4 kids

This makes me laugh a lot...

The Gender Reveal

So, I realized today I hadn't done a gender reveal here on the 'ol blog yet! It was kind of funny, I got so many calls and texts the day of the ultrasound that I don't think I had to call anyone! It seemed like everyone got a hold of me first! Have I mentioned how BLESSED we are by our family and friends?

Anyhoo...A few weeks ago we got to have our big ultrasound and find out if we are having a boy or a girl! It was so neat. There is nothing quite like seeing your one kicking around and moving on that little screen.

 We decided we wanted the kids to be the first ones to find out the gender of their new little sibling. After our ultrasound we ran by Target and bought a baby blanket and a gender neutral gift bag to have the kiddos open. When the kids opened the bag they found out whether we were having a boy or a girl!

Yep... someone was a little devastated at first when she realized we are having another BOY! I can't blame the girl... she is surrounded! She had big plans for a little baby sister. But, after a chat with daddy she felt much better and has been on board ever since. She has even hung on to the baby blanket and said she will snuggle it until her baby brother gets to have it.

And of course Nick and I are thrilled! I always wanted to be a "boy mom" and there is nothing quite like having sons. I love the idea of getting to raise up "Real Men" for Jesus.

Even though I originally didn't want to find out the gender I am SO happy that I did! I immediately feel like I connected and bonded with this little guy even more as soon as I found out that he is a HE! I am so excited to meet our sweet boy and am just so thankful that God has chosen to bless us with another son! 

I am linking up today at Women Living Well!

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness

"C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity makes a brilliant observation about gospel-humility at the very end of his chapter on pride. If we were to meet a truly humble person, Lewis says, we would never come away from meeting them thinking they were humble.They would not be always telling us they were a nobody (because a person who keeps saying they are a nobody is actually a self-obsessed person). The thing we would remember from meeting a truly gospel-humble person is how much they seemed to be totally interested in us. Because the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less." - From the Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Timothy Keller.

My pastor suggested reading this little booklet (available on your Kindle for $.99!) after his sermon on Sunday. The combination of the sermon (listen here) and this book (buy here) have left me a total mess.. in the best possible way.

I have been awakened to my self-obsessed ways. And it is ugly.

This little booklet takes less than an hour to read and I am not putting it lightly when I say this is possibly the most life changing thing I have ever read. If you struggle with worrying about what other people think of you, if you get your feelings hurt easily (you consider yourself "sensitive"), if you are easily embarrassed, or if you struggle with unforgiveness, I highly suggest listening to the sermon and reading this little book.



And then come over to my house and drink coffee with me and let's CHAT!

Linking up at Growing Home today!

A full house

Life in the Ramsey household has been chaotic/fun/busy. I am starting to wonder if we are capable of just hanging out or if we somehow seek constant excitement. Our biggest "excitement" this weekend was finding a cat...

We ran by Blockbuster to rent a movie and as I was sitting in the car with the kiddos I noticed a little cat running around by the entrance to the store. He would try to follow people to their cars and then they would shoo him away. The Blockbuster in our town is located right by the highway and off of two other busy streets. When Nick came back to the car I pointed out the cat and asked Nick if he wanted to check on him. A few minutes later he came back to the car with the cat... I mean... what else could we do? :)

He looks young, under a year (but I don't know anything about cats so I could be way off!) and didn't have a collar or anything.

So, we ran by the pet store and got some cat food and litter (and yes, I already know the rule about pregnant people and litter boxes). And we brought the cat home. At first we hadn't checked the gender so Sophie wanted to name him Angelina. But, upon further inspection we found out he is a boy ... so after several name changes I think we have settled on Whiskers.

So, I will call the vet today to make an appointment for Whiskers and the next few days will determine if he gets to stay and become a Ramsey or not... But, based on this picture, his chances are looking good...

Ain't no party like a homeschool party...

... Cause a homeschool party don't stop! Do you have that song in your head now?

This past Friday we hosted a little Halloween party for some of our homeschooling buddies. Party planning was a snap thanks to Pinterest! I think a good time was had by all. Here is photographic evidence...

Craft idea found here. Food ideas found here, here, here, and here. Games found here and here.

Take a Seat

We have lived in our house for just over 3 years and until recently the walls in our staircase were totally empty. My Grandma had donated some boxes of things for our small group's garage sale a few months ago and in one of the boxes I found a collection of miniature chairs. Empty staicase wall? Not anymore...

I have considered spray painting them all the same color in the future. But for now I think they are kind of funky and fun the way they are.

We got Boo-ed

I read about "Boo-ing" on Pinterest this year and immediately thought the idea sounded so fun! You leave some Halloween goodies on two of your neighbors front porches and ring their doorbell and run away. Then they put a little ghost sign in their window to let everyone know that they have been "boo-ed" and they pass along the fun to two more neighbors! How fun! I have been on the lookout for ways to reach out to my neighbors and to build community within our neighborhood and when I saw this idea I thought it sounded perfect... But, then laziness got the better of me and I never got it going... {insert self loathing here}. BUT! Someone else in my neighborhood started it {bless them!} and last night we got Boo-ed! Woo hoo!

We weren't home last night so I didn't hear the doorbell but I did see a cute little basket full of Halloween goodies on my front porch this morning! I was actually on my way to Wal-Mart anyway so the timing was perfect and I was able to get the goodies to "Boo" some neighbors tonight!

I thought I would share what I put together in case you needed a little inspiration to "Boo" some of your own neighbors! And you can go to www.beenbooed.com/ and print out the little instructions! How easy is that?

 I got some cheap-o Halloween pumpkin buckets at the Mart for $1, added some tissue paper for a little added festiveness... and then stuffed them with some things I found in the Halloween section. Topped it all of with some candy and some plastic bat rings! (The ghost is a little candle holder)

 I mean, who wouldn't want to open up their front door to one of these little guys?

Donuts For Everyone

Since getting over beings sick the last two weeks, I am loving feeling good enough again to make breakfast for my favorite peeps in the morning! This morning I thought it might be fun to try my hand at "homemade donuts"... kind of! You make these babies using refrigerator biscuits. They were easy and SO delicious, especially while they were still warm!

Apparently these babies are finger lickin' good! I used this recipe here. These make a super quick and easy breakfast or would be fun to serve while watching your favorite Halloween movie this weekend while drinking apple cider! 

The one on {Marriage}

Those of you who have read this blog for a little while have probably noticed one thing about me... I tend to gush about my hubs a little bit. It might be a touch annoying, but, I promise you one thing, it isn't just for show. The hubs really is my absolute favorite. But, it isn't just because of his hunky good looks or the fact that he makes me laugh so hard I can't stop crying (although those are certainly perks). The hubs is my absolute favorite person because I intentionally make sure of it.

Moms live in a dangerous world where kids can quickly become the center of everything. Date nights are replaced by family movie nights and weekends away are exchanged for a family trip. And, that is to be expected to some degree. But, at the same time, we need to be protecting our marriages and making them our #1 priority. It isn't easy, but I believe with all of my heart that it is the best gift I can give to my kiddos. Marriages are forever, our kiddos are with us for just a short time.

I am by no means a marriage expert. I have been married 7 short years. But, I feel that I have learned a lot in those years and am happy to pass on any wisdom I might have started to attain!

In my life, practically, making my marriage a priority looks like, making sure that at least once or twice a year we get away overnight together. Even if it is just for a night (it usually is). I also try to make sure we get at least one date out once a month. It can be hard (and we are super blessed to have my amazing parents who are willing to watch the kiddos), but try to find a way to make it work. That time out, out of the house, not in your mom/dad roles can be such a sweet time in marriage and can really build your relationship up. It also says to each other, and to our kiddos that our marriage is a high priority. And hopefully, will teach our kids to do the same in their own marriages. Life is stressful, kids are a handful, and housework never stops. Get away from it all and focus on each other. I always come back totally revitalized and remembering "why" I do it all everyday. After our little date day on Saturday I have seriously had Super Woman energy around my house!

We also try to have a date night in at least once a week. We try to make this different from a normal night where we might be getting some stuff done or sitting watching a show together. A lot of times we will feed the kids early and then get take-out after they are in bed. We usually have a little picnic at our coffee table and talk and then play a board game or watch a movie together. This regular time is awesome. If the week is getting crazy and life is feeling out of control I can look forward to that night to talk to the hubs and I always know I will walk away feeling all better. We also make sure to tell our kids when we are having date night in. They know that this is special time for Mommy and Daddy.

Other ways that I make my husband my favorite person is by constantly pursuing our relationship. I do everything I can to avoid "room mate mode" (or friend mode). I have found that pursuing my husband probably does more for me than it does for him (although I think he likes it!). It keeps my heart focused... and love flows out from there. Here are some silly things I do (I am sad the hubs reads my blog and I am letting all of my secrets out! Ha!)

• I try to plan at least one or two dinners a week that I think the hubs will love. (And if the kids hate it, it is just one more way to show them that they are not the center of the world!)
• I e-mail, text, or call my husband at least once a day to let him know I love him, I am thinking of him, I miss him, or I appreciate him (or honestly, something less appropriate... just keepin' it real)
• I try to look nice when he gets home. Not really because he doesn't think I look great in sweats and no make-up, but making an effort to be loving towards someone else does more for you than them.
• When I do my husband's laundry or something else for him I use that as an opportunity to pray for him. Whenever I am hanging up his work shirts I am thinking God for how hard he works for our family.
• I let things go (I am really learning on this one). Every once in awhile he will say something that hurts my feelings, or annoys me, or something along those lines... It happens! When possible, I let it go! I don't say anything, take a deep breath, and the moment is over! 99% of the time I know he didn't mean anything by what he said and it came out wrong or was me being sensitive. Avoid an argument and let it go!
• I try to only speak highly of my husband (thankfully, he makes it easy). But, a wife complaining about her husband usually ends up just hardening her heart towards her husband, and honestly, it makes her look bad.

I am blessed to have a wonderful marriage. But, we have definitely had our hard times. And I have no doubt we will walk through more. But, doing my part to make my marriage great and a priority is all I can do. And never underestimate the impact that simply changing your own heart can have!

 and also linking up at Women Living Well!

Happy Sunday!

I wish I had cute pics of kiddos ready for church this morning to post but alas... we didn't make it to church. I am still sick and a few of my kiddos are joining me in a chorus of coughing fits. I actually went to urgent care yesterday morning and was given some medicine... after being sick for 9 days now I have about had enough of this!

I miss people! I miss church! I miss my friends!... and I really miss sleep! :(

The weekend actually wasn't totally spent at home though. I felt pretty decent yesterday after getting my meds so the hubs and I still got to have our date day. We went to Babies 'R Us to check out some new carseat options for Quatro. We also went to Sams. We are getting a Sams in our town at the end of the month but we already got our memberships so we decided to check one out. We were like kids in a candy store overwhelmed by all of the bulk products! Ha!

After that we went to lunch at P.F. Changs which was amazingly delicious. It was wonderful to be out to lunch just the two of us. I am so thankful to have a husband who also is my favorite person in the whole wide world. After Changs we headed home and decided to watch a movie on Netflix. Unfortunately, I fell asleep pretty quickly but it was honestly nice to get in a nap. After that we headed out to pick up the kiddos. It was a pretty good time, really!

Since I am feeling a little down from being sick I thought I would post a little pic to cheer me up! This is Jack right before his first Easter. How cute was he???

You just can't look at that and still be sad!

Happy Sunday everyone! Here is too a healthy week... please!

Friday and sickness

Happy Friday everyone! Today is the day I am going to get over my sickness and feel all better! (That IS how it works, isn't it?... maybe only if you are Joel Osteen... but I digress) I have had this icky cold thing for a week now. I actually feel pretty good during the day but at night I am up coughing and can't sleep. I called my doc yesterday and he called in a prescription for me, but honestly, it didn't really help. So, I will give it a few days and give him a call back Monday if I am still hacking up a lung every night...

Despite the icky sickness we have managed to have a pretty good week. The kiddos and I have kept busy during the day and the hubs and I have gotten some good quality time. Here are some pics from our week... totally out of order, silly computer.

I taught the kiddos how to do leaf rubbings... they were pretty impressed

I de-cluttered my kitchen counters (and frige) and feel a million times better about my kitchen

This was my "I am excited" face before date night-in with my hubby!

Jack Jack LOVES breakfast

So does this guy

And this girl just likes getting her picture taken

Here is a terrible pic of the kiddos dressed up before heading to a Halloween themed birthday party... Jack was not interested in posing at all

I watched the presidential debate... a few hours of my life I will never get back...

the hubs was telling me about his day and I decided to take his picture... this was his reaction. Yep, he loves me.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow. My mom offered to watch the kids for the day so Nick and I can have some date time! It has been a long time since we have been out alone so I am so looking forward to it. We are going to drop the kiddos off after Max's soccer game in the morning and then come back and get them around 6:30 or 7. It is going to be perfectly lovely!

Have a great week!

Every Season Looks Different

Our maple tree in our backyard turned bright red about a week ago and now has already lost about half of its leaves. It looks so different than it did even a few weeks ago full of bright yellow trees and then of course this summer it was all green!

I think parenting is often very similar to my maple tree. You can be going along, feeling like you have the knack of handling all of your kiddos at their various ages and then a few weeks later everything is different. Someone has hit the terrible twos and someone else has outgrown wanting to take a bath with his younger siblings... all of the sudden your life starts to look terribly different.

I think one of the biggest challenges in parenting is learning to change and adapt as the seasons in parenting change. Realizing that what used to work wonderfully is not going to work anymore. It can be hard to keep up. I think especially the more children you have the more changes seem to be happening constantly with someone.

Last night the hubs and I realized we needed to make a change in our home. The way we had been doing things was just not working anymore. Up until now we have put all our kiddos to bed pretty early and at the same time. Usually between 7:15 and 7:30. It was a huge sanity saver for us with having lots of young kiddos. And it was nice to put everyone down at the same time. But, last night we chatted and realized it wasn't working so well anymore.

The hubs doesn't get home until a little after 6 every evening. So, our evenings had become eat dinner, do a quick clean up time, give the kids a quick bath, family worship, and then everyone in bed. Each night it felt like a race to get it all done in time. But, with Max and Sophie being older they really need to be able to have more time in the evening when their dad is home. And we feel as a family our evenings do not need to be so rushed. We want to enjoy that sacred family time.

So, we came up with a new game plan. Jack will still go to bed at the normal time 7:15/7:30, after family worship. And then we will have some quiet time where we can talk, snuggle and read books, draw together, or sometimes even watch a short movie or show together before Soph goes to bed at 8 and Max at 8:15. We also realized it was important for Max to get to stay up a little later than his younger siblings. He has a little more responsibility being the oldest and has to work hard to get along with little kids all day who take his toys and mess up his Legos... he needs to also see some benefit to being the oldest.

I am excited about our new plan... while realizing soon it will need to be tweaked and changed too.

But, being a parent means figuring out what is best for your kids and what works for your family in your current stage in life and making it work!

A new {Kids Cabinet}

When I grow up I want to be a really organized, type-A personality... Does it work that way? Okay, I don't think so, but I really wish it did. I am just not a naturally organized person. Routine, organization, and all of those things do not happen in my life without serious effort on my part. Whenever I am chatting with someone who has that hyper-organized/clean freak personality I always tell them that I want to be just like them. Then they tell me that I don't and that it is a pain... but I really think they are just trying to be nice, ha! But, as we all know, the grass is always greener on the other side...

So, while I am not naturally a neat and organized person I DO appreciate all things neat and organized and I strive to attain it. On Monday this week I tackled the kids cabinet. Our cabinet where we kept kids plates, cups, sippy cups, etc. was also the same cabinet we used to hold all sorts of miscellaneous things including sunscreen and salsa bowls... Yeah... It was also a cabinet up high to the right of our dishwasher. 

I had seen a few ideas that suggested keeping kids dishes in lower cabinets where kids are able to get to them themselves and also be involved in putting them away. I loved that idea, especially since we initiated our chore pack system and the kids have been helping me unload the dishwasher. 

So, I cleared out a cabinet that is in my center island that used to hold mixing bowls and the salad spinner. I realized I didn't need 5 sets of mixing bowls always at my disposal...  and this lower cabinet became our new kid's cabinet! I got these bins at the Dollar Spot at Target (although they were $2.50 a piece, what is up with that?) And filled them up with the kiddos' stuff...

Now they can easily get what they need and easily help with putting away their dishes!

And the old kids cabinet is a little more organized too!

My paired down mixing bowl collection found a new home with my tupperware and the ex-kids cabinet became a new home for measuring cups and strainers. It also houses candy (in the floral bin), water bottles (in the turquoise bins), chore packs (little tub on the bottom shelf) and quick things I need when we are outdoors, like bandaids and sunscreen. 

I feel one step closer to being an organized person and I definitely feel like efficiency has improved in our kitchen! 

I am linking up today over at Women Living Well!

Sophie's room gets simplified

Several weeks back I wrote about how I was really wanting to scale back on my kiddo's toys and have a little more simplicity around our home. Sophie's room was one of the first projects that I tackled.

She has a lot of "little things" that can make her room get really messy really fast. I did a large overhaul of her room and we got rid of a lot. I decided to use one of my little cube shelves from Target to store the majority of her toys. She also has a kitchen, a few baby doll things (crib, highchair, etc.), and a big Princess/Barbie house. Everything else that is hers is on this shelf. She probably still has a little more than I would like but this has been scaled back by about half, so I must say I am pretty pleased!

Today I decided to add some labels to ensure that we keep things where they need to go!

Ahhh... I am feeling better already. And yeah... could her room BE anymore pink? We sure love our girly girl!

I am linking up over at Growing Home!

Not the weekend I had planned...

I won't say this weekend has been a bummer because, in true Ramsey fashion, we make it a point to enjoy ourselves no matter what :) But... we did not get to do very many of the fun things we had planned for this weekend. On Friday morning I realized I was sick and the kiddos were doing lots of coughing and nose stuff... My sickness got worse and I spent all day yesterday basically in bed (ahhh... the joys of being pregnant and not being able to take most medication!). Today I am a little better but Max is feeling super ick. It was a bummer because this evening we were supposed to go roller skating with a few of our really good friends and then have some friends over for dinner. We had to scratch that plan :( But, Nick was still able to take Sophie skating while I am here, home with the boys. Soph has been wanting to go roller skating forever AND she has been wanting a Daddy Date so this was great opportunity for the two of them to do something fun together. But, Max is bummed. And I am too! I really don't like having to cancel fun time with friends in order to be sick! :(

Here are a few pics of our girl before she left...

And yes, she dressed herself... She certainly has her own sense of fashion and is passionate about it! As long as she is dressed appropriately I try not to fight it! Ha! I hope she has a great time! Now, I need to get back to watching cartoons with my favorite 6 year old while little brother finishes up his nap!

some good reads/listens

Happy Friday! I wanted to pop in today and share some good things to read/listen to that I have come across this week!

My top pick for the week is to listen to the episodes of Family Life Today that were on the radio this week. Voddie Baucham was on the show talking about his book, "What He Must Be... If He Wants to Marry My Daughter" which is a wonderful read for parents of daughters AND sons! Awesome stuff. I love how Mr. Baucham reminds us as Christian parents that we are called to raise our children differently than the rest of the world and to have Biblical standards. I have a little catching up to do myself and if you would be interested you can listen to the episodes online right here. Also, if you are looking for another good read I can't recommend enough the book "Family Driven Faith" by Voddie Baucham as well. It is one of those books I think I need to re-read at least once a year for encouragent.

I also started a new book this past week that I am really enjoying it. I am reading it as part of our chuches discipleship program. It is probably the book that I was most nervous to read because it is the topic I feel I know the least about... evangelism. But, so far this book is not intimidating and puts the information in an encouraging and readable format. The book is called, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever.

If evangelism is an area of your life you struggle in I would encourage you to pick this book up!

Another great read this week is a blog post I found online. I loved Sarah Mae's post, "Leaving the 99 for my 1- What I Know Now". It is a great reminder of how God pursues us and how we need to be pursuing our children when they are going trhough difficult times.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

He will not delay

I heard this song, Always, by Kristian Stanfill on the radio this morning. I hadn't heard it in awhile and it really was exactly what I needed to hear today.

I have been feeling a little anxious after our ultrasound on Tuesday. Our doctor assured us that he was not concerned but he said there were just a few little things he wanted to check again in 8 weeks. I am glad he told me he wasn't concerned, but as a mom anything less than "absolute perfection" is a little nerve wracking. I am one who is quick to jump to the worst case scenario so I have found myself every once in awhile just letting myself be consumed with worry. But, this song was a great reminder for me this morning.

I love when I am reminded of who God is and in that reminder everything else seems to fade away. This song did that for me this morning and pointed me to the One who does not give us a spirit of fear.

If you are struggling with fear this morning I hope this song encourages you in some way. And I would also encourage you to check out these verses from the Word of God.

What have you Pinned for me Lately

Ahhh.... Pinterest. We were in love from the first day we met. Organizing, home decorating, recipes, cute outfits, craft ideas, and funny jokes all put together in one? You can't stop a love like that!

And Pinterest, unlike a lot of other social media habits has benefited my family and home greatly. I make a recipe from Pinterest at least once a week and decorating and party planning has become a synch. Not to mention how I can easily make up a fun homeschool lesson in under 5 minutes!

Like anything of course Pinterest can be a big time waster if you let it. But, it can also be useful. I thought I would share some of my favorite "Pins" I have tried recently and some I am looking forward to trying!

My #1 Pick- Homemade Yum Yum Hibachi Sauce

Find it on Pinterest right here. Whenever I go to a Japanese Steakhouse this sauce is my absolute favorite part. I pour it over everything and then threaten to drink it. When I saw this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had to give it a try. It was amazing! Exactly like the real thing (if you follow directions and use REAL mayo and let it sit overnight). It made a super simple stir fry taste like heaven on a plate!

A great tip- Miracle Carpet Stain Remover

Find it on Pinterest right here. When we got our new to us mini van the floor mats had some icky stains (which we didn't realize when we bought it because the floor mats weren't in!). I saw this idea for a stain remover and it worked like a charm. They looked almost brand new! I also used this little remedy when one of my precious little cherubs knocked over a cup of red Gatorade on to my carpet. Voila! No stain!

What I had been searching for- The Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast

Find it on Pinterest right here. Pot Roast just seems like one of those all-American comfort foods that everyone loves. Well, every time I had pot roast it was dry and flavorless... someone pass the pb and j. I had to find out what all of the fuss was about. So, I went on a quest to find an amazing pot roast recipe. I tried a few with little success. When I saw this baby on Pinterest I thought I might have found something special.... and boy was I right! The Pioneer Woman, how can you go wrong?

To try SOON- Lazy Day Casserole

Find it on Pinterest right here. The description on this one says it is full of sausage, potatoes, and roasted veggies... yumm-o! You can't get more fall than that. And I am a sucker for an easy one dish meal! I hope to try this one very soon.

An easy crock pot meal to try- Crockpot Spicy Cashew Chicken

Find it on Pinterest right here. I saw this one on Pinterest the other day and it seems like a perfect marriage of three things I love- crockpot meals, Asian inspired food, and a restaurant copycat. I can't wait to give this baby a whirl!

To make soon- DIY Mason Jar to-go cup

Find it on Pinterest right here. I am a sucker for to-go mugs... just ask the hubs... he gets knocked on the head every once in awhile when they fall out of the cabinet because I can barely contain my collection on the shelf... love you, Babe! And this homemade version is just too cute! I hope to have one of these on my shelf very soon... how 'bout a helmet for Christmas, Honey?

And you can find me on Pinterest right here!

I am linking up today over at