A Muddy Life And Momma Time

Good drizzly morning to all! Raise your hand if you're over the wet weather? ::raises both hands:: 

Can we get some sunshine a up in here?! My Suburban's black carpet is pretty much brown from all the mud. I stopped by to see my dad and swore to him my car doesn't normally look like that. Hopefully he believed me. I even dreamt Caleb told me to go pick out a new car. Can you tell I really hate for my car to be filthy? It's awful to not have cement to park on. One day. Hopefully one day soon. Lol! The house is a LITTLE easier to keep demuddified (I think I made that word up). I have the kids (ahem, the boys) strip down at the back door and they have a special "muddy basket" that we put the muddy clothes in. Is it normal to have so many mud-caked clothes that you have a designated laundry hamper for it? 

Just a regular day after playing. Want to ask me again how well the homemade laundry detergent works? Have you made yours yet? You need to!

Today my best friend, Laura, is coming over!!! I'm super excited about that. Sometimes as mommas it's hard to schedule time with our friends. We are always planning sleepovers and get togethers for the kids, all the while moms like to hang with their friends too! I'm not one to feel that if I don't get a day away from the kids I'm going to lose it, I'm quite accustomed to the chaos, but I do miss adult conversation. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all the fun conversations about Legos and American Girl dolls, but Momma needs to be able to laugh about life with her friends once in a while! It's good for us!

My bestest friend, LO. The one who reminds me to tone my crazy down before people start to notice. 

Something that Laura and I do to be able to spend time together, even when life is crazy busy, is to hang out on Wednesday evenings before church. Even though we don't go to the same church together anymore, we still go to bible study together. We hold each other accountable and make sure we stay tuned in. After she picks her crew up from school (she has 4), they come straight to my house and we get the fun started. We let the kids run around like wild Indians while we sit around and cackle like hens. We laugh about EVERYTHING and I LOVE it. Yep, you guessed it, and the kids get muddy. 

Last time Caleb had to go get them from the back forty. They couldn't hear two mommas yelling for their kids to come in?! Now we know to call them in WAY in advance so they'll have time to clean up before its time to leave for bible study. 

"Y'all get all that mud stomped off before you go into church!" 

I challenge you to pick up the phone and call or text your friends and make your own momma friend time! Don't put it off, do it today! You know they'd love to see you and we could all use the laughter. Plan to meet up one morning at the coffee shop and chat a while, have lunch together, meet and walk a few laps around the park before grocery shopping, get pedicures together, take a stroll through the downtown shoppes before its time to pick kids up from school or just meet up with all the kids and eat McDonald's for supper. Just roll with the punches and make it happen! Happy moms are better moms! Remember that. 

So what will you be doing today? After schooling the RCC Gang and doing some muddy laundry, I'll working on my laugh lines and belly laughing with LO. Sounds like a pretty good day to me! 

Happy hump day!

❤️Jenn

Cooped Up Crafts!

Yay! It's Friday! Moms are like, "And?" Lol! Friday is just another day like all the fabulous others. Mommas don't get weekends off!

With all this cold weather we've been having, all I have wanted to do is sit in my chair, watch the fire and cook. I have made some pretty scrumptious meals! Cold weather is cooking weather! 

Soups are something I really love to cook. They go far when you have a big crew and they're easy to reheat and serve as leftovers. If we don't eat it all for supper, bet we will have it for lunch the next day. Sorry, family. Lol! Also, I like feeding my kids vegetables and they're more inclined to eat vegetables if they're in a soup. 

I have really been making an effort to incorporate more fruits and vegetables with our meals. No matter what we have, I add a vegetable side with it. The kiddos may not like it, but they HAVE to try one bite. Then if they don't like it, I don't make them eat it. But you have to try it before you say you don't like it! Momma said so!

Cold weather also brings bored, cooped up kids. We don't do video games around here, so on days with bad weather, sometimes we like to do crafts. I keep a few blank canvases and things my kids can make for occasions like this. You can pick up a package of canvases, a few small bottles of acrylic paint and some brushes on your next grocery shopping trip to Walmart for less than $10. 

Rylie Cole saw a painting of an elephant and fell in love with it! She did a pretty good job at replicating it. 

Another good thing to buy to have on hand is yarn. Recently I was given a HUGE sack of yarn (Thanks, Terri!) and we have been using it like crazy. My thing is pom poms, and the kids like making them. They have made a big fuzzy rainbow pile of them for me (child labor for the win!) and then we will make stuff out of them.  The kids really enjoy making God's eyes. They have made them and hung them up throughout the house. It's a good way to pass the time on days when it's yucky out and it's SO much better than planting them in front of the television. Can I get an amen up in here?! It's a quiet activity they can do on their own and they're always so proud when they finish one. 

Here's an example of a kids' God's eye craft via Pinterest

Our most recent pom pom project was pom pom branches for our St. Patrick's Day mantle. 

If you would like to make your own and don't already have a pom pom maker, here is a link you may be interested in:

http://pinterest.com/pin/166633254932962998/

There are loads of whimsical yarn ideas on Pinterest. Here are a few you may like to incorporate into your own decor!

OBVIOUSLY I'm a girl who loves color, but not all yarn crafts have to be funky and colorful. You can choose whatever colors you like; there are still just as many pretty things to be made!

I hope you got some good ideas for keeping the kiddos, and yourself, occupied on bad weather days! Y'all enjoy your weekend!

❤️ Jennifer 

Potty Training In A Pirate Movie

Hey, hey, dolls! Happy Fri-YAY! The blog has gotten 3,000 reads! Thank y'all for reading about my messy, crazy, fun, kid-filled life!!! Without my readers, why blog? So thank y'all so very much!!! Much love to ya! To celebrate, I'm going to give away a Valentine bunting, made by moi, to one lucky reader. Ooh la la! To enter, comment on the blog and I'll draw a name and post the winner!

I really love doing the blog and I love to connect with other mommas. Coming up soon, I'm going to have my BFFs, Laura Oglesby and Billie-Jo Carpenter, do a guest post. They're entertaining and hilarious moms with litters of kids of their own. We are going to share some of our funniest, mom moments with y'all. 

To get us started, here's on of my faves. (In my Sophia from the Golden Girls voice) Picture it, my mother-in-law and I are sitting at the show, watching Pirates of the Carribean, and we had Rylie (who was in the middle of potty training) and baby Rowdy. We are totally into the show and suddenly we hear something. Like water running. We look around, confused, and try to figure out what the noise is. Where is it coming from?! My heart stops. So does the noise. Rylie had taken off her pants and peed right there in the theater. Oh, Mylanta! I was mortified! I grabbed her up and ran to the bathroom so fast. Just a tad too late, huh? I cleaned up the mess the best I could, but the theater was sloped and the pee was running down to the front of the theater. (Pick your feet up, y'all!) It was awful. The books don't teach you this kind of stuff! You learn this from ex-PEE-rience. To this day, I hope and pray she didn't get pee on anybody's purse. 

Can you relate?! Tell me I'm not the only one!! Lol! Being a mom is totes hard sometimes and you need friends who are in the same boat as you. Having my friends to share parenting failures and victories with is extremely important me. You're not the only one! You're not alone. My life was DULL before the babes came along! They make my heart full and I thoroughly enjoy the circus I've been blessed with! Sometimes Caleb and I look at each other and just laugh at all of this. I know it sounds cheesy, but I am living the life I always wanted. It wouldn't be interesting if everything was perfect!

Comment and let me know what you want to see on the blog and I'll get it on here! Don't hold back! If you have questions you'd like to ask or stories you'd like to share, don't be shy! Send them to me! I'd love to talk with y'all! And if you know someone who'd enjoy the blog, please send them my way! 

Enjoy your weekend! Don't forget to love your chaos. It won't be like this for long. 

❤️ Jenn

Laundry Detergent Recipe, Take 2!

Y'all! I had a WHOLE post typed up this morning and I deleted it. Grrrr! Second time's the charm. Here we go!

Last night the RCC Gang and I made a new batch of laundry detergent. I have made it a few other times and I have been extremely pleased with the outcome each time. The recipe I used this time is one I got from Amberly Houser at Hurricane Houser blog. 

Here is the recipe!

*1 box of Borax

*1 box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

*2 cups of baking soda

*3 bars of Fels Naptha (my store was out so I got Zote)

*5 pounds of Oxi Clean (you can use a generic to save more money)

*3 13.2oz bottles of Downy Unstobbales in-wash scent booster (I got a huge 36.2oz bottle at Sam's for $14.62) (you can use Gain or Purex too - the RCC Gang voted on the blue Downy. Majority rules. This time.)

Note: I used more Downy than required and my laundry still didn't have as much scent as I like. Next time I will just add some to each load to ensure enough gets in there. We like our clothes to smell goooood!

Gather your supplies. You will need a large container to store the detergent in. (I got a large glass cookie jar at Walmart a few years ago for around 10 bucks.)

A food processor, a knife, 2 trash bags, and if you have little helpers like mine, a referee shirt and a whistle. Possibly a Billy club if it gets out of control. 

Cut the bars of soap into small chunks and place into food processor with a scoop of Oxi so that your blades won't gunk up and get sticky. (Great tip, Amberly!) You will need to do a little a time to be sure it gets thoroughly ground. I have used my cheese grater before, but you could end up with undissolved chunks on your laundry. You want it to be ground into a fine powder. 

Already looks like Tide, huh?

After you have processed each small batch, dump it into a trash bag that is doubled with another trash bag incase one gets a hole in it. After all the bars of soap are chopped, dump in the remaining ingredients. Tightly hold the opening of the bags closed and roll it around on the carpet, gently. You do not want to have to clean up that mess! Once it is all combined, dump it into the jar you have chosen. (Yes, I still used the trash bags after I was done. No need to waste. Save that money, y'all!)  It only takes a small (2 tablespoon) scoop for each load. I used an old scoop I had, but there is a silver 2T coffee scoop at Walmart in the kitchen utensil aisle for a buck or two. 

Not including the optional Downy, I spent $21. This batch will last months and months. Possibly all year. And I do A LOT of laundry, y'all. I had gotten into the habit of buying a small ($5) bag of Tide Pods and a bottle of Downy ($4) each week instead of buying in bulk. I was spending around $30 for a one month supply. 

People have asked me before if it really works as well as I say it does. Well, have y'all SEEN my family?! These cats get dirty. Not just regular dirty. I'm talkin' super extreme country folk DIRTY. Their clothes always come out clean and fresh. I'd say it cleans just as well as, if not better, than Tide Pods. For tough stains I still spray on some Spray and Wash or something, just to be safe. 

So, for $21, you can make a HUGE batch of unscented detergent and just buy the in-wash scent boosters or fabric softener of your choice and save quite a bit of money. And with all that dinero you'll be saving, make a quick trip through the jewelry section and getcha a new pair of earrings or a cute necklace next time you hit the grocery store. You deserve it for all that laundry you've been doing! 

I hope y'all enjoy the recipe! 

❤️ Jenn

New Year, Same Fun Life!

Hey, y'all! Week one of 2015 down! Let me fill y'all in on what's been going on in my neck of the woods:

My baby twerks when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse comes on. [Oh, lawd.]

Caleb has got to be home a lot, lot more! Praise Jesus! Basically, on top of my other everyday chores, I am now the official Lego judge. That's what Caleb and the kiddos have done all day, build extremely intricate vehicles and ask who's is better. I dig it. 

I have already started saving money for 2K15 (one of my many resolutions). What, what!!

I've gotten to see my BFFs quite a bit more than usual. Par-tay! 

{New Year's Eve}

I dyed my hair fairly dark with a cheapo haircolor. Seeing myself in all the NYE pictures with those HUGE roots sent me over the edge!

And, drumroll please, I decided to start back on a LCHF (low carb/high fat) "diet", because, duh, doesn't everyone and their momma try to lose weight after New Year's? I really hate to even call it a diet. I mean, I can eat bacon and cream cheese and all that jazz. Doesn't sound like a diet to me. And let's be honest, I will turn in to a ravage beast if I eat only 1200 calories a day. Ahh! I just can't get on that bandwagon. If you're considering dropping some lbs, give LCHF a try. I've been pinning some pretty drool-worthy low carb recipes that the whole fam would love on my Hot Mom Meals & Motivation board. And if you didn't notice, I had to change that board's name; It used to be called "Hot Mom 2014". Scratch that! Missed out on 2014. Lol! So it's renamed. By the way, did I mention you get to eat bacon? 

So that's what's been shakin' over here!

Time to bathe the RCC Gang and get them to hit the hay. Thinkin' about making the trip to Sam's and Hobby Lobby tomorrow. Lord, please give me strength to not eat the pizza if we go to Sam's!!!

Night, y'all! 

❤️ Jenn

French Fries and Fancy Guys

Mornin'! It's raining, it's pouring, all 5 babes are still snoring! Watch out, Dr. Seuss, I've got some pretty impressive rhyming skills. 

Last week was fabulous. One of the best ever! We went to the Galleria in Dallas to American Girl and let Rylie Cole spend her birthday money. Having my husband and two boys at that fancy, over the top place was a sight! My kids are definitely not used to seeing "fancy" guys and would do a double take every time they saw a man wearing skinny jeans or carrying a "man bag". These kids are pure country lol! 

[He drives like he is in Nascar lol!]

On the way home, we stopped at Bass Pro and saw Santa. That is one of my favorite traditions. Last time we were there, a lady had a mannequin, that she owned, sitting in a buggy and stood in line with everyone else. When it was her turn, she sat the mannequin on Santa's lap for a picture. I'm sure Santa was like, what the heck did I get myself into?! Wonder what that mannequin asked him for. 

Since Caleb found his Christmas gift early ::eye roll::, he tried them on and took them back to get the tall size. (I got him coveralls just incase y'all didn't hear.) He couldn't find any tall, so he got a refund and bought a French fry slicer. Not a little cheapo. This thing is actually for a restaurant. Obviously he really likes fries. (That's why I have the fry emoji by his name in my phone ;) ) It weighs like 76 pounds. He said he was mounting it on my kitchen wall. He better not!! It's something he has been wanting FOREVER. You should have heard his speech about it being a "good investment". He is a mess. (P.S. If you invest money, invest in Heinz ketchup, because we will be going through it like crazy now.) [You're welcome]

We also went to The North Pole of Texas and took the bambinos ice skating, too! I LOVE when Caleb is home and can go with us to do all the fun stuff. 

[Inside Santa's Workshop at The North Pole of Texas]

I'm just about finished with my Christmas shopping and while I was out shopping last week, Baby threw my phone out of the buggy and SHATTERED it. Not just a small crack. It was sharp and would cut your finger every time you'd touch it. When I picked it up, I saw the crack and was like, eh, it still works. But since I didn't have any Keplar razor-proof gloves to text with, I got a new phone. I got the iPhone 6+ and its freaking awesome. I wasn't prepared to have to buy a new phone, but I'm thankful I was able to get one. I take pictures of my kiddos on the daily. Make that hourly. The slow motion video is probably my fave. 

In not so fun news, my dryer went out. Not like it went out on the town with other appliances, like, it died. It's dead. I can't be without a dryer with a kid crew this large. So the RCC Gang and I loaded up all of our laundry and went to the laundromat and got everything done in an hour. It cost me $14, but it was well worth it. I spend so much time in my laundry room that I keep walking in there to fold some clothes and looking around and walking back out. It's so bare. And we actually have a floor in there. For a while I was starting to wonder. 

Today I have to make the drive to Walmart and get stuff for our Crawley Christmas Party that's tomorrow. I am excited! I love getting to see the family! I'm making peanut brittle, Oreo balls and buffalo chicken dip. I've never made brittle, so I sure hope it turns out! Lord knows I've had my fair share of kitchen catastrophes! By the way, did you know if you broil your meringue too long that it will actually catch on fire? Well, it will. Don't ask me how I know that.

Y'all have a fantastic Friday! 

❤️ Jennifer

10 Things About December

Good morning, y'all! 'Tis a cold one today! Brrrr! I'm sipping on my second cup of coffee and refereeing my little raccoons over Legos. Heavens to Betsy, Legos are my nemesis. The kids love them, so I deal. Most of the time. I threaten to throw the whole box in the trash almost daily. I never actually would, but they don't need to know that ;) Today I'm joining in on the Love The Here And Now 10 Things About December. Here are some of my fave things about this month! Getcha a cup of coffee, a blanket and read on. 

1) The reason for the season! My most favorite thing about December is THE reason we celebrate Christmas. Jesus' birth, y'all! Celebrating our King! It's not all about the presents and gifts. Sadly not everybody sees it this way, but don't even get me started on that. I teach my babies that presents are like a goody bag to Jesus' birthday party. The gifts are just a perk. Not the star of the show. 

2) Family time! I LOVE getting to see all of our family! I absolutely love being part of a big family. It really blows my dress up! Lol!

3) The decorations! I love the vintage, tacky, over the top, whimsical Christmas decorations. I'm very traditional, but my style is not. Give me wild and crazy! I love the glow of the Christmas tree at night. It's the perfect nightlight and it just makes ya feel good! I love going to the malls and seeing all the huge decorations!

[P.S. In case you didn't know, if you live "in town" it's a requirement to decorate the outside of your home. Brother Greg, you win at this.]

4) Holiday food! Turkey and dressing and cakes and cookies and candies and all that good stuff! Y'all know I love to get in the kitchen and rattle those pots. Desserts are my most favorite thing to make. I'm sure you can tell that by the size of my butt. 

5) Christmas parties! Every year my inlaws have the Crawley Christmas Party. We play games and swap White Elephant Gifts. It's always fun to see what you end up with. 

Tacky Sweater party 2013

6) Joy! I love hearing Christmas music while I'm shopping and I love that [most] people are so much more joyful and jolly this time of year! Don't be a Scroogey ole Grinch! Say Merry Christmas (not Happy Holidays) and spread some Christmas cheer! Just smile real big, push your buggy through the swarm of shoppers and say 'Thank you! Merry Christmas! God bless!' as you pass through. Besides, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. 

7) Caleb's birthday! My husband's birthday is on Christmas and we always try to do something special for him. It's easily overlooked with the commotion of Christmas. You know I gots to remember my boo thang, too. He will be 31 this year! 

Hot husband alert! Hey, baby, how you doin'?!

8) Building fires in our fireplace! I love having a fireplace and we use it a lot! I sit on the hearth until my back feels like it's on fire and then I stand up, cool off, and do it again. Anybody else do that? I even got me pretty little leopard print lighter to start the fires with. 

9) Christmas parades and lighted parks! The North Pole of Texas is my fave! It's literally out in the middle of nowhere. Millions of lights, free hot cocoa, a train ride, music and Santa! Y'all need to check into this place!

10) Bass Pro! Typically, I can take it or leave it. But at Christmas, Bass Pro is the bee's knees! Lots of toys for the kids to play with and beg Momma and Daddy for and FREE pictures with jolly ole Saint Nick. You can't beat free. It's quite the drive for us, but worth every mile. We usually make a day of it and talk Caleb into eating at Saltgrass while we're there. 

At Bass Pro 2012. Note to self: Don't stand in front of the huge sunny window next time. 

What are some of your favorite things about December?

❤️ Jolly Jenn

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When Your House Looks Like A Seek And Find Book

Hey, y'all! We had a fantastic Thanksgiving and the food was craze amaze, as usual. Duh. Speaking of food, I saw myself in some pictures and maybe I should work on losing some poundage. Yikes! But you know what happens every time I try and do that? I get pregnant again! Ok, I'll be happy with the way I am! ;) And plus, food is good. 

The cousin crew. Lots o' kids. 

I got a HORRIBLE case of mastitis Tuesday night. Like, the worst ever. I won't go into detail, because you'd surely lose your lunch. But I felt like death and it's a miracle I felt good enough in time for Thanksgiving. Let's be honest, Caleb would've had to roll me in on a gurney before I sat that one out. 

Rylie Cole stayed the night with Nanna Tuesday and I was DYING all Tuesday night. Y'all think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. I was planning out my will in my head. Seriously. By the way, Billie-Jo, you'd get the Cricut. I woke up Wednesday and all I did was nurse Roxie (that was like feeding a rabid banshee), change diapers whenever the kids said she was stinky and peel Cuties. When I woke up Thursday, there was orange peel everywhere. My house looks like one of those seek and find books. Ya know where everything is all jumbled up and in a mess and you have to find stuff? Yeah, that's the current condition of the Crawley Casa. And has anyone seen the remote?! So today it's laundry and lots and lots of cleaning. Yay! Just kidding, y'all. That yay was fake as all get out. 

By the way, Rylie Cole turned TEN on Wednesday! Wahoo! Nanna cooked her a big birthday breakfast and they spent the day together. I am planning on taking her to the American Girl doll store in Dallas next week as her gift from us. She's so excited. So am I! I truly cannot believe I have a ten year old. I thought my babies would always stay 2 and 3. I mean, yeah, I'll probably always have one that's 2 or 3, but some of them have to get older! ;) 

And since my house is in udder chaos, I'm sure people will be coming out of the woodwork today. Ah, yes. Someone just pulled up. Timmy. Lol. If y'all know Timmy, Caleb's crazy uncle, he is like our very own Uncle Si. Time to get crackin' and knock out some laundry. TGIF! Not really. I'm a momma and that means nothing. Deuces. 

❤️ Jennifer

Teethin & Tanksgivin

Mornin'! (Autocorrect tried to change that to Mormom. Mormon moms are so smokin' by the way. What's their secret???!) 

I was just thinking, remember back when I actually had to set an alarm on Sunday mornings? Well, now I have Roxie! I really do enjoy getting up early. So, thank you, little rooster. Teething is kicking our butts, though. She's been up whaling throughout the night. Po widdle tink tink. When babies are teething, Caleb always jokes and says he's gotta go to work just to get some rest. And if you know, he doesn't get rest while he's gone working. Teething can be that bad lol!

"Let me see, should I let Momma and Daddy sleep tonight? Nahhh!" -Roxie

::In my Madea voice:: Today is our Tanksgivin dinner at chuch. 

You could say I'm pretty pumped! 

I feel a little bit like a slacker since I didn't make a big cake. The RCC Gang wanted a fruit salad, so I went with that. But none of that canned junk. Fresh. Fruit salad, brownies, cranberry sauce and cream soda. 

Time to pop the brownies in the oven and get beautified! 

Peace, love, and hair grease. (Tell me you had to read The Outsiders in middle school, too) 

❤️ Jennifer 

My Black Friday Horror Stories

Good morning, y'all! It's been a minute! Whew! How have y'all been? Y'all loving the cold/warm weather we've been having? I was diggin' the cold. Note to self: buy more firewood. 

I just want to start off by saying, CALEB IS HOME! Yay! He got in at 6 am and may actually get to go to church with us tomorrow! Fingers crossed!

With Black Friday coming up, I thought I'd share my Black Friday horror stories with y'all. I have been twice. Crazy things happened both times. 

Picture it: Sicily, 1914. Just kidding! Do you know what show that's from? Golden Girls! Duh! But for real, picture me, a week overdue with Rylie Cole. I stay the night with my Bubba and Christy, so I can go with her and see what all the buzz is about. I was just a young, very pregnant 19-year-old girl, who wanted to experience the madness of Black Friday for myself. Now Christy is one of the professionals. She knows the deals, she has papers (I don't know what's on the papers, but it's official), she does this every year. Well, I sleep at their house, on an air mattress and I was so fat that I kept rolling off the sides. Swear. I just decided to sleep on the floor. And why didn't I get on their comfy couch?? I'm telling ya, I was crazier back then than I am today. We get up at a time that's more like a bedtime. We throw clothes on and hit Walmart. It's already crazy in there. We man out posts. I don't know what I was after, I just remember having a buggy and filling it with everything I could and then she could decide what she wanted before we checked out. There were some pretty hot deals, though. So we shop 'til we drop and go back to her house and eat and chillax for a bit. Then Nanny and I go to the mall and my sister meets us there. I go buy all these clothes at insanely good deals because I need new, bigger jeans for after I have the baby. Then it happened, I'm checking out at Body Shop (I was just buying earrings lol), and I got some PAINS. I told my sister my stomach was hurting. We found Nanny (I didn't have a cell phone back then) and told her what was up. She said we needed to go to the hospital. I told her that I needed to run in Wet Seal, and then we would go. I go and grab what I needed, write the check between contractions, and leave with my sister. Nanny runs in Academy and Felicia (my sister) is hungry. We go through Taco Bueno drive-thru. "Hee hee, hoooo!" Lol! I was in terrible pain! We get to Nanny's and I tell her I don't think I'm really in labor. Maybe I just need to go to the bathroom. Negative. There's a baby coming. We call Caleb and gather my stuff up for the hospital and we rush out the door. It's a two lane road and we can't get around this truck. I am crying and sweating and Nanny is laying on her horn and I'm thinking, please just get me to the hospital!!! We finally get past the truck and my dear sweet Nanny flips the dude the bird. Oh, Nanny, we love you lol! We get to the hospital, I have her almost immediately. My first baby and she's a big one, 9lbs 12oz. Welcome to the world, Rylie Cole! 

So that was my first crazy experience with Black Friday shopping. Want to hear my second, and very last, one? Then keep reading! 

The next time I decide to brave the cold and the crowds, it's about 6 years later. We leave the kids with Caleb and my father-in-law and my mother-in-law and I head to Longview (50 miles) around midnight. I drive us in her Tahoe and we got about 15 miles from home and decide to make a quick stop to get coffee at a gas station. Kelley goes to get the coffee and I sit in the car and wait. And wait. I get bored, so I hop out and throw away some trash that's in the car. Big mistake. I hit the door lock when I get out and it locks the car up. And it's running. Kelley comes out and I tell her what I did. We call to have someone bring us a spare key. Timmy, Caleb's crazy uncle, brings us THE WRONG KEY. Kelley rides back with him, while I stand in the gas station and wait. There's a lot of crazies out that time of night. Speaking of crazies, Kelli Berry comes in. ;)~ We chat and I tell her what I did. We laugh and she heads out shopping. I'm just hanging out in a gas station, twiddling my thumbs. Timmy and Kelley finally make it back and we get in the car and go. We make it to Longview and it's freezing!! I'm driving, so we park and kill the car, planning out our attack. We get cold. I turn the battery on and crank the heat up. We decide to hit Old Navy. I crank the car, but nothing happens. I ran the dang battery down!!! Guess who we see again? Kelli Berry. I feel like such a dummy. We get the car jumped off and hit the stores. We get nothing. I didn't think any of the deals were that grand. I obviously have no clue as to what I'm doing. Waste of time. A good story though. 

The moral of the story is, if you have a vehicle with OnStar, please subscribe to it!!! I can't live without it in mine! My kids and I lock the keys in the car on the regular. Less than $15 a month, well worth it! 

Happy weekend, y'all! 

❤️ Jennifer 

Lysol In One Hand, Coffee In The Other

Good chilly morning to y'all! I'm getting a late, slow start today. I am Zombie Mom today, but instead of wanting brains, I want coffee. Roxie has been waking up crying the past couple of nights and Cash got a tummy bug. I think Roxie's is that she's teething. Poor little Cash runs to the bathroom and gets right back to playing. Lysol is the word of the day today! 

Caleb got home at 6 am on Sunday morning and I woke up when I heard him pulling in. He went straight to bed and I got to crafting and cooking. I made a big breakfast and the RCC Gang and I went to church. I sure hope he enjoyed those few hours the house was quiet. That's rare. When we got home, I cooked a quick lunch and tried a new cornbread recipe. It was good! It's almost exactly like what the Hotlink Place makes. Here is the recipe that I used:

Cheesy Jalapeño Cornbread

2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread

2 eggs

2/3 cup of milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup chopped jalapeños 

1 can cream style corn

Preheat oven to 375*. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Grease 9x9 pan and pour in mixture. Bake until done and a golden color. 

I really love this time of year and all my special Christmas ornaments that I have accumulated over the years, and I'm sure Roxie will too, so they're staying in a box this year. I plan on making all of our ornaments that we will be using. You'd think after five kids, I'd be a pro at guarding the ornaments on the tree. I got other things to do besides be a Christmas Tree Security Guard! So homemade yarn ornaments it is! One of my fave Christmas crafts I'm doing this year is the Anthropology-inspired felt garland. I did this little bit while I was having my coffee before church yesterday. 

I've got a long way to go. If Roxie pulls this off the tree, it'll be just fine. Just wipe the slobber off and throw it back up there. We've got our tree up in a new place this year. I'm not sure that I'm going to like it, but we shall see. I'm also going to make a lot of pom pom balls to hang on the tree. 

Rylie (and Roxie) working on our tree last year. 

Next Sunday is our church's Thansgiving dinner and I plan on making a dessert. I'll be scouring Pinterest to try and find a good recipe. The thing with trying out new recipes is, they can turn out to be a flop. I have followed recipes to the T, do exactly like they said, and they turn out as a Pinterest Fail. Here is a quick, easy Banana Pudding recipe that will be sure to please your holiday guests. (Don't be alarmed by the name.)

Microwave Banana Pudding

3/4 C sugar

1/4 C flour

2 C milk

3 eggs

1 stick butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Box of vanilla wafers

2-3 bananas

Mix sugar, flour and milk in a microwave safe mixing bowl. Whisk all the lumps out and microwave for 5 minutes. Whisk while adding in the eggs and microwave for 4 minutes. Add in the stick of butter and the vanilla. Whisk until the butter is completely melted. Pour over cookies and bananas and continue layering until mixture is gone. Top with cookies. Set in refrigerator until cooled. 

Rylie saw the 'Nilla wafers at Brookshire's the other day and asked if we could get the stuff for a banana pudding so she could make it. She enjoys helping me in the kitchen. Makes me proud! 

I guess Rowdy needed to see how it's done. 

Last night I told Caleb I was going to make him a dessert and held up the box of cookies. He made a joke about instant pudding and we had a good laugh. Please don't feed your family banana pudding with instant pudding in it. Don't be that wife. Homemade is super easy and tastes a million times better. Ray Charles can see that! 

No, I don't cook "good food" while Caleb is gone working. I save the good stuff for when he comes home. The kids and I eat a lot of soups, chili and stews. We do spaghettis and things that can be eaten as leftovers. Now you may ask yourself, can't everything be eaten as leftovers? I'm sure it can, but not everything tastes good as leftovers. Cooking for your family makes a messy kitchen. Did I mention I left mine a disaster last night? Time to clean it up and get ready for school! 

What Christmas crafts are you making this year? 

What will you be cooking for your family this week?

Send me an email at calebcrawley@aol.com with your ideas!

Loads and Loads of Laundry and Thankfulness

I'm up and at 'em and filled with joy! Some people call it coffee, but whatevs. 

Let's talk about household chores. Back when I was a young bride and only had a couple of kids, I believed that my precious babies didn't need to lift a finger. EVERYTHING was Momma's job. Uh, yeah. That's changed. I put these little rascals to work now. Probably not as much as I should, but it's a huge improvement compared to "the old me". I used to stay up all night cleaning and doing laundry and other household chores. Nope. Not anymore. This house will be a bigger mess than a trunkful of coat hangers and I just flip the lights off and hit it the next day. Or the next. But you get my drift. Because if I didn't, I would go insane. Literally insane. When my house is messy, it makes me want to turn into the Hulk. There is just too many people up in this casa for it to stay spotless all the time. I put up a good fight, but nobody likes Hitler Momma who yells at all the kids 24/7. And besides, the kids don't even understand German. ::sigh:: Kids. Yes, I still make them clean their junk up. That ain't my job, yo! I would pick my living room up over and over and over and over again and then it hit me. Hey! These kids are able-bodied and full of energy. "Y'all cleanin' y'all's junk up! We don't have a maid!" Ask my kids how many times a day I say that. Maybe I should just get it as a tattoo on my bicep and when they wanna trash my house, I raise my sleeve and flex. Then they flinch and shutter in fear and scamper off with an arm full of toys because Mom means business. No, no, to the tattoo. But wouldn't that be a cool scenario? 

Caleb has been on me forever to make the kids do stuff, but I wanted to be the good mom who does everything for my kids. Yeah, letting your kids be lazy little slobs isn't going to make them better people. My husband works runs his tail in the ground working for his family. Sleeping a few hours here and there. Staying gone for days. He works hard. And I'm thankful for that. No, he doesn't come home and wash dishes and do laundry. That's my job. A woman's job. I don't get out there and change his truck tires. We have an understanding and it works for us. I've always called him a caveman. He sorta is, but he's my caveman. 

Of course, I still do all the dishes and laundry, but I make them go put theirs away. Why wasn't I doing that years ago?? Geeze, Louise! It's fabulous! We call it "taking loads". Ya know, because their daddy is a truck driver. I'll have all the laundry folded and on hangers, call them in and hand one kid socks, one kid undies. They "take that load" and come back for their hanging clothes. I still probably make it too easy on them because I group all of their clothes up. T-shirts, button ups, shorts, jeans, etc. because if I didn't, they'd just hang everything up right in the middle, and wait for it, I'd go insane. That stresses me out just thinking about a jumbled up closet. It's actually easier on everybody. They pick a shirt and some bottoms and they know where everything is. No digging through the whole closet and screaming you're out of shorts. Isn't it amazing how much more clothes you have when all the laundry is put away? I'm always like, time to buy the kids new clothes, they have NOTHING hanging in their closet. ::does laundry:: "Oh, y'all good. Look at all them clothes!" 

Now back to the good stuff. I read on my friend's blog (Western Homestead dot blogspot dot com) about glittering branches for fall and winter decorations. You could do it anytime of the year, but it looks so beautiful this time of year. I had been wanting to make a Thankful Tree and then I saw her tutorial, so why not glitter the branches of the Thankful Tree?! I followed her tutorial for the glittering and found a Mason jar and put the sticks in it. The kids and I tried to gather acorns while we were out in the back forty getting sticks, but they were all gone! Good job, squirrels! Store that food for the winter! But leave me a little, alright?! I let y'all live on my land, rent free! Help a sister out! So there's 4 acorns in the jar. I'll get more later, but I had a baby on my hip (shocker) and was getting tired of toting her around. After I put the sticks in the jar, I tied a few pieces of ribbon, lace and fabric strips around the neck of the jar. Voila! Beautiful, free decorations! 

Pay no attention to that dust, it came with the house...3 1/2 years ago... 

Then I cut some leaf shapes out of paper and people wrote what they're thankful for and we clipped them onto the branches with clothes pins. How cute is that?! 

Isn't it sweet to hear kids talk about what they're thankful for?

Y'all go check out my friend's blog and make your own Thankful Tree! After all, don't you have so much to thank God for?

❤️ Jennifer

Parties for Penny Pinchers

Hello. Yep, you read that right. Not a whole lot of enthusiasm yet, but I'm getting caffeinated, so give me time. ::sigh:: Let me see, hello! Good glorious morning! Yep, coffee is working. 

So it's supposed to be "arctic-like" today. Yikes! I try not to make wasted trips to town (unless I just REALLY need a Diet Dr Pepper with coconut cream pie flavoring), so I'm going to try and hold off on the grocery store until RCC #1 has dance this evening. Reckon they'll still have milk and bread? I sure hope they do! All you Dooms Day Preppers, leave enough for my crew, aight?! When Caleb wakes up, I'm probably going to sweet talk him into firing up the fireplace. WHY can't I keep a fire going?! Don't get me wrong, I keep HIS fire going, just not my fireplace fires. It's a skilled craft that I am not skilled in. 

Last night, we had Remmi a little party. It was so simple and super and fab. Y'all Pittsburg people know we got an awesome new store (wow, easily entertained much?) way out here where we live and, sadly, I go there nearly every single day for something. It's 1.2 miles down the road, so I don't mind making trips to it. Shout out, DG! What what! I got the majority of the stuff for her party there. 

The paper fans & tissue balls ($1-2 per pack) the plates, cups, most of the food, and even some of her gifts. 

Yep, I'm that mom. Hey, they have some good stuff and I like to take advantage of it while I can, ya dig? The stuff I got her was actually pretty cool. One of the things I got her was a porcelain tea set ($5). I'd rather walk on tacks than buy those cheap plastic toys that fall apart in kids' hands. [And for the record, no, we do not go ape and buy our kids millions of gifts that they will play with for a week and not appreciate, just for the sake of them having something to rip open. In my opinion, that is ridiculous and that causes them to not appreciate their things because there is an abundance of toys. I don't want to rob them of their childhood, I just refuse to raise ungrateful children.] Last week I decided I wanted to make Rem a pretend stove for her birthday. She likes to "cook", so I figured she'd like it. I was wrong. She loves it! Jackpot! I bought a $10 nightstand at a store downtown (Max and Zoe's-thanks, Elance!) painted it with some leftover hot pink paint, painted "burners" on the top and Caleb screwed on some wooden drawer pulls to look like knobs. I'm not 100% happy with the way it turned out, simply because Caleb was gone working and I went ahead and painted it and could not/would not cut a perfect circle hole in the top for her to have a sink. I told my friend, "Rem doesn't have Pinterest, so she doesn't even know she's missing out on a sink!" I intended on making the drawer pull down like a real oven, well y'all know I put it off until it was too late and I couldn't. But it turned out pretty great and she was thrilled! Yay, Momma and Daddy! 

I've got about $20 in this and she couldn't be happier. I got a wire rack (from DG, of course) and put it in the top drawer so it's like an oven. All her fake food and dishes go in the bottom drawer. 

I actually went to Hobby Lobby last week to buy party supplies and put a bunch of stuff back because I knew "my dollar store" had most of it. Why pay more if you don't have to??? I ended up only getting two things there. No, I don't have a fever. I just like to save a little money, especially since I don't have deep pockets. Caleb hauls cows and is self-employeed, so we are usually either eating high on the hog or barely making it. I don't like the barely making it, but we make it work. That's life. Pull up your bootstraps and get on with it. I got the tassel garland ($4.99) and some little ice cream cups ($2.99) there. I got the Happy Birthday banner on clearance at Walmart for fifty cents! I love a good deal.

She wanted a bwoo cake, I made her a bwoo cake. We had punch, cookies, Olaf's noses (carrots), snowballs (marshmallows), and Nanna brought over fried chicken with all the sides! That was just perfect! 

The birthday girl blowing out her candle. 

I pray our babies always remember how special they are to us. I saw a quote once that said, 'Children are a poor man's riches'. Hmmm. Pretty accurate, don't ya think?

Last night while I was cleaning up, Rowdy asked me if he could have something homemade. That's a pretty cool thing for an 8 year old boy to ask for. Money does not make a great life. Sometimes it makes life easier, but not necessarily better. So the moral of the story is, you don't have to spend loads of money on your child to make them feel special. It's the effort and love you put into it. 

 Stay warm and cook something hearty for your family today!

❤️ Jennifer

A slice of Banana Nut Bread with a side of fear

Helloo! ::that was in my Mrs. Doubtfire voice:: Yesterday was great and fabulous and busy. I spent it cleaning and baking. I had had a dream the other day that I got stopped by the cops for speeding. They looked inside my car and told me that since it was dirty (it's not, y'all) and I had kids, they wanted to see my house too, just to be sure it was in livable condition. The cops took my kids (remember this is ONLY a dream lol), and CPS showed up at my house and said my house was too messy to raise kids. They kept my kids!!! When I woke up, I felt weird and just wanted to clean. Ya know, just in case... ;) Well, my boys' room was actually THAT messy. Boys! But not anymore! We got it licked. 

Yay! -baby photobomb-

They have bunk beds, but sleep together most of the time. Best brothers is what they call themselves. I just love that. 

I also baked banana nut bread yesterday because I had 50 million bananas that didn't get eaten. {Also, if autocorrect could stop changed banana nut, to banana but, that'd be great.} I tripled my recipe and it made 11 loaves. We go through spells with them. One week we eat 3 pounds, the next we eat none. But I always buy them. Cheap, healthy snack! Here is my recipe and it's so easy! It doesn't mess up your whole kitchen and you only dirty up one bowl. Winning! 

I usually keep my loaf pans and reuse them since I make this so often, but I was feeling generous ['tis the season] lol. Somebody (Cash) picked the top out of a few loaves to "see what it tasted like", so I had to get creative and hide that. I dug through my baking cabinet and found these Halloween picks. Then I just ripped some fabric into strips and tied on a pretty bow. Voila! Beautiful, dahling!

Banana Nut Bread

3 ripe bananas

1/3 C melted butter

1 C sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 C all purpose flour

1 C chopped pecans 

Preheat oven to 350• Mash bananas in large mixing bowl. I melt my butter in a small glass bowl while I'm doing this. Mix in all the ingredients and pour in 3 small greased loaf pans. Bake until cooked through, usually about 70 minutes. 

Time to have me a slice! Or six. 

❤️ Jennifer