My whole world

 

Auntie's Homecoming

On Saturday night Lexi had her junior year homecoming dance. It’s crazy to think that next year she will be a senior and then its off to college!

Every year we have some of her friends over for pictures and pizza. Go ahead, ask me if I have a picture of the group…of course I don’t. So you’ll have to settle for just us! LOL!

Mom, me, Lexi and Zack

Lexi and her boyfriend Jeremy. Aren’t they the cutest couple ever?!

Siblings….I love these two!! Don’t know what I would do without them!

L.O.V.E.

Auntie had the best time at her dance. It was her first dance with a boyfriend so I’m sure that made it extra special and more memorable. Stay tuned….this spring she’ll be attending her first prom!! Ahhh…..wasn’t she Kensington’s size just yesterday?!?!?!

Slow Cooker Roasted Chicken

Yesterday I made the best, easiest crock pot meal EVER! (Aren’t crock pots the best?) Fall is so cozy and a slow cooked meal just adds to the coziness. Plus…my house smelled AMAZING all day!! I just had to share this recipe here in case anyone is looking for something incredibly yummy and super duper easy!! As a mom of 4 I am always looking for new idea’s on what to cook for my family. This recipe took me probably only 15 minutes to prep and in 8 hours we had the juiciest, most tender chicken I’ve ever made! Mike was thrilled and even brought some over to our neighbor who loved it as well! The kids ate the chicken but weren’t crazy about the veggies, but I knew that would happen. So I made them a side of rice.

Anywho…here’s the recipe.

Ingredients 

1 large onion (sliced)

1 bag of baby carrots (16 oz)

1 bag of frozen broccoli (12 oz)

1 (6 pound) whole chicken

1 tablespoon seasoned salt

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon black pepper

1. Line bottom of the crock pot with onions.
2. On top of the onions make “foil handles”. These make removing the chicken so easy! Fold 2 pieces of tin foil (about 18 inches long) three times and crisscross them over the onions in an X.
3. Add the carrots and broccoli over the foil handles.
4. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and paprika.
5. Add the chicken to the crockpot on top of the carrots and broccoli. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until chicken is cooked through. (to check and make sure the chicken is cooked use a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh and make sure it is at 180 degrees)
6. Remove the chicken from the crockpot using the foil handles and let stand for about 10 minutes.

Slice the chicken and dinner is served!!

A one pot meal and done! If I can make this anyone can make this…it is so SO easy! I am really starting to get into cooking where as I used to barely know how to boil water. FACT! But cooking really is becoming one of my favorite hobbies. So, the more yummy recipes I come by the more I’ll share here. I really hope you enjoy this one!!! My only regret is I didn’t take any pictures to share with you all….

We LOVE Halloween

We’ve officially hit my favorite time of the year.

Halloween..Thanksgiving..Christmas..New Years.

(With some very special birthdays thrown in there)

First up ….. Halloween!!

My kiddos love Halloween and I can’t say I blame them! I have very fond memories of going trick or treating with my dad. We have a lot of fun picking out their costumes with them. So I thought why not do a post with all their costumes? We’ll go from most recent all the way back to Kamryn’s first Halloween. So much fun!!!

Halloween 2015

Kensington’s first Halloween. She could’ve cared less…clearly. Kensington was a witch, Kamryn was Rapunzel and Logan was Buzz Lightyear. I was 5 months pregnant here with Tenley. For months!! after this Halloween Logan would ask me if it was Halloween again. And it was then I realized this is his favorite holiday!

Halloween 2014

Looking back on these pictures just makes me smile. The Sass Family really does take Halloween seriously! Here I was 9 months pregnant with Kensington and hoping (praying) that going trick or treat with the kids would put my into labor. It did give me some contractions…but she wasn’t born for 11 more days! This year both Kamryn and Logan were their favorite things. A kitty cat and a dinosaur! That dinosaur costume was HILARIOUS! (Logan always has the best costumes!!) This was the first year Logan got into Halloween and he was officially hooked!

Halloween 2013

By far my favorite costume Logan has ever had….Garden Gnome! All I remember is him walking around in that costume and all of us crying we were laughing so hard. But, it was a crazy warm Halloween so the poor thing was sweating!! And Kamryn decided to be Belle so this year we had beauty and the gnome.

Halloween 2012

Shocker!! The only year I dressed the kids in coordinating costumes. Minnie and Mickey!

This year was also Logan’s first Halloween!

Halloween 2011

Kamryn’s nursery was a lady bug theme. I’m not even sure how it came about except I remember refusing to do something  pink! I found an adorable set at Babies r Us with only touches of pink and just went with it. This was way back when when people used silly theme’s and everything wasn’t white and grey. So, anyways … this year, she was a lady bug. I remember that year being so special. It was the first year she got to trick or treat, the first year in our house, our first Halloween as a married couple and as you can see from the picture she was pumped! She ran around the house for hours yelling “Hap Halweeeen!!”

Halloween 2010

Kamryn’s first Halloween. I mean….cmon!! It doesn’t get any better than this! Give me that elephant baby!!!!

This year the kids have some great costumes picked out which are very much them! You’ll just have to wait and see…. But, I know this will be the first year Kensington is really into it so I can’t wait to see that! I’m sure, if I know my Kensie, she’ll be saying her usual “bye!! muah!!” to every single person. That counts as thank you, right??  LOL!!

And lets just say I am SO HAPPY to NOT be pregnant this year!!!!

Random

I love doing these posts with the most random updates on us EVER. It’s fun and just a peak into life lately….

–I’m knee deep in planning Kensington’s birthday party. Its a pumpkin theme this year…because#1. its easy because all my fall decor is out and #2. this is the last year I can choose the theme. I find that 3 years old is when they begin to have an opinion on their party theme. So why not go with my favorite thing….FALL and PUMPKINS! I did give birth to her, afterall.

–In planning this party I realized I do not have a creative bone in my body. I wish I had a close friend or family member with an etsy shop of EXACTLY what I want/need. I’m super picky and handmade things are expensive sooooo….yeah. Can anyone say champagne taste on a beer budget?

–Last night Kamryn came downstairs 10 minutes after I put her to bed. I had finally sat down for the night and she walks in. Which therefore set Kensington off because Kamryn left their room and then came back. So then, we were up with Kensington for about 45 minutes. I was exhausted!! It wasn’t even late but if you’re a mom, you get it. Sometimes you just need to be left alone. I got Kensington down soon enough and then Tenley wakes me up 3 times last night! Listen, I’m SO done having babies! DONE DONE DONE! I love my babies but I miss sleeping!!!

–I need a vacation. Let’s be real, I’d sleep the whole time!

–Logan. Oh Logan. I’ve come to the conclusion the kid will never EVER be completely potty trained. He gets it, yep he gets it totally. But, he’s lazy. SO lazy. My pediatrician has told me not to worry and really I’m not worried…I’m just plain old annoyed! Just get up and go on the freakin potty kid!!! Not just a couple times a day EVERYTIME!!! Why is this such a hard thing for him to grasp?!?!?!

–Kamryn is having trouble with some girls at school and you have no idea how much I want to go all mama bear on these little 6 years olds! But, I can’t, so I’ve turned this into a learning experience. I keep telling her how important it is for her to always treat other people how she want’s to be treated. And if she ever finds herself not being nice to think of how it feels when she’s left out. She said she never wants to make anyone feel like that. Mission accomplished….for now.

–This weekend is Lexi’s homecoming dance. Since she was a freshman we’ve always had her girlfriends over for pizza, to get ready, and take pictures before the dance. I know she really really appreciates this and I love how we’ve started this tradition for her. It’s crazy to think someday I’ll be doing the same thing for my girls.

–Tenley James HATES sleep! I swear I’d have her cry it out if I didn’t have 3 other kids that she would wake up. I did that with Kamryn and Logan and they were (and still are) such great sleepers. By the time Kensington came around I couldn’t do that and still can’t with Tenley. So instead I’m up all hours of the night. Does anyone with big families have a suggestion for me? I’m lost! And to think I used to label myself as the baby sleep whisperer. Guess I got too cocky!

–The big kids are so excited about Halloween. I had a theme planned. They were going to be the Wizard of Oz characters. They were all in until about 3 weeks ago and both Kamryn and Logan changed their minds and picked their own costumes. It’s a good thing I didn’t have anything purchased yet!

Logan’s costume is AWESOME! Wait til you see!  Kamryn’s is 100% predictable. The babies are going to look SO cute! We put Kensington’s costume on her the other night and she was SO excited! We can’t wait! Logan asks me every single night before he goes to bed “Is tomorrow Halloween?”

–I need to take more pictures! The amount of pictures I have of Kamryn compared to the other 3 is sad. I need to step up my game like yesterday….

Well, Tenley is crying and ready to have her breakfast so I’ve gotta get going. I hope you all have a wonderful day!!!

xoxo, Kristen

TJ, xoxo

Just a little Tenley James — to brighten up your Monday!

We are EXTREMELY blessed!

I’m going to get pretty deep here on this post. This is raw, this is who I am and this is about MY faith. I respect everyone has their own way/relationship with God and/or no relationship. But oh, how I wish everyone did because as cheesy as it sounds when you really sit back and think and appreciate how God is with you at every moment of everyday it really is a beautiful thing.

I’ve mentioned here before that we are in the middle of a transitional period right now. Mike has switched jobs with has cut down our income significantly. It will go back up and it will be more than it was before the change but for now, its not and money is tight. Really really tight. To say that’s extremely stressful with 4 kids would be a vast understatement. I’ve questioned “why?!?” more times than I can count over the past 3 years but yesterday I was reminded that God is here with us, God loves us and we are EXTREMELY blessed.

It all started Tuesday night at around 6:30. I went to make Tenley her last bottle before bed, flipped on the faucet and nothing! No water came out! I looked at Mike baffled and said “uhhh…babe, we have no water.” Mike was visibly annoyed from the get-go and went downstairs to check things out. We have a well and until now have never had an issue so haven’t really had to learn much about wells. So, Mike texted our neighbor, Bob, who was in the middle of a business meeting, he stepped out his business meeting to call Mike immediately and started to try and help him with the problem. When we couldn’t fix it on our own/over the phone, he told Mike to go to his house, grab some gallons of water and take a shower. We got the kids to bed and then Mike and I went over where his wife and daughter were home and they were so eager to help us out. Without a second thought. I felt terrible because they all looked so tired and as tired as their were Bob offered at 8:30 at night, right after walking through the door, after working all day and then attending a meeting, to come over and check out the well. Mike thanked him but we decided we would call a professional in the morning.

Which brings me to Wednesday morning. I had Kamryn out at the bus stop and another neighbor was out there with me with her grandson. I know they’ve lived in the neighborhood longer than anyone else so I asked her about our problem and explained what was going on. She told me about a guy that lives in our neighborhood who has a well drilling company that I should call. Told me to say they referred us and he would give us a good deal. (If you know anything about wells, you know this can be extremely expensive to fix) Pat (our neighbor) rushed home, got the name of the company and the number and brought it back to me. Mike immediately called him and set up an appointment for that afternoon.

The guy was here a half hour early, eager to help, as nice as they come and when Mike explained our situation he helped so much to get us great deal. I’m talking saved us over $2,000!!

My Dad (and Dee) saved the day by helping us buy the part to fix the well. I mean, their grandbabies need water. We just don’t have that extra money right now and are so extremely thankful they could help us out.

But it doesn’t end there. The part won’t be here for just about a week. So what’s a family of 6 supposed to do?? Well, where we live we are pretty spread out from our neighbors. Our house sit’s on an acre of land. We have one neighbor that’s house sits behind ours though, down a hill and back up again through the woods. (And you learn something new everyday but) You can run a hose from another home to your home to use their water and bring it into your house and your water runs just the same as it coming from the well. Mike went over to ask Steve if we could do this but he wasn’t home. His wife said she’d have him give us a call. Not even 5 minutes later Steve was in our driveway with a hose helping Mike set it up so our family didn’t go without running water.

I mean…..how blessed are we?!?! I’ve mentioned it before but our little community in the corner of this little neighborhood that we live in is absolutely AMAZING! 5.5 years ago Mike and I bought this house on a chance. We knew absolutely nothing about the area, the neighborhood, had no friends or family within an hour of us, it was definitely taking a leap of faith. Now look at us?!?  God put us here! God did this! I’m sure of it. Without our neighbors (who have turned into great friends) and our family, what would we have done?!? We would be without running water until we could figure out where to get the money to fix our well.

It’s been a stressful few days but last night when I laid my head down on my pillow I smiled, cried a little and thanked God for being with us every step of the way. We are blessed and its times like these I am reminded of that. Living life day to day, one stressful thing after the other its hard to remember that. Sometimes you find yourself saying “Why me?” But sometimes in those dark moments when you don’t see an end in sight you can take a look around and realized yes, everything might be going wrong but look at everything that’s going right. There’s always something to be thankful for. How calming of a feeling is it to know someone is always looking over us? There beside us making sure at the end of the day we will be okay. I’m so thankful God is looking over us and our babies each and everyday. How funny is it that something as simple, but expensive, as your well breaking can bring things totally into perspective for you?

The Babies!

I tend to find myself saying we’ve got the “big kids” and “the babies” and today on The Sass Sircus its all about THE BABIES!!

These two make my heart so happy. Our little Kensie and Tenley! Maybe its them, maybe its the age but really, it doesn’t get much better than this!

In all fairness I am rather bias, but do you blame me?!?

These girls are a sweet as they are cute. The best part? They are absolutely smitten with each other. Tenley goes CRAZY when she see’s Kensington! She smiles and whips her body around in excitement. Kensington just melts when she see’s Tenley and all day long all she says is “awe baby!!” Kensington doesn’t say much so if shes talking about Tenley, its gotta mean something. Kensington is so sweet and gentle with Tenley and has never once, not even for a second seemed even remotely jealous.

I know in a year or two they are going to be just the best little friends and it makes me so excited to see that unfold. At only 16 months apart I know we are bound to get asked eventually if they are twins and I know I’ll probably end up being that mom that dresses them alike. I did, without even noticing (thank you pregnancy hormones), give them matching names — Ken & Ten!

My babies…..

How long do you think I can get away with saying that? Until they are at least 16 and 17, right?? Don’t answer that! They will forever be my babies!

Mama loves you, Kensington and Tenley!!

a weekday morning with the Sass crew

Okay, so life around the Sass house is pretty predictable, for the most part. I am a sucker for a schedule and that is probably the one and only way I am even remotely organized. But, with a big family (heck, even a small family) I think a schedule is the key to your sanity!

Everyday my alarm goes off at 7am. 9 times out of 10 I am already up with 1, 2 or sometimes even 4 of the kids. Totally depends on the day. But either way I know 7 is either get everyone up and diapers changed OR start breakfast. Usually both.

Once I get all 4 kids fed its time to get Kamryn moving for school. Pack her lunch, get myself dressed, get her dressed, hair done, teeth brushed…you know the drill.

By 8:35 we are out front at the bus stop.

Bye Kam!! ::hug hug kiss kiss::

Then its back inside to grab the other 3. It is COFFEE TIME for mama!

Logan has a love/hate relationship with the ride to get my morning coffee. He’s either all in or I’m caught dragging him kicking and screaming. Which if you know Logan, you know its one or the other and you NEVER know what you’re going to get. On this particular day he was good to go and even asked me to take a picture with him!

Usually, Logan and Kensington have a snack in the car on the way to get my coffee. Especially for Kensington it keeps her entertained because she HATES the car! So, I pack those and then get the kids in the car. This seriously can go completely smoothly or take FOREVER. Depends on the day. It’s amazing how with 3 (sometimes 4) kids a process as simple as getting in the car can be just that, a process.

BUT! One day a week I treat the kids with a strawberry frosted donut and they LOVE that! The kids look forward to the one day a week I let them get a donut. It’s my way of saying thank you for putting up with your mothers addiction to coffee.

Tenley James always gets in her morning snooze on the ride to and from Dunks. If we stay home, she wont take that morning cat nap. So see! It’s beneficial for Tenley too!

When we get home I set the kids up with a tv show or a movie (lately its been The Nightmare Before Christmas EVERYDAY. I think they are excited for Halloween). I have breakfast/drink my coffee/read blogs, a magazine, do something for myself.

After breakfast, and as long as the kids cooperate, I take sometime to do something I need to do around the house. Whether it be laundry, dishes, or yesterday I put out my Halloween decorations, etc etc. (My life is so adventurous!)

Then its play time/lunch time/get ready for nap time.

I put the babies down at noon and then Logan and I have some quiet time. Usually, I’m still sipping my coffee.

On to the afternoon……

And all the mama’s said Amen!

Tenley Sits

…..and she’s super excited about it!