Snow Much Fun

We woke up to about 8 inches of snow on Saturday!  It was WONDERFUL!

We all love snow, winter and were so excited.

I had prepared with hats, boots, gloves, snow pants, coats, sleds, shovels and snow toys.  We were ready to have some fun.  It was probably the best snow we've had since we moved back to Indiana.  Kevin was home for the day and we made a game plan to get out and play.  No one cried while we were bundling up - which felt like a big parenting WIN and then we played outside for a long time.  We made two snowmen, went on sled rides, played games and Kevin shoveled the driveway.

Keep reading to see our new favorite snow day toy, our recipe for snow ice cream and cute kids :)

Olive drew up her snowman plan.  She wanted to make four.  We made two huge ones and called it done.

 They mastered the art of snowball making AND throwing this year.

Kevin gets all the credit for building.

I get all the credit for accessorizing.

These color squirt bottles were a fun after Christmas clearance purchase from Meijer.  I think I paid under $3 for each one.  You just mix the color powder with warm water and let the kids squirt.  My kids LOVED this.  I'm sure you could easily make your own version of this - just make sure the bottles are small enough for little hands.

Fletcher LOVED the snow this year.  He cried when we made him come in.  It was so fun to see him making snow balls, squirting the snow and running around and loving the snow.

Saturday snow days are the best!!

 Snowy head shots:

Our biggest snowman ever completed just before dark!

We made sure to gather a big bowl full of snow when we first went out so that we could make snow ice cream.  It's so easy, so fun and really kid friendly.  Here's my SNOW ICE CREAM RECIPE.  We added chocolate syrup this year.  Both kids loved it.

Played SO hard... 

These kid sized snow shovels have been so much fun.  We got them last year and the kids have a ton of fun shoveling.  I love that they are neon orange which makes them super easy to spot.

I refilled those color spray bottles several times.  Both kids loved them.  I think you could fill them with kool aid or food coloring too.

Whew!  That was a fun, snowy weekend!  We played outside several times and are ready for our next snow storm :)

We kicked off the week with a 2 hour school delay yesterday and there's more snow in the forecast for next weekend.  Bring it on!  I'll be sure and head to the store later in the week to stock up on essentials like everyone else.  Although I might do grocery pickup because of ALL THE GERMS.

Are you a fan of snow??

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Don't you love having recipes in your collection that at any given time you ALWAYS have the ingredients to make?

I get excited to add recipes to that collection and I recently found another one:
Low Sugar Banana Oat Muffins from Southern Plate.

They're so good.  My family approves which is why I've made them three times since she posted the recipe at the first of the year.  I've made them for friends and for my family and they've gotten the same review of GREAT!  They are really quick to make and bake under 15 minutes.  I can whip them up in no time for a quick, delicious breakfast.  It can be a challenge to find muffins that are healthy and tasty.  These muffins include much less sugar and oil than other recipes I've tried.

I made some changes to the original recipe so here's my version:

2-3 ripe bananas
1/3 c sugar
1/2 c 2% milk
2 T vegetable oil
1 egg
1 t vanilla
2/3 c flour
1/2 c quick cook oats
2 t baking powder
dash of salt
1/2 c chocolate chips

I followed the recipe directions exactly for combining the ingredients.  Basically, start at the top of the list and work your way down adding the ingredients to a mixer.  The batter will be more liquidy than other muffins I make. 

I opted to make mini muffins instead of full size muffins.  My family just prefers them.  The mini muffins bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until slightly browned.

These muffins are best fresh out of the oven, but are still pretty yummy the next day.

Hope your family loves them as much as we did.

Everyone Should Use A Planner

Do you use a planner?

Paper?  Planner app on your phone?  Wall calendar?  Desk calendar?

It doesn't matter me to what kind of planner you use.  I think that every single person could benefit from having a place to write things down.

I am a paper planner person.

I've used the same type of planner for 15 YEARS!!  Here' the proof.  This stack makes me so happy.  It's a fun collection of a whole lot of lists, memories, milestones and blessings.

A good friend gave me my first one and then Kevin has continued the tradition every year.  It really is the best present.  I say it's my favorite Christmas gift every year.  They're anywhere from $16-32 and you can find them at bookstores.  I used to find them at TJ Maxx, but that hasn't been the case the past couple of years.  Some years Kevin surprises me with the cover color and some years I pick it out.

It's a Gallery Leather planner.  I love the 8.5 x 5.5 size.  They also make a larger one that's 9x7.  Here are some options on Amazon right now.  I love the rose gold option.



I can't imagine life without a planner.  I write EVERYTHING down in it.
-daily to do lists
-birthdays
-gift lists for birthday lists
-Christmas gift lists (I can refer back to them easily)
-long term to do lists
-passwords
-Bible verses
-Weekly goals
-workout trackers
-weight loss trackers
-kid milestones
-appointments
-school schedule
-Kevin's schedule
-football games
-medicine reminders
 See what I mean... everything goes in my planner!

This should come as no surprise... My new year's challenge to you is to start using a planner if you don't already and see how it can be a blessing to your family!  Kevin and I sit down every Sunday to do a "Schedule Sync".  We fill each other in on our plans for the coming week and make plans to help everything run smoothly.  I look forward to this more than Kevin, but it really works well for us.

I've started adding Kevin's schedule to my phone each week so that I can keep his schedule straight.  I don't love entering everything into my calendar app.  I make myself do it so that I know his schedule on the go.  Every day is different and knowing his schedule helps me to take care of him.  I like to make his lunches, stop by his office and say hello, we try to do lunch together a couple times a semester and it's just nice knowing the best times to call and say hello.

Behind the scenes:
Every photo shoot involves keeping kids and cats out of my pictures :)

Happy Friday!  Hope you have a great weekend :)

It's time to link up with my favorite blogging buddies for High Five for Friday.  Join us with up to 3 different blog posts and be sure to look around to find some new blog friends.

Becky @  By BMG Blog
Della @ Della Devoted
Tif @ Bright on a Budget
Whitney P @ Come Home for Comfort

An InLinkz Link-up

2018 Highlights

2018 was far from perfect.  There were plenty of hard moments, tears shed, work stresses and unknowns, but overall, I am really thankful for another year.  I'm going to continue my blog schedule of taking most Thursdays off this year.  I just wanted to hurry and get this post in before January got away from me.

Have you done the top nine generator for your instagram moments of 2018?

I was really curious to see what my most popular pictures of the year would be.  Some people disagreed with their highlights and others completely agreed.  I fell in the latter group.  I LOVED my highlights and felt like they were really accurate for my family this year.

1 - Thankful to get to spend my days at home with the kids.  I really never thought I'd be a stay at home mom.  Then, my kids came along and I couldn't imagine doing anything other than staying home with these during these little years.  Fletcher and I have enjoyed having more alone time than ever now that Olive is in school full time.  We're hitting our stride together.

2 - Cooper.  He was definitely an exciting moment in our year.

3 - Goodbye 50lbs.  I am still really proud of this healthy milestone.  I've got my sights set on new healthy goals for 2019.

4 - Walmart puffer jacket!  I love that pink coat and all the other fun deals I've found this year at Aldi, Target, TJ Maxx, Walmart, Dollar Tree and Amazon.

5 - Kevin and I worked hard on our marriage this year so it makes me happy to see us at the center of my collage.  We had more date nights than ever, worked through some tough things and are better for it.  We're quickly approaching our 15th wedding anniversary this Summer.

6 - Holiday food.  I love making festive food!

7 - We got a Mini Van!!  I never knew how much I could love a Honda Odyssey.  It's perfection.  And now I'm pretty sure that I've hit full blown mom status.  I don't care who knows - I love it!

8 - Olive started kindergarten and we couldn't be more proud.  She's independent, confident, curious, smart and she loves school so much.  It's amazing to see all of the new things she's learning.

9 - Cute outfits - I've really gotten excited about putting together cute outfits for myself again.  I loved getting dressed up for work when I was teaching, but then I kind of lost that when I started staying home full time.  Now I'm back and it feels great.

A few other blog, real life and family memorable moments from 2018...

Fletcher landed himself in the ER with a pretzel up his nose.

We enjoyed a Disney brunch with all of our favorite characters

The whole family got to head up to Notre Dame for St Patrick's Day

Fireman Fletcher turned TWO

I broke and dislocated my pinky toe.  Still cringe about that one.  Praying we all stay out of the ER this year.

Olive had a Magical Unicorn Party to celebrate her 5th birthday

We spent countless hours and resources working in our yard this year.  I'm happy to report that things are looking pretty lovely around Polka-Dotty Gardens.

The Sunflower Maze never disappoints.

The Blue Angels came to town.

We headed to the ocean a couple of times - Ft Walton Beach & Naples

We loved apple picking so much that we went three different times.

Halloween was super this year with these cute Super Heroes

Our backyard was the prettiest it's ever been this Fall

I discovered leather earrings and LOVE them so much

After three years of prayers, we FINALLY FOUND A CHURCH HOME and it's been a blessing to our whole family.  We are plugged into small groups, the kids love their classes and we've been going to church every Sunday since July.  This is definitely a big highlight of our year.

We had a lot of fun decorating the house for Christmas

What was the best thing that happened to you in 2018??

Saying Goodbye to a Pet

Thank you SO MUCH for all of your kind comments and messages about our Christmas puppy yesterday.  It really brightened my day to hear that many of you had been through similar situations, could relate to us or just had sweet words for us.

I've been looking forward to sharing with you some of the ways that we helped our family say goodbye to Cooper.  Granted, we only had him for a short time, we still loved him lots.  Our kids are young (5 and 2) so all of our activities were geared toward connecting with young kids.

// Stuffed Animal Look Alike //
We found these brown Boston Terrier beanie babies on ebay for the kids.  They're really sweet and both kids love them.  They've been sleeping with them at night and both named their puppies Cooper.  Each kid really connected with their beanie baby and are still sleeping with them. 

// Photo Album //
I had a lot of sweet Cooper pictures so I hopped on the Walgreens app one evening and printed them all out.  I stuck them in an easy photo album and put it on our coffee table.  We've all enjoyed looking back through pictures of him.  The kids seem to really enjoy seeing pictures of themselves with Cooper.

// Puppy Conversations //
We talk about Cooper regularly.  If something reminds us of him, we talk about it.  If the kids have questions, we talk about them.  Our hope is that we teach the kids that it's okay to be sad, it's okay to miss someone and that we're all here for each other.

 // Make Donations //
We had purchased a lot of puppy supplies in preparation for a new puppy.  We returned Cooper to his original owners with a bag full of his favorite things - his new bed, his favorite toys, food and treats.  It felt good to keep his favorite things with him.  We had several things we were able to return to Petsmart and the leftover puppy supplies we have plans to donate to a local shelter.

// Letter to the Family //
My brother in law suggested we write a letter to the kids to help them understand the situation.  So that's just what I did.  I pretended to be Cooper's puppy parents and wrote a letter to our family.  They were checking in on Cooper, wondering how he was doing and then asked for him to come back to live with them.  The kids completely understood the letter.  We cried while reading the letter, but it made sense to them for him to go back to his dog family if our family wasn't a good fit for him. 

The letter was also accompanied with a scooter for each kid.  Our thinking was that they'd get a fun gift to enjoy and they could think of Cooper when they played with them.  The kids loved their scooters and it's been a fun new toy for them to learn.

// Keepsakes //
We kept Cooper's collar and decided to hang it on our Christmas tree.  The kids have been playing with it since we took down our decorations.  Their stuffed animals have all taken turns wearing it.  I also bought a photo frame ornament for Cooper's picture.  It's dated 2018 so we can always remember our sweet times with Coop.

// Puppy Art //
Olive loves to draw so I wasn't surprised that she asked if she could draw or color pictures of Cooper after he left.  It really helped her to feel better to color pictures with him.  She asked to hang them in her room so she's got a Cooper gallery wall going on.  She drew a lot the first day or two after he left and now is just enjoying her art work from those first few days.  Fletcher colored one boston terrier picture and was done.  He hung it in his room and forgot about it.

And that's a wrap!  Lots of puppy love in one post.  I think most of these things could be used if your beloved family pet passes away or if you ever find yourself in a similar situation as us having to return a new pet.  We did these things for the kids, but all of this really helped the whole family.

I'd love to hear anything you've done to help remember a family pet in the comments.

PS Starting this year I'll no longer be cohosting the Welcome Wednesday link up.  I'm sticking to just one link up to simplify things for myself and that'll be High Five for Friday on Fridays.  These blog friends are still participating in the link up so head to see them for link up details from now on:

Stefanie at Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest / Facebook

Keri at Keri Lynn Synder / Faceobok / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest 

Mauri at The American Patriette /  Facebook /  Pinterest / Instagram

Sarah at Sarah E. Frazer / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest 

Lindsay at Lindsay's Sweet World /  Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter