Between a night at the library, homeschooling, birthday milestones, and the smell of a new granola recipe, this week has been a sweet mix of normal and special moments! Cozy, rainy days set the backdrop as we marked two big milestones: Dakota turned seven months and Sadie turned seven years old!
There’s been cousin time for Sadie girl, quiet moments spent reading, and candles flickering in the background. Life lately has left me feeling joyful, reflective, and thankful for the ordinary and extraordinary moments! Here’s a look at our life lately 😊
Cousin Fun 👯
When my sister asked what Sadie wanted for her birthday, I immediately knew the perfect gift: a sleepover at her cousins’ house! Sadie is such an “experience” girl—she would rather have time and attention than things—and I’m so thankful Hannah was willing (and brave!!!) enough to add another kid to her busy household for a night. She made all of Sadie’s dreams come true with cousin time, ice cream, late-night laughter, and sleeping next to Caroline! Thank you, Hannah 🤗
The fun didn’t stop there! The next day, we added more cousin time when we had my brother’s oldest daughter over after church! I love getting the cousins together as much as possible—there’s just something special about those relationships 🤍
Chocolate Cherry Granola 🍒
I had been wanting to experiment with a new granola flavor and had fun coming up with a recipe for chocolate cherry granola!
The recipe features crunchy oats, cocoa powder, honey, cherry emulsion, and dried cherries. I’ll post the recipe here soon! I’m also working on a maple pecan flavor that feels like fall in every bite 🍂
An Evening at the Library 📚
Our local library has a program for kids that teaches healthy habits. Every other week, Sadie attends and spends an hour learning healthy habits, recipes, and even does yoga! Mordecai and Dakota came with us and played while Sadie practiced yoga.
Since we’re talking about the library, let’s talk books! I just started Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe. Yes, it’s not even October and I’m reading a Christmas book, lol. Sadie and I read two books published in the 1980s: Mom Can’t See Me and Jackpot of the Beagle Brigade. Both books were nonfiction and super interesting. Mom Can’t See Me was about a blind mom (from Pittsburgh!) and the other book was about a beagle who worked at Kennedy airport and sniffed out food smuggled from other countries.
What are you currently reading? I want to know! I am eyeing up this memoir next. I feel like it will be a wild one.
Celebrating Our Little (and Big!) Ones 🎉
Dakota turned seven months old this week and Sadie turned seven years old! It’s hard to believe that Dakota is closer to the one year mark than her newborn days. And Sader Tot is seven!? How did that happen?
I’ll be posting Dakota’s seven month update soon! She’s doing really great—so sweet and happy! We had a great day celebrating Sadie’s birthday. We made all her wishes come true by going to Build a Bear, the trampoline park, and out for frozen yogurt!
Sadie woke up the day after her birthday and wrote me a thank you note for her special day and even attached ribbon to it. I was so touched by her gratitude 🫶 I’ll blog more about her big day soon! Her birthday party is tomorrow and she is over the moon with excitement. All her favorite people at a gymnastics gym?! Doesn’t get much better than that 😉
Everyday Moments 🤟🏼
Our everyday life has looked like some rainy days, schoolwork, cooking, and more!
Pittsburgh received some much needed rain, so we did school inside a few times. I let the kids choose a candle to light while we studied and they thought that was cool! All this rain is reminding me that I need to get Sadie and Mordecai umbrellas and rain boots for this season. It gets pretty rainy here in the ‘Burgh ☔️
We’ve had a loose daily routine lately where we wake up and have hot cocoa and play, the kids do school while Dakota takes her morning nap, we eat lunch, go on a walk/bike ride, and then Mordecai takes his nap. While he naps, Sadie has free time to play and I do cooking and cleaning. Before we know it, Jimmy is home and Sadie plays with the neighbor kids while we prep dinner. After dinner we might go on a family walk, do projects around the house, or go out and do something fun. Then bath time, books, and bed for everyone!
I’ve been enjoying this schedule… but you know how that goes! The kids, especially Dakota, will shift nap times and the season will change but we’ll find a new routine to love 🤍
Mordecai and Dakota bonded while Sadie slept over her cousins’ house! I was eating chicken for dinner the other night and asked Mordecai if he wanted a bite. He said “Is this edible?” haha. This boy makes me laugh every single day 😂
Another laugh was when Mordecai flushed the toilet and said “Bye! Good luck!” to the toilet paper 🧻
Sadie practiced her photography skills on Mordecai and Dakota this week. The kids all get so excited to see each other every morning and all snuggle in our bed. Melts my heart 🤗
Magnetic tiles continue to be a big hit with Mordecai (and Jimmy, lol). The boys make some legit towers with those things. The best part? Knocking everything down!
Mordecai and I had some one-on-one time together while Dakota napped and Sadie got her nails done with her Gramma K (!!). We baked brownies for Sadie’s birthday party 🍫
Dakota and I soaked up some sunshine on the porch swing! She was intently watching the dogs (Niva and her bestie, Runah!) when I took this photo.
Life lately has been busy and full and I feel behind on sharing everything here in this space! This little spot on the internet continues to be my favorite place to show up, share, and connect. I’m so thankful for everyone who reads about our wacko adventures and all my random thoughts! Thanks for being here 😊
Other Notes and Thoughts 📝
- Mordecai has been doing so well with his daily Bible studies during our school time (I totally underestimated him!) that I finally ordered a pre-reading curriculum for him. I went with the same curriculum I used to teach Sadie to read: All About Reading 📖
- Why is it so cute to me when Jimmy dresses Dakota! I just love to see what he picks. The very first picture in this post was his choice for her church outfit this week (bow and all!) and I think he did a great job 🎀
- I pushed our extended family to do our annual name draw for our Christmas gift exchange. I’m that aunt who is already so excited to choose special gifts to spoil my nieces and nephews with 🎁
- Thought for the day: voices call out to us all day in “real life,” on social media, through the news, emails, calls, texts, and more. There’s One voice we need to listen to the most 🙏🏻
- I’ve been so into making chicken wings lately! Jimmy gave me the best compliment the other day when he said I need to open my own wing shop LOL 🍗
- I gave Sadie this mini baking kit for her birthday and I’m not sure who had more fun with it—Sadie or me?! 🎂
Life lately has been such a mix of milestones and ordinary life—rainy days, birthday candles, and little hands building Magnatile towers. These are the moments I never want to forget, and I’m so thankful to share them here!
Living My Full Life 
Dakota looks so much like you!
Aww, thank you Cheila! It’s always fun to hear that. When Sadie was born, she looked so much like Jimmy, so it’s fun for me to have a “mini me” now 🙂
Love the cousin crew!
this pics of the kids make my heart ❤️ melt!
💕 Love You!
Dad
🙂
It’s the best seeing them together!! I love you so much!