What do you do all day?

A day in the life.

On being a stay at home mama to two three-year-olds (turning 4 in a hot minute)

This is a picture of what a typical day probably looks like for us. At the very least, it's what my written onto paper, daily routine in 30 minute increments, says a day looks like in our home. I am not a saint, I get tired easily and often, and many days vary from routine.  And we roll with it (ish.)

6:30 I wake up and do my 10 minute morning hygiene routine, in my sleep, trying to find my way to the coffee pot, my recliner and massage cushion, and the book I'm using for my bible study time.

Right now I'm working through Mission of Motherhood. It is life changing if you really dig in and deep and let it sink in slowly, over and over, day by day.

7- finish Bible study. Start cooking breakfast

It's true. We have something along the lines of eggs, bacon, grits, toast for breakfast every day.  I believe in a hearty breakfast to start the day off right. Seems to improve the moods of all.  

7:30 Babies are allowed to come out of their rooms (We use the "OK to wake" alarm clock) Most days the girl baby comes out of her room right around then and the boy is usually awake and out of his room by 8.

Morning cuddles, eat breakfast. The idea is that we eat breakfast together around the breakfast table. Some mornings we eat it in the den, by the fire, watching cartoons.  

8: Start working on cleaning up from breakfast, and get the 3 of us dressed, tidy the house. This is a good time to unload the dishwasher. (But I didn't say I actually do that every day...)

9-12 : Preschool.  During this time I either go to hot yoga or run errands or work on home responsibilities.

12-130- eat lunch. clean up from lunch.  cry about taking a nap.  read stories, sing songs, and get ready for...

Quiet Time. 3-4 out of 7 days of the week the kids are required to stay in their own rooms during this time.  The other days I don't have the umph to fight it  decide they're only little once, so I let them curl up on the couch and watch movies quietly.  

130-3: During their quiet time, I usually work on budget/bills, meal plan, plan the week, emails/blog, etc. Oh and sometimes I take a shower.

3-530: Snack, then straight outside.  We stay outside the whole time. Work in the yard, play with outside toys,  paint, sidewalk chalk, . It just has to be outside.

Sometimes we feed the ducks

Sometimes we feed the fish.

Somedays we hang out with 2 of our 3 favorite boys (my nephews)

Somedays we go to our other favorite boy's baseball games. (My nephew)

*Please note that the below photos taken at the park were after school when it was PJ day at school.  I don't always take my kids in public in their 'jams.  Only sometimes.*

Playing seek and hide at the park

Conquering the dinosaur at the park.

530: I start cooking and bathtime

She loves bathtime, NOT when it ends.

Sometimes we paint the
 bathtub during bathtime.
Because you're only 3
once and clean up is
sooooo simple.

630: Sit down at the dinner table and eat as a family.

We have fancy seafood over pasta with wine every night. OK we don't. This was a special occasion.

7: I clean up from supper/ while Luke starts bedtime routine.

730: Join in the end of bedtime routine, say night night, and kids are in bed.

Folks, this is a raw, rough draft, skeleton version of what our average day looks like.  Somewhere in there, I at least wash and dry the laundry, sometimes I fold and put it away.  And in the middle of the rest of that, I do all the mommy and wifey things that you probably can think of.  I also try to grow and maintain meaningful friendships, and mostly spend a lot of quality time with my kids and my husband.

I am so thankful for all the time I have to be at home, caring for my husband and kids.  Parenting and managing a household is by far the.most.difficult stage of life I've ever had.  However, I would not trade it for all the gold in the world.  My husband and my kids and my parents, siblings, friends, they are worth more than gold. They are my gold.

I LOVE to hear the daily routines of others, whether you're single, married, a parent, working fulltime, or all of the above.  Please share a comment with your daily routine!

Retirement

So I decided to splurge. These are our side by side retirement homes I just purchased. Friends and family, please come visit anytime. 

You can find us sleeping in late, with the windows open, listening to the ocean breezes. Sipping coffee on the deck in a rocking chair while we enjoy the tides. Spending our days reading and writing on the beach, and fishing, and boating in the waters. Our evenings sitting by the surf with white wine until dusk, then cooking the fresh caught fish for supper.

Easy. Breezy. Dreamy.

Back to reality....but really....that was an awesome daydream. Check out my Pintrest board titled "Retirement " where I've been inspired to plan for an early retirement. Starting ASAP.

Happy daydreams y'all ;)

God's Country - Photos from our Goose Hunt

The sun rising over the goose pond.  Love watching this.

I just kept the camera rolling at the sight of the sun rays reflecting off the water.

Boat on the bank with a shotgun shell floating quietly.

 Spend more time outside yall.  It does so much good for your heart, soul, and mind! 

Its the Simple Things in Life

It really is.  Also, if you don't know this about me already, you'll figure it out pretty quickly.  If I'm having a difficult time expressing myself in words, I usually will go to songs (usually country songs) and pull lyrics out to express what I am trying to say.  I love country music because of the way it exposes real life in such a raw form.  The title of this post is from a Kenny Chesney song.  LOVE HIM! 
So anyways.  The simple things in my life.  Our days have a pretty routine flow to them, and for that I am thankful.  I thrive on routines and schedules.  I don't do well without a plan.  That's why I was an ICU nurse before I was a full time mom of twins/housewife/etc. I had my little routine mapped out that I followed day in and day out.  Now of course there were plenty, sometimes it seemed like most, days that were totally chaotic and nothing happened according to my plan, but that aspect of a routine has followed me into this season of life. Back then I had to prioritize and time manage or you'd never last in an ICU setting.  I remember when my babies were, well, tiny babies, and saying that God prepared me to be a stay at home mother of twins by having me be an ICU nurse first.  There's a lot of planning and time management and prioritization skills necessary to raise twins when you have the same amount of resources that we do.  And most days I still feel a little lot crazy, and am constantly having to review and change the "routine" and priorities. 
The routine flow of the days we have right now is school in the morning for Bam and Pebbles.  I typically get a shower and dressed/made up for the day before I take them, and on a really good day, Cave Daddy and I get to have a cup of coffee and either read or talk by the fire before they wake up.

While dropping off, I find myself seriously blessed to have a 5-10 min sweet conversation with one or two of the other moms, that always leaves me feeling very encouraged. While they are at school, I usually spend the first half of the week getting errands/shopping done, and the second half of the week catching up on laundry and dishes :>)  After school we usually get a short but wonderful visit with a good friend for a few minutes, (and a lot of times on Wednesdays we get a long visit and lunch with her and her children, and my kids and I are always changed for the better for the time we've spent with them!) then we have lunch and the babies nap.  During naps I just get stuff done- whatever I need to get done without the help of toddlers, I do during naptime.  That might be a nap one day, prepping meals one day, healing heart wounds the next day, paying bills, dusting, whatever the pressing needs of the day are that I need to do alone, I do while the babies sleep. And this is almost always when I have my "quiet time", my time alone in God's word.
After naps we do snacktime, laundry (they help and love it) and sometimes dishes.  We always do something "fun" for some part of the time between naps and when I start cooking supper.  If I can help it whatsoever, that "fun" time is outdoors time.  Lots of days its the playground, some days its walking around the neighborhood.  When its time to cook the babies just play around the house, then Daddy gets home! The evening routine is like every other parent of toddlers I am sure (play with Dad, eat supper, take baths, read books, and bedtime). 
This weekend has been especially good.  Friday night the kiddos got to spend the night with their grandparents.  I didn't even tell them until after naps Friday because I knew they'd be so geared up with excitement.  And they were.  They just kinda started screaming their grandparent's names and running around the house with laughter and excitement and smiles when I told them they were spending the night over there.  Cave Daddy and I went on a quiet little date for Greek food and red wine, then came home and made a pallet on the den floor to sleep by our warm fire :>) Thats one of those memories I'll tuck away deep in my heart to pull out on the bad days, and on the good days.
  In college, one of my best friends/roommates and I were both nurses and working night shift.  Many, many days, we would come home around 8 am and eat Ramen noodles, or, I have no idea what, light a candle that smelled like something baking in the oven, turn on a movie, and make an awesome pallet, and sleep til 5 pm when it was time to get up and go to work again.  Can you tell that I really do have the best moments in life tucked in my heart, and never forget them? 
Saturday morning Cave Daddy and I went goose hunting.  It was 32 degrees outside when were getting dressed at 5 am.  Good thing I figured out a long time ago how to dress for that weather when it came to early morning, long distance runs.  I think I had 5 upper body layers and 3 lower body layers, plus his insulated hunting boots.  I was NOT cold but quite comfortable.  It was another exhilarating experience for me, just to sit on the water and watch all the shades of color changing over the pond.  I got some amazing pictures, that I am going to have to post separately.  Wait for it!  We did not bring home a goose today- but we brought home great memories. Call us cavemen, but our hunting trips really are a great time of bonding for us :>)
After the hunt we picked up the kiddos, came home and napped.  After naps, we took the kids to the zoo.  The zoo is currently not only my kids favorite place, but because they love it so much, I now do, simply because I love watching their fascination.
That evening we grilled bacon wrapped goose, venison tenderloins, home cooked sweet potato fries, and had a salad on the side, with homemade honey mustard dressing.  Spending so much time outdoors on Saturday really noticed a difference in all of our demeanors and energy levels/ moods. What a great Saturday for this family.

Our little cave people kept begging for "more goose!"  I love to hear those words coming out of their mouth.  They also tore up the venison.  One thing I have learned with toddlers is that, it might take a bit of time for them, but they will eventually learn to eat what you serve them and develop taste buds for new things!
Coming soon on the blog, photography from our hunt, full recipe for our breakfast smoothie that includes measurements, and a recipe for my favorite sorbet!  Happy Monday yall!  Don't forget that laughing and being thankful improves your mood by 25% immediately!!

We Hunted and We Gathered

Last weekend, Luke's parents kept the babies on Friday night.  Saturday morning we woke up at 5 am and headed out to the country to do some goose hunting.  I love waterfowl hunting.  It was dark when we got there, but day was starting to break.  We (very quietly) walked down to the pond and sat down. It is an undescribable experience to sit by water and watch the world wake up.  The fog rising off the water, the colors of the sky changing over the reflections, the sun coming up, hearing the birds waking up, and especially hearing the geese start honking.  And then the real thrill is when the geese fly, and you watch your man take one down.  It is so refreshing to be in nature and experience all that it has to offer.  We can't wait to go again!!

Wish every weekend was like this!

I don't even know where to start with what a great weekend we had.  Cave Daddy made plans with his parents to have the kids sleepover at their house last night, so I took them to the park after naps yesterday (along with the other 300 moms and their children whom were there), and we played for about an hour before heading to Gigi and Pops'!  Bam Bam got Clowney tackled by a pack of 6-8 year olds and I was that mom who was ripping the older boys off him and tossing them to the side, because my baby boy was on the bottom of the pile of a bunch of big boys!  If you are the mother to any of those boys, I apologize, but seriously, he got hit hard and I seriously was just trying to get to him to check his neurological status at that point.  Turns out the worst thing that happened to him was his shoe fell off during the tackle and he was terribly upset about that.  Fun day at the park in this beautiful spring weather here in SC!  We rode around with the windows down and loved it.

After dropping the kids off, Cave Daddy and I took advantage of our evening off and went to dinner at Za's.  I almost had a panic attack driving there, because in the past I've always gotten the spinach artichoke dip and chips for an app and the shrimp scampi for a meal, and we almost always get dessert when we go out.  But I'm supposed to be doing 30 days of Paleo....I had some serious internal arguments and deliberation amongst myself on the ride about "I'll just have a cheat meal, it's fine".... "but gluten seriously makes me feel so awful and I feel so terrible when I eat meals with gluten and dairy in it, after the fact...." "but I love that food....ahhhh....".  It was an incredibly empowering experience to make healthy choices at dinner that still were delicious.  We had seared tuna for an app and I had the Greek salad with blackened salmon...and it was SO good!  I felt so much better today than I would have had I chosen the first option.  Just another reminder that I can make healthy decision, and that the reason that I do, is because I feel better when I do and I am happier.


I will post about our morning in the next post.  It's one of it's own.  Let's just say it was a wonderful part of the weekend, enough so to deserve it's own post.  On our way to pick up the kids, we grabbed lunch at Zoe's. I had the Greek salad with chicken (I will never get tired of Greek salad) and Cave Daddy had a a Greek Chicken Pita with a side Greek Salad (we all know the pita wasn't Paleo.... ) After we picked the kids up, we all came home and napped.  After naps we just played outside for a few hours.  The kids and I walked up and down the street and visited with all the neighbors.  Which is one of my favorite things about our street.  There is so much camaraderie amongst everyone on the street.  It's wonderful to watch them all watch our children grow up, to see everyone pitch in and help us raise our children, and to hear our kids shouting hellos to everyone by name as we stop to visit and chat.  When the weather is nice, nearly half the neighbors are out, either in the street, or congregated in one or two of the yards.  It is seriously unique and something we never want to give up.  I could go on and on about all the kind things that everyone does for one another on a regular basis to help each other out in a time of need.  If we ever move, we're taking everyone with us.  Later, we went and got Daddy and strapped the kids in their wagon and walked over to Whole Foods to pick up supper, which was for sure, blog-worthy. 

On the menu was : grilled mackerel, ribeye, paleo lo mein, and paleo egg rolls.  We nearly died it was so good.  Cave Daddy still hasn't stopped talking about the egg rolls, said that he would never eat an egg roll again unless I cooked it, and continues to say that "blogging this recipe just won't do it justice....you gotta experience it..." Please keep in mind that this is a man who loves good food. 

For the mackerel, I seasoned it with salt, pepper and tony chachere's cajun seasoning with lemon juice sprinkled over it; for the steak I seasoned it with salt, pepper and onion powder, and Cave Daddy grilled it.

Paleo Lo Mein- cut a head of white cabbage in half.  Lengthwise, with your Pure Komanchi 2 knife, slice the cabbage in the thinnest slices you can (really its your preference depending how you like your 'lo mein') I sliced ours in probably 1/8 in. slices.  Place in your cast iron frying pan with 3 tbsp of coconut oil, 3 tbsp of coconut aminos, and just enough salt and pepper to taste.  Cook down until the cabbage is softened.  In a separate cast iron pan, sautee very thinly sliced red onions and mushrooms, then add to the cabbage mixture.

Paleo Egg Rolls - take the skin from a chicken, place in a cast iron frying pan with coconut oil.  Dice cabbage and carrots and place in the center of the chicken skin.  In a separate bowl, whisk one egg and pour over the vegetables/chicken skin (this helps hold everything together when you go to wrap it, plus adds flavor, and it is called an egg roll...).  Wait until the skin gets a bit crispy, then remove from the pan and roll up lengthwise.  Tie cooking twine around the roll to keep it in place, then return to the pan and fry on all sides until you can remove the twine and the roll stays in place.  The chicken skin adds a ton of flavor to this egg roll.

Beginning to cook the egg roll

Cabbage Wrap at the top- same as the egg roll recipe but use a cabbage leave in place of chicken skin.  Not nearly as crispy as the chicken wrapped egg roll, seen below the cabbage wrap.

May I just tell you that this is the happiest girl on the planet now that I have found a way to have lo mein and egg rolls that are Paleo.  Seriously. 

This Is How We Do It

Ahhh 8:15 and just put the babies in bed and crashed on the rocking chair (my favorite spot in the house) with a hot cup of coffee and very few sounds around me.  What a way to end a busy day!

Since this blog is about documenting our paleo journey, my main goal for posts is to keep track of what we're eating on a daily basis  and what our lives looked like that day (because Paleo is not just a diet, but its a lifestyle).

Here is how I have learned to function with the most sanity  as a housewife/stay at home mom, whom highly prioritizes feeding her family quality nutritious meals.  I typically fix one breakfast that will be enough to last the week, so every day is usually the same..  I would even venture to say that breakfast from week to week is very similar.  The mornings are always crazy and having very little prep for breakfast helps with the madness.  That said - check back tomorrow b/c I have big plans for a new and exciting breakfast that if I am able to prepare and feed the fam, I will post the recipe with it!

Lunch- I pick one meal a week that requires little to no preparation and that is what the kids and I eat every day that week.  Cave Daddy usually takes leftovers.  This week the kids are eating green beas (seriously usually 1-1.5 # each), a bit of bbq -as much as they want but sometimes they don't want much, (yall will see soon that they are almost vegetarians by choice), and lots of fruit - we do a lot of apples, clementines and bananas.  That is their lunch more often that not, and like breakfast, their lunch truly doesn't change much week to week.  I offer them salmon at lunch regularly, but as mentioned, they truly are more into fruits and vegetables and that is the bulk of what they eat.  (They would eat eggs at every meal if I let them but we try to limit that to breakfast!). My lunch this week has been an apple, half an avocado, and 2 brazil nuts.  I will eat a few bites of bbq if Im very hungry.  The apple cider vinegar helps a lot with appetite control and water retention (which I seriously struggle with!)

Supper is what changes at least every other day.  I honestly only repeat meals at supper a few times a year, at most every 3 months.  That is not by intention as much as happen-stance!  I try to make sure that I make enough at each meal for about 3 meals so that we have leftovers which I space out during the week.  I have recently been trying to make enough to freeze some, for those crazy "what in the world are we going to eat for supper tonight now since its 5:30, and I just got home from an unscheduled visit to the pediatrician because baby ___ woke up from their nap screaming, pulling at their ears, with a fever of 103" - kind of days. Prepared meals in the freezer are the best for those days.

 Supper today was leftovers!  You  won't believe me if I tell you what our son ate, but I will tell you anyways.  He ate 2 # of green beans, 5 clementines, one banana, and one cup of raisins.  He had bbq on his plate that he wasn't touching (though in recent meals he has devoured it).  Our daughter ate the same things as him, but in less amounts.  She's watching her figure.  Please note that I do offer them some form of protein at each meal; sometimes they eat it and sometimes they don't. They mostly get their protein at breakfast (they each eat 2 eggs every morning, and truthfully, 14 gm of protein alone is plenty for a 25# child for the day).

Today I  did my dreaded but necessary one big grocery trip for the month.  I go to Aldi once a month and buy about a billion of everything that will save for a month and enough of it to last a month.  The standards for our food that I have are no preservatives or artificial ingredients at all, no hormones/antibiotics, non GMO, no non organic "dirty dozen" fruits/veg.  There is enough at Aldi that meets that criteria and that is significantly lower in price that I go once a month kicking and screaming willingly to save the money.  By the time I have loaded it all in the cart then bagged it all myself and get it into the house and put away, that trip takes a few hours, but, its only once a month.... So seriously that was the only thing I got done while they were at school today.
After picking them up and eating lunch, they played really nicely and sweetly together (a true gift and blessing.... always favorite moments of mine to see them just playing quietly and sweetly together). I started prepping meals to take to friends tonight.  3 good friends have recently had babies and our dear neighbor and friend just unexpectedly lost her father.  Once the babies were down for naps, I had my devotional and prayer time, tried to work on getting some photos printed for the house, and finished getting the meals ready to deliver.
After naps we were able to walk on the street and visit with neighbors (another of my always favorite moments... really love our neighbors!!) then visit with 2 of our other friends when we took meals to them.  It is so refreshing to me to have even 15 minutes of conversation with a friend during the day!!  We were able to get in about thirty minutes at the park before it got dark, then headed home to eat supper, clean the kitchen, and bake brownies for Cave Daddy to take to work.  Not Paleo brownies.  His office does potluck lunches from time to time and I always have the pleasure of providing his contribution to the meal :>)  At this time I would like to ask you to please give me a hand and be very proud of me, because, for the first time in my entire life, I did not even lick the bowl/spatula from the batter.  This is serious folks.  But, I am serious about 30 days of Paleo!!
We enjoyed some quiet and calm time with the kids tonight after PJs and teeth brushing, to read some books.  Those are also always favorite moments of mine... snuggling on the couch with fleece footed PJ'd toddlers while we read fascinating stories.  It is so fun and I love to hear them read back to us :>)
Yall know  exactly what I did after they got in bed (see the 1st paragraph of this post)!  I love our quiet time in the evening after the kids are in bed that we just enjoy relaxing together in the stillness.  I considered picking up the toys/books scattered on the floor, but then opted out, because having their things spread across the house is something I will miss one day. 

Happy Thursday Yall!!  I am thankful for all the wonderful moments that make up a good life :>)