Promoting the Blog!

I try to be a well-rounded individual. I feel like you should diversify when it comes to expressing yourself. Well, before I started this blog, I had (and still have) a YouTube. I talked about how we saved money, recipes, and of course, CLOTH DIAPERS! But that was a no-brainer, huh? Well, I have decided to consolidate the two. I hope that I will be able to promote the blog on the vlog, and vice/versa. Thus beginning my evil empire (insert diabolical laugh).... :)
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. From now on, when I upload a video, I will also put it on the blog. A kind of "one-stop-shop", if you will. Some of my videos are completely random, but some I'm pretty proud of. I hope as I do more, I will have videos that relate to the blogs I post. I really want to make this thing work. And I am pleased to announce that I recently made Partner on YouTube (which means I can start earning money off my videos)! I never thought anyone would watch my videos, let alone subscribe. It is very humbling. And I am just feeling very thankful at the moment. Here is the most recent video I did debuting MMM:

I also want to take a moment to thank my blog followers as well. I am thoroughly enjoying having an outlet for all my crazy ramblings, and having someone read them, means the world to me. <3

Rainy Day Fun

Here in East Tennessee, it has been one heck of a year for weather! We've had tornadoes, hail the size of baseballs, flooding, and lately, temps above 95 every day. And because of this, my kiddos have been cooped up in the house more than any of us would like. My kids love TV, but I don't want them to rot their brains! So I've had to be rather creative when it comes to keeping them occupied.  So I just wanted to share some of the fun ways to keep the kids entertained when the weather doesn't want to cooperate.

1.) Play dress-up! I don't think you ever get too old to enjoy dressing up in fun costumes and pretending to be someone else. I keep a bunch of old hats, scarves, vests, etc. around just for such occasions. My kids love it! They aren't quite old enough yet to act out little scenes or anything, but they love it when I go get "the box of goods".

2.) Play-doh! Ian could play with play-doh for HOURS. It is one of his favorite things to do. I enjoy watching him use his imagination to create new things. Evan is not yet old enough to play with out wanting to eat the stuff, so I am looking for edible alternatives to the commercial stuff.

3.) Puppets! The boys love puppets. Ian even has his own little "puppet voice" that he uses when we play with them. I don't own any store-bought puppets, but instead, I have converted old socks into cute little playmates for the kiddos. We also made a really cute paper puppet in Bible School that Ian has loved playing with lately. I found instructions on the Family Fun website

4.) Play Fort! I found a kids' tent set that included two tents and three tunnels at an overstock shop for $12.50! Normally, these run about $40, so I was thrilled to find it. I set it up in the living room and the kids go to town! They love crawling through the tunnels and playing in the tents. And because it's so big, I don't get it out too often. So when I do, the kids get really excited.

So Torn! Update

As far as kids go, I am still kind of torn. Although, this week has me seriously considering being DONE. I kept my brother's two kids for three days this week while their normal sitter had to go out of town. So I had four kids under four. I was stressed to the max! While I know it would be completely different if they were my own, it still makes me fear throwing any more kiddos into our sometimes (okay, most of the time) chaotic mess. 
IN MY OPINION, to handle 3+ kids, it is a requirement that you must be an organized individual with good time management skills. I can honestly say that I possess neither trait. As I have gotten older, I have started taking some organizational short cuts just to make my life easier, but by nature, this is not an easy thing for me. I inherited some pretty gnarly pack rat genes and I have to fight them daily. In general, I'm not a very sentimental person, so the stuff I "hoard" is usually old receipts, junk mail and magazines. I just let that kind of stuff get away from me until one day I can't see the mail basket anymore and I chuck everything. 
The more I think about it, the more I think it might be selfish for me to want another child. It would be asking so much of Derek, who supplies the majority of our family's income. I would worry that he would feel pressured and stressed to succeed and provide for us. And we have been SO blessed with two healthy, happy boys. I know a lot of couples struggle to have just one child. Right now, we're in a good place. We are financially able to support our family with relative ease. Our house is just the right size for all of us. And the older the boys get, the easier it has gotten, and my sanity sure does benefit from that!
For all these reasons, I think for the foreseeable future, it is safe to say that we are a "two and done" kind of family. But honestly, I will probably always entertain the notion of future children until it's no longer an option (like after Derek's "procedure"). So if I can just hold out three more years, I'll be in good shape!