LOL. I know some of you laugh because it is snowing or cold and rainy where you are. Not here! We've been experiencing high 80s the past few days. Tomorrow we are getting a cold front of.... 64 for the high! Ha! Conner said the other day, "Mom, it's not summer yet. Summer begins on the 21st." Poor Florida boy is confused. I corrected him and explained that he was skipping Spring... but that we skip Spring down here anyway. :) With the warm weather comes begs for pool time. THEY might be ready to jump in... but this momma will not! The water is still so cold this time of year. Maybe a few more weeks of these temps and the water will feel better. We really enjoy our quiet little community. We are surrounded by elderly people, and most of them members of the church of Christ. We are often the only ones to ever use the pool unless the two other families in the community with small children meet us there. We all agree it's nice to have a little pool that feels like it is right in your backyard and you don't have to worry about other people showing up who may be dressed inappropriately or drinking or partying and such.

With the warmer weather comes plans for Spring Break and Summer vacation. This year for Spring Break we will be staying close to home. I plan to have the kids help me plant things for our container garden. I've been collecting old wash bins and things for years with good intentions to have a container garden. Well this year I am gonna do it! Lily was actually my confidence booster. She has been begging to "plant something". So the kids have helped me plan and are really looking forward to being apart of the process. We will plant flowers in my old wood tool box for the front porch (can't do much more without getting approval from this deed restricted community!). And then we are planning to do at least tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach and possibly peppers in old wash bins on the back porch. I've also been doing some reading on container gardening for carrots and blueberries. I have an old pallet that I might use (so many ideas on Pinterest!). We will see how ambitious I get here. The problem is that I can't keep things alive. I've never even been able to keep even an aloe plant alive! And those are supposedly HARD to kill. :/ So wish me luck on this, folks! We also hope to hit the beach one of the days with friends. And then I am hoping to take the kids to a paint-your-own-pottery place on another day. I am going to encourage painting piggy banks so that I can then encourage SAVING money, rather than spending. :)

We are already formulating big plans for the Summer too! We are planning to have regular beach days and evening park dates with friends. And then in July, Jared will be traveling with the FC Friends for 3 whole weeks! The kids and I are planning to fly to Utah during most of those 3 weeks to spend time with family. (And yes, let's be honest, so I don't have to be here without help for 3 weeks! I think I'd go crazy!) The FC Friends will most likely be traveling through the SLC area so we will get to see daddy! Needless to say, we are getting excited about these plans. It's been over a year since we've been to Utah and we have a lot of catching up to do with friends and family there. My grandparents have really gone downhill in many ways in the past few months and so we are really itching to spend some time with them while it is still easy to do so. Lord willing, we will see all these future plans through...

So did I get you anxious for the warmer months too? Anyone else have fun plans for Spring Break? Any tips on container gardening?

Hope this finds you all well! :) Serve someone today, and God bless you!

Whew. We are home and settled after an almost 3 week vacation. We left Friday the 16th and made our first stop in Atlanta to visit my sister and brother-in-law. It was a great weekend! I loved getting to know my new little nephew, Owen and see how much Caleb has grown. They are such cuties and Chelsea is doing a fantastic job being a momma! I get a bit nostalgic hanging out with her and watching our kids play together. We were the kind of sisters who were best friends one minute and fought every other minute of the day. It wasn't until we were separated (when I left for college) that we really became close. Today I would tell you she is best friend. It's such a blessing. :)

After Atlanta, we made the 10-11 hour drive to Peoria where we camped for 2 1/2 weeks. We hadn't been since two Christmases before, so we were overdue for a visit! We got to spend a lot of time with our family and spend some time with friends too. We often think of everyone in Peoria and miss them dearly. The three years we lived there were such a blessing to our family. We grew in so many ways and we definitely treasure that fact. So it was very good to get to catch up with EVERYONE. My favorite memory from our stay in Peoria was probably our family's "Christmas Day". Like many others... we had our Christmas Eve on Friday and Christmas Day on Saturday. Jared's parents and our family all spent the night at Jared's sister's house with her family. We had our traditional snack food meal on Christmas Eve and then all cozied up and went to bed. The next morning we woke up and opened presents together. We took turns so we could all see what everyone got... all this while we were in our jammies sipping coffee. Ahhhh! It was perfect! Then we made a big breakfast and stayed in our jammies. And we all literally stayed in those pajamas and relaxed until the late afternoon. :) It was the best day! We had our big Christmas dinner on Sunday after morning services. YUM!

All in all our trip was fun and we are so glad we went. BUT, we will not lie.... we are very glad to be home and in our own beds and back into a routine! The calendar is already filling up too! I am not sure whether to groan or feel blessed by that. :)

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends! Happy New Year! My prayer is that we all recognize our blessings this year and use them to serve God. :)

Tis the season! It's Christmas time! Deck the halls! Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

Okay... I keep trying to sing little songs and tell myself it's Christmas but it just isn't setting in. I am usually VERY into holidays. I love each one and I am always eager to pull out festive decor for each holiday. I can NOT get into the holiday spirit for some reason. The house is decorated and Christmas shopping is almost done... but it just DOESN'T FEEL LIKE CHRISTMAS. It is so weird. I think it may have something to do with how unseasonably warm it's been here. And yes, I think it's been warmer than in years past.

So I am hoping that once we arrive in Illinois there will be a little snow and it will be a little cold (although not bitter cold). But now I am just being picky. :)

We are getting VERY excited to visit Peoria for the holidays. We are leaving here the 16th and staying the weekend in Atlanta with my sister. We should be in Illinois sometime in the evening of the 19th and when spend about two weeks hanging out with the family.

So tell me what your kids want for Christmas? Conner wants a Harry Potter Hogwarts Lego set. Lily wants a Tag Reader, and Peyton has really no opinion. They've been fun to shop for this year. :) (And if you have any ideas for a 2 year old girl who has a big sister and brother and therefore already has it all.... give 'em to me!!)

Happy Holidays!

I have several costumes that I am getting rid of... we are cleaning out the dress up box!

Anyone interested? They are all sizes 12 month to 24month/2T. All in excellent to fairly good condition.

Let me know if you'd like to see pics and prices. :)

barr j l at me dot com

It's been a long time coming... but I have finally taken the plunge.

I have always had "food sensitivities" but since P was born it has gradually gotten worse. I finally realized it probably wasn't normal for me to feel the way I do ALL the time. :) And since Celiacs runs in my family and is said to be hereditary... this was my obvious conclusion. I am still waiting to hear if I actually have Celiacs or if I just have an intolerance/allergy. Regardless of the results... my diet obviously needs to have gluten and possibly dairy eliminated.

Sigh. It's so overwhelming. I am thankful for friends and family who have already experienced this and have great tips and recipes. I am thankful for my dear hubby who welcomes the diet change. (He's been begging me to stop baking brownies for a while. :)) And I am thankful for my little babies who said that my gluten free brownies that I made yesterday were the best they've ever tasted!

So besides that... life is great! My cousin is attending FC and I am loving having him around. C is having a great 1st grade year so far and I am the Homeroom Mom. L is enjoying our little homeschooling routine and P likes to sneak anything out of the fridge and chug it (coffee creamer, soy sauce, straight apple juice... you name it). :P

So life is obviously exciting around here!