Summer Blog Challenge (Days 4 & 5)

Day 4 What is the meaning behind your blog name?

This one is easy enough.  My blog URL is "teachinauntie" which is what I was when I developed my online persona.  I was teaching 4th & 5th grades at Ingleside Elementary School and I was "Auntie" to Tyler, Brianna, Ashley, and Carolynn.

The title of my blog is "Our Life In Words" because my blog is used to detail and keep memories of/from our life and daily activities.  Most of the time I write recaps of our week and update posts as the boys reach different milestones. (need to keep up with doing it for Vinnie....)  But, there's plenty of pictures in my blog too!

Day 5 Short term goals for this month & why

As of June 18, my goals for the month are:

• Get completely caught up on the challenge & then keep up
• I have this goal because I really want to make this challenge work, but if I am constantly behind it won't be any fun!
• Get all the laundry in the house put away/clean simultaneously
• This goal really drives my husband crazy, so I need to get caught up & then he'll stop complaining!
• Keep the kitchen clean
• We finally got it all clean and neat and organized & I need to work to keep it that way!
• Finish my custom orders for Gina & Sabrina
• I have got to make sewing for MamaGoetsch's Creations a priority so I can keep up the business. :)  These two projects have been sitting for a while, so I'd like to get them gone so I can move on & get some new work! 

Summer Blog Challenge Day 3 & 14

Day 3 Fifteen interesting things about yourself

I am NOT a very interesting person, but I'll go ahead & make up a list!

1. I'm a lifelong member of the Girl Scouts of America & I earned the Silver and Gold Awards, the highest possible awards in Girl Scouting when I was a kid.

2. I made the decision to breastfeed my future children before I was even engaged to my husband, because it was important to him.  I also turned down the opportunity for a breast reduction when I made that decision. (It was scheduled & everything!)

3. I love roller coasters and thrill rides.  But, I get sick the minute I step on a carousel.  Like, I want to puke and I get dizzy.

4. I love wrapping presents.  My Dad taught me how to do it "just right" and I thoroughly enjoy wrapping gifts.

5. I love throwing parties! I don't enjoy the cleaning and prep for the house, but I love the planning and execution. :)

6.  I am convinced I am not capable of learning to knit or crochet.  I have attempted to learn and paid for lessons on many occasions and I just cannot get the hang of it.

7.  I have never ever colored my hair.

8. One time, my best friend and I "stole" a car.  Neither of us had driver's licenses and it was just from a neighborhood guy, but still.

9.  I used to be a Rocky Horror Picture Show groupie.  I can even do the Time Warp Dance!

10. I used to teach 4th & 5th graders.

11. My favorite girls' names are Rebekah, Elise, Kaylee or Kaylynn, and Jayne.  Someday I hope to get to use one of them (even if it is by adoption.)

12. I would totally relactate to nurse an adopted baby.

13. If the opportunity presented itself & fit my living situation, I would wetnurse.

14. I donated breastmilk to at least 5 different babies and pumped for 11 months to help one mama reach her goal of exclusively breastmilk to a year. :)

15. I am mostly-dairy, corn, soy, and banana free for my kids, because they have allergies.


Day 14 Give your followers 15 tips to get through life

Hmm....tips to get through life...I feel like that should be some pretty researched & serious advice!

I think I'll revise that to 15 tips that help me get through MY life....

1. Make the beds.  I function so much better when the beds get made.

2. Have a plan. Make lists and schedules.

3. Be prepared. Even if others joke you for your huge diaper bag....be prepared. I'd much rather lug extra clothes and diapers than have a wet, stinky, sticky, dirty, fussy child and no materials to help them.

4. Do not grocery shop when hungry.

5. Have an emergency fund, a savings account, and a credit card.  That way, when disaster (big or small) strikes, its not the end of the world.

6. Pray. Without ceasing.

7.  Tithe.  Its hard to start, but I have a strong testimony that when you do it, everything else just seems to work out & you still have #5 as a back up. :)

8. Love the one you're with & the people who you call friends.  Remove toxic people from your life.

9. Holding a grudge only hurts you.  The person you are holding the grudge against isn't suffering from that pain or anger.  Let it go.

10. Say a prayer of thanksgiving daily.  Start small. "Dear God, thank you for my food, house, family, friends, and toys. Amen."

11. Be your own (and your children's) advocate health-wise.  Doctors are not always right.  They make mistakes & they don't always have YOUR best interest in mind.  Push for answers.  Wait & see has a time & a place but it is not always the best option.

12. Laugh every day.

13. Cry when you need to.

14.  Have a best friend that you can call any time of day or night & for whatever reason.  Sometimes just letting out whatever is exciting or stressing you  is all you need to keep on, keeping on.

15. Do your part to make the world a better place.

Summer Challenge Day 8 & 18

Day 8 Not including blogging-your guilty pleasure


Its not really a "guilty" pleasure, but my absolute joy right now is sewing.  I never ever have time for it, but I love doing it. :) I've been getting a lot accomplished both for my own kids & for others too, so that's great.

Day 18 A recipe you love


My favorite "recipe" right now is "homemade pop tarts" and they are so ridiculously simple its not funny!!

I use a store bought dry pie crust mix, jelly, peanut butter & honey, and peanut butter & chocolate chips.

All you do is mix up the pie crust according to the directions and then roll it out (pastry thin) & cut into rectangles.  Make sure each rectangle has a match.

Then smear A LITTLE filling in the center of one crust, cover with the 2nd half and then pinch the edges closed.

Cook according to the directions (though maybe a couple minutes less) and enjoy! They were even able to go into the toaster to reheat!

Our first batch (2 pie crusts worth) didn't even make it through the day!

2nd batch, pre-baking 

First batch, fresh out of the oven, you can see where one of the jelly ones had too much filling.

2nd batch, out of the oven (cooked a minute less this time)

Ready for brunch! 

Summer Blog Challenge Days 2 and 13

June 2 -Post a picture of yourself smiling

Here are a few of my FAVORITE pictures of myself!

Between Dec. 2007-June 2008 I'm not quite sure how old Carolynn is in this picture

Aug. 2006--Our Honeymoon

Laura's Wedding 

Probably my Junior year of college

First Month of College--Mud Fight -- 17 years old

Well, that one was easy enough!



June 13- How do you see yourself by the end of the year?

It's June already, and I guess by the end of this year I'll probably be in the same place.  Mama to two sweet little dudes, staying at home keeping up with the house and loving on my man. :)
Hopefully our finances will be a little better and our house a little more tidy, but all in all, I don't anticipate a lot of change in the next 6 months.

Follow along with all the other great bloggers!

Stash Update

Diaper Stash Nirvana is within my grasp!

Shared: (42/64 PUL & 14 Fitteds)
16 BumGenius 3.0
4 BumGenius 4.0
6 (or more) BumGenius 3.0s Out for Repair
3 Medium Fuzzibunz
2 OS Fuzzibunz
2 Thirsties Duo Size 2
6 Alvababy (stuffed for overnight)
8 Alvababy (stuffed for daytime)
2 Alvababy Out for Repair
7 Alvababy New Prints OTW
2 Alvababy Two-Tones OTW
5 Alvababy Double Gussets OTW
-----
11 MamaGoetsch Creations Pocket Fitteds
3 Soggy Bottom Baby Medium Fitteds

Lucas: (5 PUL & 6 Fitteds)

4 Bottombumper OS AIOs
1 Starbunz Large Pocket
-----
4 Bagshot Row Bamboo OS Fitteds
1 Sustainable Babyish Snapless Multi
1 Butterfly Baby OS Fitted

Vincent: (4 PUL)

1 Haute Pocket
1 Swaddlebee Pocket
1 Blueberry Minky Pocket
1 Softbum Omni Pocket

Summer Blog Challenge Day 1 & 12

I'm starting on day 12 of the "Summer Blog Challenge" hosted by Going Green with the Grilz so I figure I'll do 2 a day until I'm caught up. :)

Day 1 Why are you doing this challenge?   
AND
Day 12 Worst injury & how you got it

I'm going to attempt to do this challenge because lately all I've been posting are my "Sunday" updates, which don't even always happen on Sunday...more like once every 2-4 weeks!  I LOVE that I can use my blog like a diary and have that memory kept for me, especially since my actual memory sucks, but I know other folks probably don't enjoy reading about what my two boys and I did all day.  (Especially on the really lame days where all we do is housework & laundry.)

My blog is MY space and I write it for me, but I do enjoy having a few followers and getting the occasional comment or feedback on my posts, and I know participating in a blog hop will help with that too.

Finally, I LOVE responding to prompts.  When I used to assign my students writing prompts I always "wrote" a prompt in my head as well (and many times I'd do a mock-up with the class!) and I just adore answering prompts....I used to love those books as a kid that had 1/2 a sentence and a crazy doodle on each page & then you got to write a story to go along with it.  So, this will satisfy my need for creative outlet as well!

5th Grade Softball Picture--
NOT from when I broke my thumb,
but its all I've got on the computer

The worst injury I have ever gotten is when I was about 12 or 13 I broke my thumb.  I was playing a ball game at Plaza Middle School, Edwards was my coach, and I stole third base.  I slid in and landed wrong on my hand, snapping the tendon in my thumb.  As a child, tendons are stronger than bones, and so when the tendon broke it tore a chunk of bone out of my thumb bone.

I ended up seeing a lot of doctors, spending the summer in several casts, and having 2 surgeries over it.  I missed out on playing All Stars (but still made the team) and everything.  I needed physical therapy and have had arthritis in that hand ever since.

June Part 1

So, Luke started throwing up during the night on the 30th and has continued to do so every night since then.

During the day he is fine and dandy though, so we haven't let it keep us from our daily routines! :)

Friday June 1 we spent getting ready to go on our weekend getaway....and I got some custom sewing done.

Saturday June 2 we got up & started getting ready to leave town, there was a lot to do and we were pressed for time to make it to Lynchburg before the wedding started at 5 pm.

We finally left the house about 20 minutes later than we wanted to leave Mandy's house and headed over there to drop Aaron off.  We visited in the van for just a few minutes and then hit the road just before 12.

Luke and I ran into Wal-Mart for a gift & some lunch and then we officially got on the road.

The boys napped (as planned) and I navigated & chatted with Tim.  I did get a short nap in, but  I was enjoying the ride and remembering things and noting how things have changed in the last 7 years.

We got to the hotel, got unloaded, and checked in and settled into the room to quickly change for the wedding and nurse Vinnie.

We ended up being a bit late to the wedding, but at least we go to hear/see Angelina say her vows! :)

The boys did really well for about an hour & a half of the reception & then they went down hill fast!

We made a beeline out of there at around 7:45 thinking the boys would fall asleep in the van...they didn't.

Luke and I were hungry, so we got Firehouse Subs for dinner and ate in the room.

Then we fought the kids to get them to sleep...I think it was around 11:30 before they were both asleep! (Luke woke to puke around 5 am)

Sunday June 3 we got up early (per the boys) and had the "Continental" breakfast in the hotel.  It wasn't bad & Luke managed to eat a bit & Vinnie even ate some apples.

Then we went back to the room & changed.  Tim took Luke to the pool while Vinnie and I straightened up some.  Then I took Vinnie down & let him swim for 20 minutes too!

At 10 am, I brought Vinnie back to the room and gave him a bath & then nursed him down for a nap.  When Tim & Luke got back they showered & got dressed while I finished packing us out of the hotel.

We were on the road by 11:15.

From the hotel we went to Farmville.  We drove around town & checked things out.  I went to the new Barnes & Noble bookstore & bought a color "Alumni" bumper sticker.  Then we went to BK & Subway for lunch.  We took our food to a little park near the school and ate and let Luke run a bit.

After I had nursed Vinnie & we played, we got back into the van to head to Crewe.

We took Luke to the Crewe Railroad Museum and he had a blast.  The boy LOVES trains. :) Its a free museum & if you're ever in the area or passing through its worth the stop.  I wouldn't drive 3 hours JUST to go there, (since we did the whole thing with a 2 year old in 1 hour) but it was worth it for us.

After the museum we headed back through Farmville and out to Buckingham County to visit the Corbins.

We had a GREAT visit at their home and even got dinner!  Before we knew it, it was 7:30 and past time to be heading home.

We grabbed a mini pizza at Pino's in Dilwyn and hit the road.

We didn't get home until after 11 or 12 and we pretty much went straight to bed.  (Luke still managed to puke during the night.)

Monday June 4 we spent the day at home, unpacking and cleaning.

Tuesday June 5 Frankie came over first thing in the morning and we headed to Ocean View to get a truck load of beach sand for free. Then we came home, picked up Grayson & Spencer, got 5 minutes down the road & then came back.

Mom & Dad had gotten to the house, so I left Luke with them while I took the boys to Amanda's house (with Frankie).

When I got home, I visited with Mom & Dad for a few minutes before they left.  Then it was naptime for the boys.

While they napped, I sewed.

In the evening I took Vinnie and went grocery shopping.

*My friend Liz found out she is expecting a baby girl in October, so I finally finished her footies!*

Wednesday June 6 is today! I got up early and got some housework done.  Luke had a doctor's appointment with his pediatrician about the puking at 2 pm.  We were late and ended up having to wait until after 3!

The doctor said basically he has "benign cyclic vomiting" and that she's not sure what is causing it.  We are putting him on a bland diet & tomorrow he'll get a bunch of tests done.  (bloodwork & x-rays)

I wanted to run errands today, but lack of funds & gas kept me from doing that.

Grayson & Spencer came over for a bit this evening and the kids are all tucked in bed.