We are still working through our apple haul from when we joined friends at Weaver Orchard for apple picking. We came across this recipe by ChocolaTess on Pinterest and decided it was a must try. All of the ingredients were in the pantry and the gray skies put us in a baking mood. Liliana and I spent quality mommy/daughter time together making this. End Result: It is delicious, moist and sweet though we used a sweet/tart apple which complimented the bread(cake). Derrick had a slice and said it was so good, so we are patting ourselves [and ChocolaTess] on the back. This recipe is saved for sure, we will be making this as often as we can.
This topic arose as we are now in the throes of planning our youngest son’s 5th birthday activity (late to plan or plan too late). The first round of questions were:
” Do you want a party or family adventure?” followed by, “Do you want it to be classmates or family/friends?” ended with, “Where do you want to have the party?”
Once all the questions were answered, I started compiling the list of who to send out an invite to. A few names on the list he wasn’t sure he remembered who they were but he wasn’t against them receiving an invite, then I said a name that instantly caused his whole demeanor to change and he said “…but (insert child’s name) is not my friend” to which I replied that it would be nice to extend the invite and his response was ” but I don’t want (insert child’s name) there.” So I stumbled around in the dark trying to reason, excuse and basically dismiss his position on inviting the child he doesn’t want there. And as I sent my husband a message about it, I thought to myself wait whose party is it again?
So, when planning a party for your child and they are old enough to have input do you plan based on their direction? Does the age of the child matter? meaning, if your 5 year old knows what theme and who he wants to invite(or not) do they not have a say but if your 15 year old has a list of invitees would that get the head nod without question? why or why not?
I thought I knew but now I am having an inner battle. The hippie mom that encourages our kids to be their authentic selves, encourages individual autonomy, and have a say in certain things (mental health days, make personal decisions, what they want for lunch, etc.) is screaming our child shouldn’t extend an invite to someone they don’t want to just to “be nice” or out of obligation. Will us forcing them to do something they made very clear they don’t want to do somehow push them to conform, pressure them into doing things they don’t want to in order to be accepted. It’s not our [the parents] party, they can invite who they want. Our son(child) should not be made to feel guilty for connecting with and wanting to share his special day with those he considers close friends. My friend had this to say…
“This is his birthday do you all want him to start off at this young age people pleasing? Because essentially we are saying yes it’s your special day but you need to do this for someone else.”
The reality is the child he doesn’t want to invite doesn’t travel in any close circle that they would find out about missing out on an invite…but the part that I keep trying to silence is my own internal pressure to conform, the one that is thinking what will people say and think, will the parents have ill feelings towards me thinking I alone purposely left their child out or the good ole let’s be polite, extend the invite and maybe the child won’t be able to come. As parents/adults many of us feel the need to teach life lessons to our children at a very young age [preparing them for the world we say]. And in life sometimes we have to do and be around people we don’t want to be around. We have to learn to get a long with all types of people–be patient, understanding, kind and considerate. But you know what else, I never imagined a 4 year old not caring for another child his age and it’s throwing me for a loop but also…
Confession in the past for all our kids under age 9 the party guest list was made up by us and included a few friends and classmates of our kids but also quite a lot of relatives and close friend’s kids. Our kids NEVER spoke up or out about it until NOW. Our third child is the one who shined the spotlight on usand gave us pause.
Please share your thoughts, opinions, experience, etc. about this.
I love sleep! For as long as I can remember I have never been a morning person. At times because of sports I had to be and I hated every minute. But I didn’t actually become a night owl until college when I controlled my bedtime. As a youth I had a bedtime, so me not being a morning person had nothing to do with not getting adequate rest. Fast forward to now — I want to push to become a morning person. I know a lot has to do with getting to bed earlier, consistency (which isn’t quite my thing) and patience (another thing I struggle with). But after talking with my good friend, who for as long as I have known her she’s been a morning person. She is up bright(sometimes before the sun rises) and early, most times I get texts from her timestamped well before 6am and hours later I’m reading them. I don’t necessarily want to be “beat the sun” early but I would like to be earlier than 8am. So I turned to Googs and came across this article.
I never thought about a sleep pattern being genetic but I suppose it makes sense when I think about it. My mom was an early bird up and at it cleaning or reading. And my dad wasn’t super early unless he had to be but maybe around 9-10am on the weekends and I suppose I fall right around there except as a teen I slept well past noon if it was allowed. In college however I burned the wick at both ends I stayed up late and also picked early classes so I was passing myself in the hallways. I can’t do that anymore I am not able to function properly. I do value sleep but with 3 kids, new position at work and a house that has a hefty project list I want to shift my schedule a few hours.
I would like to take you all on this journey as I try to adjust my sleep patterns so I can be up early and be productive each day.
If any of you have experience with this please share some advice or tips that would be greatly appreciated.
Tea parties are the cutest. Our little lady loves pretend play and aside from playing teacher, hosting a tea party for her housemates and mommy are top on her list. With her birthday approaching and COVID numbers not letting up this mom had to think outside of the box. Check out some of our ideas for throwing a special virtual tea party for our daughter and her friends.
Special delivery
Start with a wax sealed envelope personally addressed and mailed to the guests containing their invitation [details], but more importantly the invite lets them know they will be receiving a party package before the event. Receiving a special package is the best. My eyes still light up when the Amazon delivery truck pulls up dropping off something I ordered that I don’t even remember ordering. Surprising your guests with a package just for them is a way to build excitement for the upcoming virtual event. Most children, given the times are well acquainted with zoom and for many of them their first and only encounter with the app is through school so we want to let them know that technology can also be used to connect with friends near and far.
Happy Mail boxes from Staples
Party Supplies
We took a chance with the porcelain teapots but wanted guests to have a keepsake that they could use for future tea parties at home. Below is a list with links for all the contents of the party box. The goal is to try and cover at least the bare minimum of what the guests will need to enjoy a spot of tea.
Since this is a virtual event via Zoom we wanted each friend to be involved in pretend play. The best way to do that is to invite them to bring their favorite doll, stuffed animal or even a sibling. Friends enjoy dressing up their dolls and introducing them to all the party guests. Also, by inviting friends to bring along a “friend” they can feel more comfortable if they don’t really know others attending aside from the host. Be sure to encourage your guests to decorate their tablescape with whatever they choose and don’t forget the finger foods such as tea sandwiches, sweets, fruits and treats.
Entertainment
Background music – the covers are hip and modern with a classical music twist perfect for a tea party
What’s an event without games or entertainment? With guests of varying ages finding a game that works for all to enjoy can be challenging. Choosing pictures games such as Bingo and I Spy are great options and they bring about friendly competition. I was able to find the cutest Tea Party Bingo Printable on Etsy that was tea party themed pictures (so no needs to worry about number or letter recognition for those not there yet). For I Spy I turned to my favorite creator app Canva to bring about the vision.
Birthday Cake
Shipping treats can be difficult a good option is a cookie, cupcakes while there are boxes if they are tossed about too much they will be a mess, this Cube cake vanilla with buttercream and a delightful white chocolate ganache with edible gold foil embellishment was perfect. Small, the chocolate covering was perfect for shipping, the baker wrapped them individually with wax paper and packaged in small boxes then placed those boxes into a temp controlled bubble envelope. Court’s Citchen was helpful covered every detail to keep the delicious cake intact, we highly recommend. Shipping is available.
Last but not least, just a little something to say thank you to guests for attending the virtual event. Some options include tea party charms for bracelet or necklace (amazon has great options that can be bought in bulk), candy or chocolate (check etsy for tea party theme molded candy), or in our case we wanted a custom coloring book. At first our teen son said he would do it but it proved to be a bit more difficult than he thought it would be, so we turned to a wonderful Etsy shop for a digital download custom coloring book. SERIOUSLY, some days I think I am pretty creative but i just scratch the surface compared to all the creative talents on Etsy they are amazing. For many of our parties and events there are items I was happy to find on etsy. In this case the custom coloring book was a hit and keep in mind they aren’t just for children!
Now that I have given you a glimpse into our daughter’s virtual tea party, what was your favorite idea? Do you think the idea of a virtual tea party could work for adult women (for chat sessions, church event, Mother’s day, galentine’s day, etc)? Leave a comment letting me know what you think.
It had been years since we had taken a family photo, but we figured since we are a family of 5 and the littlest is growing so fast we need to capture. We did our photos with Robert of Raevision Photography and he did the best job capturing wonderful shots, posed and candid. Our little ones are photogenic but it’s hard to catch them being so at the same time–add in the dog[I don’t know what I was thinking and why my husband agreed] and there were at least 100 blooper pictures.
For the color scheme I started with a single color I was loving the golden yellow/mustard yellow/dark yellow color.
I thought it would look great with our skin tones in an outdoor setting with fall foliage and trees with leaves of all colors. Next I decided to check the kid’s closets to base the color scheme off what they already had. After that we pieced together articles of clothes from Target and Macy’s.
What do you think? How do you find inspiration for your family photos? Do you take family photos yearly? For me, I find that it’s either a color or location that inspire my vision for our family photo outfits.
Let’s toughen up, suck it up and get through this temporary situation. What better time than now to deal with distance learning.
I have been a work-from-home Mom for over 6 years and over this time have dived back into work with a newborn on my breast and a toddler running amuck but none of that has prepared me to WFH and homeschool our children in different age and stage brackets.
I have seen so much anger, sadness, frustration, depression and after several weeks I would hope that we would move into acceptance. Does this suck? YUP, it does. But is it the worst? NOPE, it’s not. Many of us spend our days making or following schedules and lesson plans, standing over our kids’ shoulders showing them what to work on, checking work, printing worksheets and running school work from home to school then back again, it’s exhausting. This leaves many parents shouting “distance learning is impossible” but we teach our kids daily that nothing is impossible–difficult but not impossible. So let’s all take a deep breath and take these days on one at a time.
I will share with you the two different styles I am working with and tips to help me stay on top of things but also giving leeway to have bird days (which means shits everywhere and the day has flown away)
Distance Learning Styles
24 credit semester
Spreadsheet to keep track of independent school work
Imagine cramming every core class, elective and extracurricular activity into one 8+ week semester. Now imagine all of this happened when you were an unorganized teen with electronic devices and a short attention span. Well that is how I would describe the distance learning situation for our 13 year old in public Middle School. The first couple weeks weren’t mandatory but we thought it best that he kept going since we knew it would only be a matter of time before it went live. B was expected to check his email daily, check each individual google classroom — some teachers took attendance, most provided visuals [videos, powerpoint, articles, etc], assignments for some were posted at the beginning of the week with a due date at the end of the week while others posted on set days with due dates that evening – insert kevin mccallister home alone scream.
So it’s no surprise that once it went live it took a week to realize that our son was not mature enough to handle what came along with his distance learning style — not a dig because very few of us would be as teens. I felt like a failure come Friday, receiving an email from at least 6 of the 8 teachers stating B was missing work – WHAT? HOW? He was sitting just a few feet away from me all week and seemed to be working diligently. Guess he’s good at pretending (ha gotta say he’s convincing and let’s be real we all have a few “look” busy days at work)
over that weekend our plan got a major overhaul.
Packaged and Spoon Fed
Schedule for daily lessons
Everything comes neatly packaged from day one: Each week we pick up a folder that contains the week’s lesson plan with print outs, a website for her instructional learning, facebook links for Bible study, youtube links for Music and break activities and weekly zoom meetings one just one on one with her teacher and one with the whole class. The setup is dreamy the execution well that requires a bit more than I naively imagined from this dreamy boxed goodness – much like one of those food services they give you everything you need but you still have to cook it – womp womp. I immediately reached out to the teacher for her in-class daily plan so I could stick to her routine and then tweaked it a bit. Lili requires more hands on transitioning, instruction and setup throughout the day which is tough when my wfh position requires me to be seated in front of a computer and productive– but I take deep breaths and do what I can|no stress because I control the pace of the day and can start and stop, give breaks, love and praise and add in content that we deem equally important for her to learn such as black history, COVID-19, politics and life’s lesson [that when life gives you lemons drive around and throw them at people]…I’m kidding you make delicious lemon squares and eat them all in one sitting!
Tips
Keep some type of schedule even if you don’t stick to it daily provides a nice framework to how the day should go even if the times change (excel is my bestie)
Have a clear workspace and when they start their day make sure they have everything they will need – so we don’t have the wandering distraction (equivalent to I left my book in my locker or I have to sharpen my pencil)
Give yourself a break as well as the kids – with calm and time management, assignments will get done
If you find yourself getting frustrated zoom or phone a friend, take a walk, have a dance break, do a 30 sec plank that shit will for sure put things into perspective
Plan fun activities something easy, no pressure, messy or not to messy given your time schedule (stay tuned for a post about all the fun things we get to do)
Pray–I can’t tell you the amount of times I pray for strength, patience or an alibi
Nobody said it was easy but it doesn’t have to be that hard. The second you or your child(ren) start to feel overwhelmed, frustrated, just go to time out. This is all new to many of us, we send our kids to school for a reason because there are professionals that actually want to do this stuff. So I suggest taking the time to let teachers know how much they are appreciated, they give their time, attention as well as energy to our kid and a room full of others kids all day. They aren’t compensated properly for it and they aren’t thanked enough for it. We can get through these few months[weeks] but please don’t dare think these teachers have dropped us off on the edge of the cliff. They have had little time to plan for this unprecedented situation and the world is so critical of every little thing. They are still doing lesson plans, still available when our children need them, and they aren’t enjoying this distance teaching/learning either; oh and lets not forget that many of them are also home with their kids teaching them while teaching our children. So as I said toughen up,
** this post was written back in April after several weeks of COVID shutdowns. Liliana returned to in-person learning at the end of August and things were going well until now. Cases have gone up and her school has made the decision to return the school to virtual learning for 2 weeks with a tentative scheduled return after the Thanksgiving holiday. Bryce’s school started full-time virtual and then phased in hybrid a couple grades at a time but Bryce opted out choosing to stay virtual through the new year. Both schools have made significant adjustments to the style that was, in the Spring opting for a traditional school day receiving instruction through Zoom. That is a great weight lifted off our [us the parents] shoulders because we aren’t responsible for teaching just overseeing and playing backup.
Let’s be crystal clear I will choose safety over comfort any day. I felt that way back in April and I feel the same way now that positive Covid cases are back on the rise in PA. And to those who say we can’t live in fear, we aren’t but we are being cautious the same way we look both ways when crossing the street. To those who believe kids need to be in school and that they will get behind. If they are receiving instruction, coursework, reading and are actively engaged then they will be just fine. Children are flexible and resilient beings again they will be just fine. On our end we just try to keep them engaged, sing songs, play games and create memories. 2020 is one for the history books, it won’t be forgotten but we want them to have positive memories when they look back and that starts with having a positive outlook about it all.
Hey, did you hear the joke about the mom whose kids were ordered to stay home from school until further notice? or better yet school is closed for the remainder of the school year?
You know my parent friends and I talk so much shit about our kids..about the amount of times they say MOM, or all the snacks they ask for, dreading home schooling, the messes they make, hearing the same stories over and over again, oh and the look at me statements, the amount of gas that escapes their little bodies, their little tothole or teen jerk attitudes but most importantly we dread the idea of having them once again returned to our care on a 24/7 basis. Like the shear idea of not being able to have our child out on loan for a 6-8 hour period weekly is down right depressing. Is this mandatory?What do we do with them we ask ourselves while looking at them through the screen door? sending their teachers emails asking how we should properly care for them…do they require sunlight and water? Do we talk to them or play classical music? The real question being how do we care for the beings that we have grown to enjoy much more when they are out of the house for hours at a time on a consistent basis.
We did not spend quality time when they were little only to have the school stamp return to sender and drop them in our house…am I right?! no?? just me???
Am I the only one who desperately wants to leave munchkin land??
As much as we gripe, joke and otherwise think of a million torturous things we would consider better than being locked in a house with our children for over 4 weeks straight…there is no place we would rather them be than home safe in our care. We love our children and our first instinct is to protect them. For many of us before schools shutdown we were thinking “hmm maybe it’s best we keep the kids home today.” We are fighting a silent but deadly virus that doesn’t care about age, race, socioeconomic standing, whether you eat meat, veggies or ketchup packets, whether you garden, whether you work outside of the home or inside, whether you can scratch your ass, rub your belly and pat your head at the same time it’s moving swiftly and undetected. A tiny microscopic virus has us cowering in our homes convincing ourselves and our children that everything is okay. But is it? SURE IT IS, if you consider where we are and what we have access to. We know that at any given time if one of us should contract the virus we have access to the best medical care, we know we have a loving and supportive circle of framily and above all else we have faith in God.
So while many of us are maybe sipping more wine than we usually do and our voices are hoarse from yelling– oh add in that it feels like our days are getting lost but we are also filled with so much joy. Our love cups overflow knowing that we are able to spend the most wonderful quality time with our little humans. And while this will be their “20 mile walk to school in waist deep snow with only a jacket and no shoes ” tale when they are older, they will have fond memories of the time that was gifted to us under the most unfortunate circumstances that we made the best of.
Hope you are all staying safe and enjoying the opportunity to teach your children- nurturing their minds, bodies and spirits.
Life is pretty demanding and for us a sitter has been hard to come by soooo date nights have been placed on the back burner (and by burner I mean the one that needs repair). Our marriage felt like it was getting stale and it was taking a toll on us. But this year we have both agreed to be more intentional in prioritizing date nights. It seems that since we don’t get to date often we automatically think our dates need to be long, elaborate, planned out and expensive but that isn’t the case. Around two hours is just enough time for us to get out and connect for a date that can easily fit into our schedule and we don’t dread either the cost of a sitter or the burden of asking framily [family+friends]. Then came the task of what to do?
Thanks to Groupon.com there are a host of great date night ideas that fit into the sweet spot of under two hours. The other day we decided to give candle making a try. My husband’s reaction to it all seemed to be ‘just go with it to make her happy’ but I was so excited that we would be pairing our self-expression with a glass of our favorite sweet red wine. Scent and Sip, a wonderful BYOB on a suburban neighborhood strip is a place to drop-in or plan a party to enjoy making fragrances home & body products. We saved half the cost by purchasing a groupon and we chose an off-peak time slot[weekday Tuesday-Friday afternoon] it really made it exciting squeezing a date in on a weeknight when we knew the kids would be asleep when we returned and we could continue our evening alone. Lucky for us our sitter was home from college getting ready to head back within a few days so we knew we had to get out . Total amount of time was 2 hours from when we left the house to when we returned. We had a great time and enjoyed getting our scent and sip on!
Here are 5 fun, quick date night ideas brought to you [from us] by Groupon
A sporting event is a great date night idea especially if you both enjoy the games and can dial it up by making a friendly wager on the game ensuring that the fun continues after the event is over. We usually pick a team and then wager a massage or dinner at a restaurant of the winner’s choice.
total amount of time: 3-4 hours (including drive time and parking)
Enjoy wine and spirits {get your booz on!} sampling great selections usually paired with a snack of some kind. Learn about the history of winery/distillery, get a tour of the grounds, see how its made and the best part tasting!. You get the total experience and some of the packages include some sort of take home souvenir.
There is a new trend that’s been taking over many of us see it on social media — friends and co-workers enjoying team building outings. Just think how great a stress relieving date night can be, friendly competition, athletic ax-throwing fun and if you two have a knack for it there are leagues and tournaments you can get involved in to take it to the next level.
With a perpetually busy schedule it would be so nice to just relax and enjoy a soothing 60 minute couples massage. I don’t know about you but after the holidays, very little time off from work and with the cold weather kids spending more time indoors can really make us tense and in need of a relaxing, pampering session. Couples massages are great because they allow a couple to enjoy time together separately. This is a great laid-back date night edition.
These are all the rage lately using wit and teamwork to solve puzzles and mysteries to escape a room before time runs out. While many would think these are best for large groups it may double the challenge [ in our case test our relationship] to have just two people in the room.
total amount of time: 60 minutes
* we aren’t receiving payment or nor are we sponsored by Groupon.com we are just a couple ‘ballin’ on a budget’ that wants to get out to enjoy couple and family time and groupon allows us to do so not to mention exposes us to experiences we may not have thought about or even tried if we didn’t come across it on the groupon app.
are a host of great date night ideas that fit into the sweet spot of under two hours. The other day we decided to give 
Rickettedly Awesome 