Weekend

Weekends are my favorite, especially right now. Since I'm still working, Friday's are my day off, and we have some down time after juggling school work, working, house cleaning, and all the things. Are days look different than before, but in many ways, they're still the same. 

Addy still had school work to do on Friday (the other two don't), so she brought her journal into my bathroom and wrote while I got dressed. She loves being around people, and will do whatever ever she can so she's not by herself.

After her school work was finished for the day, she made herself cozy in a laundry basket and settled in to watch TV. 

Megan was begging to do some gardening! She dressed up like her doll in their "gardening" outfits and played in the backyard most of the day. 

Saturday morning, I used some of our sourdough starter to make pancakes. The girls were thrilled when they saw I made some of them with chocolate chips. 

Gretchen has been doing some Young Living work for me- putting gifts together, packaging, and getting them ready to be shipped. I have so many things that I tend to put off, so this is perfect for her- and I'm paying her too :)

We finally settled in on Saturday to plant flowers and do some yard work. 

We spruced up the flower bed out front after planting flowers in planters. 

I surprised the girls with a temporary hair mask that would color their hair. I wasn't 100% sure how it would work, since their hair is dark, but here's their before picture. 

And the after. It worked better in Adalyn's hair and some in Gretchen's but not at all in Megan's. I think we'll try again, but leave it in longer than recommended to see if we can get a brighter color. 

Addy was still so happy with her pink hair though! 

We did some more gardening on Sunday. 

And I did our food prep for the week. It helps if we wash all the fruits and veggies, chop them, and place them in reach of little hands. The girls love raw veggies and will often choose them as a snack before anything else if I have them washed and ready. 

I also did some baking and made chocolate chip banana bread with our sourdough starter. 

These little muffins were delicious! 

The weekend had lots of sunshine and family time which was perfect. 

April Wellness Box

One of my favorite things about my monthly wellness box is that I'm not running out to the store when we need to pick up every day products! Each month, I order products from Young Living that I know have clean ingredients are are safe for our family. I don't know about you, but I use to spend forever in the store reading ingredients and labels and then researching those ingredients. Sigh. This is so much easier. 

This month, I ordered a big ol' box of goodies!

Each month we order Ningxia Red. I like to buy it in the pouches, because if I don't the girls will drink an entire bottle in a day or two. The pouches help to limit them a little bit, and they know they can have one Ningxia a day. 

I know that hand sanitizer is impossible to find!  Young Living had their big bottles back in stock and I immediately ordered two. We're using one and then I'm sending the other one to a few of the members on my Young Living team. 

Soap and shampoos. I have looked forever and ever trying to find a clean one at the store, and this is one area, that seemed impossible to find. I like the bar soaps because they're a bit cheaper than body wash, and I love that I can change up the scents each month. The girls use their Kidscents shampoo and I use the Copaiba Shampoo. These are a repeat order each month too! 

Gah- all of these oils were free this month! That's a lot of free oils!!! 

Clove is perfect for digestive support and respiratory support.

Tea Tree is one of our favorites for skin. Gretchen and I both have this in our bathrooms

Purification is an oil that I love putting on wool dryer balls

Eucalyptus is another oil that is great for respiratory support- hello Spring time!

Cinnamon Bark is great for nourishing the skin, muscles,  and evening the skin tone

Lemon is one we use often for cleaning! Especially when the girls get crayon or pen marks on furniture or counter tops! 

One of my friends needed some oils, so I added these on to my order, which allowed me to get all of those free oils!

Sleepize is perfect to diffuse in your kiddos bedroom at night, and snifflease is one that supports your kids respiratory system. I love that they're pre-dilluted and safe for kiddos! 

At the end of March, I was having massive headaches that lasted for days, which is highly unusual for me. But, then I realized it was because I was constantly on my phone or computer! Especially because we were start distance learning, and then I was on my computer a lot for work. Illumineyes helps protect your eyes from the strain that electronics cause on them! I'm glad to report that since I started using my blue light blocking glasses, taking this supplement, and by changing the settings on my phone, I haven't had a headache since! 

Alright, y'all are about to hear me sing the praises of Progessence Plus. This is a natural progesterone serum made with essential oils and wild yams. After I had three kids, and refused to go on synthetic birth control, my hormones were out of wack. Bad. Right when that time of month started, I was yelling at everyone and so angry. I vividly remember one night, yelling at the girls, and being so irritated and mad (over nothing) as soon as DJ came in, I left. I told him I was leaving, got in my car, and drove. I ended up parking at the top of a hill overlooking the city of Tulsa, turning on my radio and crying. I eventually did go home later that evening- after the kids were tucked in, and I knew that I couldn't ever relive that moment. I had read a lot about Progessence Plus so I added it to my order, and y'all, my life changed! For all of you males, you need to just scroll on down, but you females, please hear me out. My cycle is consistent, down to the day. I literally cannot tell that I'm about to start, because I have zero mood swings. None. Zilch. Nada. I only know that it's that time, because I'm so regular. My period lasts 3 days now. I have very little cramping, and the months I do, I use clary sage on my abdomen. Progessence Plus was a GAME CHANGER for my hormones, and I would highly suggest you research all of it's benefits or email me if you have questions. 

Okay men, you can read again. 

Because I was giving away hand sanitizer to my members, I wanted to give away something else too- so I ordered Thieves cough drops. Yes, they're FDA approved, and they are the best at alleviating a scratchy throat.

And finally, Thieves cleaner, because we have been cleaning like crazy!!! I'm cleaning my kitchen 3-4 times a day, and this is the only cleaner we use in our home. So, between the kitchen, toilets, floors, tubs- we are going through this like crazy! I love this cleaner because it's plant based, and safe for my kids. It doesn't leave us with headaches from harsh fumes. It's also highly concentrated, so you only have to use one capful in a spray bottle of water. It lasts forever! I think I order 2 bottles a year, maybe 3. It's the best. 

Now, because I ordered all of this, Young Living gifts me 25% of what I spend back in points. I used that to buy even more oils that we were out of. Copaiba, Stress Away, Rosemary, Citrus Fresh, and Satin Mint Facial Scrub. I didn't pay a dime for any of it :) 

If you have questions about essential rewards and Young Living's monthly subscription box, feel free to comment or email me. If you're interested in becoming a member click here, and I'll send you $25.00 back and a welcome box in April. 

Life Lately

I couldn't blog because my photo storage on google didn't have any room. Whoops. I have been deleting SO many old pictures and literally checking every day to make sure my photos started uploading again. Sigh. 

So, we're back today with a look at Life Lately, which is a lot of outdoor time, school work, and play time. Honestly, it's been a blessing for our family. Having DJ home has been wonderful! He's still quite busy, but he's home, so we'll take it. I'm working two days a week at the clinic and then I'm working from home two afternoons a week providing teletherapy. It's a balancing act, but the evenings have been the most precious time. 

The girls are going on nightly bike and scooter rides! Adalyn has learned to ride her bike without training wheels but she 100% prefers the scooter to her bike. 

I've been running and sometimes the girls will join me. Megan and I finished 2 miles together one night. 

This girl loves to steal her daddy's peanuts. 

We've taken baby dolls on wagon rides to check the mail and around the block. 

And we had a cookie picnic on the front porch while big sisters were off with DJ on a bike ride. 

Last Friday, the girls brought down (almost) all of their dolls and put them on the steps. When Gretchen came out of her bedroom she was highly surprised and a little irritated too! It was hilarious, and we all used our ninja skills to maneuver around the dolls for the rest of the day. 

Megan is keeping up with her gymnastics conditioning using zoom calls three days a week. 

After she finished, her coach got off and all of the girls stayed on zoom for another 20 minutes just chatting to each other. It was the sweetest thing ever. 

Gretchen has been working away on school projects, trying to keep up with friends, and legos. She made a 17 story tall lego house last week. 

DJ and I have tackled a few home projects.  All of the girls have ceiling fans in their rooms, and we extended the patio out back. I took full advantage of having fresh concrete, and let the girls put their hands in. 

We've never really lived anywhere long enough to do something like this, and I've always thought it would be cool to leave a little of us behind. 

Three handprints..... Adalyn, Megan, and Gretchen. 

Addy has been MISSING her neighbor friend, so her mom left a walkie talkie on our doorstep. The girls have been chatting every day and it's so funny to watch them chat and say "over" each time they finish a sentence. 

Gretchen and I started a sourdough starter, and to be honest, I have NO idea if we are doing it correctly or even how it will turn out. I've joined Facebook groups, searched on Pinterest, and researched as much as possible, so we're just figuring it out as we go along. 

Also- having kids is nice because sometimes, they'll do the dishes. 

I walked outside and found Megan vacuuming off our front porch. (I'm not sure how she thought of that) and then I found her cleaning bird poop off our garage door. 

I've had good days and exhausting days at work, and I've been drinking lots of Zyng lately to get me over that afternoon slump. 

And check out my new workout tank! Annie is my Zyia rep and is super helpful! Two new tanks arrived this week, so I had to break one in with a run. 

And as I was plugging away seeing speech kids, Addy brought me a snack and a drink. I stole a quick moment between speech kiddos to snap this picture. And yes, she practically lives in pj's right now. 

Tuesday night, we loaded up the girls and drove to Hat Creek, which is a local burger place. We LOVE their playground. We drove through and got burgers and shakes, and then drove over to an empty parking lot to have a "picnic". 

After dinner the girls ran and climbed trees. 

The golden hour was perfect. 

Also, our kids are addicted to climbing trees, and will jump on one any chance they get. 

It did us all good to get out of the house for a bit. We ended the night with more bike rides, and playing catch in the backyard. 

Easter 2020

I know for a lot of you, Easter looked a lot different this year. No going to church, no big family get togethers, no big Easter egg hunts...... for us, Easter looked just about the same as it does every year, except the church part ;) Because we don't live close to family, it's very rare that we have big Easter celebrations. It's usually just the 5 of us and we do what we can to make Easter special for the girls. 

Saturday afternoon we baked chocolate chip cupcakes and decorated them with bunny butts and carrots. 

I was SO thankful to find 2 cake mixes, one container of icing, and the decorations. 

Since we weren't going to church, we had time for a big Sunday morning breakfast. I thought I'd make this part more special this year, and that the Easter bunny would bring the girls a fun breakfast treat. I rolled out two rolls of pink polk-a-dot wrapping paper, added green edible grass, bunny plates, napkins, bunny tails (powdered doughnuts), a bunny trail mix, and carrot sticks. 

I thought it was so fun that the grass was edible! I figured the girls would munch on it all day, but honestly, it didn't taste very good- ha! It was supposed to be green apple flavor. Powdered doughnuts made for cute little bunny tails. 

 I made a bunny snack mix with bunny marshmallows, Annie's bunny crackers, and chocolate eggs. The girls LOVED this, and I'm sure that we've started a new tradition with this mix! 

After Mr. Easter Bunny sat our table, he delivered the girls baskets. 

They all received kites, a chocolate bunny, kinder eggs, goggles, and a Peep bunny. 

Megan's basket......

And Gretchen's. 

Easter morning, the girls were wide awake at 7 am. 

They immediately ran to their Easter baskets and started opening. 

Three happy little girls. 

After they opened their baskets, I had to literally make them look at the table! They had NO clue that it was special (similar to our North Pole Breakfast we have on Christmas Eve) but once they went over, they found large Easter eggs filled with candy, fruit snacks, and coins, along with a canvas for painting. 

Each of the girls had a different colored egg, which told them which color eggs they'd have to find in their egg hunt in the afternoon. We always make sure the girls have 1 color to look for and they have the exact same amount of eggs. 

We watched church online, and then the girls put on their Easter dresses. We headed down to a little park that had a few bluebonnets and tried to take pictures, but the sun was bright. 

So we went home and tried a few pictures in the shade. 

Then it was finally time for the Easter egg hunt! 

On our hunt we even found a real baby bird egg! We have a nest in one of our trees and the wind had blown this little egg out. 

They immediately went to counting their money!

Hiding money in eggs was one of DJ's traditions, so we've carried that one on with our girls. 

Then we headed to a big field near our house and flew kites for the afternoon. 

Addy and I went on a walk and she picked me a few little flowers. 

We ended the night with this girl learning to ride her bike without training wheels!