Randomness from September

Sometimes after we drop buddy off at school, we run a quick (and quiet) errand.  You just never know who you are going to run into!

Doesn't everyone lay on the kitchen counter to read a book?!? Ha!  She got a new book and had it finished within 20 minutes of getting home.  She's in a phase where she can read pretty big chapter books. She does every once in a while (she's currently working through The Littles).  But since she's a relatively new reader, and she's 6, she wants chapter books that have pictures.  Not only does it need pictures, but she wants the pictures to be COLORED.  She's very disturbed with black and white pictures.  So we are trying to find books that are the right reading level AND age appropriate/fun (colored).

Logan just wants all the super hero books!

She grabbed this candle, hunched over, and said in a creepy voice "Do you want to go look in my basement on Halloween?"  Ha ha!!!

 Olivia had her first art class of the new school year.  We stayed at the same art house, but chose a different teacher.  Her new class focuses just on drawing and painting.  It's a homeschool class, and as of right now there is only 1 other student in the class with her.  She drew this cat, but her painting wasn't finished yet.  When I picked her up, all her teacher said to me was, "Wow!  She is one VERY SMART little girl."

Michael and Olivia went on a date to the movies.

Michael took this picture of Olivia, and I just love it!  Pretty girl!

We were in Logan's room getting ready for bed.  Michael laid down using a soccer ball as his pillow.  As soon as Logan had his pajamas on, he grabbed a smaller basketball and laid down to use it as his pillow too.  The picture is a little blurry, but so cute!

Logan had "silly shoe day" at preschool.  So we added all sorts of fun pipe cleaners.  Free and it took 2 minutes.  Perfect! :)  He loved it.

Things I'm Loving

Back in the day I use to share all sorts of information about fun things I've found or new things we are using.  These days I tend to just share about the kids.  But recently I have been telling everyone who will listen about a few things that are changing my life.  So I thought I'd share a few with you!

1. PODCASTS

I do realize that I'm about a decade (or more) late to this party!  Heck, Michael was listening to podcasts at work when we met over 11 years ago.  I've just never had a job where it was conducive, or even the equipment necessary.  (Random fact: I've never owned an ipod or an mp3 player!)  But about 9 months ago someone asked on a homeschool forum about homeschooling podcasts.  Then someone bravely asked how to get said podcasts on an android phone.  I still wasn't sure if it would be my thing, but I figured I'd check it out.  I was sick of all of the negativity that Facebook was throwing at me and I was looking for something to do during laundry time, or workouts, that would add value to my life instead of tear me down.  Y'all.  I am loving listening to podcasts!  As you can see, most of mine fall into a few different categories.  1) Homeschooling. Duh! ;) 2) Mom/Christian woman encouragement and 3) RVing--these are new.  We've thrown around the idea of being a full time RV/Roadschooling family, so I've started to listen to others who do the same.  

Honestly, at this point I have more podcasts that I can even listen to. But I love it, so I keep going!  They are all so different, but so good.  I was going to try to give my top 5, but I couldn't.  There are just so many good ones!

2. ORGANIC ROSE HIP OIL

Speaking of podcasts, the ladies at the Big Boo Cast recommended this Teddie Organic Rose Hip Oil.  Now I'm not usually one to look for the newest and best beauty products.  I pretty much stick with my cheap stuff that I can get at Target.  But previous them talking about this, I had started thinking how I needed to do something about my skin.  I'm getting older (gasp!), and I just wanted something that would maybe heal some of the damage, make it look a little more even, and maybe even be able to go without make up some days.  Well, this item has all 5 star reviews on Amazon, and got rave reviews from my girls Melanie and Sophie, so I decided to give it a try.  I freaking love it.  I use it in place of  moisturizer.  It has made my face look better, feel better, makes my make up go on better.  It's amazing.  I'm sold.  I made my sister try it when she was here, and I think she's sold too.

3. MASON JAR SALADS

We are trying to eat a more plant based diet.  I've always been pretty good about meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking family dinners.  But where we struggled was lunch.  Michael just hates to take the time to pack stuff, and I hate taking the time to prepare something mid day when I'm also making my kids stuff.  So a few months ago we started making mason jar salads.  LIFE CHANGING!  I make 10 salads on Sunday.  Then we both have lunch throughout the week.  The salads stay fresh, they are quick to grab, and it's an easy way to eat the rainbow!  Bonus: my kids love helping make them!  The few people I've told about these (because I'm trying to change the world one mason jar at a time) have said that it can't be enough food.  You would be surprised.  I pack those babies tight!  When you dump it out on your plate/bowl, it fills up a full size plate and is plenty of food!  Sometimes I follow a recipe on pinterest, and sometimes I just throw whatever vegetables and beans we have into a jar.  I've made dressings following a recipe (sriracha/peanut butter/soy sauce), I've bought vegan dressing, and this week we are just using avocado oil and cracked pepper.  The choices are endless!

4. RIGHT NOW MEDIA

(I don't even know if I could do this justice, so make sure to check out the website.)  I love Right Now Media.  It's a resource that churches can pay for, and then every member of the church can log into for free.  It's sort of like a Christian Netflix of sorts, but with more teaching and Bible studies and less shows/movies.  We use it for our life groups and women's Bible study.  The vidoes are all just there, and then depending on the study we can just buy the book to go with it.  But what I love. love. love. is the kids section!  There are so many good shows that teach about the Bible, or just character development.  We've cut down are TV significantly, but I'm always comfortable with letting the kids watch shows on here because I know they are learning.  Fun note: The home office for Right Now Media is literally right next door to our church!  We use their parking lot for overflow parking on Sundays!   I love that my church has found this tool valuable and that we get to benefit for free!

Erwin Park

We went out for another park adventure.  This time we checked out a new place.

Logan was ready for adventure, and was willing to run the whole course had we let him!

The walking trails are also for mountain biking, so we had to watch out for quite a few bikers.  It made Michael a little nervous, but most of the bikers were good about slowing down and watching out for people.

Run!

Logan got a "walking stick" and then was hitting all the trees he passed.  He's such a boy!  Then when he found out the trees were dropping leaves on me when he hit them, he thought it was funny and made sure to hit them more.

We found an area where the trees were painted with all sorts of cool designs.  Olivia wants to go back with paint or chalk and add her own designs to the mix.

Looking for bugs under a rock.

It was hot, but we were still out there for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.  We even ran the last half mile to mile of the trail AS A FAMILY. What?!?!  3 out of 4 enjoyed the run.  One little girl was complaining of sore feet.  So it may be time for new shoes.  But it was a great little adventure nonetheless.

Wonder Woman

One of my friends, Jessica, from Target invited us to her daughter's birthday party.

It was Wonder Woman themed.

Olivia had a great time!

Our friend Michiah (also from Target) dressed up as Wonder Woman and surprised the girls at the party.

My kids love her!! And I do too. :)

They both call me Mom! Sweet girls!!

She's such a goof.  I love her confidence.  She just ran around pretending to fly, danced like a crazy woman, and played the games with gusto.  She has no inhibitions!  I love that she is just her own person.

Touch a Truck (at a farm)

A few weekends ago we went to a local Touch a Truck.  We hadn't been to one since we lived in Ohio.  (Mostly because in Ohio they are FREE, and here they all cost money.)

The fireman's hat was very heavy!

Cutie!

One almost always cooperates.  One almost always does not. ;)

Up on a tall crane

Touch a truck was at the farm where we usually go for pumpkins.  It was hotter than we were expecting, so we took a break from trucks to feed the animals in the shade.

Leading us through the hay maze. Thankfully it wasn't as muddy as last year!

Time for a hay ride!  Logan refused to look and/or smile.  So I told him I was just going to take the picture anyway, and tell him when he grows up "that's how you were as a child". Ha!

Me and my girl.

Raising a Dreamer

My sister's visit prompted Olivia to start talking about wanting to go to Ang's house.  I told her to add it to her list.  I meant her figurative list, because she's always talking about wanting to go to Cammy's house in Colorado.  I don't think anyone here is surprised to know that Olivia cut out a piece of paper, wrote a list, and taped it to her closet door.

I know it's a little hard to read, so I typed it out (fixing some spelling and adding some notes).

I want to go to:

Ang's house

the Statue of liberty

Cammy's house (Colorado)

Princess World (Disney)

And the beach!

Skype Grandma's house (Michael's mom)

The howling tornado and I'm not tall enough (Great Wolf Lodge slide that she couldn't ride)

Mexico with Paola

Back to Ohio!

Mount Rushmore

France! Paris! (For the Eiffel tower at night, but she didn't know how to spell it. ha!)

Another puppet show (she means children's theater)

Another great Chinese restaurant

Arizona (Grand Canyon)

Daddy daughter dance again

Minnesota (Ang's house)

Who wants to donate to her travel fund?!?! 😁😁  I'm pretty sure she'll be backpacking through Europe at 16 at this rate. 😉

Logan's First Day of Preschool

Well, we're finishing up our third week of preschool, but better late than never right? ;)

I was going to skip the whole ice cream for dinner tradition, since we had just done it for Olivia's first day.  But she wasn't having it.  We ended up having ice cream for lunch since I had to take Ang to the airport and go to work the night before preschool.

Nothing gets past this one!

We didn't do anything too fancy for breakfast.  While we were at the store getting ice cream, Logan picked out some toasters strudels for his breakfast of choice.

He loves his big sister.  She was so excited for him, so that made him really excited for preschool.

Take this board with a grain of salt.  That's the first time I had ever heard red was his favorite color, and he was already changing his job of choice later that day.

Showing off his new BB8 backpack.

He was SO excited to have a back pack and a nap mat of his very own.

Seriously.  How cute is he?!?!?!?

Standing by his little cubby read to go in and conquer the day!

Michael had taken off a few days to extend his Labor day weekend, so it was actually just the 3 of us for a change.  We did a special lunch out with Olivia.  She wanted spring rolls and orange chicken. :)

School is going well.  The only thing the teacher has said so far is that he's sooooo quiet. Ha!