We Are The Weddles

Today marks the start of a new chapter for me, for my family, and for our future. It's something that has been a LONG time coming, and oh how it excites me to feel this good about a decision! This morning I officially get to add full time college student to my list of job titles! For over 4 years now it's just been wife and stay at home mom and although those both do a REALLY good job of keeping you busy and occupied, I'm beyond excited to start my new journey! Since signing up and spreading the word of my college plans, I've gotten a ton of support (Thank you!) But I've also gotten a few people who question my decision, who have made comments about why college with 4 kids and a husband is a bad idea, and then there are those who don't even believe in going to college at all. And with all of that, I can safely say that by writing this blog I'm giving you a viewing platform into my life, but all that allows you to do is form your own opinions. That's ...

As I watched the weather forecast yesterday afternoon it showed steady rain chances for our area over the next 5 days. Rain is one of my favorite things, but with little kids, it can sure mess up any outdoor plans you have, and after so many days of staying inside with 3 toddlers all day long, it gets a little..hectic! Andy got home from work and after mowing the yard, we both instantly knew we should take the kids out to the pool while we could today, before the rain got here! Quick swimsuit changes and we were by the pool, ready to relax and have some fun. It's only Wednesday, and by last night me and my husband were maxed out with our stress levels, so relaxing and having fun in the pool sounded amazing! As I set there with my feet in the water, watching the kids swimming and splashing around laughing and smiling I could feel my mood lightening and I could see it on Andy's face that he was relaxing, which made me instantly start thinking about Dory from Finding Nemo singin...

The day we said, "I Do!" August 19, 2014. 3 years ago yesterday Andy made me the happiest woman alive by making me Mrs. Weddle. Now marriage was nothing either one of us were unfamiliar with, in fact we have both been previously divorced. So why did this day, this day where I got to marry Andy and become Mrs. Weddle mean so much to me? Well here's why! The day I met Andy was just another day, but this day was to open up a whole new chapter of my life. One that I never could have imagined. I was the manager at a women's gym called Curves, and I had just finished my morning shift and had some time to kill before my next shift when I decided to go shopping. I'd been struggling a lot with myself and knew that maybe a devotional or some Christian music might put me back on track, so I headed to our local Family Christian Store. Setting in the parking lot I almost didn't even go in, I had no place in a Christian bookstore, that was the old me, not the me now. ...

As I was typing out an Instagram post this morning for #ThankfulThursday I realized something, for everything that I'm thankful for in life, MOST of it didn't come easy! In fact, some day's feel like an uphill battle just to keep things going at the pace, and in the direction that I'm truly happy with. Is it worth the fight? Always. But in that fight, it requires facing some of your fears, a lot of your fears honestly! So is fear something that we're born with? Or is it something our minds create to keep us from achieving our goals? I'd go with the latter right now. This seems true to me because of the way I feel after facing a fear and then feeling the reward from that. It's almost as if THAT is what our brain was going for the whole time, just by letting us feel fear it also lets us feel a sense of accomplishment, peace, and happiness from overcoming it. A great example of this for me personally is overcoming my anxiety. Social settings have never bee...

Double Rainbow in Trinidad, Colorado! While yesterday was back to work Monday for the rest of the world, it was my husband's first day off after 7 days of working. So to say we were excited to have him home with us was an understatement! It's crazy the amount of time he spends working around the house just to keep things nice, even after working when at work. So yesterday was no different, he was up by 7am and out in the shop finishing leftover projects and cleaning up. The morning went by quick for us all and by the time we set down to lunch together we realized we only had half a day left, what to do? We put the kids shoes on and went outside into the shop. It was hot, it's been humid, and we worked HARD on cleaning/organizing the shop. The kids helped us vacuum and moved what they could, but they were just happy to be putting in time outdoors and using their hands. The whole day they'd been told we could go swimming after we got some stuff done, so they were ea...

Faith. What is Faith? Where can you find Faith? Can you lose Faith? Is Faith real? So many questions for such a widely misunderstood topic. If you're looking for answers to all of those overwhelming questions, you can stop reading now. I don't have the answers. I only know what I've been living, what I've seen and experienced, and what I've learned from others. So here's the actual Webster dictionary definition of Faith, " : something that is believed especially with strong conviction;  especially : a system of religious beliefs." So now you know what it is..well, according to a dictionary. But is it really that simple? Just find something and believe in it, it does sound simple, right? But as a Christian in today's world that can be so challenging. Where can you find Faith? Well church comes to mind. And some people say within yourself, or in your bible, or through some other outlet. Can you lose Faith? Why yes, yes you can. I don't know ...

Flashback to my Freshman year of high school. Back to when I made the conscious decision to leave school. Only to start working in retail and eventually get my GED. Oh man, what I would tell myself then about what I know now! I know I'm not the only person who thinks that about things, but when it comes to education, I kick myself for choosing such a non-traditional route at such a young, impressionable age! But for everything that you can't tell someone, they get to learn the hard way! Which is what I've done. I've watched people who were in my grade go on to walk the high school stage, walk the college stage, and land careers in some of their dream fields. (Obviously not all, or even most for that matter, but some!) And while I'm thankful everyday that at least I had enough sense to get my GED out of it all, that's all I have. And I'm 25 years old.  So in something I'll always and forever refer to as my "Buddha Week", I found myself q...

Last Day! Yesterday was already the last day of the Summer session for the kids Mother's Day Out program! I knew it was only a 9 week program when we signed them up, and two days a week doesn't seem like much, but it was something! It was something to get them out the house, around other kids, and me a few hours to myself again! That's all I expected from this program! What I didn't expect was the actual amount that my kids would learn, or just HOW much they would mature and grow being away from us, or that they would love it SO much that they are already begging to go back next week and I have to explain it's going to be a few more weeks until they can! The theme for the program was "Around the World". And other than the title I didn't know what much to expect (but I LOVE themes, so I was excited for them!), but what they got to learn about, craft, and even taste was SO neat! Each two weeks the school would introduce them to a new place around t...

Mmmm...a warm, aromatic, good looking loaf of homemade banana bread! "Wait! Let me take a picture for Instagram really quick!" I can't even count the number of times that I've uttered those words. But it's not always as easy as my "perfect" Insta photos show. I know I can't be the only one who critiques their own pictures until they've picked THE one! I'm not just talking about baking pictures here. It's 100 times worse when it's pictures of my kids, especially ones with all 3 or 4 of them. Trying to make sure EVERY kid is looking and smiling their pretty smile can be a challenge! But last night as I typed what would have been a simple post with the one pretty picture of the banana bread loaf, I laughed out loud. I could have just posted it, and never said a word, and NONE of you (well, except my husband) would have ever known what truly went on behind the scenes yesterday just to get to the point of that ONE picture! And it made ...

Yesterday I talked about having a routine, and positive outlook, and staying busy to get through your Monday and get your week started off right. And all of that is so true...but I wanted to add something to that today that I learned yesterday. If I'm not careful, more often than not all of our "busy" plans are centered around our adult life requirements, and not the kids being kids. Don't get me wrong, they are spoiled silly, but they don't run this house. With having 3 small kids nonstop, we've learned that anything we want to do on our time, they will pretty much get drug around to do with us. We do have the occasional sitter, or date nights, but for the most part it's me, my husband, and 3 or 4 kids. I feel safe in saying that we have mastered having them participate in our adult world, but sometimes I feel guilty when we run all "adult" errands and then just head home, or if we're too busy on a certain day to fit in our friends or a ...

Hello Monday! I know I'm not the only one who thinks that Monday's seem harder than the rest of the week. I've learned to really just go with the flow of Mondays and it makes a huge difference! If my husband is off on Sunday (being a retail manager his days off change frequently) I notice my desire to get up at 6:30 am on Monday to get the kids ready for Mother's Day Out is GONE. It's so stereotypical to say "Oh, Monday's are SOO hard." But I won't judge you if you won't judge me, we all do it! Just like anything else in life, I'm learning that it's all in your perspective. We've had several major changes going on in our life recently and I've come to find that by appreciating what Monday has to offer, like a fresh start to the week, new goals, new motivation, that it makes it something to look forward to and not dread! This Monday the world must have known I was going to write about this, because it's been especially ha...

"Things may seem crazy right now...but someday you'll miss this." YES. This has been my motto the past few weeks. Having an 8, 4, 3, and almost 2 year old can be trying, to say the least. They can make you think you're crazy even on the good days. And I promise you for every truly good day you squeak out, there is 3 cry your eye's out days to be had. I'm in hopes that the "someday you'll miss this" part comes sooner than later, for one kid in particular at the moment! Although that will change soon enough. I think its a game between the kids to take turns being difficult.."Okay, mom thinks I'm being the miserable one today, quick! You be bad and I'll be good, that'll confuse her!" Right now we are dealing with what I'm assuming are the terrible twos (he's only 19 months), a major growth spurt, or a rebellion unlike anything we've ever seen before. Jonas. He's testing EVERY limit we have. Maybe it's be...

Hi! Thanks for checking out my blog. I wanted to use my first post to introduce you to our family, We can be a handful, so I'll just start at the beginning! I'm Stephanie, and I'm a wife and a stay at home mom of 4 beautiful kids! My husband, Andy, and I have been married (in a few more days) 3 years now. It doesn't seem like many years on a calendar, but man have we been busy, so it has truly flown by! In the time we've been together we've managed to move, officially adopt our niece, have a baby, and even took our first adult's only vacation a few months back. With no down time, the days turn into years quicker than I'd imagined! My husband is my rock. He's my best friend, he has supported our entire family from the day we got together so that I could stay home with our kids, and even after working so hard for our family he still finds the time to spoil me rotten and go on adventures with me! He's the best dad to all of our kids, and that ...