Operation Christmas Child

Its the Christmas season once again and each year our kiddos get a bit older and a little bit smarter. You know like can pick up on all the Christmas hype. Like the toy catalogues, the large colorful inserts in the DSM register etc. 

So it gets harder and harder to try and teach them about the real reason we celebrate this season. Jesus' birth. Our King's birthday! We read the Christmas story, do an advent calendar, have a birthday cake etc. Yet our sinful natures are so powerful and innate that we easily slip in greed and jealous. Want. Want. Want. 

I'm not just talking about my kiddos. Yes. They definitely follow suit. But I am talking about us. Yes. The adults too fall quickly into this category. Its just a little less obvious. 

I don't have the fix all solution. But God did. He sent Jesus. Our one and only PERFECT gift. We don't need anything else - just HIM. What an awesome gift. But as we have been reading in a book, The King's Christmas List...Jesus wants us to give gifts to one another but if we want to give a gift to Him we must give to others in need and show them the Christmas Spirit. 

So we filled a couple of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes - a fun easy way to get your kiddos involved. 

And there are many families in need and many parents can't provide their children with Christmas gifts. But there are opportunities all over and not just in this season to show your children and your community the love of Jesus Christ. 

"Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now." ~Saint Teresa of Avila

ISU buddies plus Thankful Thursday

So a couple weekends ago the boys went on their annual ISU roadtrip. As they headed down to KU we got to together minus KB and nells to craft and hang out. We had a blast. Here are the jammy pals minus Sager who headed to bed early. 

Thought I'd add on Thankful Thursday to this post too...

1. Shopping days with my momma & my sisters
2. New concepts, hopefully it will click
3. Praying for the little things - like Ells potty training. Yep we are on round 3. This time there is no turning back. We are all in till we no longer have accidents. Yikes.
4. Baking Soda - a miracle worker, see #3
5. My kiddos names - lately we have Shadd Spiderman Angrybird, Octonauts Edward Livingston & Ellsyn Rattletrap Princess Livingston (she got dubbed rattletrap by Papa once and it stuck - she thinks its a term of endearment.
6. Great friends to do just about anything with
7. Christmas decorations
8. A warm house - froze my rear off at the ISU game last week and I am very thankful for the 70 degrees in my house
9. Sissy saying "Its Tismiss, mommy...Tismiss"
10. The excitment this season brings
11. The REAL reason we celebrate Christmas
12. My hubby's thoughtfulness
13. Christmas Party with our friends. An annual event for the last 5 years or so. Love it!
14. Grandparents less than 20 minutes from our house (times 2)
15. My new table - my brother made it! Can't wait to share pictures! You will love it too!

Getting Around

So I have been trying like a crazy lady to figure out how to upload more pictures to my account without paying $25 a year. Can you believe that? Well I guess I am cheapo because I don't really want to fork over the moolah however I am dying as I am unable to post pictures and keep update on the happenings around this household.

So finally I think I may have figured it out. At least a test batch anyways.

Sage is officially the investigator of the house. He gets into everything. He likes tight spots like under the train table and chairs. Plus he loves a good climbing challenge like over the vacuum hose or shoe.

Thanksgiving: Thankful Thursday style

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry about two posts today...switched over to google + so hopefully wont have any photo storage issues until I decide whether to print a blog book or not and well get the time to do it.

Our character trait in school this week is...Thankful. Great planning on the part of Hubbards Cupboard Joyful Learning, right?

Well...Here is the list from all of us...

D's
1. Jesus Christ
2. My lovely wife (his words not mine)
3. our three kiddos

K's
1. My God: The One & Only
2. My hubs and my kiddos - of course
3. the joy that the holidays bring to everyone

S1's
1. the Cyclones
2. Jesus
3. Grandma & Grandpa

E's
1. Christmas trees
2. Headbands
3. Ipad

S2's
1. Mommas milk
2. Food especially mummers and cheerios
3. My bro and sissy

Fall Crowns

p.s. tried to post this yesterday and well it didn't let me load pics. says i don't have enough storage. anyone ever had this problem. would love love the help!

So sorry the blog is definitely on the back burner. I think with Thanksgiving being uhhm tomorrow. I kinda just realized how much I have to do prior to Christmas. I mean usually I am pretty much done with my shopping minus some extras on Black Friday. I know what you are thinking...are the deals really that great? Probably be not but it is some undevoted time I get with my momma and I will take it even if its in the middle of the night in throngs of people. I know we lived together for six months but it didn't feel like it. Most of our time together was muddled with little voices and lots of expectations. So this time is like a small free gift of uninterrupted time that I wouldn't trade for the world. I just hope one day Ells wants undivided time with me like I crave undivided time with my mom. I love you Mom!

I mean I haven't even made lists really of even ideas as to what to get people. And even though we've drawn names on both sides and there really aren't a ton of presents to buy it still takes time and thought. I guess I could just throw something together but I really value putting thought into our whole gift even the wrapping. I guess that is just a little about what makes me, me!

So today we've cleaned, put together a thankful tree: which the kiddos loved doing - pics to come soon (I would have to walk upstairs and get the camera), played with our cousins, ate lunch, played outside  - it is gorgeous, rolled down our backyard hill (thought I would hate that but absolutely love the slight elevation in realtively flat Iowa), worked out, napped, and maybe attempt to get started on some Christmas decorations as we are not hosting the big feast tomorrow!

With that I leave you with our early Thanksgiving/fall craft...I guess not.

Thankful Thursday, uhmm Saturday

Its Thursday right? Whoops.

Here goes...

1. Girl nights
2. Kidless nights even if they are kind of unproductive
3. Craft Day
4. Playdates with new friends
5. Kids for Shadd & Ells to play with
6. Music time at the Library
7. Small town library - no late fees (amazing - shhh don't tell)
8. A new church
9. The car carts at Fareway oh how I miss you!
10. Birthday parties - we have a lot in November (yummy cake)
11. My smart 2 yr old - yes mom has chocolate in the fridge
12. Cool yet not too cold weather quite yet
13. Central Vac
14. All my sisters in Christ (a bond that we will never lose) - Love that!
15. My momma
16. How easy Sage goes down for naps and bedtime
17. The way Shadd & Ells play together
18. Shadd's ability to learn - makes teaching him fun
19. Funny sayings - Ells new one "I'm just kidding"
20. Christmas Music

I think I could go on and on but we are about to get our craft on as our kiddos play and our hubbys head down to KU for their one roadtrip ISU game a year. I think this might be a new tradition in the making. This is their third game but our first craft day simultaneously. We may even get wild and try to drag all the littles down to Junk Jubillee at the fairgrounds but I doubt it. We have these large rollie pollies we are attempting to sew and stuff. I hope to post the details soon.

Have a great weekend!

Family Pics

So my momma's birthday is in a couple of days. So we decided to get family (like entire family) pictures taken sometime this fall. Well with Uncle N's crazy football schedule and just routine busyness it got squeezed in Sunday morning after we moved. Yep. Like we moved our crazy bottoms off on Saturday and then Sunday morning had pictures kinda thing. I did pack the kiddos stuff in a seperate bag but D & I scrabbled a bit in the morning - using the kiddos hooded towels for our showers and baby wash for body wash. True Livingston/Rethmeier style I tell you. I guess its all I have ever known so I just roll with it and my kiddos are used to it to and after hanging out with us for 15 years I guess D kinda is too.

Anyways enough of the crazy behind the scenes but our great photographer, Susan, with Twig & Daisy got some great shots I just had to share. Hope you enjoy. I know my mom will because she has these incredible frames that my friends Matt & Tara made hanging in her entry and they are just dying to be filled.

P.S. Will take a final pic of the frame but Adamo Designs is the name of Matt & Tara's company and pretty soon I will have so more wonderful creations of theirs hanging in my house too. I mean a girl can never have too much great stuff right. Matt has crafted my mantel, Ellsyn's giant pink E, our locker bench, built in top, etc.

Sage 7 mo

I have to admit I am struggling to keep up with these posts. I mean Sage was 7 months on the 27th of October. Whoops. Well I guess I will do my best to squeeze this one in a few weeks prior to the 8 month mark. Wow. The time seems to be flying by!

Not going to lie to you...these are sometimes tough. I mean to remember to write down everything new this little guy is doing is a little trying for this tired momma's brain but I definitely try to do my best, Sager. 

Isn't he handsome in his matching brother sweater ?

Sleep: You have been sleeping through the night, going down from anywhere between 7-8 and sleeping till about 5:30-6. You loves your muslin star blankets. You like to tuck it in tight up to your face. You barely ever cries when we lay you down which is quite the change from our previous two rockers. You are a tough cookie #3. You rarely cry when you wake up either. Just start chattering. You loves to play with your bumper cover and are starting to pull yourself up on the sides of the crib. One of these days you will be standing when momma comes in to get you. You are sharing a room with Shadd yet you haven't both slept in there together yet. 

Eating: You had your first bites of Dad's famous pancakes the other day. Loved them. You love finger foods that you can pick up just not the slippery ones. You love to sit and play while we eat. You love to steal the spoon from me. Good thing I learned a couple tricks from your brother and sister and you typically have your own. You are eating a little bit of almost everything. Still no meat but lots of veggies, fruits, oatmeal, cereal. You love cheerios and puffs. 

Other stuff: You are getting to be quite the quick crawler, although still army crawling. However, you are moving both arms now and get up on all 4s and rock. You rarely sit in one spot anymore. Still no crawling to sitting but you are really close. You love to stand and play with toys too. Still not super stable though. I think your favorite thing might be pestering your brother and sister, especially Ells. It seems like whatever they have is way cooler than the toys near you. You had your first wagon ride around the neighborhood. 

Sage, you are growing like a weed. It won't be long and we will celebrating your 1st birthday. Makes me sad just thinking about it. You've had a busy first few months with lots and lots of changes yet you are one of the happiest  (jolly) babies I have ever known. We love you more than you will ever know! 

Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday. Well I guess if I only get a couple days worth posted, this should be the most important one, right?

1. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law living soooo close - and her willingness to watch the kiddos at a moment's notice.
2. The small things - marshmallows, blinds, power, mail (the list could go on forever)
3. Freedom to vote
4. Prayer - We get to talk to God anytime, anywhere
5. My nephew Adam - making amazing strides! So proud of him!
6. Shadd's curiosity. His perplexed look makes me smile. I can see those wheels turning
7. The laughter my kids bring me
8. Dollar Tree - everything is $1
9. My kids best friends - sometimes they can stop arguing about it.
10. Online shopping
11. Sage sleeping through the night, fingers crossed!
12. New haircut
13. Hanging out with my sis...so thankful they are close by again

Catch Up

Do you ever feel like you're so far behind you just may never catch up? Well I'm kinda there. I mean how in the heck can I find time to blog or even take pictures of what is going on around this place when I can't seem to get it functional. So the turmoil begins. The never ending list vs. our energy. It is an early night for the kiddos and they are all in bed. So then goes D. He's never been a late night guy and watching election coverage a little later than normal last night seemed to get him. So I guess I can do my best to get caught up via blogger when I really should be organizing another closet or at least attempting to. Oh well...


The House...well a work in progress. Getting closer to functional but so far from our home. A few weekends wouldn't hurt. Or no kiddos. Here's what it kinda looks like a daily basis.

Yes. The laundry never stopped. I bet my momma's water bill will be a heck of a lot lower though.

Not sure if the extended island will ever be clean unless you are company.

We are slowly transitioning from mom and dad's bedroom floor to their actual bedrooms and beds. Finally. See picture to follow. Now if only we could prevent them from migrating to our floor in the middle of the night. Nothing more scary than your child inches from your face in the middle of the night. It is getting better though! We definitely are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you daylight savings for making bedtime easier. 

 We finally got sod. It looks amazing. Kinda like icing on a cake type of thing. We got it like the monday after we moved. Still have yet to run wild in it. Rain, watering it, mud still kinda putting a damper on that one.

My annoying neighbors. Not the real ones. Just the construction crews working all day long with music blaring and various other loud noises. Thankfully it doesn't seem to bother the kids much. Naps are still happening at least for the little ones.

We had a nice power outage the other night. We got a random flicker and then it was candles for the rest of the night. D made us brats via flashlight on the grill and the kiddos enjoyed cold cereal. A meal without complaining. Crazy? 

Other than that we have been just soaking up our time at home and chipping away at the projects. And well the kiddos have been just being their crazy, silly selves. 

Only Dad could make the smoke alarm covers fun. He never ceases to amaze me with the things he comes up with. No wonder they love him!

The Long Awaited...

I know its been a long time coming...

drum roll please...

pictures of the inside of our house.

It is complete minus a few small details like the glass for the transom above the pantry, and a couple trim items - but not totally as well I have to... ummm... make it a home, right?

It just really started to come together in the last few weeks and big changes so I guess I just failed to keep you updated so here they are...

Granted these are the before...maybe tomorrow I"ll post the more realistic chaos of moving in all of our stuff. Wow. Do we have a lot? Lets just say my love for all things old and repurposed and our kiddos toys make up for most of it.

Thankful Thursday

Its been crazy to say the least but I couldn't miss this post. Way too much to be thankful for.

1. Sod - instant grass

2. My boys - love them all (how could you not - just look at that pic)

3. Sissy's love for her brothers

4. My new house

5. Tres Amigos - our three contractors (couldn't have done it without you)

6. Hot Rod - hooking up my ipad to blast out tunes just in time for Christmas cooking

7. Sage's sound machine

8. Jen & Disel - driving from Mason City to help us move

9. My dad, mom, d's dad & mom, lance, ross, kels, nicole - all the help with the move

10. My sister in law lunch during the meal - so thoughtful

11. Kung Fu Panda 2 (rented it from redbox for 3 straight nights - kiddos watched 5 times I think)

12. Target

13. My hubs oh so flexible job - thank you Tom, Angie & Maria for covering for him!

14. Stored treasures - like the train table 

15. Ability to sneak away even to the grocery store

16. How well my kiddos play together

17. Small town life

18. Friends - always a text, email, phone call away

19. Cool inventions - trying out these fridge coasters (will let you know what I think)

20. New neighbors 

21. Family pictures

 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7: 7-12