sweet little moments and a happy weekend

Hooray for Friday! Basically I have a million things going on in my brain so I'm going to tell y'all a little bit about everything! 

Today has been a good day. I threw out my back this week and I have had to take it really easy all week and my two littlest guys have really been feeling caged up! lol 
They needed to run off some energy so after the two big kids were dropped off at school, my husband and I took the little boys for a bike ride! Well I should clarify that my husband pulls the bike trailer, so basically I'm in charge of no one and that feels pretty nice sometimes. 9 miles later and I was exhausted. Not too shabby for someone with a hurt back. I'm feeling so much better than I was, seriously having back issues of any kind I would not wish on my enemy!

~It's been crazy around my house, but honestly I think my house just might be crazy with 4 kids and a huge German Sheppard. I've been really trying to soak in sweet little moments with my kiddos. Like this:

Ben and his babies. He carries these two stuffed animals around ALL DAY LONG. It's ridiculously sweet.


~Also, I have been incredibly annoyed with this news story. Kim Davis.  As a believer- this really makes me sad. I won't go to much more into it though. I will say this: 1 Corinthians 13:1
If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

~ Hope spoken. This video makes me want to go back so bad! I didn't buy tickets for the 2016 conference, but I really wish I would have. Maybe one day I will speak at this conference :)

~And this is what I'm looking forward to!! Rascal Flatts on Thursday. I'm so pumped.

I hope y'all have a great weekend! 

Sunshine Blogger Award

Julie at Jewels Wandering nominated me for the sunshine blogger award. I love her blog of awesome travel! Also I try MY VERY hardest to answer questions when I get nominated because the questions are fun to answer. You are really supposed to nominate 11 bloggers! Aah the pressure. I am horrible at that. And they are supposed to link back to you and you are supposed to write your own 11 questions. So I'm just going to borrow Julie's questions!  

I am going to nominate my friend Sandy at Confessions of a Sane Mama. She just started blogging and she shares some funny stuff! She and I have been friends since middle school! so crazy. 

And also Mckenna at of  Seas and Sundry I just love her heart and her writing.

Anyways- here are the q&a's.

1:  If you could be one flavor of ice cream, which one would you be and why? 

I'm not sure I would pick an actual flavor- but hook me up with a pecan mudslide from Dairy Queen any day. Salty and sweet. so good!

2:  What are your nicknames? What do you prefer to be called?

I was called "sissy" growing up. My name is so short that I really never had any nicknames, my little niece calls me "shooshi" because she couldn't pronounce sissy. lol. 

3:  What is the strangest thing you believed as a child?

I feel silly answering this, but as a teenager a very close friend of mine had me absolutely CONVINCED that there were bodies buried at the Italian American club that his dad was the president of. I still kinda believe it to this day. Italian Mafia anyone? ha ha

4:  What does high maintenance mean to you?

I would say it means putting all your effort in to your appearance and how "things" look. I am NOT high maintenance at all- lol I like to look put together but I also love top knots and sweats :)

5: What is your one constant daydream?

I really want to eventually speak at christian women's conferences. It's a big dream of mine to encourage other women in their story!

6:  What are the top three qualities that draw you into someone new?

kindness, being genuine, and also I have to like how they react and behave towards my babies. I'm a mama bear I guess :) 

7:  Do you remember your dreams? Did you dream last night?

I took a pill for my back last night so i was out cold, so no dreaming for me. But a lot of the time I do remember my dreams.

8:  What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?

coffee and letting the dog out. also Thank you Jesus for another day <3 p="">

9:  What are your best characteristics?

Patience and maybe kindness. I really believe in being kind always. always. always.

10:  Would you break the law to save a loved one?

Honestly, it would depend. On who it was and what I had to do. For my kids- definitely!

11: Any new and exciting things you would like to share?

Nothing new over here. I wish I had something awesome to share though! I will say only 2 weeks until the Balloon Fiesta and I. CAN. NOT. WAIT! My 20 month old is going to be ridiculously thrilled!

Comfort food

I'm a BIG fan of comfort food. Especially when I can tell my kiddos or husband or even myself have had a bad/hard day.  Daddy-o has been really stressed with work lately and what better way to fill up a love tank than with some yummy food!
This soup is the easiest, yummiest potato soup you can make. seriously. And all 4 of my kiddos eat it up. It only has 3 ingredients and you just have to let it simmer- and it is SO good!

3 Ingredient Potato Soup

5 pound bag potatoes (I prefer russet)

1 block cream cheese

chicken broth

additional optional toppings

bacon

shredded cheese

chives

sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

wash, peel and chop the entire 5 pound bag. Even if you have a smaller family this freezes really well for individual servings.

depending on the consistency you like, you will need 2 to 3 of these.

I use a little less than two because we like ours thick almost like a chowder. I especially like it when it has some remaining chunks of potatoes.

Let your cream cheese soften on the counter while your potatoes simmer- usually about an hour. Maybe even longer if you are really wanting thick soup.

Your soup will start like this. Simmer your potatoes, occasionally using a potato masher to mash the potatoes. Leave some chunks- trust me. you don't want it too smooth. It just tastes better this way.

After you have cooked your potatoes and you have the consistency you like, add your block of cream cheese. Use your masher the mash it into the soup. The heat will help it melt down and you can just stir it in once you get it broken apart.

* sometimes if I am feeling really crazy, I will chop two heads of broccoli and toss it in to simmer with the potatoes. I will also chop up a ham steak to toss in at the very end with the cream cheese and it changes up this soup so much. Both ways are equally delicious.*

Now it's time to serve it up. I usually give my family some rolls or even a yummy side salad goes well with this.

I have no idea why this picture will NOT turn, so y'all get an upside down spoon. LOL

YUMMY and total comfort food. Let me know if you make it, cause I wanna know how y'all like it!

Ten years later

I just celebrated my ten year High school reunion. How weird it is to say that, ten years. wow. Seeing everyone was so nice, It was a super small turnout considering there were over 700 graduates and I want to say about 70 people showed up.
It had me thinking of my life  SO much. Especially thinking about what I had done in ten years. I wouldn't say I am crazy successful, at least based on how society views success. But overall I would think in ten years my life has been wild,crazy and pretty beautiful.

In ten years I have:

-dropped out of college

-Married my very best friend

-had four amazing babies

-miscarried a baby

-moved 4 different times (not including in-town moves)

-supported a husband that has deployed to Afghanistan and spent a year in Korea- and countless times away at schools

I would say that's really not too shabby a way to have spent ten years. And honestly thinking about it, there really isn't anything I would change. Overall my life is pretty wonderful. And hearing all my old friends chat about wanting to start families and get married, made me even more thankful for how my life has turned out. It definitely hasn't been how I planned, but goodness, who's life ever turns out how they planned. And thank God it didn't turn out how I pictured.

The night was an absolute blast. I drank a few too many liquid marijuana's. Y'all those are so ridiculous, you don't even know you have had any alcohol until its too late! lol I have about a million photos from that night, but I will spare y'all from that. So here are a few highlights. and guys I totally danced to the THONG SONG!?! Who am I? ha ha ha

Look at daddy-o in the back- so serious lol

A road trip and a new baby!

It's been a CRAZY week! 

Daddy-o came home early from training, which was a huge weight off my shoulders. Also my sister was due any day and on Wednesday night my older sister and I jumped in the car sans kiddos and went to see our brand new nephew! 

Landry Thomas born on September 1st and he is pretty much the sweetest. Seriously baby fever is a real thing no matter how many kiddos you have. I joked saying I was talking my baby fever down off the cliff ;)

Y'all babies are the best ever.

I'm in Texas until Saturday morning and then I head back to go to my TEN year high school reunion. What a weird feeling!  

I feel really old. It's crazy. 

 I hope it's a good weekend! Now I'm off to snuggle a sweet little boy <3