Today is this guy's birthday!  If I told you how old he is, you wouldn't believe me. He seems young in body, mind, and spirit to all of us :) We celebrated him with a wonderful, tasty lunch yesterday, and I hope he gets to relax and enjoy this rainy day before us.  Happy birthday, Daddy! We love you! Thanks for setting the husband/daddy bar pretty darn high! 

It's amazing what changing several pillows, moving a piece of furniture, and hanging a couple of things on the wall can do to a room.  Over a year later, and this room is finally coming together! Before -- After -- Today, I'm thankful for the smile that appears on my face every time I walk in the living room :) Also, I'm thankful for the endless amount of fun this box the pillows came in has afforded my children all day long!

Sweetness from Joy Rawlins on Vimeo .

Earlier in the week, I called my parents and invited them to join the kids and me for dinner Saturday evening while The Husband worked. I have a two-week meal plan already set up, so I knew what I was making ahead of time, and I was pretty excited to prepare it because I've only made it once before, and it turned out yummy that first time. I doubled the recipe this time to feed three adults and two little ones and to have enough left over for another meal.  I made this up (although I'm sure I'm not the first one to come up with this recipe or something really similar), so the measurements aren't precise. Here's the recipe, with pictures, if you'd like to try it out. It's super easy! Pizza Casserole Ingredients: ~2 cans of crescent rolls (16 total) ~1 jar (45 ounces) of the pasta sauce of your choice (I used fresh mushroom, and I've used the same jar for making this dish twice and still had enough left over for a third dish) ~1 large...

I've written before that Jack and I have art/learning time together each morning while Ella has room time. I thought I would give a few more details explaining what we do exactly during those 30-45 minutes after breakfast. We usually read a chapter out of the Jesus Storybook Bible with Ella before she goes to play, but sometimes, I read it just to him after learning time is over.  Then, I start off "the lesson" by showing him this board and singing the "Days of the Week" song (sung to the tune of "Oh My Darling, Clementine") while pointing to each day.  "There are seven days,  There are seven days,  There are seven days in a week. There are seven days,  There are seven days,  There are seven days in a week. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.  Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday." Then, I sing the "Today is ________" song (sung to the tune of ...

Good morning, Mommy's blog readers!  It is, I, Jack, coming to you from the time-out steps where I'm currently serving time.  I wanted to wish my amazing grandparents a very happy Grandparents' Day! During room-time, I did a little finger painting for you, that I hope you'll like.  I still don't know why Mommy wasn't thrilled that I used the whole bottle of lavender vanilla lotion I found on top of my changing table. The bottle that was so far back, I needed to climb up a few drawers to reach it.  She was even less thrilled when she saw I had tried out my artistry on the rug, the floor, the furniture, my toys, my stuffed animals, myself. I was feeling super creative this morning, and when that feeling hits, you've just gotta run with it, right? Well, that feeling landed me in time-out with a pretty sore bottom, but I'm still feeling pretty pleased with myself and my creation even though Mommy spent 30 minutes trying to make it disappear. There's stil...

I labored with these two to get a decent picture of them together  today.  Didn't happen. 

A little over a week ago, The Husband started feeling bad. Achy, fever, cough, sneezing, congestion, sore throat, and stuffy ears. He missed work because he felt so bad and went to the doctor twice once it turned into a sinus infection.  Then, on Wednesday, Jack started running fever and exhibiting the same symptoms. He spent one night in our room because the coughing was so bad, and it kept waking Ella. He's on the mend. The upside is, that after listening to and watching his daddy blow his nose so often, Jack learned how to blow his. :) Ella began feeling poorly on Friday. Friday night was AWFUL. It started before bed, so I should I have known there would be issues. The intense crying started before 11. I tried to comfort her to no avail. We moved her to our room, so Jack could get some rest. He was the only one who achieved that coveted goal. I didn't get to sleep until after 2am because she just couldn't get comfortable. Every time we put her back down, she cried so...