Jenna's 2nd Stitch Fix

Jenna received her 2nd Stitch Fix last week! Her first one came back in July. You can read about Jenna's first Stitch Fix here. With colder temperatures upon us (kind of) I figured it would be fun to try it again.

Jenna was SO excited to open her special box! She was literally squealing with happiness.

The very first thing she put on was this pink furry vest, and (spoiler!) it's the item she kept.

This green hoodie was actually my favorite item on Jenna. Something about the color was just perfect next to her skin and hair! However, Jenna wasn't a fan. She's pretty much a pink and purple kind of girl.

 Jenna wasn't a willing model after a while.....

She really liked this shirt but already owns something similar, so we sadly returned it. The heart was an actual pocket!

She's making a really weird face, but this soft vest was definitely her favorite. At first I was thinking it wasn't very practical, but then I realized it's perfect for this weather! She can layer it over a top and jeans, or even over a dress like she did here. She loves it and it will keep her warm, so it was a great purchase.

 In total Jenna received a vest, hoodie, 2 dresses, a pair of jeans, 4 shirts, and a cute pair of boots.

Have you tried Stitch Fix yet for your child (or youself?) Use Jenna's referral link to sign up and instantly receive $25 credit!  stitchfix.com/referral/jenna1

https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/jenna1?som=c&sod=w&g=k
https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/jenna1?som=c&sod=w&g=khttps://www.stitchfix.com/referral/jenna1?som=c&sod=w&g=khttps://www.stitchfix.com/referral/jenna1?som=c&sod=w&g=k

Homemade Elderberry Syrup

Last year's flu season was really bad. And to be honest....I worried about it all winter long. We always get flu shots and they do seem to work for us, but we still end up with the inevitable colds which turn into ear infections, croup, asthma, etc. Cold and flu season is just really hard with little kids! This year I'm trying to be more proactive and take some steps to at least give me a little reassurance, if not a boost of immunity.

When my friend told me she makes homemade elderberry syrup, I immediately hopped on Amazon and purchased some dried elderberries. Elderberries have been shown to be pretty potent cold and flu fighters.  Last year I bought some store bought elderberry syrup and gummies for my kids, but they were quite pricey! This year I decided to save some money and make everything at home. And it was surprisingly simple.

Here is the recipe I used: Elderberry Syrup Recipe 

Here are the elderberries I ordered: Dried Elderberries

And here are some store-bought options for Elderberry Syrup: Elderberry Gummies, Syrup for Kids

The ingredient list was simple: dried elderberries, honey, cinnamon sticks, ginger, and cloves (optional).

I boiled the berries and spices with some water in a pot.

Until it reduced by half.

 Then I strained it.

 And pressed out every last precious drop of juice.

 I poured in the honey (Our neighbors are beekeepers so we get awesome local honey!)

 And here is the finished elderberry syrup!

The syrup has a very strong concentrated sweet taste. My oldest boys don't love it, but in Jenna's words...."Its yummy in my tummy!". She literally begs me to give her more.

The syrup should last us about another week, and then I plan on making gummies with my next batch of syrup. I still have quite a bit of dried elderberries in my bag, so I'm hoping it will be enough to last us through most of this season. Have you ever tried elderberry syrup?

We Are Enough

The other night I could not sleep. It began with the realization that none of my kids had brushed their teeth that day. And it wasn't the first time it had happened. My thoughts jumped to the overdue permission slip sitting unsigned on the counter, to the unanswered texts, to the unfolded laundry that was piling up. Then I began to dwell on the fact that I had promised my boys I would play a game of cards with them before bed.....and I didn't follow through. I was just too tired. And justifiably so....I haven't put in the effort to wean my 20-month-old at night, and therefore I am a prisoner to my spot next to him in bed. Maybe if I had sleep-trained him as a baby I would have more time for my other kids. But I didn't. And maybe that's why my oldest had such a bad attitude towards our dinnertime prayer tonight. It's because I don't spend enough time teaching him about the Bible.

Talk about Mom guilt.

And just like that, I was telling myself that I wasn't a good Mom. That I wasn't trying hard enough. That other Moms don't feel this tired or overwhelmed at times. That someone else might do better at mothering my own children. I was allowing myself to believe the lie that I wasn't enough.

You see, I try to hold myself to a high standard. When I forget things or just can't seem to keep up in an area of my life, it really really bothers me. I try not to use motherhood as an excuse to be lazy or unproductive. After all, the Bible warns against being idle. So when I can't seem to measure up, I feel like I'm failing.

And in talking to other Moms, I have realized something. So many of us feel the same way! We all wonder if it's this hard for other Moms. We wonder if we are doing enough. We assume other people have their acts together WAY more than we do. (And cleaner houses). And we all spend far too much energy thinking about what we haven't done, rather than recognizing just how much we are doing daily for our families.

But here is the best news! But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

We are enough because God is enough. We are weak but he is strong. He sent his son to die so that our sins would be forgiven. So let's rest in his grace and in the knowledge that we are deeply loved.....and we are enough.

Weekend Top 10

1. Friday afternoon cousin time!

2. My favorite baseball player playing under the Friday night stadium lights. And acting weird.

3. Sometimes you get milkshakes for dinner.

4. Almost two hours of grocery shopping means we are all stocked up for the week. Maybe.

5. Jenna got a Stitch Fix!

6. 10 loads of laundry washed this weekend. (This was half of it.)

7. Turn up your volume for this video. I caught the tail end of Lucas dancing to "Brick House".

8. Cardigan weather! For a few hours!

9. My little sous chef stealing bites of white chocolate.

10. I have no words for this one.

Right Now - School Pictures

Ryan - 8 years, 6 months

Right now, Ryan is 8 going on 14. He is all about gaining more independence. Recently, we have been letting him pick up his brother after school before walking most of the way home. (My Dad or I meet them on the corner) It's these little things that make him feel less like a little kid. And when he isn't acting like a teenager, Ryan has a ball in his hands. He is playing Fall Ball right now, but even when he's home he is always begging to go outside and play catch or practice his batting. When I say no he resorts to throwing a ball against the wall in the house over and over and over...….(Anyone else think it looks like Ryan got a spray tan for his school photo? I'm secretly jealous)

Lucas - 6 years, 4 months

I can't quite tell if Lucas loves the 1st grade or not. Last year he would bound out of his classroom, anxious to play with friends or show me what he made. This year he is much more subdued and reluctant to share any information with me. It's making me sad! We are trying to set up more playdates for him so he can form good friendships and have time away from his siblings. Lucas does seem excited about playing baseball again in the Spring, so that's good. He also keeps asking about karate, so I may look into that for him. It might be a good way to channel his aggression!

Jenna - 3 years, 11 months

Jenna is keeping busy with lots of morning activities, between preschool, Mops, and tumbling. She gets so excited when I tell her where we are going. She still has such a cute cartoonish voice, and she loves to chat with me all day long. I especially love hearing her do imaginary voices with her dollies....her voice gets SO high-pitched when she does that! Jenna never ever calls me Mommy, but instead always says "Mama". She is such a sweet little girl.

Andrew - 1 year, 8 months

Andrew loves being right in the middle of all the action around here! He wants to do every single thing the big kids do. He would rather be outside playing with them than hanging out with Mommy. Andrew is so loud. He cries, plays, and yells loudly. Just today in the car we were stopped at a light for a while and he started yelling impatiently at me to "GO GO GO!". My baby needs to learn some patience!

Dinners 10/6-10/15

Another week of dinners from the Nullmeyer house! What have you been cooking lately?

Saturday: Salsa Chicken Nachos

This was our "family movie night", where we watch a movie and eat a more "fun" dinner. I cooked salsa chicken in the crockpot all day. My nachos contained a whole ton of ingredients and they were delicious. From what I remember, they had chips, salsa chicken, cheese, avocado, salsa, cilantro, black beans, green onions, and sliced pepperoncinis.

Sunday: Stuffed Peppers, Salad

I made traditional stuffed peppers, stuffed with ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, and a variety of spices. On the side I made a salad of mixed green, cucumbers, and radishes.

 Monday: Chicken Parmesan, Pasta, Broccoli, Garlic Bread, Chocolate Eclairs

On this night we had Grandma Jan over to celebrate her birthday. I made traditional chicken parmesan, which I have never made before in my life. I always make a more shortcut version that is  topped with croutons and baked in the oven. This real version was so tasty! On the side we had some pasta, steamed broccoli, and Adam made a delicious pull-apart garlic bread. I also made homemade chocolate eclairs but they didn't quite turn out as well as the last time I made them.

Tuesday: Portuguese Beans With Rice, Salad

I had some dried beans I wanted to use, so I found this recipe for Portuguese Beans With Rice. I couldn't find the chorizo, so I did a total white girl thing and used a hot dog instead. Obviously it wasn't truly authentic, but I thought the flavor was great. Adam especially loved it, and it was even better the next day! I topped both the beans/rice and my salad with some homegrown herbs.

Wednesday: Mississippi Pot Roast With Carrots, Mashed Potatoes

Mississippi Pot Roast is a recipe that's all over Pinterest. And rightfully so.....it's very tasty! It's basically a chuck roast, butter, pepperoncinis, and dry ranch dressing mix (I made my own). Towards the end of the cooking time I added some baby carrots to the crockpot. On the side I made mashed potatoes. This was lick-your-plate delicious!

Thursday: We were at the boys' school festival, so I ate a small cheeseburger for dinner.

Friday: Kalua Chicken, Hawaiian Rolls, Popcorn, Slaw

I have made Kalua Pork before, so I decided to try it using chicken breast instead. It wasn't as good! Kalua pork is made using just pork roast, salt, and liquid smoke. And it's SO good. This chicken version lacked flavor and seemed a little dry. I made homemade Hawaiian rolls and we assembled little sliders using the chicken and some BBQ sauce for added flavor. On the side I made a quick slaw using a bag of coleslaw mix and a simple dressing made from apple cider vinegar, honey, mustard, and olive oil. The kids were watching their weekend movie, so Adam made popcorn. He added garlic and parmesan to the popcorn and it was so yummy! (We used the leftover shredded chicken all weekend for various lunch dishes, so it didn't go to waste.)

Saturday: Date Night at Loomis Basin Brewery!

Sunday: Minestrone Soup

I am leading a MOPS table this year at our church. I wanted to gift them something thoughtful, yet useful. So I made each of my mamas a "soup in a jar" mix. But first I wanted to test it out to make sure the recipe was good, so I made the minestrone soup for us. Adam semi-grumbled about being a guinea pig, but he loved the soup! This is the recipe I used:
http://www.prepaheadanddinein.com/2010/11/organic-minestrone-soup-jars-gift-of_15.html

Monday: Ground Beef Pizza, Salad

I made homemade pizza dough earlier in the day using a "secret" recipe I got a couple years ago from a pizza-making class I attended. I made one pizza topped with ground beef, and a smaller caprese pizza for myself. Mine had fresh mozzarella, sliced tomato, and basil. On the side I had a simple salad of romaine and cucumber. While we ate dinner we participated in an OHM Hour, so we ate our pizza in the semi-dark and played telephone at the table. It was perfect.

October Weekend

Our weekend began on Friday at 1pm when Adam unexpectedly walked in the door, home from work early. We took advantage of the early day and beautiful weather, and took the kids to a local pumpkin patch around 3pm after school.

 We had the entire place to ourselves!

 We played cornhole

 Jumped

 Dug up corn kernals

 And picked out pumpkins!

This place had a vegetable garden and each child got to fill a small bag with veggies for $1. I thought this was so fun!

Friday night is typically our family movie night. While the kids began their movie, I finished dinner in the kitchen and Adam made a big batch of popcorn. I also made 2 batches of rice krispie treats for Ryan's baseball team....so basically our kitchen was a huge mess.

Dinner. Once I sat down and ate dinner around 7pm, I realized how tired I was. I began to get a headache and my eyes were burning. After we got the kids to bed I climbed into bed myself. I was asleep by 9pm!

Jenna was up at midnight screaming because her ear was in pain. Poor girl has been in pain for an entire week now. I never knew swimmer's ear was so bad!

Saturday morning we were all up by around 7am. I fed all the kids while Adam got ready to take Ryan to his game at 8:30. I stayed behind to finish getting the team's snacks ready. Then I got myself and the 2 littles ready and we headed over to the game at 9:30.

 With snacks for the Brewers

 I got there in time to see Ryan hit a double! He played a great game.

Back at home Ryan immediately changed into his pajamas and played some video games. After we relaxed for a little bit I made lunch for everyone and put Andrew down for a nap.

The baby cried for a solid 30 minutes but then he fell asleep for an hour!! Adam and Ryan went to get their flu shots (the rest of us already got ours). I had Lucas and Jenna start on chores. We folded laundry, swept, vacuumed, did tons of dishes, and picked up toys.

The kids finished their chores and decorated their tiny pumpkins.

I also mowed the lawn and gave my plants some water. In addition to my vegetable garden, I have succulents and a few potted herbs. I have mint, basil and parsley, but I'd also love to grow cilantro and oregano. Adam talked about building me a potting table to put my herbs on, so maybe that will be a future project.

At around 3pm Adam and Ryan returned home. There was some wrestling on the floor....

 And then we fit Ryan into the laundry basket.

 He managed to get out of the basket and make weird faces with me.

We bathed all 4 kids and got them in the jammies and drove them to my parents' house around 5pm. And then Adam and I went to Loomis Basin Brewery for a belated anniversary dinner!!

 My handsome date:

I didn't take a picture of our food, but it was delicious! We shared the Cuban Sandwich and the brisket nachos. The place was packed (it's tiny) and very loud, but we had a lot of fun going out on a rare date without the kids.

Once we got the kids to bed I spent about 10 minutes making a meal plan and placing an online order for groceries from Sprouts. (I got free delivery as a first-time guest.) Then Andrew woke up screaming.

Sunday morning I made oatmeal for Adam and I.

 The kids had granola. Notice the almonds Lucas picked out of his granola and lined up on the table?

We headed to church and barely made it on time at 9:01.

Afterwards we came home and the kids played outside while I cleaned up the kitchen and made 6 lunches.

 And Adam watched the hockey game.

After lunch I put Andrew down for a nap. Adam went next door to help the neighbors with something, and the boys got a little video game time. I used this time to blog. At 1pm our groceries were delivered!

2pm - I sat down with Ryan to work on his book report. We lasted about 45 minutes until he was DONE and needed a break.

Meanwhile Adam did yardwork outside with the little kids. He was also on the roof at one point trimming tree branches, and I had no idea.

After a while of doing yardwork and playing outside, we got a big surprise. Our neighbors rescued a large tortoise from the main road near our house. They drove by and put him on our lawn. He loved our grass!

 And then the kids got spoiled with ice cream truck treats.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the backyard. We had a visit from Grandma Jan as well as our neighbor and her little boy. Afterwards we ate big bowls of soup for dinner.

After quick showers we played Rummikub before bed. All in all a fantastic weekend!