GRACE

Being a part time working mom with a 30 min commute, I often prepare dinner for then next day, the evening before. E gets home before me and this way, it's easy for him to just heat something up to have ready when I make it home with the little ones.

Last night, by the time the kiddies were in bed and dinner was cleaned up, it was getting late. And it was 105 outside and that itself is draining. I was tired and feeling grumbly already. My inner grumbles increased as I went about preparing tonight's dinner. Having already altered the recipe to make it gluten free, when it was time to add the daiya cheese, I had a little moment because I seriously felt like I was just sick of fake cheese, food allergies and "ahhhh this isn't fair!"

I fired off a status on facebook about said fake cheese and immediately felt like a sham. I spend so much time pretending that I have a supermom symbol under my clothes. I can cook allergy friendly meals from scratch, while crafting, doing experiments with the kids and don't forget exercising and keeping the house tidy, while surviving on very little sleep. See my smile and positive attitude, because I AM SUPERMOM. Riiight.

Before I could remove my status, I was graced with kind words from friends and family. So I chose to give myself a little grace too.

I'm learning it's okay to step back from being the encourager and allow myself to be encouraged. Most of the time, I do sincerely see food allergies as a blessing to us. However, when I don't, there's no need to feel guilty. Thankfully, God's grace is new every morning and I have my positive pants back on today.

And really, I'd gladly eat fake cheese forever in return for my three amazing beautiful blessings.

Cousins!!

There were 7 happy kids at our house last Monday and Tuesday. Eric's gpa has been in the hospital, so Eric's brother's family drove down to pay him a little visit.


Many prayers that Papa Guy makes a speedy recovery!

Happy Father's Day!

Because Sunday mornings are always busy heading out the door for Sunday school and church, we made Daddy breakfast in bed on Saturday. As soon as Konny realized there was bacon, he hightailed to the bedroom and crawled up in bed with Daddy. Katie and our niece, Acacia, couldn't wait to get a piece too.



Sunday afternoon, Kelton and Eric went to Shady Creek. When they got back, Kelton wrapped the present while I managed to make an allergy friendly version of E's favorite chocolate coconut cake. Since coolwhip and whipped cream is out of the question, I whipped a can of coconut milk. So easy and so yummy!




Daddy loved his card and his presents.
He wore his shirt from last year!


Everyone loved the cake! YUM!

Just a bar of soap!

I've seen this little experiment floating around on the web for awhile but we'd never gotten a chance to try it. I snagged some soap free with coupons, so it was time to give it a go!

All you need it a bar of Ivory soap.

And your microwave.

And some curious little eyes.

It grows!


You can crunch this all up, add some water, color, maybe extra scent and mold it into little soaps to extend this project longer, but we decided to make it snow in the back yard instead!

Review & Giveaway: Mott's Medleys Fruit Snacks

We usually only have fruit snacks at our house when they're purchased by loving Gma's and Aunties. :-)

Also when I'm pg and eat Gushers like there's no tomorrow. Even though they gave me wicked heartburn. Owie. Or maybe that was from the gallons of grape koolaide I washed them down with. Anyway...

When I was offered this spark, I almost turned it down. Because in my mind, fruit snacks are artificially flavored (and colored) blobs of sugar and THAT is not healthy AND equals cavities. When I noticed they were made by Mott's (who's applesauce we have not been without since Kelton was an infant), I looked at them closer and saw they were new Mott's Medleys, made with real fruit & vegetable juice* and natural colors and flavors!
Aaaand they were safe for all 3 kids!

*Not intended to replace fruit or vegetables in the diet.

Mott’s Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks are great on-the-go, so whether your family is lounging by the pool, playing in the park, or hanging on the beach this summer, Mott’s has snack time covered! And we quickly found out how nice it was to grab a box when we were in a hurry to get to an activity.


Yes, Kelton has a mustache. Hehe.
Thankfully we can snag more with this printable coupon for
$0.60/1 box of Mott’s Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks!
I'm so excited to offer (2!) prize packs containing...


3 boxes of Mott’s Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks in Assorted Fruit
3 boxes of Mott’s Medleys Fruit Flavored Snack in Berry

Disclosure: The product, gift pack, information, and additional samples have all been provided by Mott’s® through MyBlogSpark. The opinions expressed here are my own and may differ from other's experience.

transitional Venus

Last week, Daddy brought home his welding helmets and we got to watch the transit of Venus in front of the sun. I'm glad we got to see it because it won't happen again until 2125 and we surely won't be around then!

Wheeeeeeee! - Wordless Wednesday

Flashback Friday - water play

Two years ago (when Buggy was Konny's age), I caught this picture. Doesn't it just scream SUMMER TIME?!


We've already been playing in the water this year with our unseasonably warm weather. Katie was happy to model her new rashguard, which we prefer them to weart for the extra sun protection when we're outside.


Can you believe that we still have the water toy that Aunt Carrie sent when Moosey was Konny's age!? They also had fun with some new water guns that Nana bought.