Expecting Baby 3

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you know that we are expecting our third baby boy this spring! Franklin is due in early-mid April, but with him tracking along as over the 80th percentile, we know it may be more like late March or the start of April when he arrives!

I wanted to document some sweet moments so far in our pregnancy as we continue to wait on his arrival in the coming 40-ish days.

Learning About Franklin

We found out we were expecting pretty early on this time – which was amazing! We were sure we felt called to add one more to our family, but hadn’t expected to be with child so quickly. We felt (and feel) so blessed by this good news and opportunity to grow our family.

For our 20-week anatomy scan, we had both of our boys – AJ and Teddy – with us. We all found out together that my gut instinct was correct: another boy!

Preparing Our Home

In our preparation, we’ve decided to flip some things in our home setup to make things more accommodating when Franklin arrives!

The little boys – Teddy and Franklin – will be only 17-ish months apart, so they will share the slightly larger room, and AJ, about 4.5 years older than Teddy and about 6 years older than Franklin, will have his own room. We flipped rooms and began redecorating. This project, as of end of February 2024, is still in process – but I’ll be sure to share photos on the blog when we complete both rooms!

For the first several weeks – possibly the first few months – we know Franklin will be sleeping in our room for easier midnight nursing sessions and cuddles. I set up a nursery nook with a bassinet in the corner of our master bedroom.

Celebrating Our New Addition

We have had an amazing community surrounding us, praying for us, and supporting us as we have grown our family for the last several years. This pregnancy is no different!

My job is at my home church as the Christian Education Director. One of the best parts of this job is working with all of the various small groups as they meet, fellowship, and do ministry.

Our United Methodist Women’s group meets monthly and includes some of my very favorite people – and they surprised me in early February at their monthly meeting with a baby shower! They are the sweetest friends and have embraced my whole family, so I am so grateful for this wonderful celebration they held for our newest little one. He is already so loved!

My best friend and college roommate is also hosting a baby sprinkle for us in March, and we’ve invited our local family members. I’ll be sure to share photos in this blog post after that event in early March!

Updated on March 12 to add these photos from our weekend baby sprinkle, hosted by my best friend, Diana.

Maternity Photos

Like we did when I was pregnant with Teddy, Jake and I have DIY’ed the maternity photos we wanted.

At 32.5 weeks, we loaded up my Nikon camera and went into the Smoky Mountains. We found a pretty spot with trees and water, and Jake set up some shots of just me, me and the boys, and of all four of us (plus the baby bump, of course).

Jake set up the shots, and, when we got home, I did just a few basic edits.

Now we’ve commemorated this pregnancy and taken some sweet family photos!

I’ll continue to keep you posted when Franklin arrives. We’re counting down to meeting our little guy face to face!

Thoughts on Contentment

Contentment: (noun) feeling of being happy or satisfied. (Oxford Dictionary)

It’s easy, on social media, to assume everyone else has it all together and is living the life of their dreams. It’s easy to assume that behind perfectly magazine cover-worthy front landscapes, they are living every day like a highlight reel.

The reality is that no one’s life is perfect. And no one’s bucket list or wishlist is checked off completely.

I’m so thankful for this little brick home. It’s not a new construction house with four to five bedrooms; it doesn’t have a two car garage for my husband to store tools or for my mom-mobile to park in; it doesn’t have a brand new kitchen or even two bathrooms yet. But it’s ours, and it shelters my family well and holds our memories and laughter even better.

I’m thankful for each drop of sweat we’ve poured out as we’ve finished the basement, or built the kitchen island, or created the fire-pit area in the backyard. I’m thankful for each new milestone we’ve achieved here – for marriage, and birthday celebrations, and wobbly first steps.

I’m thankful for it all.

My brick may not be limestone washed or painted yet. My laundry room isn’t the laundry and half bath combo of my vision board yet. My to-do list may be long, but this is home, and I’m satisfied and happy, just as it is.

Thankful, truly, for a season of intentional contentment.

*Originally posted on my Instagram (@kate_witha_twang) on January 24, 2024.

Kate’s 2023 Reading List

As the year 2023 comes to an end tonight, I wanted to share the books I read this year.

I have always loved reading – I used to buzzsaw through novels as a kid and teenager, and this year, I tried to get back to it. I can’t dedicate as much time to reading as I’d like, but I am proud of myself for getting back to reading as a hobby and hope to continue in the new year!

I really wanted this list to be comprised of what I read for fun in 2023. As such, this doesn’t count re-reads (revisiting favorites), and it doesn’t count the devotional books I’ve read (or taught from) or the 8 books of required reading for my Christian Education Certification program. It also obviously doesn’t count the numerous children’s books I’ve read to my boys (even those read for the first time this year) or cookbooks I’ve poured over and read.

Here it is, my 10 books from 2023, ranked by me with stars, out of five:

1. My Evil Mother: A Short Story by Margaret Atwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2. Galatea by Madeline Miller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3. The Ickabog by JK Rowling ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4. The Pioneer Woman – Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story by Ree Drummond ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5. Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything In Between) by Lauren Graham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

6. The Inn on Harmony Island by Anne-Marie Meyer ⭐️⭐️

7. The Shop Around the Corner by Anne-Marie Meyer ⭐️⭐️

8. The Bad News: From Moral Disorder (A Vintage Short) by Margaret Atwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

9. Resting Scrooge Face: A Short Story by Meghan Quinn ⭐️⭐️⭐️

10. Where There’s Smoke: A Short Story by Jodi Picoult ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Now, for my recommendations. Let me start with this caveat: I’m not a literary genius of any sort. I enjoy poetry, prose, biographies and autobiographies, and essays, and I enjoy writing. I have an odd affinity for the English language – and for grammar and punctuation – which makes me supremely interested in the arts of writing and storytelling.

All of that being said (or written), I do want to offer my thoughts on the titles I enjoyed most, in case you’re looking for new titles to read in 2024!

Romance

By far, the best romance I read this year was Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love Story by Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman. I am a big Ree Drummond fan – I enjoy her writing, her line at Walmart, and her show – so that’s might not be a huge surprise to anyone who knows me well. However, I went into reading this book fairly objectively. In fact, I worried that I might not enjoy it as much as I like Ree’s other creative outlets, like her recipes or design.

Yet, I found I enjoyed her prose immensely because reading it felt like reading a letter from a friend. Her voice as the main character of her own love story was approachable, relatable, and entertaining. It matched the impression her viewers, followers, and fans get from all of her other endeavors. She has a willingness to share things outside of the “rose colored glasses” view that some celebrities want to write from; her authenticity was refreshing and fun to read.

Short Stories

My favorite short story, by far, was Jodi Picoult’s Where There’s Smoke. When I finished reading this on my Kindle app, I just said, aloud, “whoa.” And when my husband asked, “what’s up?” I told him I’d just read the best thing I’d uncovered in a while. Picoult’s storytelling is fantastic – and her ability to tell a tale that doesn’t have much resolution, but somehow still carries a deep message, absolutely shines in this short story. I was hooked from beginning to end. If you’re interested in the afterlife, or in the mystery surrounding television spirituality, or are just interested in psychics – this is a great read. It’s prose at its finest, and it’s a captivating read.

I also really loved Madeline Miller’s Galatea. It’s a retelling of the Greek myth of Galatea, wherein a statue is brought to life and married to her sculpture. This one has some intense language and imagery, so if you’re sensitive to such, you might avoid it. If you’re not sensitive about that, though, it’s an excellent read. Miller guides the readers, through expert prose, into feeling the captivity of Galatea and the desperation for freedom – and even more, the desperation to see metaphorical generational curses broken.

Autobiographical Nonfiction

As far as autobiographical nonfiction, I absolutely adored Lauren Graham’s Talking As Fast As I Can. I wanted to read it because I’m an avid Gilmore Girls fan, but I ended the book feeling like a Lauren Graham fan club member, even more than a Stars Hollow junkie.

The actress writes the way she speaks, and you constantly feel like you’re talking with an old friend over – you guessed it – a cup of Luke’s coffee. While I found even deeper appreciation for her characterization of Loreali Gilmore and her experience on the Stars Hollow set, I also grew so much in my respect for her journey as an actress and person. I highly recommend this – and the way it’s written is almost like each chapter is its own essay, so it’s easy to read a chapter here and there if you don’t have a large chunk of reading time. I read this in the school pickup line as I waited, parked, for my eldest and while my baby napped in the backseat.

Family-Friendly Fiction

The Ickabog was another great read. As a huge Harry Potter fan, I just really wanted to read more JK Rowling. This book did not disappoint. Yes, it’s for children or families – but the point it makes about blind faith I the government, believing the media, and trusting your gut are all poignant and definitely eye opening for adults, too.

I received the print version with artwork from children in it for each chapter, which was precious, too!

I will definitely be reading this one aloud to my boys as they get older, too.

Those are the titles I’d recommend the most for those searching for their 2024 reading list. Let me know in the comments if you read any of the titles I listed, too!

Mom-Approved Gift Lists for Children

I posted this on my Instagram in early December, but I think, as our holiday rapidly approaches tonight and tomorrow, that this can actually be used for Christmas AND birthdays, so I wanted to make sure it had a more permanent place in my corner of the internet,

Look through these and let me know what you’d add!

Easy Last-Minute DIY Christmas Gift Ideas

If you’re searching for a quick, last-minute Christmas gift, I have a few ideas for you!

#1: Christmas Tea Gift

I actually made these little tea gifts for the Sunday School teachers at church. As the Christian Education Director, part of my job is being a resource and encouragement to our Sunday school volunteer teachers.

This holiday season, to thank them for leading our classes, I used small festive treat bags, 2 packets of Twining’s Holiday Teas, and address labels printed with a cute saying.

“Teaching is your special-TEA!”

#2: Starbucks Thanks A Latte Gift

We have a lot of teachers to buy for at the holidays! My eldest is in kindergarten, so we wanted to let his classroom teacher know how thankful we are for her. My second born is at the church’s Parents Day Out program, who I also work with in my professional capacity. I love these PDO gals so much – and they each do a great job of caring for the kids, so I wanted to find a way to thank all 5 full time staff for their hard work.

I ordered a large pack of $5 Starbucks gift cards from Amazon, got some flat white cardstock in size 5” x 7”, large mailing labels, small address labels, and construction paper.

I put a little message (with the “to” and “from” details) on the smaller address label and a cute mug image and “thanks a latte” message on the larger shipping label. I used tape to attach the gift card and glue to attach the construction paper right behind the larger shipping label.

I think they turned out so cute!

#3: Beverage Jar Glass Gift

As one of four ministry staff members at the church, I work closely with our senior pastor, music director, and office administrator. Right now, we’re an all-ladies ministry team, and I’m very thankful for them.

To show my fellow ministry gals my appreciation, I assembled these little gift sets: a holiday themed jar glass (from Walmart), a small Starbucks gift card, and holiday teas.

#4: Spiked Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe Set

This is the perfect little gift for friends or family, if they enjoy an adult beverage occasionally. I’m not much of a drinker – and haven’t even been able to, had I even wanted to, for a while now with two pregnancies in two years – but I know a lot of folks who indulge around the holidays, and this is a super fun gift!

If you’ve never had Mexican hot chocolate, you’ve got to try it! Be warned – it does taste different because it’s not just sweet, it’s also spiced. Abuelita’s is a common brand that most major grocery stores have available.

This year, for a few friends and family members, I assembled some mini kits: 2 Mexican hot chocolate packets, an airplane bottle of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, and a tag with instructions/recipe. I printed the tag on address labels and attached it to a piece of red construction paper. I layered everything and tied it with raffia paper string, and voila! A spicy, spiked gift set!

Bonus: Sweet Treats

If you’re looking for sweet treats to make for family and friends, check out my quick recipe for Rudolph’s Red Noses Candy here!

Christmas Memories & Grief

I’ve been very reflective this holiday season, and in the midst of that, I find myself missing my family so much – particularly, my extended family I grew up with in Ohio. When we were kids, we spent every Christmas Eve together.

This year, my closest cousin Rachel passed away, and I’m finding myself remembering her so very often – remembering opening up matching Barbie dolls together and asking my dad to open them so we could all play with them right away; remembering how she loved olives and would steal most of them from the buffet, putting them on her finger tips and walking around with olive fingers; and remembering how we dressed up in the fanciest dresses for these parties, thinking we were the belles of some extravagant ball.

We hadn’t had a Christmas together in a long time – once I’d moved to TN it would have obviously been hard – but we still often messaged each other on holidays and birthdays and sometimes just randomly.

I miss the comfort of knowing she was there. I miss the sound of her laugh. I miss the excitement of being kids on Christmas Eve together. I miss so much, and I find myself praying that she is at peace and that somehow, her Christmas in heaven brings the kind of joy that on earth, only giggling cousins in crushed velvet dresses with new Barbies and olive fingers can understand.

Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

My little (big) boy is graduating preschool this Friday! I can’t believe it.

It’s teacher appreciation week and graduation week, so we had to do something special for his teacher and his school. We made two super simple and affordable gifts I’m going to share with you below.

#1: Teacher Gift

AJ’s teacher, Ms. Cassie, has been the best. She helped so much with the transition to school when he was nervous in the fall, and has been a source of such positivity in his life this past school year.

We put together this sweet little gift. I snagged one of the color change cups from Walmart that have been going viral this season and filled it with a variety of fruit flavored hard candies. I wrapped it in cellophane, tied a ribbon bow, and added a tag. The tag thanks her for making “learning so sweet.”

#2: Office Gift

We have been blessed with great Christian Learning Center staff that have doted on my boy! We didn’t want to forget to thank them all.

I got a dump truck toy at Walmart and filled it with vanilla tootsie rolls. I wrapped it all in cellophane, tied a bow, and added a tag. The tag says “you deserve a TRUCKLOAD of thanks!”

What do you all think? What crafty ideas do you have for teacher gifts this year?

Personalized Easter Basket DIY

My oldest son, AJ, was gifted a beautiful hand-painted, customized wooden Easter basket five years ago. It was his first Easter, and the gift came from a dear church friend.

This Easter, our newest family addition is celebrating his first Easter! I wanted Teddy to have his own customized Easter basket for this year’s (and future!) egg hunts at church.

I decided I could DIY this project and have a ton of fun.

I got all of the supplies at Walmart: a wooden basket (they have tons of colors – purple, blue, green, yellow, and we selected yellow); black craft paint, 3 other spring colors of craft paint (I choose spring green, tangerine cream, and tropical blue); a pack of cheap paint brushes (30 pack for around $2); and Q-tips. I also made sure to have a pencil on hand.

On the basket front, I sketched out Teddy’s name – well, I put “Ted” which is what we often call him at home (I guess as a nickname for the nickname). Then, I traced the pencil-sketched letters with black paint.

After this black paint dried, I used the other three colors to fill in the letters, bringing a spring feeling to the basket.

Finally, I use Q-tips in the three different colors of paint to create a polkadot handle and border to the basket.

The final product turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! This is definitely not as gorgeous as the basket my eldest was gifted – but it certainly has a cute springy vibe and is personalized in a really fun way.

Let me know if you have DIY’d or done any Easter basket projects! I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

And from my family to yours – happy (hoppy) Easter!

St. Patty’s Day Paint Projects

It’s the week of St. Patrick’s Day! I guess a good old-fashioned “top o’ the morning” is in order.

If you know anything about me, you know I love a good DIY or craft, and it’s made all the better if I get to do it with my son, AJ. AJ and I did two crafty art projects for St. Patrick’s Day this year, and I got the bonus of doing one project with my four-month-old, Teddy.

I’m going to show you all three projects here today. I hope one – or even all three – of these will be something you can do at home with your little ones.

#1: Toddler Trinity Stamp Activity

As a Jesus-loving momma and a part-time church worker, I couldn’t resist explaining the Trinity using the three leaves of the clover or shamrock.

For this activity, I bought sponges at the dollar store and utilized a sharpie, scissors, green paint, and paper that I already had. First, I cut my sponge into one heart-shaped sponge and one small rectangle. Then I filled a disposable bowl with green paint.

I had my toddler stick one side of the heart sponge into the green paint and then put that on top of the white paper three times – one on the left, one in the center, and one on the right, with pointed part of the heart pointing inward.

The heart served as the leaves of our shamrock. Then using the rectangle piece of sponge, we put paint on one side and stamped it underneath the pointed parts of the heart to make the stem of a shamrock.

We then had a conversation about what the Trinity is and labeled each of the leaves as father, son, and Holy Spirit, respectively. AJ was tickled pink with the final project and can now tell me the three parts of the trinity!

#2: Baby’s First Shamrock

This is the project that I was able to do with my infant. Teddy is four months old, and I had the thought that I’d like to have something that has his little footprints on it for his baby book or a family album. This project will be perfect as a keepsake, and for now it’s hanging up in our kitchen as St. Patty’s Day decor.

For this project, I used green paint, poured into a disposable bowl, white paper, a paint brush, and my infant’s two little feet.

I simply dipped his bare feet into the green paint, and then gently press them onto the paper to make a transfer of his footprints.

I will note that the first time I got too much paint on his foot. We ended up using a second sheet of paper, and I wiped the excess paint off on it before making the art project on a clean piece of paper. Not all of the prints turned out perfectly, but that’s okay. It’s still turned out really cute – and I can’t blame him for having wiggly toes when experiencing the sensation of paint for the first time.

We made three sets of footprints. Each set had the eels facing the center of the page. The first set was at the top of the page, and the other two were on either side, facing their respective sides of the page.  

Then, I painted a green stem with the paint brush.

I then traced around them with a black marker to really finish the look. I added his name, the date, and that it was his first St. Patrick’s Day on the page.

Here’s the finished project!

#3: The End of the Rainbow

It wouldn’t be St. Patty’s Day without a reference to a rainbow and that ever elusive pot of gold.

Using a sharpie, I sketched an image of a cloud with a rainbow, bowing out of it, and into a pot of gold. This is a fairly rough sketch, but it did the job. I even made myself a copy so that I could do the project with my four-year-old.

This project requires paint in a variety of colors, your sketched rainbow on a piece of paper, and Q-tips.


I helped AJ decide which color should go in each spot. Then I helped him dip his Q-tip in the paint and had him put dots of paint in between the lines to make the image come to life with colors. I’ve done this before in a similar craft or we focus on the story of Noah’s ark. I’ll link that here. For today it was kind of fun to have that lucky part of golden rainbow as a symbol of St. Patrick’s Day.

These Q-tip painting projects are perfect for hand-eye coordination!

Here’s our final project.




If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see several reels posted today and tomorrow that feature these projects. Keep an eye out!


What crafts for this fun holiday have you done? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. And let me know if you tried any of these easy DIY paint projects!

DIY Skateboard Valentine

Valentines Day is Tuesday!

If you’re needing a last minute valentine idea for your child’s classroom exchange, I wanted to share an inexpensive craft. Using just snack bags, craft supplies I had at home, and party favors, I was able to come up with a sugar-free, allergy-free valentine idea!

I got these finger skateboards at Target in a pack of 12 for $3. They are in the party aisle as a favor.

I then used the free version of Canva – a digital creation website – to put together an image. I downloaded the image, which features a skateboard and says “you’re a WHEEELIE awesome valentine!” I added a “to” and “from” line in a word doc with the image and printed.

Then I stuffed each baggie with one skateboard each, stapled a piece of folded construction paper over the top of the baggie, and glued on my print out.

These are super basic – but my little man loves them and can’t wait to give them out at preschool this week!

I’m sure there are lots of other possibilities using the party favor aisle… little trophies with the catch phrase “your number 1, valentine” or glow sticks with a catchy phrase about light. What ideas do you have? What DIY valentines have you made? Comment below to share your ideas!