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!


Friday, November 13, 2020

Thanksgiving Favorites

Happy Friday!  Hope you've had a great week.  We have had a good one here.  I've been looking forward to sharing my Thanksgiving favorites with you all week.  I know that decorating for Thanksgiving is not the popular thing to do, but I will always and forever put out turkeys and pumpkins in November.

It just feels right for November.  I've been collecting cute turkeys for years.  Trust me.  There are a lot of not cute turkeys so you have to do a little hunting.  My collection has grown over the years and I look forward to pulling them out every November.  I'll link as many of my favorite things as I can at the bottom of this post.

We have yet to decide what we are doing for Thanksgiving.  Indiana is having a big spike in COVID numbers so we are trying to be careful.  My top priority is keeping the kids healthy so they can stay in school.  We'll probably wait until the final days before Thanksgiving to make our plans.  That feels very 2020.  Wait and see :)  

No matter what we'll be having turkey with all the trimmings and focusing on all the things we are thankful for.

Let me show you my Thanksgiving favorites - turkeys and pumpkins sprinkled everywhere.  The best turkeys are at the very end of the post.  Don't miss them!

Thanksgiving in the family room:


I couldn't resist including a picture of happy, jumping Leo in this tour.  Real life :)



A fun Thanksgiving memory.  Our 1st Thanksgiving.  We lived in Utah and we went on an adventure by ourselves instead of flying home for Thanksgiving.  We drove from Salt Lake City to San Francisco.  We toured the whole city, wandered into a cute little restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner and went to watch Notre Dame play at Stanford.  It was our first holiday all on our own and we quickly learned that we'd always be happy to celebrate the holidays as long as we were together.


Thanksgiving in the kitchen:

I added in turkeys and pumpkins where I could.  I love having holiday plates for the kids to use.  They're used to me swapping them out monthly or seasonally.  When I served Olive's breakfast on a turkey plate yesterday - she said "YAY!  It's time for turkey plates!"  That made all of my decorating efforts totally worth it.






Thanksgiving for the kids:

We love these books.  I put a holiday book basket out for every holiday.  The kids love these specially selected books and get really excited to see them come out every year.

We have a running list of things we're thankful for on our chalkboard.  We take turns adding things each day.


We can't be the only ones swimming in leftover Halloween candy... 

Tell your kids to make a Thanksgiving turkey out of candy.  My kids loved it.  They had so much fun coming up with the perfect candies for wings, feathers, eyes, etc.  It was a really fun, free activity since we had everything on hand.



 Do you decorate for Thanksgiving?

Linking up with Momfessionals

Here are the Amazon affiliate links to some of our favorites:

 

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Must See TV

Have you been watching any good shows lately?

I started watching shows in the evening instead of scrolling through my social media.  It's been a nice change of pace to lose myself in fun shows.  I never turn on the TV for me during the day.  I save all my TV watching time for late night after the kids go to bed.

Side note: My ornamental cabbages are GORGEOUS right now.  Everything else was taken down after some frosts, but these are still looking so nice.


Two shows my husband and I enjoy:
1. Friday Night Lights

We've made it through most of this series and just need to finish it.  It's got all the great elements - romance, high school football, drama, small town life, big dreams and complicated love stories.  It feels like the perfect show to watch in the Fall with football season in full swing.

2. Longmire

A modern day wild west show.  My inlaws recommended this show to us last summer and we're hooked.  We've almost finished the entire show.  It's so good.  I know we'll be sad to finish it.  Maybe it's because we loved living out west?  Maybe Longmire reminds me of my dad as a policeman?  Or maybe it's just a great show?  

We love the drama, the love stories, the detective work, the mysteries and the characters.  The show is filmed in mostly in New Mexico, but the surroundings look just like Wyoming.  We LOVE Wyoming and the wild west setting holds a special place in our heart.  Everyone is perfectly cast for their role and you'll find yourself hooked wanting to watch more (unless you're my sister haha)


My favorite shows:

Many nights I watch a show or two on my own after everyone goes to bed.  All of these shows are fun adult shows that I enjoyed, but would not watch with my kids.

1. Sweet Magnolias

I adored this sweet southern show.  My SIL recommended it to me and she was right - it's charming, all the characters are compelling and they've got season 2 in the works now.  It's very quintessential of life in the south - y'alls, southern foods, traditions, churches and small town drama.  I loved it and was bummed there's only 1 season to binge.  My sister did approve of this one.

2. Emily in Paris

I heard lots of people recommend this show and they were right.  It was great.  It feels very Devil Wears Prada combined with modern day adventures in Paris.  The characters are fun.  Emily gets herself in sticky situations and comes up with creative ways to remedy them.  She's smart, savvy and isn't afraid to make mistakes.  The fashion is great and it's a really quick watch.

3. Schitt's Creek

I've heard about this show for years and finally started watching it.  I blazed through it looking forward to watching it every night.  It's quirky, hilarious and charming.  The characters are really wonderful.  The show is awkward and so funny.  If you liked Arrested Development, this feels similar in the sense of awkward, quirky comedy, but it's very relatable.  All the characters deal with struggles and triumphs.  You will find yourself cheering for them and tearing up when their life gets hard.    You fall in love with their big personalities and you'll find yourself quote lines from the show or imitating their mannerisms in no time.  The show draws some big name actors and you come to love their little town of Schitt's Creek.  The six seasons will fly by and leave you wishing there was more.

4. Little Fires Everywhere

So much drama.  Scandals.  Injustices.  Reality.  Dirty secrets.  Wealthy.  Poverty.  Big time actress and mom Reese Witherspoon was the most fascinating Southern mom in this series.  She strives so hard for perfection in all aspects of her life.  She presents herself in a kind, caring manner, but you come to realize that her character is not so innocent in her intentions.  The shows were so interesting.  It gives you so much to think about by showing the same story line interpreted by various characters.  There was behind the scenes turmoil behind their picture perfect life that the viewer sees and the community where they live is shielded from.  It was super interesting and super crazy.  Google more about this one.

5. The Social Dilemma

I have only watched half of this documentary, but it was completely disturbing.  The amount of tracking, monitoring and spying your social media apps do on you is unnerving.  I haven't been able to make myself finish it because I'm really not even sure how to process all that I learned in the first half.  It felt violating to know how much of your online presence is tracked and rewarded or filtered.  I'm planning to finish it, but it's heavy stuff.  Definitely worth the watch.


What are you watching?  Any must see shows I need to start?


Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Hershey Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Well, friends, I had a different post planned for today, but cookies sounded like a better idea. 

I have a new recipe to share with you and it just couldn't wait.  I consider myself a bit of a cookie connoisseur.  They're my favorite!  Chocolate chip cookies are my #1 favorite follow up next by any cookie with chocolate chips in it.

I know I'm not the only one with loads of leftover Halloween candy sitting around.  I pulled out all the Hershey bars and got busy making up a new cookie recipe this weekend.

I started with my favorite base recipe - My Most Famous Recipe - chocolate chip cookies.

 


Hershey Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 c room temp margarine

1/2 c shortening

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c brown sugar

1 t salt

1 t baking soda

1 t vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/4 c flour

1 c quick cook oats

1 c chocolate chips

1 cup coarsely chopped Hershey Bars

*Grab some extra chocolate chips and Hershey Bar chunks to top cookies with.

 


Directions:
Cream together margarine, shortening and sugars.  Add in dry ingredients, eggs one at a time and then add in the chocolate last.  Scoop with a cookie scoop, add in some extra chocolate chips/bits on top of each dough ball and bake.  350 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool on the cookie sheet.

These cookies are delicious right out of the oven or the next day.

They are delicious!  They feel a little fancy with the different kinds of chocolate and everything is better with a little oatmeal in it.  If you love chocolate, these cookies are for you.

I am so happy to have this new cookie recipe!  I can't wait to share it.

  


Monday, November 9, 2020

6 Surprising Ways to Save Money

I'm excited to share some simple things I do to save our family money.  I pride myself in finding great deals, stack savings and saving money where I can.

These are all very easy to do and I'll be honest to share our saving results for each one.  I've found each of these ways to save money worth my time and super quick to do.  I'd highly recommend them.


1. Fetch App

My favorite way to save money is by using this app!  So far I've earned $60 in gift cards just by scanning receipts, linking my email to get rewards on online purchases and referring the app to friends.

You earn the most points by scanning grocery or food receipts, but you can earn points on any receipt.  They do special promotions on items like diapers, make up and even special deals on things like any purchase from Panera.  You just down load the app and snap pictures of your receipts.  If you do grocery pick up or order something on Amazon, you just click the button to check your email for receipts and then it adds those to your point total.

Here's my referral code: C8K71

 



2. Rakuten

Rakuten is formerly known as Ebates.  I miss that name, but the money saving seems to be the same.  We've been using it for years and it says our lifetime rewards equal $220.  That's awesome!  It doesn't cost you anything to sign up.

You got to https://www.rakuten.com/ and sign up.  Then when you are ready to do some online shopping, you search the store.  I've recently used Rakuten for online purchases at Kohls, Sephora, Old Navy and 1800Contacts.  The deal is usually anywhere from 1-10% money back.  All of those little amounts really add up.

Here's my referral link if you want to try it out: https://www.rakuten.com/r/KAJEWH?eeid=28187

 

3. GAP/Old Navy Visa

I've had a GAP card for years, but it hasn't been until the last couple of years that I figured out a way earn more rewards.  I discovered that you earn LOTS of extra rewards points each month if you use your card at places other than GAP/Old Navy.  My current game plan is to use my GAP card for gas, groceries here and there and a few other random purchases throughout the month.  Then totally pay off the bill when it comes at the end of the month.  I'm earning lots of reward dollars this way.

I recently had $100 in rewards dollars, $40 in Old Navy Cash and then cashed in on some sales.  I ended up buying several Christmas gifts, a jacket for Olive, shirts for Fletcher and a few more things for just $20.  It's crazy the deal stacking that you can do there.

 

4. Pampers App

If you have kids in diapers, I'd highly recommend using the Pampers app to scan in the point codes from diapers and wipes.  It only takes a few seconds and the rewards add up.  I've been using the app since 2017 and just in the past year or so Pampers has started converting the points you earn to real money.  Now you can transfer the money you earn straight to your Paypal account!  So far I've earned $25 back in rewards money.

 

5. 1800Contacts

Where are my fellow contact wearers??  

I've been wearing contacts since jr high and love them.  But keeping up with regular eye exams to keep a current prescription can be tricky.  An eye exam usually costs $100-150 out of pocket.  And then you've got to order contacts for another $200-300.

I figured out a really easy way to save.  1800Contacts now offers an option to do "Get an Exam" virtually.  It walks you through the process and is perfect for people who aren't having eye issues or needing a prescription change.  And it's FREE!  I did the quick 10 minute total consult and got my prescription renewed for one year.  It saved me a huge amount of time and effort having to schedule an in person check up and then a huge amount of out of pocket money for an eye exam.  Then I stacked my savings by logging onto Rakuten.  They were offering an 8% back deal for 1800Contacts at the time I was ordering.  Double deals!


6. Eat at Home

This seems obvious, but it's crazy how much money you can save by eating at home.  The other night we were tempted to order Mexican food for an easy dinner.  We clicked to add everything to our order and the total came to $42+tax + tip.  We just couldn't justify that for a quick meal.  So we deleted our order and made a few things we already had on hand in the freezer.  

We always pack lunches, order take out instead of eating at the restaurant and do easy meals like Penn Station, Panda Express, Pizza or use coupons to local places.

If you're used to eating out multiple times a week for lunches and dinner, I'd encourage you to cut back a little for each meal time and see how much money it saves you.


Did you learn about any new ways to save money?

I hope so!  Thank you for using my referral codes or links.  I really appreciate it!  

If you have any trouble with the codes or have any questions leave a comment or email me polkadottyplace@hotmail.com

Friday, November 6, 2020

Friday Faves

Wow, it's been a wild week.  We are eating way too much leftover Halloween candy.  The election news still up in the air.  Praying hard for our country and our future!  In spite of all the political chaos, we've tried to stay positive over here.  We are praying for our President and an honest election process this year and every year after.

The favorite parts of our week were (spoiler alert - lots of red, white and blue & kittens!)

1. USA

My husband and I early voted, talked to the kids about voting, Olive got to vote at school and we wore our red, white and blue.  I made a flag lunch for Fletcher on Election Day.  Cheering for team USA today and always! 

 


2. The weather!!

The weather has been SO NICE in Indiana this week.  We played out side as much as possible.  Our backyard is covered in leaves and the kids love it.


3. Turkey in Disguise

Fletcher had to come up with a disguise to save his turkey from becoming Thanksgiving dinner.  He decided to hide his turkey in a pile of candy wrappers.  It turned out so cute.


4. Baby kisses

Leo is learning to give baby kisses along with trying very hard to crawl.

5. Kittens!

We love these little girls so much.  They got a great report at the vet this week.  They are weighing in at a dainty 2.5lbs now and are tons of fun.  Their paws rarely touch the ground because they are being carried around like tiny princesses much of the day.  We love you, Penny & Pearl!







6. Christmas cards

This year I scheduled our family pictures, ordered Christmas cards and received them in October!!  I can't wait to share them with you and send them out December 1st.  I always order from Sams - can't beat their prices for ordering a TON of cards.  I'd recommend them as long as you can order early.  Last year I ordered at the end of Nov and barely got mine before Christmas.  How are your Christmas cards coming along??

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  I'm hoping to decorate for Thanksgiving.  Yes, Thanksgiving.  Not Christmas.  Only turkeys and pumpkins up at my house before Thanksgiving.

Linking up with Momfessionals