Author Archives: mominthemiddle

MNO #1

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This past Friday night the moms of our church all came together and started our first MNO (Mom’s Night Out) crafting night!!  
I have 4 words for ya {food.fun.friends.worship}  
It was an amazing night with childcare provided-which is always great these days!  
By the end of the night we went home with 4 crafts, full bellies, and a new friend 🙂
  I can’t wait for our next MNO in November and hopefully I’ll be hosting one after the Holidays.  
What’s your favorite craft to make?
Delicious food!
Serious concentration!!
Kim was our Hostess for our first MNO
Philly pretzel tray..YUMM!
Coffee Bar

 
Craft #1 Gift Card Holder
Craft #2 Greeting Card
Craft #3 Candy Corn holder
Craft #4 Candy Holder
Apple Cider,Mmmm!
In {crafter} style with my rosette headband

Close up! Excuse the roots LOL!
P.S. Excuse the old Cybershot camera… our DSLR and I had some miscommunication a/k/a I thought it was broken and took it to the Geek Squad after not using it for almost an entire month because I was so angry at it for not taking pictures crispy clear and it turns out it was {user error} woops!  There will be many pretty pictures to come 🙂

Wedding Bells

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This past Saturday a very long time friend of both mine and my husband’s were married.  
We could not have been more happy for both of them.
They are one of those couples you just know God brought together.  
He made him for her and her for him!
I have to tell you this was our third wedding of the season so far this year and they were all catholic ceremonies, now no offense to the other ceremonies but this past one was by far the BEST catholic ceremony! 
I don’t know if it is because we have such a history with the couple, their whole families, and the majority of the bridal party—but there was not a dry eye in the entire church ( including hubby).  
The reception was very emotional for me too.  
Perhaps it was the fact that I know the bride was such a Daddy’s girl and unfortunately her Dad passed away about a year and a half ago…or maybe it was the fact that I saw a friend who I used to be super close to as well {the 3 of us were inseparable at one point, more on that later} who lost her mom the same week of the wedding.  Can you imagine a funeral and a wedding all in the same week? Ugh, I’m tearing up just thinking about it!
In any case my husband and I feel blessed to have been a part of our friends wedding day, we enjoyed great friends and great food…and an open bar 🙂 
Enjoy some pictures from our night out!  
{Hubby and I}
{Reunion}

{The Happy Couple}

{Mel and I}

{Mel, Kristie, and I}

{First dance as husband and wife}

A little something about me

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So the whole idea of this blog is to let others see the real you.  
To not hide behind fake words and pretty sentences, because lets face it life is real-it’s not always shiny with glitter, or cookie cutter perfect. 
Life is tough, and people have flaws-but it is how we view those flaws and accept people that make the world go round!    
Tonight I am going to share with you a fact about me that many do not know…
Every day I write in my journal.  Yes that’s right…I’m 26 and I still have a diary.
This journal is a bit different than an ordinary journal though…it is my prayer/gratitude journal.  
That’s right!  Every day, usually in the morning {sometimes during my lunch break if its a really busy day} I take a few minutes to write down at least 5 things I am grateful for and write down all of my prayers for that day.
My 5 grateful items can be something as simple as: being grateful for shoes to being grateful for someone showing me compassion the day before. 
I think this is something that is truly special and will be just awesome to look back on years from now.
It will be kind of funny..somewhat ironic… I’m sure to see what it was I was praying for and how He decided to put His plan into action. 
Do you still keep a journal?

A mother’s worry

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I never knew how cRaZy moms could drive themselves.
With so many responsibilities on us-every day…it can be kind of overwhelming.
Let me backtrack by saying this: Aaron is refusing to eat baby food (he’s just about 11 months) and has decided he is just done with baby food. The only thing that interest’s him is table food.
Now, Aaron is our third and you would probably figure since he’s our third that our way of life with him is pretty lax and for the most part it is; however when it comes to anything and I mean anything he ingests you would think I was a first time mom who has no experience whatsoever with babies lol! Since Aaron was born we have had one problem after another: colic, reflux, and a battle between diarrhea and constipation almost weekly not to mention the fact that he is our first and only child to have an allergic reaction to medicine 😦

Needless to say I have had so much anxiety this past week with giving him so much table food…every time his cheeks looks like they have the slightest hint of red I have to stop my mind from immediately panicking and thinking he’s allergic to what he’s just eaten.

A mother’s worry never ends 🙂

Inside of me

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This week was a rough week at work.
Do you ever feel like a puzzle piece that is trying to fit into a space that looks like you could fit but not matter how hard you try or how hard you push yourself you just don’t fit?
That is how I have felt all week and it only worsened each day…okay if I’m telling you the truth that is how I have felt for the past {8} months..
I thought that it would have gotten easier at this point-but it hasn’t.

Each day I try to remind myself that I’m here for a more important purpose. I’m here to do God’s work. I’m here to please Him…not my co-workers. I constantly tell myself to stand my ground to not gossip, to not feel belittled, not give into them, not let them get to me, to remember that He will be the one to judge me at the end of the day-not them. Honestly though-it is so hard!

This has made me realize that for too long now I have cared what others think about me.
I have felt inadequate because of the way I think others perceive me.
This is something I struggle with every day with nearly every person I come into contact with.
I have been praying so hard lately for the strength to look past what I think others see in me and try to focus on what I know is there.
I’ve prayed for the strength to know I am worth more than I give myself credit. It’s a battle and I’m fighting this battle everyday.

This is a new motto I need to adopt:

Mornings

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While all of us in our family (minus hubby) thoroughly enjoy summer more than any other season I know I was happy for it to come to an end as I was craving getting back into a routine with the three kids. I’m one of those people that does best when I know what is going to happen next-I do even better when I plan what is going to happen next!

This year brought to us a completely new routine as two of our three children would be in school. Angel our oldest was starting kindergarten, and Ayden our 3 year old was starting preschool. I can’t think of anything more “scheduled” or “routine” than school days. From the outsider’s perspective {which included mine up until about 3 weeks ago when school actually started}I assumed life would be much easier with 2 out of 3 kids in school and only one at home. Boy was I WRONG!! Instead of waking up in the morning and just getting myself ready for work and heading out the door now I have to get myself and Angel ready 5 days a week and 2 of those 5 days I have to get myself, and Angel, and Ayden ready for school.

Getting ready includes:
waking up, brushing my teeth, putting on my face lotion, putting on my “mommy makeup”, picking out clothes for myself and the two kids, ironing all clothing, and finding matching socks, serving breakfast, brushing the kid’s teeth, doing our 5 year old’s hair as he has a “fauxhawk” this year, putting on shoes (sneakers for days there is gym and “Percy Jackson” shoes for days there are not gym…I’ll explain in a future post!), making my super important coffee with our awesome Keurig, making my lunch, packing Angel’s afternoon snack and juice, and rushing out the door in time to catch the bus!

So far I’ve found that doing as much as I can the night before really helps! Every night after all of the kids are in showered, in bed and asleep (usually by 7:30, sometimes later for Aaron because he’s teething) I go downstairs and go through Angel’s folder his teacher sends home every night and sign any paperwork that may be in there….thankfully the amount of paperwork coming home each night has significantly decreased since the start of the school year…then I make sure to get his lunch money and snack money ready for the following day. This is also when I go over any activities, fundraisers, or show and tell we may have the next day that I’ve written on an extra large calendar I’ve hung in out kitchen and color coded with each kids activities-see I told you I ❤ schedules!

Phew, ok I think that is enough details on our schedule change. For now enjoy some pictures of Angel and Ayden’s first days of school. More on our morning routine to follow so stay tuned!

Angel on his first day of school at the bus stop

Angel and his friend Sinai waiting for the bus together

Ayden outside of preschool

Ayden and his Thomas the Train backpack


Angel and Ayden before school

A little dust on the bottle

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Ever heard that country song “A little dust on the bottle?” Well there’s a little dust on this blog and I’m going to try my darn hardest to get it all off! I’ve been following a lot of blogs lately and have been so inspired. I feel like I have a much better grasp on the blogging community thanks to these lovely ladies: Mary at Lily White, Casey over at The Wiegands, Ashley from Little Miss Momma, and Ashley from The Shine Project.

Over the past couple of weeks these girls (some fellow momma’s & some not) have taught me many life lessons. Lessons such as being yourself, not hiding who you truly are, not being afraid to show people your faults, handing over all of your worries and anxieties to the Lord, using what we have to help others-even when what we have may not seem like that much, and so much more! These ladies have truly been inspiring and I can only hope to achieve a tiny little piece of what they have through their amazing words in each of their blogs.

Who knows…maybe this will be the time that I actually find myself through this blog.

MDW Recap!

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This weekend was all about friends, family, good food, a little alcohol, and a whole lot of outside! From the time I arrived home from work on Friday night my kids and I were outside w/ our family and neighbors. In fact the party just stopped tonight!

The Simple Things

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Our days are crazy, hectic, jumbled, mangled, bad, good, and ugly. This is true for any lifestyle in today’s world. Today I came home from work and decided to embrace Memorial Day Weekend for the first time….well EVER!!

See living at the Jersey Shore MDW is somewhat overwhelming with the thousands of “shoobies” that decide to invade our towns, drive crazily, park incorrectly, litter our streets, and feel that they own our towns!

I came home from work and enjoyed the simple things in life: my two oldest boys and their neighborhood friends running through our sprinkler! Doesn’t get much simpler than that!