More on that later…but she is ADORABLE and already three months old!
January brought a lot of the same old same old – but we had some new fun things as well, besides that grandbaby!
We gave Eliza crocheting materials for Christmas – it was her “thing to do” gift.
She did not know how to crochet, and neither did I to be able to teach her – but that did not stop her!
You Tube to the rescue and pretty soon she was crocheting quite complicated projects and still is to this day!
I will have many more photos of all her accomplishments in the posts of the months ahead!
Tate also joined in that fun – I cannot believe what they can make!
Eliza also tries to teach Briar how to crochet – I hope we can make that happen!!
Our painting project started in January, as it was a Christmas gift to me from my hubby!
Choosing what color to actually paint was the BEST part, except maybe for my oldest girls when I texted them constantly asking their opinion on the whole thing!!
As I loaded the photos for this post I contemplated waiting until this bathroom/bedroom project was actually DONE to tell you about it…but it’s the end of April after all, ha, ha!
I will add here just for memory sake that Blake painted the bathroom first, and then our bedroom ceiling next.
We color drenched the bathroom (a fancy word from a home reno show!), but the bedroom ceiling just got a fresh coat of white.
We could not believe the difference a fresh coat of paint on our bedroom ceiling made!
Well…we recently learned that our ceilings do not actually have paint on them – just primer!
What in the world.
It makes sense when we think back to buying this home and how it all was finished in five weeks for us to move in….
We have (since learning that fact) hired someone to come in and paint all of the ceilings and the window casings which also have never been finished!
They will come for five days in June and get us all in shape – I’m so excited!!
Ok, back to our bedroom and bathroom – we painted the bathroom the same color as the shiplap that is going up in the bedroom and it is turning out FANTASTIC!!
The bathroom is finished and is beautiful!! (photos below!)
Also please notice those raw window casings in the photo below!
We celebrated Aspen Praise in January, as well as Blake and Kamryn!
Aspen is FOUR – no, I did not approve that these grandbabies grow up this fast – but no one asked me anyway!!
January marked one whole year of buying ingredients in bulk!
It is not perfect, but MUCH better than the way I was doing it before!
Our Azure pick-up day is a good day.
I buy these huge blocks of cheese from them, shred it all in my food processor, and freeze it for future use.
We also buy our cleaning supplies in bulk!
I hope I can keep doing things this way!!
I have a lot of bellies to fill around here!!
Based on these next photos, it is clear I take too many photos of our dogs!
We watch Ruby while Addie works, take care of Sadie full-time while Chad works, and of course Jazzy is our pup –
I LOVE THEM ALL!!
I ordered and received this baking book – it was expensive.
I debated about getting it for a long time!
I finally did because Tate and Eliza enjoy baking so much – so it was for them, right??
IT WAS WORTH THE MONEY, that is for sure!!
We have had a lot of fun baking from it!!
I just made a crescent roll recipe from it this week and my family was shocked at how normal they tasted!!
That is a true compliment to gluten-free baking, is it not??
Tate and Eliza’s donuts got rave reviews too!
Of course there were lots of amazing things that were made in this little ole kitchen of ours.
It never gets old!!!
So glad Tate and Eliza are enjoying cooking and baking with me!!!
My deep cleaning projects are rather random in this season of life – whenever I get an hour or two of time (which is rare!), I just jump into something and go for it.
The basement got deep cleaned, my 2024 Chatbooks were ordered and printed, my recipe binder got a huge face lift, our refrigerator gaskets got replaced, and Tate and I started working on planning our garden too!
Just asking for a friend here – anyone else wear out your refrigerator doors in a mere seven years???
Gaskets are not cheap – but our appliance were a gift to us when we moved here, so taking care of them is important to us!
School continued on in a very flexible way – we were waiting for a grandbaby, remember??
These kiddos are SO fun to teach and they literally run with everything they touch – they are so fun!!!
We gave Lane, Tate and Eliza each one of these Bibles for Christmas (their “something to read” gift) and I highly recommend them!!
I enjoy sharing things that I use over on Instagram – not so everyone thinks they need to buy everything I say is working out great for us, but so they have an opportunity to know about things that they might need!
I saw someone had bought these collapsible crates and knew I needed them.
I bought them and use them ALL the time!
They are great for taking things back and forth to my in-laws house!
The come in a pack of three on Amazon.
This is a good story.
When I run errands or go to my in-laws I will take a special helper sometimes.
One-on-one time is important!!
Well, it was Tate’s turn for that.
We jumped in the van, got to my in-laws house, and he realized he had on one of his shoes and one of Eliza’s shoes.
We laughed so hard!!
And, yes, we ran errands after our stop there and he just had to stay like this!!
Eliza’s shoe was not even on the correct foot!
Serves him right for going literally barefoot until we arrive at our destinations – crazy kid always does that!
Sundays are still the best day of the week!!!
We host the whole fam bam for lunch after church and then everyone hangs out together all afternoon!!
We serve snacks for dinner and it is just literally THE BEST.
Addie is in charge of dessert every Sunday and one Sunday she made me these grain-free brownie things – THEY WERE SO GOOD!
Then she left the whole pan here – crazy girl!!!
It was crazy cold in January, but we had some nice days too!
The weather was actually pretty mild this winter!!
Grateful for that for my in-laws sake!!!
Screenshot
Is it already time for the SKY photos??
You know what that means!
This crazy long post is almost over and next up will be news about our newest grandbaby!!
Well, good thing I finished this post – because tonight is DATE NIGHT!!!
I was promised steak at the Outback Steakhouse before being drug through going to Menards with my hubby to pick up a huge list of things!!
We have A LOT that needs done around here, as per usual with the beginning of spring!
I cannot wait to tell you about it all!
First I need to introduce you to the cutest newborn baby….
Stayed tuned until then!!!
