What's Up Wednesday!

Can you believe it's the last day of September??  I know I can't.  October for us means the start of birthday and holiday season.  It's a busy, busy time here and I can't believe it's happening again....already!

What We're Eating This Week....

 

Here's our menu for this week:

Sunday:  Salads with grilled chicken, mac & cheese & raw veggies

Monday:  Leftover chicken for Jason (he's golfing), Mexican after a day at the zoo for the kids and I

Tuesday:  Paninis and sweet potato fries

Wednesday:  Daddy is in charge!  (I'm going out - woohoo!!)

Thursday:  Ravioli Soup and Roasted Garlic Pesto bread

Friday:  Homemade pizza (Here is the recipe for my whole wheat dough)

Saturday:  Smoked turkey, roasted carrots, cheesy broccoli quinoa

What I'm Reminiscing About....

 

Having a clean kitchen and living room.  Our flood two weeks ago has put 90% of the kids playroom toys in our living room and kitchen.  So ready for the basement to be finished!

 

 

What I'm Loving.....

 

The cool air, leaves falling, hot lattes, boots, leggings, leaf piles....all things fall.  However, winter can stay away!

  

 

What We've Been Up To....

Soaking up the last few warm days of the year.  The kids and I took one last trip to the zoo earlier this week and we've been spending a lot of time outside.  Before we know it, cool, crisp fall will turn into icy, cold winter.

 

What I'm Dreading....

How long it is going to take to get alllllll these toys out of my living room and kitchen and back downstairs where they belong!  I know it's just a bump in the road, but I'm getting claustrophobic up in here!

What I'm Working On....

 

My girl Marie over at Family and the Lakehouse and I have been hosting The Monthly Meet Up for awhile now.  We've decided to change the focus and are launching our new monthly link up party tomorrow!!!  We're focusing on goals for the month.  Jot down a few goals and let's help each other stay motivated!  I do hope you'll join us!!

 

 

What's So Funny....

 

These outtakes from the 'photo shoot' Marie and I did for our new linky party.  C'mon, how could you not want to party with us!?!?!?

 

 What I'm Excited About....

 

I'm really excited for the holidays this year.  The kids are at such a fun age and I think that Halloween and Christmas are going to be such a great time for them.  And, of course, I'm excited for Thanksgiving to be at my sister's house with my nieces and nephew.  Can't believe it's birthday/holiday season already!!

 

What I'm Watching/Reading....

 

We have finally reached the third season of House of Cards and let me tell you.....shit just gets crazier and crazier with that show.  If I had my way I would totally be on the couch and not getting off if it until we were done.  Thankfully, Jason has a lot more willpower than me :)

 

What I'm Listening To....

iHeartRADIO is on constantly throughout the day at our house.  I have my favorite, standby stations - DMB, Grateful Dead, Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters & Men, Elton John, Pharrell Williams, Adele, etc...but I also like to listen to the popular poppy songs at the moment too.  Ashlyn is hilarious and will sing along with the radio now.  She is such a mini-me and I love it (for the most part!)!!  I wonder if I'll ever get to an age where I don't love a good beat and a chorus of lyrics that are so fast I don't understand them....keeps me young.  Or so I tell myself.

 

What I'm Wearing....

Look up a few questions and you'll see....

 

I'm loving flannel this year.  Leggings, flannel, boots, bun....seems like a match to me!

 

  (Yes, I know I've posted this before, but it's true.  So true.)

What I'm Doing This Weekend....

 

I'm heading to some antique shops with my mother-in-law.  I'm super excited!  Jason and I went antiquing for our anniversary and found a perfect china cabinet for our house.  I'm hoping to find a small buffet/cabinet for the kitchen this time.

 

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month....

 

My little girl is turning 3!  THREE!!!!!  I don't even know how this is happening!  Three years old.  And then, just a month after she's three, my little man turns 5. 

*Cue mama tears*

 

What Else Is New....

Canning!

I've become a canning fool this year and I love it!  I've done pizza, pasta, and enchilada sauces, tons of tomatoes, tomato juice, salsa, cinnamon & plain applesauce, peach, raspberry, and strawberry lemon jam, green beans, lots of different broths and hot pepper jelly.  Phew!

 

They're all currently spread throughout the house, but I'm looking forward to enjoying all my hard work throughout the winter!

Thanks for stopping by, y'all! 

~ Sara :)

I'm joining Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer for their What's Up Wednesday link-up!

Happy Friday!!

I've been MIA the past couple of Fridays, but time to jump back in to it!

 

You may have seen that we've had an eventful week.  And this is why:

 

[One]

 

Our basement flooded. 

 

 

Of course, Jason was on the other side of the country and it was late at night when I found all the water downstairs.  But, it is slowly getting taken care of and before we know it, we'll have a brand new basement.

 

[Two]

 

On to happier things!

 

 

This guy started his second year of preschool last week!!

 

 

He is having so much fun and making new friends.  I love hearing his stories every day when he comes home.

 

 

 

[Three]

 

 After neglecting it for far too long, I have recently posted more recipes to my food blog.  If you haven't checked out my blog The Carnitarian Family, please do!  Lots of vegetarian and meat lover's recipes.  Fermented Sauerkraut, Blue Cheese Dressing and Blue Cheese Broccoli Slaw have been the newest additions.

[Four]

As you may (or may not) know, I've been co-hosting a monthly link-up party with my girl Marie on the first Thursday of every month.  We've decided to change up our party a bit - we're going to be focusing on goals for each month and the party will start the first day each month.  We're really excited for this and hope you'll join us!  Come back this Thursday with some goals for the month and link up with us!



[Five]

We had our first leaf pile of the year!

 

 

 

Happy Fall, y'all!!!

 

~ Sara :)

 

I'm linking up with, Darci, April, Natasha, and Christina for the Five on Friday link-up Party!

I'm linking up with A Little Bit of Everything, Momfessionals, and Grace and Love for my Friday Favorites!

I'm linking up with September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for the Oh Hey Friday linky party!

I'm also linking up with The Diary of a Real Housewife for Friday Favorites!

And this is why we have insurance...

We had a lot of excitement at the Hayes Homestead last week.  Jason was out of town on business for the whole week so it was just me and the kids holding down the fort.  I always try to keep us busy when Jason is out of town - playdates, visiting grandparents, taking them out to lunch/dinner, anything that helps pass the time and take our minds off Jason not being home.

The week started great, Redmond started school and my in-laws spent a lot of time with the kids to give me a bit of a break (love them!).  Then Thursday rolled around....and our basement flooded.

 

Yep.  Our basement flooded. 

 

Awesome. 

 

I had heard water running throughout the day, but didn't think much of it because I had the hose on for the majority of the day (we had a spot in our yard taken over by ground bees - filling their home with water runs them out, but doesn't kill them) so I just figured that it was because the hose was on.  But, when I could still hear it running an hour after I turned the hose off, I started investigating.  I checked all the toilets and sinks - nothing was on.  Went in the laundry room, everything was fine in there too.  So, I called my father-in-law to see if he could come investigate.  No one was home, so I left a message.

 

Fast forward two hours later, I'm getting ready to head to bed and my father-in-law calls.  Says he'll be right over to check it out.  Knowing that he'd have to get into the crawlspace, I flip on the downstairs light so I can clear out the closet where the crawlspace is.  I look downstairs and I see water.  Lots of water.

Now, we live in a tri-level house so it's not technically a basement.  It's all finished and it houses a second family/living room which is the kids playroom, Jason's office, the laundry room and the small storage closet/crawlspace access.  The laundry room had about an inch of standing water in it, the carpet in the playroom was soaked and the water was inching its way to Jason's office.  I started grabbing any and everything off of the floor in the playroom, laundry room and storage closet and running it upstairs to the living room and kitchen.  I was really regretting not having a clean, organized house at that moment - there was stuff everywhere!

My in-laws showed up (thank GOODNESS!) and things moved rather quickly after.  We cleared out as much as I could and I was frantically calling Jason, a plumber and a restoration company. By midnight  I had a company at my house sucking all the water out.  They didn't leave until 3 a.m.

 

I had the restoration company and the plumber at my house for the majority of the day on Friday.  The water came from a hole in our pressure thingy (yes, technical term).  So much water had come out that there was a huge hole in the dirt under where it was.  He had to put the new one up on cement blocks.

 

It's been six days now since it happened and the crawlspace is still not dry.  They are hoping to get all of the fans out of the basement today and then the repairs start.  A lot of our trim and doorjambs will need to be replaced due to water damage.  Thank goodness none of our drywall was damaged too badly.

I am so thankful for my in-laws, Jason, who, even though he was in California, kept me calm and laughing throughout the whole ordeal, and good insurance!

The silver lining - we get to pick out new flooring for the basement now!  Time to go shopping!!  We haven't decided what type to go with yet, but we are leaning away from carpet.  Maybe vinyl flooring?  Laminate?  Tile?  Stay tuned to find out!

 

Until next time,

 

~ Sara :)

Back to School!

Redmond has started his second year of school.  Second. 
 

Time, slow down please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

His enthusiasm wasn't quite as high this year as it was last year.  Last year it was new and exciting....this year, it was different.  Same teachers and classroom, but different classmates and Cadet Teachers (HS students that help out in the classroom).  This made him very nervous.

 

But, he shed just a few tears on the first day and it has been uphill since!  He's making new friends and having a great time. 
 

 

 

Just thinking about next year makes me weepy - Redmond will be in kindergarten and gone all day....Ashlyn will start preschool.  So hard to believe!  As for now, I'm enjoying a little one-on-one time with my girl.  Every Wednesday we go to Kindermusik, but since we have time to kill between Preschool drop off and Kindermusik, we meet up with Marie and her cutie Eliza at a local coffee shop for a little treat beforehand.



We love our girl dates!

 

Here's to another great school year!!
 

 

~ Sara :)

Can it really be this easy?

Potty Training.  The worst part of toddler parenting.  Am I right?  Yeah, I'm right.

Redmond wasn't horrible to potty train, but it took awhile.

I was dreading potty training Ashlyn.  It's just not a fun time.

But, I knew that she was ready and really wanted to get her PT'd before Redmond started school.  So, I decided that it was time to potty train.  She's ready, I know she's ready.  But, she also tends to be slightly stubborn (I'm not sure where that trait comes from.....) so I wasn't sure how it would go.

Well, we started on a Sunday afternoon.  The kids had spent the night at Jason's parents house on Saturday so when she got home Sunday, her changing pad was off her dresser and her diaper drawer had been turned into an underwear drawer.  She was pretty excited.  Especially when she got to pick out her own undies. 

So, Sunday didn't go perfect, but it went pretty well.  She had a couple of accidents, but that's to be expected.  Rome wasn't built in a day, right!?

But, Monday.  Oh, Monday.  You know the day right after Sunday?  As in day numero dos in PTing land?  Yeah, Monday.  Monday was absolutely perfect.  As in not one single accident.  Not. One.  She even pooped on the potty.  On her own!  As in she went to the bathroom and I didn't even know she was in there until I heard a little voice yell "Mommy!  I pooped!!"  My first question was (because I was in total disbelief) "on the potty!?!?!?  I couldn't believe it!  She picked out a baby doll a couple months ago at the store that she could have as soon as she pooped on the potty.  That baby has been sitting on our mantle, sans mommy for months.  It finally has a mommy!!

 

Along with the baby, she got grapes (she couldn't eat them before because they gave her diaper rash), M&M's, iPad time and a whole helluva lot of cheering from Redmond and I (poor Jason missed the excitement, but celebrated once he got home)!  Seriously.  So proud of this girl.  So. Proud.

 

Over the weekend we converted her crib into a toddler bed.....a sad, but happy time.  She was ready for and needed the independence to be able to get in and out of bed on her own.  She couldn't wait to nap in it (with her new baby, of course!) And the kids are loving their new "ship" they can ride on.

 

 

It's been over a week now, and this girl has done amazing.  We've had two more accidents since that first day, but that's it!  We've been out and about, played at parks, eaten at restaurants, gone on a hike and more and she's done fantastic!! 

It still will hit me every once in awhile that I am done with diapers.  I don't have to buy them or change them any longer!!!  It's such a great feeling!  After nearly 5 years of diaper-changing under my belt, I welcome this change with open arms!!

 ~ Sara :)