Winter Photos

I've slacked off on posting much this month. We had a lot going on with the boys returning to traditional school, and Michael's appointment, and my minor foot procedure. February- though short- sometimes seems to take a while to get through & I'm not mad that March (and Spring!) is on the horizon! We have some fun things planned in March & it's also the final full month of our third quarter of school which means I can see the end of this lengthy school year in sight! March is almost April which is almost May which is when most of my students will finish the year (and only a few will have to return in June for exams). Let's go!  So here's a random photo collection from the winter. 

 Our snow "dusting."

Pretend purple hair. 

A 100 year old for the 100th day of school. 

Happy boys after school. 

My view after exiting the bathroom one evening.

A pretty winter sunrise. 

All 3 kiddos enjoying a bedtime snack. 

A birthday party for her doll. 

Playing outside before church. 

Sporting a princess jacket. 

A quick room rearrange for all kiddos. 

Crazy slide hair!

A Saturday Mario. 

An Elsa braid. 

And that just about sums up this season in our lives!

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Valentine's Day

This year for Valentine's Day, I started collecting items in late December so that I'd be prepared and wouldn't feel rushed as the date got closer.  This was beneficial, but also led to me over-buying since I'd forget that I already had a treat prepared and I'd see something else great and buy it.  So this year, my kids lucked out and received a little box of chocolates, a book, and a toy (usually it's just candy & either a book or a toy but not both).

In December, Aaron and I had to go to Costco for a tire rotation, and Costco has such an awesome book selection at super low prices.  Michael was eagerly waiting for the release of a new book spin-off series from one of his favorite authors, and I saw the book that day and loved the fact that it was nearly half of what I'd spend at Target!  I grabbed it and held onto it because Christmas was just the week prior and I didn't want to just give it to him out of the blue.  I didn't necessarily intend for it to sit on Aaron's bookshelf until nearly Valentine's Day, but it did.... so I quickly found two other books (one for Noah, one for Avery) at Publix one random Saturday.  

When browsing the aisles of Target, I saw a little box of chocolates with a unicorn on the cover which sealed the deal that I'd get that one for Avery.  I picked up a dinosaur one and a space shuttle one for the boys.  Everyone was pleased with these when they woke up on Valentine's Day!

I wanted to get Avery a "Bo Peep" doll from Toy Story 4 after she so loved playing with her cousin's doll in the fall.  I found this one on Amazon and ordered it in late January.  

The boys love to watch this one particular YouTube family, and this family has become so popular that they periodically release a new toy here and there.  The boys have been singing this silly ditty about an elevator and when I saw on the Target app that this YouTube family released a toy about this ditty, I grabbed two for a "drive up" order.  The Target associate who picked the order was phenomenal and chose a blue one and a green one which is so perfect so that my boys know whose is whose.  These toys both have a music box and glow sticks, which is so fun!

I took this photo around 9:30 the night before Valentine's Day because that's how long it took my kids to fall asleep that night! The felt hearts were a Target Dollar Spot find years ago (before I even knew we'd have a girl one day!). 

All three kids loved their gifts!  The chocolates were gone almost immediately.  The books are getting lots of mileage on them and the toys have been played with daily.  This was a successful holiday and it was so fun to gather up exciting things as I found them and not feel rushed.  

 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba 

Waiting Room Fun Bag

 I saw this idea on Andrea's blog a couple weeks ago when she was talking about Valentine's Day gift for kids. I already had my Valentine's gifts ready, but I thought this idea of a "waiting room" bag was super smart! I added it to my Amazon cart and planned to stick it in the "save for later" section, but Aaron ended up making some Amazon purchases that day & this was in the cart so it was included (accidentally) with the purchases!

As soon as it arrived, I filled it with some fun things that would be sure to entertain kiddos the next time we had to go to a waiting room or car ride. I grabbed a few pencils and a spare notepad, a deck of cards, some plus-plus blocks, and a few fidget items. I immediately stuck it in the glove box of the car because I knew we'd be heading to a city for Michael's endocrinology appointment shortly after this arrived.  

Monday of last week was that day, and Michael was so surprised by having something new & different to play with while waiting for the doctor. (In fact, the doctor played with the plus-plus blocks too when he entered the room!) It's so funny to me how kids latch on to something different than they're used to, even if they've seen all the things before. I used to bring a big bag of toys with me when babysitting. The kids I'd babysit for loved this "bag of tricks" and it's so fun to see my own kids react similarly. :)

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Favorite Outfit Combo

For Christmas, I received a Loft gift card (which is valid at Loft stores in person & online, as well as on Loft Outlet online). I browsed both websites since my nearest Loft store is about 35 minutes away. I made a pretend cart in both sites and compared the savings I could get at each place. I decided to go with Loft Outlet and grabbed a few classic pieces that I'll show in a future post (a ballet neckline polka dot dress, a linen skirt, etc.) as well as a couple of 'out of the norm' pieces that I wanted to try. 

One piece was a black long sleeve sweater with faux pearl buttons on the wrists. I only have one other long sleeve sweater (from 10 years ago) so I figured it was probably prudent to have a cozy long sleeve option for these winter days. I wasn't sure how the pearl buttons would affect my opinion of the sweater but I really like it!

The other thing I chose outside of my comfort zone was a pair of cheetah print pants. I thought they'd go well with the black sweater, and bring some pep to my pants options. I've worn the outfit a couple of times already and it's very comfortable.

The pants are super comfy with a little bit of stretch.  They have a normal zipper and slide-clip closure and fit true to size. I ordered a petite length & they stop right at my ankles. 

The solid black sweater calms down the cheetah print of the pants. I wore bold black fabric rainbow tassel earrings with the outfit once but have since settled on wearing pearl studs to accent the sweater sleeves. 

The first time I wore this outfit to school, I paired them with my black & gold snakeskin flats but since then I've put them with my new running shoes. 

Over the Christmas break, I realized that I was having some issues with one of my big toes. I saw a podiatrist in January and he diagnosed me with extremely flat feet and slight bunions. He says because my ankles turn inward so much when I stand, my big toes actually cannot move and end up getting smashed against the top of my shoes. This in turn causes trauma on my toenails, leading to bleeding & bruising and nail separation. Actually, soon I will have to return to the podiatrist in order to get a toenail removed due to so much trauma. At this initial appointment, he told me to invest in some good running shoes and he gave me some medical quality orthotic inserts to put into the running shoes. 

I had to work up to wearing the inserts for 8 hours a day. As my foot reshapes itself so that my ankles straighten, my toes will begin to flex again as I walk (which they're supposed to do) and I won't have future toenail trauma. During this process, my feet (one in particular) constantly hurts on its underside as the insert is pushing my muscles into a proper arch. I know this will eventually get better though! 

Since I had to pick out a pair of running shoes & spend more money than I typically spend on shoes, I wanted something that was neutral enough to wear with lots of outfits but also something that had some personality. I narrowed it down to an Adidas pair from Nordstrom online & an Asics pair from Amazon. I went with the Asics pair (they were a bit cheaper & my mother in law recommended the brand). I chose a black pair with rose gold accents. I happened to have them on one day when I was wearing the same outfit as above. 

I pulled the hem of the pants up slightly to show the whole shoe in the photo. 

This is the outside edge of the shoe. 

Here's the inner edge.  

I've worn these shoes each day since I received them and I really like the color combo. The rose gold acts as a sensible pop of color which keeps the shoes "work wear appropriate." Maybe this spring I'll find a lighter color combo to accentuate the brighter spring wardrobe colors. 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba