The month of March was mostly spent preparing to sell our home while trying to navigate our new normal as a family of seven! Click to read this month's moments post...Moments 03.2019!

I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass."

Welcome to “Moments” here on JoyFoodSunshine. At the end of every month I share a recap of all the shenanigans that went down in crazy town (i.e. our life in a nutshell).  So here it is for March 2019!

Recipe love:

Here are a few must-share recipes from the month of March from my favorite spots around the web!

Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Blondies by Feasting on Fruit {Bring on Zucchini season}!

20-Minute Asian Salad from Dishing Out Health {That miso dressing}!

Healthier Thin Mints from Eating Bird Food {Better than the real thing}!

Chicken Tortilla Soup from Oh Sweet Basil {The best she's ever made}!

Ground Turkey Stir Fry from Budget Bytes {Making this ASAP}!

New Recipe Videos

Here are the videos we produced for you in March! More to come in April!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins

Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars

Healthy Homemade Coffee Creamer

Easy Overnight Oats with Yogurt

A few of my favorite things...

Here are a few products I have used over and over again in March! Also, remember Mother's Day is right around the corner! I wrote this post about the best kitchen gifts that would be prefect gifts to show mom you care! 😉 

Therapy Stainless Steel Cleaner

You GUYS! This is absolutely my favorite new product of the month (maybe of the year)! We always use Norwex clothes to clean our stainless steel. And while I still recommend them for every day use...if you want to do a deep clean and want your stainless steel appliances and fixtures to really shine then this cleaner is where it's at! Ritch ordered it because it has the best reviews on amazon (how we make all of our decisions basically lol) and he had no idea that not only was it effective...but it is made with plant-based ingredients! This means that I'm not using harsh chemicals in my kitchen and I LOVE that! Seriously best purchase this month!

Caboodles!

Does this take anyone else back to their childhood?! I had my fair share of caboodles as a kid, and when I saw these "vintage" (holy moly how are things that I played with as a kid considered vintage now....) caboodles I knew I had to get them for the girls. I ordered two larger ones for Bethany & Naomi, and a smaller one for Mara. I'll probably hide them instead of Easter baskets next month and fill them with candy or something! 

 

Measuring Spoons

I just ordered this set of measuring spoons. Bethany has been helping in the kitchen a little more lately, and some of my measuring spoons have had the measurement wear off. Since she doesn't know the difference between 1 tsp and 1 TBS, we realized we need to  buy measuring utensils that have the measurement etched into the metal to avoid this problem! I also love these because each spoon is a solid piece of metal, so it is next to impossible to break them! 

 

Life with my tribe

March was a fairly uneventful month for us (except for preparing to sell our house...yikes), still adjusting to our new normal as a family of seven! Keilah is almost two months old (full update coming next week) and I can't believe how fast time has flown! 

The kids adore her and spend half of the day begging me to be the next one to hold her! 🙂 I have (mostly) gotten back into the homeschooling groove, and we're very close to wrapping up our English and Math curriculum for the year! 

This month we started watching The Voice as a family! It has been really fun and the kids like to practice singing and discuss which coach's team they would choose to be on if they got a 4-chair turn! LOL! I didn't realize how many episodes there are in a season, so we won't be watching them all but it is fun to have a show we all enjoy to relax and watch after the really long days! 

Mara 23 months!

Ok I guess it's almost time for me to stop these monthly updates...because Mara will be TWO in 14 days! But she is just so cute and growing so much it's fun for me to keep a record of all the adorable things she does so I can look back and remember later on in life!

Where do I even begin? Mara just has so much personality and is so FUN! Let's start with the fact that she is obsessed with shoes. Literally she is always trying to put on someone else's shoes...and the bigger the better. She even managed to walk around it Ritch's boots! LOL!

She plays this kissing game with Ritch that is so cute. I snuggle with her before bed, and when Ritch walks in she says, "Daddy kiss me! Then she says the name of a part of her face as she points to it and Ritch kisses her. Eyes, chin, cheek etc. It's adorable!

The way she gets down the stairs is also hilarious. She literally slides down them backwards on her belly. It's unlike any of the other kids and it SO FUNNY!

Mara is also talking up a storm! She can say just about anything and she is less and less frustrated during the day because she knows how to communicate her wants and needs! Now I am working on teaching her to ask for things nicely. Instead of screaming "COOKIE" I tell her to say, "Can I please have a cookie?" I say each word slowly and she repeats after me, and when she gets to the word that is the thing she desires she usually raises both arms and exclaims it..."COOKIE!" "LOVIE!" etc. 

Ok, I finally stopped giving Mara a bottle of milk and bed and nap time. She threw up one evening and I wasn't about to give her a bottle of milk after that...so I used it as an opportunity to stop once and for all. I tried to spin it as a good thing because she is such a big girl now, and Keilah needs the bottles. She didn't buy it at first but now she says, "No bottle" as I'm putting her down for naps/bedtime. I'm a little sad that season is over, but I needed to do it a long time ago so I'm glad she transitioned pretty seamlessly. 

Good times with good people

My first outing after having Keilah was going out to dinner with one of my favorite people in the world...my sweet friend and momma of NINE! She used to live close but her and her family moved just over an hour away (biggest bummer ever). However, she still gets her hair done nearish to where I live, so I try to meet her for dinner when she does! She got to meet Keilah and we were able to connect and catch up. It was really great. 

She is a woman who I have the utmost and deepest respect for. My husband and I cherish the time we get to spend with her and her husband, and we love their kids like they are our own! Not only does she homeschool nine kids, but she is a talented interior designer, cook and DIYer. She started a blog called A Lot of Family and I can't wait to follow along with her and learn even more from her! Like how do you feed 11 people three meals a day?! Seriously how?!

(also yes, I am wearing my Solly wrap in this photo...and will likely be wearing it in every photo for the next year lol)

My sister and her husband also came to visit to meet Keilah! My kids absolutely adore them, and it was fun getting to catch up and hang out! Since I'm still in post-baby hermit/adjusting mode we laid low most of the weekend. We did venture out to Spitz because my brother-in-law had never been there! We also took a trip to the aquarium and of course to church!  

We took this photo on the FIRST try...it might be one of my most favorite photos of all time!

Date night!

Ritch and I went on our first date night since Keilah was born when she was 7 weeks old! We went out for dinner and dessert and it was really nice to have some uninterrupted conversation with the cutest third wheel tagging along!

We don't get a lot of time to talk to each other, because our end of the night slot has disappeared since Keilah came along. We used to put the kids to bed and then have an hour or two to hang out...but now I feed her, pass her off to Ritch who rocks her to sleep, and I go to sleep. Keilah is sleeping really well, so I'm hoping to get our night times back soon, but I am still playing catchup from her first month of life so I try to go to bed as early as possible!

We went to the Last Course for dessert and it was AMAZING! We got this german chocolate cake thing in a shell of chocolate that we melted by pouring hot caramel over it. WOW! I also got a scoop of their dairy-free peanut butter ice cream and it was SO GOOD! I highly recommend this place for a fun date night!

Building our HOUSE!

Our house is about 30 days from being completed and we listed our current home! We are praying for a buyer to come along quickly. In an ideal world we would close on both houses at the same time...so here's to hoping that ideal can become a reality! 😉 

We're lucky to live less than a mile from our new home, so we drive by all the time. Watching it go up has been so exciting! I can't wait to sit on the front porch! This month we asked the builder if we could bring the kids through the house, since they haven't been in it since constructed began. They said yes and they were SO excited to see it! They are already claiming rooms and I can't wait to make new memories in our new home!

I think the most exciting moment I had with the kids was when we saw that the house was painted! We were on our way to the grocery store, looked down the street and saw from afar that the house was blue! I squealed in excitement, made a quick turn and when we pulled up the kids started cheering!!

I have been nervous about the color we chose since our design center appointment. I really wanted a yellow house again, but the house next door is in the yellow/orange color family and our neighborhood is pretty strict about all the houses on one block being different colors. Our other top choices, white and gray, were also taken! So our fourth choice was blue and we chose to go with a lighter color instead of dark. 

As soon as I saw it I loved it. The black roof with white trim and light blue just looks so classy. The front door will be a dark wood, and I think it will just be perfect! 

Recipes I'm Making on Repeat

Here are a few recipes we enjoyed in March! I really love this section because I like showing you the recipes in my kitchen how they look in our everyday, unstyled life! Besides the muffin recipe below (which I had to reshoot for a project coming in April), they are just real-life mealtime pictures! 🙂 

Spinach Muffins

Healthy Peanut Butter Skillet Cookie

 

Easy Pizza Sauce & 30-Minute Pizza Dough

Homemade Dinner Rolls

Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

IF YOU MAKE SOMETHING FROM JOYFOODSUNSHINE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS! DON’T FORGET TO RATE THIS RECIPE AND LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW! ALSO, FOLLOW ALONG WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK ,YOUTUBE AND TWITTER FOR MORE RECIPE INSPIRATION AND A GLIMPSE INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIFE!