Cleaner Living

I have to admit, on the long list of things that I enjoy doing, cleaning has never been a contender.  I just could not see the point in cleaning something up that instantly was going to get dirty again. I would like to say that I woke up on day and all my views about cleaning had magically changed, but that would be a lie. I can say that as a manager of a household and as the caretaker of two little humans, I do see the necessity of it and I can appreciate when my house is nice and clean. I will also say that anything that makes the inevitable and never-ending job of cleaning my house easier and more efficient is going to get my attention.
 Something else that hadn't really been on my radar before having children was the chemicals in all the household cleaners I was "supposed" to be using. Obviously, you shouldn't be inhaling the bleach fumes in a closed area, my mom always made sure that I had the windows/door open when we cleaned the bathrooms but who really knew how harmful all those fumes and chemicals really were/are? Sure, there is a possibility that we are killing some of the bacteria while we are cleaning, but what else are we killing in the process? I also didn't realize how ineffective some of those products that I had been using really were.
My son, Connor, has some mysterious form of anemia that no one can find a reason for. He also has an affinity for cleaning. I would rather not expose his little body to anything else and risk his health in any way because he actually likes to clean(who is this kid?).

 Through the next couple months I am going to go over some of the products that I have switched over to and why. I promise to always be honest if something doesn't work the way I expected it to, or if I haven't fully switched over on some items yet. I refuse to endorse something unless it works, which is why I have been using Norwex products for over a year before deciding to become a consultant for them. With this post, I am launching my first official "party" and would love if you guys would check out the catalog, and my website and let me know if you have any questions!

Amber's Norwex Store

P.S. I am not looking for anyone to join as a consultant, so don't worry about me hitting you up to join! If you are interested in hosting a party though, and earn free product I would be so happy to help you!

Connor

 This is my feisty three-year-old. The kid that makes me hold my breath longer than I ever thought I could.  He pushes me to my limits with his no-fear, action-packed, no holds barred approach to life. The great thing about this is it keeps me in the moment and it makes the calm moments he has so much sweeter. I love the first photo because it captures his personality. Connor is into everything, eager to know all things and extremely stubborn. I love seeing his personality develop and his ability to make me laugh and look at the world in different ways. I thought I would put up a small blurb about Connor, since a lot of my posts have been about Aiden since he has so much going on in his young life. I am so in love with this kid's beautiful blue eyes!!

Crossing Things Off

There are many things on my bucket list that I may never cross off, but I get excited every time that I do get to put a line through one of them. "Learn to sew" was one of my bucket list items, and although I still have a lot to learn I feel comfortable to check it off the list. I have successfully completed 20+ projects, including my latest, a blanket for Dave's birthday. A blanket for Dave was quite the endeavor because I wanted it to be really nice and REALLY big(Dave-Sized), not your typical blanket. I have had the material for the blanket for over a year, I just found the project really daunting. Finally, after making Christmas presents for my family, mending/altering a bunch of clothes and realizing that I needed to do this birthday on a budget, I decided that I was ready to tackle the blanket. It turned out better than I expected, not perfect, but still really nice. I finally feel comfortable with my sewing machine and like I can do anything! There is so much more to explore in the sewing world but I no longer feel incredibly intimidated and I look forward to the journey! 

Bucket List:

Learn to Sew
What's next??

Aiden's First Game

We made an unexpected trip to California this past week, which has thrown off my blogging schedule. Sorry for the missed week, but instead of letting it get me down I am just going to push on through. On Saturday, March 24, Aiden had his very first baseball game. He was so nervous, so of course, I was also very nervous. Once he was out there, he did great and had an awesome time! I love watching him play a sport and enjoy it. I hope that he continues to grow as a player and a person, and that his love for sports continues to flourish. I got to do snacks for this game, which made it extra special for both of us. I made little goody bags filled with lemonade, pokemon fruit snacks, a squirt gun and homemade rice krispie treats made to look like baseballs. I really enjoy going the extra mile to make things special for the ones I love.

Batter Up!

Sports have always played a pretty big role in my life. We have been participating in them since before I can even remember. I always wanted my kids to be active in sports, because I feel like there are so many benefits from playing. In a world that is dominated by screens and technology, it is nice to interact with other people and get some physical activity in. I am excited to say that we signed up Aiden for baseball this year, and so far he is absolutely loving it! He ends almost every practice with a huge smile on his face and excitement for the next time he gets to play again. I say "almost every practice" because the last practice ended in tears, while he was batting the ball hit off his bat and into his chin which hurt. I encouraged him to finish his turn at bat, and he ended up getting a hit and running in the bases. :) Tough love for the win. Connor is having a hard time sitting on the sidelines, he wants so badly to play. We caved yesterday and bought him a little glove so that he can at least practice, and play catch with us when we go to the park. Aiden's first game is this week and I am so excited and so nervous for him, I did not realize you could get these kinds of butterflies for other people! Aiden playing a sport is also giving me a chance to work on some sports photography. I am hoping that as the season progresses I will get better and better. 

Birthday Adventures

Birthday Donuts! 

Somehow six years have elapsed since my eldest was born. I closed my eyes and when I opened them my baby had developed into an amazing kid.  He is smart-as-a-whip,  funny, helpful, polite, incredibly silly, and super empathetic.  We started his sixth birthday off in our "loose" tradition of birthday donuts. Both boys gobbled both of their donuts up and then we headed home to pack for our trip to California for Aiden's birthday party. While I was packing our bags, I hear a knock at my door and a very concerned voice telling me that Connor is in danger.  I make my way to the living room to find my incredibly guilty-looking son, staring at the floor and holding his stomach. They both then inform me that Connor was playing with a penny in his mouth and has accidentally swallowed it.  Inside, I am having a mini freak out but I remain calm and ask Connor a series of questions to determine my next course of action. He tells me that his stomach hurts, so since there is pain after swallowing a foreign object I decide to take him into the emergency room.  Dave was already at work, so I headed to

Brotherly Concern

See the penny?!

IHOP first to let him know what was going on. Apparently, I have a terrible poker face, his manager told him that he could leave because of the deeply concerning look I had on my face. So Aiden's 6th birthday was spent in the emergency room.  When we walked in Aiden was crying, out of concern for his brother and the ladies initially thought that he was the one we were coming in about. They were surprised to hear the calm and collected three-year-old was the emergency room patient. A couple hours later we left the emergency room knowing that he swallowed the penny and instructed to search through his excrement to make sure he passed it.  They said that it should only take a couple days because of how far along it already was....but in actuality it took 11 days. 11 long days. I am happy to report that we took another X-ray this week and his little body is penny-free! This mom is very thankful not to be searching through poo anymore, without a doubt one of the worst mom duties I have ever had.

Hooray! Penny Free!!!

Even though we were in the emergency room the day before Aiden's birthday party, we were still able to pull off a pretty good party. Aiden had an amazing time, and I think everyone else did too, which at the end of the day is all that matters to me.  We are so blessed to have such amazing family and friends that always make our parties successful. It is all about the wonderful people that we spend it with.

I put together a slideshow of some of the pictures of the party.

I hope you enjoy! 

(I suggest making the slideshow larger so you can see the pictures. I will also be posting these pictures to Facebook, so feel free to enjoy them there as well!)

S"no"w Way!

We do not get a whole lot of snow here in Kingman, Arizona, so even the smallest flurries are a pretty big deal to my little boys. The snow did not stick, so there were no snowmen made or snowball fights to be had but my kids found the joy in the moment they were given. They ran outside in their winter coats, desperately trying to catch the tiny flakes on their tiny tongues. It is so much fun to watch them experience little things, that so many take for granted. I love that something as pure and simple as a few snowflakes can make them so deliriously happy. I have a few things that I want to write about, including Aiden's birthday and Connor's emergency room trip but I am waiting for a few things to happen before I dive into those topics. Until then, please enjoy a few pictures of my boys enjoying a few snow flakes in our backyard. 

Short & Sweet

This is going to be a short post, but I am trying to get into the habit of at least posting a blog a week. We had a wonderful Valentine's Day, the boys and I exchanged homemade Valentines and they enjoyed special pancakes and popcorn. We visited one of the local retirement homes and handed out Valentine's to the residents with the Scouts. I loved watching the boys hand out valentines, it was a blessing to see how happy we made them! Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures because I was holding Connor most of the time.

It has been raining like crazy this week, which instead of driving the boys indoors, has the opposite effect on Connor. That kid is a little water baby, he loves the rain! He sprints out before I have a chance to stop him and tries to catch raindrops on his tongue.

Aiden turns 6 this weekend! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone, how is my baby 6? I have been in full party prep mode for almost two weeks, I hope it all comes together in time!

Double Dose of Videos!

I think that in life it is important to have a variety of goals, things that you can check off your list today, tomorrow and also ten years from now.  I am happy to say that I have accomplished one of my goals this week: folding a fitted sheet. That may seem like a small goal to many, but to me it has been a long time coming and finally victory is mine! 

The boys and I have had a lot of fun this week in "school." We did our very first "official" science experiment. My parents gifted Aiden a science set for Christmas, and this week we broke that baby open. We went over the differences between solids, liquids and gases. The boys enjoyed going around the house and categorizing all of the items the could find. I explained what a solution was, a chemical reaction, acids and bases. Do I think they completely understand all of this? Of course not, but it is a good introduction and one has to start somewhere. In our experiment we made carbon dioxide, which was super cool and I got to explain about that being what we breathe out. The boys cannot wait for our next science experiment, and that is exactly what I want for them. I want them to be excited for learning! 

It has been awhile since I have shared videos with you, so this week you get 2! I just could not keep this latest dance party to myself. These two kids crack me up!

Thriving at Home!

Meet Franklin! Aiden's first pet!

I know that there are some out there that may not agree with my choice to homeschool my children, they think that I am robbing them of a "normal" education.  It is true that my children are shielded from some things a little longer than others, and I am perfectly okay with that. One of our local elementary schools went on lockdown this week for a bomb threat, the kids had to be bussed to a different location. That is both scary and a detriment to those kids education. They already only attend school four days a week, so every day matters. Arizona is one of the lowest ranking states in education, passing kids all the way through high school without the ability to read, write or do basic math. I want my children to flourish, I want them to love to learn and I want them to be able to explore this wonderful world without fearing for their life. I don't want their mindsets to be narrowed into only what the teacher has time to teach, I want them to be able to pursue their passions and interests. I want them to be well-rounded individuals, to be contributing members of society. I want them to know how to take care of themselves and others, how to be kind, generous and loving. I want them to know that anything worth doing takes hard-work, commitment and perseverance. I want to teach them to never give up and to always do your best. Maybe they could learn all this in a "normal" classroom setting, I am not saying that it is impossible. But is it really something that is worth the gamble? Or should I do everything in my power to do the best I can for my children to become the best versions of themselves? For now, homeschool is the best option for our family, and I am enjoying every crazy, wonderful minute of it.

Working together to learn!

Scrabble player in the making!

Learning valuable kitchen skills!

He read 30 books all on his own this month

and helped bake pumpkin muffins!