Life has been a lot of things lately, but it sure hasn’t been boring! God is so good—even, and maybe especially, in the chaos of our everyday life. One minute Jimmy and I are strategizing a Friday night “divide and conquer” plan (he took the big kids to the World of Wheels car show while I had a solo date with Dakota!), and the next I’m on the couch at 4:00 AM trying—and very humbly failing—to illustrate a children’s book. Yup, never a dull moment around here!
Between practicing Dakota’s first birthday smash cake, wrangling huskies, and making Jimmy’s breakfasts “pretty” with mini pink Lowe’s buckets, I’m constantly reminded that God is in every detail. He’s there in the struggles, the goofy fun, and the few and far between quiet moments. Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to!
A Blizzard and Bobsleds ❄️
I have to start this post with the fun stuff: we got a big snowstorm! I think Pittsburgh got about 12 inches of snow on Sunday and boy was it fun. Everything was canceled, closed, and shut down. We hunkered down at home and eventually made our way out in the snow.
We pulled the kids on their sleds around the neighborhood and there was enough snow that we were able to sled ride right down our street. Jimmy and I both went down on the sleds a few times with the kids and it was thrilling. I hadn’t been sled riding in years!
As per usual, Dakota was not impressed! We had to be careful with her and Mordecai (he has a hard time keeping mittens on); the snow was fun, but it was really cold outside.
We’ve lived here almost 12 years and Jimmy and I both agreed that this was the biggest snow storm we’ve seen since moving here! It was giving snowmageddon vibes from 2010, haha.
I was relieved we didn’t get any freezing rain that would cause power line issues and outages. No power in super cold weather was not something I wanted to experience with three little ones and I kept saying prayers of thanks that we had electricity!
All of the fun in the snow wiped the kids out. Sadie and Mordecai fell asleep in a heap on Jimmy and it was so precious.
My mom and dad sent a picture of what it was like when they opened their back door after the storm. How wild is that?!
And if you’re wondering… yes, we had Niva’s best friend (it’s true… our dog has a best friend 😂) sleep over during the storm and the dogs loved it. We had a hard time getting them to come inside. They were prancing around in the snow like maniacs. Classic huskies!
As an example of how hard it was to get the dogs to warm up inside, here’s a picture of Runah pouting by our back door because I wouldn’t let her outside. 🙃
Huskies are just wild! So different from any other dog breed I’ve raised. They totally thrive in this weather. I need to channel my inner husky. 😉
So, the storm hit on Sunday. We had last been to the grocery store on Friday and it was madness. Think: full parking lot, shelves cleared, supplies out of stock, and aisles mobbed with people.
By Monday, we were in need of some fresh produce. I’ve started calling Dakota a fruit bat because she can put down so many grapes in one sitting! We were cooped up, so we ventured out to the grocery store as a family that night when the roads were a little more cleared and stores were opened back up.
The store was much more empty of people but also missing a lot of groceries! I think supply trucks weren’t on the roads and many people had wiped out the store’s stock before the storm. There were no strawberries (Sadie’s fave!) and almost no loaves of bread. Everything else was mostly in stock, though! When we get big storms and things are scarce I am always reminded of how blessed we are to be able to simple drive to a grocery store and access food.
Now that the snow is done, we’ve just been trying to stay warm and help our neighbors. We’re in a major cold snap for the foreseeable future, so the snow isn’t going to just melt off of everyone’s cars. Jimmy has been nonstop with shoveling our neighbors walkways and digging their cars out of mounds of snow. I’ve been making sure to check in on everyone around us and see if they need help or supplies. I love how community comes together when there’s crazy weather!
So, that’s been the big excitement around here: snow, more snow, and cold weather! I’ll tell ya what: when the temperature goes about 30 degrees, it’s seriously going to feel balmy!
Motors and Memories 🏎️
On Friday night, before the snowstorm hit, Jimmy and I had a “divide and conquer” night. He was itching to attend World of Wheels (a car show!) at the local convention center. We knew it would be a late night for Dakota, so Jimmy brought the big kids to the car show and I had a date night with Koko!
They had such a great time! The kids came home so excited to tell me all about how they got to sit in race cars and Jimmy said the event was way more kid-friendly than he expected. He even treated the kids to a Pittsburgh classic that night: dinner at Eat’n Park. It’s a diner known for their smiley face cookies!
Meanwhile, Dakota and I had to get out of the house so we wandered around a few stores looking for a coat for Mordecai. His current winter jacket is 18-24 months sized and he’s currently in 3T clothes. I realized Dakota is closer to fitting in his jacket than he is, haha.
We didn’t have any luck finding a jacket but enjoyed a quiet girls’ night!
Drafts and Dreams ✍️
Time for me to get vulnerable over here! Once I finished writing and publishing Real Mom, Real Faith, I took a month to go through the devotional myself and then started to focus on a new writing project! I wrote a children’s book. The words really flowed from me and I finished it quickly—I think because it was so near and dear to my heart. It’s about diversity from a Christian perspective and partially inspired by our experience with Dakota’s hemangioma.
So: the writing portion went really quickly. Yay! Well, as you may know, most children’s books have pictures. 😂 So I started the journey of figuring out how to illustrate this book of mine. I started by trying to do it myself and got pretty deep in art land. Think: colored pencils, special paper, and sketches.
I thought maaaaybe I could draw my own illustrations and then scan and upload them with my manuscript?
Then I had a crisis day. I laid my drawings out and started doubting everything. I felt like the illustrations weren’t cohesive at all. They were taking me forever. They weren’t even good. Did the shading look ok? Was my message getting across clearly?
Jimmy and Sadie think I should keep at it and continue to illustrate the book but I feel like I’m in way over my head. I honestly think it would take me a year to get all my illustrations created just right. So, for now, I’m looking into working with a professional illustrator. You know, someone who knows what they’re doing. 😉
Basically, I don’t know! We’ll see what happens. I might end up making the illustrations myself and you’ll see this book in like 2028 or I might find a professional. Let me know what your thoughts are.
The main things I’ve learned from this journey are:
-I’m a writer, not an artist. 🖊️
-I love learning new things. 🤔
-I enjoy creating art… but I’m not an artist! 🖼️
-I cannot wait to read the book I wrote to my own children 🥹
Batter and Blessings 🍰
It’s hard to believe that we’ll be celebrating a year with Dakota in February. This has truly been the fastest year of my life! Her first year of life has been filled with blessings. She’s such a sweet girl and the perfect addition to our family.
I have learned a lot since having three children and have grown immensely through the past year. Before Dak was born, I never would have guessed how many times we would be at doctor’s offices and specialist appointments. God has taught me to trust Him in every high and low. While growth doesn’t always feel comfortable, it’s always good.
There’s usually a moment each day where I pinch myself because I can’t believe it’s real that God has entrusted three children to Jimmy and I. What a joy, privilege, and deep responsibility!
Since we’re having Dakota’s birthday party at our favorite ice cream shop, I started thinking about a smash cake. I was thinking an upside down “melting” ice cream cone would be cute. I came up with the cake below on Sunday while we were snowed in and I had some extra time on my hands.
I don’t know what you would call the baking equivalent of a rough draft, but that’s what that was. I was trying to just get the concept ironed out, not going for anything perfect.
It’s a three layer cake (strawberry with vanilla frosting) with a ball of “ice cream” made out of leftover cake tops when I evened out the layers mixed with more frosting. I put a waffle cone on top and added chocolate cake drip to go for the melting look. The bottom of the cake is covered in rainbow sprinkles to be like an ice cream sundae.
But then I was thinking… this is probably a horrible smash cake! I think she will grab the crunchy waffle cone, not be able to break through the chocolate cake drip layer, and then there’s the big ball of fake ice cream.
I think I’m back to the drawing board on this. If anyone has ideas or thoughts, let me know! At least it was a fun little baking project for a snowy day. 😊
Our Days and Details
We went to Lowe’s one evening (we had plumbing/water issues since we got that big snowstorm) and stumbled upon mini pink Lowe’s buckets. They’re so cute! And guess what? They’re food safe. Lately, Jimmy has been having overnight oats for breakfast so I obviously had to pick up a few Lowe’s mini pink buckets for him to take his breakfasts to work in. 😂
Jimmy and the kids built a mini foosball table together. It has kept them busy while we’re stuck inside during this cold weather!
I have lots more to share—Sadie visited a podiatrist for the cyst under her toe—but this post is already so long! I’ll be back with more updates soon!
Other Notes and Thoughts 📝
- Dakota was wearing a skirt the other day and Mordecai said “Is Koko a prince-ah?” and I finally figured out “prince-ah” meant princess! It was so cute. 👸🏼
- Speaking of Mordecai and Dakota, they ate 1/3 pound of salmon together the other day. I grilled a pound for myself and gave them pieces and they kept eating it; so much for leftovers! I’m so glad they like fish, though. 🐟
- I cleaned the grout in our bathroom over the weekend and it was one of those things that I had been putting off but didn’t take as long as I expected and made such a huge difference. 🧼
- Jimmy dressed Dakota the other day and put her in a camo short sleeve onesie with a pink furry vest and I was cracking up. 😆
- Whenever there are crazy storms, people always bash meteorologists’ predictions but I took meteorology in college and it was so difficult! I have a lot of respect for the science of it all. 🌨️
- Does your family have silly power struggles? Sadie always wants to control the volume, Mordecai wants to know the answer to everything, I’m always turning up the heat, and Dakota only wants to feed herself! 😂
- Current scripture I’m loving: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. Psalm 143:10 🙏🏻
- It’s the time of year when we pull out our favorite Valentine’s Day books! Sadie has been enjoying The Berenstain Bears Valentine Blessings, Mordecai likes the touch and feel spots in Where is Love, Biscuit?, and I just ordered this one to add to our collection! 📚
Living My Full Life 