Weekly Happenings - October 10th

1.  Hayden started his fall break this morning.  I love having all my babies at home.  Unfortunately 3 of the kids have gross colds.  I'm planning on making some chocolate chip cookies today and that is guaranteed to help them feel better ;)

2.  We made our annual trip to the west side fall fest yesterday.  I had been looking forward to a monster ear for months and it didn't disappoint!  I even thought about licking the gooey paper.... had I not been in public, I probably would have!

3.  Hayden has finished the second week of popcorn sales.  He's 62% to his sales goal.... He needs to sell about $1500 more.  My latest thought was trying to find a business or two with a total of 150 employees, and get them to buy a $10 bag of popcorn for the employees for Christmas.  Our door-to-door strategy worked great the first 10 days, but now most people have bought and we aren't having much luck.  I'm open to suggestions!  

4.  We pet sat Kevin's parents squirrel.  They found it when it was 2-3 weeks old and it's eyes weren't open.  He's 5-6 weeks old now and growing a lot!  The kids loved having him here for a day and Kevin tried to convince me we needed to keep it, but after doing some research, all reports said squirrels make horrible pets... So I felt justified in saying no!

5.  Hayden got his school pics back this week.  I thought they were so cute and made him look so grown up!  When we were deciding how many to order, I ordered enough small 1x2 prints for him to pass out to his friends.  He insisted on taking 21 (one for everyone in his class).  I cut them apart the day he brought them home, and was anxious to see how many friends pictures he got the next day.... And he came home with none!  He said he was the only one that passed out pictures!  I know I went to school a long time ago, but do kids not pass out pictures anymore?!?!  On Thursday, one girl did pass hers out... But maybe that's old school?  What's normal for your kids/school?

6. On Monday Allie had her 4 year check up.  I have to admit that as my kids get older I like to hear their height/weight percentiles but it's not something I cling to like I use to.  So Allie checked out well, her height was 76% and her weight was 73%.  She's perfectly proportioned!  She got the flu vaccine (the nose spray) then we went to get ice cream to enjoy a little one on one time!

Chicken Melts

I'm a fan of quick, easy meals!  I cook lunch daily because that's when Kevin's home (so we typically eat leftovers at dinner).  When there aren't leftovers, I go to plan B, which is an easy meal. That usually consists of pbj or grilled cheese.  I'm so happy to share my new favorite frozen food that we added to our easy meal options!

Introducing.........

Flatbread Chicken Melts!

I bought the box from SAMs Club.  I'm thinking I paid $9ish for the box but I really can't remember!  The box has 14 of these little half sandwiches.  They are a perfect serving for my kiddos.  I think adults could easily eat 2 for a meal.

They are so quick and easy to make!  You pop one in the microwave for 50 seconds and voila.  Open a can of fruit or peal an apple and you have a descent little meal!

I was happy to see the ingredient and nutrition list wasn't horrible.  It's obviously not clean eating or organic food, but I don't feel guilty about feeding it to myself or my kids.  

Have I mentioned my picky eating children love these?!  They are handy for Kevin to take to work too.  I'd highly recommend picking up a box next time you are at SAMs! 

Weekly Happenings - Extended Version

How about a little weekly update since I've been MIA from my blog for a few weeks?!  My computer crashed, and my hubs saved the day by calling Asus Support. The only way to "fix" the computer was to reset factory settings... Which means everything I hadn't backed up (sewing patterns, pictures from May-present, programs I bought for the computer) was all lost.  Now the computer runs, but will not operate because of all the viruses/bugs that have downloaded themselves.  I need to take it somewhere to be fixed but I see fall fest, birthdays, & Christmas in my future and don't want to spend the cash to get it fixed right now.... So I'll blog from my phone until I have a better option!  

Here's a list of the last few weeks noteworthy things in no particular order :) 

1.  Hayden is taking after his daddy (who loves to sell) and killing these popcorn sales!  We were told to have our scout pick a prize, and work towards the goal of earning that prize.  Well, my dear Hayden chose the "large tablet".  He needs to sell $4,000 worth of popcorn to get it.  Right now he's at about $1,600!  He's been out 4 times and has no plans of stopping untill he hits his goal.  The grandparents have been lifesavers by watching the other kids or taking him out to sell while Kevin works.  He fell down Monday evening and had two bloody bruised knees and a bloody elbow, but he was still ready to get back out Tuesday!  I know some parents push their kids to sell like crazy, and I'll admit I'm super competitive, but he's so motivated that I'm not pushing him at all! I'm already so proud of him! 

His little spiel when someone opens the door is, "Hi my name is Hayden and I'm a Cub Scout.  Would you like to buy some popcorn?"  And if they say yes, he tells them about caramel corn and the cheese lovers pack "if you love cheese".  Ha!  It's so cute.

Allie has gone out to sell with him a couple times too.

2.  Hayden lost his front tooth last week!  It was very loose and he actually pulled it himself.  I couldn't really watch that part, but he was glad to have it out and get a visit from the tooth fairy.

3.  Austin is standing!  This makes my baby not really look like a baby anymore! The first night it happened, I sat him on our bath mat.  I walked past the bathroom to see this view.

Now he wants to spend every waking moment climbing and standing!

4.  Austin turned 9 months old!  He's 100th% in height (31 inches) and 91st% in weight (22lbs 11oz).  He got his flu shot at his checkup.  The doctor seemed impressed with his mouth full of teeth and said he's right on track with his movement, eating, sleep, and speech.  "Baby Jesus" is living up to his nick name!

5.  Krissy turned two!  These last 6 months with her have been the best so far! We had a little family party for her that was balloon themed.  Two days before her birthday, I took some adorable pics of her at a garden in Evansville.  I hate that I have no way to edit them, but I did take some pictures of the pictures on my camera.... Best idea I could come up with!

Cake and cookies...

2 yr pics preview...

6.  Krissy had her two year check up.  She's 23lbs (7th % in weight) and 34 1/4 inches tall (71st % in height).  She got her flu shot too.  Doctor thought she looked good and wasn't concerned with her being so tiny.  She had gained weight and grown, so I guess that's why she's not concerned.  BIG news is she's tolerating milk now.  She has drank some strawberry milk but won't drink regular milk.  The strawberry is about twice the calories as her almond milk, so we are trying to give her that during the day!  

7.  Krissy's potty training has been pretty consistent.  When we are home all day, we usually put her in a big Tshirt, and she  goes on the potty consistently.  When we are out and about, we keep her in diapers.  She still sleeps and naps in diapers.  I may be a little too laid back with her, but it's working and we are both happy and not stressed about it.  

8.  We are in the process or redoing the girls room.  Kevin took out Krissys crib, and we gave it to Austin.  (I sold his other on craigslist).  I found a perfect quilt to coordinate with Allies quilt.  The beds are too low right now and I can't get anything under them (which is where we store toys).  I hope in the next week or two to have their room put back together!

9.  I started a couple pre-K homeschool programs with Allie.  She's having lots of fun and we try to work when the babies nap.  I'm only a couple days in, but I'll let you know what I think about the programs the further we get!  

10.  Allie is still struggling with Hayden being gone all day, 5 days a week.  Her attitude is usually pretty poor, and her highlight of the day is waiting for Hayden to get off the bus.  Some days she gets along with the babies and is a great helper, but most days she pesters them and tried to boss them around.  Some days I really just don't know what to do with her.  I keep telling myself she will adjust and I need to keep being patient with her.  

Allie being rotten...

Waiting for Hayden to get off the bus.

One of her favorite ways to pass time is to take selfies on my phone.

11.  We spent an evening at Mayse Farm.  We do this every fall and the kids look forward to it every year!  

Apple cider slushy was delish!

12.  I feel like my baby days are probably behind me.  I have spent some moolah on myself lately and it's nice to buy some things that make you feel good.

This is my new lipstick "1995" by Jaclyn Hill.

I bought a new winter jacket too!  I'll get it for my birthday, along with a pair of cute black boots I found at TJ Maxx! :)

Ok so that's a long run down on what's been going on in our life lately!  Hope you feel caught up!

Balloon Wreath

Here's a quick tutorial on how I made our birthday balloon wreath!

1.  Wrap a 14in foam wreath in ribbon.  I purchased mine for $3-4 at Michaels.

2.  Buy balloons!  I used about 420 balloons in my wreath (give or take a few). I purchased mine from walmart.  A 72 count package was $5.

3.  Buy floral pins.  Mine came from Walmart.  100 pins for $.97!  You'll need about 250.

4.  Each pin should have two balloons.  I put them opposite directions and picked the balloons randomly!

5.  Push the pin into the wreath. I did 4-5 pins (8-10 balloons) in each row.  This process took me 3-4 hours.  Your thumb will hate you when it's over with.

6.  To add to the cuteness factor, I curled some pipe cleaners that matched my balloons and randomly put them throughout the wreath.  I did hook them to a floral pin to attach them to he wreath just to make the process easier.

7.  I took some green floral wire, wrapped it around the wreath in between a row of balloons, and made my "hook" for the door.  

I loved the end result!

Twice as Nice Consignment Sale @ the Armory

This week I was invited to go to the kids consignment sale at the armory.  It happens twice a year; in March and September.  I know several people that go and find a lot to buy.  I love yard sales and thrift stores for the bargains but I always stayed away from the big armory sale because I envisioned people fighting for clothing items, stepping over one another, or just feeling rushed to look through a rack of clothes.  I also don't like unfamiliar territory and since it was a whole new environment, I stayed away.  

I haven't been able to get out and yardsale much the last couple months so the kids fall/winter clothes were sparse.  When I was invited to the armory sale this week, I knew I needed to find more clothes, so I jumped on the chance to go.  

When I first pulled into the parking lot, I saw people, couples, mom/daughter teams walking out of the armory with literally arm loads and laundry baskets full of clothes and toys and baby gear.  I waited for my friends to arrive, and when they did we went in to shop! 

I was impressed with how organized it was.  Toys were all to the left, strollers and miscellanious were to the right. Big ticket items (like beds and nursery furniture) was in the back.  There were isles after isles of organized/sized kids clothing!  There were a lot of people there but it never felt crowded.

I also realized there were ladies that would just grab anything they thought was cute, then once they had looked through everything they had picked out, they went to the back to decide what to keep and what to put back on the rack.  I slightly frowned upon this way of shopping.  I feel like if you are questionable about an item, that's fine to keep it and see if there's anything better, but don't just grab with the intentions of putting back half of what you picked up.  Boo.  

One of the last areas I shopped was the shoe section.  Next time that will be my first place to shop!  I did find a couple cute pair of boots but the sizes I needed were picked over and I saw people walking around with cute shoes that got claimed before I got there.

I was impressed with just how much I found.  Allie got the big haul.  2 formal dresses, 2 church dresses, 8 tops, 4 pair of jeans (some colored and some skinny), 6 pairs of tights (5 were new in the package), a pair of boots, two complete outfits, and a pair of pjs.  

Krissy ended up with an adorable pair of stride rite boots that look unworn, a light jacket, 3 dresses, 1 formal dress, 2 tops, 2 sweaters, a pair of pjs, and a pair of tights.

I got Austin 3 one piece fleece outfits, and a black & white plaid button up.  I also found a cute toy car that I plan on giving him on his birthday.  

I felt like I got a good deal on all I bought, but I wanted to do the math to see how good of a deal I got!  If you include my bigger purchases (toys/formal dresses/boots) the average price per item was $3.82.  If you take out boots and formal dresses and toys, I ended up painting $3.14 per item of clothing.  Considering half of my clothes were Gymboree or Baby Gap, that's a pretty good price!

I'm already looking forward to the spring sale in March!