Healthy Taco Soup

I could eat this soup Every. Day.  It's that delicious!  You can use a large pot or crock pot to build the soup!  All you need to do is cook your meat and then throw in all the other ingredients!  For more flavor you can add: shredded cheese, a cup of sour cream, or another block of cream cheese!  I also added another can of beef broth to make it go further!  Don't forget to salt & pepper!  Top w sour cream and a lil salsa to make it purdy!

Parenting Quirks

Every parent has their quirks when it comes to their kids.  Here are some of mine:

- I let Gray wear make-up all the time.  I always loved it.  As long as it doesn't hurt her skin.... Why not?  You can often find her with red lips and mascara.

- Clothes & Shoes.  I like to dress my kids like mini-adults with a fun kid spin.  If Kevin and I wouldn't wear it, you probably won't find my kids in it.  (I do let them wear whatever they want at home though!) 

- Behavior.  For the most part, my kids are well behaved.  Disciplining kids is a full time job and often exhausting.  But I find the tougher you are the first few times the less you have to repeat yourself the next 3.  I am borderline obsessed with my kids being well behaved & orderly in public too, bc they go with us everywhere!  

- We don't hoard. We get rid of toys.  Especially before Christmas and Birthdays.  My kids are spoiled with people who love them and give them things.  So we purge, spoil, purge, spoil. If we never purged..... I don't even wanna think about it!  

- Food.  I like for them to eat healthy. We've made a rule that if there's something you don't like, you at least have to try it!  If you put it in your mouth and chew and wanna puke, you can spit it out! At least you tried!  I would love to eat clean 100% of the time, but I do try to limit the things filled with bad stuff!  I just feel like you can trust anything but natural foods anymore! :( 

I'm sure these quirks will evolve as the years go by! 

The Best Rice Krispy Treat Ever. Like Ever.

Excuse the poor cutting and pic!  I was toting a cute baby!  I love Rice Krispy treats that come in the pack, but the ones people made at home were always bland and never as sweet!  Here's a jazzed up recipe that won't have you wishing for the store bought ones! 

1. Melt 4 tbsp of butter with 30 regular size mallows. (Stir regularly.)

2. Add in one small jar of mallow fluff.

3. Stir in 6 cups of Rice Krispies.

4. When it's almost combined... Throw in 2 cups of mini mallows & 1/2 cup of chopped candy corn. Stir quickly so they don't melt!!!

5. Transfer to a cool pan that has been rubbed with butter.  

6. After you have poured them into pan, rub butter all over your hands.  This will allow you to press them into the pan- without having the treats stick to you!  If they start to stick, add more butter to your hands!

7. Eat & Enjoy!

8. Go brush your teeth and walk around the block! ;)

You're welcome!

10 Reasons I Love Kevin Lockaby

1. He's hott & works to maintain his hotness.

2. He has seen me on on the best of days and the worst of days, on the highest of highs and the lowest of lows...and has loved me unconditionally during each of them. 

3. We make really cute kids together.  Our Genes were meant to mingle and multiply! 

4. He loves to LIVE life.  He never wants to sit and watch life pass us by.  He is up for ANYTHING at ANYTIME.  Road trips, midnight runs for cravings.... I can talk him into anything!!! 

5. He loves Jesus more than he loves me.  

6. He is THE best Daddy to our nuggets. He always has time, energy, & love to give.  Always.  

7. He has quiet wisdom.  He never goes around telling people (including me) what to do, but reserves his wisdom for times that it really needs to be departed.

8. He's disciplined.  If he sets his mind to something, it happens.  

9. He rarely complains.  Even in the situations that need complaining, he always finds a positive spin to put on it that has to do w Gods plan for us.

10. He is wittier than I am.  Sarcasm-cough-wittiness is bred in my family.  It took him awhile, but we finally wore on him and now whips a one liner that has me cracking up!

Bonus: It took me 10 minutes to compile my list.  He makes loving him easy. 

Bonus: I could have compiled a list as great as 100.

Favorites Edition: My Makeup Drawer

I have an obsession w A LOT of things.  MakeUp definitely falls in the Top 10 Things I Am Obsessed With list.  I've loved it since I was little, and my Gray is following in her momma's footsteps (She may or may not go to kindergarten w red lipstick on some days... Depending on the outfit of course! ;)). 

Also, I don't discriminate. I use cheap, expensive, and all of the in between.  

Here are some of my favorites!

Face: 

Concealer: Benefit (industrial strength) ($18) Worth every penny for this tired Mom!!!

Powder/Foundation: Sephora MicroSmooth ($20) Ah-Mazing!

Highlight/Contour: 

Elf Whip is awesome! You can grab at Target for $1! Benefit Watts Up (Free sample for registering your birthday with them!) Dab your pick down the nose, corners of your eyes, & top of the cheek bone & brow bone!  Victoria Secret face pallet (The bronzer is flat and not so glittery!)

Eyes: 

Bottom: Sephora Moonshadow "in the nude". Top: ELF (cheap from Target!) 

Mascara! (Do yourself a favor & get an eyelash curler if you don't have one!) Benefit mascara came free with registering w Sephora as well. Maybelline Falsies.  I just keep coming back!  I've tried almost everything there is... & it's still a fave!

Lips: 

Maybelline Baby Lips (I have in every color!) Revlon Lip Butter.  Both of these are like a stick, Chapstick, and gloss all in one! And Baby Lips is SO cheap!

Home Sweet Home

I enjoy being home.  Truth be told, I'd rather be here, than out and about.  Well except for shopping. :). Part of what makes my home are the things in my home.  I have so many projects on my list to do but until they get done.... Here are some of my favorite spaces in my home! 

The YELLOW front door: 

My Babies Beds: 

(That would be my mom!)

My Lil Corner: 

 

Drying space: (Don't judge, I'm doing laundry!) 

Navy's Crib

The Balancing Act

I'm a Jesus lover, wife, mom to 3, daughter, sister, friend, ministry worker, coach, employee, like to work out, like to have other hobbies kinda girl.  And as you can imagine that girl is ALWAYS on the go!  Balancing the act is very hard some days and other days I feel like a bustin out to Katy Perry's Tiger song, "Cause I am a champion & you're gonna hear me rooooaaarrrr."

Truth be told I dont really recall a time in life where I wasn't busy....  I come from a large busy family, played sports and was involved in lots of stuff during high school, played a sport in college that kept me juggling, and well, I've been juggling ever since.  I have, however, had some revelations in my years of performing this balancing act that I'd like to share.

1. If Jesus doesn't come first, you mind as well put Him last.  When you are busy with babies and bosses and deadlines and things you can touch, He can and will get lost in the shuffle unless He is THE top priority.

2. When Jesus comes first, he flows through each of the other areas of your life.  Everything just runs smoother.  You have clarity about what is important at all times.  There is also a peace that surpasses understanding when He's in the middle of everything.  Picture an orchestra with no conductor, a team with no coach....It just doesn't work.  And if it works without Him for a time, in the end it will fall apart & in the during you are giving Him no glory. :(

3. Your husband has to come second.  I struggle with this a lot.  Like a lot. When my kids finally go to bed and I finally get to sit down on a couch and have "me" time, I'm met with a handsome face who would like some "him & me" time.  & I have to hide the eye rolls and remember.... I want to put him before myself.  His needs over my needs.  But good Lawd is that hard!  Selfishness really is the easy way out.  Also, I still suck at this.

4. My kids are young.  They won't always be this little.  Quality time over quantity time, all the time.  And let's be honest...  I just remember having a stable home environment where I was safe, loved, and cared for...  I don't remember hardly anything else until I was in about the 2nd grade, so I cut myself some slack for not having the most incredible activities planned to challenge their lil minds.  :)

5. The best way to spend time with my kids is to make them a part of whatever I'm doing.  If I shop, they shop.  If I garden, they garden.  If I clean, they clean.  If I cook, they cook.

6. Ministry is the hardest job I've ever had.  Ever.  I wouldn't even say that ministry is a job, it's more of a lifestyle.  It's so different.  I grew up in a pastor's home, so you would think that you would know the in's and out's.  You don't.  It's so much more than I could have possibly thought or imagined.  This is a WHOLE NOTHER POST!

I can't even tell you how many times I've dropped the "balls" that I'm trying to juggle.  And when I say dropped, I mean go and cry in a dark place for a long time and don't wanna come out! At the end of the cry, I re-hash all the revelations you just read, then come crawling out remembering how blessed I am & how this life is but a vapor, so my problems and mess-ups are so very temporary.  :)