Photo Round Up: March

I'll try to write more soon on how we're beating boredom & sometimes welcoming it now that we're home for the unforeseen future.

For now, here are some photos from the month.

A two-year old selfie:

Shooting a pretend fire extinguisher with an onlooking princess.

All three at the sandbox.  All things considered, they have played very nicely together most of the time.

A real-live firefighter!

Some kind of alien/super-hero something. :)

Michael has been very creative and comes up with recipe ideas. He wanted to create a special dessert of cookie crumbs and Cool Whip with sprinkles on top so I obliged.  He happily ate his dessert as a snack over the next few nights.  :)

On the night he made it, they all tested it out.  Looks like a success!

We had to try on our soccer jerseys!

The first soccer game was very cold!  Michael's game was first, so I watched my two littles go down the slide for an hour until it was time for Noah's game.

I think we might have been watching Moana on this day, so she had to be a mermaid.

One sunrise that week was amazing!  I try to snap a picture of these when I can.

On the Friday that our state entered those affected by the virus, we ate our dinner in the car after I grocery shopped.

The following day we had our second soccer game.  Hopefully we'll get to have more games after this whole thing settles down nationwide.

She wanted to be a unicorn, so I taped a rolled up toilet-paper roll on top of a princess crown.

I braided her hair into pigtails so that she could be Anna from Frozen.

Sandbox fun at one of their grandma's house this past week!

Michael squeezed himself into a little plastic car and as long as he's having fun, I'm okay with it.

Noah wrote his whole name in chalk and was so proud of himself!  So am I!

We ordered the game "Spot It!" from Amazon and it's so cute and fun and can be played by all ages!  It even comes with an additional card where you can mix up how the game is played to make it a bit tougher (ie, how I'll have to play with Aaron from here on out).

She was telling me that Akuna licked her ear. :)

Here she's being a strawberry princess.

Last week, we incorporated a little bit of school work each day.  This week is their official spring break so I'm not making them do school unless they want to.

He wanted to see what his face looked like if he was the butterfly who was caught.

Slide fun!

She's just so pretty!

We have been thoroughly enjoying our time outside! Fortunately, we've had a string of really warm sunny days which is good for morale and sanity!  Yesterday and today it was gloomy and cloudy, but we're hopeful that the sun will reappear soon!

Sometimes, all she wants is a bucket of soapy water so she can wash Easter eggs and her legs and hands.  These days, why not?

I love that he still likes to take pictures with me!

This is the other game we ordered from Amazon.  It's sooo much fun to play!

Just a girl and her daddy relaxing on the couch!  I cannot get over her smile!

She asked me to paint her fingernails blue.  I happened to have some blue on hand, so we fulfilled this request.

Our church service was online on Sunday, so Avery was wondering why Grampa Bill wasn't also behind the screen. :)

I recently bought "clown balloons" (with my own money) for a classroom experiment and I had tons left over so I grabbed them one day last week before our school was closed for deep cleaning.  I whipped out the balloons on Sunday afternoon to try my hand at animal creations.  Turns out, the boys were pretty okay with snakes. :)

Avery wanted a puppy, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

I tried creating a flower which I think came out okay, but I'll certainly be trying it more during this week.

He asked if I could take his picture at dinner yesterday.  Sure!  We did a drive-through order at Cook Out restaurant-- the boys' new favorite!

After dinner, Aaron and Michael played a dirt bike game and they had two little onlookers!

I hope this was a fun peek into our lives!  I'll update more as these days at home continue. :)


Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Mindless Shopping Post

In the midst of all the weird times around us, I find some solace in mindless shopping.  I don't buy these things, I just make constant shopping cart additions and wish lists, then wait til the items sell out and start all over. :)  It's not the buying that makes me happy (it actually makes it worse, which is why I don't buy), it's the actual shopping and imagining part that brings me a bit of happiness, so that's what I'm choosing to focus on.

Zulily:

Year-long subscription to HGTV and Food Network magazines. 

This is a really fantastic deal because you get both magazines for a whole year for $20.  Usually, each magazine is about $5 each if you get it at the newsstand or in the grocery store check-out line.  I did buy this subscription last year from Zulily and it was so much fun to get these magazines throughout the year!  I'm not sure I'll get the subscription again since I saved all of the magazines from last year and therefore have enough decoration projects and recipes to keep me busy for quite some time. :)


Year-long subscription to Good Housekeeping and Better Homes and Gardens magazines. 

Obviously, I have a thing for putting magazine subscriptions into my online shopping carts.  This set is a really good deal too, though, because you get a year's subscription to both of these magazines for just $9.  I've had this subscription a few years ago and it was fun to see different fashion options and fitness routines and various home cleaning methods-- you know, things women are interested in learning about.


Sign-Language Necklace

This necklace is delicate and sweet and showcases the American Sign Language symbol for "I love you."  This particular phrase is super important to me since we used it in my family a lot while growing up because my little brother is hearing-impaired.  My kiddos know the phrase and hand signal now which is extra sweet.


Elsa Nightgown (toddler)

For a little girl who just discovered Frozen (as of a few months ago) and Frozen 2 (as of last week), this little nightgown would provide some good dress-up time as well as hopefully an easier bedtime routine ("Time to put on the Elsa dress!"). 


Window Markers

I thought this looked equally interesting and terrifying.  Maybe it's something fun to keep kiddos occupied while we have to stay inside for much of the day.  On the other hand, are we potentially teaching our kiddos that drawing on windows is okay?  I, for one, know of a little girl who wouldn't fully understand that only certain markers could be used for this activity....



Old Navy:

Right now, Old Navy is having a 50% off sale, so I browsed around and found some things that might be helpful this summer.


Faux-Leather Pool-Side Sandals

Both of my boys have asked for sandals that they can easily slide on their feet so we can go outside quickly without having to pause to put on actual shoes.  I saw these and thought that they would be perfect for quickly getting on, and they'd also do well around the pool this summer!


Perforated Pop-color sneakers for girls

I've admired the more expensive "Native" brand of these type of shoes but can never justify spending so much on a pair of shoes for feet that will rapidly grow.  When Old Navy came out with their own version (in my absolute FAVORITE shade of pink!) I quickly added these to my cart for Avery.


Pop-Color Flip Flops for women

At $2.51, these might be making their way to me as a simple beach/pool flip flop.  Again, I chose the blush color but am also smitten with the turquoise and the coral.


LOFT:

LOFT is one of my favorite stores to find sale items for work-appropriate wear.  I usually buy things when they're on sale and when LOFT is offering an extra percentage off on sale items.  This also means that I'm buying things out of season.  So I'll buy winter items in the summer and summer items in the winter, etc.  Sometimes this is a bummer because I don't get to wear the items immediately when they arrive, but it's worth it when the appropriate season rolls around and I've got new clothes that I paid less than $10 for. :)

Knit Jogger Skirt:

This skirt, based on the pictures and reviews, seems like it would be the perfect easy-to-wear spring and summer skirt!


Petite Flecked Peplum Vintage Top

Peplum is an interesting trend.  It can either look flattering or it can make someone look pregnant who's not. I'm careful with the types of peplum I wear, which means I don't wear it a lot.  This shirt from LOFT looks like it might have possibilities.  And the shirt fabric looks like funfetti cake batter so that's extra fun!


Heart Necklace 

This necklace is so sweet and dainty and could work with outfits all year long!


Hopefully this offers a little fun distraction to what's happening around us.  I'll try to do another post from other stores this week like Nordstrom, Anthropologie, and Amazon.

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Lyrical Sundays: Look Up, Child

This song has been going through my head a lot these days, although that is true about many songs and I'm finding the lyrics of several songs to be applicable to our strange social distancing phenomenon right now.  However, these words are what's in my head today.

Look Up Child, by Lauren Daigle

Where are You now
When darkness seems to win?
Where are You now
When the world is crumbling?

Oh I, I-I-I, I hear You say
I hear You say

Look up child, ayy
Look up child, ayy

Where are You now (where are You?)
When all I feel is doubt?
Oh, where are You now
When I can't figure it out?

Oh I, I-I-I, I hear You say
I hear You say

Look up child, ayy
Look up child, ayy
Look up child, ayy
Look up child, ayy
Look up

You're not threatened by the war
You're not shaken by the storm
I know You're in control
Even in our suffering
Even when it can't be seen
I know You're in control

Oh I, I-I-I, I hear You say
I hear You say

Look up child, ayy
Look up child, ayy
Look up child, oh-oh-oooh
I hear You say, You say, You say
Look up child, ayy
I hear You say, You say, You say (look up, look up, look up, look up)
Look up child, oh-ooh, ooh, oh-oooh
I hear You say, You say, You say
Look up child, ayy
I hear You say, You say, You say (look up, look up, look up, look up)
Look up child
(I hear You say, You say, You say) 
I hear You, I hear You calling my name, oh (Look up child, ayy)
I hear You say, You say, You say (look up, look up)
Look up child, ayy
Look up child, ayy
Look up

***

Hope these words help you out as we navigate these next few weeks out of our comfort zones. 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Well, that escalated quickly

Odd times we're living in, huh?

I've been wishing for extra time with my kiddos and eagerly looking forward to Spring Break and this week I was granted three weeks of Spring Break and am trying my very very hardest to soak up these days and create special memories during this extra time with my children.  Of course, if I got to choose the perfect circumstances to spend this time, I wouldn't have chosen a pandemic obviously, but I am trying to remind myself that time is time and I need to spend it wisely.

Next week was supposed to be our Spring Break but we were given this week and the week after next as additional time to socially distance ourselves.  By March 30th, we will be told whether we return to school in April or if we are facing more time off or other school options (like doing school through Google Classroom, etc.).

Last week was such a blur.  I tried to keep a calm environment in my classroom though my students (mostly 9th graders) were becoming increasingly nervous as the week progressed.  Thanks to technology and smart watches that my students have, they were notified immediately when the first case was diagnosed in our state. About an hour later, I received an automated phone message from our superintendent saying that school would release at noon the following Thursday (which would've meant today), so that teachers could undergo training for how to utilize Google Classroom.  I already know how to utilize it since this is the medium we use when our students are sent to the county's alternative school.  I found it odd that students were going to have to come back to school the following day (the 20th) and then would be released for spring break at the end of school on that day.

Over the next several hours, the plan kept shifting.  At one point, we were told that school would be cancelled for Thursday and Friday but that teachers and students needed to come on Monday through Wednesday.  Later, we were told that we'd be out from Wednesday through April 6th.  The following day we were told that if students stayed home on Monday through Wednesday that their absence would not count against them at school.  At that point, I was solidified in my decision to keep my sons out of school on those days.  By the following day (Sunday evening), we were told that school was officially closed from Monday March 16th through April 6th and we did not have to do any online schooling during that time.

Having been home-schooled during several different years while growing up, I knew of the basic structure I'd need to set up with my kids at home.  In addition, being a teacher now and having to create content or utilize resources to find content for my own lesson plans, I knew that I could come up with adequate material for my sons. I'm still so so happy to see all of the free resources being shared online for parents who find themselves home with their kiddos attempting to home school.  Although our school district is not requiring online schooling right now, the elementary school teachers are being very proactive about listing topics by grade level and outlines of lesson plans to follow along with.  Both of my sons use computer programs at school and we are able to access those at home too.  I will give them their official spring break next week, but have already incorporated school work into this first week at home and will continue this during the last week of March as well.  This week, we've eased into it with just a worksheet or two everyday sprinkled in with some computer programs and lots of reading.  I'd like to add in some National Geographic shows (available on Disney+) and hopefully be able to see some of the virtual field trips and virtual national park tours during our time off together.

For my own classes, I've made it a personal mission to finish my lesson planning for the rest of the year while I'm off.  This would be SUCH a weight off my shoulders, so I'm really pulling for myself to get it done!  I've done a little bit here and there this week, and it helps that I've been able to use some of these weeks that I've already planned out and bump those plans into April.  Aaron is off tomorrow so I really do plan to use a chunk of time to nail some things down and create my PowerPoints (I have lots of outlines right now).  I'd ambitiously like to finish everything tomorrow.  I feel as though that would give me the mental permission I need in order to relax and further enjoy my time off.

We had planned to take a trip down to our family beach town.  We rented an airbnb way back in early January and we were SO looking forward to this trip.  However, with the hit of the pandemic in our part of the country, and not wishing to be stranded in a remote town during this ordeal, we chose to reevaluate our plans.  Airbnb offered full refunds to people who booked within a certain date range for a certain trip time frame.  We fell into their categories and were able to get our money back.  The host of the house we had booked was so accommodating and kind.  I told her that we plan to book the exact same place in early summer (depending on how quickly the virus dissipates).

Although I'm certainly an expert at burdening myself and checking the news stories too much during the day, I'm going to make a conscious effort from here on out to limit my time online and to take photos of my kids (with my phone and with my nice camera) and join in their games and really work on those memory creations.  I bake when I need to relax but I'm worried I'll run out of supplies, so I might try to make a morning store-run tomorrow while Aaron is home so I can get some baking supplies to sustain us.

Wherever you are, I wish you peace and the hope that things will get better and that we'll all come out of this more appreciative of our daily routines and comforts.

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Photo Round Up: February

Here's an assortment of photos from February. We've tried to stay busy, but safe in this wintery weather. Noah and I have both had the flu. Michael & Noah have both had strep. Noah finished out this last week of February with pink eye. Avery & Aaron have so far escaped unscathed. I'm praying it stays this way!

Here's to welcoming in March with open arms and a new set of busyness and also a much needed anticipated Spring Break!

Avery had a couple days where she wanted to wear "hairbows."  This was a day when we needed to show Aunt Bethany how pretty the hairband looked on Avery.  Aunt Bethany bought this hairband when she found out that Avery was on the way!

Avery has recently discovered Frozen so we've watched it a thousand times.  One day, I paused it so we could go to the library and grocery store and Noah thought Elsa froze the TV.

Avery is obsessed with brushing her "teef."  She loves to brush them, but then will smile so that I'll say "Oh wow! They're beautiful!"

I told her to stay away from our old Christmas tree box that I was going to throw away.  This is how I found her ten minutes later.

Noah and I battled out the flu together.

Michael has always been my reader rabbit.  He devours books and is always so excited to get a new one!

This was the set-up on the night before Valentine's Day!

Valentine's morning!  Noah and Avery were up first and both of them found their Skittles and Reese's heart right away!

Avery loved her little Princess dress-up set!

Michael got a new book and was already lost in the pages before school this day.

Noah got a Lego street sweeper that we put together that afternoon.  He LOVES it!

Avery found her brothers' stickers from school and they were both nice enough to let her have free reign with the sticker packs.

Avery and her trusty royal dog, Akuna.

I love it when the weather is nice enough for us to all play outside after school!  This was a rare day last week in between all of our days of down-pouring rain.

My oldest and me.  He is such a sweetie!

The two younger ones playing with slime or Playdoh.

One is reading for homework and one is listening.

She wanted to be Yoshi.  Immediately after putting this hat on her, she asked me if we could go look in the mee-row (Mirror). :)

He reads so much that he falls asleep while doing it.  I snapped this picture earlier this week.  I thought it was too cute to pass up!

She likes seeing herself in the selfie feature of the camera!

Noah used some balloons earlier this week to be police lights on top of his head.  He would then walk around our living room and kitchen making siren sounds. :)

We have watched a lot of "Doc McStuffins" lately and Avery was pretending to make this stuffed animal all better.

On Tuesday of this week, Avery got to go to Michael's school to have a picnic lunch with him.  So sweet!

That wraps up our February photo collection.  Hopefully March isn't met with as much sickness or rain!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Recipe: Kielbasa, peppers, and onions

One of the quickest weeknight meals we make is kielbasa, peppers, and onions.  Sometimes, we forget about this meal and once we bring it back into our rotation, we wonder how we ever forgot about it at all.

This is a recipe my mom and dad would make when I was growing up.  It's so easy and simple and Aaron loves it as much as I do.  With our kids, it's still hit or miss because of onions and our kids' semi-make-believe aversion to them based upon how they feel on any particular day. :)

Recipe:  Kielbasa, Peppers, and Onions

Ingredients:
-kielbasa (we buy the Hillshire Farm version)
-1 or 2 green bell peppers
-1 sweet onion
-sesame seeds
-egg noodles
-(butter for the pan)


Process:
-Start boiling a pot of water for the noodles.  When the water is rolling, drop in about a cup of noodles.  You'll serve the meat & veggie over the noodles or you can mix it all up together at the end.
-Cut the kielbasa on the bias.  We use the whole sausage roll but you can use half if you prefer.
-Add some butter to a skillet and bring it to medium-high heat.
-Chop the onion and bell pepper.
-If your skillet is big enough, you can add the sausage, peppers, and onions at the same time and cook until the onion is transparent.
-If your skillet is smaller, cook the sausage first until it's slightly charred and warmed all the way through (the Hillshire Farm brand comes pre-cooked).  Remove the meat from the heat and add in the veggies to the skillet and cook until the onions are transparent, then add the meat back to the skillet.
-When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, then return to the pot or you can add it straight to the skillet.
-Sprinkle sesame seeds all over the meat, veggies, and pasta.  This adds just the right finishing touch!

Try this out and let me know what you think!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Little Valentine's Day Touches

Every holiday is automatically ramped up in excitement when viewed through the eyes of a little kid.  Add in school Valentine's parties or special snacks, and you've got yourself some excited kiddos!  Any chance I can take to make the holidays (and even some "regular" days) fun and interesting and memorable to my kids is certainly a heart-cry of mine.

Several years ago, before my boys were old enough to remember Valentine's Day, I bought these little felt envelopes from the Target Dollar Spot and on a whim I bought the only pink felt envelope that Target had.  At that time, we had no plans to have a third child anywhere in the near future.  It was about two years after that when Avery was born and I knew I'd get to put that sweet little pink felt envelope to use!  So now each year on Valentine's Day, I stick a little prize and/or candy into the envelopes for each of my kids. They get so excited about it and it's just something extra special to remind them how very very loved they are.  This year, I grabbed some simple candies a few weeks ago and Aaron & I were able to pick up some little gifts for each kiddo earlier this week that I'll stick into their envelopes tonight so that they're ready in the morning for the kids to see as soon as they walk into the living room!

This year, each kiddo will get a Reese's peanut butter cup shaped heart and a little plastic heart filled with Skittles.  These are candies that each of my kids can easily eat and since all the candies are the same, then I eliminate the potential bickering of "I wanted to have that candy instead!" :)

Michael has been begging us for the latest "Dog Man" book, so his wish is coming true and he will receive the book "Fetch-22" in addition to his little candies.

Noah will receive a little street sweeper Lego set that he can build over the weekend. It's so super cute and it comes with a little trash-can and some Lego "trash" (ie, a banana and some random little Legos that are supposed to resemble trash).  He received several little Lego sets at his birthday party and he's really good at putting them mostly together on his own.  This little street sweeper set will be right up his alley.

Avery has recently become obsessed with the Frozen movie and will break into the song "Let it Go" at random intervals.  :)  We decided that since she's getting to the age of dress up and liking all things princess, etc., that she should have one of those little princess dress up kits with the plastic high-heel shoes, little crown, and Tiara.  We chose to get her a Cinderella set since she's seen the movie and liked it, and also because this set was light blue and she can pretend that it's a "Frozen" set if she wants to.

I'm SO PUMPED for the kids to see their little gifts tomorrow!  I almost gave all the gifts to them on Monday night when I got them just because I was so excited about them!  My parents always had some small gift for my brothers and me-- a little chocolate heart box or game we could play. It's so much fun getting to do similar things for my own kids.

In addition to these little gifts, I have also tried to add in some extra fun to our home this past week.

I hung up a little "XOXO" garland on our mantle and displayed a little string-art heart that one of the boys made at a Home Depot craft day.  I also changed out my Season's Changing Wreath to showcase the February felt flowers and banner.  On our coat closet, I hung up my Valentine's foam-heart craft.  All of these little touches were noticed by my kiddos and it makes them feel like our home is extra cozy and festive.

Earlier this week, I made a brownie pudding trifle.  This is hands-down my favorite dessert and I'm not sure why it took me so long to bring it back into rotation.  I chose sugar free pudding mix to make it a little easier on the carbs.

I made my own homemade brownies, let them cool, then sliced them up into one-inch squares.  While the brownies baked, I whipped up the pudding mix-- I chose Chocolate Fudge, but the white chocolate pudding is also really good. Once the brownies were cooled and the pudding was set, I layered brownie pieces, a few big spoonfuls of pudding, and some thawed Cool Whip into a glass bowl.  I repeated the layers three times then added a few chocolate chips to the top.  The boys were super super excited the whole time I was making the dessert.  We talked about what a trifle was and both of them helped me mix different items at different stages.  That night after dinner, we each got to have a bowlful (in the living room no less!) while watching "The Princess Bride."  Believe it or not, that was my first time watching it all the way through.  Aaron was shocked when I told me I hadn't seen it, so we rented it from our library and decided that it was going to be perfect when paired with the trifle.

All three kiddos got to have some leftover trifle yesterday after school which they loved.

These little touches and additions to our home or routine just help make holidays all the more festive and memorable and I'm overly excited to do these things for my kiddos!

Happy early Valentine's Day!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba