Breakfast Favorites

Sitting here just thinking about everyone's favorite breakfast. Like my oldest, Denyce she loves my home style potatoes and a side of scrambled eggs with chorizo! Then there's Briana who is all about the oven fresh biscuits with strawberry jelly and a side of homestyle potatoes and scrambled eggs. Elijah loves his animal waffles that I prepare for him at home with a little bit of syrup. He doesn't know it but I always add honey, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and milk.Last but not least is my baby boy Ian who loves loves loves oatmeal! ❤ That boy can eat three bowls if I let him.

Endless Laundry

One thing I pride myself in may seem nerdy or small but its my laundry turn around time. If it's dirty-chances are you'll get it back clean within less than 12 hours. I love the feeling that I get when I lean in to see my laundry basket completely empty!! Yessss Victory! 😂 I never thought as a teen this would bring so much joy #parenting. One routine that works for me is after bath time I gather all the days dirty colored clothes and put the in the washer. When everyone is done with their showers/baths, I start washing. By the time all kids are in pjs, teeth have been brushed, stories have been read, hair has been detangled and braided- its time to load the clothes into the dryer. I normally was whites every other day, towels every few days but colors every.single.day #bigfamilyproblems

Back to School 2015-2016

This year my oldest baby girl went into 8th grade,  my youngest princess went into 1st grade, my oldest son started prek and my toddler stared preschool. Leaving only Aaron at home with momma bear.

Can I just say how much I love uniforms? Briana is the only one that wears them and it makes my morning routine so much easier. This year I started buying her uniforms close to the end of the school year at Kohls. I was able to get 5 pieces for $7 bucks! Next I shopped for kids shoes and backpacks which I was able to score some amazing deals too. By the time July rolled around I already have school supplies, shoes, backpacks and uniforms out of the way. The only one that needed attention to detail was my oldest Denyce. She wanted to pick out her own kicks and backpack.

Now that the kids are getting a little older, Briana is using her alarm to wake up and I leave her uniform out the previous night making it easier for her to change by herself in the mornings. Same thing goes for my Eli, I normally put his clothes in front of him and he does the rest while I prepare lunch for Ian. This year I hit up 4 different schools during my commute. Luckily I share carpool duties with some friends which means one less school to worry about. One thing I have noticed is the first day I am filled with excitement and worry. Worry in the aspect of having to drop them off and pick them up on time to four different schools within a similar time frame. But usually by the second day I find my stride. I figure what time is best to leave my house, where to park, and that sort of thing. Making me filled with inner peace knowing they'll all make it with plenty of time, they had breakfast and their backpacks have everything they need.

Lately my Nyce has been opting for a breakfast smoothie. Her favorite is banana peanut butter chocolate milkshake that I've been making for her since she was 3. I also sneak in a little bit of raw honey, a dash of cinnamon, 2 whole bananas, almond milk, a dollop of peanut butter and a teaspoon of cocoa powder.

Even with all the night planning, it can still get a little crazy. Even still I love having the privilege in taking and picking up my little monkeys to and from school. ❤

Summer Tuesday's

Summer Tuesdays are the BEST around here! During the summer we've been catching the evening kid's movies at our local Cinemark which on Tuesdays is only a buck! Yay! Our normal routine is taking the kids a bath so that way when we get home we can simply put their pj's on and brush teeth. I normally sneak treats in my giant mommy purse lol, I mean don't all savy moms? The kids look forward to Tuesdays when "daddy gets home from work." And the cool thing is after a fun, relaxing movie, we stop afterwards at our local sonic for 1/2 off milkshakes and 1/2 off burgers on Tuesdays! It all comes out to under $19 for big burgers + milkshakes + movies for a family of 7.  Best of all, I get to hear from Briana and Elijah, "BEST DAY EVERRRR!!" Who says you have to spend a fortune to have fun family outings? Not this mom ;)

LifeGroup

We have been part of a life group for about a year now. We meet once a week in the evening and all six families bring food to share and enjoy with each other. The kids all get along. The two babies of the bunch are so sweet to each other and the older ones were screaming "group hug!" in this picture  We volunteer together, expand on the Sunday's service, go out together and simply live transparently. I truly thank God for these new fostered relationships.

Elijah's 4th Birthday!!

A little out of order but want to catch up to our family blog. And I really need to post so I don't end up forgetting any details.

This weekend we celebrated two special birthdays: Eli who turned 4 on 6/29 and J's who turned 36 on 7/5. Since they are only 6 days apart, I wanted to celebrate all together! We had a Cars piñata, cake, kid approved food, presents, and goody bags. Elijah could NOT stop talking about his birthday party for days! He was so excited looking forward to it. He'd constantly ask me if he was going to have a cake, cupcakes, balloons, and presents? Lol When daddy got home with the balloons, he lost it!! In a 4 year olds mind it was now party time!

Definitely not easy cleaning the home, setting up party decor, grocery shopping, prepping food and drinks, picking up cake and balloons with 5 little monkeys! But we did it again. I ask myself during the rush, "is it worth it?" But when I see my kid's excitement filled little faces as they blow out the candles or brace themselves to open their presents or get ready to take the first swing at their piñata. . . I think, yeah it was worth every minute! Something about celebrating all my kid's birthdays here at home makes it special. One day they'll look at their home as a safe loving place with so many memories. Here are some of my favorite moments:

Navidad 2014

http://flipagram.com/f/O7NvVCgI1F

CHRISTmas 2014

http://flipagram.com/f/Ojh6JT8LxA

Gender Reveal...The Thanksgiving Edition

 I have to start off by saying the Good Lord decided to bless us once again with one of his angels for Jared and I to raise. I can't tell you how humbling that is first off. From all the parents in the world he choose us two....I sometimes question my abilities as a parent to be able to care for one more being but am reminded that God never makes mistakes and this was HIS plan all along. At the end I am HIS and I just want to do HIS will. Yes we are excited but also nervous...I mean we already have a 2 year old, 3 1/2 year old, 5 year old AND a teen!! I know our loving creator never gives us more than what we can't handle. I am in awe of his continuous blessings over our lives- sometimes it feels like we don't deserve so much grace but yet HE pours it over us....No words....

Trunk-Or-Treat 2014

Moving right along from Denyce's Birthday to Halloween. This year was our first Trunk-Or-Treat at church. I personally loved it and hope our church will continue this tradition. I felt so much safer to let the kids roam around in our church's parking lot verses worrying about them if we were out in the streets. There were some many creative cars with different themes passing out candy and prizes. We got to see so many awesome costumes too! And Denyce got to hang out with her friends from church. 

We weren't sure at first what we wanted to be for Halloween but Denyce was set on using her giraffe one piece she had previously ordered online. I tried to convince her for another costume but her mind was set. So I thought, okay how about all the kids go as little animals too. I was lucky enough to find a cute pink bunny for Bri, a silly monkey costume for my youngest and a handsome dino for Eli. The best part was the material-super soft and extra warm. All the costumes came with hoodies which was perfect and a chilly, windy night. I decided to paint my face and of course Jared wanted to wear his Jason mask (think I'm going to throw that ugly thing away...shhh) 

After the kids filled their buckets, we laid on the lawn and watched a movie outside on the projector. And had snacks the church provided. All in all, we all enjoyed ourselves.  :)

13 Candles

    My beauty finally turned 13 this October! She's been looking forward to this day since her 12th birthday lol.
    This past Spring Break, I thought it would be fun to have a "stay-a-cation" somewhere locally. In the past we've gone to San Antonio but this year with a 1,3,5, and a tween- we decided to stay at our neighborhood Hyatt. Shortly after I booked our room I ask Denyce how she would like to celebrate her 13th at the Hyatt with all her friends in a girl's spa sleepover? She was delighted and was looking forward to her birthday even more!!
    For her birthday, we invited 5 girls + the birthday girl + little sister + the cool chaperon (that be me ) of course ;) We arrived an hour early and put up all our clothes and started setting up for the party.We waited for the girls to arrive at the hotel and greeted all the concerned mothers. The moms all asked how I would be able to handle all these crazy girls with no help and pregnant. I just laughed and said, no problem, if I can handle my bunch at home- this is a piece of cake. The girls then got ready for a swim. They all goofed around and dared each other to jump first since the water was starting to get kind of cold. As they were having a good time, I ordered us some pizza from Domino's. Figured everyone would be hungry after a swim. We then pigged out and later lit up her birthday cake and sung to her. Then the mom in me kicked in and told them to take showers one by one so they wouldn't get sick because of the swim. Don't need anyone sick under my account. During that time I set up our mini spa. I had different compartments for nail polish, face and hair. I made sure to bring tons of nail polish, polish remover, cotton balls, nail filers, clippers, etc. I also brought a lot of makeup and lotion and for the hair we brought a straighter, wand, crimper and blow dryer. The girls later got dressed in their pj's and started working on their makeovers. After we opened presents, her bf Jordyn sewed her some pj pants. She got a lot of goofy gifts especially gift cards. Just when I thought the night was done and we would all settle down for some zzz's. The girls thought it would be fun to run around the hotel playing elevator tag. Not exactly sure what were the rules even though they explained it to me. Supposedly, they would team up into two groups and each group was to start at different floors. The object of the game was to find the other team first. I seriously thought we were going to get kicked out. I kept reminding them that people are asleep and that they had to be quiet. So basically there went my idea of a good night's rest. I couldn't sleep until all the girls made it back to the room. They would get back to the room every 7 mins or so and would start laughing hysterically. Finally they got tired and went downstairs for some Starbucks. I went downstairs to check on them and snap a quick pic. Luckily they followed me back to the room to get some sleep. The next day we had a giant all you can eat breakfast and the girls gathered all their stuff. We stayed until each girl got picked up one by one. I really don't know who had more fun: birthday girl or birthday girl's little sister lol. I really enjoyed myself as well because there was no major clean up, didn't have to prepare dinner nor breakfast and the price! Only paid $55 including taxes for everyone's stay plus meal  :) #HappyTeen #HappyMom ;)

The invitation I made for my princess.

I initially wanted pink and gold theme but of course she wanted to incorporate her all time favorite turquoise color.  That's okay, that's why God gave me my youngest princess- so I can force my will onto her lol 

Made my baby girl her two layered cake to match and sprinkled it with edible gold glitter. 

And last but not least, a collage of her birthday week unfolding. Basically shopping, starbucks, favorite dinner,  and a balloon surprise! Love her! <3