Happy 7th Birthday Fletcher!

Our favorite middle guy turns 7 just before lunch time today.  It seems like just yesterday that our almost 10lb baby was born looking way more like a toddler than an infant.  He's been a busy guy ever since.  His birthday lands right in the middle of his Spring Break this year!  We've had a ton of fun so far and he's got lots of birthday fun happening all week long.

 

7 Reasons to Love Fletcher:

1. Fletcher is the biggest foodie of the family.  He's always adding things to my grocery list.  Loves a pickle or anything spicy.  He'll ask you to try a bite if your plate looks delicious.  He's eager to learn how to bake with me and is always complimenting my food.  He's so much fun to cook for and enjoys food more than anyone I know.  He gets a twinkle in his eye when he's eating something delicious.  He shrugs his shoulders and says, "What!?!  I'm a foodie!"

2. Fletch is really sensitive.  He loves people and loves animals so much.  He rescues creatures in our neighborhood, catching critters in our creek and Penny loves his more than anyone else.  He worries about his friends and his animals a lot.

3. Fletcher loves a countdown.  Nothing makes him happier than counting down the days to his birthday, to vacation or to anything fun.

4. He makes noises 24/7.  You'll hear him singing, talking in funny voices, snapping, clapping, dancing or making noise every waking hour.

5. Fletcher loves to help me organize.

6. Fletcher is really brave.  Sign him up for the wave rider.  Put him in line for the biggest water slide.  Or show him your roller blades and he wants to give them a go!

7. He is a homebody.  He loves nothing more than staying home and playing.  Unless you mentioned an arcade and then he wants to go to the arcade.

Happy Birthday, Fletcher!!  We love you so much!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope you've had a nice week.  We had a good one checking things off the to do list and prepping for Spring break/birthday week for Fletcher next week!  I've been listening to Morgan Wallen's newest album on repeat and was happy to get to see friends all throughout the week.

Did you catch my blog posts this week?

March Weekending

Teacher Mom: Water Painting - the easiest, free activity that your toddlers will LOVE.

Preteen Parenting: Episode 1 - You've got to try this with your preteens or teens!

Now on to my favorite moments of the week:

1. Exploding Bunny Poop

This makes me laugh so much!  I found it in the Easter section of a local grocery store Schnucks.  I tend to go pretty practical for Easter baskets, but I couldn't pass up this exploding bunny poop.  I think my kids are going to LOVE it!!

2 // Birthday Countdown

My middle guy loves a good countdown.  He had me make one for his birthday at the beginning of march and it's his favorite thing to do every morning.  Just a few more days until he turns 7!

3 // Vintage Rocker

Leo has decided that this rocker is his and he carries it all over the house.  It was mine when I was little so it always makes me smile to see him in it.

4 // School lunches

These are some favorite school lunch ingredients - pretzel chips, cold plain Cavatappi pasta, cheese cubes, turkey pepperoni and my layered rainbow jello.  Yum!

5 // Car Guy

Leo loves cars.  I took him to our favorite spot for an oil change and tire rotation this week.  He was in heaven.  He talked to the guys working, they showed him their tools and he's been talking about that tire rotation all week!  It always warms my heart when people at businesses chat with the kids when they take an interest.  FYI Most places will do an oil change with you in the car these days and then we hopped out for 10-15 minutes when they were doing the tire rotation.   Easy peasy.

6 // Happy Spring

It was warm and freezing this week.  So some days we bundled up for our walks and other days it was short sleeves and sunshine.

7 // Pretty Pearl

Pearl loves to be held.  Some days she meows and won't stop until you snuggle her.  She only wants me or the big kids to hold her.

8 // Jordan Bakery Box

I baked some fun dozen cookie boxes this week!

9 // Dinner Road Trip

I met my favorite friends from Terre Haute for dinner this week.  We love Old Chicago - they've got a yummy menu and they're open late.  It's the perfect one hour drive - north for me and south for them.  Then we swung through the Lic's drive thru from ice cream and piled in one of our vans to chat a little longer.  I love seeing them and catching up so much!

10 // Winner~!

I always enter local contests, but rarely win them.  However, this week I was chosen as the weekly winner for a $25 Hornet's Nest gift card.  Yay!  I can't wait to take the family there for dinner one night soon.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! I'm taking a blog Spring break - see you back here late next week :)

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Preteen Parenting: Episode 1

I am the mom of a preteen.  That milestone sure came up fast. Olive is quickly approaching age 10 and we are figuring out preteen life together.

I'm trying hard to navigate this new parenting territory with positivity and patience.

Insert a new blog series: Preteen Parenting

Today we're going to talk about building a preteen wardrobe.

I think these will be good tips for your preteens and teens!

I noticed that we were entering a new zone with fashion and clothing.

Olive is starting to care more about trends and putting together outfits.  She has always cared about her clothes.  She's always had favorites.  She had a dress phase, a rain boot phase, Crocs phase, specific hairstyles and no shortage of opinions about what she wears.

She's paying attention to what her peers are wearing and taking notes of things she likes.  But she isn't exactly sure how to mesh seeing something she likes and making sure she likes it on her.  I want her to feel good in her clothes and feel confident.

My best clothing advice is to TRY IT ON!

Whether you order several sizes online and have them shipped to your house or pile in a dressing room with several size options, give your preteens a chance to try on the clothes they like.  See if they like it on themselves and build a wardrobe that makes them feel confident.

We spent one Saturday just the two of us and had the best time.   I talked to Kevin ahead of time and planned out a Saturday when he could be home with the boys so I could give Olive my full attention.  Shopping for clothes with little brothers isn't very fun for anyone.

ONE ON ONE time with your preteen might be hard to get, but it's worth it to make them feel special.  She had a Spring clothing wish list we talked through ahead of time and we got busy.  We headed to any store that she wanted to check out.  I grabbed size options for any item that caught her eye and she tried everything on.  Some things she hated and other things surprised her.

It was so fun to be with her and let her shine.  

I am a take charge kind of girl so it was good practice for me to be patient and let her take charge for a change.  I hung up the clothes she tried on and listened to what she had to say about each outfit.  I took mental notes and gave compliments.  We talked through likes and dislikes.  She grabbed some new basics and found some cute statement pieces.  We figured out her best sizes for Spring/Summer and we both felt more confident in her personal style by the end of the day.

I used my Old Navy rewards $, earned Super Cash and shopped end of the season clearance racks for killer deals.  We had great luck at Old Navy, Target, Meijer, thrift shops and Wal-Mart.

One of those moments I'll remember forever...

She was confidently carrying her bag of new clothes to the car, grabbed my hand and she thanked me for helping her find clothes she loved.  She said it was the best day ever.

I hope she always enjoys shopping with me!!

Preteens can be so much fun, I promise.

Teacher Mom: Water Painting

Water painting.  It is just like what it sounds like - painting with water!

We have been water painting lately and it is a big hit with my toddler.  

He loves to paint, but painting with real paint is so messy right now.  He paints everything but the paper, licks the paint and I have to watch him so closely.  Painting with water gives us both freedom to enjoy the painting process without any stress.  We'd 10/10 recommend it!

 

Supplies:

small bowl of water

paint brushes of varying sizes

a kitchen towel or two

toys to paint - cars, trucks, construction trucks, dinosaurs, zoo animals, Barbies or anything that can handle water.

Directions:

Model painting the objects - carefully dabbing the toys with water and short/long strokes with the brushes.  The kids will imitate them.  Change water often.  I like to to small bowls of water to contain the spills vs giving him a huge bowl of water.

Warning: Animals might end up taking a "bath" in the water bowl :)

This is really fun to do outside when the weather is nice or at the kitchen counter while you're making dinner.  We've done both!  

It's a great time to name colors, name dinosaurs, point out heads, tails, spikes and butts! haha  Or to line them up in order from biggest to smallest.  Line them all up head to tail or to make a line of animals.

Older kids: I'm hoping to include the older kids in water painting with paint brushes on the patio this Summer.  They can paint whatever they want - write words, practice math, draw or do art with water on the concrete.  It would be really fun to add some sidewalk chalk into the painting process to see what kind of art the kids could make.

 

Car Wash & Nail Salon.

Leo loves to wash his cars and paint finger nails with water :)  Both are fun and minimally messy.

Happy playing!!  What things would your kids enjoy painting??

March Weekending

We had a fun St Patrick's Day weekend!  Lots of rainbow foods, lots of March Madness and lots of family time.  We even woke up to snow flurries yesterday.

Friday morning these cuties put on their matching shamrock t-shirts and were ready for school.  I dropped them off to Irish music blasting and Fletcher had some leprechauns visit his classroom.  His teacher went to great lengths to have leprechauns visit each of their leprechaun traps.  Fletcher's had a rainbow bridge built up the side of it and they had a popcorn treat.

Real life: About half the time, our group pictures end up with someone in a headlock or someone crying.  haha

We don't really do St Patrick's Day gifts, but I always do rainbow treat cups for the kids.  They loved the gold chocolate coins and a friend shared water beads with us.  The kids love them so they were so excited to have a rainbow to play with.

Leo got to spend some time with Mimi & Papaw because I had an appointment.  He had a blast and enjoyed a rainbow muffin tin spread for lunch.

All of my kids love a snacky meal like this.  These 12 slot mini muffin pans are hard to find, but if you've got one, they're just perfect for kid meals.

We made rainbow cupcakes.  Olive helped me ice them after school.

The big kids sorted their water beads by color and made a rainbow.

Kevin bought St Patrick's Day suckers for his class on St. Patrick's Day.  He said the college kids loved them!

Our kids loved the extras!

 Lots of silliness and lots of March Madness!  We love cheering for IU and were sad to see them knocked out last night.

I made another rainbow charcuterie board for dinner with homemade bread.

Fletcher went to a buddy's birthday party at a neat indoor play place called Deep Blue.  He loved all the climbing opportunities and time with school friends.  It's not easy to make friends at a big school so it always makes us so happy when the kids make friend connections outside of school.

Good job, Fletch!!

Olive and I did some major reorganizing, rearranging and work in her new room.  My sister gave her this desk and she's thrilled to have her own work space.  She currently shares a room with Fletcher, but is excited for the boys to share a room so that she can have her own room.  Eventually the kids will probably each move to their own room.  Fletcher loves to share a room so we'll do an Olive room and a boy's room.

I made my famous rainbow jello.  It takes hours - 20 minutes for every layer - but it is so good!  And so festive!  My jello loving teacher friend in Utah taught me how to make it years and years ago.  We all look forward to this treat every March.

Fletcher's friend from school gave out Crumbl valentines.  Each card was a gift card for one free Crumbl cookie.  He picked out their HUGE chocolate chip cookie to try and it was pretty yummy.  The kids loved it and it was one of the biggest cookies I've ever seen.  We all shared it and had some leftover.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  And Happy St Patrick's Day!

I'm lucky to have such fun blog friends and am glad you're checking in today.  We've had a good week.  Everyone is excited for the weekend since we've all been dragging with the time change.

Did you catch my blog posts this week?

Thrift with Me - come see all the treasures I found for just $12!!

Easy Rainbow Snack Board - perfect after school snack.

Rainbow Charcuterie Dinner Board - a family favorite any time!

Now on to the highlights of my week:

1 // Lucky to love you

I made my kids these fun rainbow cups for St. Patrick's Day.  The kids loved waking up to find them this morning with a note that said lucky to love you.  We've been eating Lucky Charms all week and I've got an Irish charcuterie board planned for dinner tonight.  They're all decked out in matching St Patty's Day t-shirts today.  I'll have to come back and add in a picture of them.

2 // Rainbow Foods

I made as many rainbow foods as I could this week!  An after school snack board and a rainbow charcuterie dinner boards!  If you want specifics on them, click on the blog post links at the top of the post or comment with your questions.  My family loved both of these meals!

3 // Leprechaun Trap

Fletcher's first grade class was tasked with creating leprechaun traps this week.  He worked hard on his with trap doors, hidden gold, marshmallows and something fun or funny on every side.  He was so excited to bring it to school this week.

But now I'm wondering - why does my 6 year old look like a teenager here??

4 //  March front porch

My front porch is all decked out for St. Patrick's Day.  I'll move on to tulips and Easter next with some birthday fiesta decor in between.

5 // Jordan Bakery Box

I got some fun orders for rainbow M&M cookies and Sourdough Chocolate Chip cookies this week.  Two of my favorite cookies!

6 // SLIDE

I was doing dishes after dinner and I hear Leo yelling SLIDE SLIDE.  I went to find him only to realize he was trying to use my bed as a slide for his SCOOTER.  Sweet boy needs a bodyguard.  He followed this up by falling down our stairs and a few other wild and crazy moments.  I really can't take my eyes off of him at this point in his life.

7 // Snuggles

Leo is busy all of his waking hours, but he wanted me to rock him to sleep a couple of times this week.  He demanded snuggles and I was happy to say yes.

8 // Dr Seuss Day

We were invited to a Dr. Seuss Day program for the entire first grade.  The classes worked hard to learn songs and then worked hard in their individual classrooms with some reader's theater plays.  We got to see both.  Fletcher surprised us by memorizing all of his lines instead of reading them.  The majority of the class read their lines so we didn't know what to think about him walking up to the microphone with no paper.  He was so confident.  And had zero worries about forgetting his lines.  We were so proud of him!

He said he wants to be a Youtuber and get lots of likes.  Haha.

Fletch doesn't love singing and performing, but he was so cute on stage.  After the craziness of the past few years, I am so thankful for the return of programs, specials, parents in the schools and all the things that make school so wonderful. 

9 // Fiddle Leaf Fig help

My big fiddle leaf fig plants in the entryway of our house have gotten so big and droopy.  I asked my dad to make me some plant stakes to help fix my problem.  I'm still on the hunt for the perfect mirror or art for this spot, but I refuse to settle for something I don't love, so it'll stay blank a little while longer.

Before - droopy and hitting the door.

After - tall and supported.  The leaves almost reach the top of the door trim now!

10 // Chilly Midwest

The cold temps are back in the Midwest, but the sun has been shining.  I snapped this gorgeous picture in our backyard when the kids were playing one evening.  We are enjoying more sunlight in the evenings even if we are all dragging in the mornings.

11 // Family Fun

We had a delicious dinner to celebrate our niece/cousin's recognition for good grades.  The kids love Addison.  I was too busy watching Leo to snap and people pictures or dessert pictures, but I did get a shot of our delicious dinner.

12 // My sidekick

Leo goes almost everywhere with me.  Sometimes it goes perfectly smoothly and other times it feels like chaos.  We had highs and lows in the sidekick department this week.  He was perfect for errands and hard at my doctor's appointment.  Great at Bible study and hard leaving the house when he didn't get to do every single thing by himself.  Win some.  Lose some.  

Moms of littles - you aren't alone if your days feels chaotic and unpredictable and wonderful all at the same time.  I'm right there with you.  Make those appointments and do those errands.  It'll be okay.  And bonus points to the people you interact with that smile and hold the door for you because they can see that you could use a hand.  That give your kid two Target stickers instead of one and make their day.  Or the ones who are extra patient and wait while you scoop your toddler up from the ground in a parking lot.  Those stories are all funny by the time the evening rolls around even if they leave you in tears or frustrated during the day.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  See you back here on Monday!

Linking up with Momfessionals