What's Up Wednesday 2.24.16

Happy Wednesday!!!  Here is What's Up in the Bauer household!

 

What we're eating this week: On our menu is taco pie, pizza bread, and crockpot potatoes and ham.  Then lots of good food out this weekend in Kansas City!

What I'm reminiscing about.... Having my sweet babies at work with me when they were little.  I miss baby snuggles all through the day!  (I also miss the days when Aria would keep a bow in her hair! lol)

What I'm loving: We've had some crazy warm weather lately, so we've been playing outside as much as possible!  I'm sure spring is not here to stay, but we am getting fresh air while we can! 

We also had a fun night on Saturday at a party for friends who are moving.  She actually was my first college roomate, and we both ended up in Harper of all places!  The picture below is of our girls who are only a month apart and look like they could be twins!  It was such a great get together (with authentic Mexican food brought in-yum!) and the weather was perfect.  It left us itching to plan something similar soon!   

What we've been up to:  We had our annual soup fundraiser meal for the preschool, so I was busy making pies and soup this weekend.  The students sang a few songs during the service and it was the cutest thing ever.  Lyle was up there singing proudly with his class and I was so proud of him!  We could barely get him to stand on the stage during the Christmas program for church, so this was a huge improvement!  I am so thankful for our preschool!

 

What I'm dreading.... packing for this weekend.  Why does it take so long???

What I'm working on.... I'm going to try to implement the 1-touch rule at our house. (I found it on Pinterest, go figure! :) )  For example: You bring your coat in and throw it on the table, then move it to the chair to set the table for supper, then finally hang it on the rack when you need to sit down (took 3 touches to get it to it's place).  Instead you put it on the rack where it goes in the first place (only 1 touch).  I am so guilty of just putting things down, and the house gets cluttered soooo fast!  The other rule I heard that goes along the same lines, is if it takes less than 5 minutes...do it now (put the dishes in the dishwasher, the kid's clothes in their drawers, etc.)  Here's to hoping it helps!

What I'm excited about.... We will make our final payment this month, then we are all booked for our vacation to Cancun in September!  We have a cousin getting married down there and we cannot wait to go celebrate with everyone!  It's a long ways off but I love having a trip to look forward to!

What I'm watching/reading...

Watching: A few things on our DVR: Castle, Top Chef, Scorpion, The Bachelor, Big Bang Theory, New Girl, Agent Carter, Pretty Little Liars, and a million Zach shows ;)

Reading:  First, I feel like I should tell you about the reading challenge I am doing, in case some of my book choices seem odd.  I tend to read the same type of books all the time, and so when Kodi sent a list of 50 different categories of books to read I was all in!  We have shared our list on google docs so we can look at the books everyone read and see what they liked.  Here is the list (and link) for this year if you are interested! 

 

So right now I am reading Jane Eyre(I've never read it before, and meets the category at least 100 years older than me) and listening to The Elite by Kiera Cass (romance set in the future or dystopian novel-second in the series). 

 

What I'm listening to... Well I've been listening to my book when I'm in the car most of the time, but I love listening to the Bobby Bones Show on Iheartradio in the mornings while I am getting ready.  Their morning show is on the radio station, but you can listened to archived shows on the app.  I love it because there are no commercials (even if I'm a day behind).  I'm always laughing and that makes for a good start to the morning!

What I'm wearing... My converse and my military jacket are probably the most worn items in my closet right now.  They are great transition pieces! 

I also just got this new shirt.  I love that it is long enough to wear with leggings, but also looks cute tucked in with jeans.  I got the burgandy color.

link

What I'm doing this weekend...  We are headed to Kansas City for the weekend!  My sis-in-law is having a real birthday (she's a leap year baby), so we are going to celebrate!  We have plans to go to the T-Rex cafe (when I told Lyle he screamed and gave me a huge hug! lol), go swimming, and just hang out and have fun!  The last time we went, Lyle was about the same age as Aria.  Look how little he was!!

What I'm looking forward to next month... Family visisting!  Woo-hoo!

What else is new.... We have a climbing master on our hands.  And a bit of a drama queen.  Heaven help us.

Life is good and we are blessed.

Weekend Recap: Valentine's Edition

We had such a fun week and weekend celebrating Valentine's Day!  I am so grateful that I have these people to love!!!

 

The kid's had their Valentine's party at daycare on Wednesday and got to wear their jammies.

 

 

 Lyle is OBSESSED with dinosaurs right now, so when I found these on Pinterest I knew they would be perfect.  He giggled when I read them to him.  I printed the cards off, and ordered a box of these mini dinosaurs on Amazon, and just taped them on.  Lyle also got to have his preschool party on Thursday, and took these for all of his classmates too.

 

 

 Aria would eat 5 of these applesauce pouches if you let her in one sitting, so I thought these were so cute for her!

 

 

Zach got this sign for me from Magnolia Market (we both noticed it on an episode of Fixer Upper).  It is cut out metal and we hung it up in our bedroom.  I absolutely love it!!!!

 

 

Friday night we headed out to Zach's parent's house to celebrate Papa's birthday.

 

 

Always willing to help blow out some birthday candles.

 

 

Aria is quite proud that she can climb the steps to her slide and go down all by herself! 

 

 

After reading one of my devotions this last week, I tried really hard to be present with my kids this weekend instead of trying to get everything done.  We had some great time playing, and even got to go to lunch and play with Grandaddy for a bit!

 

 

My little loves ready for church.

 

 

 

Our local bowling alley just reopened, so we joined some friends on Sunday night for a game of bowling and burgers.  It was so much fun!  Other than being paranoid little fingers were going to get smashed in the ball rack...anyone else terrified of that??  It was all Aria wanted to do!! So she ended up being held most of the night. (Not her favorite thing...)

 

 

 

 

She would clap everytime for us!!

 

 

Morning bible reading and prayer with my little man.

 

 

Zach and I headed to Wichita on Monday to celebrate Valentine's Day (I had the day off for President's Day).  It was such a fun day to spend together.  We saw a movie, got pedicures, hit up Target, and went to Sumo: my favorite Hibachi grill for supper.  (By the way...hibachi is much more fun with a table full of your family instead of strangers! lol  But the food was sooo worth the akwardness!)

 

 

Aria got to go to the zoo on a field trip with daycare on Monday.  Poor Lyle had a pretty croupy cough so he headed out to Grammy's instead.

 

 

Apparantely Aria thought the animals were hilarious and would wave and laugh everytime they came by!

 

 

 

 

 

Show and Tell Tuesday: Pinterest Favorites

It's Show and Tell Tuesday and I am on time people.  Let's throw a party shall we??  I'm sure we can find lost of inspiration on Pinterest!  HAH! 

 

I love Pinterest.  Where else can you find a recipe for the potluck this weekend, a list of 100 things to keep your toddler busy, and complete inspiration for planning a birthday party all in one place??  Even though I love doing crafts, baking, etc. I have never been good at coming up with ideas on my own.  But give me pictures or directions and I am golden! 

Of course not all projects turn out like their inspiration..... (just search "nailed it" on Pinterest and you will die laughing!)

I am always pinning recipes, and lately I got smart and seperated them into different boards so I can actually find what I'm looking for!  Honestly I tend to make a lot more of the snacks/desserts recipes I pin, but here are a few of the successful ones I've found!

Ranch chicken (Recipe) (This is a pretty basic recipe, but always a good one!  We don't usually have corn flakes at home so I substitute whatever cereal/crackers we have.  Crispex is surprisingly good!)

Bacon wrapped smokies-such a good party food! (Recipe)

Dessert: Crunchy Peanut Butter Party Mix (Recipe)
Hot Cocoa Cookies (Recipe)
Cinnamon Bun Popcorn (Recipe)

Pinterest has taught me great travel tricks...did you know that baby powder is great at removing sand from your skin when you are at the beach??  Or there are countless posts on tips for traveling with kids.

If only I had the time to make all of the crafts I have pinned!  There are so many cute kid's clothes, gifts, and decorations! 

A few of the crafts I tried that turned out well: burp rags(Pin) and these Coasters (Pin)

Wouldn't this be so fun to make and bring out each year for the kids!?

Felt Christmas Tree (Pin)

I also love to turn to Pinterest for inspiration when planning parties!  We had a rainbow themed birthday party for Lyle's first birthday, complete with a rainbow cake using this decorating method:

He was a lumberjack for birthday number 2 (inspiration),

and a construction worker for birthday number 3 (inspiration).

 I am already pinning away for a dinosaur birthday in the near future.  We went with a Winter ONEderland theme for Miss Aria's first (Pinterest Board).

And I can thank Pinterest for connecting me to someone who had already thought up how to make a Music Robot costume. (link to original costume) 

Now if only we would actually try 10% of the things we pinned we would be the most well dressed, craftiest, professional chefs in the world! 

Anyone have any tried and true Pinterest finds??? Or head over to the link up to read everyone else's favorites!

Show and Tell Tuesday: About Me and Resolutions

Show and Tell Tuesday.  Yes, I realize that I am an entire month late!  In all honestly I'm not sure I will ever be on time with these topics, but my goal is to get through them in a year.  It should be fun to have a few different things to talk about! 

Today's topic is: tell us a little about yourself, including any resolutions you have made.

So a little about me.  Which I'm sure won't be news to my lovely readers (i.e. my family!)

I am Kim....

I am second to youngest out of five children.

I grew up in a small town in Kansas (moving there from Texas when I was four).  I went to our local high school, and was involved in a lot of music: band (I played clarinet through my sophomore year), choir, musicals, and our school's elite Singers group.  Some of my best memories were from Singers-Variety Shows, madrigal dinners, singing valentines, and a singing competition/skiing trip to Brekenridge.  I also ran cross-country my senior year.  High School was a fun time and I loved being in a small town and was able to be involved in a lot of things.  I also loved being a part of our church and youth group.

After high school I went to Hesston College (in the same town I was from).  It is a small two-year Mennonite college, and I graduated after two awesome, HARD years with my RN degree.  I made some of my best friends there and it was such a amazing time.

I lived in Wichita for two years and worked at a big hospital before getting married and moving to my husband's hometown. 

On one of our first dates

I am a wife to Zach.  We have been married for 6 awesome years.  He works in town at a local business that makes various farm equipment, bale beds, mowers, etc.  He does IT for them and works in the service department.  He also recently started a seed business and they sell guns out of their store. 

I am a mom to Lyle who is three years old (a sweet, silly, and smart little boy!)

and Mom to Aria who is one year old (a busy, ornery, and fun-loving little girl!)

We live in a small town in Kansas (population about 1,500)

I now work at the local health department.  I love taking care of people, and have loved the relationships I have formed with the families we serve.  I give a lot of shots, educate about nutrition, breastfeeding, and healthy pregnancies, do disease investigations, and address anything else that walks through the door. 

Here are my 2016 Goals

-Make labels for the quilts I have made.  I have had so much fun making quilts for my neices, nephew, and kids.  I never labeled any of them, so I'd like to work something up to put on each one (who it was for, who made it, when, etc.)

-Finish Aria's quilt.  Poor Aria is already a year old and I haven't finished her quilt yet.  I have about three blocks done...that's better than nothing, right???

-Meal Plan and stick to our grocery budget.  Meal planning helps our family eat so much healthier and cheaper!

-Fill out 365 question book with Lyle.  I received this book last year for Christmas, and it is such a fun idea!  Each day has a question to ask your child, and there are spots for three years, so you can see how their answers change!  He was a bit young for it last year, but I'm hoping to work it into our bedtime routine.

-Make project list for our house and cross something off every month.  Like put up actual blinds in our master bathroom instead of a paint drop cloth pinned up.  (I do not even notice it, but it is ridiculous we haven't fixed it before now.)

-Finish thank-you note kit.  The idea is to write a thank-you note every week to someone in your life.  I don't count sending thank-you notes for gifts/birthdays, but try to think of other people who I would like to thank.  I sent some this last year, but would like to get the rest of them sent.  It's amazing what a small card and thank you can do to brighten someone's day!

-Use everydollar budget.  This is a great app I have found for budgeting and it has helped a ton so far!  I'm hoping to stay consistent with it this year.

-Hit 8,000 steps consistently and be able to increase my daily goal.  I am not at a point in my life at the moment where I have the energy or desire to commit to a workout program.  I wear a fitbit so I'm going to make hitting my steps my goal throughout the day (maybe taking a short 10 minute walk at work a time or two a day).