sidewalk chalk is an underappreciated item!

Remember the good ol' days when you just went outside and played? No agendas, no phones, no plans. Just you and fresh air and fun. It is so nice to head outside and just know that regardless of the season or weather, there's always backyard fun to be had. Even though we don't have a country yard any more, there is still plenty of townie yard fun to be had! 

My kid still plays like that when the snow piles up. She will spend hours digging tunnels and building snowmen. This year she learned how to make snow ice cream. We went sledding and snow boarding on the biggest local hill we could find. I spent the winter freezing and she had to be dragged in each time.

In the summer we ride bikes and walk constantly. There are hammock reading sessions, coloring in the fort, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, swings. And you can't forget about gardening, picking raspberries, and wading in the creek. Kites, cloud gazing, backyard yoga... Man, I love summer! 

Today we were waiting for the bus and we noticed the driveway was cleared off of all the excess ice and snow. I grabbed the sidewalk chalk and we colored while we waited for the bus. We sat there in puffy coats and knit hats with huge puff balls on top. For 6 or 7 minutes, we drew. We chatted. We created. We made it colorful and fun. 

It felt like spring. It was nostalgic. It was fun. Sidewalk chalk is a dollar a box. We pick up boxes here and there from spring to fall. It's so easy. It encourages smiles and creativity. Have you ever turned your driveway into a huge game of Chutes and Ladders? Or hopscotch? Or traced your bodies and colored them in? Or played the alphabet game? Options are endless.

I am here to say that everyone should own sidewalk chalk. I was smiling and happy after our mini drawing session. There was no mess and no cleanup. It is cheap and easy and so underrated! When bike season rolls around, we will be drawing pictures in the roads, on the sidewalks and around town just to spread the smiles. I would say that's a dollar well spent :)

detoxing everything can be so good

We love inspiration. It comes from all different places! I saw this on a friend's FB page and quickly borrowed it. I hear detox and I think diets or treatments or skin care regimens. Detox means so much more than that!

When you clean it up, clean it out, downgrade, downsize, simplify, tidy up,  and rearrange, it can be so much simpler. Granted, it takes some practice. It takes mindfulness. It takes patience. It takes awareness. 

Every winter and summer break, we clean out the junk drawers. We clean out closets. I clean out phone contacts and social media accounts. We toss expired products. We go through coloring books, dried out markers, journals, the whole craft room. It took some time, but we created and established routines.

Now that it is second nature, everyone jumps on board. For 2 or 3 days over each major break, we work together. And then we enjoy. We enjoy the simplification. We enjoy the cleanliness. We enjoy the detoxification. We have less to focus on, mess with, clean around. This leaves more time for fun and laughter and making memories. 

finding gratitude makes us smile

We started doing fun New Year's challenges instead of resolutions I will eventually forget or give up on. A few years ago, we did the coin challenge. We did the hanger challenge. The clutter challenge was a good one. This year we focus on gratitude. You notice we got classy and decorated a Hawaiian Punch bottle!? We also get resourceful for these!

This year we focus on gratitude. It's that time of year when we are itching to get outside, to go on a bike ride, go swimming, or for a walk. We typically go to the Dells in February just to break up the cold and have a little fun. Not this year. Everyone got so excited for 2021 to arrive without even realizing it's the distant, evil cousin of 2020. Instead of focusing on all that snow, the temps, and everything else that hasn't resumed like usual, we're focusing on gratitude. 

We write on slips of paper and drop them in. Done. I even made it easy and put paper under the jar and left a few markers behind it. I don't ask what she's written. I just remind her to put the date on each entry. I do the same. Om New Year's Eve we will dump them put and go through a Year's worth of memories, fun, and gratitude. 

Hopefully it will be enough to fuel us up for a year of positive attitudes and being able to see the bigger picture. One site I saw suggested having each person read someone else's. You could even collage them when you're done (probably won't do that, but it's a nice sentiment). We have a year of camping adventures ahead of us. We have plenty to be grateful for, so I am hoping for a full jar by the end of the year full of memories and gratitude we can all be proud of.

the fun of having a girly one

Sometime during quarantine we changed my daughter's room to a unicorn theme. It's nothing fancy, but there are details here and there that are really cute. We even flipped over her summer quilt and put a huge unicorn on it. Then we made a matching pillowcase. It was a fun way to craft away a day in quarantine!

For the winter months she is back to the trusty paisley duvet set. I was scrolling Amazon the other day and came across this set. It is holy adorable! Of course I had to screenshot it to show her. I immediately thought two things: I am SO jealous we didn't have cuteness like this when I was a kid and Is she too old for this now? (Tear, tear at that thought!)

The good news is that she loved it. She was actually ecstatic. The unicorn theme lives on! And now during the cold winter months, she has something bright and cheery to enjoy. We all need a warm, fun pick me up in the cold winter months and I do believe we will be bonding and smiling over the magic of unicorns ;)

We love thrifting!

We get this magazine every month. Not sure why we get it, but I read it. There are always fun recipes or local places highlighted. It's a fun little magazine for those who love their local areas (aka- me!). 

This month they highlighted thrift shops. We LOVE thrift shops! It's not classy, but it's fun. You support local, you score fun finds, it's like treasure hunting :) 

Two years ago my lovely daughter asked for a Goodwill giftcard for her birthday. I just smiled and got on the phone. The lady at Goodwill was so kind. They even gave her a scratch off card to get a discount off for her birthday. And you know what? She walked out of that thrift shop with a big smile and 2 bags of fun. 

Support local. Local businesses are suffering due to Covid. Go shop for treasures! We plan to tour the midwest this summer and do a lot of treasure hunting :)

sometimes excess is necessary

We like to have a good appetizer night at this house. There are so many good options to choose from now that Costco is so close by. The possibilities are endless! 

This morning started with a good cry-it-out movie. That led to, "Can I have cheese sticks for breakfast?" Because when we cry, we need comfort foods, right? The cheese sticks turned into an appetizer platter and we waited for the movie to end and called it brunch. Voila. 

It's not healthy, but it's delicious. It's also fun. Thanks to the air fryer and toaster oven it is easy. This means that she can do it herself with light supervision. I win. 

Notice the complete absence of fruits and (real) vegetables. Not even worried about it. Rumor has it that we will be playing in the snow later and when we come in all cold from the snow we will need a nutritious snack. Enter fruit slices with peanut butter! If starting our day with meatballs at 11am and tears in our eyes makes us happy, then so be it! Happy snow day everybody!

do-it-yourself is one of the best themes ever!

Despite Covid, we were still able to throw together a super fun Birthday weekend for the big 10! Two nights of fun featuring do-it-yourself activities each night. This also included a do-it-yourself invitation that was cut into puzzle pieces for you to assemble. Each guest came separate nights to make it safe and easy for everyone to enjoy. We managed do-it-yourself everything so meal creation, cake decoration, and craft creating became a you touch it, you take it experience. I was unsure of how it would go, but it was safe and fun and the girls had a blast.

To top it all off, we were able to do a birthday Zoom with family and play Hangman. Did I ever forsee a cross country game night in our birthday plans? It is amazing to me how much technology has been able to make us feel connected even when we can't physically be together. For that, I am eternally grateful. We couldn't do a birthday parade, so a birthday Zoom was a warmer option. 

The theme of this whole year has been, "Be flexible, be patient, just go with it!" Our little one has been gracious and patient with just about everything and I worried endlessly that she wouldn't feel like she got the true Birthday experience. After a weekend of giggles, crafts, Zooms, and lots of cupcakes, I would say we nailed it. The theme changed last minute from Dance party to Do-It-Yourself and it was our best theme yet. 

The really fun part was watching her check the mail for a week to collect birthday cards, Birthday gifts, and other birthday wishes. I am hoping we don't have to have an adjusted mini party next year. However, if we do, I know she will be okay with it. She will be grateful. She will have fun. And I know it will be okay ;)

you might be a girl mom if...

Being a boy mom was pretty much what I expected. Underoos, gross jokes, and super heroes consumed our lives for a solid 8 years. We always carried bandaids and knew that real pain equaled stepping on the occasional Lego. We spent a week wearing only a Batman costume once. Nerf guns were an essential toy at every event.

Being a girl mom is equally as fun and equally as messy. Instead of buffing scratches out of the counters from matchbox cars, we now scrape nail polish off the table. Pink covers every surface. We know the name of every beanie boo and sprinkles are in everything we make. We love glitter and frills topped with Converse and overalls.

I cleaned the house today. I found something pink on the tile of my bathroom (nail polish? Hair dye?), something pink by the front door (leftover from painting the fort?), pink paint on the windowsill (definitely from last week's paint session), and pink on the kitchen table (manicures). I can't even get mad. I expect it. "Don't spill! Be careful! Wipe that up!" This is followed with, "I know! I got it! I did!"

We had a spa day the other day. Spa days get a bit excessive at our house. She had asked for pink hair for Christmas and since she didn't ask for much, pink hair she got! We decided to touch it up at the "spa". (More pink stains in the sink!) 

Even though she is ten now, I still got to snuggle during the movie afterwards! There is nothing more soothing than playing with your little one's hair after it just got washed. With all the hot pink, I was making crazy designs and taking pictures for her to see. The pink is on all the surfaces, but I wouldn't trade this for anything. My little punk rocker diva still wants to play, she still decorates in pink, and if we make a mess, then a mess we make. Messes equal memories on spa days!

the Easy Bake oven still exists!

Does anyone remember having an Easy Bake oven this adorable? Nope. Didn't think so. Mine was brown and yellow. I am only mildly jealous that kid's toys are cuter these days. I never had glitter on my stuff- definitely born in the wrong era :)

Someone I know saved and bought this over summer break. Every time we think of it, we buy a bake kit and she makes tiny little snacks. Geez, they went up in price! She is so happy when she can cook and bake safely and without assistance, though. Who doesn't want to spend all that time making tiny little cookies? 

I am glad that our toys have come full circle. A lot of things she plays with now are ones that we all used as kids. We got THREE whole toys for Christmas this year. Only 3. How amazing is that? All the gifts were centered on drawing, crafting, baking, or activities. 

This kid won't get bored until summer break, for sure. She will refine her culinary skills and it will be like a mini iron chef. Maybe she will learn to bake full meals and desserts and I won't have to do that ever again! Well, not really. But in the meantime it is fun to watch her mix and create. She doesn't even realize it, but she's still learning math, fractions and strengthening her reading skills. Bwahaha. I win. Mini cookies AND learning. A great combo!

the angel window

This is the angel window. I made the mistake of trying to rearrange some stuff and I was told no. Okay. No problem. And what is the window for? "It's for all my God stuff to keep me safe." 

Well those are loaded words for a now 10 year old! I love it. Whatever she needs to keep herself happy, loved and feeling safe is fine by me. She can even tell me where all the items came from and what they mean to her. I love the sentimentality of it from such a small human.

We discussed purpose and gratitude a LOT over break. What are you grateful for? Why? If we insist on keeping this stuff/these toys/these items, fine. But do they have purpose? Sure, it was a big conversation to have but helping her understand that we live with purpose and make sure our stuff has purpose had an impact. 

We cleaned up the bedrooms and closets to make room for all the new stuff and the things that never changed were the beanie boos, all the art/drawing stuff, and the angel window. We now have more stuff in the donation box. We gave some stuff away. Now we have new stuff or a new arrangement for the old stuff and we can go into the new year with gratitude and purpose and less clutter.

And the angel window will remain unchanged. Apparently 2021 started out with a bang. The angels will help her feel safe. We will be okay holed up in our house just a little bit longer to quarantine, stay safe, and enjoy being a family. Today we thank all the real life angels who keep us safe (nurses, doctors, police etc) and the ones up above watching over us.

the game you will love to play

So there's this game that our aunt taught us how to play. It's called Tenzi. It's one of those games you either love or hate. Well, we love it! All it has is dice. Easy enough.

There are four different colored sets of dice. There are 10 dice per color. Roll the dice all one number and stack all ten dice. First one to stack them all wins. No thought, no set up, no time commitment. 

After a year of playing it the same way, we decided to crack the instructions manual. There are variations. Lots of them. We spent New Year's Eve playing Stealzi, Splitzi, and Tenzi tower. Along with snacks, Sequence, and music, I would say it made for a family fun evening. 

We haven't gone out for a New Year's eve in 4 years and no one seems sad or upset about it. Why dress up when you can hang out with your kid and play mindless games and eat excessive amounts of pigs in a blanket?! If you need a fast game or something easy, this is your game. No one needs to be able to count or read. FUN!