Michael is 8!

 Literally, the first title I typed said "Michael is 7!"  Then I had to pause and erase my text and say "Michael is 8!"  Wow.  I REMEMBER being 8!  It's so strange to me to have a child that will be entering 3rd grade and become an age where I vividly remember a lot of things about that same age.  I'm not sad-- it's just weird.  

Michael is pumped about turning eight.  He knows it means that he's nearly ten and that he's entering the last half of elementary school.  I still get caught up in the hamster-wheel inside my mind that says "One day, my kids will remember the things we do and the memories we've made but they're not there yet."  However, yes they are.  They are old enough to remember family trips and funny phrases and inside jokes, and however much I think that "one day, I'll have this parenting thing down" I realize daily that I do not.  And instead of waiting for when I feel like the perfect prepared parent, I need to instead take each day as it comes, get my daily dose of grace given by God and walk on.  

Michael still loves all things Mario and Pokemon with a nice sprinkling of Minecraft thrown in.  He is great at impressions of these characters and absorbs all information he can read about them and the various intricacies of the games in which they're involved.  He LOVES jokes-- loves to read them, loves to listen to them, loves to create his own. 

His birthday party looks a little different this year. We invited mainly church families since our congregation basically has stayed out of the public sector. My brother and family are able to come in from out of town (also they have remained largely out of the public eye).  I am saddened a bit that Michael doesn't have school friends at this year's party since they haven't started back to school yet.  He seems to be okay with it though and I'm so thankful for our church family coming together to support this little boy on his special day. 

This morning, Aaron & I had Mario themed balloons ready for Michael at his dining room seat. Avery was the first one awake & gushed over the balloons. When Michael did wake up, I greeted him with a hug and a "Happy Birthday!" as soon as he walked into the living room. Avery then instantly gave him a hug and said "come see your 'boons!" So... I guess it was still a surprise. :)

He chose pizza for dinner, so Aaron braved the late summer thunderstorm and picked up dinner from our favorite local pizza place. We had a small ice cream cake later on and Michael opened birthday cards while we snacked. He got to open presents at my mother-in-law's house today and my parents stopped by this evening to let him open the gifts they bought. 

We ended the evening by daydreaming about how he could spend his birthday money, and we read a couple pages in our "Rush Revere and the First Patriots" chapter book.  Overall, I think he had a very fun day and we look forward to his party!

Michael, you are sweet and kind & such a great problem solver! I'm so proud of the young man you are growing up to be. Everyday, I'm super thankful to be your mom. I love you so so very much. Love, Mom

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Avery's Unicorn Party

 Avery is all about some unicorns, so it wasn't a far stretch to choose that for her 3rd birthday party!  To be fair, pre-Coronavirus, we had tossed around the idea of having her first "friend" party since she's made a little toddler friend at church.  This party was going to be a painting theme with little pallets filled with sprinkles and white frosted cupcakes for the kiddos to decorate themselves. However, we decided to forgo that idea the closer we got to her birthday when we realized life as we've come to know it for the past 5 months isn't changing anytime soon.  Avery has only had "family" parties, so she wouldn't know any differently this year.   So we put the painting party in the back of our minds (and in our "Save for Later- Amazon cart") and we'll use that idea in a future year.  We decided on the unicorn theme since we knew she'd FLIP OUT and it was easy to find things to work for a low-key party.  Everything came from Amazon and Wal-Mart.  

I grabbed this decoration set on Amazon and originally thought of hanging them on the mantle, but decided last minute to string them from the dining room light and we LOVE how it turned out!  There's ten different pictures, each attached by a metallic streamer.  The pictures include a unicorn cupcake, a unicorn face, two unicorns, some shooting stars, some unicorn heads, and a cloud with hearts raining down. 

The cake is a Funfetti mix with homemade buttercream frosting.  The decorations were from an Amazon pack.  Aaron skewered some toothpicks to the felt base to get the crown to stand up correctly. 

The unicorn plates were a Wal-Mart find!

When we called Avery into the kitchen to see the cake, she was so excited!  We put on her unicorn headband (also a Wal-Mart find) and she held up a unicorn plate for the ultimate unicorn compilation photo. 

Her party was great!  We had three sets of grandparents and most of each couple set could come!  We also had an uncle in attendance too!  She loved singing "Hap Birt-day" and eating cake and opening presents.  She got lots of cute girly things, but wasn't overwhelmed.  She did decide though, to try out her mermaid swimsuit and skirt, Little Mermaid sandals, and hold her unicorn toy while I turned on "Home Alone."  Yes.  "Home Alone."  But you know what?  That is what makes up Avery-- lots of color, an eclectic vibe, and a misplaced seasonal movie. :) 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Avery is Three!

 Avery turns 3 years old today!  Throughout her childhood, I have continued to feel a sense of contentment and peace about each age and each stage.  I'm not sad to see seasons go, and I'm happy to welcome in the new skills she learns as time goes on.  Today she is cheerful and so very excited for this birthday!  That's so much fun for me to watch because I'm observing her really taking it all in and understanding what is going on!  We've talked about her birthday for several weeks now and she knew it was this week on Thursday, so the fact that it's here is just so exciting!  She's been pumped about her birthday cake, so we've gotten that baked (she helped!) and frosted and adorned with purple sprinkles.  We'll wait a little closer to tonight's celebration before we put the finishing touches on it and of course, I'll share pictures here. 

Avery is all about some unicorns and I'm just so very grateful that apparently 50,000 other girls are equally obsessed because this means there are bountiful unicorn things out there to curate gift options and party decorations!  I'll share later on what we used for party decor, but please believe me when I say that the unicorn theme is real. 

Avery is funny and also a sour-patch kid (remember those commercials? "First they're sour, then they're sweet").  That is Avery to a T.  She can certainly hold her own against her brothers, but she can also just be so very kind and it's kind of funny to watch the juxtaposition of the two personalities.  She loves to participate in whatever her older brothers are doing, even if she's not quite sure what that is exactly. She basically repeats the last two to three words any of us say (for example, "Noah, go to your room, that was not nice!"  She will say "Noah, room. Not nice!" OR  if Noah says "Michael, let's play police officers after snack." She will say "Officers after snack").  Any random statement or admonition is sure to get a partial repeat. 

She LOVES to be a "big helPER" (emphasis added just like she says it!).  If I'm unloading the dishwasher, she'll stop what she's doing to hand me each piece of silverware individually.  "Here you go.  Fork (except it sounds like "foak"). Here you go.  Spoon.  Here you go. What's this?"  "A knife."  "Oh.  Knife.  I a big helPER!"

She loves to help bake, (especially to stir), do crafts, read books, take baths, use scissors, play dress-up, brush her teeth (seriously), hold her Pat Pat (baby doll), and have her fingernails and toenails painted.  She's such a girly girl and I'm so grateful!  She keeps track of intricate pieces of toys and offers things just the greatest care and attention.  It's so interesting to see her unique personality come into focus these days.  Such a blessing. 

Her favorite TV shows are "Cocomelon" (some weird cartoon nursery rhyme show) and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" (pronounced "crump-krouse").  She LOVES all things princess but is particular about which movies she likes them in.  She's a die-hard "Frozen" and "Frozen 2" fan.  She prefers the original versions of "Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast," but likes "Cinderella 3" the best.  She'll also start Moana and Tangled occasionally, but hardly gets through the whole movie before she requests to switch back to her tried and true favorite shows.  She knows the name of Aurora from "Sleeping Beauty" but isn't interested in the movie.  Today she chose to watch "Home Alone" (she actually requested it twice, so we started it twice and got side tracked).  She'll hang tough with her brothers when they choose "boy shows" and she enjoys a good comedy and laughing her way through it.  She's so funny to watch!  She also likes to join in video games by holding a non-connected controller while the rest of us actually play the game.  She'll tell me the character she wants to be, so I'll choose that one for myself, and then she'll pretend to play on the controller before she wanders around the room playing with other toys before pretend-pouting and saying "I didn't win!"  

She likes a good routine and likes to start her day with a sippy cup of milk (we still call it a bottle even though it's not).  She likes to choose her breakfast and lunch options and kind of grazes her way through.  Sometimes (like today) she'll surprise me and ask for a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich as her snack.  She enjoys drinking her water flavored with Crystal Light liquid.  She occasionally has some type of diet soda like her brothers and we put it in a special cup for her and she thinks it's so special.  

It's just such a major joy to have her around!  I'm so so so grateful that God put her into our family plan and gave us a gift we didn't know we were missing.  And despite the craziness in the world around us and the "3 weeks of school break" back in the spring that turned into 5 months, I can find the silver lining when I have days like today-- I got to be home on Avery's birthday and that's miraculous and a gift.  

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of a daughter. 

*I'm writing this after her little celebration we had and the cake turned out so CUTE.  I will share more tomorrow!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Here I Go Again

 So.... as you may have read about earlier in the summer, I recently switched General Practitioners.  I had my first in-person appointment in May and was told to come back in July to get my blood drawn to check my thyroid levels.  Well, I didn't go in July-- I waited til the first week of August because SUMMER.  At the blood draw, the phlebotomist took twice the amount of blood I thought she was going to take.  I assumed this meant that the doctor wanted a new CBC on record since I was a new patient.  I was correct.  

A couple days later, I called to find out if my thyroid medicine dose needed adjusting and was told "yes, and we'll call you next week with what the dose needs to change to" and that's a whole other story in and of itself.  However, she began to tell me the results of the complete blood count.  Most things were great.  One thing slapped me in the face and I could've earned an Emmy with how hard I worked to keep the tears back while she finished reading off the results of everything they had checked.  Despite the overall good report, it's the combination of the thyroid dosage change and this new bombshell that have me rattled and apprehensive and sometimes just downright sad. 

This receptionist on the phone told me "Your A1C is 6.5 and this means you are borderline diabetic.  You will need to follow a low carb/ low glucose diet, and the doctor wants to see you again in three months." The wind was slightly knocked out of me.  I was ashamed (although this was for no reason because sometimes, Type 2 happens to people who are relatively fit and know a thing or two about carbs).  I'm raising my hand because I am the mom of someone who has Type One Diabetes and I know a thing or two about carbs.  I also see myself in the mirror every day and know that I'm not astronomical in size.  Therefore, it serves great purpose to say that we have stigmatized a disorder and we assume that anyone who gets it must have self-sabotaged and should've been paying closer attention.  That's so not it at all.  Sometimes, genes are a factor.  Other times, environment can play a role.  Sometimes, and I'm just so certain of this, stress can wreak a myriad of havocs on oneself.  

Whatever the causes of my borderline diabetes, I am knee deep in walking this "low carb/ low glucose" diet and I WILL NOT STRAY (much) because I want to look the doctor in the face come November and say "I really did try my hardest."  For now, the onus lies with me.  I am on no medication right now because we are seeing if I can handle this disorder with diet and exercise alone or if I'll need medication or further help.  I am committed to this low carb diet.  In November, if my A1C has lowered, then we will know that diet can fix it and I'll stay the course.  If in November, my A1C has not improved, then I will probably receive the official Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis and will try out some form of oral medication (similar to what I had to be on when I had gestational diabetes with Avery).  If my A1C has risen to higher levels than what should occur after a committed diet change, then it could be possible that I'm in the early stages of Type 1 Diabetes and will soon produce none of my own insulin at all, which would require injecting artificial insulin like my son has to do daily.  

No matter the final outcome, I have found that the low-carb diets really aren't terrible.  I'm including some recent pictures of things I've found that I enjoy eating or drinking that fall into the low carb category.  I wrote extensively about this in 2017 when I was undergoing gestational diabetes for the second time.  Very recently, I have gone back to this point to remind myself of the variety of things that I really can eat or drink that will fill me up without overdoing it in carbs.  That post can be found here. 

Here's my most recent compilation. 

Chocolate Fairlife milk (about a cup) plus peanut butter powder.

I use a blender bottle metal ball and shake it up, then stick it in the freezer for 10-30 minutes and it tastes (kind of) like a milkshake!  The Fairlife brand of milk offers a lot of protein, so it helps fill me up as well. 

Target's "Good and Gather" brand offers sparkling water for pretty cheap and it tastes all right. I have tried the Cranberry Citrus and the Coconut Pineapple (this is heavy on the pineapple, and I wish it was heavier on the coconut). 

Salads have been my favorite side dish and/or meal option.  I made sure to order salad supplies on my recent grocery orders and I included Reduced Sugar craisins also.  

The craving for something sweet is real, but I'm able to stave this off by eating a couple of sugar-free wafer cookies.  The longer one is Publix brand (Vanilla flavored) and the shorter one is Voortman (chocolate flavor).  We also have the Voortman lemon flavor which Avery and Aaron prefer. 

This was my lunch from yesterday.  Half of a turkey sandwich, salad, Diet Dr. Pepper (or Diet Dr. Thunder as it were), and a couple wafer cookies.  This meal was under 30g of carb, and to be considered "low carb" a meal must be under 45g of carb.  (Side note: we'll talk about this book in another post.  I just finished another book by this author and it was phenomenal. I just started this second book yesterday).  

Thanks for keeping up with me on this journey!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Egg Cooker Review

 For a few years now, I've been seeing blog posts about a rapid egg cooker.  I previously have brushed off the idea that this might be a useful tool and instead convinced myself that it was much better to just boil eggs on the stovetop.  Even after getting an InstaPot and an airfryer and hearing about how people use those appliances to cook eggs, I did not bother looking up how to do so myself.  My main problem with this line of thinking is that I actually do not know how to boil eggs on the stove.  Yes, my mom has told me 73 times, and I've looked up the recipe on Google about 14 times, but still... it doesn't stick and  becomes a chore to always ask or look it up.  This means that I never boil eggs in my home.  Never.  Which also means that we do not receive the benefits of the easy protein-filled snack that is the hard-boiled egg. 

Just last week, Michael asked for a hard boiled egg and I happened to be reading a blog post by someone raving about their egg cooker.  Although I thought I had looked up the price on this appliance years ago, I was shocked to see how affordable it really was!  I also did not know that it could cook poached eggs and omelets as well.  I chose the white color although it was very tempting to choose the mint shade. It arrived a couple days later and we put it right to work!  It's much smaller than I thought it would be, which is nice because it doesn't take up too much counter space and I'll be able to store it in the cabinets without rearranging too many things around it.  Right now, we've used it at least once a day, so I've kept it on my counter. 

It's quite compact and comes with all the pieces tucked neatly underneath the lid. 

Inside the lid, it has the boiling-plate handle, the poaching plate, the omelet plate, and the boiling-plate stacked in one another. 

When boiling eggs, just attach the boiling-plate handle to the boiling plate.  The handle allows me to pick up the eggs when they're finished cooking, and place them in ice water without burning my hand.

 

If choosing to poach or make an omelet, those specialized plates need to sit on top of the boiler-plate so they don't get burned by the metal piece underneath the boiling plate. 

The lid locks in place to store it, but when cooking, the lid must be set on top of the device without actually locking it into place.  

When storing, you can slide the locking tabs under the handles of the egg cooker. 

It also came with a measuring cup to show proper water amounts for various levels of "doneness" for boiled eggs. I always choose hard boiled for myself or the kids.  Aaron prefers medium boiled for himself.  And whenever I choose to do a "Day in the Life of Downton Abbey,"  I'll choose soft boiled. :)  On the opposite side of this measuring cup are lines showing the water level needed for poached eggs and omelets. 

Underneath the measuring cup is a little push-pin like device.  This is to poke the rounded bottom of the egg before placing it bottoms up on the boiling plate. 

I placed it next to my 24 ounce cup to show the size of the egg cooker.  It's really compact and everything fits neatly under the lid when not in use. 

I'm really impressed by the egg cooker and am glad we got it when we did!  When it's done cooking, it sings a little song as its timer rather than just beeping, etc.  Avery LOVES the song it plays and frequently asks me to "play that song" even when the cooker is not in use!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Coffee Table Thoughts

A little over a month ago, I ordered a coffee table from Amazon. Aaron & I were specifically looking for something with storage options, so we knew we wanted a table with a lower shelf on it rather than a parsons style table or a decorative topped table with no storage underneath. 

We chose a wooden table that included two straw baskets that we can remove if we want to, and the table still looks nice with or without the baskets in place. This piece came in lots of color choices, but I decided on the gray tone (officially called "driftwood") to offset some of the darker wood pieces in our living room & to complement the white & gray rug that we have anchoring the space between our couches. 

It was a super quick assembly. I probably spent 30 minutes putting it together. It fits our space perfectly and I'm really happy with it!  We have played family games on it and it's really nice to have a space to play games where the kids can easily reach pieces rather than reach across the entire dining table. Aaron & I play cards on it some evenings after the kids go to bed. Of course during the day, it usually is a toy & cup display shelf but I tidy it up every evening so I can have a clean space to look at when I relax. Looking past a whole bunch of random toys in order to watch a TV show or movie isn't peaceful, so I make piles of which toys & cups belong to each kid and they put their things away before brushing their teeth. One day, I'll invest in a tray to stash remotes & maybe a candle, but that's not practical at this stage of motherhood that I'm in, so I'm content not to have it "decorated" at the moment. 

When looking at tables online, I really liked the ones that had some type of structure on the side. The three-slats of this table stood out to me. 

Online, it appears that the baskets have handles accessible from both sides of the coffee table, but that's not the case. The basket handles are only on one side, so we have that part of the baskets facing the couch.

This is the view from the couch. 

In the basket on the right, I store Avery's diapers & wipes. The baskets happen to be the perfect size for the Costco sleeve of diapers. It's nice to have her items close by without us having to see them out in the open. 

In the basket on the left, I have a few magazine favorites and some puzzles & Avery's current favorite game. She asks to play "hippo game" quite a bit and I had been trekking down the hallway to the boys' closet (where the kid games are stored) several times a day. It occurred to me one day to just store it in the basket here while she's so fixated on this game. As a bonus, it covers up the puzzles so she can't get them out without me knowing. Prior to moving the "hippo game" into the basket, she'd pull out every puzzle and dump all the pieces on the floor together. Let me tell you how not fun it is to decipher oddly shaped wooden puzzle pieces from one another! This solution of storing the game here has worked out well!

How about you? What storage solutions have you added in to your living room decor? 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Sayings of My Children

 It's been a while since my last "Things My Kids Say" post, so I thought I'd start our weekend off with this collection. 

Avery says "way!" when she means to say "yay!"  (I'm trying to remember all of these little incorrect ways of saying things because I know all too soon she'll start pronouncing things correctly just as the boys did). 

M: Small fish brains are the size of a grain of salt. They're so dumb. I mean, they're in the ocean and bam, here comes a shark and the fish walk right into it.
Me: They walk into it?
M: Yeah. They're so dumb.

N: It has 3 speeds. High. Low. And meteor.

M: May I have more deeet kook?
Me: (blank stare)
M: Diet coke

M: Night lights are for amateurs

N: We are amateurs

Avery: I need a yogurt smoothie.
Me: You need a yogurt smoothie.
Avery: Yeah! Come on. I'm not wasting time.

Noah: (using a magnifying glass looking for ants when Michael points one out) I hate to break it, but that's not an ant

Avery: (sticking a toy dangerously close to my coffee cup)
Me: Hey, that's not yours, lady
Avery: No. I not you.

Avery: (describing a random movie- I think "Monsters Inc.") And then Mike pooped on the potty and washed his hands with soap.
Me: That sounds like a good idea. Do you want to poop on the potty?
Avery: No. I'm not Mike.

Me: Avery, can you count to ten?
Avery: 2, 10

Avery: (squirts a lot of purple paint on her pallette)

Me: Is purple your favorite color?
Avery: (pauses, places finger on her cheek) Um, yes!

Noah: I love you more than a cozy rat

A: (looking at a foggy window) That window's getting fat

Avery calls brownies "chocolate browns"

(Avery is pretending to serve us coffee and hot tea.)
Me: Avery, I think we should change your diaper. I've never seen a waitress who serves coffee with poop in her pants.
Michael: Well, you just met one.

Avery: (watching Bubble Guppies where they are trying to make pink from red and ask which color is lighter, black or white so they can mix it into the red) Uh.... white.
(Just the way she paused & had to think is so precious.)

(Singing)
Avery: My heartbeat is Akuna. That's my favorite pup-pup!

Michael:  Can I have m&m's at the end of breakfast?
Me: No.
Avery: You can have m&m's if you tee tee on the potty.

Noah: (pretend drumming on the couch) Rock on!
Avery: no

Avery: (playing with Akuna in the yard) ow! Akuna bite my thumb! No no, Akuna! Bad boy to eat my thumb! No no eat my thumb!

(Hanging out with my 7 y.o nephew)
G: The perfect place for me to live is Hawaii. On top of the mountain there is snow & people snowboard. Then there's a beach where people surf. And it's really peace & quiet.
Me: 

(When my nephew came over for a sleepover with my boys)
Me: Do you eat frozen pizza?
G: No. I eat it warmed up.

(Boys are having a pretend battle)
M: Hit him with your sword!
N: This isn't my sword; it's a death spatula.

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek into the daily conversations around here!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Mid-Rise Shorts Comparison

I have found that I'm not a fan of the high-rise shorts trend that is taking over these days.  Although it's a nice idea to cover up the less than firm stomach area, it's not all that practical because the shorts seems to sacrifice length for the tummy coverage.  Back in April, I needed shorts so I grabbed two pairs at Target online.  

One pair was completely ludicrous in its appearance once I put them on.  I felt like I was an extra in a music video wearing hot pants.  So, I did not intend to keep them.  I even began the return process for Target and was told "Oh, you can just keep them and we'll refund your money anyway."  If that's not a raving review by the company, I don't know what is. (insert eye roll here) I kept all the tags on the shorts and have put them in my "donate" pile because I just simply cannot bring myself to find a scenario in which I could comfortably wear the shorts.  

The other pair is okay.  I bought them after reading several other blogs about how they were the "unicorn" of shorts.  I'm not as big of a fan of them as others seem to be.  I like the frayed hem enough, but I'm uncomfortable with how high they come and therefore how short they appear.  I am long-waisted, so it takes a while to get from my pants inseam to my belly button where these shorts need to be in order to zip and button.  My torso is long, but my legs are short, so while the shorts rise very high and cover my midriff, they settle too high up my leg for me to be completely comfortable wearing them.  In all honesty, these shorts probably are great for some.  If someone was short-waisted and long-legged, then the shorts wouldn't have to rise so high to sit at the natural waist and would therefore be longer on the leg.  Since my body type is long-waisted and short-legged, I am not as comfortable with the high-rise trend. 

I was given two pairs of mid-rise shorts several years ago and completely wore one pair to shreds and am quickly approaching that level with the remaining pair.  I knew I needed to find similar mid-rise shorts, so I browsed around Old Navy and found three great options!  They arrived on Tuesday of this week and I am very happy with all three pairs.  Two of the pairs are actually the same short in different washes, and the third pair is a bit nicer and can be worn to events where you want to look a bit more pulled together.  

The two denim pairs can be found here.  I ordered the Medium Wash and the Dark Wash.  The have a 3 inch inseam which is just the right length for my legs.  They don't feel like bermuda shorts and also don't feel like hot pants-- so win, win.  :)

The hem is cuffed, but not sewn all the way around.  

Since it's not sewn all the way around, it can look unkempt in the back.  

 This can be an easy fix though by rolling the hem back into place and sewing a few anchor stitches.  I plan to sew the hem of both pairs of the denim shorts this weekend. 

They have a bit of stretch to them, so they show wrinkles easily, but also this means they wear well during the day and maintain comfortability. 

They are long enough to show from underneath a tunic-length shirt (my high-rise shorts are not long enough to peek out from underneath this same shirt).  These are the dark wash shown below. 

I pulled the shirt hem up to show the wrinkling that can occur from a full day of wearing.  This isn't bothersome to me, but I know it is to some. 

Here are the medium wash shorts.  

I'm really happy with the overall length of the shorts. 

I tried to show the unrolling of the hem that can occur from the lack of full sewing.  I'll update next week once I fix the hem this weekend. I do choose to wash the shorts inside out to help with the unrolling. 

The gray shorts can be found here.  I chose the color Blank Slate.  It's the perfect shade of neutral gray and can be worn with so many color combos.  It's a 3.5 inch inseam and the shorts are smooth and feel very comfortable when wearing.  

I feel like the length is appropriate for functions and doesn't cut into the midriff, but rises high enough to accommodate various shirt lengths. 

I took a couple photos of the dark wash mid-rise shorts next to my high-rise shorts to show how the shorts are slightly varied enough to cause different lengths. 

The high-rise are on the left and the mid-rise are on the right.  The high-rise shorts are from Target and can be found here. 

Side-by-side, they don't look that different in overall length.  It's the up close comparisons that will show the differences. 

Right next to each other, the high-rise shorts have a longer zipper because it needs to reach higher up on the midriff to get to the natural waist. 

The top of the high-rise shorts is about half an inch higher than the mid-rise shorts when the zippers are placed side-by-side. This rise of the zipper means that the length of the high-rise shorts comes up higher on the leg offering less protection around the rear area than the mid-rise shorts which offer complete coverage because they sit lower on the waist and therefore reach lower on the leg. 

It's always a nice feeling to find a style that truly fits the way my body is designed.  Knowing that I can be comfortable in these clothes is a huge plus, and in these days where we never really know what's coming next, every little joy we can find along the way is a blessing!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba