did we buy the keurig for the kid?

If we ever move, there are certain things I will really insist on taking. The first thing is our Keurig. Man, I love that thing! And we use it for so much more than coffee and tea. You can add the hot water for oatmeal or for Ramen or instant macaroni. It's such a great device.

My budding little chef has been exploring her way around the kitchen. She has advanced from pancakes on the griddle to egg sandwiches on the stove. And she rotates in fruit smoothies at breakfast now, too. She likes using our little Ninja blender. She has been improving her baking skills. Even the cookie decorating skills have kicked it up a notch. 

Last night we made homemade fried rice and I gave her instant rice to cook while I sautéed the chicken. If only she read the directions... I mean, why read the directions!? It's three little steps... Oh dear. She adds the rice and the water and starts to boil, only to realize that you need to boil the water only first. So she uses the strainer to strain out the water and leaves the wet rice in the strainer while she re-measures and reboils the water. I mean, I personally would've read the directions AND followed them. But she's 12. She's got this! 😂 Fortunately, the rice turned out okay.

While we waited for the food to cook, she made us cocoa with the Keurig. A regular gal would do cocoa with whipped cream or marshmallows. Not this gal. Just like everything else she does in the kitchen, it's go big or go home. She has been experimenting with flavors by adding my coffee creamers or extracts. 

Not too shabby! If she likes to cook, I like that. If she is self-sufficient, I like that. If she is creative and having fun, I like that. She always offers to make me one of whatever she is having. 95% of the time she even cleans most of the messes up. 

These are the appliances we have that she can safely use and will eventually go wherever I go:

Keurig

Electric griddle

Waffle/panini maker (she makes eggs in hers!)

A Ninja (or other blender)

An air fryer (safer than the stove) 

Toaster

when you show your kid the real...

It has been interesting over here transitioning from a younger kid to an older kid/preteen. We have been learning the ropes as we go and there are all the feels over here. The little, cutsie things are old hat and she just wants to weed out some of the young kid stuff and only do the fun (to her) stuff. It is sad to think some of those fun parenting things are over. However, we now get a break and can just enjoy more time together.

The tooth fairy went to the wayside during Covid because if we were quarantined, how could she get in?! And there went the Easter bunny. THOSE were fine by me. Digging around for an old tooth at night and remembering the money... Trying to explain how a tiny bunny reached our door handle to get in... I am good that this part is over. She was too smart for those tales anyways.

We haven't colored Easter eggs in a couple years. I always offer, but nah. Do you want to do an egg hunt? Nah. We haven't carved a pumpkin in years because she says, EW. Granted, we did paint them two years ago, but that was it. No carving or decorating. 

Santa is gone. That makes wrapping easier! But then there goes sprinkling reindeer food in the yard and leaving out milk and cookies :(. My absolute favorite of all this--- NO MORE ELF!!! No more popping out of bed to move that thing in the middle of the night. No more hearing, "How come so and so's elf does cooler stuff than mine?!" So, there's another back and forth on the fence of growing up. Only one set of wrapping paper! But... no more cutsie pictures, no more Santa lap photos. 

There's just too much to take in! For every relief it's over, I mentally groan that it is indeed over. Now she can move the Elf every time little friends come over. We will eat the cookies and drink the milk before bed. She can pass the reindeer "food" recipe to her little cousin. The spirit will live on. It will just look different. 

My head is relieved, but my heart is torn. We didn't even carol because she didn't want to be embarrassed. Oh, to be a preteen again! In the meantime, I can enjoy the actual moments with her and not wake up panicking that I forgot some key memory she should be having. I don't have to force canned memories and or cheesey photos upon her. We can sip our decaf coffee drinks, drive all night looking for the cool Christmas lights, and then come home to watch girly romantic Christmas movies 😀

wait, you DON'T sew?!

Remember that time we scoured for JUST the right Halloween costume? It had to be a Cookie Monster onsie. And it had to be JUST the right onsie. We needed one in just the right size and fit to match the Elmo onsie the BFF will be wearing. Amazon for the win!

HOWEVER... those dag nab eyeballs. It was all good until we washed it. I mean, it came shrink wrapped in plastic, but it still felt like it needed a wash. You just never know. And even though it never saw the dryer, those eyeballs came right off in the wash.

It took a slight minute, but I found matching thread and like a good mama, I sewed those eyeballs right back on. I have always been able to sew. It's not perfect by any means, but I am good at fixing things. I am in the process of teaching my daughter the basics of sewing so we never have eyeball emergencies again 😂

Learn to sew. It's not hard. It's an important skill when you have a kid. If you have a kid who is a scout, think of ALL those patches and ALL those vests! You also have wardrobe adjustments, broken straps, hemmed pants or skirts, stuffed animals that have been nibbled by the dog, you know. The usual! The costume emergency has been fixed and we are now ready to trick-or-treat.

family fun at the zoo

I don't know what it is about animals, but they are fascinating. They are magestic. They bring families together for a lovely day out. They provoke smiles and conversations (my favorites!). They are just fun.

Our lovely local library had end of summer giveaways and my kid and I each won family passes to the Brookfield Zoo. We invited a few different people to go and ended up with a rag tag group heading into Brookfield, IL. It was our first trip there, so we left early with plenty of snacks, drinks, sunscreen, road trip games, and battery life in our phones.

Despite the day being September 30th, it was really warm outside! We laughed and walked and saw all the animals. The zoo was lovely. It was set up so that each animal felt more at home in nature with natural looking habitats and enclosures. I would highly recommend this zoo for anyone willing to make the drive.

We even did our good deed and gave away our last free ticket to a family who wanted it. We had an extra. Since there's only so much room in my car, that means one less seat to fill so one extra ticket left. I hope I never get to old for a day at the zoo. AND I hope my daughter always finds joy in family time, nature, and the outdoors.

in a land of pizza joints, we still make our own

Growing up, I was well versed in helping to make homemade noodles, homemade sauces, stuffed peppers and all the things homemade. It's what I knew and it's what my daughter gets to know. We are always willing to try some new recipe. We learned to make gnocchi, perogies, cobbler, macarons. This time we tried a new recipe and made homemade pizza a new way.

Costco had a bag of pizza crust that we wanted to try. We made one batch of crust and divided it into thirds so everyone could have their own pizza. It was easy. Add the things and let the crust sit over night, then roll it out. Done.

Crust from Costco, sauce from Meijer, sausage from Schnucks, cheese and garnish from Aldi. We like to shop around ;) It was SO hot last week that this was a nice, easy meal that wasn't just salad and sandwiches. We had a pepperoni pizza, a sausage, and a sausage with olives and onion. Fortunately, we still have our Pizzazz, so we didn't have to heat up the kitchen and make ourselves more miserable.

The only thing we wasted was the opportunity to eat all at once. We were only able to cook one pizza at a time, so we ate one at a time. When you are hot and cranky already, staggering mealtime doesn't make one bit of difference. Pizza night in 115 degree heat worked. It was fun, new, and really good! 

the bucket list has been completed!

Ah, the summer bucket list. We started doing this about 5 years ago. We each pick 5 activites to accomplish, big or small, crazy or calm. I usually try to pick an at home activity to counteract all the driving and spending my kid chooses to do, a cooking or crafting project, and a fun day trip. Then I fill in the rest with whatever fun we haven't seen or done.

This summer I was delightfully pleased to see a variety on this list. I was even able to one-up my little one-upper by taking her mall day (she envisioned Cherryvale Mall) to the next level. I managed to squeeze in the Mall of America without ruining the surprise. She shocked me with a baking day, but to add a twist, she wanted to donate the stuff we made. I killed two birds with one stone by hosting a playdate where we baked and our friend took half home. Everyone wins!

I hope our tradition continues as she ages. I know I will not be cool mom forever, but for now I have nailed it. Once this bucket list ends, I don't know what I will do! I got SO many thank you's this summer, so many arm in arm walks, so many snuggles and a few mother-daughter sleepovers. My heart is full. My cup runneth over. And to think, I have a list of fun to thank.

All ten items are scratched off. We nailed it. Vini, Vidi, Vicci. Farewell summer of fun. Farewell (for now) laughter and shenanigans!

summer baking fun

Someone I know put a baking day on her summer bucket list. The exact wordage was "baking day/ donate what we bake". I am always down for a baking day despite the 86 degree temps outside. We love to bake, we love to experiment with our baking, and it's a great way to turn off the TV and do something hands on. Who could say no to staying at home in pajamas and eating cookie dough?!

We used the cookie recipe on the back of the chocolate chips and I am sad to say, the cookies looked like crap. They tasted perfect, but for some reason they didn't bake the way I expect a cookie to look. Note to self: stick to the recipes we know. Do NOT veer! It was a rookie move, but now we know.

She also decided to bust out the ol' Easy Bake Oven. The pink cookies with lemon frosting and tiny cookie sandwiches are compliments of the Easy Bake. And after almost a year of that thing sitting in the cupboard, she decided she still loves it and it will be back in our regular baking rotation. Who knew? Everyone needs tiny baked goods in their life every once in a while :)

As for the crackers... we bought this delectable bacon ranch packet from Galena and thought it was a dip mix. It turns out it was for crackers. All you do is combine oil and the mix and shake well. Then add the crackers and shake well. Then they rest for 4 hours and you can eat. Simple enough.

Our little playdate was able to help us bake and she took her share home to her family. We considered that the "donation". The rest will be donated to the snack table at our next camping trip, so everyone wins. I love simple activities that turn into fun days making memories. And not every bucket list item involves me packing a big bag for sunscreen, snacks and cash, so I win!

May is the new December

Oh My... May is here and the flowers are blooming, temps are going up, and so is my to-do list creating. I truly forgot about the May frenzy until a few weeks ago and then BAM. It hits you like a ton of bricks. 

The sunscreen has hardly been pulled out and applied when the emails begin. Tryouts. End of year field trips. Buy your ____ now at our pre-summer pricing! Sports physicals. Registration for next year. Seriously??? I will have her registered before the last day of school and inevitably, it will be a rigamarole of finding the right documents to verify that our address of FIVE YEARS is indeed correct.

Add to that the ever growing list of needs to satisfy a modern day pre-teen:

-I am out of concealer

-I need new ripped jean shorts, but not THOSE. I need MORE rips.

-Where is the white paint? And scissors? And tape? How did we run out of tape???

Despite the chaos, we take it all in stride and I relish tossing all those post-its with the firey passion of an NBA player at play-offs. This year got ahead of me, though. I forgot who I was and what month it was. I got inundated and overwhelmed and may have lost it unknowingly at work. After some deep breathing and a quick apology, I simply opened the emails, calendars, texts, and began writing it all down because we all know avoiding the unavoidable is a terrible idea.

In just a few short weeks it's goodbye to 6th grade. Clubs will be over, registration will be complete, passes are purchased, summer plans are set in stone, and then it's easy street. We will spend June, July and part of August making memories, eating all the ice cream, and reapplying sunscreen. Bring it on! You can't make lemonade without a few lemons and for now, that's okay.

the mom car

You might be a mom if you have some interesting contraptions in your backseat. We got our trusty Jeep car organizer from a garage sale. It holds all the fun for a short drive or a cross country extravaganza. And it has adjustable snaps so I can't even feel it while I drive. Even though she's much older now, I feel confident knowing books, drawing, and other activities are a fingertip away. This helps prevent the dreaded screen addiction and car sickness from too much screen time.

We got the gray bucket at Goodwill. It was too cute to pass up. It has now become a snack bin for any day of the week or any purpose. Drinks and snacks go on one side and garbage goes on the other. It can be wiped out or washed if needed. No, we are no longer in the juice box phase. However, we go to her gym a lot and snacks are always welcome for anyone stuck in the backseat or needing something extra before practice.

She's already 12. We are closer to teens than toddlers. Yet, I keep finding better solutions and better ideas for life simple problems. The newest Taylor Swift song keeps rolling through my head. It's me, HI, I'm the problem it's (NOT) me :) No one goes bored or hungry in my car and I have all the snack stains to prove it...

ice day, snow day, fun day!

Another day home from school means another day to plan some fun! We slept in and then created a tour de casa so we had something fun to do in each room of the house. We had fun collaborating on what to do. The kitchen is our sweet spot, so we decided to create some beignets. I think Princess Tiana would be pleased 😀

Den- PE (aka Twister)

Kitchen- Science (make beignets)

Computer room- Math (start a puzzle)

Living room- Language Arts (aka watch a movie and discuss)

Her room- Health (spa stuff)

My room- Study hall (Play a game)

She enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. It was a nice break from her e-learning and I can only do so much laundry! I could probably craft all day every day, but even I needed a break from my current project.

the best midwest plans include snuggles

After an amazing and fun weekend, it was time for some downtime tonight. I had three choices for movies and the little lady chose Leap Year starring Amy Adams. It is a cutsie movie about a girl trying to propose to her boyfriend while in Ireland. It's just an easy watch that you don't have to explain or be embarrassed about watching. Every once in a while, you just need an easy, enjoyable movie that is NOT on Disney+ or a sci-fi.

We grabbed pillows and blankets and actually put phones down for a mother-daughter snuggle. When the lights got too bright we turned on the astronaut light she got for Christmas. It was perfect mood lighting. Perfect rest. A perfect end to a great weekend.

Every once in awhile the stars aline and the plans fall into place perfectly. We couldn't have tried to have a better family fun weekend! And to end it with snuggles from my pre-teen who isn't too cool for me quite yet... I am lucky. This chilly weather adds even more reasons for snuggles, so I guess I can say I am even grateful for the chill if it gives me the warm blankets and biggest snuggles.

it's Clue 2.0

The 80s and 90s are back, ya'll!!! Someone I know got a Walmart giftcard and used it to buy Clue. She acted shocked and amazed that I have heard of the game. And played it. AND seen the movie!

A $10 giftcard and a $10.88 game. Well worth the dollar I fished out of my wallet. We brewed some hot beverages and played the inaugural round. Then Friday we played as a family. Minus the graphics, it is just as I remember! Everyone now looks fancy. The rooms have better decor and the clue cards are more entertaining, but still the same!

I am so glad that we have a kid who plays games. She plays card games, board games, and (on occasion) video games. She is always down for some friendly competition. And She loves nostalgia. This includes retro games. 

I say it's Miss Scarlett in the dining room, with a candlestick!

getting organized

Huge thanks to Marie Kondo, Tiny Home Nation, and The Home Edit for getting my kid hooked on organization! We love those Netflix shows and actually have some great new storage ideas because of them. We are pretty organized anyways, but going through all the little places no one looks made us realize we could do better. It didn't cost much. It simply took some time to find matching bins/containers.

The linen closet now has all matching baskets. Our closets have all matching hangers. The coat closet has bins for gloves, scarves and hats. The junk drawers have tiny baskets for all that junk. Even the pantry got sorted. 

She actually asked for clear, small bins to put in her bathroom drawers. Thank you, Amazon! She even asked for under drawer storage. Also an easy Amazon purchase. Anything that makes clean up faster and easier is a good purchase!

The after.

Totally worth it!

plants might be the sign of good times!

We got a Christmas cactus 14 years ago. It was huge and pretty, but didn't flower a lot. Then we moved and it flowered almost 6 months of the year. Once 2021 hit, the plant stopped flowering. It was kind of an ironic and sad reflection of how the world was going. 

Last year it started dying. It was the weirdest thing ever. The same lighting, same water, same watering routine. I began to think it was another reflection of how the year was going. I tried everything to save it.

I can't grow anything. I have a black thumb. BUT this plant was symbolic of our new home and new careers in a new town, so it meant something. And for 14 years I had kept it safe and not killed it. We ended up splitting up the huge plant into small little starter plants and sharing them.

My four small plants are safe and well. They are something my daughter and I can tend to together. We check on each other's plants and remind each other to water weekly. My daughter was excited to have a starter plant in her room that came from MY plant that came from my MOM'S plant from many years ago. And finally, her plant is flowering!

Who knew that having a plant could create a mother-daughter hobby and strengthen our bond? She got so excited to show me :) We saved it. And go figure, life is good. We are healthy, happy and employed with good grades and attitudes all around. We will never be the crazy plant ladies, but we have a sign that life is good and maybe 2023 will be, too :)