midwinter snow days

Today the kids went back to school after being home since Thursday. Wisconsin weather has decided to try to freeze us… -46 wind chills the last couple days… yowza! 

We left the house for church and a few went ice fishing Sunday, but otherwise we've been home bound. There was a lot of chaos, movies, fighting, Minecraft (which I have grown to dislike quite a bit), ice cream, and lounging during those five days. :|  It was nice to relax and not have to be anywhere, but I think we're all ready to get back to our routines.

Hope all of you are staying warm! 

4/52 and pregnancy update coming soon, promise!   :)

3/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014"

Peyton: complete teenager. dirty, crooked teeth and all.
Lia: always writing. or reading.
Austyn: always painting.
Tayt: this one is going to break hearts.
Nash: complete concentration here.
Drew: loved the painting this week.
Meg: another character.

Trying to catch these kids in action is going to continue to be a struggle. I do my best to get a candid of each of them, but some of them *love* the camera and all I get are smiles and "cheeeeeese!" I know, I know… that's fine too, but sometimes I like to catch them in the moment. Either way, obviously, I'll take it  :)

etsy Wednesday

As usual, my 'etsy likes' bookmarks are out.of.hand! I'm sure none of you appreciate more reasons to browse etsy, but I do enjoy looking through these. And if nothing else, they're ideas for birthday, anniversary, and/or Christmas gifts ;) 

miniature canon 5D necklace  $20

I've said this before, but I rarely change my jewelry. When I do change my jewelry, I love the simple, minimalist look.

minimalist triangle necklace  $38

tiny heart ring  $22

silver geometric ring  $82.37

I have no where in the house something like this could go, but I've been wanting to plant some herbs in the house for quite some time now. I actually had some planted, neglected them, and for someeee reason, they didn't make it. I shall try, try again ;)

cedar gardening system  $72+

It snowed 8+ inches of snow in Wisconsin yesterday. These are like a necessity, right!?! ;)

hand knitted scandinavian high knee socks  $76

My obsession with all things paper and writing utensil continues… 

embroidered notebook  $18

On our travels to Florida this summer, I started something like this. I purchased a magnet from each state we traveled in/through. Add to the list-of-things-to-do a magnet board with a map drawn out to place each of the state magnets  ;)

laser cut wooden custom state  $12

Obviously I have an etsy bookmark problem… this hasn't even made a dent in the items I have saved that I'm in love with and need. Okay, okay… want! (I've listened to way too much Dave Ramsey to know the difference between a 'need' and a 'want.' Unfortunately, none of the items on this blog post are a 'need.') :(

2/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014"

Peyton: so serious.
Lia: homework.
Austyn: hard to catch her candid.
Tayt: hot cocoa on his day home "sick."
Nash: always chugging his milk.
Drew: beast. so much character in such a little body.
Meg: big pig.

I'm afraid I'm starting 2014 almost the same as I ended 2013. This blog post is a day late, but I'm feeling hopeful this year will go better than last. :)

I also wanted to thank all of you for your kind comments in regard to my fresh start post. I *never* thought of this blog (or myself for that matter) as an inspiration to anyone… 
I'm really blown away. Thank you so, so much!

craving warmth {finally finishing Florida}

Ima-gonna go ahead right meow and let you know this is going to be a superrrrr longggg post. I forgot to finish our Florida vacation. :|  Honestly, I wish we were still there. Forever. I could maybe live there forever. BUT I'm saying that today after we received 10 inches (okay… maybe only 8 inches…) of snow!!! so here goes… enjoy!

A *lot* of our time was spent on the beach, just the way I wanted it. Some of our time was spent walking around St. Pete's. Some of our time was spent at the wedding. And some more of our time was spent on the beach. We had an amazing time. I wish we were there. Right now. Like… right now.

Saturday was sssooo hot. We met family for pizza. Then practically ran back to the beach.

We were all pretty excited to see a real life, free-range dolphin while we played at this park. Amazing! I was too far away to capture it on 'film,' but it was pretty neat regardless.

back to the beach :)

Sunday we attended mass at a beautiful church just a few miles from the hotel. So nice!

and then there was an amazing wedding!

she's happy, I promise ;)

then party time!

These guys were happy too. SO glad I got some sort of photo of my boys with my cousins. They're all beyond great. Wish we saw them more often!

sweaty beast sisters  :)

maybe I'm the only sweaty one… also, I want my tan back!

first dance

father-daughter dance :)

the longest goodbye hug in the history of hugs. for real, it was really long. ha!

and just like that, our Florida vacation was over. We packed up our hippos… and children… and we were on our way. Still can't believe it was over 6 months ago. Time, slow down!

Rowdy and Casey rode most of the way home positioned just like this… kidding!

I'm not sure which was worse… the bars on the doors or the 'souvenirs'…wrong turn, stop for gas and potty break, extremely fast! I usually don't, but I immediately asked all the kids when we got back in the van if they washed their hands  :|

 last stop for food before home… and it was a lllooonnnggg night!

2am alarm/border check/ticket… $140 later… ugh!

Florida, you were good to us. Kentucky, not so much ;)