Fall Is In The Air

Yesterday (and today!) have been beautiful days here in the Ozarks. A little warm for my fall taste, but beautiful nonetheless. We've spent a lot of time outside and yesterday I grabbed my real camera and set out to capture some fall leaf crunching memories. I think I got a few good ones. :)

Dear fall 2012, we're sort of in love with you. 

xoxo ~ The Barry Fam

High Five for Friday!

Happy Friday! This week has flown by in some ways and dragged on in others....but, it has been a great one nonetheless! Here are my top 5 moments from the past week!

1. On Sunday Easton and I stayed home from church since he wasn't feeling awesome and Shawn and Lauren went. My parents called and said they were coming to town for lunch so we met them for Mexican food. Then, they came back to the house for a while. Easton crawled up into my dad's lap and just fell asleep. He has never ever done that for me. I guess my dad has the magic touch. My parents ended up taking both kids back home with them for the night! Woo Hoo!!!

2. Since my parents had the kids Monday for a while I went to town. By myself. To look. And I found these earrings at Francesca's. In absolute LOVE with them.

3. We had some beautiful weather around here this week so the kids and I had a ton of fun on the trampoline.

4. Shawn's truck has been having issues lately. So Tuesday night we took it down to my parents' house so that a guy my dad knows and trusts can work on it. We are sure glad to know it's in good hands!

5. I got a new blog look! My awesome and darling friend, Miranda created it for me and I just smile every time I look at it. :) Yay!!!!

I'm linking up at High Five for Friday!!!!

Half Bath Reveal!!!!

It's probably ridiculous how excited I am to have a FINAL reveal to share here. Well....I am still waiting on the roman shade for the window to get here....ugh backorder! But, other than that the downstairs bathroom is d to the done!

The bones of the bathroom were great. Other than having to rip out the back wall and replace the window and replace a few boards of the hardwood (okay, that was a lot actually) all we did was paint and decorate!

The runner was a Target clearance find. I'd actually been eyeing it for a while so when it went on sale I snagged it up! The toilet paper holder is a garage sale crate I stained.

I've been collecting plates for a while now for this wall. I know, it's a bit strange to have plates on a wall in a bathroom, but they just seemed to work for me. I sort of adore them.

Shawn built me these awesome pallet shelves. He found the boards in our woods out back and used this super easy tutorial on how to make them. I filled them with little things I've been collecting over the years and some stuff I just recently found.

(Shawn will want you to know that the shelves are not crooked...hah! It's the angle I took the pic! You can rest assured they are level!)

I made the rope vase by hot gluing the rope to a large black beans can I'd saved. I love it. It took literally no time and I think it gives a great natural element!!!! The wooden spool is so cool....I wish it were an antique but it's just a Marshall's find. ;)

Shawn used some of my leftover rope from the can project to create a one of a kind towel holder for me!!! I am in serious love with it!

Here is the view from the hallway. We are waiting on a white roman shade to cover the window. I love having it open, but if people are on the back deck it makes it awkward to use the restroom, ha!

I'm so in love with this room. I love the feeling of it and it just makes me so happy to know that we have come so far from where it started!!!! 

The Day of Yes

I'm an amazing mom...

...when my kids are asleep. 

I have incredible patience, energy, and love to give them. I play with them without a wandering mind. I correct with a soft voice and never sigh loudly or roll my eyes. We stay on a consistent routine and I never keep them out past their nap times. I am not selfish and I willingly share the last bite of my coveted pumpkin muffin. I plan fun and engaging lessons and we take weekly field trips. I don't count the minutes until nap time or until Shawn gets home. 

Yep, when my kids are asleep I am the mom I've always dreamed I'd be. 

But, I'm going to be completely transparent here, when my kids are awake and they add their own personalities and bodies and issues to the mix, I fail miserably. Or, at least I don't live up to my own expectations. 

I'm learning some things though. First and foremost, I'm learning that parenting is not a one person job. It isn't even a job held between spouses. To parent well I have to be in it with God. I've got to daily rely on Him to fill me and give me the grace do this thing He's called me to. Daily. 

I'm also learning that if I'm not engaged in my job, it loses it's luster and starts to feel tedious and mundane. Too many things vie for my attention these days. Social media especially has a way of sneaking in and taking up way too much of my mind and time and energy....and taking it away from my kids. When I am dis-engaged, I know they know. I wonder if much of the discipline issues we have been facing have come from my being only half heartedly there?

I'm not at all saying that I should be hovering over my kids one hundred percent of the day. Its good for them to play independently and to play together without me. And, let's face it this house would collapse in on itself if I didn't do some housework and laundry. But, I guess I'm just wondering if the time I did have with my kids was me being completely there and not distracted, would it change their behavior? Would it flame my passion for being a mama again? 

It's worth a try, right?

So....on that note, I've deemed tomorrow to be the Day of Yes. The day of yes means that I'm going to give my kids more of me tomorrow (and I'm sort of hoping it will stick :))  When Lolo asks to build that fort, I'm going to say yes (and have fun doing it with her!) When Easton wants a horsey back ride, I'm going to say...you guessed it, yes!

I'm putting it out here because I'm letting the two of you who read this (Hi, Papa and Meme!!!) know that you have complete permission to text me and ask me if I'm saying YES to my kids tomorrow. :) 

Here's to being all in tomorrow! Here's to relying on God to help me say yes when the dishes beckon or I am all out of energy. Here's to the Day of Yes!

Bathroom Sneak Peak

Yes, I know this stuff is in our dining room but it will all find its way into the bathroom soon and VERY soon!!! It sure feels good to be getting some rooms finished around here! Cannot wait to show the final result!!!!!

Slow Day

The kids and I have been taking it easy the past few days. We've had our first rounds of the dreaded fall cold but I think we are finally on the mend! Today while we cuddled and I soaked up all the precious and tender moments (and some crazy ones too, of course!) I thought about how hard these days are and how I could have missed them. So grateful that I didn't.

I've fallen in love with a song called, Little Light by Audrey Assad. The words below are the lyrics to this song.

Look at all the angels watching you
They’re singing songs that we have never heard
Their voices ring like bells over the mountains
Oh, if only we could hear their words
God is near, little girl.

Your eyes are brilliant,deep sky blue.
Your quiet wisdom is an evening song.
The angels must be breathless at your beauty
Like the world catches its breath before the dawn.
God is near, little one.

And Jesus bends to hear you breathe;
His tender hands are holding you tonight.
His heart is ravished when you look at Him,
and oh, the endless mercy in His eyes;
God is here, little light.

Once A Month Menu Planning

My darling sister in law asked me to share how I menu plan and shop for a month at a time. I quickly emailed her back and gave her way too much information. Then, my far away friend, Miranda, texted me and asked me to share it here on the blog. So, I thought - why not!!!! I am 100% aware that this type of planning isn't for everyone. In fact, it hasn't always been for me! Our family is at a stage in life where going to the store with two young ones isn't the most effective method and we are on a budget...planning and buying ahead help us stick to it!

So - what do you do if you want to plan out your meals for a month and then do all (or most...I'll share that part in a bit) of your shopping at once?

Well, the very first thing we do is figure out our grocery budget for the month. We also figure a separate amount for our house items since we buy those monthly as well. Once we have a set budget for each, we take out about $100 (of our grocery budget) and divide the rest of our budget up between however many weeks there are in that month. That gives us about $25 a week extra for fresh fruits and veggies or milk that just don't last for a whole month in our house! The goal is to NOT use all the "extra" money...of course sometimes we have to, but it is kind of neat to know we've saved a bit each month! So - although we do the bulk and majority of our grocery shopping at the beginning of every month I might still hit up the store once a week! It's always a quick trip though!  

Before I step foot in a store, I do a lot of planning. Some people might want to run away after hearing that, but I actually really like it. :) The absolute #1 thing I do each month is look and see what is left over in the freezer or pantry from the last month. I plan meals around those ingredients first for the month! We are so fortunate to get our meat from my parents and that means lots of yummy steaks, roasts, and hamburger meat are ready for us to use! 

Knowing what we already have on hand helps me get started on the real planning. I keep a blank month calendar (you can find mine here), my recipe binder, and grocery list in front of me.

 

We follow a loose schedule around our house which makes this step even easier!!! 

As I fill in our month calendar, I look at the recipe. I write down every single thing I need to buy to make that meal happen. I also consider whether or not the month ahead has any special situations or circumstances where I might need to bring a meal or dish or dessert to a function.

Once I have all of the ingredients down on my grocery list, I look at it and break it down into what can or should be bought at Sam's. For instance, we always buy their big bags of shredded cheese. When I get home I divide them into 2 cup portions and use my Seal-A-Meal to keep them fresh. I just throw them in the freezer and then lay them out the morning before I'll need them for a meal. We also buy our chicken there since one of their 12 lb bags will last us a month (sometimes more!) Last month I bought sugar there since I knew I'd be doing a lot of fall baking!

So, now I have two separate shopping lists. One for Sam's and the other for WalMart. Why do I shop at WalMart? I really hate it there, but...they price match. And guys, I've done the coupon thing...it's not for me. I'll still use a coupon here or there, but I've found that price matching works for our family. I am lucky to get all the area grocery stores ads sent to my mailbox so I will look through them all and as I see items that I already have on my grocery list I will circle them with a dark marker! I do not do this part first because I don't want to be lured into buying something I normally wouldn't because it is on "sale"! Whether you type your master grocery list up or write it doesn't matter. What matters is that you make sure to write beside the item you need if it has a price match! I always include what store I am price matching to and the sale price. This saves SO much headache as you are checking out in WallyWorld. I still like to take the sale ads with me to the store in case the checker has any questions. I just put them behind my grocery list on my clipboard. 

        

I don't take my kids with me when I shop like this. Period. I love them but I would lose my mind. I do take my thermal reusable shopping bags and ice packs! Since I hit up at least two stores in one shopping trip I don't want any of the food I just paid good money for to go bad!

When I come home I unpack everything and divide portions up if need be. Then I get a glass of iced tea and sit on my couch and watch some good mind numbing tv! 

I hope that helped you if you are considering shopping for a month at a time! Every family is different so be sure and add your own spin to it and give it time...it takes a bit of practice to figure out how menu planning and shopping for the month work best for your family!