a different kind of month & organization...

it certainly has been a strange start to the new year.  i have not been able to get into my usual motivated mind set.  and our schedule has been so strange and unpredictable. with our snow week - the kids were only in school on friday and it was a 2 hour delay, then starting the following week (last week) they had off of school on monday.   mid week, joshua woke up in the middle of the night and he was sick.  he threw up every hour for about five hours, so he missed a day of school.  good thing is it hit quick and he felt better the next day.  jamil and i were placing bets on who would get the stomach bug next.  when you have four kids, these things usually spread like weeds.  the week wrapped up, the weekend came and went and we thought we were in the clear.  until last night - jordyn woke up around midnight throwing up.  she only got sick that one time, unfortunately, she didn't make it out of her loft bed in time and we had a mess to clean up.  so, she is home today and feeling better. 

so, its been an unpredictable month and i have lots of things i want to accomplish and cross off of my list but i just haven't been able to get to them.  my one big goal for this year is to get our house in shape, it has become very disorganized and messy.  i do not operate under these conditions very well and it has gotten the best of me.  we are maxed out on space in our house because of our large family and all of our stuff but also because we have a lot of clutter and things we really don't need.  so in order to get some space back and feel more efficient i am going to be working on really organizing our home. i will be doing lots of research for organizing and space saving - if you have any great tips or suggestions, i would love to hear them!!   this is a long overdue project and i am ready to get started as soon as things get back to "normal"

easter week...

i promise i am still alive and i am doing ok! i know i have been very absent from blogging (writing, reading and commenting) as of late. i just don't know where the days have been going, they have been going much too fast for my liking. i feel like i blink and the day is half over and time for lunch. then i blink again and it is completely over and time for bed. if anyone has figured out the formula for slowing down the days yet, please let me know :)

so these days for me have been filled with the normal things a mom has to do everyday, which has included cleaning out closets and switching the wardrobes over to lighter spring clothing! yeah - i am so glad that spring is here! i am ready for some consistent warm days and let it just rain at night! it always seems that i buy clothes for the kids for the new season and then the weather goes back to the old season. but i think slowly but surely spring is coming to stay!

with easter just a few days away, can you believe it?, i will be busy this week putting the finishing touches on our easter outfits and getting stuff for the kids' easter baskets. we will be spending this week and easter weekend, egging the city of charlotte. our church, which meets at several campuses throughout a normal weekend, will be meeting all together for one big huge easter service. we will be having our worship experience at time warner arena (home of the bobcats basketball team) and we are expecting atleast 10,000 people to be in attendance! holy excitement! i can not wait to be a part of this awesome day!

i make no promises, (but surely hope) to blog again this week before easter! so, if i don't get back here before easter, i wish each of you a happy easter! i have been horrible at taking pictures lately, so i will be sure to do that this weekend so i can share how cute my kids are! i also have some exciting news to share but i am saving that for a post of it's own (nope, i am not pregnant, i know that was your first thought!).

until next time!

many blessings,
dawn

bye bye week, hello weekend!

i know it has been a week since my last post. this week has just been one of those really "off" kind of weeks for me. lots of ups and downs. and i must say that i am so glad it is friday! this morning, i am taking the little kids to the park! hopefully, i will remember my camera. we are going to meet some new friends there!

this last week started off with me being sick. i actually started with some kind of stomach bug, where i just felt queasy and achy and yucky on sunday, so i had to miss serving as the nursery coordinator, i just couldn't spread my germs to those sweet babies. it lasted a few days. i didn't have much of an appetite. so i think starting off the week being sick just threw the whole week off. i am feeling so much better now.

and of course this week was full of tests and challenges on top of me being sick. but through all of it i was able to really focus on God's desire in how i handled the things that came at me left and right. i was able to see that these road blocks were put in my way to throw me off course. but i will not allow it because He is my strength. i know that the plans God has for my life are from Him and i will persevere through the trials and overcome them! so, i have been able to put it all behind me and move ahead in the right direction towards Him.

so i am glad that this week is over and i am looking forward to a great weekend! we are starting it off with a date night to celebrate my hubby's birthday and then we plan to have lots of family time! which will include some spring time shopping! i am ready to change over the closets and get rid of the winter coats and sweaters! i am so excited that spring is upon us!!

happy weekend everyone!

many blessings ~
dawn

things that make me smile...

jaelyn's little voice
**
looking at jesiah's baby pictures
**
& thinking about the day he was born
**
watching tv on the couch with my hubby after a long day
**
getting a sweet comment on my blog or an encouraging text message from a friend
**
planning a baby shower for a friend
**
crossing something off of my to do list
**
going to church


so, what are you things that make you smile today?
focus one those thoughts and not the ones that don't.

Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

read this instead...

today is one of those days where i just am at a loss for words, i have been for a few days. no worries, nothing is going on. everything is good! i just don't feel like "talking" that much. my twitter and facebook updates have been lacking too, not just my blog. i am busy this week planning and getting ready for jesiah's birthday. he will be five on saturday. i also have some other things i am working on for church.

while i was catching up on my blog reading, i read this and wanted to share it with you. ephesians 3:20 is the theme for my blog and one of my favorite verses ever. it is one of my pastor's too. so, since i don't have much to say today, read this! i promise it will give you such a great perspective and leave you very encouraged!

these days...

i had planned to run some errands today, but i woke up not feeling so great (sore throat, sinus stuff - yuck!) jesiah and jaelyn also have runny noses. so i decided to take it easy and put those errands off for today and declared it pj day. i do this way too often during the week, it is so much easier to stay home in our jammies on days where we don't have to be anywhere. i finished working on the laundry and making some phone calls, so i thought i would write a post. caution: it is very random, my brain isn't thinking too deep today. but i thought i would fill you in on what is going on around here these days, its been awhile since i was random like this, so here goes....

finally, it's february.... i think january was the first month in a long time that went by kind of slow. i was glad for time to slow down a bit. but why did it have to be during such a cold month of the year? so i am glad that long winter month has come to a close and i am welcoming february because it is a month closer to spring! i long for warm weather!!!

i heart dvr....after not having cable television for seven years, around this time last year we had cable television installed! woo hoo! and just recently we upgraded and now have digital cable and dvr! oh my gosh, how i love dvr. it has so changed how i watch tv!!

bible reading and study....in the fall i did a marriage bible study (love & respect: motivating your man God's way by sarah and emerson eggerichs) led by my friend and amazing leader, lisa shea. last week, i started a new study led by lisa. we are reading a leader in the making by joyce meyer. i am loving this book so far. i am so excited to see how God uses this book in the group of women that are in this study. i have been busy reading the assigned chapters for our study, in fact i have to finish my reading for tonight's meeting. balancing that reading and the new thru 30 reading has been a challenge. thankfully i love to read. i am a day behind on my new thru 30 reading, but i will catch up. this is the last week of the reading. it has gone by fast and i have loved reading the new testament in 30 days.

serving on sundays again...after an extended maternity leave i felt it was the right time to start volunteering again - i was really missing it! towards the end of december i stepped into a new volunteer position at church serving in our children's ministry, ekidz. i am the safari coordinator at the providence campus. the safari area is for our sweet little ones who are 6 weeks through 3 years old. i serve with our volunteer leaders and volunteers making sure that everything is running smoothly in our babies and toddler rooms. i am so excited about this new role and am really enjoying serving in this capacity!

boys & basketball...both of the boys are playing basketball this season, it has kept us busy with two nights a week of practice and saturday games and mixing that with jordyn taking dance one night a week, wow, we are busy! jesiah is kind of getting the hang of the basketball thing. he still likes to do his own thing on the court. but he has come along way since the first game. joshua loves to play and loves to have his daddy as his coach. as for me, as much as i love the boys being involved in sports, i think we may take the spring off. we need some saturdays at home for spring cleaning!!

weekends at elevation....that brings me to what our weekends look like these days. with jamil's role as an armor bearer for our pastor which is saturday night and sunday, and with my new role in ekidz, we get to spend a lot of time at church. i attend the saturday night service at our matthews campus with the kids, while jamil serves. and then on sunday the kids and i head over to our providence campus so i can serve and jamil is with pastor steven. so far, we are all loving our new weekend schedule at church. the kids have so much fun being at church both days! it keeps us busy - but a good kind of busy!

school update...the big kids got their report cards from school last week. they are doing so good in school. we were so pleased with their grades! both josh and jordyn are very bright and school work comes pretty easily to them. i am so thankful for that. they have adjusted to being in school. our brief experience with homeschooling is a distant memory for all of us! i feel so at peace with the decision to put them back in school. we are praying about putting them back into the lottery for union academy again. they both miss their old school and there are some things that i miss about it as well. so we will just see how God leads!

three in school soon....this week is kindergarten registration for the schools in our area. so since jesiah will be five next month he will start kindergarten in the fall! wow! i am registering him at the school the big kids are at. and then if we decide to do the lottery at union academy, and he would happen to get in, he would go there. i just can't believe he will be in school and i will only have one child at home with me. i have no idea what that will look like!!

family photos....you may have seen my last post with the link to our photographer's blog. if you haven't, our new set of family pictures are posted there! please go and check them out and leave a comment on their blog! our last set of pictures received so many comments, that our photographers have challenged us with some prints and discounts if we collect 25 -100 comments on their blog - so when you go there you have to leave a comment on their blog! please pretty please do this for me!!! so go here right now!!!

lots to celebrate this month... so this month is full of special birthdays, special occasions and valentine's day! we will be celebrating a lot and i am looking forward to birthday cake and parties! i am trying to come up with some fun things to do to celebrate valentine's day. if you do something cute with your family, leave me a comment with what you do, i could use some ideas!!!
i hope that you are all enjoying your first week in february!!!

top five tuesdays...

the other day, i was reading my friend, kelly's blog and she listed her girls' top five toys. it was so fun to read and she asked what other readers' kids top five toys are. so i wanted to share what our top five toys that our kids play with the most.

before i do, i thought it would be fun to do a somewhat regular post, {hmmm dare i say or commit to weekly} on tuesdays that will list the top five favorites of all kinds of things. it will be called top five tuesdays. i have a few ideas up my sleeve that will get me started on the next two months or so. i would love to read about your top five favorites too. so you can leave me a comment or write your own post. if you do your own post, leave me a comment and let me know.

since i have two boys and two girls of all different ages, i am going to focus on the three older kids and just do a combo list of girls and boy toys!

ok. so. here are the top five toys that my three older kids play with...


1. dress up clothes: at one point in time all the kids loved to dress up, josh is "too old" for that now. so at any given time of day you can find jesiah or jordyn dressed up in all different costumes. they love it!! jordyn especially likes to put on makeup and jewelry!

2. barbies & action figures: jordyn will play with her barbies every once in awhile. jesiah loves his action figures especially spiderman!!!

3. playstation & nintendo ds/gameboy: this would be joshua's favorite toy! he loves electronics and playing games on them!!

4. art stuff & playdough: this is one thing that will keep all three of my big kids really busy! they all love to sit and draw, color, or create things. we do this pretty much every single day!!!

5. imaginext toy sets: this is jesiah's thing! he loves his batcave, pirate ship and jungle safari. he plays with these a lot!!!

ok, those are my kids' top five favorite toys. what about yours?? what are your kids top five favorite toys? leave a comment or let me know if you are posting on your blog!

next tuesday...top five favorite pieces of baby gear!!

wardrobe wednesday...

oh the fun of shopping for myself!!! i used to love it and now i just get frustrated. but i have to share some success i have had.

over a week ago, i went shopping with my sister to find a dress for easter. we actually found several nice things in addition to the easter dress at target. sometimes i luck out at target and sometimes i do not have any luck! with clothes that is. this time was a big score!

although, when i tried the "easter dress" (the whole reason for the shopping trip) on for my hubby, it was less flattering than i thought it was when i tried it on in the store. it was a little too short and made me look a lot bigger because it was too big. i could have used a size or two smaller. but i knew they didn't have it in those sizes. here's why i know...my sister and i had already been to several different targets looking for this dress. we actually found it in a size 4 (not my size!) at the first target and when we inquired about where they were, the sales associate told us that it was a return and that collection is carried at a different target down the street, so we went there. different targets carry different collections - didn't know that - so good to know!!!

so i had to go to plan b, i had found two other dresses that same shopping trip, same dress different colors! when i tried on the first one, i like it so much i had to have two!! they are great summer dresses you could dress up or dress down. they look cute with heels or flip flops. you can add a cute sweater and some jewlry to finish off the look!! i ended up wearing this one for easter. although it is called candy apple red, it is more of a bright pink/fuschia color to me. and this is the other one i bought. i must add that these dresses do not fit me like they fit the models, on the models they are way shorter than they are on me (and i am pretty tall - the models must be really tall) and they look so much more slinky on them, that is not how they look on me - they are more flowing than that. they are very inexpensive. i think i will get a lot of wear out of them. i can see them being worn during the day, to church or at night!! they are very flattering. not only are these dresses flattering you can easily breastfeed in them - an added bonus.

a little time off...

last night i was able to have a very much needed night off!!! my sweet hubby took care of all four of the kids so my sister and i could go out! it was the first time i left him with all four. he is a pro and can handle it just fine!!!!

so here is what we did....first we went for a pedicure - so relaxing and what a treat!!! then we went to sushi 101 and ate like crazy -- yummy!!! on our way home we made a detour to target!!!
we spent two hours just looking around. of course i had to buy a few things. including a cute pair of baby legs for jaelyn!

we have a busy weekend planned so i won't have a lot of time to write. but i will be back on monday with something fun to write about! stay tuned and have a super weekend! and if you can take a little time off too!!!

itzbeen how long???

with a busy and hectic schedule of managing four children, a husband and a home, i must admit that i was often asking myself (or my hubby!) these questions about caring for our sweet baby girl...
when was the last time she ate?
or which side did i nurse on last ?
or how long has she been asleep?
or awake?
or how long since she has had her diaper changed?
and even what time is it?

and then i found this awesome baby product which tells me how long "itzbeen"!

what is this little thing?? it is an itzbeen baby care timer. it answers all of my questions that i was often asking.

how it works??? you press the corresponding button and it will keep the time for you. it keeps track for you how long it has been since you fed, since she has been asleep or awake, since her diaper was changed. there is a button you could use for keeping track of medicine or whatever else you'd like. it also has a clock on it to tell you what time it is. there is also a little button that keeps track of which side you nursed on last. you can lock the timer so that little hands can't reset the buttons. you can also set it and use it as an alarm to remind you it is time to do whatever task you want to have scheduled (great for those babywise mommas!). the little gadget lights up so you can use it in the middle of the night too!

what a lifesaver!!! i love this baby product. it has been very helpful and helps me to be even more organized!!! bonus for me i paid nothing for it - i used a walmart gift card we had. i got it from walmart.com and had it delivered site to store. my sweet hubby even saved me from having to step foot into walmart (not a huge walmart fan) and picked it up for me.

if you have a baby and often ask how long itzbeen....you gotta have one of these!!!

tiny hands...

i love jaelyn's tiny hands, they are so sweet. when she was first born, i would hold her tiny hands when i would nurse her and i have continued to do that. now at four months old, when i nurse her, she knows the routine, she will reach out and look to hold my hand. it is so sweet.

jaelyn has been using her hands a lot more lately. she will reach out to touch toys and other things in her line of sight. she will also bring the toys to her mouth. and if she isn't holding a toy, she will bring her hand to her mouth and suck on her little fingers. so sweet.

i have always been bothered by people touching my babies when we are out in public. now, i am not bothered by friends or family touching my babies. but i can not stand it when complete strangers come up and touch on my babies. it is a total invasion of space. and of course the thought of germs freaks me out.

i have found two things to that help with limiting this.

1. wearing my baby in a sling. i am a babywearer and love my sling! when i wear my baby, strangers are less likely to invade my space to reach in and touch the baby in the sling! marvelous!!! i just realized i don't have a photo of me wearing jaelyn yet. but i do have a photo of my second favorite thing...

sign reads: please wash your hands
before touching mine

2. the little pink sign that hangs on jaelyn's infant seat. i LOVE this sign. i receive so many compliments on it. the lactation consultants and my pediatrician love it too!!! so many people have asked me where i got it. i received it as a gift from my dear friend, amy. amy received the sign when she brought her newborn twins home from the nicu. the hospital gives them out, but i think only when a baby is discharged from the nicu. she ordered mine from their website and gave it to me as a gift! you can go here to check it out! you can get them in pink, blue or red!! awesome!

the beautiful mess...

i am so excited to blog about this today!!! for me it is an early christmas present and an anniversary present all wrapped in one!!

two saturdays ago, our family had the most amazing photo shoot with some very talented photographers, husband and wife team, candice and daniel lanning!! they own and operate the beautiful mess. we had such a great time during our shoot. my kids did so well. candice and daniel came to our house. with the kids in their own environment, they were able to capture our family in such a special and unique way. the photos are completely real and show who we are as a family!! there are no poses and goofy chin tilts - just all natural. jamil who in the past has dreaded family photo day even had a great time!! the kids didn't fight us or fuss about it at all. they feel like candice and daniel are like family now!!! they got to show off and be themselves. i knew the photo shoot went well and couldn't wait to see our photos!

today, one week before christmas and our ninth year anniversary, candice posted our pictures to her blog! i am so excited to be able to share our family pictures with you! just click here and you can see some pics and view our slideshow!! leave a comment and let me know what you think of them!!!

i am so thankful for the wonderful work candice and daniel have done. pictures are so important to me and capturing our family the way they did is such a tremendous blessing!!! words can't express how excited i am to have these photos!

menu plan monday...

...even though it is tuesday!

my friend marybeth reminded me of her menu plan monday blog post when i was struggling with meal ideas. there are a lot of blogs that post a menu plan monday. so i have started looking at hers and others to get some ideas for cooking for my family. each week i struggle with what to cook. and this really helps me get some ideas. each week after i make a menu then i create a grocery list. we have been using the harris teeter express lane for our shopping, it has really helped me out. i order my groceries for the week online and then jamil picks them up on his way home. for us the online shopping has helped our budget because i don't impulse shop - b/c i am not seeing it and throwing it in the cart and neither are my kiddos. i also don't feel stressed when i am shopping. when i actually go into the store, i get really stressed because i don't want to be there and so i start putting extras in the cart but i still have to return the next week anyway. my next goal is to start using coupons to save some money.

ok, so here is my menu plan (dinners only!) for the week....

monday: meatloaf muffins, mashed potatoes & green beans
tuesday: beef tacos, chips and salsa & fruit
wednesday: chicken & dumplings in the crockpot
thursday: scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns & blueberry muffins
friday: pizza dip, french bread, buffalo chicken dip, chips and celery
saturday: beef stroganoff in the crock pot and dinner rolls
sunday: leftovers

update on my addiction...

yes, this week i did indeed earn back all of the money i spent last week finding deals on craig's list!! i sold three out of four things i had listed on craig's list. i still have a few more things to list. i also bought two more things this week!! i bought a medela pump for a steal and i also bought the cutest bouncy/rocker seat i have ever seen - it is a maclaren and it is pink and grey!!!!!

tomorrow, we plan to work on some projects around the house - i am sure i will find even more things to list and sell!!!!

my new hobby...

i love craig's list!!! i am addicted to it!!! it has come in handy over the last month. with having to redo the "girls' room" and buying baby gear - craig's list has been my favorite way to shop. i have been using craig's list for over a year. but in the last few weeks it has become a new and regular hobby!!!

last week, i purchased four big items off of craig's list for the baby! the retail value of what i bought would have been easily over $800 and i got all the stuff for $200! here is what i found... two very nice strollers, a joovy sit n stand and a peg perego pliko - in pink and black!!!! (yes, i am a stroller addict too!), a top of the line crib mattress and a baby bjorn (mine is 8 years old - so i "splurged" for an updated easier to fasten version!). and last month, we got jordyn's castle bed off of craig's list for $250 - it would have been $1100 new.

i am so excited about the new purchases and all of the money we have saved buying from craig's list. this week, i am going to list a whole bunch of stuff on craig's list to sell!! and i am excited because i will most likely "earn" back the money i have spent!!!!

so. last week when i wasn't blogging, i was on craig's list shopping!!!!

back from target....

tonight i went to my last session of dream dinners for awhile (another thing we are cutting back on) and then on to target! i just love target. i will never forget 10 years ago when i visited my first target in matthews, nc. my friend, jen, took me there and told me i would never ever be the same after visiting "tar-jay". and i haven't been.

target is my favorite place. i love going there, i really love going without kids. so wouldn't you know i am not the only one with this obsession. i was just reading over my friend, melanie's blog and she talked about her love for it too! wow, two of us love the same place unheard of, right? all of that written in pure sarcasm. i am sure their are a lot of you out there who love you some good old "tar-jay"

here is the best part, my friend, mel put a link at the bottom of her post to this blog. a new addition to my blogroll. if you love target ~ you will love this one!

oh, i can't forget to mention i am sitting here typing this in my new jammies that were on clearance!! gotta love it!! this post will serve as my gotta love it/gotta have it post. i hadn't done one of those in awhile.

out of balance...

i am feeling really really out of balance lately. i just can't get in the groove of things. and a lot of things are falling by the wayside. i just can't keep up. and it is like the really important things, the "me" things are getting neglected, like consistent quiet times and a consistent exercise regimen (or any at all)

so what i am asking is for you to tell me how you manage your schedules. what does a normal day look like for you? how and when do you do your errands, groceries? do you spend time with friends? when do you have appointments and such?

i know there are a lot of you out there struggling with some of these things and i don't expect anyone to comment with how they have perfected it all. but just give me and others an idea of how you are doing what you are doing. how are you balancing life?? i would love to hear from stay at home moms, working moms, wives with no kiddos, single ladies, whoever... just let me know how you do what you do each day!!

guidelines: this is suppose to be a positive encouraging post, so i really only want those types of comments, i do not want to hear from you if you are going to say something negative about me or one of my reader's comments -- okey dokey?

gotta love it...

i know this is twice in a few days, but on friday after preschool (aka: work for me) we through the chik fil a drive thru to get ice cream. i have always loved their ice cream. but what really rocks is their cookies n cream milkshakes. i absolutely love them, love them. i could eat/drink them every day. they are a fabulous treat.

when i was prego with jesiah as well as after he was born, i craved the breyer's oreo ice cream, i could seriously eat a whole gallon of it in less than a week by myself. jamil often made harris teeter runs for me so i could have my ice cream fix. the milkshakes remind me of that ice cream.

alright, did i make you hungry? oh and such bad timing since chik fil a will be closed tomorrow (sunday) --- sorry!!! i will see you there on monday!!!

gotta love it...

as soon as i made my announcement about my new addition of my favorite things, i completely forgot about what i gotta have! weird, anyway...

this is kind of random but it is something that i gotta have. i got the idea from my friend susan. i love love to have a basket in my mini-van to hold a whole bunches of stuff. a few months ago, i got one of those fabric covered wire bins from wal mart and i can slide it under my console in my van. i toss all kinds of things in it. and then it makes cleaning out the van sooooo much easier. i just take it into the house and unload it. then replace it and load it up again!

ok, so that is what i love to have and can't live without this week!!!

what a dream...

in september, i starting going to dream dinners. and i can honestly say that it is a dream! i love it! love it! i have had several friends tell me about it and had been invited to a few sneak peaks. then finally i took the plunge and went. it has really helped out our (my) dinner planning! it is such a relief when it comes to dinner time and i barely have to do a thing! so if you haven't tried it -- you need to check it out. i was worried it would affect our budget but it hasn't. i use most of my dream dinners as my more elaborate meals and then the other nights we do easy stuff like tacos, spaghetti, shrimp and grits (yes i am becoming a southern girl - beth, this is one more thing you can add to the list of addictions you have introduced me to!) anyway, just thought i would give a shout out to dream dinners.