Merry Christmas!!

Wow! What a wonderfully blessed Christmas my family had! So grateful for my healthy children, loving husband and generous, supportive parents, inlaws and siblings!

We spent Christmas Eve attending church with all of my husbands family as well as my sister and parents. The service was absolutely beautiful and every year they close with the congregation singing Silent Night by candlelight. My kids absolutely love it!

We then went to my in-laws house for dinner and gifts. So excited to share this special time of year with them and for there to finally be cousins to celebrate with!

Brayden (almost 13), Kambree (9), Trinity (almost 6), Hudson (4), Adalynn (18 months), Cade and Tinsley (8 months)

Santa showed up the next morning and the kids were thrilled! We spent the day filling trash bag after trash bag with wrapping paper and packages as well as assembling toys and installing batteries ;) 

After a much needed afternoon nap, my parents and sister came over for dinner and gifts. Stephen grilled chicken and steak fajitas....which were absolutely delicious!!! He makes a killer marinade! I think we might make the fajitas an annual tradition. 

My little sister, the kids call Aunt Kai, lives in California and we're grateful to have her for Christmas!

My parents and sister.

Hope you and your family had a very blessed Christmas!!

~Erin

Finally Fall!

The kids are back in their school routine. They are finishing up their 5th week of school already! Brayden started 7th grade and is busy with his first year playing football. Kambree is in 3rd grade and although she detests getting up in the morning, I think she's pretty happy once she's at school. And sweet little Trinity started Kindergarten!! ;( It was much harder for me than it was for her she loves school, her teacher and her new friends! Here they are on their first day.

 

                  She looks so tiny!

Along with the school routine, each of the kids have started the sport they chose for the fall. Brayden is really enjoying football, despite the daily practices & the heat.

Trinity is playing soccer with the same team of girls from last season and loves it! Go Little Bobcats!!

  And wild man, Hudson, is putting his rambunctious energy into baseball. He is playing with our neighbor who is "new best friend." 

Kambree is doing tumbling and cheerleading. She has done both in the past but is especially liking it this time around. She never stops practicing and works on her tumbling on the trampoline with the neighbors almost every day. She will have 4 competitions starting in December thru March. 

It's finally starting to cool down and I absolutely love the fall! Pumpkin candles, pumpkins, fall decor and baking pumpkin chocolate chip bread and muffins make me smile! I can't wait for October and chilly mornings! 

As always, our house is busy but we wouldn't have it any other way ;)

~Erin

Crazy busy!

So a few months ago I blogged about struggling with the feeling that I needed to help my husband in providing for our family of seven and reduce the immense stress upon his shoulders. Well, God has provided and my personal training and health/fitness business has been blessed! August has been a VERY busy month so far and with more new clients scheduled and the kids getting ready to go back to school, it's only going to get crazier!

I've been seeing clients in the early morning before Stephen goes in to work and then 3 nights a week after he's home. I feel so blessed to be doing something that I love and live everyday! Although I miss having time with Stephen in the evening, I have enjoyed getting out of the house after being home with the kids all day. They have come to understand that I'm going to "train" and daddy is going to tuck them in. It has been good for them and Stephen! And I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband that supports me and tells me how proud he is of me everyday and can handle taking care of all 5 kiddos by himself ;) I'm grateful for the wonderful clients God has brought me and am thrilled to help them set their fitness goals and watch them surpass them. I love doing what I do! ;)

My talented brother-in-law designed this logo for my website, shirts and advertising and a business card.  Feeling so thankful and blessed!

Once school starts it will be harder to see clients in the evening since I will not have seen the 3 oldest all day but I'm praying I will get a few new clients during school hours. Brayden is starting football and will have after school practice everyday, not putting him home until around 6:30. Trinity is taking a tumbling class and playing soccer so she will have a week night practice, the same thing with Hudson who is playing baseball and Kambree is doing tumbling and cheerleading. It sounds like I need a "driver" to drop off and pick up and run all over town! ;) Although the chaos can be a little overwhelming we love being busy in the fall and watching each of the kids enjoy playing sports. 

Can't wait for October and some cooler weather!! Busy, busy, busy! 

~Erin

Ladies Weekend!

The weekend before last I was lucky enough to go on a little getaway with two of my favorite people, my sister-in-law Jenna and our very dear friend, Amy. We went left early Saturday and went to get pedicures....perfect way to start the day! Then we headed in to Dallas to stay at the Palomar Hotel. 

         Headed to layout by the pool!

After a relaxing afternoon by the pool we got ready for dinner. We went to the hotels restaurant, Central 214, which had a great atmosphere. The service on the other hand was not great but the food was delicious!!! After dinner we went out in uptown and enjoyed the night life...I might have enjoyed it a little too much ;)

Stephen kept all the kids at home for the weekend and didn't complain once! The three middle kids went swimming with their grandparents which gave Stephen a nice break. He and Adalynn went shopping together while they were gone. I think they had a little bonding experience! So grateful for my sweet husband to let me getaway and treat myself!  Love you babe!!

" Do everything without complaining or arguing.”

Phil 2:14 says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing.”

I came across this scripture while reading Good Morning Girls daily devotional on Facebook. The post was about following God's will and how to live our lives by answering our daily questions using the discernment of the Holy Spirit. "Should I work or stay at home with my kids?" "Should we move our family to pursue a different job?" "What house should we buy?" and then the little things like "My daughter wants to go to a sleepover with a friend that I fear may be a negative influence" or "My son's behavior is wild and aggressive and I cannot get him to obey...what do I do?"
Good Morning Girls webpage

This scripture was apart of their post about God's will and my first thought was I have to put that on our chalkboard in the kitchen! The kids and I need to see that everyday to be reminded that we have to do things we may not want to do but God calls us to be obedient and serve him and each other. Every night when I tuck my kids in I pray with them that God will give them joy by leading them to serve others with a servants heart.  Do I set a good example of this to them? I feel like I try to help others and be a good servant BUT do I always do it with a good attitude? I'm not so sure! 

Raising our kids to be grateful and not "entitled" seems to be a very common challenge among our society. We live in a world where kids have xboxs, ipads, iphones, playstations, American Girl collections, an abundance of brand name clothing and pretty much any other new, hot item. You just can't keep up, but more importantly I don't want to "keep up." I want my kids to have nice things but I want them to learn they have to work for it! It can't just be given to them or they don't value it they way they do when they save their own money and work to earn it. Which, in our house, means they have to have chores and other ways to learn the value of a dollar. 

My three oldest kids take turns doing the laundry. They despise it almost as much as I do but they understand that when we have 10-12 loads to do a week it's too much for one person! Doing your own part is just part of living in our home. They also empty the dishwasher-the girls do the non-breakable items , Brayden does the bigger stuff and they split the silverware. Brayden gets stuck with trash and recycle duty. The joys of being the oldest! :) 

I'm slowly adding additional items as they get older like wiping down the table after meals and sweeping the floors. I really want to make one of these cute chore charts I found on Pinterest! I figure they will like checking items off their list the same way I do.

Anyway, I'm off to start another load of laundry . (That's my part...I love to see it go in the washer, I just want it to magically appear back in their closets after that!)  Hoping to get my hubby inspired to make wainscoting for our master bedroom this weekend. Wish me luck :)

Have a great weekend!
~Erin

Adalynn's 1st Birthday!

Happy First Birthday to my sweet baby girl, Adalynn Hope!

Adalynn's birthday was Wednesday, June 26. We celebrated her birthday with our family and friends on the Saturday before which was also my dad's 72nd birthday! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect celebration! 

I searched blogs, Pinterest and Etsy shops for party themes and decoration ideas. Knowing this is my last baby, I wanted her first birthday to be perfect ;) 

I found a mason jar invitation I loved but couldn't decide between a "You are my Sunshine" or a "Pink Lemonade" theme. So A Stitch of Handmade on Etsy combined the two and made me a "Sunshine and Lemonade" party pack with invitations, cupcake toppers, water bottle labels and thank you party favors. I was thrilled with how it turned out! 

I made the rest of the decorations from fabric, ribbon, frames and cardboard letters from Hobby Lobby. 

This went on the front door but I didn't have a great picture of it there. 

When it came time for the cake Adalynn was excited to see what she was going to get after being put in her high chair. We got a beautiful and delicious smash cake from one of my favorite bakeries, Susie's Sweet Boutique in Roanoke. They couldn't have done a better job! 

            A little help from her sister!

    She decided she wanted to use a fork!     She wasn't very into getting messy.

My brother-in-law made this for Addy's party. I loved how it turned out. I didn't have a whole lot of luck getting her picture with it though.

          More interested in playing!

It was a wonderful day with our family and friends! So grateful for each of them!

On Adalynn's actual birthday my mom and I took her shoe shopping and then we met daddy for lunch at Corner bakery.

Thank you to my sister-in-law, Jenna, for Adalynn's  gorgeous dress and "squeak" shoes! Soooo stinkin' cute!

                 Trinity and Kambree 

    A little blurry but I love how much she enjoys playing with this little people doll house that both my other girls played with too. She is such a sweetheart and I'm so blessed to be her mommy!