Look out, everyone — I pulled out Jimmy’s power tools, we’re keeping our pediatrician’s office in business (again), and we somehow squeezed in Christmas photos with enough cousins to start a small village. So far, December has been a fun mix of drills, doctors, and joy — magical, messy, and 100% memorable. Here’s a peek at what life has looked like around here lately!

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Power Tools + Proud Moments 🛠️

I had to face the facts recently: five people live in our house—that’s ten feet, which translates to a lot of shoes. As much as I try to keep things minimalistic, the shoes were starting to pile up by the back door. Winter boots, athletic shoes, dress shoes, flip flops for the hot tub… multiply all of that by five, and our back door was turning into a shoe jungle.

Our boot tray had two layers of shoes precariously stacked like a game of Jenga. I finally caved and bought a shoe rack on Tuesday night. By Wednesday, the box was sitting in our living room, silently taunting me. I was fully prepared to wait for Jimmy to assemble it—those types of projects feel like real-life LEGO kits, and we all know those are not my forte. 😉

But then I thought, “Why not?” I opened the box, grabbed Jimmy’s power drill, and got to work. Did I confuse (and maybe slightly scare?!) the kids in the process? Absolutely. But did I finish it? Yes. And it was a success. YAY!

Sadie was so alarmed by my drilling that she grabbed my phone to document the moment. Mordecai was just as invested, asking classic toddler questions like, “Whatchu doin’, Mom?” and “Is you workin’?” haha.

Here’s a look at the finished product!

Now I’m inspired to tackle the shoe situation by the front door. 😅

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Keeping Our Pediatrician’s Office in Business 🩺

Reflecting on my DIY win, you’d think we were having a calm week… but not quite. True to form, we spent a morning at the pediatrician’s office, keeping them busy as usual.

It all started when I was clipping Sadie’s toenails and noticed a small lump under one of her toes—about the size of a jellybean. She didn’t complain that it hurt, but I figured it was worth a checkup. Off we went to the pediatrician!

The doctor examined her toe, shined a light on it, and literally said, “Huh, that’s weird. I don’t actually know what that is. I’m going to Google that after you guys leave.” LOL. Not exactly reassuring! He confirmed it’s some kind of fluid-filled cyst and referred us to an orthopedic specialist at Children’s Hospital. We’ll be headed there next week to figure it out. My mom intuition tells me it’s nothing serious, and I’m hopeful it will be fine—just something we can simply keep an eye on!

While we were in the exam room, I mentioned that Dakota had recently had a cold and her eye was still goopy—a telltale sign of an ear infection for her. Honestly, I had been trying to ignore the goop-eye, expecting it to get better but it just wasn’t. She was acting pleasant, too, but maybe she’s just used to constant ear infections at this point?!

He took a peek in Dakota’s ears… and she had a wicked double ear infection again. He officially referred her to Children’s Hospital as well and recommended ear tube surgery, which an ENT specialist will review with us. So, our girls will both be at the doctor’s again next week!

For now, Dakota is taking another stronger antibiotic than the past couple she’s tried. If this one doesn’t kick the infection, she’ll move on to an antibiotic shot. I’m feeling so-so about the surgery—I kind of don’t want to go through with it, but I also don’t think it’s good for her to keep taking stronger and stronger antibiotics constantly. I guess we’ll see what the ENT says and go from there!

Between a random cyst, ear infections, and all the antibiotics, we must be close to a free visit punch card at the doctor’s office, right?! Clearly, we’re keeping them on their toes… pun intended. 😜

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Picture-Perfect (ish) Christmas Pandemonium 📸

If you’ve ever tried to take pictures with a big group—ten of whom are age seven and under—you already know: it’s less “silent night” and more “everyone look this way—smile, please—and stop tickling each other!” Somehow, all the chaos of taking pictures with my siblings and all of our kids magically turned into cuteness!

It’s always a treat to see all the cousins together, interacting and being their silly selves! What’s wild to think is that all ten of these kids came from me, my brother, and my sister—and the spouses we each met at our church. One big, crazy, happy family that I’m forever thanking God for knitting together. 🫶

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Homeschool, Hot Meals, and Happy Moments ✏️

Even with the busy parts of December, our everyday moments have been the calm in the rush—homeschool mornings, comfort-food meals, and all sorts of joy. Life doesn’t pause, so we’re still doing our usual… with a little extra excitement sprinkled in, including some really sweet feedback about my book that totally made my day!

Every now and then we like to hit up Starbucks for a special treat while we do school! It mixes up our usual routine and gets us out of the house for a bit.

Our orders: Mama sipped an iced vanilla oat milk latte, Sadie had her “coffee” (a.k.a. whole milk + cinnamon dolce syrup), and Mordecai enjoyed a kids’ hot cocoa. Dakota ate a rice rusk… and by “ate,” I mean she practiced banging it on the table like a tiny construction worker. 🙃

When we do school at home, Mordecai always asks to pull out the paint for his lessons! This week, he learned the letter R and practiced segmenting words by clapping out syllables. I don’t know how much he grasped with the word segmenting, but I do know he loved any excuse to clap!

In other news, I’ve been loving hearing how people are enjoying my new book! It’s so special to see pictures from family and friends using the book I spent so many early mornings plugging away at. I wrote it knowing that even if not a single soul purchased it, it was the book I personally needed. I also felt a tug from the Lord to write it, and I know that obedience—not outcomes—is what true success looks like.

As per usual, I’ve been keeping busy in the kitchen! My eager little helper, Mordecai, joined me in making a big batch of mac and cheese!

And just to keep it real: we spent time grating blocks of cheese, boiling pasta, and stirring everything together… and my kids still prefer Kraft. 😉

Okay, this post is getting long! I have so much more to share—a Christmas light walk, polymer clay projects, organization wins, and more—but I’ll save it for next time so this doesn’t turn into a full-blown novel. 😂

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Other Notes and Thoughts 📝

• What temperature do you keep your thermostat set at during the day in the winter? Jimmy likes ours at 68 degrees and I’d prefer 70 or above. 🥶
• We use All About Spelling for Sadie’s spelling curriculum and supplement with this workbook, which I love. Some of the worksheets are for practicing proofreading and I’m always surprised she can spot the errors! 🖊️
• Jimmy has been packing a cluster of grapes in his lunch each day and for some reason he keeps bringing the Tupperware back home with the stem inside?! It’s now a running joke between us, and if he does it one more time I just might put the stem on his pillow. Good thing he doesn’t read my blog! 🍇
• We attended a Christmas light walk-through the other night and it was cold! I bought a few hand warmers for it and the kids were totally amazed by the concept of hand warmers. 🤷‍♀️
• Scripture I’m currently loving: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 🙌🏼
• Do you ever get mouth ulcers? Tell me your remedies! I have one on my tongue and it’s driving me crazy. 😵‍💫
• I read A Very Merry Christmas Prayer to Mordecai yesterday and we both loved it. I can remember reading it to Sadie as a toddler and I can’t wait to read it to Dakota in the coming years, too. 🎄

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What is your thermostat set at?

Would you rather eat homemade mac and cheese or Kraft?