1 year ago and now

About 1 year ago I had an MRI for symptoms I'd been having (night sweats, aching joints, extreme fatigue,  muscle aches etc). While waiting for the results one of the doctors recommended starting treament on a chronic illness I had.

I started to feel better almost immediately after starting treatment and then I got a notification from the doctor that they found something on my MRI. Incidental finding, which wasn't a big deal. These things happen all the time. They weren't sure what it was and sent it to a neurologist.

"The neurologist I contacted recommended that you get a neurologic evaluation and additional testing including a lumbar puncture and a CT scan of your chest, abdomen, and pelvis. 

I have ordered the CT scan for you. The neurology department should be contacting you this week to schedule an appointment for the neurologic exam and lumbar puncture."

Fast Forward through the waiting⇢Everything came back clear. They still weren't sure what these were and wanted to send it to a neurosurgeon to get another opinion. A little more waiting.

After about another week I heard from the neurologist:

"Could be tiny schwannomas, incidental findings. Would recommend reimaging in one year.

Schwannomas are benign nerve sheath tumors. Nothing to worry about.

Will place order for MRI to be done in 1 year and if it is stable then no further imaging is needed."

A little bit about me:

I'm a high-stress person. I like order. I thrive under a controlled atmosphere. I enjoy writing long lists and then checking off the items. 😀Flexibility, uncertainty and waiting -as anyone who knows me can tell you- are not my strong suit.

Let me just say that God knows what He is doing. I don't have 4 boys on accident. These boys are buffing off my extreme type-A edges. This year of waiting I saw (and eventually welcomed) as a time to be refined and lean in and truly trust God in all things. I got the MRI done Monday and here was the message I received today:

"MRI lumbar spine done with contrast shows no change in the nodules seen in her cauda equina.

 The interval stability without changes is very reassuring."

So there you have it, friends. 

"Interval stability without changes is very reassuring."

I'm taking that and with many thanks and praise to God (and a margarita) closing this chapter.

Advocare - Direct Sales - Now

Hi guys!

We have had some questions about Advocare, so it's about time I share what happened...

In 2012 after having Amadeo we were faced with an opportunity to get healthy and earn some extra money on the side. After a lot of research we decided to try it out.

We ended up loving the products and doing the business. I followed the rules and made a list of all of my friends/family I felt would enjoy the product (read: everyone I ever knew). We quickly became the friends that were kind of uncomfortable in social settings. Although I didn't mean to be, I felt the standoffish vibes from my friends. You know, the ones where they are concerned you're going to sell them whenever you see them. Which they weren't totally wrong about. I cringe thinking about some of my facebook posts. So very infomercial of me. Did we turn off some friends, acquaintances and family? Absolutely. For those of you reading this I am sorry and please let's go grab a coffee, no sales pitch included! :)

This isn't going to be a post bashing direct sales or how they cheated us because that isn't what happened.

We read many books. GREAT books and focused on our own growth. We also made enough for me to continue staying home. We met some of the nicest, most genuine and hard working people along the way and learned about ourselves and how to better communicate. I learned how to be a better friend, listener, support for those that needed it, even how to be a better wife and parent.

What ended up happening is I was forcing something I wasn't passionate about, and it was taking time away from my heart's desire. It isn't a stay-at-home opportunity, it's a work-from-home opportunity. It was a great one that God provided for us and it and allowed me to work from home while the boys were young and provided money we needed at the time. It taught me a lot about health, food etc. Really it could be a separate post entirely because some of what we learned we will carry through our entire lives. When Paris started bringing in more from his job we were able to step back from Advocare and I was able to really focus on where I truly felt called: Homemaking and homeschooling.

We still drink our Spark and still recommend you try it if you haven't (I have friends that will help you!) 😜- We will always be thankful for the incredible opportunity we had 3 years into our marriage as new parents that grew us and allowed me to stay home. I am also thankful God has provided us with other means so that we can focus on the desires of our hearts. 💖

I learned something Sunday. But not in the pews.

Yesterday at church was one of those days I felt completely defeated. Like, I cried to another church member thankful/tired/overwhelmed tears for helping watch my 2 oldest while my 2 youngest were in the car asleep after church type of defeated. It was one of those days I just couldn't muster up the energy to chase around the 3 year old in the pew, keep the 1 year old from blurting (too incessantly), while encouraging my 2 oldest to *just pay attention* all while trying to be respectful of others. All pressures I put on myself, for sure.

I like to have clear set rules. That are followed. I continue to learn, however, that is not how children operate. I know it's encouraged to keep our kids in mass. I think it is wonderful! Especially yesterday while driving home when my 3 year old sings at the top of his lungs, 

"GLOOOORY BE TO THE FATHER, AND TO THE SON AND TO THE HOOOOLLYYYYYYYY GHOOOOST!"

It is incredible to be in a church that encourages inclusivity of children in the mass. They are just as important! However, there are those times, I believe, that you just need to regroup and decide what matters most. Yesterday, I let that "encouraged to keep the kids in church" change into law. I let it turn into *If I can't keep them in here then what is the point?!* Hence, I felt defeated. 

Sometimes, us moms (and dads) need to hear the sermon and the "shed for you" to fill up our empty cups without chasing a toddler and feeding a baby and trying to encourage the older 2 to pay attention and not poke each other or pull each others' ears or (fill in the blank). Sometimes, that is OK. We made it to church after all.  After a long night of laying with the toddler after a bad dream, only to hear the baby wake up and crying in the other room to eat, getting back to sleep and waking to a crying 6 year old whose foot was hurting at midnight. Then waking up, getting them fed and ready. We made it to church after a discouraging morning of mom once again having nothing that fits her postpartum body. Even with 1 child there were hard moments so don't think if you have less than 3 or 4 that your needs/burdens are less! They are just as real!

Jesus knows. He knows I tried my best. He knows my desire that the boys have a love for Him. He knows. I unfortunately, let my thoughts get to me and I left with the 2 youngest early. I left and drove around in tears. Completely discouraged and overwhelmed because this can be so.hard. 

What I WISH I would have done is go to the nursery. Let my 3 year old play with the blocks even though we should be in mass. Let my baby crawl around the nursery floor, even though he should be in the pew with me. Because you know what? That speaker in the nursery, it's meant for us parents that need to hear but can't muster up that extra energy. And that is ok. So... I will continue to come to church, and if the nursery is where I spend the entire homily, well, that is ok and Jesus knows.

Holy Week = Morning Glory Muffins!

Hi friends!

I was working on limiting my time on social media, but it seems to be the perfect time to post the BEST recipe EVER to have on hand!

Perfect season for the carrot/apple goodness that are MORNING GLORY MUFFINS! I have doubled the recipe to have on hand for a quick Holy Week breakfast/heading out the door treat.

Me leaving the kitchen when the boys hear the muffins are ready

I will post exactly how I make the muffins. There is a lot of flexibility so switch up however you'd like!

MORNING GLORY MUFFINS
(makes about 18 muffins)
preheat oven to 350

• 2 cups flour (or 1 cup flour/1 cup oat bran)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• (combine above ingredients)

• 2 cups shredded carrots (heaping)
• 1 apple peeled and shredded
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup 
• 3/4 cup coconut oil (or 1 cup vegetable oil)
• 3 eggs
• (mix together)

OPTIONAL ADD INS: 1/2 c shredded coconut, 1/2 c raisins, 1/2 c walnuts, 1/2 c sunflower seeds etc.

Fold the flour mix into the carrot mix until combined.
Pour into lined muffin tin
Bake for 20 minutes.
Enjoy!

When even Advent feels stressful...

Hi friends!

I have had a few friends contact me and they are not feeling relaxed or prepared for Advent. Specifically, having the books ready and wrapped. This is NOT meant to be stressful, but as with anything new it can take some adjusting. My first year doing Advent it felt a little bit overwhelming. It gets easier!

MY BOOKS AREN'T WRAPPED/I DON'T HAVE TIME!

The first year I wrapped daily advent books they were from the library! Not only did we not have the funds to place a bulk order of books (this is before I knew about thriftbooks), my mom helped me wrap the books. AND I WAITED UNTIL THE DAY BEFORE ADVENT! <- That was the first mistake. BUT DON'T FEAR... if you have books that aren't wrapped there is an easy solution:

CHRISTMAS BAGS! Thank you Jesus for bags! Throw a book in there with some tissue paper and ta-da! 

THE KIDS WON'T STAY STILL FOR ADVENT READING!

There were nights where all we did was the Lord's Prayer after lighting the candles. There were also nights we completely forgot in the beginning! You do what you can do. Now the boys understand there is a devotional plus prayer. The littlest (3 years old) follows his big brothers. It does get easier friends. 

WHAT BOOKS DO I BUY?!

This is something specific to what you and your family enjoy. I have included the first order I placed in 2016 (below). I will tell you -> these have all been winners BUT if you haven't yet purchased books, these are our favorites and a fun start to the stash:

• Merry Christmas Strega Nona - liturgical + Italian = winning

• The Crippled Lamb - It's long, but is wonderful in showing Jesus was sent for ALL!

• A Pirates Night Before Christmas - You read with the accent and all. The boys love it.

• Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree - is a one man's trash is another man's treasure type of story.

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Polar Express - Classics!

The Little Drummer Boy · 

 

$3.59

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree · 

 

$3.59

I Spy Christmas · 

 

$3.59

Snowmen at Christmas · 

 

$3.99

Bear Stays up for Christmas · 

 

$3.79

Merry Christmas, Strega Nona · 

 

$3.59

Stranger in the Woods : A Photographic Fantasy · 

 

$3.59

Dream Snow · 

 

$3.59

Christmas Day in the Morning · 

 

$3.59

Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? · 

 

$3.59

The Legend of the Poinsettia · 

 

$6.23

The Crippled Lamb · 

 

$3.99

Christmas Trolls · 

 

$3.99

A Pirate's Night Before Christmas · 

 

$3.79

The Polar Express · 

 

$3.59

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Classic Seuss) · 

 

$3.59

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies · 

 

$3.59

The Wild Christmas Reindeer · 

 

$3.59

Room for a Little One : A Christmas Tale · 

 

$3.59

Who is Coming to Our House? · 

 

$3.59

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree · 

 

$15.95

Mortimer's Christmas Manger · 

 

$3.59

 

 

Advent Prep Part 1 - a sweet surprise

By now, I'd have Christmas music on all day, would have baked some biscotti and been planning all my weekends through Christmas day. Packing them with festive times. Lights, hot chocolate, decorating days, festivals. All. the. Christmas. Things.

When deciding to observe advent, honestly.... I was pretty anxious about everything I would miss out on. I was prepared for a serious case of Christmas FOMO.

Surprisingly, I'm less anxious than I ever am around this time. I realize I've focused so much energy on making everything so unforgettable and special (like we see commercials, movies, magazines, blah blah..)  that I wasn't actually ENJOYING it. It could be just me. I'm a type-A to the core. (Even though my boys are really trying their best to squeeze every last bit of that out of me.  That's another post for another day...) 🤣😥

So I'm happy to report. There has been no Christmas music, no Christmas shopping, no Christmas baking. Yet. Just noticing the change in cool fresh mornings, warm cups of tea, seeing the boys get little red-tipped noses from the crisp air. Enjoying the simple things that have ended up being so much more rewarding. 💕

Tradition Timeline - Part 3

CHRISTMAS EVE -  🎉PARTY.TIME.🎉 Advent reading, lighting of the center candle, decorating the tree, Christmas eve mass, optional gifting of christmas pajamas for the boys. Don't forget some drinks for mom and dad 🍷🍸 

CHRISTMAS DAY -  The day we have been waiting for!! 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS START NOW. huh?! We sing a carol and open the FIRST GIFT OF CHRISTMAS! This is baby Jesus wrapped in a little box. Either an ornate wrapping job(fit for a king), or a minimalistic wrapping job (humble, like He humbled himself by becoming man). You can approach this either way. But WHO gets to unwrap this gift?!?!?! We have a system we use. Will share in the christmas day post with more details.

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS ENSUE -  In this post I will share the different ways we celebrate and the different feast days, all leading up to the feast of epiphany (this is the day the wise-men arrived)... the wisemen literally arrive in the nativity scene after 12 days of traveling through the living room. This is a big day, the final and 12th day of Christmas.

Tradition Timeline - Part 2

BLACK FRIDAY - We decided when the boys were young we would go through the extra work to get a REAL christmas tree🌲🎄. When we were financially tight OR for those of you that love a good fake tree we did it a little bit different. This is the day we pick up our tree. Don't forget to grab a couple of pre-cut (free) branches for your advent wreath! We will be putting lights on the tree the day we get it, and putting out our advent wreath and nativity scene (minus baby Jesus and the wise men). EVERYTHING else waits until Christmas eve.

ADVENT -  You can read the history on wikipedia. This is a great how-to guide here that we use! The season of waiting and preparation. The boys will unwrap 1 book each night. We read the book and then finish the night reading scripture by candle light at the advent wreath. Details on the books we read will be posted in seperate blog post.

Tradition Timeline - Part 1

Some of you have wanted details about advent, why we are waiting to decorate for Christmas, what we do in the meantime. There will be follow-up posts about each tradition. 😊

November 1 - (here) Grateful walk and filling out our leaves through Thanksgiving eve.

Before Thanksgiving - Wrap all advent books. Finish christmas shopping. The goal is to be done before the holiday rush so that during advent you can relax and enjoy.

Thanksgiving day - Either we host, or our family hosts. We have no distinct family traditions this day. 🏈🦃🍗🍠🍲🍸😴 This WAS the calm before the Christmas-storm for us. This year will be different.

*November Preparation*

Those that know me, know the Christmas music is usually on in September and little bits of Christmas flair pop up around the house until the day after Thanksgiving. Then, it's a Christmas explosion. Yes, I have always been the Christmas before halloween person.

BUT....

We have slowly been changing our ways over here and it has been WONDERFUL.

I will be posting on that next, but with November almost here I wanted to share a quick idea to transition from halloween to getting our hearts and minds ready for Thanksgiving.

I tend to go against the grain. Especially if that grain is consumerism. It first started because we could not FINANCIALLY afford all the latest and greatest for the boys.

However once we could financially afford it, we didn't change a thing. It was a blessing in disguise. We realized, we could not in good conscience AFFORD what materialism and consumerism teaches our boys.

SO I am on a mission to fill the boys with meaningful, exciting and memorable holidays - the less is more approach.

Ok. So if you are still with me, here is how we kickoff NOVEMBER!!

Before (or on) the first day of November we go for a walk. We find a nice branch.  Not just a stick, but it has to have little branches sprouting off of it. Some leaves and pinecones are usually picked up as well to decorate with. 

From there we come home and place the branch/sticks in a vase. Each day from November 1 up until Thanksgiving-eve we end the day writing down something we are thankful for. We write it on either leaf shaped paper, or autumn colored paper and attach to the branches we picked up...

Why sweet and seasoned?

It is here, friends. THE blog. I kept going back and forth with different names, but SWEETLY SEASONED seemed to stick.

Why sweet?

With 4 boys we believe we have been blessed with a rich and sweet life. and sometimes sweaty too.

Also... Baking. It is a favorite pastime. I will be sharing tips and tricks on how I navigate my kitchen life.

Why Seasoned?

Seasoned because I am a huge fan of seasons... holidays... all things that create memories, traditions and add richness to life. So I will be sharing different ways we celebrate.

I hope to help, inspire and encourage other parents out there with ideas to keep it sweet in your own home. 

It can be simple to create memories and add sweetness to our homes, making them sweetly seasoned.

xo

Nat