.:around these parts::summer is wrapping up:.

hey there kids!

i cannot believe that our summer is wrapping up so soon! these sunny days went by in a blink! i'm sure as with many of you... so much we didn't do, but so much that we did! i'm thankful for every moment i spent with my wee guy {who is rapidly growing!} and am excited for the last few weeks of our more relaxed routine.


some of my faves...

+ having slow days at home with my baby boy. every few days i would make sure we didn't have any plans for the day so we could just play at home.

+ reconnecting with some old friends - i went to a college friend's baby shower and hosted an oily class that some of my junior-high school girlfriends attended.  it was super fun to catch up and hear how everyone is doing. plus, whenever i see my ol' buds it reminds me to keep better tabs on them for several months to come. i think this is so valuable and needed as our current season is so busy, even just a quick text is so happy.

+ my baby's sleep roller and lullaby spray - ah, yes. we're teething. so i -L O V E- our sleepy roller {1 drop of Gentle Baby, 1 drop of Lavender and all the rest fractionated coconut oil in a 10 ml roller - not everyone is comfortable with babies + oils, so you'll have to decide if a little plant magic is okay for your younger babe} and we use a lullaby spray in the car for longer road trips back home in the dark - so refreshing for the car too!

+ our 6th wedding anniversary - oh yes, we had a date night and it was all the heart eyes! loved having a few hours to tuck away with a delicious drink and my adorable, sweet hearted husband.


how is life on your end? hope y'all are enjoying every August day to the fullest!

mama hood mondays {nap time edition}

a hush in the house. everyone is sleeping. doesn't matter the time to me.

so grateful for a little rest, quiet and knowing that this babe is growing in ways that babies grow while napping.

don't mind me, i might catch a little shut eye too.

hope your week is restful and fulfilling!

mama hood mondays {halloween 2016}

good morning dear friends!

i decided today was the perfect day to share a little halloween love from last week. {a perfect, albeit a bit late} my husband and i have historically been pretty into the halloween scene, usually having a few costume ideas by the end of august each year! of course we never make our costumes until the week of halloween - leave it open incase a last minute idea rocks our world!

after a realizing that little j is a wrap-lover we knew he really only needed a hat for a costume. we decided to be three blind mice for the first of many fun family halloweens!


to stick with our more recent traditions of trick-or-treat night we passed out candy, ate snacks and drank cider with dear friends (they get so many trick or treaters at their house! including most of my students!) and our little j had his first big night out!

hope you and your loved ones have slept off the candy hang over! it can be hard to let that last bit of chocolate go after beggar's night is over.


happy monday!

::our little one arrived::

hello dear friends!

just popping in this morning to say our little one arrived!!

our son, "little j"
arrived at 10:56 p.m. on October 7, 2016
after 42 weeks and 5 days womb -side
and made this mommy + daddy just so very happy + proud.

we are more in love than we ever imagined and can't wait to share more about this new person we already know so deeply but have so much to learn about.

keep us in your thoughts - we are all well and are enjoying some slow days of healing + bonding.

hooray for our little family, that is now just a little bit bigger!

::making our home::

wow, it has been just about a year since we bought our little homestead. this time has been so precious, but has moved so very quickly.

we've been living here full time for just under a year and i've never moved to a new location and had it feel like home so quickly.

a few things i always want to remember...

+our pantry - over the summer i spent a few afternoons really organizing our pantry, spices cabinet and stocking those often consumed morsels. i really love how it turned out. it makes my life easier and now my husband can tell where many things are in the kitchen {which helps with all the days that he does the cooking because i'm tired-busy with feeding our little love on demand}.

+seeing our chickens out the window - it is fun when i am busy in the house and look out the nearest window and there are the girls running in the yard or pecking along the fence. it makes me so happy to know that our eggs come from well taken care of layers. i don't know if chickens are an animal that we will forever be able to have live on our property, but i hope that we do for many, many years to come.

+the start of our garden - we didn't get as much planted as i had hoped. i'm beginning to realize that is the way of gardening. i also know that in this season i might not get to do 'all the things' and have decided to be happy and thankful for the work my husband and i did to get a little garden area started. it is a perfect place to begin, and i really enjoyed having fresh peppers and tomatoes this past growing season.

+all the in and out of our pup - everyday our pup wants to be inside, outside and back again. i love, love, love our old beat up fence around the house. it gives our dog some space to run or just sit and smell the air {isn't it funny when dogs do that?!} it keeps her away from pestering the chickens when people are still inside {however, when we are outside and they are all together she just follows the chickens and tries to herd them, but has done a good job of keeping them safe/not stressed, although sometimes annoyed}

+all the sweeping! - hooray for beautiful hardwood floors. i admire them so much i'm having a difficult time putting down rugs in many many rooms. this means that i sweep just about every day (or every other day). at first this annoyed me a bit. but then i realized that this can be a chance to be grateful for what i have and that i have a few minutes each day to make our home feel good under our bare feet.

+eating at our picnic table - for my 'expectant mother's day' my husband designed and built a beautiful picnic table for me. i love it so very much and i really enjoy all the nights we are able to have dinner in our yard, surrounded by so many of the things i wrote about above. whenever we would visit farm houses that came up for sale i would try to picture where we would put a picnic table. i knew that was something i wanted to do, eat outdoors as a family. it is perfect and now that this is really happening my heart is just so full.


how about you? anything super special to be thankful for in your day to day homelife?

::momma hood mondays:: overdue musings

hey there folks!

that's right - we've got a 41 weeks + a few extra days mama over here. oh my is it work supporting basically a full size newborn inside the womb! i don't know why, but i wasn't expecting to be so hungry and tired at this stage in the game!

all is well, we've been checking on the baby and all our gathered information points to waiting on this little one to get labor going. we've really been hoping for labor to start on its own and plan to only help it along if something seems unhealthy or unsafe. and at this point both mama and baby are cleared to continue with our low risk/low intervention birthing plan... we are thankful and will continue to be watchful of any changes.

i have started my maternity leave so i really am just waiting.  i think i've wiped our counters and vacuumed the couch more times than i care to count just to have something "productive" to do.

so here is to a birthday coming soon! {or maybe a birthday was selected last night and i already posted this blog -!!- we can hope, right?!}

i'll be sure to let y'all know soon!

big hugs at the start of a new week! it is October, oh my!

my postpartum meal prep {recipe links}

as i mentioned earlier this month i decided that making intentional food plans for the start of our fourth trimester would be a solid way to prepare for our new little one's arrival.

i had decided that 6 weeks of meals + snacks would be a fine amount of prepared and saved food to plan. i figured that this would actually stretch longer (8 weeks was my estimation) as there are always the unforeseen evenings of family bringing over dinner, a pizza night in, and maybe actually cooking a meal (i'm sure i'll want a fresh salad, to feel normal and cook dinner, or eat a warm bowl of oatmeal at some point). who knows, if we are really feeling frisky we might venture out one night to grab a quick bite to eat! plus when one considers how many meals + snacks a young family might consume... oh boy that is still a lot of pre-cooked nourishment!


::i planned::

3 meals/day for 2 adults for 6 weeks... which meant:
84 breakfasts
168 lunches/dinners

and approximately 3 snacks/day for 1 breastfeeding mama for 6 weeks... which totaled:
126 snacks

and it broke down roughly like so {click on food item for direct link- thank you to all the bloggers and recipe sharers that helped me with this ultimate food prep!}...

Breakfast Meals
(4) Freezer French Toast
(20) Mini Breakfast Bakes  {i just used my silicone muffin tin to make them individualized}
(4) breakfast sandwiches {i did some bagel + some english muffin for variety}
(12) Bacon, Egg + Potato Breakfast Casserole
(12) Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
(10) Greek Yogurt Banana Bread
(10) Greek Yogurt Zucchini Bread {obviously i had some greek yogurt + produce to use up!}
(12) Bread slices to thaw for toast + homemade jam in the cabinet!!


Lunch/Dinner Meals
(6) Sweet potato chili
(12) Crockpot Mexican Chicken Chili {i omitted the cornbread topping and thought if i'm really up for it i can make cornbread muffins before serving}
(12) Crockpot Beef + Lime Chili
(6) Mexican Chicken Soup {this one i cooked in the crock pot while prepping other frozen meals, cooled it then froze the already cooked dinners in ziploc bags}
(8) Crockpot Beef Roast + Carrots
(12) Crockpot Garden Veggie Soup with Beef
(12) Chicken Fajitas
(12) Slow Cooker Sausage Spinach Soup
(12) Italian Sausage Soup
(8) Spicy Sausage Gumbo
(8) Turkey + Noodles

::Protein to be added to noodles, salad or buns::
(5) Shredded Chicken
(12) Crockpot BBQ Shredded Chicken
(8) Turkey Burger Patties {just grilled burger patties}
(24) Turkey Breast Slices {just oven roasted}
(5) Meatballs

:: I also splurged for some variety and bought 6 Trader Joe frozen meals to round out our supply::


Snacks
(24) Granola Bars
(12) Oat Cakes
(12) Gluten Free Strawberry + Pecan Muffins
(8) Blueberry Oat Crumble Bars
(16) Strawberry Oat Crumble Bars {i actually used the Blueberry Oat Crumble Bar recipe from Averie Cooks but swiped the blueberries for strawberries - it turned out great! i think i do like the blueberry ones better!!}
(36)Chocolate Chip 'Lunch Lady' Bars
(18) Homemade Salsa + Tortilla Chips

i'm hopeful that this pre done cooking will be a huge support in our upcoming sleepy days... any tips out there for a major food prep?

{celebrations} our baby shower

earlier this month we had our family baby shower! it was good fun to celebrate our soon to arrive little one with our dear family members and friends.


we had a lovely little banquet room, tasty buffet style lunch + snacks, such sweet gifts, and a couple of activities that were friendly for all in attendance.


when my mom, sister and mother-in-law asked about having a shower for the baby i really thought about it and decided that i wanted to see everyone and my husband wanted to get to see all our favorite people too! so we had a family-friendly, co-ed bash... open house style incase the younger party-people didn't want to hang for the entire event. several of my friends who have been mommas for a few years said they really enjoyed that it was for the whole family and it made it easy to just pop over but still make nap time. it wasn't exactly the typical ladies luncheon, but no one seemed to mind.  {even my dad had a great time, because he got to visit with his sister and some of our long time family friends and, of course, he always like to harass my good pals from high school}

i felt very spoiled by the end of the day - and tired! celebrating is no joke for me now with this baby bump!




::the details::

location:

we highly recommend Local Roots if you are planning a little party near Powell, Ohio - great food, perfect service and so easy to just show up and enjoy the event

decor:

we kept it super simple, and not too babyish since it was for guys + gals... we had flowers + succulents for centerpieces on the tables, we also put up baby photos of me and my husband, a bib that i made and a little tshirt we got from a music festival earlier this summer to add a little something for the serving buffet.

activities:

we did a "wee hours" diaper writing activity {some people have called it "late night diapers"}...
so easy! buy disposable diapers (we did one pack of newborn and one pack of size 1) and sharpie markers and invite your guests to write a little note on the booty for the new parents to read while doing those late night diaper changes. hilarious! we peeked at a few and they are just too funny. we just kept this activity in one area since we had younger children involved {what with sharpies and all}, but we had 3 year olds to 65 year olds having a grand time writing on a diaper or two. {i think our 9 year old niece had the best time... she is an ace at the potty - humor!}

we also made a special "ABC Book for the Baby"... my mom assembled cardstock pages with a letter on each page prior to the shower and then we requested that family and friends draw something for the letter on their page... so sweet and funny. my brother-in-law snagged the "T" page right away... so he could make a hand turkey! our guests actually responded really well to this activity, taking more than one page or collaborating with someone else, lots of inside jokes or silly items to represent letters. our baby is going to love this handmade book! and it gave the nieces and nephews a job to put all the pages in order in the book as more and more pages were finished.

favors:

we had Harvest Moon Bakery {located in Xenia, Ohio} make their "local, organic, vegan" twinkys for our baby shower favor! they were delicious and fun. everyone got a real kick out of them, especially since we had fun flavors like chocolate raspberry and lemon lavender! a sweet little treat for the road for our very loved guests.

all in all we had a super baby shower. i really enjoyed myself and my husband did too. our tribe is so supportive of this baby - we can't wait for everyone to meet the new family member!


have a great start to the week!

currently {dreaming}

hey there.

we just got back from a little Florida + family visit and it was just what i needed to feel back to myself.

i was a bit tired and in a food slump. but now, i'm starting to feel like i can get back on top of life.



i'm currently dreaming:

+ about real food and all that food prep

+ decorating our farm house

+ digging in the garden dirt

+ coming back to my 16 in 2016 list to refocus myself

+ planning a big ol' backyard BBQ for fun at our new place

+ how to use up all the beautiful eggs my chickens are making

+ how to tackle spring cleaning in every corner of our property


hope your Monday is making you feel happy + full!

currently {feeling spring}

hey there friends!

yes, i am loving this spring-like weather we are having. i'll take the rain along with our warm, sunny days peppered in for good measure.


this past weekend was a good one. a good fill me up type of weekend, but also good for the garden! a friend and i decided to do a little seed trading for the garden AND i was able to get my seeds planted for starts! hooray! we'll see how they turn out, but so far, so good!


i planted mini red and yellow bell peppers, several varieties of tomatoes, onions, a few herbs and even some flowers just for fun. i am so excited to get my garden started!

how about you? enjoy the weekend? do any planting yet?

snow day enjoyment

that's right - our first snow day from school!

as a teacher i actually really enjoy having snowy days with my students at school. they are so excited about the weather, they will typically play outside and really enjoy the snow, and experiencing each season is something i think is really important for kids to get to do with their class.

however, sometimes driving conditions are not safe - and i like having a special, unexpected day once, twice... okay, just a handful of times each year to sleep in and have everyone enjoy the snow at home their own ways.

yesterday we had that snow day! i slept in {just a bit, like an hour!}, baked blueberry muffins {using this recipe}, read, did some work and drank a cup of chai. it was a beautiful morning!

and then i got the bug - the SORT ALL THE SEEDS bug... so much fun to do some garden planning on my day off!

i even did some work setting up my new studio space at our new house, while listening to the updates for season one of serial {did you listen to Adnan Syed's Hearing update? click here to learn more}

and it was a wonderful day. simple, at home and just what i needed and didn't even know i needed it.

whoa, february!

hey there my friends!

what in the world? how did february get here in such a rush? i cannot believe how quickly we are into this month!

things are pretty happening around here! we are...

moving the last {guilty} few items from our old house + setting up for future renters

seeing loads of the oscar-nominated movies {okay, okay, I only saw about 90% of The Revenant... because, BRUTAL bear attacks can only be "viewed" when i'm hiding behind my coat watching my husband saying 'wow! that is so realistic! really, wow!' and things of that nature... however the rest of the movie is some of the most gorgeous movie scenery footage i've ever seen}

rocking the Whole30 compliant lunches everyday since the Whole15 wrap up

and playing fetch with my pup almost daily {because february has been bringing the sunshine!}

how is your month shaping up?

.:holidays on the homestead 2015:.

well, we are enjoying our first winter holiday season in our new home.

just a few decorations, a little baking and cooking, and many traditions to establish.

good eats, great tunes, enjoying time together. we even took a short hike this year - because 50 degrees in december. we are so grateful to make this house our home.

we ended our 2015 with two people, one {little} farm-dog, two house-cats, and eight chickens living on our 5 acre lot. i can't wait to see how all our work in 2016 will make our home so very us by this time next year.


happy holidays!

oh dear, december...

hello friends,

december has been quite the month!

visiting with family and friends, preparing for the holidays, celebrating my favorite guy's birthday... oh and how can i not mention - we are still settling into our new house!

but things are moving along, i even sent out holiday cards! it is all kinds of pleasant around here.

hooray for our dear, december! tomorrow is winter solstice! i cannot believe it is here. may the ohio weather not be rain and maybe we can enjoy some chilly fresh air without getting wet on such a magical day of the year.

have a lovely monday. only a few more sleeps until christmas...

holiday season preparations

good morning my friends! are you still living that thankful-happiness-feeling?

i hope everyone had a joyous holiday and weekend full of giving thanks with friends and family. we did a bit of driving around to see many of our dear ones. thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays... just food, loved ones and staying present in the moment of festivities!

as part of my thanksgiving week work i made food to take to two different family dinners and i began to really focus my upcoming winter gifting and fun lists and plans. i cannot believe it is less than one month from christmas!

we have begun to simplify our gifting traditions with slimming down our purchasing list (yes, yes, those family gift exchanges where only the kids receive presents from everyone - which our nieces + nephews list has grown by three baby girls this year! how lucky we are!). however, sometimes i still enjoy making a little something for the mommas +poppas even if they are not the name we pull from the basket.

i guess that's it from me today. what about you? big thanksgiving hang-overs? or feeling powerful, thankful and ready to head right into the winter holidays?


big monday hugs!

.:thankful:.

each day i think of five things i am thankful for prior to getting out of my bed.

it is a good practice for me to remember how much i have. what i need to keep close to my heart and to be present in all the great aspects of my life.

similar ideas come to mind each week. which makes me believe that i am pretty lucky to have... a solid relationship with my husband, a wonderful roof over my head, a loving family, close friends that i consider family, good {and still improving} health, a job i enjoy...

i am very thankful each and every day.

i hope you find time to count a few of your most precious + loved joys over the next few days.

around these parts :: November Homestead Happenings

hello folks!

oh my, ohio has been enjoying a truly lovely fall. just these past few weeks we’ve been spoiled with great morning light, warm afternoons and sunsets to die for! of course a few rainy days and chilly dips in temperatures are to be expected but we really are getting outside as much we can to take advantage of it all.

this means a few great happenings around our new place.

moving the chickens and settling in…

oh yes, the girls are at our new house and they just love it! we are still keeping them in their run during the day and closing up their coop at night. but they are laying well and eating/drinking normally. this makes me think they have successfully made the transition. we hope to start encouraging a more free range lifestyle now they they seem to be settled and we have a good estimation of possible predators around our new property. 

plans for planting some garlic…

i'm starting to dream up my new garden plans basically any free moment i have to think (shower, waiting for the tea kettle to boil...) and just the other day my husband reminded me that we could easily start some garlic without any huge garden plans set. so we've picked up the materials and i'm hoping to get them planted before thanksgiving!

general settling of spaces in our new house…

we are s l o w l y getting things settled into our new house. each day i think i put away one little pile or find places for a box full of stuff. we had a totally clean dining room for dinner on monday night and we felt so spoiled! it is happening... and i can't wait for this place to feel like our home. 

around these parts {taking a few days off}

hello friends!

guess what!? something very exciting is going on around these parts!

my husband and i officially purchased a mini farm!

well, it is an old house with barns and five acres of land. but soon it will be our dream mini farm. {soon is a relative term here when we've been declaring things like forever home}

the house has loads of character. just enough land for what we want to grow. and the property is a short drive to our village, family, friends and professional work.

we couldn't be more excited. and after just a few days of moving/cleaning/searching-the-barns-for-treasures i realized i couldn't wait to say something here.

and after a few days of all that work i also realized i need to spend a few days away from the blog because we still have much to do to settle in {and we are a few days away from our new internet connection as well}

so, i'll be sure to say 'hello' again soon. and soon this time will mean early November!

happy september

oh september...i do love my summer time but i'm pretty glad you are here!

this week i'm happily saying 'hello' to my students, establishing our daily rhythm and declaring plans and goals of what we hope to learn and adventures we plan to take this year as a class.

i am looking forward to some fall season fun in the weeks to come. what are you planning up for the ever quickly approaching fall season? that's right little leaves.... we've noticed you are already starting to change!

An Exceptional Fourth Wedded Anniversary

over the weekend my husband and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary! 

on friday we drove to bloomington, indiana for a visit! 

just relaxing... a few treats, some shopping, a couple of breweries and an art museum. the kind of weekend where nothing needs to be planned out - but a lady can wear a dress if she likes!

{some of our favorites from the weekend}

FARM Bloomington - serious brunch on saturday morning. 

the walk thru Indiana University's campus was BEAUTIFUL!

SOMA Coffeehouse was a nice quiet stop for us to grab drinks after a long walk thru campus 

{and not over-the-top-sweet beverages either}

a wine tasting at Oliver Winery - they have the cutest little pond + picnic area. 

we had the best burgers + fries at Upland Brewing Co.

we sampled several great brews at Function Brewing

we hit up Hopscotch Coffee on our way out of town for cold brews to go. 

i was so thankful for the time to just hang out with my favorite guy - hand in hand strolling thru the bloomington entertainment and arts district {BEAD}.  i'm a lucky mrs. for sure. 

all the happiest anniversary wishes to you, dear j. you are tops on my list and i'm ready to start up our fifth wedded year! xo ;)

some of the links in this post take you to the shops + businesses that we enjoyed over our visit - just simply sharing the love. if you'd like to read about our past anniversaries click away for our first, second, and third.