Favorite things, Monthly Round Up |

I’m a huge fan of the Happy Hour Podcast and Jamie Ivey always ends the show with asking her guest what they are loving right now.

Since I’ve been off of social media for the last 40 days, I thought I’d share some of my favorite things from the last month or so.

Bluebonnet Pictures.

This is a tradition in Texas. Bluebonnets, our state flower, line the highways in mid March- early April, and we have a goal of taking pictures each year in them. Sadly, our go-to place didn’t have any this year so we found a second option to snap a few shots. I originally bought the overalls our second 2nd (3) and baby (1) are wearing a couple years ago for our oldest (then 2.5) and second (then 1). Sadly we drove all the way out to the country to take some pictures only to realize I forgot to put the overalls in the bag. #majorfail. I was so sad I had forgotten the overalls I had purposefully bought just for this photo op. I love when the Lord redeems things, even super small and seemingly silly things like forgotten overalls, and that we were able to use these same pair a couple years later on our 2nd and 3rd instead of our 1st and 2nd.

so sad our normal barn spot didn’t have bluebonnets this year!- but this picture from last year is one of my all time favorites

Caleb- 18 months or so and Baby David- 2ish weeks

**there are some affiliate links where appropriate at no additional cost to you, which simply means a small percentage of items purchased through the link goes towards the costs associated with maintaining this blog**

2. Birthdays (David’s 3 year old and Caleb’s 4.5)

If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know that I love celebrating those I love well. Birthdays are super special. My mom always did such a great job of making us feel special, and I want to make sure to do the same for our boys.

David turned 3 in March! You can read all about his Three-Rex Birthday party- food, presents, and more at this post here: David’s Three-Rex Birthday Party

Caleb turned 4.5 about a month later and we’ve made it a tradition the last couple years to sing to our boys on their half birthday by cutting a candle in half. So we stuck 4 and a half candles in a banana chocolate chip muffin, sang and called it a day.

And if you want to know some good gift ideas for kids ages 2-4 or so, check out this monster post full of at least 100 items:

3 year Old’s Wish List- 100 Purposeful Ideas from a Mom of Three

3. First Baseball Game

As soon as I found out that Caleb was a boy, one of my first thoughts was, “we are going to get to watch him play ball one day”, and that day finally arrived! And needless to say, I know I’m going to have to try to dial down my tendencies to become a crazy sports mom. I didn’t think I would be one, but my family thinks differently, as evidenced by my behavior at the first few games. Caleb won the sportsmanship award for the first game. I am so proud of his hustle, and his great attitude. He loves practicing in the backyard (and keeps knocking balls into our neighbors yard…so we will probably have to move to the batting cage before too long).

We had originally signed him up for a wonderful neighborhood league, but we questioned if he was ready for that level of commitment yet, and when we found out friends from church were playing in a different low-key, parent-coached, practice and game in the same day league, we decided to sign both boys up. Three and four year olds can play on the same team, and since David turned three just before the cut off, he gets to play, too! He likes it for a little while and then has to be highly encouraged to keep playing if he wants the snacks afterward (never underestimate the power of a little bribery).

he still has this sticker proudly displayed in his room from weeks ago- for the “good listening award”

4. New favorite eats:

During this time of being away from Social Media, I’ve tried to get better at some basic self-care things (like working out, eating healthy, buying clothes that fit to name a few). I never knew roasted Sweet Potatoes could taste so good. I usually eat random things for lunch and am picking things off my kids’ plates. I never want to make something that takes too long because it seems we are so often in a rush to eat before nap time. But, I finally bit the bullet and started roasting sweet potatoes. A friend mentioned she roasts several veggies at the beginning of the week and has all week to eat on them = brilliant! I just throw a little olive oil, some kosher salt and another new favorite: Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel Seasoning. Cook at 400 degrees (or so) for about 20 minutes, stirring a few times so they don’t stick. It’s great paired with Instant Pot shredded chicken, some fruit or avocado toast. Another favorite is my chicken salad.

super easy go-to lunch. Also, if you’ve never cooked your chicken (from frozen even) with some pineapple juice in the instant pot and then used your kitchen aid to shred it, you don’t know what you’re missing!

Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel on some “avocado toast”

5. Backyard Time-

I have so been loving this beautiful weather. For the first few months of the year the sun did not shine except for maybe 5 days. It was horrible, and so very depressing. The last few weeks of April have been such a gift. We’ve loved being outside- enjoying the plates backyard, David’s new swing, family bike rides, dinners on the patio – even when it is so very less-than perfect. I cannot wait to furnish our patio with some beautiful furniture- a sitting space and a dining space and of course figure out some shade solution and way to hang the outdoor lights I’ve wanted for at least five years. But, the Lord is teaching me to embrace where I am and to realize that it doesn’t have to be “perfect” (or even very aesthetically pleasing) to be functional. Perfect is a myth anyway, and so is the lie, “If only this, then…..” Our boys love eating outside on our very old hand-me down fold out table and chairs, and I don’t think they really even know the difference.

this kid loves meat…we always talk about how much we fear what our grocery bill will be one day when they are 14, 16 and 17 (give or take a few years)

6. Favorite Things I’ve listened to:

The Next Right Thing Podcast. I read Emily Freeman’s Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life

several years ago, and I felt like it was written for me. I highly recommend if if you’re one of those “I’ve followed all the “rules” my whole-life” type people. I’ve been indecisive my entire life. But, the last few years of parenting have even worsened the problem. My poor sweet husband is so patient with me, but I know sometimes my inability to choose quickly drives him crazy. After taking some time to reflect over the past month or about my decision-making processes, I think that my very rocky entrance into motherhood has had lingering effects in that I so often doubt my choices in regards to my children. When I wasn’t able to calm Caleb no matter what I tried (and believe me, I tried everything)- and then when I had similar experiences not only once more, but two more times, it’s hard not to have some type of scarring. I know that God is good, and that He works all things for good. But, I struggle at times doubting my choices- “maybe if I had tried this thing, then he wouldn’t have cried and never slept for so many months….” Even as I write out that statement, I know there are other areas I doubt choices- when it came to potty training failure, discipline failures, c-section avoidance failures, vbac failures, breastfeeding failures (seeing a theme here, lol) I tend to put too much responsibility on my shoulders. At the end of the day, we are just not in control. We can try all the things, but sometimes it is God’s deep mercy and grace to not get what we want or what we worked so very hard for (actually that is the gospel…Him giving us life when we deserve death). These two things are true: God is sovereign and we have responsibilities. But all of that to say, our choices do matter. I have so benefited from listening to The Next Right Thing Podcast. The podcasts are only about 14 minutes long and Emily’s voice is so soothing. I have loved all of the things she has said, but one piece of advice has stuck with me: when making a decision ask yourself, “Am I being led by loved or pushed by fear?”. I plan on writing a whole post soon dedicated to decision-making, but for now I’ll leave you with that.

If you haven’t embraced the beauty of learning through podcasts, find some of my other favorites here.

One of my other most favorite things I listened to over the past month was Matt Chandler’s sermon when he came to Houston’s First Baptist. Matt Chandler holds a special place in my heart. God has used his ministry to affect me mightily from the time I was a teenager. A group of high school friends and I used to carpool to Metro on Monday nights at Houston’s First Baptist to hear him speak when he was just beginning his ministry in his early twenties. As a sixteen year old girl who had just started reading the Bible for herself, I could not write down notes fast enough. When he became Pastor of the Village Church several years ago, I would listen to his podcast weekly on my runs, and I did so for years. I am so thankful for his boldness to speak the word of God fully and not shrink back from declaring the beautiful God-glorifying centrality of the gospel in all things. Through him, God has encouraged me (and I know so many others) countless times- you can read about another sermon that was so powerful for me four years ago in times of trial in this post here: My Baby Won’t Sleep (scroll all the way to the bottom to read about the sermon over James 1 and trials).

My husband totally made fun of me for snapping this picture…. Listen here: it’s seriously worth your time! He speaks about God’s transcendence and also imminence: that He is above us, yet among us. He talks through big issues of identity that we all struggle with- reminding us it’s not about who we are but about who He is: I AM. He powerful states that the entirety of Scripture can be summed up with the statement, “God With Us”.

7. Things the boys have enjoyed listening to:

While browsing for free read-alouds, I came across this treasure..

Journey with Story- The Tale of Three Trees. This is a great Easter (or Christmas) story. Full disclosure: I cried like a baby.

For other favorite Easter traditions, check here: Resurrection Eggs and The Gospel

For Christmas/Advent ideas for little ones, check here: The Ultimate Advent Guide for Preschoolers and Toddlers: Advent Trees, Ornaments, 25+ Activities and More

Fun kids songs:

IMG_9740-3 — Hosanna Rock- our oldest has to know this for his school presentation coming up soon. And, I just recently realized the boys sing it at church, too. It is so fun! Warning: you may dance along and also it may get stuck in your mind for weeks.

This one has been a favorite for a while for the boys. They first were introduced to it last year at Community Bible Study. It’s become a recent request again recently.

IMG_9742-3 — This is another song Caleb is working on for his spring presentation at school, and it is seriously so sweet!

8. Watching our boys learn new things:

Beginning Steps, So many new words, learning to write, pattern and rhyme, to name a few things.

IMG_8807-2 — this kid loves his “activities”

Caleb is doing so well with rhyming lately, and I am having so much fun making it a game with him. David is picking up some of it, too! #monkeyseemonkeydo

after an almost full year of being on the move (this kid crawled at 5 months!), he’s finally starting to get braver when it comes to walking! Hooray for making going to the park easier!

C, my very reluctant writer, loves practicing on the boogie board Boogie Board Magic Sketch Color LCD Writing Tablet + 4 Different Stylus and 18 Stencils for Drawing, Writing, and Tracing eWriter Ages 3+

9. Bunny Tail Jar-

You can read more about this at Happy Home Fairy. She has so many other fun things on her site!

One of the things I focused on during my break from social media was trying to organize our home some- key word: trying, lol. I randomly came across this super cute idea of a service jar and thought it would be such a fun, visual reminder for the boys to look for ways to serve one another. It kind of became more of a good behavior jar in our home this season (I just wanted to encourage obedience, kindness, service, etc). The boys got so excited to fill it to the top with “bunny tails” (cotton balls). I’m a little sad to put it away. This jar along with the chore chart we started this month have helped to make our home run a little more smoothly.

You can find some of our other Easter traditions here.

It’s super easy to make a “bunny” cake as a reward. I just used a box cake mix (because to be real, I love them) and baked it in two circle pans. I cut one as pictured above to be the two ears and bow-tie and the other circle served as the bunny face.

they really just wanted to eat all of the jelly beans

10. New Favorite Kids’ Books (that teach things…oh how I love books that teach lessons!)

First Bible Basics: A Counting Primer (Baby Believer®)

This one is a counting board book: 1 God, 2 Natures of Jesus, etc with beautiful illustrations. We got it for Ethan (16 months) for Easter.

Get Wisdom!

This book is amazing! It is set up as a little workbook with lesson suggestions in the back (a game to go with each topic, suggested questions to ask to get kids to think). It covers various areas: truthfulness, kindness, obedience, etc- I hope to do one every few days or so with the boys this summer in addition to a character chest. We got this one for Caleb (4.5) for Easter. This book is geared toward slightly older kids than ours (maybe 6-10 or so), but I think I can easily adapt it to our boys’ ages.

First Virtues (padded cover): 12 Stories for Toddlers

This one may be a new go-to gift. I love the sweet, simple stories, rhyming text and clear examples of so many character attributes. We read Kindness Kitty twice today per request of my 3 year old. Each story ends with a verse and some suggestions for parents in helping children to learn that particular trait. We are born selfish- and it can be incredibly hard to teach a child to think of others. Story-telling is such a powerful way to get children to understand things. There is just something that resonates with the soul when something is taught through the example of story instead of just a lecture. I think there was reason Jesus taught with so many parables.

We read about Patient Duck while *patiently* waiting for our Bunny Cake to cook

11. Bunk Beds

Funny story: we bought these beds when Caleb was 15 months old- about 3 years ago. We set up one (they can be two twins or bunk beds) in his room, next to his crib just in case he decided to climb out of his crib when his baby brother was born a couple months later, and we kept the other in the garage. We kept waiting for C to climb out of his crib, but he never did. So we got two cribs (best money spent!) and both boys slept in their cribs until just a week or so, ago. We actually have three cribs in our house because we were in a very similar situation when baby E came along and D being under two. No matter how much we talked up his big boy bed, C (4.5!) refused to sleep in it with out a ton of tears. We didn’t want to force him because there really wasn’t a reason to, but thankfully setting up the bunk bed did the trick. Now the boys can share a room (when they want to, which so far has been every night). I love hearing their sweet little voices talk back and forth with one another. The only downfall is they have been waking up quite a bit earlier than when they were in their own rooms. In fact, it’s been so early compared to their normal, we are contemplating moving David back to his room.

so excited to get on the top bunk for the first time!

12. First fish caught!

As much as I sometimes question if we chose the right part of town to live in, the right house, the right neighborhood (can you tell I second guess everything and it’s exhausting?!- see the Next Right Thing podcast mentioned above), I am so thankful for the ability to go fish by taking a short walk and to be able to access so many bike paths. Family bike rides are quickly becoming one of our favorite things.

C has a new obsession with worms and all things creature-like outdoors. We need to find this boy a place to hike and go searching for animals.

13. Brothers in matching shirts-

Since C is wearing 5T clothing, it’s the last time for a while all three boys will be all in the same department, so I’m taking advantage of this time by making them match as much as possible. It also makes it so much easier to spot them when we are in a big public place like a trampoline park or other big play place- I can constantly scan the crowd for the 3 boys in the shark shirt, or whatever they happen to be wearing.

14. My Laminator!

My mom got this Laminator for me for Christmas, and I finally made time to open it up and turn it on. It’s super simple to use (it even comes with some laminating pouches), and it is so much fun! I’ve had a blast making different educational activities for the boys with it, and even used it to make a simple chore chart, too.

we haven’t quite decided on the reward system, but for now we are just filling up the slots with smiley faces, thanks to an idea from a friend, and the boys love it! The hardest part for us is making sure we give them time to clean up before bed or before some other transition. We really want to teach the boys the importance of responsibility, family contribution, hard work, and stewarding their money well from a young age.

I made several options and encouraged the boys to see if they could match the pattern. They did really well!

15. When Calls the Heart-

I don’t know how I missed this entire show for so long, but I watched all 5 seasons in the past month. I just love the characters so much and so relate to teacher, Elizabeth who feels so called to be a teacher. In all honesty, it made me miss my classroom days. I love historical fiction- it has opened up my mind to a whole new era in time, and it is a fairly “pure” show and inspires people who love others well.

16. Community Bible Study-

We are studying Acts this year, and just wow. Every week I am reminded of such deep truths, perspective aligned, my heart pricked. If you haven’t heard of community bible study, it is amazing. It’s great for anyone- those who have never studied the Bible before or those who have for years. It is international, interdenominational, and just so wonderful. David loves it so much, too. The kids program is incredible, and he loves his teachers and talks about them almost daily. It is really similar to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship)- if you haven’t heard of either and are looking for a first step in getting to know God better by knowing His Word better, you should look online for a meeting near you. They are all over! I have done both, and they have both been incredible blessings.

17. Professional Pictures of the Boys

I wanted some good individual shots of each of the boys to update our frames, and the very talented Kate Miller did a wonderful job of capturing these. Trust me, it is not easy to get all of our boys to smile at the same time. We are so pleased with the way these turned out and will treasure them for years to come!

18. Some favorite purchases:

This month I got a new diaper backpack and wallet because mine were falling apart. I so often put off buying things for me, but these two items have been such simple joys!

I loved our old backpack (and it has a life time warranty, so they actually sent me a replacement!). It is bigger than this one, but a few things I love about this one more: the separate compartment to store diapers, and most of all the side areas that can either hold wipes or drinks! Even my travel coffee mug fits! I can fit two of the boys’ cups in one side, too.

This is the link to our old, much larger backpack:

Bag Nation Diaper Bag Backpack with Stroller Straps, Changing Pad and Sundry Bag – Grey– I love that this one is big enough to have 3 kids in diapers, and they have amazing customer service and will replace your bag for free- life time warranty!! We waited to potty train (after failing with C the first time around) until E was about 6 months old. D was 27 months old and C was 3 months away from 4, but it worked the second time around. I’m so thankful that we don’t have to carry diapers for all three now! If you’re curious how we tackled potty training two at once, you can read about it here:

The Ultimate Guide to Potty Training: A Failure turned Success and Persevering when things don’t go your way

This time around, I was looking for these things:

a backpack that was gray/stylish
that it had clips that could clip on to the back of a stroller or shopping cart
a place for wallet, phone and keys with a zipper
a clear area for diapers and another place I could put snacks/clothes
a place for wipes
a side pocket for drinks (our other backpack didn’t have this so occasionally the boys’ drinks would leak over everything and drive me crazy!)

This bag was one of many I considered. There are so many options out there. I didn’t really care about the name brand- I just wanted a bag that looked good and was functional/practical. It was one of the only ones I could find in our price range that had all of my criteria above.

Diaper Bag Backpack

I love my wallet! It was so cheap, and I may need to replace it in a couple years, but I love the color, the fact that it can hold my phone, has a wrist strap so I can just carry it in to a store if I need to, and it has plenty of slots for cards.

This one is similar- for some reason I can’t find the link to the specific one I bought:

Lavemi Women’s RFID Blocking Real Leather Zip Around Wallet Clutch Large Travel Purse Wristlet

Another favorite organizational purchase this month was these new Divided Containers that make packing a lunch for our weekly picnic at the park so much easier! I had been bringing plastic sacks full of ziplock baggies and paper plates for the boys to set their food on. This works so much better, and eliminates a lot of waste!

If you look closely, you can see the boys have these fun little Animal Food Tooth Picks/fork toothpicks to eat with. Sometimes if you have a picky eater, handing him one of these little cute forks will do the trick!

Last fun discovery this month was the clothing website: Jane! I finally was brave enough to order some clothes online. My wardrobe had gotten quite sad after nearly 5 straight years of being pregnant and/or breastfeeding and all the weight fluctuations that came with that. Bryan was gracious and encouraged me to pick out a few things, but my favorite is this black maxi dress with pockets of course!

It’s only 14.99 (+ shipping) and comes in so many fun colors! I love that you can dress it up or down depending on how you choose to accessorize with jewelry, jacket and shoes.

I love it!

And I think that’s a wrap!

After taking a break from social media, I’ve decided how much I love not feeling the need to post things often and be constantly connected to my phone- the pull to choose the digital world over the real one with three pairs of sticky hands and tons of needs is sometimes such a strong one, one that is too hard for me to resist. I found myself so often choosing my phone over the little people in front of me. In an effort to create some boundaries, I’ve decided to start doing these monthly round-up posts of favorite things. They will include all sorts of random things, lessons- thoughts I may have chosen to “story” before on instagram, but now I’m choosing to hold off, and wait to post once a month instead of several times a day. I had fallen into the trap of feeling like I needed to document my days, in an effort to encourage others, yes, but also in some way in an effort to justify that the way I spend my time is valuable- that it has some meaning or significance. I may “story” from time to time, and plan on checking in on social media a few times a month because there are some parts of it that I love- I love staying connected with old friends (and all the good things I talked about here: Why I’m Going on a Social Media Fast) But, here’s to trying to find a little balance by having some boundaries. If you’d like to follow along, I would be so very honored if you would subscribe here.