Thursday, October 17, 2019

Seven Questions







I don't think I have a specific favorite color but I definitely lean toward blue-purple-grays.  My current favorites are  Essie Toned DownEssie Petal Pushers and  Essie Winning Streak.   The one non-negotiable in doing my nails is Seche Vite top coat.  I've talked about it for years but it dries CRAZY fast and super shiny and helps my manicure last.  


Which leads me to the second question... I paint my nails in the evening while I do computer work.  I'm still able to type because the top coat works so quickly.  I've even been known to paint my nails and then walk out the door and go to school.  I really can't say enough good things about the top coat!





Luke asked about Santa a couple of years ago and it's actually been really fun having him in on the fun.  I answered some questions about it and talked about how we handled the conversation with him in the following video...



Oh, girl.  I feel like this question has been the bane of my existence for YEARS!!!  When we first started with Legos I was hell bent on keeping sets together and had little bins and baggies for the pieces and books.  Luke LOVED taking the sets apart and mixing them together for new creations so that changed into color-coded bins and then color-coded bins based on shape/size.  I KNOW.  One day I gave myself permission to just throw them all in a bin together and have never looked back :)  My boys LOVE having big boxes of pieces to sift through and use and there's no guilt in just tossing them all in there when they're done playing.  

We have four of these large bins under Luke's bed and they're great because you can't see them and since they don't have lids he can just slide them out like drawers, pull out what he needs and then slide them back under.  Mason's bed has drawers underneath it and he has a mix of Legos in there as well.  Special projects that they want displayed go on their shelves and that's it!



WE LOVE MUSIC and have lots of different favorites depending on the mood/activity.

I created this playlist for just hanging around the house...


This one for hanging out at the pool...


and this one when we're feeling festive...


We also love this one...


And this...


This is another one of my FAVES...


And of course we listen to our fair share of Kids Bop :)   We also have Pandora and listen to Jazz for Studying when we do our reading time.  Pandora has a ton of stations you can browse by activity (studying, focusing, etc.).


Right?!?! I just got a new AC unit, so I think it's even :) hahaha  Last year we got Dave tickets to see STOMP (he's a BIG percussion guy) and he said it was his favorite gift ever.  I'm hoping I can figure out another experience-based gift for him this year as well.




I LOOOOVE this question because I LOVE a good sweatshirt!!!  I love Evy's Tree for "nicer" pieces that I can wear to school, church, out, etc....

Image result for momfessionals evy's tree

But I also love a good, oversized sweatshirt with leggings around the house and while I'm partial to comfort colors (if you've followed me for a while you'd probably recognize my big Sky Ranch sweatshirt) I also love a fun pop culture reference on a sweatshirt or big long sleeve tee...



I've heard great things about the pullovers and hoodies from Aerie but don't own any personally so I can't speak to the quality - if you've tried them let me know what you think!



This is probably the question I get asked the most often and while I wish there was a simple answer there's just not.  I will say that working outside of the home has always helped keep me present when I am home.  I know that my time after school with my kids is limited so I try to make the absolute most of it.  

Maintaining friendships (outside of a group text - hahaha) can be a bit of a challenge for me since my days are pretty packed AND I tend to go a bit "hermit" when I'm at home :)  All that to say, I do try to make girls nights a priority because I've yet to go out with my friends and not come home feeling lighter and more connected.

As far as marriage goes, Dave's work schedule doesn't leave a lot of free evenings for traditional "date nights" and while that bothered me early on in our marriage - we've learned to make the most of it and have our fair share of late night "pj date nights" with a movie and takeout at home.  We've found that it doesn't take grand gestures to feed our marriage but rather daily "tending" to it through acts of service and lots of communication. 



One last comment about "balance" - I think that it's totally normal for priorities and "balance" to shift and change.  There are super busy periods at work where school takes up more time than I'd like and slower times when I have lots of time to be super intentional and present at home... and just when I feel like I have a good balance something shifts and needs more of my time/attention :)  Recognizing that I'm not a bad parent JUST because I need to focus on work this week or not a bad teacher JUST because I can't stay until 5:00 for tutoring every day has been essential in giving myself some grace to find the balance I need.

If you have any tips about balancing alllll the things leave them in the comments!

Happy Thursday, friends!!!

PS - this post contained affiliate links... thank you so much for reading and supporting my blog!

8 comments :

  1. Great post! Years ago I spent 7 hours one day organizing Legos. It lasted a week. Sigh.

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  2. ALL THE YES to your balance post!! So much easier on myself when I know it's just a season or just "this week is crazy and my house is going to look like a tornado and THAT is ok b/c we are busy" Love your blog and family!

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  3. Will you be sharing kids' gift guides this year?!

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  4. Thank you for sharing the Santa chat again! My oldest is 8.5 this Christmas and I have a feeling (based on his previous comments about the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny) that we might be having this conversation this year.

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  5. Aerie sweatshirts and tops are MADE for you. I recently bought the desert sweatshirt and ran and bought more colors immediately. They are over sized and SO comfortable! There are several other tops and sweaters that I have my eye on. All over sized and cozy. RUN!

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  6. Years ago, when my kids were about the same ages as yours are now, we needed to find some balance too. We had a big chalkboard in our kitchen and listed 3 “essentials” for our family. Basically, if an offer, invitation, idea, etc came in, we would look to see if it fit in our “top three”. If it did not, we said “no”. At the time, we just needed to re-balance and figure out what our long-term goals were as a family....it really helped.

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  7. Aerie sweatshirts are AWESOME!! They regularly have 30/40% off sales as well!!

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