Mother's Day

As this day came to an end I reflected on how blessed I am. I have my mom and her mom to help me become the best mom I can possibly be. I have all four of my children here with me (almost two years ago I was told we had about a month before we could have lost Dillan by the ER doctor). I have a husband that loves me unconditionally and is an amazing partner in life. My heart and prayers go out to my friends that are traveling this road alone. I pray for those who have moms in heaven that today you felt their embrace throughout the day. I pray for those who have experienced the loss of a child that today you feel their unconditional love throughout the day. My day was special not because I was showered with gifts or because my children were angels (they were actually worse than usual today), it was special because I chose to focus on the blessings God gives me every day...

I am blessed with a teenager that hugs his great-grandmother and gives her a kiss on the cheek at every family gathering. 

I am blessed with a preteen that is with me daily as a living example of God's amazing miracles and a testimony of His love. 

I am blessed with a young curious boy that has a precious and sometimes mischievous personality and is very loving to all of us. 

I am blessed with a daughter who is very sure of herself. Her confidence at five years old is mind boggling. 

My grandmother, Ethel Baggett

Four Generations

My mom, Sue Saviak

My little princess

Mom and her mom

Love him

My blessings, when I remember to focus on them, are overflowing. I am thankful and grateful He chose me to have this life and be mom to Chandler, Dillan, Ethan and Isabelle. 

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Where did April go?!?

It was just Easter and the end of March. I blinked and April disappeared! The kids had a pretty good spring break and I had a great birthday including a surprise birthday party planned and completely pulled off by my 4th graders! Isabelle played T-ball and Ethan is playing soccer with SLES. Dillan's Robotics Team competed at the State level and placed 3rd! Chandler is a typical teenager ready for school to be out. Tim was busy traveling out of town almost every week but thankfully my parents were able to help me with our crazy schedule. All in all April flew by but it was a great month full of blessings!

PBK Easter Baskets on a budget!

I love the baskets PBK sells 

However, with four Foster children the price is TOO high for us! I decided to search for Easter Basket liner patterns and found a few websites with info. Like with most things in my life I thought of this a little too late for this year but maybe I'll make my way to Hobby Lobby tomorrow and get a fabulous deal on nice baskets for next year! 
I think this is a project even I could tackle with my VERY limited sewing skills. Here's the link for one of the sites I found with great directions!

IHeart Organizing: Labeling 101: Print & Laminate

I LOVE labeling and organizing our house!! It makes clean up a little easier and everything has a place. This is a great blog on EVERYTHING to do with labeling and organizing.
IHeart Organizing: Labeling 101: Print & Laminate: I'm baaaack! Did you miss me?  I missed ya'll like crazy!  It's amazing what a little time away with the fam will do.  It was ...

Where did all this come from?!?

It constantly amazes me when I look around our house at all the "stuff" we've accumulated! Obviously with six people in our family there's bound to be stuff but when is it considered excessive? When do I need to admit there's a problem? I mean really do we need twenty pairs of pajamas, T-shirts, candles, et cetera? If I really truly want an organized and less cluttered home I have to learn to not be so sentimental and hoarderish. Now that spring has arrived and spring cleaning is on all of our minds I have no choice but to force myself to PURGE! We need to scale back the amount of our belongings to ensure a somewhat uncluttered and slightly less messy home. I do feel as though I'm always in a state of needing to organize and declutter around here. Maybe one day I will get it right but until then we'll just keep trying to organize this messy Foster house.

Spring Forward, Really?!?

I am not ready to spring forward with anything around here! I find myself wanting to "pin" more organizational ideas than I will ever get around to doing. I have recipes for any cleaning product I could ever want or need! I have an entire 3" binder full of DIY furniture building ideas! You might think that I have it all together. Obviously my Pinterest boards show a lady that is organized and makes fabulous meals while concocting her own cleaning products. A person with a plan for everything... In reality I am not nearly as motivated as all the various social media makes me appear. I constantly think "Move over Jesus" I got this and can drive...if He wants to end up in a ditch! Thankfully Jesus keeps the wheel steady even when I think I am driving. Maybe I don't accomplish every organizational challenge or successfully cook every recipe I find but I live in the real world and am far from perfect, so... Ready or not we must spring forward (unless you live in one of the states that does not participate in Daylight Savings Time)! I think I will spring into what ideas I can find on spring cleaning and organizing my extra hour of daylight in the afternoons. Happy almost Spring!

Dillan is participating in a St Jude Fundraiser

I am super proud of Dillan for wanting to give back to a place he loves and takes super good care of him! Here's a link to his fundraising page.
Dillan Foster's Page