Christmas Bucket List

Well, Its a little over a week until Christmas.  Am I ready? Not even close.  I always have so much excitement all year long.  I put so much pressure on myself to get the most out of the holiday season that I barley get anything on my list done.  I cannot be the only one like this.  So, I decided to put together my Christmas List and get my act together.  Now that the older kids are on Christmas break we can focus on having fun and maybe get some of these things checked off my bucket list.

25.  Make and decorate sugar cookies.

24.  Visit with Santa.  There is the most nostalgic little Santa house near us, with the cutest Santa and Mrs. Clause.  I used to visit Santa here when I was a child.

23.  Make a Holiday playlist.

22.  Make fireplace s,mores and listen to Christmas music.

21.  Make hot chocolate and drive around looking at Christmas lights.

20.  Have a gingerbread house party with a best house contest.  The other day in the store I found gingerbread house accessories.  Total game changer!

19. Make an advent calendar.

18.  Donate toys and clothes to local charities.

17.  Write a letter to Santa.

16.  Read Christmas books.

15.  Go sledding.  We bought the girls the cutest little vintage sled.  

14.  Watch as many Christmas movies as we can.

13.  Make a snowman.

12.  Have a family photo shoot in the snow.

11.  Go on a horse drawn sleigh ride.

10. Buy a new red nail polish.

9.  Have a white elephant gift exchange.

8.  Sneak a kiss under the mistletoe.

7.  Make the bed with Christmas sheets.

6.  Wear glitter everything.

5.  Buy new Christmas jammies fir the kids.

4.  Have a festive breakfast or brunch.

3.  Make paper snowflakes.

2. Make cookies for Santa.

1.  Put the kids to bed early on Christmas eve and shake jingle bells before they fall asleep, like Santa has arrived and is delivering our presents. 

Love List

1. There is nothing better than filling your house with the scent of the holidays & I am obsessed with this little stove top conconction to do just so!  In a large pot, combine 1 sliced orange, 1 sliced lemon, 4 cinnamon sticks, 4 bay leaves, 2 tbsp. whole cloves, & 1/2 cup of cranberries with 4 cups of water and boil.  Wondering if you could just bathe in this 
2.  This blanket looks so luxurious, I haaaave to have it!!!  And its 50% off right now.

                                                            cloud nine blanket

3.  These pajamas are beyond adorable.  I wonder if I can convince my whole family to wear these for Christmas.

                                                                  pajamas 

4.  Soup!  It has been so cold here lately I have been craving soup nearly every day.  I usually just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and let it simmer.  Last week the only thing I had was maple chicken sausage.  So I threw it together with some carrots, celery onion, potatoes and tomatoes.  And it turned it soooooo good.  Sweet and spicy, and so hearty.  I will definitely try to recreate this one, and write down the recipe ;)

5.  I am loving all of the Christmas crafts lately.  I wish I had the skill to pull all of these off .  I'm might just have to attempt this one, it's just too pretty.

paper dresden wreath

6.  These leg warmers!  Maybe it's the '80's girl in me, but I will definitely be dressing the girls in these.  Even if we get the side-eye from Andres.  

We have a Walker!!!!

Well this happened .  Little Lucy finally taking a few steps.  What you don't see in these pictures is Lucy crashing to the floor.  Eva was so excited to see Lucy walking that she hugged her so hard that she lost balance and  fell to the floor.  Poor baby now has a bump and a bruise on her head.  

ps. sorry about the quality of these photos, these moments happen so quickly.  I' just glad we got it documented. 

xoxo

I Love Lucy

What can I say about Lucy. She definitely has the cutest little personality. She recently discovered how to squeal. Let me tell you. It was sooooo freakin cute.  Once she heard herself she got louder and louder. All I could think about was what have I gotten myself into now. She has also been learning to navigate the house pretty well. She throws her little legs over the side of the bed and just slides off without any fear. I have a tiny heart attack ever time. This little girl is so much fun though. She is always laughing and making noises. She'll have a conversation with you in grunts. She has been getting a lot better at her sounds. She can repeat almost any word in her own little Lucy voice. We love to dance together as a family and tickle and play. Especially dance. When she hears music her little hands pop up and wave along with the music. She looks over to her dad and me to see if we're going to scoop her up and dance. 

Just like her momma Lucy definitely has a temper. When you take away a toy or don't let her do what she wants she will throw her self back into fit throwing position and SCREAM.  We are in for a treat I tell ya. At this point Eva and Lucy don't fight, and I am so very grateful for that. With two teenagers also on the house I could not handle that yet. 

I love this little girl to pieces. I could kiss her and squeeze and take bites out of her chubby cheeks. I love her more every day. 

Xoxo

My Eva

Oh my little girl. She's still my little baby but every day she acts s little bit more like a big girl. Last week out of the blue she asked me for something ( probably a bottle ) and called me mom. Not momma or mommy like she does 500 times a day. Just mom. And it stopped me dead in my tracks.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel like this is the first step in my losing my baby.  I want to savor this time as long as I can. She has recently started getting a little jealous of Lucy so she does end up in my lap a little more often to get her mommy fix. And I don't mind 😉.  The other day Andres and I were sitting on the floor calling Lucy to take steps between us. Eva ran in between us, stepped in front of Lucy to show us that she can take steps and walk too. She had a huge grin waiting to see my excitement for her steps. I never want her to feel jealous or left out.  I will make a million mistakes as a parent, but it's always encouraging to know that every day, every moment is a chance to do your best and just love them. My baby is and will always be my baby, no matter how big she gets. I hope she always knows that and how much I love her. 

First Snow

                                                                       SNOW!!!!!!!

I spotted this sled at the store a few weeks ago.  I just had to have it.  Envisioning many many magical winter days playing in the snow and then warming up by the fire with a nice cup of hot chocolate.  

Holiday Inspiration

                                                                          image via pinterest

Three weeks until Christmas....THREE.  Not nearly enough time to accomplish all of the festive things I have been imagining all year.  We never really celebrated the holidays much when I was growing up.  I had so much excitement for Christmas all year long  it was kind of a let down when it was all over in a few short minutes of ripping open the presents.  I am determined to squeeze in every ounce of holiday cheer into the weeks leading up to Christmas that I can.  I have been shopping and pinning and scouring instagram for my favorite holiday inspiration.  If you would like to take a look stop by my pinterest page.
https://www.pinterest.com/jennsanchezz/

+.-

image via pinterest

Life according to my iphone

I know it's a sad thing. I admit it. I only use my phone to document our lives.  I don't even own a real camera. But that can actually be a good thing. Here's why. If I had a camera, I probably would rarely use it. As sad as it may be always have my phone in my hand.

Thanksgiving

As a stay at home mom, my days can get a little blurry.  Wake up to a foot in the face, change diapers, feed the babies, clean up the babies..REPEAT.  I am so enjoying the holidays so far.  It seems to me that Christmas is coming way too fast this year.  The day after Halloween I packed up all the bats and pumpkins and I was already itching to deck the halls with anything red and green I could find.  Don't judge just yet.  I did wait.. another week.  :0

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home, followed by a second Thanksgiving dinner at my mothers house.  Unfortunately the best pictures I could get are all blurry.

I guess there's only room for improvement.:)

XOXO

Hi, Nice to meet you!

HELLO!!!!
I've been wanting to start a blog for what feels like forever, and now I decided it's time to get started! I hope to use this blog as a creative outlet, sharing things that I love the most and documenting our journey along the way.  I hope you follow along as I share our adventures with our five kids, cringe worthy moments, a few recipes and chunky baby photos included.  I thought I'd start by introducing myself:
My name is Jennifer Sanchez.  I am the mother of five kids.. Kaleb, Isabel, Diego, Eva, and Lucy, and I'm married to Andres.  Kaleb has flown the coup, so we are a cozy family of six.  Isabel is 16, Diego is 13, Eva is 2 1/2, and Lucy is 13 months.  Life with two teenagers and two toddlers can be well, a little loud at times.  But, I try to make it as fun as I can.  I am passionate about motherhood, making a good life for our family and making things with my hands.  I make a huge deal about birthdays and holidays.  And I love to shop.  I consider myself a stay at home mom, but I do work part time as a waitress to help make ends meet ( and not feel as guilty about my shopping).  I am so thankful about our life here in the midwest and I hope this blog helps me enjoy every moment.  

XOXO