a new season for the Winns

B has been back in school now for 3 weeks, crazy! Our lives have had to change a bit because of this (duh). B now has a pretty strict schedule on when she takes a bath, what time she goes to bed, we are setting/waking up to an alarm, etc.. I know a lot of people often have a strict schedule of when these things occur long before kindergarten but b/c of our lifestyle (ie working for ourselves, Adam's schedule changing every semester, summers technically "off," etc.) we have been very lax on all of this...until now. I'm not gonna lie, the alarm going off in the morning is pretty much my least favorite thing EVER and I've been very spoiled in that for the past nearly 6 years this hasn't been the case, but back to reality. Boo! Well, since this new season of life, I've been thinking about what's next for me specifically. I worked until the day I went into the hospital and had Brennan, and haven't worked for anyone other than myself since. This has been great for our family and I wouldn't change a thing but with my baby in school full time my identity/role as a mom is undoubtedly changing a bit (my friends at playgroup told me I could still come, I told them that was weird :). With that said, now that B is gone all day/every day I feel this yearning/need to "get back out there" part time and be accountable to someone other than myself for some of my time. So, with that said, momma got a part time job! SO weird that on September 4th the alarm will go off and I'll be the one who has to be "up and at 'em!" Ideally I only wanted to work 20ish hours a week but this job is closer to 30. So, as of Tuesday I will be working part time in the admissions office at Baylor University! Woot! This job only goes through March so its not a big commitment at this point so we'll see how it goes! Its been a loooooooooong time since I've worked in an office and I honestly have no idea what to even wear! Something tells me my Old Navy v-necks and ripped jeans aren't gonna cut it! (which really, is what I wear about every day!). Back to reality, folks. So, with that said, I'll try and keep the ol' blog going but if its a bit quiet around here that's why, not much spare time will be had until April. Weird!!

As for more "new things" B started gymnastics yesterday! She loved it but hated all the stretching (which she told me numerous times). I'm glad she liked it and is eager to go back next week! Oh my sweet girl, getting so big and trying new things...sniff.

Okay all, thanks for enduring my ramblings, have a great weekend! xo

food, life, theology, etc.

Yesterday's post was one of those that wrote itself. You know how sometimes you sit down to type/write something and the words pour out onto the screen/paper and you fee like you had very little to do with the final result? That was me yesterday. That post was raw and a virtual picture of my heart. Thanks to everyone for their sweet comments, texts, phone calls, etc. B is much better and seems to be back to her normal self. As far as lame timing goes, she starts gymnastics tomorrow, ay yi yi....there will be NO beam for her!

After much thought and back and forth I've decided to share more of my heart here. This is really something I feel compelled to do more than something I simply want to do. In my post yesterday one of the "labels" I put on it (you can see the labels at the end of each post, you click on them and it brings up every post with the same label) was theology. Theology is a fancy word for "the study of God" or more plainly, God talk. I don't claim to be some expert on the subject, not by a mile, but I do feel like I occasionally have something to share on/about/in reference to God/His role in my life/faith and so I'm going to give that label a regular appearance on the ol' blog. For those of you who show up only to see pretty pictures and get yummy recipes, no problem, you can scroll to the bottom, see the label and pass if its not something you want to read. Easy peasy, right?! I have no agenda, I have no plan for how often these posts will occur, I just know that they will be a part of my blog and felt some explanation would be helpful. Coolio? (and really, this is nothing new, if you've been reading my blog for any length of time this is something that's already been happening over the years, just now it will be with more intention and/or regularity).

Now for FOOD! I had a couple friends over for lunch yesterday and tried a new recipe. I wanted something light, lunchy, and tasty of course! I tried BLT Corn Salad Wraps. I have no idea where I got the recipe so I'm sorry I can't give credit but here it is:

makes about 5 cups of salad folling

3 ears of shucked corn

1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 avocado, diced

3 sliced crisp cooked bacon, diced

juice of 1 lime

about 1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

a good sprinkling of chili powder and smokey paprika

butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce leaves

hot sauce and sour cream for topping

Shuck corn on the cob of all their husks and strings. Over a gas burner, or on the flame grill, char raw corn. Rotate corn until cob is charred on all sides. Allow corn to cool before slicing corn kernels from the cob. This invariably creates corn shrapnel all over the kitchen counter.

Add corn kernels to a medium bowl. Top with sliced cherry tomatoes, green onion, diced avocado, and diced bacon. Squeeze in lime juice. Top with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and slices. Stir to combine. Taste and re-season accordingly.

Rinse and clean individual lettuce leaves. Serve alongside a bowl of corn salad to serve. To enjoy, scoop corn salad into lettuce leaves, top with hot sauce, sour cream, fold up like a taco and eat em up!

Since I'm a bacon lover and this was a main course, I doubled the amount of bacon (and really, when is more bacon EVER a bad thing?!). I also added about a half cup of cilantro b/c I think it makes almost anything better! I had never grilled corn on an open gas burner before but it was pretty easy and the results were delish! (be careful of flying corn kernels though! Ouch!)



In other randomness B and I did end up going to Dallas with Adam and it was a good time! We met his friend for lunch at Twisted Root (the yummy burger joint we went to last time we were in Dallas) and then went and saw a movie.

This is B's hot dog, I had the spicy goat (chipotle sauce, goat cheese, and bacon) burger, a-maz-ing!


And for no other reason than this post is already super random, how random is it to be at Rudy's BBQ in Waco and have so many Santa look-alikes come in?! B thought she struck the jackpot!!


Happy Wednesday! xo

parenthood is not for the weary

Being a parent is a lot of things. One "saying" that has really stuck out to me over the nearly 6 years of being a mom is the one that says something like "being a mother is like having your heart walk around outside of your body." Until you are a parent its really something you can't truly understand. With that said, it comes with moments where you feel so out of control and helpless and would give anything to rewind the clock and not allow for painful moments to occur. Last night was one of those for me. Brennan was just getting out of the bath and into her pjs, bedtime was so close. Our sweet neighbors stopped by just to say "hi" and chat for a few minutes on the porch. Brennan came out to join in the fun and she and her friend, Patriot were walking along our wide porch railings just being kids. My friend Kelly and I stepped inside for a moment so I could show her something, the dads and kids were still on the porch. I start to hear Brennan cry so I open the door and come onto the porch, Adam has her in his arms and she's crying saying she fell. I take her inside and upstairs to survey the damage. She slipped off the railing and landed on her...girl parts (for lack of a better way to say it). There was blood in her underwear and as I peeled them off to get a better look I felt so incompetent to know if she was truly okay. I cleaned her up the best I could and off to the ER we went. Its amazing how in just a split second things can go from fine to not fine by a mile. Thankfully it was one of the quickest ER visits I've ever had (probably the quickest) and after her getting examined and them stopping the bleeding, they deduced rather than put her through the trauma of repair that we could watch it closely and go home. PRAISE THE LORD. If you've been following my blog for any length of time then you already know my poor girl has recurring UTI's and has to have invasive testing done every year to see if her situation is improving. Needless to say, there is already way too much going on "down there" and to add one more thing is just about all I can handle. Its amazing how you would do anything for your child, last night I was praying fervently for my sweet girl and I was so thankful I could cry out to the one who loves her more than I do. I honestly don't know how people do life without Jesus. In church on Sunday we sang the words "I can face tomorrow just because He lives." Sometimes that's the only way, just the mere knowing. Today I let B sleep in, we spent some time snuggling and watching cartoons before we made our late entrance to school. She seemed fine and in good spirits, I implored her not to do anything too wild at school today that could cause further damage. And off she went, with my heart, outside of my body. xo

Happy Weekend!

What is everyone up to this weekend?! I think B and I are going to accompany Adam to Dallas tomorrow, not sure what we'll do once we get there but sometimes its just nice to have a change of scenery, you know? On Sunday we have our church's water park evening so that should be fun! Its still in the high 90s here so although summer is technically over for us (as far as day to day life goes), it still feels like summer! I hope everyone has a lovely weekend, eat a cupcake for me!

*I'm still editing Maine photos, this is from a cupcake shop in Portland, ME...seems like so long ago that I was there and it was just last month!

random thoughts on this here Thursday

*I kinda wish I still had my nose ring

*I wonder if that light fixture I've been eyeing will look good in my living room

*I hope B learns to love school and likes to learn

*Has Brennan decided she really does want a sibling or is she just really liking the mini van rental and wants us to have an excuse to get one?

*Should I re-paint the hallway?

*I wonder how much it would cost to have someone come in and do a makeover in my yard?

*Should B and I accompany Adam to Dallas on Saturday? If so, wonder what we'll do while we're there?

*I'll be really thrilled when we finally have window treatments in this house

*B has to get 2 vaccines tomorrow, sooo not looking forward to that.

*I wonder if we'll live in Waco beyond this year? I hope so, but so weird to think about moving...again.

*I'm looking forward to leftovers for dinner tonight, last nights chicken pot pie was kinda delish

*I miss baking...on a regular basis.

*I hate diets.

*I love my new phone, but I'm not looking forward to getting that first bill.

*2 bills I mailed never made it to their destination, I wonder if they got stolen or just lost?

*I love the new canvas map I bought and hung in the hallway, I think its a nice addition to our home.

*Fall is in the air and I love it.

*I'm late with my sister's bday gift, I hate being late.

*I have to go to church today to participate in a video for church on Sunday. I always hate my voice when I hear it played back to me...I think I sound like a man.

*I think the ninner looks cute in her Catholic school uniform

*I really don't like paying for Catholic school.

*Weird to think about going back to work, for someone other than myself.

*I wonder if I'll make it to that birth I was recently hired to photograph? You never know how those things are gonna play out.

*I should really get in the shower and quit rambling.

life lately in instagrams

Since I FINALLY upgraded to a smart phone a month or so ago I've been much better about capturing my daily life via iphone camera. Here is what we've been up to....

Oh! Winn Mi Casa is now officially ON for the semester. All (well, almost all) of my darlings were here last night, my heart is full, very very full. xo

you can follow me on instagram: @mollywinn2

whew! life lately

Sorry for the blog lull, things have been somewhat busy and I think we're all still adjusting to our new routine over here. Whats been going on....okay, well, Adam starts his first day today at Truett! Woot! I got in a fender bender in a parking lot (boo!) so have been dealing w/ taking car in, rental car, back and forth blah blah. Getting B out the door on time continues to be an adjustment. :) And on top of all of that I've been interviewing for a couple jobs! I'm looking for something part time, just to "get back out there" now that B is back in school. I was offered a job, and am still waiting to hear about a job so...stay tuned! All that to say, its been a bit of a circus and my poor blog is getting the shaft. Its a new season for the Winns, that's for sure!

I'm still weeding through Maine photos and hope to have some posts up soon. For now, head on over HERE to see my mom's birthday present! Happy day to you all, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sister, love you Rodent! xo

a new routine and a cute fam!

Well its day 3 of our new routine of waking up to an alarm (although B woke us up yesterday, which I was so glad about! I'd much rather wake up to my sweet girl's face than an obnoxious beep!) and we're still figuring things out. Its amazing how time seems to disappear in the morning isn't it?! I'm still getting used to only being with Brennan about 5 hours a day, its a big adjustment to go from 13 hours to 5! Her teacher sent me an email saying she has adjusted to her new surroundings quickly and is doing great so that made me happy.

In other news our dear friend British Jon is back from the UK!! He left on sabbatical 8 months ago and got home last night! B and I spent our afternoon making him a "welcome home British Jon" sign that extended almost the whole length of his house. :) AND it was in pink! (who knew I'd still be using the pink paper from B's first birthday party all these years later?!). Fun to have our friend/neighbor back in town!

Well, in other randomness I officially finished phase 1 of the diet insanity yesterday, WHO HOO!! I didn't weigh myself when I started b/c the batteries in my scale were dead but once I replaced them a few days later I guestimated and I think I'm down around 4ish pounds. So, I feel like the torturous 2 weeks have gotten me jump started now its time to add more things back in but to be more mindful from here on out...we'll see how it goes. Sigh.

Well, I think that's all the randomness I have for today! I just posted a Portland mini session on my other blog so head on over HERE! xo

British Jon's house!


(iphone photos)

B's first day of Kindergarten!

Well, today was my baby's first day of kindergarten! We all survived! It was a busy day for all of us so my apologies to the grandmas for getting these pictures up so late in the day! B said she had a good day! We asked her a million questions and all in all, it went well! She did say it was confusing having two Brennans in class so we talked about it and she thinks being called Brennan Grace will be helpful so I'll let hear teacher know. :) Even though we live 2 minutes from school (literally) its a new routine for all of us to be "up and at 'em!" so we barely made it on time and I snapped these photos in seconds and hoped for the best! B's new backpack hasn't arrived yet so, old pre-school bag it was today! I managed to hold back my tears even though my eyes were filled to the brim as I walked out the door. My big sweet girl. Sigh. Here is our big kindergarnter!

a SWEET first birthday party

So this is our last weekend before "real life" begins! B starts school at 8am on Monday morning! We went to visit her classroom and pick up her school supplies, etc. and wouldn't you know it, there is another Brennan in B's class!! She wasn't too excited about this information, especially when we told her the other Brennan was a boy! But seriously, out of 16 kids, there are 2 Brennan's in one class?! Unreal! I do realize Brennan is an Irish name and she's going to a Catholic school so maybe its not that weird but it did surprise me! B hasn't been too excited about starting school but when she saw her new crayons and purple scissors she was all of a sudden ready to go (who knew that's all it would take?!)! My baby is growing up! Sniff!!

Now onto another baby who is growing up, sweet Kinley just turned 1! Head on over HERE to see her beautiful party! Have a great weekend, all! xo

Batman Kiss

I realize Savvy's face isn't too happy here but this photo still makes me smile. To see more of this FUN bunch, click HERE! xo

life lately

I feel like I haven't talked much lately so today is going to consist on my ramblings (don't roll your eyes)! Let's see...we've been back in Texas for a week and so far we've been to a couple birthday parties, had triple digits in the weather every day, have slowly unpacked and put away suitcases that were sitting in the middle of the bedroom, B has told me numerous times she doesn't want to go to school and pointed out that I don't go so why should she? (btw B loves school, she's just in summer - "I do what I want" mode). I started the south beach diet (ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) which I'm hesitant to talk about b/c I hate not finishing things I start. I've been on it for 7 days, anyone who knows anything about the south beach diet knows the first 14 days are the w.o.r.s.t. I'm not a huge dieter, but I did do the south beach diet hard core several years ago and I do think it works for me but in general, I do think it would just be lovely if we could all eat whatever we want and be thin, Amen. But truth be told, I did eat whatever I wanted for a good month straight of vacation and man alive am I paying for it! Or maybe just all of my clothes shrunk in the dryer?!!........................crickets.....................................................................

So 7 days of no carbs and triple digit heat, who wants to come over and hang out with me?!! :) I'm a barrel of laughs these days! In other news the air conditioning fiasco turned out to be no big deal thank the Lord! But due to the lovely nature of owning a 100+ year old home which desperately needs new windows, even with the a/c on 24/7 the coldest our room gets is 76.5 degrees!

B starts school on the 13th! How crazy is that?! In 6 days my sweet girl will be an all day every day kindergartner! Her school starts earlier than anyone elses (that I've heard of anyway) which is quite the change from last year when she seemed like the last one to get back to school! We have an ice cream social event tomorrow night at her school where we meet all the newbies like us (no ice cream for me -boo!). I hope B likes it and feels comfortable....I remember my first day of kindergarten and being so nervous to walk in the room. Sigh. Man I feel old!

Okay, since I've been in no carb hell land dinner hasn't been nearly as exciting BUT I did try a new recipe the other day that was pretty tasty, so, if you'd like a no carb dinner I'd recommend caprese chicken. Easy and fresh and a great recipe for summer!

Okay all, that's it for today. I'm going to try to be productive today and get some laundry done and dust some cobwebs that formed in the month we were gone! Have a lovely day! xo

peek!

Today I'm working on this sweet birthday party. Much more to come! Happy Monday, all! xo

Peek-A-Boo!

Head on over HERE to see more of this cutie and his family! xo

no place like H.O.M.E.

After (me) being gone the entire month of July we got home last night. Upon getting home (around 11pm) within 10 minutes of walking in the door I managed to squirt ketchup on myself, smash a gecko in the door, nearly step on a cockroach the size of Rhode Island (thankfully it was on the porch and not in the house), and realize that the air conditioning in the downstairs portion of the house had stopped working! For anyone unfamiliar with Texas summers, its about 106 degrees here right now during the day, the lows are around 79 degrees, and when we got home last night it was 95 degrees outside and 87 inside! Woot! Ay yi yi. Truth be told, inspite of it all,  it is SO good to be home, I missed my bed (among many other things)!

The silver lining in all of this is that Adam's bestie here in Waco works for an air conditioning company so we had someone knocking on our door at 8:30am to help fix the problem (thanks BP)! Good to have friends isn't it? :) So yeah, fingers crossed this isn't one of those spendy home repairs since our home warranty just lapsed last month (define irony).

Well, our fridge is bare and I need to run to the post office to get a month's worth of mail so I'm off! Happy first day of August and start checking back in b/c I have much to blog!

xo
a weary traveler