Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Painting Turkeys

We did a fun art project this week - painting turkeys!

I'd seen some different variations of this project and decided to do my own.  You just need Thanksgiving/Fall colored paints, thick paper, painter's tape, paint brushes, glue and googley eyes.

This was a really hands on project for me.  I had to help with every step, but we all enjoyed it!  I'm trying to plan art activities for home since both kids are missing this creative outlet at school.

Step 1:

Select your paint colors, get your paper out and start taping off the turkey.  Both kids shared one paint tray and then had their own bowls of water to rinse their brushes.  Start taping the head first and then do the feathers.  I let the kids decide how many sections and what shape the sections would be on their turkey feathers.  They helped press the tape down and I made sure the edges were crisp.


Taping is done and we are ready to begin!  I did one kid at a time and they were a little confused about this turning into a turkey.  I assured them they'd both look like turkeys at the end.


I reminded them to use one color at a time and to paint one section at a time.  It went great.


We had to let them dry for 30 minutes and then painted the turkey faces.  Once everything was dry, I removed the tape.  The kids tried to help, but it was more of an adult job.

They both turned out so cute.  They're hanging in the kitchen and are ready for Thanksgiving. 



We also made some hand print turkeys.  Googley eyes are great for this, too.  The kids enjoyed tracing their own hands this year.



 Happy Thanksgiving week!

Monday, November 23, 2020

Play-Doh Turkeys

I have a really fun turkey activity to share with you today.  We made Play-Doh turkeys over the weekend.  The kids loved them.  It was easy to prep and they turned out so cute!

I'm sure your kids or any little ones would love doing this at Thanksgiving.  Lots of things might be different this year, but there's still plenty of opportunities to focus on being thankful and making turkeys with your kids this week.

You just need: Play-Doh and it's a bonus if you have googley eyes, Play-Doh tools and a plastic knife.

I gave each kid six colors of Play-Doh.  I opened new containers and just cut each color in half.  Each kid got a craft tray to build on and then our turkey context began.  The only rules - you must use all colors of Play-Doh, googley eyes and all the important turkey parts :)

Both kids - age 4 & 7 - loved this activity.

They worked so hard on their turkeys and they were super proud of their turkeys.  Both had very different strategies, but I love the final product. 

Olive's turkey: She spent so much time making sure all her feathers and details were just right.


 




Just Cheerios and frozen teethers for this guy.

 

Fletcher's Turkey: He cut out and rolled all those feathers.  Then he rolled them flat.


Happy Thanksgiving week!

Friday, November 20, 2020

Birthday Favorites

It's been a fun birthday week!  We've got date night this weekend and no big plans.  The weather has been great and I felt super loved all week long.  It's amazing how phone calls, snail mail, packages and special things can make a girl feel so special.

Birthday Favorites:

Plain cheesecake with all the toppings.  My favorite topping is Hershey syrup and mini Reeses.  Bonus: The kids don't love cheesecake so I didn't have to share :)

I got a treadmill and new workout clothes for my birthday!  New Nikes, leopard and floral yoga pants.  I've been wanting one so I could have an indoor workout option for the cold months at home.  I am already loving how easy it is to get in a quick workout while the baby naps.  Kevin worked super hard to make this happen.  Treadmills are heavy!

We aren't really taking the kids out and about to stores much so they scoped out my Amazon wish list.  They got me some really fun stuff :)

Birthday roses from Kev.  From the grocery store :)

My friends had personalized sugar cookies made for me and gifted me the prettiest lantern filled with succulents.  I loved it!

Lots of time at home in our pjs since both kids are home from school right now.  One perk of school going virtual is that we don't have to set alarm clocks right now.

Leo and I got to run some errands to try to get all the things done before school got cancelled.  He's the best little side kick.

The big kids worked really hard on my birthday cards this year.  They drew family pictures, wrote notes and got me this cute Three Peas in a Pod Christmas ornament.

Tons of crawling and helping me enjoy my birthday week.

My parents came for a visit last weekend.  They arrived with all of our favorite treats, gifts for everyone and we enjoyed seeing them.  We hadn't seen them in two months thanks to COVID.  It was cold any rainy for most of their visit.  We stayed indoors and snuggled kittens and kids.


 

A friend hosted a drive thru playgroup to their family's giant construction business.  We drove all through and then her husband did a boulder lifting demo for us.  The kids were very impressed.

We headed to the park with friends another day.  The weather was gorgeous and they introduced us to some new trails and areas of the park.

No one loves a foot rub more than Leo.

The weather was warm enough for shorts and t-shirts.


Hope you have a great weekend!

Linking up with Momfessionals

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Day in the Life (School Edition)

I'm finally getting around to doing a day in the life post for our school routines just in time for both of my kids to be moving to virtual learning.  Boo!!  

Olive starts on Thursday and Fletcher's PreK is just closing for the next few weeks.  She said her teacher cried when they talked about it yesterday.  I just hate all of the learning that they're missing out on and the social interaction.  We are all so sad about it.  Life is so unpredictable this year and that's hard for someone who thrives on schedules and routines.  I'm hoping and praying that they can return to their classrooms ASAP.  Are your kids going to school in person?

Day in the Life School Edition

6:55 My alarm goes off.  I lay in bed a couple minutes longer and then get up.

7:00 The big kids wake up and head straight for the playroom.  I do the basics to get myself ready.

7:15 Wake up the house.  Lights on, curtains open and breakfast for the big kids.  They watch a little show and I get them both dressed and ready for the day.  I assemble lunch boxes and water bottles.  Check my planner for any important school reminders.  I change into real clothes and the three of us head to take Olive to school around 7:45.  We talk about what we're looking forward to and I say a prayer for Olive to have a wonderful day.

8:00 Fletcher and I head home.  I get him a second breakfast and turn on Wild Kratts for him.  I sip some iced coffee, take care of anything urgent on the computer, monitor and schedule things for the social media for my mom's group and I finish getting ready.  Kevin is getting ready for the day.

8:30 We wake up Leo if he's not already up and get him ready to go.  We also feed the cats.

8:45 We all leave home.  I do the same routine for Fletcher - talk about what he's looking forward to doing at school, what job he hopes he gets and say a prayer for him to have a great day.  I walk him up to school.  He get his temp checked and I send him off to his class.

9:00 Leo and I are set to go!  We run errands and get all the things done.  It's so easy to run errands with just one kid especially one that's thrilled to ride along in his car seat and can't touch all the germy things in stores.  We do grocery pick up at this time, too.

10:30 Head back home for Leo to nap.  I try to get all the things done at home while he naps.  I do chores, jobs and exercise when I can.  This is prime time for me to make phone calls or workout.

11:30 Leo wakes up and he tags along with whatever I'm working on.  He's usually just happy to crawl around the house and play while I work.  I try to soak up my hours with just Leo during the day.

12:30 Lunch time for me and Leo.  Eat and then make sure all the dishes are loaded, unloaded and washed.  I continue working on things like laundry, cleaning, blogging, computer work and projects.  Sometimes Leo will nap again before we get Fletcher. 

1:50 We load back up in the car to pick up Fletcher.  He always has a great day and TONS to say.  He gives me the full run down of who did what, who got in trouble, who got hurt, who spilled their lunch, etc.  He walks in the door, changes clothes, washes his hands and cannot wait to show off all the hard work he's been doing at school.  His presentation of his daily work is so sweet.  He's very proud of his school work and can't wait to tell me about each activity.  Then he wants a snack and a show.  We try to squeeze in some quality time here - games, read books that Fletcher picks and snuggles.  Then, I get some more things done before it's time to get Olive.

3:00 I load up the boys and head to the bus stop.  We greet Olive and head home.  She does the same routine - changes clothes, washes hands and shows off her school papers.  She's not as excited to go through everything, but she does it.  I empty lunch boxes and put all the yumboxes in the sink.  Snacks and a show for everyone.  Olive has an early lunch so she's starving.  Another snack or two and she's ready to talk about her day.

3:30 Turn off the TV and play.  The kids are usually excited to be together again and are eager to play.  Leo goes down for another nap.  I prep things for dinner.  Chop, set out and get everything ready to make dinner a little easier.

4:30 Homework time.  The big kids sit down at the kitchen island and get their work done.  Fletcher doesn't have assigned homework.  Olive has several things to work through unless she snuck a pencil in her backpack and already completed it on the bus ride home.  She's independent like that.  Leo sits in his high chair and devours puffs or Cheerios while we work.  If the kids aren't needing much help, I do dishes or fold laundry while they work.

5:30 Kevin gets home.  We try to go for a walk or play outside.  Often times he'll take the kids while I get dinner started.  I love to cook for my family so it's a treat to be able to do this alone some days.

6:15 Dinner time.  99% of the time we eat together.  We talk about the highlights of our days and I clean up the kitchen.  I usually try to pack lunches for the next day at this time.  The kid play together or with Kevin.

7:15 Bath time.  Reading time. Game time.  We try to do a little bit of everything and then the kids have a bedtime snack.  Olive has been enjoying reading to all of us from whatever chapter book she's reading.  We try to focus on Olive and let her pick things we do.  Then we tidy up the house together.  The house is all picked up for the night.  Teamwork!

8:15 Kevin puts the big kids to bed.  They read a chapter book together and do devotions. I feed Leo and put him to bed.  Lately, he's just been going down for a cat nap and then ready to play an hour later.

8:30 Kevin and I watch a show together and have a dessert.  Longmire and ice cream is our favorite combo.

10:00 Sometimes Leo is back up.  Sometimes not.  Kevin usually heads to bed and I stay up to do whatever I want :)  It's my favorite time of day for me time.  I set out everything we need for the following morning, do one last tidy up of the house, blog, watch shows, snuggle cats and work on projects.  I'm currently watching Hart of Dixie.

12:00 Midnight rolls around and I try to get in bed ASAP.  The put the kittens to bed in their bathroom - they're still too little to wander the house alone.  Oliver and Topher head to our room to sleep.  Sometimes Leo wakes up again around this time.  And then he's usually up once a night or three times if he's teething.  Drift off to sleep and hope all the kids sleep through the night.

Here are a few real life pictures from our school days.  I snapped pictures all throughout the week on school days so it's a mix of pictures from a few different days.   

Do you ever snap a picture and then later realize that it's the perfect snapshot of your life right now?  This one is true for me.  The kids are getting so big so fast.  I'm trying to soak up all these little days of character pjs, bedhead and sweetness.

My shadow.  I get ready.  He plays with hair ties.

Hold me, Mommy!



Laundry helper.  Basket to contain sweet baby.

Leo naps.  Kittens wanted attention, too. 



Both big kids want the kittens when they get home.


Lunch packing tip;

Pack similar lunches for your kids so make your life easier.

Do our routines have anything in common?

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Gobble Meal Delivery

We tried a new dinner delivery service this month and I'm excited to share it with you.  It was great!  Kevin found a Groupon for Gobble and ordered it for us.  I think the deal was $15 for 3 dinners.  What a deal.  Kevin prides himself on finding great deals for things we enjoy and surprises.  He selected the dinners and offered to cook them to surprise me. 

We have tried lots of different dinner delivery services over the years.  Hello Fresh is our favorite.  And Gobble would be a close second.  Home Chef is good, too.  We would not recommend Blue apron, Sunshine Basket or Freshly.

I love trying new recipes, new cooking techniques and new ingredients.  It's like a fun cooking show challenge at home.  

The best thing about Gobble is that it advertises 15 MINUTE meals.

Most other dinner delivery services offer meals that take 30-40 minutes to cook.

I found that my Gobble meals took more like 20 minutes to prepare, but I loved having one of the main ingredients pre cooked.  It really did save a ton of time.  We had premade mashed potatoes, couscous, sweet potatoes, chili base and marinara sauce.  They all tasted fresh and delicious when they were added to the meals.

We tried and loved the following meals:

Italian Roasted Chicken & Veggies (I added the pasta)

 



Classic Beef Bourguingnon - Kevin made this meal for us! 


Moroccan Pistachio Chicken -

I would have never have sought out this recipe on my own, but it was delicious.  It had dried apricots, pistachios, seasonings and it was so good.  I loved the rainbow carrots - those were new to me!


Hearty Turkey & Quinoa Chili


Cinnamon Brown Sugar Chicken Breasts with Cabbage and Yams


Here's how the recipes look and the ingredients all come in clear bags.




We'd eat all of these again and I'm adding things like - quinoa in my chili, adding fresh veggies to my marinara sauce or cooking entrees with pistachios to my dinner rotation.

Have you tried Gobble?  Here's the link to their website https://www.gobble.com/

I don't have any referral codes for you - just an honest review of something I love.  

Check Groupon if you're interested in giving Gobble a try.  Most of these super deals for meal delivery kits require you to set up an account and charge full price for the next round of meals.  Be sure to mark your calendars to cancel them or to edit your account after you get your initial meal delivery shipped.  If you don't keep a close eye on your account, you could end up paying for a surprise delivery.  Ask me how I know :)

   

Monday, November 16, 2020

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today's my birthday and I'm looking forward to a fun week.  I don't have any huge plans to celebrate.  I'm just going to try to do all of my favorite things.  39 is going to be just fine :)  40 used to seem so old, but not anymore.  It really feels like just yesterdays I was turning 21.  Time flies.  And now I'm sounding old.

In our family, the birthday person gets to pick fun stuff to do all week long - take out dinners, pick out the menu for home, open cards and gifts, their favorite dessert, presents and date night.  I'm thankful to celebrate turning 39 with my family.  

 


2020 has been a doozy of a year.

It's been filled with so many things I never expected.

COVID.

A sweet baby #3.

Isolation.

Home school.

Keeping the kids at home for two months straight.

Fletcher getting attacked by a dog.

CT scans, blood work, tests, MRIs and many doctors appointments for me.

3 different surgeries for me.

Shut downs.

School closings.

So many uncertainties. 

Masks.

Many new rules. 

Olive starting 2nd grade & Fletcher starting school.

Adding 2 kittens to the family.

Ongoing elections.

More family time than ever at home.

Cancelled plans.

 

No wonder I'm tearing up as I type.  

It's been a lot.  

Many of those things are still weighing heavy on my mind.

2020, you're one for the record books for the good and for the bad.

It has been a year of big emotions - big highs and lows.  

I think that's probably true for everyone.  

I'm coming to you today feeling very thankful to be happy, healthy and excited to cross the 2020 finish line.  I can see the blessings and the way that God has looked out for our family in the midst of the hard stuff.  I am eager to see what the coming year has in store for our family.  I can't wait to get a front row seat to all the milestones my kids will hit and the memories that we will make together.  I'm looking forward to LOTS. 

I hope that I always remember the highlights of 2020; that the hardships lose their sting and fade a bit in my memory.  2020 will always be the year of Leo for us and I'm guessing nothing will be able to top adding him to our family.  I'll be blowing out my birthday candles wishing for something big this year.

I'm setting goals, making plans and praying that the best is yet to come for us and for you!