i quit.

you may have gotten the hint...from my hints;)...that I quit my job. Good lorddddddd. I QUITTTTTTTTTTTT. I just yelled that. Andddd I just ate 3 bags of Skittles (miniature, you fool;).

looking back...it seems I've been trying to get to this place/position/situation for at least 3 years. I was/had been for some time, working full-time when we had Homer (05/2012). I knew immediately that going back to work full-time just wasn't going to work. Within 6MO of Homer's birth, I was down to 24hrs per week. And since then...I knew I needed to stay home full-time. Neverrrrrr EVER did I think I'd want to be a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom). But there I was...wishing for nothing more:) 

it took forever to make this decision...back and forth conversations...mostly about whether we could afford to make this happen (3 kids, little money, 2 mortgages...blah, blah, blah) and finallyyyyyy we just had to take the leap and believe that things would work out...

Most of our conversations consisted of the following:

daycare  I was only working 24hrs per week...and if I worked daytime/weekday hours, I was paying most of my, already teeny, paycheck to the babysitter

hours  I've worked plenty of different hours in my day...but over the last few years it's consisted mainly of nights and weekends. Which meant that I'd be leaving as Jacob showed up...or wrangling the family (my sisters or mom) into watching the kids because a lot of those weekends and nights, Jacob was working as well:/

I missed my husband:) He missed me:)

monies  dear gawd, we have so little of that. BUT when Jacob and I sat down and talked and hashed out every last detail of our budget...it looks sooooo so gloomy. BUT butttttt we want me home more than we care about the money part being easier. I SO wish it were easier but for now...it'll be worth it to be home - something I need to remind myself of when Target and fast food are no longer an option;).

love  this job is the first job I've really loved. I've been so lucky to work with such great/funny/happy/caring people. People I now consider friends, who I meet up with off the clock, whose phone numbers I have in my phone! But after 8 years...I started lacking the drive - to learn new things and stay on top of the changes happening...and the empathy - towards the patients calling and needing my help:/ And that's not me. I don't want to stop caring about what I do.

i doubt very much I'll be at home forever. But the next time I step back out there...I want to be doing something that fills me up. That makes me happy, that makes other people happy. I want to be doing something that motivates me and makes my wheels turn. Something I'm passionate about:)

i couldn't be more excited to stay home with the kids and start this season of our lives. We are gonna have some of the WORST.DAYS.EVER!!!! OMG. I know that's gonna happen;) But for every one of those days...I know we'll have a million amazing moments to overshadow those harder times. 

so tonight is my last shift. I worked 2-10PM. I got cards and candy and gifts and pizza and hugs:) I'm going to miss them. Not much else:) I can't wait to get home to my favorites:)

peace out.

i wish i could grow things besides babies...

so I thought growing a human would be the most difficult thing I would ever have to grow. Not to mention keeping that human alive. Turns out...that shit's a walk in the park;) It's plants and flowers. I'm where they go to die. Immediately. 

myself and mostly my sister and her husband and my $50 cash contribution...are starting our own private garden this year. OFFICIAL SHIT!!!! We're super excited to reap the benefits of this garden!! As you may have already picked up on from all those Wish Lists that never come to be anything but that...we're mostly broke...all the time...except for the occasional MOA Trip and Target stop...and then immediately back to broke;) So we like to do the cloth diaper thing and grow food and turn all the lights off in the house at all times and never use the air conditioner;) Priorities!!!

we've had a ton of help in the last few years, in the form of an amazing neighbor/Jacob and Dave's aunt, Linda. SAINT, I tell ya!!!! She taught Courts everything she knows about gardening and we're putting, what actually stuck;), to good use this summer!

our new plot is located at the back of Courts' property - much closer to the house than in past years. Making it easier to run an extension cord for the coffee maker watch the kids while we weed:)

as mentioned above...I'm not much help in the 'growing shit' department...or browning meat or not napping. BUT I'll do what I can, even if that's just keeping the kids busy while Courts plants or collects or cans:)

wish us luck!!!! And follow along on Instagram for extra fun updates!! 

Hashtag: #smithsgrowshit2015

and now all the pretty photos of my first Greenhouse experience! I've seriously been missing out!:)

greenhouse tip #1: don't bring 3 1yr olds and 3 toddlers and a 5 year old. Extra dumb.

i do have to add that they were all seriously, OK. No breakdowns and overall, they just wanted to help. Tricking them into thinking it's serious business to carry a tomato plant back to the cart, was a huge success;)

true that.

:) this is me...happy, times 3:)

i'm a lot in love with this hat and have mentioned to Jacob a time or 10, that he needs to take me somewhere foreign where me and this hat will be in our more natural habitat...like a beach...in France;)

greenhouse loveeeee!!!

Hashtag: #cousinsgottahug

give me ALL the babies!!!!!!;)

thanks for following along! I'm soooo much happier and content when there's sun - who isn't?...and babies...can't wait to really enjoy the summer of 2015:)

xoxo

a DIY christmas.

i'm sitting here with a bowl of blue berry cheese cake the size of a newborn in front of me.

and since eating that is going to take the majority of my effort...and both my hands...I'm gonna make this SUPER quick;)

a few days before Christmas I nailed this whole - Stay-At-Home-Almost-Full-Time (SAHAFT - duh;) - thing. I mean. Really. Watchin' my sister's 2 boys as well as my own 2 kiddos. Doin' laundry. Stuffin' diapers. Breastfeeding while Instagramming;). Makin' cookies. Ending World Hunger, for crying out loud!!!!;) 

and somewhere in there I found the time to set-up a little ornament painting station for the kids:) Homer and I made a few DIY ornaments a few weeks back - using this recipe -  and I finally remembered to pick up some paint - why is it that the MORE I have on my plate...the MORE I get done? Dumb.

But the whole project turned out so great! Homer and Jax painted the cutest little ornaments and it kept them entertained for a good hour, which allowed me to keep my hands free to chase the 2 babies - Johnathan 7MO and Theo 9MO - all around the house:)

snack break;)

i even got in on the action and made a few for our own tree...I sent Jax's home with Mal and we've been adding some of Homer's to family gifts:)

not gonna lie, Johnathan wasn't a whole lotta help;) PTFO. 

and while the boys were busy painting - and eating their boogers;), I mixed up some All Natural Essential Oil Night Cream - I used this recipe. I've been really interested in using some more natural products and essential oils and this was a super easy recipe for my first attempt! I made a few as little additions to gifts and for myself. 

i'm not 100% sure where I got the jars from - these are similar. BUT I am 100% sure they are adorable:) Super cute washi tape here - which I also used on our Christmas cards, currently sold out:/. Essential oils from a local Plan-It Earth Health Center. Unfortunately, I was busy not taking photos of the process but trust this, normally-too-lazy-for-DIY girl, it's super easy!!!!

and then there are this year's Christmas cards. Which.I.LOVED. They turned out so simply and so cute;)

similar gold washi tape - here.  Coral envelopes - here. Red card stock - here. 

anyhoo. Just a little snippet of our Christmas. Much more to come after we finish up the family festivities tomorrow night:) 

merry, merry Christmas!!!:)

some things that i thought.

hey yo. Let's be happy and not super unhappy and have a pot fall on your head from the top shelf. Goshhhhhh Damn ittttttt!!!

there are days I get out of bed and stub my toe and think...hey...not gonna let it get me down. THAT was NOT a LARGE deal. Nope. Smile harder:) And then Homer says Butthole 20 times. And Theo screams if I'm not cuddling her. While standing. On one foot. Lightly swaying. I SAID LIGHTLY!!!!!!! WAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! And then my husband comes home - gosh darn him, I love him and when he pulls up I feel like things will just turn right around - and then he manages to drop a pot on my head. A.Pot. - bad word. bad word.

so the point of all this is...

nothing.

i think you must have saw that coming;)

in other news:

i've been wanting to find some black MATTE finger nail polish. Apparently, it's the top coat that gives the matte effect? Or at least that's what I've discovered!? It does it's job. I like it. Uh lot.

and here are my mom, Homer and I out doing some walking about this last summer - Theo was strapped in the stroller screaming cause well, the one foot/swaying lightly thing;). 
Oh, how I miss the warm days:)

#sweetsummertime

it's scary to think that summer is really coming to a close. TEARS. I'm a lot NOT okay with that. A big part of me feels like we have SO much left on our DO THIS SUMMER list. But my overall feeling is that we've been outside. We've worked in the garden. We hit up a pool. We drank in the sun:) We took a road trip. We left the state!! We hosted Bag Night a Cookout and outdoor Birthday Party! We spent 2 days at the beach. We ran through a sprinkler. 

it's been another incredibly good summer:)

these photos are from earlier in the summer. We spent the afternoon at Pigg's:) I don't feel like we got as many warm days as we've gotten in past summers (horse shit). But we took advantage when the weather did warm up enough to warrant diapers and nothin' else;)

here's to hoping fall holds off until Oct. 31:)