last week we went to Aldi and Kroger for some groceries. I hadn't been to Aldi in a while and thought I would pop in to see what all I could get on my list there. Even though the store is small I was able to get quite a bit. And now since I have been buying dairy-free items {and cutting back on gluten}, they had a really good selection. A lot of their gluten-free items are also dairy free.

The three boxes of snack bars in the top right-hand corner were a huge hit for the kids. Dairy-free and gluten-free. The kids would have them for snack; all three flavors were good. I also bought some banana muffins and cinnamon streusel muffins. These were pretty tasty; the kids loved them. Each box made 12 muffins. I will say they were a little more work than your Martha White muffins where you add water or milk and stir. It calls for butter {I used dairy-free}, water and eggs, and you have to use your mixer to beat them. We will definitely be buying them again. We bought the cake mix as well and will be trying them this weekend. One more thing that was a huge hit are the LiveGFree frozen chicken nuggets. Again, no gluten or dairy. And all of the prices were very reasonable in my opinion. Aldi will definitely be a routine place for us.

 

Allyson was the keeper of the list. She was working on her reading and check mark skills.

After Aldi, we headed across the street to Kroger for a few things on our list. This is our big Marketplace that carries everything under the sun. They even have little kid shopping carts. The picture is blurry, but she was in heaven!! She felt so big!

Here is some footage of her pushing the cart!

Star Wars Rebels Birthday Party

With the baseball and football frenzy we had going on this past month, we decided to wait a few weeks on Jase's birthday party. We were back and forth on having his party at home, at a park or indoors at a game place like Main Event. Jase ended up winning and we had the party at home.

I was able to use some of the recent pictures from Disney World for his invitation, which worked out perfect. He decided he wanted a Star Wars Rebels party, which is a new show on Disney XD about a group of Rebels rising up and fighting against the Empire, who is trying to take control and gain all power. If I'm being honest, we all like the show here at this house; it has a good story line and keeps you guessing on what is going to happen next. The show is set between Episodes III and IV, where Darth Vader is on the scene and Jedis are scarce. Ok, I'll stop on the show background...is it scary that I know this much about it?!?

 

One of the first things we normally do when planning a party is discuss food and activities. Jase and I looked at Pinterest and Google many times together to gather ideas. It is safe to say that all of the kids are into party planning at this point. Both Finn and Ally have been planning their next party for the past month. I may have created party monsters!

 

With Jase's recent food allergy discovery, I had to keep that in mind when planning for the party. Shawn and I decided for these next 2 months we would cut dairy out completely and cut back on gluten. This way we are only changing one thing in his diet and would hopefully be able to pinpoint if dairy is solely causing the issue or both dairy and gluten. Based on the test results, dairy is definitely an issue and there seems to be some sensitivity to gluten as well. Also, I was allergic to milk until I was 2 years old and my mom was allergic when she was a baby as well, so it is very likely that dairy is probable.

 

Back to food. I wanted food that was going to be easy for us. Brisket came to mind since we could cook it ahead of time and our guests could make chopped beef sandwiches. We decided to try pulled pork instead of brisket. I have been on a crockpot kick lately, so I bought a pork roast and added Stubbs All Natural BBQ sauce and cooked it in the crockpot last month for a test run. It really turned out great. I also made some Country Style Pork Ribs {in another crockpot} per Jase's request and they turned out so tender and tasty. So, for the party we decided on pulled pork, pork ribs and link beef sausage. We cooked all the pork items the day before in crockpots and that really helped out on preparation.

For those of you who are interested, here is our list of food and it's corresponding Star Wars Rebels name.

Boba's Buns - Slider Buns

Ezra Bridger's BBQ - Pulled Pork, Country Style Pork Ribs, Sausage

Chopper's Chips - Chips

Blaster BBQ Sauce - Stubb's BBQ Sauce

Yodamole - Guacamole

Inquisitor Ice - Sonic Ice

Warrior Water - Water

Sabine's Sweet Tea - Sweet Tea

Vaderade - Gatorade

Princess Leia Buns - Mini Cinnamon Rolls

Sweet and Salty Sabers - Dairy-free Dipped Pretzel Rods (homemade icing dip)

Agent Kallus Cupcakes - Gluten-free and Dairy-free Cupcakes (homemade)

Vader's Veggie Tray - Broccoli, Carrots, Cucumbers and Black Olives

Zeb's Zesty Ranch Dip - Dairy-free Ranch (homemade)

Tie Pilot Pickles - Pickle Spears (hint: buy a huge jar and slice them yourself)

Wookie Watermelon - Watermelon

Kanan's Cantaloupe - Cantaloupe

Ghostly Grapes - Green Grapes (the Ghost is the Rebels' ship)

Alderaan Apples - Apple Slices

Stormtrooper Strawberries - Strawberries

These ladies were a huge help (as always) prepping food for the party.

While the food was fun, the activities were definitely a hit with the kids. Once most of the guests arrived, we told them that the Empire was taking over and we needed people to "Join the Rebellion". We started off the party with a Rebellion Relay Race: The Clones Vs. The Droids.

Next, the kids could split up and go to stations at their leisure: Concentration Practice, Blaster Training Camp and Light Saber Duels.

We took a little bit of a break and let the kids eat, then we regrouped for the Blaster Face-Off. We made PVC blowgun blasters for each child to use (and take home). They are very simple to make and last forever. We purchased Half Inch Schedule 80 PVC Pipe, cut them into 12" segments and covered them in duct tape to give them some color. The Nerf suction darts fit perfectly in these blasters.

After a few rounds, we mixed it up and had an Adults Vs. Kids Blaster Face-Off and everyone enjoyed it!

We headed inside for a little cake time. I had ordered his cake before we knew of any allergy issues, so I went ahead and kept the order. We made cupcakes and icing that were gluten and dairy-free. We weren't so sure how the icing was going to turn out (or if it would kill my hand mixer), but it turned out great and was super tasty. We used a variation of this icing.

About half way through the party, our Miss Maebry decided to wake up!! She laid down about an hour before the party and took a good nap. The plan was for us to all wear Star Wars shirts. Shawn, Allyson, Finn and myself were all in dress code. Jase was apparently going for a sporty look. Ha! And my plan to change Maebry got thrown off since she feel asleep; I thought for sure she would wake up before the party started. I had even cut out the Rebel Alliance symbol and sewed it on a onesie. It was cute and took me quite a while. Oh well, she was still cute.

After the scheduled party activities ended, the fun did not stop. It was Sports Central in the backyard from football to kickball to baseball.

While the boys were outdoors, the girls were living it up in Ally's room!

Allyson and Gigi have become quite the besties lately. Gigi's brother is on Jase's baseball team, so they are able to spend some good time together at the games. Gigi is a few months older, but they are both in Kindergarten. They play so well together.

Jase had a blast at the party and really enjoyed playing with his friends.

What support our Home Group showed for Jase at his party. We feel so blessed to have so many new friends.

As the Rebels left the party, we gave them a Bubble Light Saber to go home with. I bought bubble wands from Walmart, taped around the handles, spray painted the handles black and added tags from labels I created.

It was a great afternoon with friends and family. Happy 8th Birthday, Jase!

Mae is 6 months

6 months...that is half a year, people!! Totally feeling that "in the blink of an eye" saying right about now. My oldest is now 8 years old and my 4th child, I repeat 4th child is 6 months old. Let's be honest, it is surreal sometimes when I stop and think that I am a mom of 4 precious kiddos.

Our sweet Maebry Leigh is a little mover and a shaker. This past month she has learned to sit up on her own and crawl. She is a couple of months ahead of my other kiddos on crawling. I so was not expecting her to start this early, but I guess she has to keep up with the older three. And she has mastered the "crocodile roll" as we call it when trying to change her diaper. She will completely flip on her stomach in a second. And she has found her voice! It is funny, you'll be sitting in the room with her and all of a sudden she'll scream and talk to us. It cracks us up! I remember when Jase started doing that. Shawn and I were eating at Casa Ole {an old fav} and Jase started screaming so loud. It felt like everyone was staring at us. No matter what we did, feed him, give him his pacifier, he kept on. It was everything we could do to get out of there as fast as we could! #firsttimeparents

She is really such a content baby. Now she still has some car seat fits, but seems to be doing better, especially since we took out the infant inserts; she has more room. She starts off in her bed at night and then will usually wake up 4-5 hours into the night and she will join us in our bed. I am still nursing, so I will usually feed her while laying down. Win-win!

Her brothers and sister still think she is the sweetest thing and want to hold her often.

Maebry is just like Allyson in that she is definitely a Mama's girl. For the first year of Ally's life, Shawn could barely hold her...she wanted Mama. When Shawn holds Mae, her head is on a swivel trying to find me! Haha! Look at these kids below...they are a beautiful mess! At one point I thought they were going to put Mae in a headlock!

And here is some video footage of Maebry crawling and sitting up this afternoon.

Here is Maebry one morning last week at the breakfast table with me. She was showing her voice off a bit. She cracks me up!

And one of Mae playing in the living room. You'll notice at the end that she sticks her tongue out! Within the past couple of weeks she has found her tongue and will occasionally stick it out. Too cute!