Question.

Just a random thought swimming through my brain today so I thought I'd ask y'all...

Do you buy name brand food, or off-brand at the grocery store? {do you shop at Whole Foods or Aldi?}

For us, we always been fairly middle of the line... HyVee is generally my first choice, or while we lived in Waco we shopped at HEB. Not a big fan of WalMart and Target is a little pricey, in my opinion.

Due to budget cuts, we now get most of our groceries at Aldi, and our meat & produce I still buy at HyVee. On the very few weeks that I do all of my shopping at HyVee, I'm very specific about buying off-brand while there.

This is a new thing for my husband, as he definitely prefers name brand food. He swears they taste different, and I would agree that a few things do. Peanut Butter, Mac 'n Cheese, and coffee creamer... those are a few of the items that I buy name brand but the rest of it I could care less about.

How about you?

A milestone.

Today's the day we begin potty training.

Jaxon has been showing "ready signs" for quite a while now... asking to go potty without being asked, and wakes up dry most mornings. I almost started this a few months ago, but once we were contacted by Tyler's company about possibly moving, I obviously held off because of the upcoming transition time. Now that we're getting settled and life is slowing down, it is time.

I know everyone does it differently, so just in case you're wondering how I'm going at it, we are doing the 3 day potty training method. I'll let you know in 3 days if it really works or not, but even if it takes longer than that, my plan is to not go back to diapers at all... Jaxon even helped by throwing them away this morning and proudly saying "no more pipers (diapers)!"

I am armed with 20ish pairs of undies, the potty chair, and lots of snacks for bribery. Oh, and patience and lots of diet coke. I'm just trying to make it fun, so hopefully I can keep my cool and this can be a successful and not stressful thing.

Wish me us luck!

My week in pictures.

literally, right next door to our house, is a little cute park! to say we've spent a lot of time there would be an understatement... it's perfect!

a little sneak-peek at the project i'm working on for our playroom

cohen's first "bike" ride

this needs to win an award for cutest swim suit ever... found at babyGap of course :)

took the boys to Deanna Rose here in KC one morning with some girls from church. such a fun outing, and it's FREE! (monday-thursday)

also attended a playgroup with my SIL... lots of fun!

{the girl is my niece, Brynn, who is 6 weeks younger than Jaxon}

jax loves that cohen is old enough to stand & "play" with him now... so fun!

such a big boy...

cohen woke up with a bad rash a few days ago and we still haven't determined if it was an allergic reaction to the amoxicillan he was on for his ear infection, or if he got into something the night before while he was sitting outside with me as i picked weeds. unfortunately my boys both inherited mommy's VERY sensitive skin!

we have spent lots of time with my brother and his wife, and their kids. jaxon LOVES playing with his cousins, and thanks to their pool purchase, i foresee us swimming there a lot this summer! :)

We are headed to my parents house for the next couple days, while my hubby works some long hours at work. Looking forward to spending some time there... and the best part? It's only 2 hours away, not 12-13+ :)

Happy Thursday!

My title.

This morning I woke up with high expectations for the day. I was going to have an amazing quiet time with Jesus, sip my coffee, basque in the silence of sleeping boys... and then my day would begin. I would vacuum the entire house, wash the floors, clean the bathroom, and start a few loads of laundry. Little did I know my boys had other plans for the day.

Cohen woke up about 5 minutes into my quiet time. Jaxon was up shortly after, and both of them were as needy as ever. Literally, all morning long, Cohen had to be held. The second I'd try and put him down and distract him with toys, a fountain of real tears would spill out of his eyes. Jaxon repeatedly said to me "I pay {play} Mommy?"

I was disgusted with the way that I felt annoyed for a minute. Annoyed that my plans of being this picture-perfect housewife had been crushed by the boys wants & needs. I also found myself feeling this way from time to time the last couple weeks when I'd look around and see a house that needed unpacked & decorated, but boys that needed my attention even worse. All the sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks... my job, my "title", is a stay at home Mom. I'm not a cleaning lady or a maid. I am a Mom. My boys, not my house, not my to-do list, are my priority.

I'm the first to admit that I set too high of expectations for myself. I frequently hear my husband say "who are you trying to impress?" My answer is always "no one!" -- but in reality, I guess I'm trying to impress myself. Striving to meet this image of having it all together, and in turn I have sometimes put other things in front of my real job... to love and care for my boys and raise them as God has called me to do. It is an honor and privilege to spend my days with them, nurturing and instilling in them God-honoring principles.

I was so thankful for that sweet reminder this morning. And just in case you wondered, I spent the remainder of my morning doing this:

For in Him we live and move and have our being.

Acts 17:28

Update.

In the midst of chaos...

... being alone with the boys, while packing the house for a week

... tyler's flight being cancelled, leaving me to drive to KC alone with the

boys

... trusting my husband completely and wholly as he signed a lease on a

house without me being able to see it first

... living out of a cooler for 6 days as we quickly discovered how "reliable"

our new landlord is

... overwhelmed as i see boxes and boxes that need unpacked, but having

2 boys who need my attention even worse

... battling a high fever with Cohen (102-105degrees), plus an ear infection

... realizing that i have my hands full with a house that needs a lot of love

... a "to do" list for our landlord full of things that need fixed, including

water constantly dripping into our basement, and stair railings that

are 7 inches apart {huge safety issue with the boys}

...I am filled with joy.

... family close by

... completely content, not "wanting"

... peace, despite chaos all around

... a hard working family who would give anything to help us

... blessed to have shelter and a place to be together

... grateful for blessing after blessing

... friends that are so excited to see us and welcome us back

... a safe neighborhood with a little park next door

Life is good. We are blessed. Thankful. Grateful.

And so very happy.