Seeds Family Worship CD Winners!!

Happy to see that so many enjoyed and entered the Seeds Family Worship CD Giveaways.  I really enjoy writing up and sharing about things, products, people, gadgets that we as a family enjoy... but more than that, I love the opportunity to give stuff away and bless other families!

I drew the winners of the 3 CD's this morning and here's who the lucky ducks are....

Winner of the "Seeds of Character" CD is.......

Congratulations Lydia!!!

Winner of the "Seeds of Praise" CD is......

Congratulations Lindsay!!!

And last, but certainly not least... The winner of the "Seeds of Courage" CD is.....

Congratulations Brandi!!!

Again thank you all for entering and enjoying the post, if you didn't win, you can find the Seeds Family Music here on their site.  And to the lucky ducks who won, I will be in touch with you about getting your CD's to you.  Congrats again!  Happy Monday friends!! 

FIVE!! (Leeland's Lego Birthday Party)

Our big boy is FIVE!  ... Man, oh man, still having a hard time wrapping my mind around that.  We've done dinosaurs, trains, Bob the Builder, soccer... and now, LEGOS!  Naturally after our Lego filled Christmas it was bound to happen.

Look at that "cheese"!  We had his birthday party at a local park/amusement park this year and he was SO thrilled!! Another small family only event filled with cousins chasing each other and bouncing around from amusement ride to ride.

As usual, the birthday shirt came from Ooe and Auti, our go-to each year for their custom birthday shirts.  I'm gonna put them in birthday shirts with their age and name on them as long as they allow me to!

Here's a peek at the invitation-- address and phone number blocked out for obvious internet reasons.

Invite made by cre8tesbyRacheal

This is our first time doing an afternoon birthday party.  I'm a little bit of a nap nazi and in the past have refused to do afternoon parties and interrupt nap time.  I mean, who wants cranky kids anyway? And it wouldn't be just your kid, it'd be all of the kids invited.  So since birthday parties have always been dinner, lunch, or brunch, the menu stumped me a little bit to be honest.  We only had 2 hours at the park from 1-3.  I was assuming that most would come to the party having already eaten lunch, but I wanted to have snacks and "real food" there along with the cupcakes just in case.  That'd be the worst to have a birthday party with little children running around saying they were hungry.... Anyway, what I learned was, that we could have just done without.  The kiddos were SO distracted by all the rides and the fun to be had that none of them really wanted to sit and eat.  Some of them didn't even want to sit long enough to eat a cupcake!!

Table full of marshmallow pops, cupcakes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, watermelon and pretzels.  That's how we roll. 

The Legos on top of the cupcakes were made by me using a Lego candy mold purchased here from Etsy.  Be warned if you attempt to recreate, that this mold is a lot larger than I anticipated and these candies were huge.  The kids LOVED them of course, but I couldn't finish one.  I feel like the mold would make really great Lego shaped crayons or soaps or something.

I wish that I could take credit for the adorable marshmallow pop idea, but alas, I found the idea from my BFF Pinterest.  They were crazy easy to make!  Jumbo marshmallow topped with a small marshmallow that was cut in half and then put on a stick and dipped in yellow candy.  Then I used some black royal icing to pipe the smiling faces.

So once the cupcakes were downed, the presents were ripped open, is when the rides became fair game.  I spent much of the time in the gazebo straightening things up, making sure people had what they needed and catching up with some family.... while I stood back and watched cousins literally run from ride to ride.  Judging by the smiles on their faces and how hard my kiddos hit the pillow when they got home, I think that there was fun had by all!

Looks fun, right?  To top it all off, we sent all of the kiddos home with a large bag of cotton candy to enjoy. 

Dear Leeland,
It feels like 5 years just flew right by us in a blink!  We feel so incredibly blessed to be raising such a smart, genuine, happy, and kind little boy.  We thank God that we get to share this life with you and have been able to have such a wonderful first five years.
We love you SOOO much!!
Daddy, Mommy, Hayden, and baby Joel.  

Joel's Nursery Reveal

I am super thrilled with how our sweet baby Joel's room has turned out and I'm excited to share it today.  I confess that I frequently find myself at the top of the stairs peeking into his little room excited about him enjoying it soon enough.  I had lots of visions in my head (thanks Pinterest) and I'm going to be honest that I had my doubts that we'd be able to pull it off, but I love it!

We were working with a small space that is our bonus room, and with the room being small, we needed simple, but we also needed it to be dual purpose.  I wanted to be able to have guests still, so it was important that for now we still be able to fit an extra bed in there.  Also, since it is the bonus room, that means no closet and therefore no storage, so for now while baby is small and baby clothes are tiny, we're just working with a cube storage system and I really like the look of it.  I assume that in a couple years, Joel will probably need to be upgraded to an armoire.

We picked the color palette before we decided to find out baby's gender, and it's colors that I love and find to work perfectly even now that we know we are having a boy.

Lack of natural light makes pictures difficult, but the walls are a light gray.  It is Valspar paint in the shade "Urban Sunrise."  I'm so pleased with this color, that we're going to paint the upstairs bathroom this shade too!

My very talented friend Laura made the wooden arrow art in the middle for me.  I sent her a few inspiration pictures and gave her the colors and she ran with it.  I LOVE how it turned out and love how it brings together the arrow "theme" of the room.

As for the rest of the framed art throughout the room-- a few were purchased from Etsy to go along with the arrow theme, and some of them were free downloads that I found searching Pinterest.  I had them all printed at Costco as photos and framed them.  Once baby arrives, I plan to pick up a few more frames and frame some baby photos or maternity photos for the room as well. 

The crib was given to us by a friend and we sanded and painted it with Valspar "Mint Gala." It's a much more beautiful mint color than it comes across in pictures.  And I love that it brightens the room and gives a great pop of color.

The mobile I made just last night with ribbons and lace in various shades of mint and teal and gray. And we opted for the mesh breathable bumper in white and then chevron white and gray sheets.  Keeping it simple!  I've learned now that we are on baby 3, that the whole baby bedding set with the blankets you never use, are just overpriced and useless. 

The other side of the room....

This glider/rocker was one of our first baby purchases when we were pregnant with Leeland.  It has SO many memories of rocking the first two and now it's ready for number 3.  The crocheted hat and blanket I made soon after we found out that were were expecting.  The blanket in a granny ripple/chevron pattern and the hat is granny style too both in mint, gray and cream.

Our current clothing and diaper storage.  Prefolds and covers in the basket ready to go! ... And lots of Bumgenius diapers ready to diaper tush number 3.

More printed and framed arrows and photos, the letter the "J" is canvas that I painted with some of our leftover "mint gala" paint. 

The guest bed-- the frame was gifted to us by a family friend and we sanded and painted it with Valspar "Blanched Pine."  The bedding is a gorgeous triangle quilt with various shades of mint and teal triangles.  Gray sheets under that.

... And that's it!  I wish that I could say now that his room is complete, my nesting is done, but alas we still have many many more house projects to go before baby is born.  The next adventure is switching our room to downstairs and moving Leeland and Hayden upstairs together.  They are very excited to be moving into a room together!  And then after that, maybe I can get started on our homeschool room and have it ready for the Fall.  We're busy bees at the Kroh house, but Joel's beautiful room is one thing checked off of our list!

Seeds Family Worship GIVEAWAY

In an effort to keep our boys from being glued to the TV, I like to play music throughout the day on the days that we are at home.  For whatever reason, I've become very attached to some sort of background noise. I know it sounds crazy since 2 boys can be noisy on their own... but trust me, I need something going.  Often it's the "K-Love" app playing on the iPad, or our favorite artists playing on "Pandora," but last year when we were introduced to "Seeds Family Worship", we fell in love!

Putting scripture to music is nothing new to us, lots of mainstream songs are scripture verbatim, and Daniel and I own and love the "Glory Revealed" CD's from various artists, but Seeds is different.  We were first introduced to Seeds last year when our church hosted a concert during family weekend.  We purchased a CD (Seeds of Character) to listen to in the car, and we found playlists on youtube to play on the iPad during the day.

What makes Seeds Family Worship different?  Well, it appeals to kids while appealing to adults at the same time.  They have catchy tunes that our boys LOVE, but I still find joy in it as an adult.  Let me explain, I'm sure we've all seen the "Kids Bop" commercials, or even kids sing along CD's.... they are pure torture!  I can't get through a kids bop commercial without wanting to stab myself in the eye with a spork.  Seeds is NOT like that!  The kids request and demand the Seeds CD's in the car, and I truly don't mind putting them in.  I love hearing them sing along to scripture, and they've been fantastic for my scripture memory too.

Want to know one more cool thing about Seeds Family Worship CD's?

When you purchase a CD, you get TWO.  Two of the same CD, one for you and one to share with a friend.  The boys got two new CD's in their Easter baskets this year, so those added to the one we already own means that we have 3 extra CD's to give to friends.

If you're interested in winning one of these CD's just enter the rafflecopter below.  I'll pick 3 winners when the giveaway ends.  This giveaway is open to US residents, so if you aren't local to me,  have no fear, I will ship your CD to you.  It will be random draw as to who gets which CD, but just so you are aware, the 3 up for giveaway are "Seeds of Praise", "Seeds of Courage," and "Seeds of Character."  They are ALL wonderful!  (And there's 5 more volumes that we don't even own yet.) Winner has 48 hours to claim their prize, and if not, a new winner will be drawn. 

Thanks for reading along friends, and hope you enjoy the music as much as we do!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easter Round Up :)

It's been a whirlwind of a week! We spent the beginning of the week hustling to get the final touches on the baby's room/guest bedroom in the house so that my Mother-In-Law could come into town this time and actually have a bed to sleep on.  I've felt terrible that she's had to sleep on the couch or on an air mattress the last few months.  While I'm happy to officially have that room *almost* complete, there is still SOOO much to be done to the house before baby makes his arrival.  Reminding myself, one step at a time....

Anywho, our Easter weekend started out Thursday night with some Easter egg dying...

And then on Good Friday we took a little trip to the NC Zoo with Grandma...

Also, just note to self... as it turns out, Good Friday is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year for the zoo.  I had no idea!  Won't be back on another Good Friday either. 

Friday night we took Grandma to our favorite burger spot and we all enjoyed.  They have 1 burger there called the "Big Kahuna"-- it has pineapple, bacon, cheese, BBQ sauce, and sport peppers.  Baby Joel LOVES it!!  I crave the burger and sweet potato fries like it's nobody's business.  Extra sport peppers of course because Momma LOVES spice!

Then Saturday we all went to the gym together and I got the pleasure of enjoying my very first water aerobics class.  I'm trying really hard to continue working out through pregnancy-- and it has been REALLY hard.  I spent the first 20 weeks of pregnancy puking my brains out and battling daily migraines... I'm finally beginning to feel better, and now my cumbersome belly and my tiny bladder are causing some issues.  I'm gonna continue to do what I can, but towards the end, I'm thinking water aerobics will be an excellent fit!  After our work out we headed to grab some lunch and then we took Grandma out to our very favorite ice cream spot that evening.

Then came EASTER!  The boys got modest Easter baskets with new Seeds CD's and some candies, and then we got to work making some resurrection rolls before church.

The resurrection rolls are crescent rolls that I cut into squares of dough, we then took a large marshmallow and rolled it in some butter and then some cinnamon sugar and placed it inside the dough and fully covered it.  The dough is your tomb, the marshmallow represents Jesus... once you pull your rolls out of the oven, you can no longer see your marshmallow, the tomb is empty!  Hallelujah!  We've been making these rolls the last couple of years and they're just a good picture of what Easter is really all about.

Then of course we headed to church- I had the great pleasure of teaching in the toddler class on Easter because I do that the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month.  Of course Easter in the toddler room is extra special because all of the kiddos are SO dolled up and dressed so sharply!

After church we hosted Daniel's family for lunch... when I say "we hosted", I really mean it was just our house, my mother-in-law took care of everything else which was really quite lovely since I got back home late from teaching Sunday school.  And then the boys got to have a little Easter egg hunt with their cousins.

Hope that you all had a FANTASTIC Easter weekend and that even amongst the chaos and the busyness of what we often turn the holiday into, that you reflect and remember what Easter is truly about!!  Happy Easter friends!