Hi friends! I know its been almost a whole year (yikes) since my last post- and I am so sorry! Life got a little chaotic around our neck of the woods last year but since it is officially a new year, I thought it would be time for a new start! This post might seem like I might be bouncing off the walls, so I hope you stick with me :) If you follow me on Instagram (@mrs_watkins723)
Last year we started the year with John gearing up for our 3rd deployment-which was somewhat of a surprise. But true military nature, always expect surprises :) To be honest, I couldn't tell you everything that we did during those months, simply because we've done so much and I honestly can't remember. But we worked really hard daily on making sure Kaden had dad around everywhere we could bring him-in pictures, books, videos, recordings and his beloved dad-doll I made him. He took that guy with us everywhere! Stores, vacations, appointments-you name it, he came. Eventually I'll share all of our activities with you!
Speaking of vacation- Kaden, Sophie and I took our first road trip! My mom flew out for my birthday and we decided to make a trip to Indiana to visit my brother and stay for the week. It was definitely worth it, I got to see some of my best friends that I haven't seen in literally 5 years and of course spend time with my brother. I was able to bring Kaden to meet his grandpa (my dad) as well as another one of is great grandmas. Truly the visit was amazing, a part of me will always be an Indiana girl at heart.
After 6 long months, we were able to welcome our Marine home with the biggest surprise I could ever pull off. Because he was attached to another unit stationed out of state, he was to arrive there and get someone from his office here to pick him up. There was no way I was going to let him get off an airplane and have the first faces from 'home' he sees be someone from work, nope-not on my watch. So I asked for some help from some of his work friends to help me arrange this, found a last minute photographer (due to last minute changes, thanks USMC ;) ) through the wonderful organization of Operation Love and pulled it off. You guys, even typing about it brings tears to my eyes. Which is funny because I actually didn't cry at this homecoming. I was so consumed with making sure we weren't going to have a toddler meltdown after waiting at the airport for almost 5 hours on no nap, making sure he doesn't have a panic attack after finally seeing his dad after 6 long months and making sure that I find John. He walked out of the airport doors, looked RIGHT at me and waved like you wave to a random stranger...stopped in his tracks and had the biggest smile on his face I have ever ever seen. Totally worth it. We came home, re-adjusted to family life-took a beach vacation...and in true military form had to handle months of out of state (and country) trainings. Man let me tell you, that was hard for our toddler.
Kaden started 'pre-school', adjusted to a big boy bed, transitioned to potty training and we are fully 150% in toddler-world. Including time outs, the endless amounts of macaroni and cheese, meltdowns because you say no, but I wouldn't want it to change in any way, life is an adventure, right? We made it through the holidays, John getting shoulder surgery which had him stay home for recovery for almost a whole month now. I'm not sure when was the last time that he was actually home this long, but we'll take it. It definitely will make for an interesting transition when he's back at work for Kaden. Virginia got the memo that it is winter indeed-apparently all in one weekend where we had over 2 feet of snow and now we're looking at 60 degree weather. But I'll take it!
As we officially dive into 2016 with the start of a new month (and the month that my baby will be THREE) we have a lot of new things coming our way for the Watkins family-and I'm excited to share them with you. I promise I'm going to try to do a better job this year-
until next time
xo
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Crazytown- Population: 2
Hi friends! It has been quite a whirlwind around these parts. We are working on getting our Christmas decorations up, getting presents ready, the house ready all while we continue our daily activities. We started our new family tradition of getting our tree! Growing up, we had both fake and real trees-but we mostly had fake ones with my mom. They were easier for us I think so they just stuck. John grew up with real trees, so we decided to carry on that idea with our own family. This year we were able to go and cut down a tree instead of picking it up from Home Depot. Don't get me wrong-those trees were fine-but this was new. We got to hunt for the perfect tree, pick it out and even support local-all wins in my book! We went to Sneads Farm in Fredericksburg and it was wonderful!
They actually were hosting a USO event that we didn't know about but got to check it out. They were providing military families with a free tree, stand, decorations, wrapping paper, lunch all sorts of wonderful things all for free! You enter into a drawing and you get your voucher emailed to you if you were picked-but we were able to still participate. It was amazing! Not to mention the farm had fresh kettle corn...and if you know me-I love my popcorn. Kaden had a blast, we have a perfect tree and all we need is for Santa to come down our chimney!
One of the great things about the Marine Corps is the friendships that we get to make. Granted we only get to stay (geographically) close for a few years at a time but with all the jobs stationed around the world (literally) you're bound to come across one another again-but if you're lucky enough to become friends with a few of these amazing people-then you get to plan a get together! One of my good friends from Twentynine Palms was here visiting family while her husband was training and we were so lucky that we got to have her and her wonderful daughter over! Kaden and Aleyna are 4 days apart and Laura and I were working together and pregnant together at the same time. It was amazing to see her and her little one. We joke that we already have our kids' marriage arranged so we'll see each other all the time. Kaden and Aleyna truly had the best time together- these pictures are about a year apart (exactly) look how big they are now!
I had some of our kickball ladies over with their little ones to decorate salt dough ornaments last week. We had lots of baked goods, coffee, kids running around playing and adult conversation-all amazing things in my book! We also had a holiday get together and bunco night the other night with the same ladies-a much needed 'mom's night out'! I'm so glad I joined this team of ladies-we all have different stories but we all have things in common and having our lifestyle- we usually have family far away so we get to 'make' our own family and that is an amazing feeling.
We have a crazy week ahead of us with Christmas fast approaching. Kaden has his LAST developmental NICU follow up!! (insert happy dance here) I can honestly say I'm not as worried about this appointment as I was the last rounds-this kid is a parrot and repeats (or tries to) every word out of your mouth. He is learning new things every day and he's growing and getting through every stage of toddler-hood we can have-all while I'm pulling my hair. But I wouldn't change it for anything-he's doing what he needs to do and I am truly grateful for it.
My mom is coming to visit! I haven't seen her since last Christmas! This is the longest gap that we've gone not seeing each other, which is weird-but I know she's excited to come and see Kaden (and me too maybe...) She's coming from the warm weather of Arizona-and we're expecting snow soon-she's in for a surprise.
So between a big appointment, my mom coming and a few play dates scattered throughout the week. We have our hands full. One thing I do want to share with you is I just received this amazing new cookbook from the Birchbox Book Club that I am a part of- Homemade Decadence by Joy the Baker. Let me tell you-it looks amazing. I can't wait to share the recipes with you! I hope to share them on a regular basis with you all because I want to make everything. SO if you're local, get in touch with me because I need to share all of these baked goods with you.
I'm going to make it my mission to be better with my posts with you all-probably starting with a delicious baked good. Until then, I'm going to go enjoy watching "The Holiday" on Lifetime and mentally prepare myself for the crazy week we have ahead of us!
They actually were hosting a USO event that we didn't know about but got to check it out. They were providing military families with a free tree, stand, decorations, wrapping paper, lunch all sorts of wonderful things all for free! You enter into a drawing and you get your voucher emailed to you if you were picked-but we were able to still participate. It was amazing! Not to mention the farm had fresh kettle corn...and if you know me-I love my popcorn. Kaden had a blast, we have a perfect tree and all we need is for Santa to come down our chimney!
One of the great things about the Marine Corps is the friendships that we get to make. Granted we only get to stay (geographically) close for a few years at a time but with all the jobs stationed around the world (literally) you're bound to come across one another again-but if you're lucky enough to become friends with a few of these amazing people-then you get to plan a get together! One of my good friends from Twentynine Palms was here visiting family while her husband was training and we were so lucky that we got to have her and her wonderful daughter over! Kaden and Aleyna are 4 days apart and Laura and I were working together and pregnant together at the same time. It was amazing to see her and her little one. We joke that we already have our kids' marriage arranged so we'll see each other all the time. Kaden and Aleyna truly had the best time together- these pictures are about a year apart (exactly) look how big they are now!
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I had some of our kickball ladies over with their little ones to decorate salt dough ornaments last week. We had lots of baked goods, coffee, kids running around playing and adult conversation-all amazing things in my book! We also had a holiday get together and bunco night the other night with the same ladies-a much needed 'mom's night out'! I'm so glad I joined this team of ladies-we all have different stories but we all have things in common and having our lifestyle- we usually have family far away so we get to 'make' our own family and that is an amazing feeling.
My mom is coming to visit! I haven't seen her since last Christmas! This is the longest gap that we've gone not seeing each other, which is weird-but I know she's excited to come and see Kaden (and me too maybe...) She's coming from the warm weather of Arizona-and we're expecting snow soon-she's in for a surprise.
So between a big appointment, my mom coming and a few play dates scattered throughout the week. We have our hands full. One thing I do want to share with you is I just received this amazing new cookbook from the Birchbox Book Club that I am a part of- Homemade Decadence by Joy the Baker. Let me tell you-it looks amazing. I can't wait to share the recipes with you! I hope to share them on a regular basis with you all because I want to make everything. SO if you're local, get in touch with me because I need to share all of these baked goods with you.
I'm going to make it my mission to be better with my posts with you all-probably starting with a delicious baked good. Until then, I'm going to go enjoy watching "The Holiday" on Lifetime and mentally prepare myself for the crazy week we have ahead of us!
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Holiday Crafting
Happy December everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and if you participated in Black Friday, I hope you got some amazing deals! I stayed in my PJ's and scored some deals online-my favorite way to shop :)
Everyone seems to either have their decorations up, or are in the process of decorating. Last winter we were moving across country, so we didn't have a chance to decorate so we are working on ours now! I'm excited to be able to with Kaden getting older so he can see everything and enjoy all the wonderful lights.
You may have seen this on Instagram or Facebook, but one of my newest crafts was our holiday chalkboard with a pompom garland-I love it.
For this project, you can get everything at Lowe's or Home Depot in one swoop.
You'll need:
Two 1x4" boards cut at 27"
Two 1x4" boards cut at 45"
The plywood backboard is 4x2'
- See more at: http://www.welivedhappilyeverafter.com/search?q=chalkboard#sthash.RrDBJHkO.dpufer
Two
1x4" boards cut at 27"
Two
1x4" boards cut at 45"
One
plywood backboard at 4x2' (make sure it is SMOOTH)
Chalkboard Paint (you can make your
own, but I already have a ready made can)
Wood screws
any paint or stain for your boarder
1. Paint your big plywood backboard with your chalkboard paint. I put about 4 coats on it to make sure it is super coated since the wood absorbed most of the first coat. Paint your boarder boards as well. I did this one afternoon to let all of them fully dry overnight before I put everything together.
2. Take your metal braces with your wood screws and connect the boarders with them. Make sure you put the braces towards the top of the boards-you will be attaching the main board to the same boarder! (I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of this while we were putting them together!) The two smaller pieces will be top and bottom and the longers on the sides (which seems pretty simple, but just to make sure we're all on the same page)
3. After the boarder is put together, place your backboard on the boarder- and you guessed it-take your wood screws and attach the board.
4. Flip it over and 'condition' your board with chalk. Rub rub and rub some more chalk on it and lightly erase it.
5. Take a step back and admire your new chalkboard!
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| I apologize for the not so great lighting...eek. |
Well there you have it my friends! Easy peasy cost effective chalkboard, just my style. I also made the pom-pom garland that went on top of the board-which I will be happily sharing with you all- so stay tuned!
xox
Two 1x4" boards cut at 27"
Two 1x4" boards cut at 45"
The plywood backboard is 4x2'
- See more at: http://www.welivedhappilyeverafter.com/search?q=chalkboard#sthash.RrDBJHkO.dpuf
Two 1x4" boards cut at 27"
Two 1x4" boards cut at 45"
The plywood backboard is 4x2'
- See more at: http://www.welivedhappilyeverafter.com/search?q=chalkboard#sthash.RrDBJHkO.dpufFriday, October 24, 2014
Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake
Every other Friday, Kaden and I head over to our local MOPS group that we joined this past late summer. If you're a mom with little ones, I highly recommend checking your local chapter out. There has been a lot of negative social media about 'mom' life and there has been a lot of moms tearing each other down. This group comes together to build each other up and provide words of encouragement to each other. Our table had to bring our breakfast/brunch items for this week's meeting and what I made turned out to be a hit (yay!) and I want to share it with all of you! I made this delicious Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake. It's as good as it sounds, I promise. The last time I made this, I was fighting off contractions right before Kaden was born, which makes me chuckle now. Well shall we get started?
To make this, you'll need:
9x13 pan (I used a foil pan since I was worried I would possibly drop this while chasing/carrying a toddler and didn't want to shatter my glass pan-but either works!)
1/4 cup margarine, melted (I used butter)
2 cans of cinnamon rolls with icing
4 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used milk instead)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1. Gather all of your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350.
2. Melt your butter and pour it in the pan.
3. Open and chop up the cinnamon rolls. The recipe I used said to cut them into 4 pieces, but I made them smaller.
4. Once both cans are chopped up and spread out evenly in the pan, combine the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla together in a bowl and pour them over the chopped rolls.
5. Pop the tray into the oven for 25-30 minutes.
6. Once they're done (resist the urge to take a bite) melt the icing that came with the rolls a little bit so it is easier to pour- and pour that sugary delicious treat over the rolls.
And there you go! It smells amazing, tastes amazing, looks amazing and is perfect with a hot cup of coffee. This doesn't take much to get together and would be perfect for the upcoming holiday with family! Happy weekend friends!
To make this, you'll need:
9x13 pan (I used a foil pan since I was worried I would possibly drop this while chasing/carrying a toddler and didn't want to shatter my glass pan-but either works!)
1/4 cup margarine, melted (I used butter)
2 cans of cinnamon rolls with icing
4 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used milk instead)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1. Gather all of your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350.
2. Melt your butter and pour it in the pan.
3. Open and chop up the cinnamon rolls. The recipe I used said to cut them into 4 pieces, but I made them smaller.
4. Once both cans are chopped up and spread out evenly in the pan, combine the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla together in a bowl and pour them over the chopped rolls.
6. Once they're done (resist the urge to take a bite) melt the icing that came with the rolls a little bit so it is easier to pour- and pour that sugary delicious treat over the rolls.
And there you go! It smells amazing, tastes amazing, looks amazing and is perfect with a hot cup of coffee. This doesn't take much to get together and would be perfect for the upcoming holiday with family! Happy weekend friends!
Monday, September 22, 2014
Prepping for the Holidays
You guys, we have less than 100 days until Christmas is here.
Less than 100.
I'll let that sink in for a minute.
I really don't want to be rushing around this year trying to get gifts for everyone especially because I am a classic procrastinator. I also have found it to be increasingly difficult to get gifts that family members actually would use-something that they would enjoy having instead of a generic gift. Now that our family includes our crazy Kaden, I think a safe gift for the grandparents would be pictures or something personalized along that line. But you can only have enough room on your shelves and walls for pictures before they're completely taking over your house right? But you can always use more magnets.
I was recently contacted by PicStick, a company that creates magnets out of your pictures to create personalized magnets. It is super easy, all you need to do is upload 9 pictures from your computer, tablet, phone, Facebook account or even from Dropbox, make sure they look fantastic and click order! It took less than a week for them to be made and sent to us. The only issue I found was if you zoom in on your pictures when you add them, it does make them grainy. Other than that, I think these are fantastic. They're easy to slip into the envelope with your holiday cards for a just because gift, or you could make a whole sheet as a gift for someone. These are 14.99 for a sheet that includes 9 magnets but I have good news!
So head on over to PicStick.com and get a little jump on your holiday gift giving! Enjoy friends-
xo
Monday, July 7, 2014
Post Holiday
Hope you all had a fantastic holiday weekend! I know we did. We were lucky enough to have John home for an extra day and a half (wahoo!) so we had some amazing family time. We unfortunately were not able to see fireworks because Kaden is in bed by 7:30 at the latest and trying to keep him awake would have been the hot mess express coming through. We did enjoy the amazing weather and spent a lot of time outside. Otterpops and all.
I was able to relax a bit on the deck and get some reading in. I actually may or may not have started and finished 2 books in one day...which is kind of crazy. I cough it up to a good napper and a good book!
I got this book for free and thought it would be a good read based off of the reviews on Amazon. I thought for free, no problem. I quickly finished it and realized it was part of a series of 5 so naturally I had to get the others. Amazon has the first 3 books for .99. Thats right-less than a dollar. Started the second book and quickly finished that one too.
I was able to relax a bit on the deck and get some reading in. I actually may or may not have started and finished 2 books in one day...which is kind of crazy. I cough it up to a good napper and a good book!
My wonderful husband got me a Kindle Fire for my birthday a year ago and I absolutely love it. I came across the website www.bookbub.com which is FREE to sign up for and you get daily emails on deals on different books. Some of the authors I know, most I don't but they have books you can download to your EReader for as low as 0.00. Thats right, free books friends. Others are discounted around .99 or 1.99.
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| Kindle version |
They're girly books, yes. But it is a nice thing to read every so often and have a good laugh. I'm working on the third book currently. Laundry took over my life this weekend (story of being a mom, right?) I recently discovered a new all natural dryer sheet solution and I'm really excited to give it a try and share with you! Here's a hint:
And if you've liked the Facebook Page you may have seen that I've started a new workout challenge! It is a mix between Pilates and Yoga, called PiYo and I can't wait to share it with you guys! Stay tuned-
xox
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