{invitation} The Blu Poppie // Annual Holiday Open House // eat drink and be merry

My good friend, Tina Prins is hosting her annual holiday open house this upcoming weekend at The Blu Poppie downtown Fort Saskatchewan.  Its a perfect reason to shop and get into the Christmas spirit.  She'll have door prizes and hors d'oeuvres.  Stop in and check out her beautiful Christmas displays and find that perfect gift!

visit The Blu Poppie on Facebook
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for custom holiday invitations please visit sixteensunbuckles

{rockstar mom} Alanna Prins

The thing about moving around is I have been blessed with so many friends all over the world.  I met Alanna while we were in Canada. Sadly, I didn't really get acquainted with Alanna until right before we moved back to the United States.  Thank goodness for social media, email, etc.  or I would never be able to keep in touch with all these wonderful friends I've made over the years.  Alanna is a gem.  She has three beautiful little boys and expecting a fourth (hopefully a girl!).  Three boys but still finds time for holiday crafts, home renovations, and always looks put together doing it. (She might differ in opinion of course).  As a mom of one, I'm always in awe of my mom friends that can balance more than one ... or two.  So thankful for her friendship and for sharing her "strategies" on how she does it all.

Please meet my friend Alanna!

When I first read the question, I have to admit I panicked! ME, BALANCED??  I started digging, I figured I must have some kind of balance or else we would be in chaos, and we do seem to function OK with our three boys who are five and under (and another baby on the way)! So, this month has had me really thinking and analyzing our family dynamics- which has been a great learning process for me. 

Therefore, I wanted to preface my answer to the question by sharing a few thoughts I have had along the way. I truly believe that we are always searching for balance- or at least the right kind of balance, to fit the many different phases that we move through as parents. I believe that, like most things, it is easier said than done and it is so important to find what works best for you and your family. I find that it is too easy in our age of social media to want to simply adopt all these great ideas and tips that we mothers share. While the ideas and vast communication available for mothers is wonderful, we can get caught up in wanting to live that ‘perfect’ life and wanting to take those seemingly ideal ways to live and apply them directly into our lives, forgetting that what we need to do is, take those ideas and mold them into what suits our lives and our specific ways of living. I know this isn’t a big revelation or anything, but for me, it was something that I hadn’t given much thought to before and actually applying it has made a difference for me.  

So on with it- how do I balance life with my rambunctious, ever curious, busy little boys?! Well, I discovered this month just how much of an instrumental role it plays in my day-to-day sanity and happiness. I’ve never been big on planning or routines and have always been the worst keeper of any Day-Timer!  Therefore, I find I have never been one of those people who schedules themselves ‘me’ days, ‘date night’s’ nights or weekend getaways, ect ect.  Instead I balance each day as it comes, I gain balance through doing the ‘little things’ and that is what works for us right now. The flow of our day largely depends on the night (did anyone get sleep?!), on our schedule (school, activities, play dates, ect), and just the overall atmosphere of the household. I have come to think of it like a dance- if we are all on the same groove and I am in step with my kids and hubby, that dance is smooth and I feel centered, together and balanced. I really believe that listening to my kids and understanding what they need from me for the day is SO important to keeping me in step with them.  If our daily dance is out of sync, I feel off centered and unbalanced, and then the chance of things going wrong seems to exponentially increase!  And in total honesty, a lot of our days are out-of-groove… because although it sounds easy, staying in-step with my boys can be pretty hard some days. So, I find ways to maintain balance by giving myself tiny breaks, doing something totally different with the boys, taking up family/friends on their offers of help, relying on my amazing husband to walk through that door and help me regain the balance, because he truly is my other half, and a big one- making a big effort to get more sleep (if possible)! The evening always presents a chance for me to regroup from the day’s craziness- and I cherish those moments. Whether it is sitting on the couch and ignoring the mess, or catching up with my husband and ignoring the other hundred tasks I could be doing- those are the moments I use to balance myself and the mess and tasks can wait! Before bed I take time to send out my prayers, my wishes, and my positive thoughts for us and others. It is my way of beginning to restart the next day and centering my mind by focusing on what is truly important and what is positive in my life. As for maintaining balance with my husband… well since we don’t get many moments to ourselves, (besides the evening when we are both usually weary from the day) it’s again about the little things (and I can’t leave out the obvious- communication!). But truly, the random and small gestures that subtly display love and thoughtfulness are as simple as discovering my favorite chocolate bar in the fridge, or me randomly giving him a good back rub, or even just sitting with each other on the couch. People always say it’s the small things that matter, and through my analysis of our family, I have really seen just how true that is!

{recipe of the week} Pumpkin Pancakes

My mom made me these while we were home visiting one weekend a few weekends back.  I am still thinking about them!  I have so many recipes so when I copy down a new one I have to be sure its worth while.  This one is.  With so many house guests arriving this time of year make some of these ahead of time and pull them out of your freezer!  Now use up the rest of your pumpkin and get to baking.

Pumpkin Pancakes

the goods
2 c flour
3 Tbl brown sugar
1 Tbl baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4c milk
3 eggs lightly beaten
3/4 c pumpkin
1/4 c cooking oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger

let's get to baking
In a large bowl combine flour and other dry ingredients.  In a second bowl combine eggs and remaining ingredients.  Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until slightly lumpy.  Heat a lightly greased griddle on a medium heat for each pancake.  Pour 1/4 c batter.  Cook until golden and turn.

make's 16 pancakes
 

{art print} baby whale // i love you

I'm always thrilled to get custom artwork requests for nurseries.  Jac loved the giraffe print I did for my friend Michelle.  However her theme had more of a beachy feel to it.  I love little whales in boy rooms, don't you?

for more information on ordering prints // www.sixteensunbuckles.bigcartel.com

{mommy mondays} embracing the chaos

My reason behind slow blog posts.  Bare with me in our transition and moving.

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These days have become busier than ever I do believe.  Every stage of babyhood comes with their own challenges, struggles, and happy moments.  The grass is always greener on the other side.  At 3 months you think "oh it'll be so much fun when they can get up and move".  And then 12 months later they are up RUNNING and you think "oh my, I wish she would just sit still for a minute."  And "wait, now where did she go again?!"

I've been through countless moves.  Packing and unpacking have become a no brainer activity for me.  I know what to pack and what to unpack first.  I know how to pack and label.  Oh, and I even started saving all my boxes and bubble wrap because we move so often (that stuff gets expensive!). I have it down to a science.  It takes me about a week to unpack.  And possibly another week to rearrange and tweak my organization.  Piece of cake. 

Cue toddler.

I love this little girl to pieces, but she definitely throws a giant wrench (ok more like stuff animal, my cell phone, the remote control, lightbulb... wait lightbulb?  Maybe I should put that up somewhere higher.  Where did she even get that in the first place?!) into my moving process.  I can't help but laugh at her trying to help me.  My little shadow sees me getting things out of boxes and putting clothes on hanger.  She wants to do just like mommy. However, her ideal of helping is THROWING everything out of the box and spreading hangers out all over the floor.  And then as soon as thats done she is completely over it and on to the next room.  You know how it is, toddlers attention span is about 2 seconds.  So then I'm off to the next room too because a toddler out of sight is usually a toddler getting into trouble.  Especially in a house full of boxes and inadequate baby proofing (its a work in progress).

Time to initiate breathing techniques and patience. My crazy organization and mild case of OCD is being surpressed (with the help of some yoga breathing techniques of course).  I will NOT let the chaos and the mess get to me.  I will not pull my hair out looking at all the unpacked boxes and break down in a huge anxiety attack.  I will remember this is our LAST move for a very long time and I have amples amount of time to get this finished.  I will remember to hug this little girl and kiss her sweet little cheeks.  I'll make time to for cuddles.  I will make time for laughter.  I will make time for what matters most in life.

In a nutshell, my life has slowed down at sixteensunbuckles for the moment.  But my life has definitely sped up kissing sweet baby cheeks and running after tiny feet.