When I was growing up we had a cookie jar. My mom was home during our early school years and I can remember many of our snacks being something homemade.  Until recently we didn’t have a cookie jar. I finally found a big glass jar at a garage sale and it does the job!

About a month ago I started a little tradition with Jackson of baking on Sunday afternoons. We don’t make anything fancy. Normally just something to fill the cookie jar for the week to come. It isn’t really about the cookies or muffins, although they do make good after school snacks and treats for lunch boxes. It’s more about spending time being together in our home away from the distractions. The rest of the week we bustle and keep so busy without really producing much to show for our busyness. On Sundays we go to church and spend the rest of the day relaxing and make it a point not to make big plans. Our Sunday baking is a relaxing activity (minus the egg rolling off on to the floor and things going in far from the recipes directions) that allows me to steal a little one on one time with Jackson who is gone so much of his days now in school.

Last Sunday we made simple peanut butter cookies, oh if you could have seen my boy pressing cookies with the fork…made.his.day. These cookies pictured above are from Gina’s Skinny Taste blog. They were the Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Pecan Cookies.  I try to look for recipes that will be healthy and also a bit of a treat. I was pleased with these because Owen thought he was getting cookies and I knew he was getting oats, pumpkin, nuts…I think I will try these homemade granola bars next.

I am off to help with the MOPs fall consignment sale. If any of you are local and want to get over to Ashburn today I will be there helping out and would love to see you! It is going to be a madhouse of people scrambling for bargains.  And Seth is at home POTTY TRAINING the O man! The mad house of shoppers doesn’t sound so bad now does it!?    Have a great Saturday, y’all!

Is it really Friday already?! The days sure feel long at times but the weeks are flying by!!  We have a packed weekend but today I have the entire day to conquer the house and get us all set for the busy!  And just a slight distraction, I am going to have Owen’s first day of underoos!! Let the potty training fun begin!  I seriously got tempted this time around to just let him potty train himself someday when he cares. But that didn’t seem so socially acceptable. My second thought was to wait until winter and pray that we get snowed in like we did when Jackson potty-trained. We were in the house for 6 days straight during Snowmageden and voila, he was good to go!  But being snowed in is so inconvenient so I will move forward and take care of this beast without complaining. Speaking of complaining…I was reading Little House on the Prairie last night with Jackson (no it’s not a girls only book) and there is a part where Laura is upset that they can’t camp yet.  Oh, heck, let me just share this passage with you.

Then Ma said, “Laura”. That was all, but it meant that Laura must not complain. So she did not complain any more outloud, but she was still naughty, inside. She sat and thought complaints to herself. ” Little House on the Prairie pg 15

Oh My! My kids have not learned the art of the internal complaint, I am pretty sure I hear them all audibly. So I might be good about not complaining to you all throughout the potty-training process but I might complain to myself!  And I will for sure complain to Seth out loud!

Back to savoring home…

Well, the boys get the prize. Their rooms are certainly the most fun!  Like the other rooms in the house they are primarily thrifted or gifted things throughout. When we moved in I spent the first few days putting the boys rooms together. I felt like it was really important for them to have the security of their own space with their own things after a ton of travel and uncertainty. It’s always been my goal for my kids rooms to have pictures of the people that love them, pictures of them as babies (so I can pretend they are still that little) and then I want them to be able to grow into their spaces (which just means there isn’t really a theme or age specific thing necessarily, just boy stuff.)

Owen’s room

Each room is currently sporting paper blinds! Owen utilizes his the most..can’t you tell?!

I pinned book shelves like these a year ago on Pintrest and had all but given up on doing them. Somehow my trips to Lowe’s with the boys to look for gutters to cut just got the best of me. I went to a little flea market with my friend Bonnie a month ago and happened upon these curio shelves for $1 each, with the drill holes already in them. Saved our marriage! I love the shelves that Leigh’s dad built but I knew we couldn’t pull them off and Owen’s space is pretty limited on that wall. so when I found these 3 shelves that fit perfectly in his space I knew it was a flea market miracle!

Owen’s quilt makes me smile. My friend Nina sewed it for him and it matches Jackson’s cowboy fabrics (just in case they share a room in the future). Reminds me of Nina every time I hop on Owen’s bed to read with him! If we are lucky Nina will share her sewing room in Poland with us!! Crackers the puppy and Owen’s bunny from Annie O guard the bed.

this is a significant decoration in Owen’s room. This clock is mom’s best friend!

if Owen’s room looks too clean it’s because we have actually limited his room to just books and a few toys that are tucked away. His little early bird self was pulling out the toys at 5 AM or earlier so we just keep it clear.

Owen’s room is painted in Sanctuary (I think it’s a Behr color from home depot…maybe a Martha Stewart from home depot) but it is a little darker than I had planned but still nice.

Jackson’s room

Jackson’s room is probably the most fun….he has the most unnecessary decoration in the house which is a real saddle (a garage sale find that made my husband wonder if I had lost my mind).  I said I don’t go with themes but Jackson’s room is kind of a cowboy room. Every kid that steps into our home hops on to that saddle and loves it.  Jackson’s room was originally a study so it has lots of built in shelving! I have tried to make a shelf for each place he has lived and then mix in things he likes, his artwork, etc. He has a few shelves that I “let” him do. Most of them are still a work in progress. The red armoire is the one we found on the side of the road in Switzerland and finished with maps on the inside.  And that Saturday Post print could not be more like Jackson!

Aunt Sue, can you see the calf on the shelf by his bed?! That is a mainstay, in every suitcase and on every trip!

Jackson’s room is painted Teatime by Behr at Home Depot, it too is a bit darker than I should have done for the room size but it is cozy. We call it peanut butter color!

I am definitely savoring the little boyness that is going on these days and I love that their rooms reflect that. I feel like the days are flying by right now and I just want to enjoy them while they are little. Just not savoring the potty-training. Ok, I complained to you. To my credit, his first pair of undies this morning lasted less than 5 mins. Less than 5 mins.