Happy 6th Birthday to Our Olivia Cate!

Sweetest Girl,

Another year has come and gone and you have grown by leaps and bounds yet again.  You’re as tall as ever, your personality is about as big as ever, and your zest for life – you guessed it – HUGE. 

This past year you started kindergarten, and to say that you are thriving is pretty much the understatement of the century.  Girl, you love school so much and you. are. so. good. at. it.  You are reading (on a second – third grade level), you are writing like a tiny adult, you are solving math problems like it’s your job, and you are acing every single assignment that you do.  You can’t get enough of it and you adore coming home and doing homework every afternoon, too… so much that you refuse to use a homework pass even though your folder is overflowing with them. 

You have started pretending to be a teacher at home, often creating your own assignments for us to do, and reading to us “at the front of the class.”  You cross your little legs just like an adult woman would and you hold the book up so your “class” can see the pictures for every page.  I think your teacher has really made an impression on you this year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see you become a teacher one day, too. 

You already have a good little group of friends at school even though your best friend, Becca, moved away earlier this school year.  You were devastated about that, but fortunately, one of your old friends from your old daycare moved over to join you at your forever school this year.  Y’all continued right where you left off and you are the sweetest little besties.  It was perfect timing.

You have your first crush ever this year and it is an absolute hoot.  You sigh and melt at the mere mention of his name and you’ve had all of us cracking up over the love notes and pictures you’ve been making for him.  You’re starting way too early, lady!  Slow it down! 

You sing and hum nonstop and there’s rarely a moment that you’re ever quiet.  I honestly don’t know how you never get in trouble at school… and your teacher this year seems to run a pretty tight ship, so that’s saying a lot! 

You are completely and utterly obsessed with Frozen II and Mommy and Daddy and Jacob are all completely sick of hearing Into the Unknown and Show Yourself.  Every night when you step into the shower you have your own little concert and you just belt those songs out every time.  It’s so funny.

You love princesses, makeup, dresses, Hatchimals, and unicorns and this year you have started crafting like it’s your job.  You don’t care whether it’s painting rocks, making jewelry, designing your own fashion outfits, or what… you will not say no to an arts and crafts kit! 

You love to write and draw and you spend most of your free time at the kitchen table making your creations.  You are incredibly thoughtful and you’re always making cards for people’s birthdays, making handmade Valentines for your friends, and writing letters to send to Becca and your other friends at school.  It’s all completely unprompted and you are adamant about following through and having said gifts delivered.  I have a huge stack of stuff that you’ve made just for me and several of my favorites are on display in my office. 

You are still in ballet and tap and you are loving it as well.  You performed in your first recital this past year and you rocked it, but I wouldn’t have expected any less.  Your next recital is in about three months and you’re already counting it down. 

The biggest milestone this past year for you (besides starting kindergarten) was probably getting your ears pierced!!!!  You had talked about it for years, but always shied away from it when I explained what they have to do to pierce your ears.  This past year you decided you were ready and once that decision was made we didn’t hear the end of it until we finally took you.  Persistence is your middle name and sometimes that gets you in trouble. 

Another milestone from the past year was that we finally turned your bedroom into a big girl room!  You now have your very own full-size bed with a canopy, and from the moment we tucked you in that first night, you started sleeping through the night in your own bed.  It’s been bittersweet to have our bed to ourselves again, and I often miss feeling your little warm body sleeping next to mine after you would creep into our room at 2 AM.  You do still join us if you’re awakened by a loud storm, but other than that, you’re perfectly content in your own bed now. 

When it comes to food, your love for peanut butter and jelly hasn’t just remained… it’s grown even stronger!  I don’t even know how that’s possible, though.  I keep expecting you to wake up one day and realize you’re just SICK of it but you never do.  Cheese dip at the Mexican restaurant is still your other favorite and I’m right there with you on that one.

You still only drink water and that is literally it.  You refuse to drink anything else and that is just wild to me!  So many other kids prefer sugary fruit juices and soft drinks, but you don’t like any of them.  I hope water is always your drink of choice. 

You are still the jolliest little gal I know and I often find myself wishing that I could be as carefree and lighthearted as you are.  I was way more carefree when I was a child than I am now, but I don’t think I have ever been as lighthearted as you are.  I pray that you keep that light as you grow.  Sometimes life is hard, and that positive little attitude of yours will take you a long way when the hard stuff hits.

You are pure joy, lady, and we all just love you so much!  Happy birthday!

Love,

Mommy

Birthday Letter - Age 2

Birthday Letter - Age 3
Birthday Letter - Age 4
Birthday Letter - Age 5

20 Simple Changes I Made Around the House that Have Made Life Easier - Part 2

*This post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Last week, I started sharing a few things that I changed around our home last year that have made our lives easier.  My intention was to share all 20 things in one post, but the post got a bit lengthy, so I had to split it into two.  If you missed the first one, you can see it here and today I’m sharing the second half! 

Here we go!

E L E V E N – Created a designated place to diffuse oils downstairs

When I first started oiling last year, I wasn’t sure how much I would like it or if I’d even stick with it, so in the beginning, the diffuser floated around the house along with all of my oils and accessories. 

I quickly fell in love and knew I was going to be in it for the long haul, so I set out to find a permanent home for my diffuser as well as a place to store everything else.  I knew I wanted the diffuser to be in the kitchen since it’s the heart of our home, and I ultimately decided that the kitchen island would be the perfect place.  It’s in the center of the kitchen which allows the mist to spread more evenly throughout the house, and there are no cabinets above that space to get in the way. 

I bought a gorgeous serving basket at Kohl’s to sit in the middle of the island to hold my supplies.  The diffuser is there along with a little glass jar to hold some of the accessories.  That little vignette has become one of my favorite spots in our whole kitchen and it looks so much sweeter there than the tiered tray full of produce that used to be there.

11-Inch Serving Basket with Handles

14-Inch Serving Basket with Handles

15-Inch Serving Basket with Handles

12-Inch Metal Serving Tray with Handles

To organize all of my oils, I found a cute little shelf for just $19.99 at TJ Maxx.  I hung it on the wall in the kitchen near the diffuser, and I was able to line all of my oils along the shelves in a manner that allows me to see everything I have at a glance.  I chose to organize my oils in rainbow order (you know!), but you could organize them in alphabetical order, too.  ;o) 

Hexagon Wood Shelf

Rectangular Shelf

T W E L V E – Added extenders in kids’ closets

The kids both have closets in their bedrooms and each closet has one hanging rack near the top.  Since the racks are so high, neither child could reach their own clothes and that obviously presented a problem every day when it was time to get dressed. 

I found some closet extenders at Target and it was an easy and inexpensive fix that allowed us to add an extra hanging space on their level that didn’t require screwing into the walls or installing anything permanent.  The width can be shortened or extended to fit any closet and it was seriously the easiest thing to set up.  Literally all you do is attach the two hanging bars to the main bar and then you just hang it in your closet.  This took about two minutes of my time and only $10 out of our pockets.  Both kids now have two rows to hang clothes and they can now reach the bottom row themselves.

I keep all of their clothes for the current season on the bottom rack so they can reach what they need, and the clothes for the other season go on the top rack.  When the seasons change, I just swap them out.  Easy peasy and oh so affordable.  I dedicated an entire post to this and you can see it here.

Closet Rack Extender

Closet Rack Extender (option 2)

2-Tier Closet Rack Extender (adds 2 more rows of hanging space)

T H I R T E E N – Added plastic pocket organizers to kids’ closets

Another problem we had in the kids’ closets is that we had no good place to store their shoes.  When I would clean out and organize their closets I would line their little shoes up in neat rows but within two days all of them were scattered all over the floor of the closet, rolling under the clothes and disappearing behind other things.  This resulted in lots of “lost” shoes, especially for Olivia, who sometimes can’t even find the things that are right in front of her face.  Lol.

I bought over-the-door pocket organizers for each of their closets and now all of their shoes are right there on the door lined up for them to see.  They can see every pair that they have, and for Olivia, that’s especially great since she has so many different ones from which to choose.

Over-the-Door Pocket Organizer

Over-the-Door Pocket Organizer (option 2)

F O U R T E E N – Bought a nail polish organizer

For years I stored my nail polish in our medicine cabinet lined up in tidy little rows.  The problem with that was that I couldn’t easily see all of the colors I had on hand.  I ended up using the same ones in the front over and over because I rarely wanted to take the time to pull each of them out to see what I had.

This was an easy fix – I bought a tiered nail polish organizer, set it up in the same spot in our medicine cabinet, and now I’m able to see all of the bottles at the same time! 

Nail Polish Organizer (Holds 36)

Nail Polish Organizer (Holds 48)

Nail Polish Organizer (Holds 72)

F I F T E E N – Installed a pantry door organizer

Our pantry in our kitchen is small, but it worked for us until we had kids.  Once we had kids, we started keeping aaaallll the snacks on hand, and we got to a point where we literally didn’t have enough room to store all of our food items (a blessing, yes, but a pain, too #firstworldprobs).  I thought about transferring some items to a cabinet since we have so much cabinet space, but my Type A (read: OCD) reeeeaaaalllly needed all of the food items together in one location. 

I found the perfect rack and it has been a complete game changer!  It added a huge amount of useable space and we now have enough room to store all of our food in one place.  My OCD heart is happy.

Pantry Door Organizer

Pantry Door Organizer (option 2)

S I X T E E N – Bought bins for the medicine cabinet

Prior to having bins, we stored all of our medicines and first aid supplies in organized rows on a shelf in our cabinet.  Again, they were organized, but it was impossible to see everything easily which meant that it was a pain to find what we needed when we needed it.  This also resulted in us buying duplicate items when we didn’t need them. 

My initial instinct was to buy some sort of tiered shelf organizer to stand everything on, but I quickly realized that wouldn’t work because of the weird shapes and sizes of some of the items.  Instead, I bought this set of 3 acrylic bins from Amazon and I organized all of our supplies in them – first aid items in one bin, adult medications in one bin, and kid medications in one bin.  Now, we just pull the bin down that we need, and we can easily access everything that we have.  Each item can be taken out and put back easily.  No more hunting ten rows deep for the one item that we need. 

Acrylic Bins

S E V E N T E E N – Bought an organizer for the toiletry drawer

B and I keep our toothbrushes and toothpastes, dental floss and picks, and a few other toiletry items in the top drawer in our bathroom.  Prior to buying organizers, our toothbrushes were stored in a cup on the countertop (which I hated) and everything else was just floating around loose in the drawer.  It drove me insane. 

I bought this set of interlocking trays to organize all of our little toiletries and it fits perfectly in the drawer without wasting any space.  Now each item has its own cubby, it doesn’t slide around, and our toothbrushes don’t have to be exposed on the countertop!

Interlocking Organizers

E I G H T E E N – Created a designated space to do daily quiet time and meditation

I used to be really bad about skipping quiet time.  I never had a designated time or place to do it and my devotionals and other materials were often in different places each day.  This often resulted in me skipping altogether because I didn’t feel like rounding up the supplies or finding a quiet place to do it.

Last year when I made over my home office, I bought a chair and a small accent table to put by the window and I declared it my designated spot to do my quiet time and meditation.  I now have a quiet place to sit where I don’t have to worry about being interrupted, and I have all of the supplies I need to be comfortable and successful – a lumbar pillow for comfort, a basket of blankets to snuggle up if I’m cold, and a lamp for extra light.  The little table has a shelf on the bottom where I keep my ever-growing stack of devotionals and self-improvement books and it has a drawer where I keep my prayer list, my daily affirmations, and a pen and highlighter to take notes.

Since I’ve created this space, I’ve been so consistent with both my prayer time and my meditation and it has become one of my favorite things to look forward to each day.  I haven’t missed a single day in 50+ days!

Chair (similar)

Accent Table (similar)

Pom Pom Throw Blanket

Jesus Calling Devotional
Jesus Always Devotional

N I N E T E E N – Bought a Makeup Organizer

I’ve been wearing makeup since probably 9th grade or so, and for my entire life I have stored my makeup in a makeup bag… I just threw everything in there.  Each day I had to dump it all out, sift through to find what I needed, and then throw it all back in there. 

Last year I realized just how dumb and time-consuming that was, and I went and bought an acrylic makeup organizer.  Now all of my makeup is organized, easy to find, and I don’t have to sort through it every day.  I store the organizer in my bathroom drawer so it’s out of sight when I’m not using it, and each morning, I just pull out the organizer and everything is right there at my fingertips.  I love the acrylic bins because you can see everything inside, even the small items that fall to the bottom. 

Small Open Acrylic Makeup Organizer

Medium Open Acrylic Makeup Organizer

Round Rotating Acrylic Makeup Organizer

Large Acrylic Makeup Organizer with Drawers

T W E N T Y – Bought an Amazon Echo for my office and the kitchen

Y’all.  I’ve wanted an Echo Dot for so long and B finally gave me the gift of Alexa this past Christmas.  I’m totally kicking myself for not having gotten her sooner.  Is there anything she can’t do?!  She’ll play music by artist or genre or on Pandora, and she’ll even the play lists on your phone.  She can tune in to your favorite local radio station, she’ll set timers and reorder items we’re out of, and she’ll answer cooking questions (and pretty much any other question you have).  Need to know how many tablespoons are in ½ of a cup?  Alexa’s got you!  And the best part is that she can do all of those things for you, hands free!

I love her so much that B got a big Echo for me for Valentine’s Day so we can also enjoy her services in the kitchen while also having the premium sound.  He also gave me a smart plug which allows Alexa to control an electrical outlet of your choice.  I always hate bending down to plug in the bar cart lights but I use them every day because I love the ambiance they provide, so we decided to hook up our first smart plug to the bar cart.  Now all I have to do when I get home each day is say, “Alexa, turn on the bar cart,” and PING, on come the twinkle lights!  Aaaahhhh technology.  Time to wire the whole house! 

But anyway, Alexa has made all of our lives so convenient and the kids are having fun with her, too… maybe a little too much fun since Olivia almost started a subscription for Amazon Music the other day.  Face palm.  Time to turn on the parental controls!!

Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo Dot

Amazon Smart Plug

My goal for sharing this post was to hopefully inspire you to locate your own pain points in your house and try to find some permanent fixes for them to save time for you and to make your lives easier.  Sometimes all you really need are the right tools to be successful and I hope you’ve found a few of them here today. 

If you do decide to find solutions for the pain points in your homes, I’d love to hear from you!  Be sure to tag me in your posts and stories on Instagram @lindsayssweetworld!  I’d love to get some ideas from you, too!!

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Five on Friday - Rothy's, Leopard Dress, and the Enneagram Test

*This post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Whew, what a week!  We had buckets of rain, I had more car troubles (engine light on AGAIN, got it serviced AGAIN, then the engine light came on AGAIN), and I’ve been solo-momming + taking care of Brian while his back heals.  It’s been an odd week, that’s for sure, and I’m so excited to see Friday… and sunshine!  It may only be around for a day or two, but hey, we’ll take what we can get at this point.

Here are some favorites from the week!

O N E – Rothy’s Mary Janes!!

Okay, everyone raves about Rothy’s and I’ve had them on my wish list for a very long time, but due to the extremely high price point, I just haven’t been able to bring myself to pull the trigger. 

In case you’re not familiar with Rothy’s, they are a shoe company that focuses on sustainability and they strive for zero waste in their manufacturing process.  All of their shoes are made from recycled water bottles (so crazy, right?), they are supposedly the most comfortable shoes ever, and to top it off, they’re machine-washable (which is my favorite part)!   

They come in several different fits and loads of colors and patterns including buffalo plaid and leopard (two of my favorites!) and earlier this week they released their newest fit – the Mary Jane.  Oh my word, how beautiful is this shoe?!

BRB – adding the leopard ones to my birthday wish list!  

Wish I could get the navy ones, too!  Total SWOON.

T W O – Leopard Dress

Speaking of leopard, y’all know this dress that I love so much from Amazon that I have in two colors?  Well, guess what?  I just found out that it comes in leopard, too!!!!  This will be on my birthday list for sure!  I cannot say enough good things about it… the fit, the quality, the colors… I love it so much.  And this leopard one is only $22.99.

T H R E E – Enneagram

Over the last couple of years it seems like everyone and their grandma has been talking about the enneagram personality test.  I jumped on the bandwagon last year and took the test, and my results showed that I identify primarily with type 6.  I read a lot of each of the different types and I couldn’t agree more.  Type 6 people are extremely prone to anxiety and that could not be more true of myself. 

As part of my journey to a healthier 2020, I’ve decided to explore my personality type a bit more because I think it could be beneficial in my journey to kicking my anxiety.  A few months ago I started following @enneagramashton on Instagram and her posts are always so fascinating!  I constantly find myself nodding my head every time she posts about sixes.  I pulled the graphic below from her account, and literally every single characteristic listed below describes me perfectly.  Every single one. 

I was also incredibly intrigued by her “What to Say Yes to in 2020” series as well as her "What to Leave Behind in 2020" series because all of the tasks are exactly the things I’m working on in 2020 (aside from the toxic relationships thing... I, thankfully, don't have any of those anymore).  Looks like I had the right idea this year!

I’m going to try to coax B into taking the test because I’d love to know which type he is.  I can see him fitting into the 5 or 9 category, but I don’t feel like either of those describe him as perfectly as a 6 describes me.  I am already guessing that Jacob will end up being a 6 like his momma (bless) and Olivia, hands down, is already a 7.  Girlfriend loves life and is always down for a party.  Not a care in the world.  #MustBeNice

With all of that said, I’ve heard great things about two books – The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery and The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships.  Have any of you read either of these?  Are they worth the read?  And also, just for fun, what’s your Enneagram type?  I seriously can’t get enough of this stuff. 

F O U R – Nana Treasures

My daddy forwarded three old pictures to me this past week that he came across recently.  They were taken in April 2014 when Jacob was just two years old (and Olivia was a newborn) and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them before!  That’s Jacob with my Nana and Papa John, both of whom we lost last year.  Just look at those chubby little cheeks.  My gosh, I miss him being that little.  And we are all missing Nana and Papa John, too.

F I V E – Flashback Friday

This picture of Olivia popped up in my Timehop this past week and it gave me all the feels.  She was just a week shy of one year old when I snapped it and I’m so grateful to have captured that moment of rocking her to sleep one day for her nap.  That pink sheep, or “Sheepie” as we affectionately call her, has been with Olivia since the day she was born, and it was a big brother gift from Jacob.  She still loves Sheepie more than any of her other stuffed animals and she carries her everywhere.  It is so sweet! 

It’s amazing how giant Sheepie looks next to her one-year-old body compared to her five-year-old body.  My, how she’s grown.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go dry my eyes.   

Friday Funnies

2019 was the epitome of this and I'm starting to have flashbacks after this week.  Haha.

Y'all!  Why is he SO cute?!

Anybody else missing these memes as much as I am?!  Bring the cat back!  Haha.

I literally LOLed at this one.

PLEASE!!!!

On the Blog This Week

20 Simple Changes I Made Around the House that Have Made Life Easier – Part 1

Our Week – The One with Valentine’s Day and a Party

Happy Birthday to Brian!

Happy Friday, y’all! 

*Linking up with A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites and Della Devoted for High Five for Friday.

Happy Birthday to Brian!

I know I don’t usually post on Thursdays anymore but today is a special day because today is BRIAN’S BIRTHDAY!!!!

On this day 42 years ago (yikes, haha) he came into this world and I’m so thankful every day that he was born.  He’s my favorite person in the whole world, he’s the best daddy to our babies, he works hard to support us, and I’m lucky that I get to spend all of my days with him.

He’s kind, honest, hard-working, patient, humble, faithful, funny, and trustworthy.  So many people lack one or many of these characteristics (myself included… ahem, patience) so to find someone who embodies all of them is basically like finding a unicorn.     

Happy birthday to our very own unicorn!  We love you so much… thrown-out back and all.  ;o) 

Our Week - The One with Valentine’s Day and a Party

Happy Wednesday, y’all.  We’re rolling right along this week and it’s just crazy that we’re halfway through already.

Monday, February 10

Last Monday started out as, well, a Monday, when my SUV wouldn’t crank.  Sigh.  I knew it wasn’t the battery because the car made the cranking sound, but just wouldn’t turn over and actually start.  Since the kids and my nephew (who we take to school each morning) had to be at school, we didn’t have time right then to investigate, so we all just piled in B’s vehicle instead.  He and I dropped the kids and then I dropped him at work, and then I took over his SUV for the day since I had to get groceries and pick up the kids from school.

Once I arrived back home Monday morning, I immediately called my dad and he and my mom (who was off for the day) were kind enough to come over and investigate for me.  With a lot of persistence and a lot of feeding via the gas pedal, Daddy was able to get it to crank, so I was able to drive it straight to our mechanic.  Momma and Daddy followed me down there and then took me back home so I wouldn’t have to sit there all day.  The mechanic called me back mid-afternoon to let me know that they had fixed it, and fortunately, it was a very easy (and cheap) fix.  Whew.

Our mechanic happens to be just a couple of blocks from Brian’s office, and one of his coworkers was kind enough to drop him off to pick it up after work so the kids and I didn’t have to make the trek downtown to get him and the car.  I was able to cook dinner and go about our regular routine, and for that, I was immensely thankful since it was our only night with no extracurricular activities.  Car trouble is always a pain, but this time it went about as smoothly as it could have possibly gone thanks to the kindness of others who were willing to help us out.

Monday evening I came across the broom challenge on Facebook and immediately had to try it.  I was shocked and amazed to see that a broom will, indeed, stand up all by itself with very little effort.  I know it has to do with the fact that the center of gravity is down at the base of the handle and that’s why it works, but it still just seems like it should fall over to one of the sides since the handle is so darn tall.  So weird.

Tuesday, February 11

Tuesday morning I headed to the gym for a treadmill workout and I ended up having one of my best workouts ever.  Just look at all of those calories burned in 35 minutes!

The rest of the day was spent running to Fresh Market, blogging, doing a little bit of online birthday shopping for Olivia’s birthday, and then baseball-ing in the evening. 

Wednesday, February 12

Wednesday was another gym day and I enjoyed the stair climber so much the last time that I decided to start alternating between it and the treadmill each week.  Since I haven’t yet built up my stamina for stair-climbing, I can only do around 15 minutes before I feel like I’m going to die, so I decided to try out some of the weight training equipment for the other half of my workout. 

I tried the hip adduction and hip abduction machines and they straight up kicked my hiney.  I did 100 reps on each machine and when I hopped off of the second one, my legs felt like straight Jello.  I’m typing this four full days later, and my inner thighs still feel a little tender.  Lol.  Guess I’ll be adding those two to the regular rotation… they’ll help get my thighs and booty in shape for swimsuit season!

Wednesday for lunch I made some avocado toast (I’ve been on a major kick lately again) and I decided to poll everyone to find out what the best healthy-ish bread is.  The overwhelming majority said Dave’s Killer Bread so I added it to my shopping list. 

Wednesday evening Jacob had baseball practice again and B ended up unexpectedly working suuuuper late, so the kids and I were on our own for practice and dinner.  I whipped up some eggs, grits, bacon, sausage, and toast for dinner since it’s easy peasy when I’m on my own.

B ended up getting home around 7:30 and then we turned on Gossip Girl after getting the kids in the bed.  We had expected to watch another regular episode, but we were not aware that the last season was a short one, and the episode turned out to be the series finale!  I hadn’t mentally prepared myself for the end and I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye so I was devastated when I realized it was the last episode ever.  That said, the ending was SO good and I was totally shocked who Gossip Girl ended up being… I truly never saw that coming.  I’m already ready to start watching it over again in my office while I work... I’m having serious withdrawals.  Gosh, I really loved that show.

Thursday, February 13

Thursday was Grandparent’s Day at the kids’ school and I had to be there bright and early to help set up and also to drop off Valentines party supplies for Friday.  It was yet another yucky, rainy, cold day, so I had to run errands and drag everything inside in the pouring rain. Waaaahhhh. 

I met up with the other ladies in our visitation hall and we started prepping for the grandparents – making coffee and setting out donuts, other drinks, and napkins.  They had a Grandparent’s Day mass at 9:30 and then once mass let out, everyone came in to enjoy coffee and donuts.  My momma, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and step father-in-law were all in attendance and the kids got to spend some good time with them.  Unfortunately my daddy was sick so he wasn’t able to come.  I was so sad about that, too, because someone at the school snapped the picture below of the kids with all of their grandparents and I hate that my dad isn’t there.  :o(

I had grabbed some of that Dave's Killer Bread at the store that morning, so made some more avocado toast for lunch, and y'all, where has this bread been all my life?!  Y'all were SO right.

Thursday evening Olivia worked on a special valentine that she wanted to give to a boy at school.  Face palm.  She showed me her masterpiece when she finished and I cracked up.  “You are so handsome,” she said.  I mean, what is she, 15?!  Hahahaha.  We’re gonna have to watch out for that one when she’s a teenager.  She’s boy crazy already.  SMH.

We were supposed to have had baseball that evening, but it ended up being canceled due to the rain and that was probably a good thing as this is how the kids spent the rest of the evening after we got home from ballet.  Haha.  School is exhausting. 

Jacob did finish a drawing he'd been working on and he wanted me to take a picture of it to send to Pop.

My girls ended up having bible study that evening and I had initially declined thinking we’d be at baseball, so after baseball was canceled I considered going.  However, I ended up being so exhausted by the time it was time to go that I just ended up skipping and resting at home instead.  I’m so ready for this cold, rainy weather to go!  I think it’s making me feel more exhausted that I actually am.  I’m ready for spring and more daylight in the evening.  I’m also tired of being cold all the time.  Ha! 

I was also thankful to have stayed home to capture this sweet moment, too.  <3

Friday, February 14

Friday was Valentine’s Day and the kids’ excitement was tangible.  They were pumped!  Both of them had small parties but neither of them were parent events which made me a little sad.  But I did get a few texts from Olivia’s teaching assistant throughout the day.

Olivia was the class helper on Friday so she got to read a book to the class.  The teaching assistant in her class sent this picture to me and I just died at her little crossed legs.  I swear, she’s a 15 year old living in a 5-year-old’s body. 

I’ve mentioned before that my momma works at the church office right there on the school campus, so Jacob and Olivia have always loved that because they get to go visit her every now and then.  For a while Olivia was asking her teacher to go see her all the time (LOL) so her teaching assistant told her that they couldn’t go see her every day, but that they could go see her on special days.  Well, her teaching assistant told me that first thing Friday morning Olivia went running into class saying, “It’s Valentine’s Day so it’s a special day!  We get to go see Cokie today!”  Hahahaha.  She’s not going to let them forget!

So after lunch, she and her best friend got to walk over and see my mom at her office.  Every time Jacob and Olivia visit my mom they always ask to copy their hands on the copy machine (I used to do the same thing when I was little, too!!) so my mom copied the girls hands while they were holding hands.  OMG, so sweet.  Olivia’s teaching assistant sent these pictures to me and it just made my day! 

The rest of the day was spent working from home while diffusing this new candy hearts diffuser blend that I came across - 6 drops Orange, 4 drops Wintergreen.  Smells soooo yummy!

When I picked the kids up from school they were both bouncing off of the walls and they were all a chatter about their days.  When we got home they both dumped their valentines and candy on the table to see what all they had received, and then we did a little impromptu photo shoot to commemorate the day.

Afterward, the kids played while I set the table for Valentine’s Day and then B brought home Five Guys on his way home from work.  We weren’t about to try to go out to eat!  B and I had some drinks and we ate dinner and we let the kids open their little gifts from us.  My parents stopped by after dinner to drop off a little treat for our whole family, and then the four of us all settled in on the couch in our PJs for a family movie night.  The kids wanted to watch Honey We Shrunk Ourselves to finish the trilogy and we all loved it.  I had never seen that one before, but I thought it was cute!  

Saturday, February 15

Saturday morning I made some canned cinnamon rolls and then topped them with some pink sprinkles… such a festive Valentine’s Day breakfast without any fuss! 

In the week leading up to Valentine’s Day I posted hearts on the kids’ doors each night stating one thing that I love about them.  They loved it so much and I loved the excuse to let them know just how loved they are.  I snapped pictures of their finished doors Saturday morning to have as a memento.

We had no plans Saturday with the exception of afternoon baseball practice for Jacob and a 40^th birthday party for one of our friends, so we spent most of the day hanging around the house and getting some things done.  I had no particular agenda or list of things I wanted to accomplish, but I did know that I wanted to have a productive day after lots of recent lazy-ish weekends.  I ended up getting a few things crossed off of my master to do list and I also backed up all of our pictures and videos to the current month.  I got the house tidied up and got my Valentines gifts put away (see the Baby Yoda tee that B got me for Hollywood Studios!!!!) and I also did my meditation and quiet time.  Super productive without even really trying!

Brian took Jacob to baseball at 2:30 and Olivia tagged along (even though I’d hoped she’d stay with me) and I used the time to go through and clean out some very old computer files.  When they got home, we all got ready and then it was time to head to Donnie’s party.

The party was at their house, and it was quite a huge shindig!  They live out in the country on a decent piece of land, so they are able to have loud parties without having to worry about disturbing anyone.  Brian and I have been friends with Randi and Donnie since B and I started dating (B has known Randi since they were little as she’s his best friend’s sister) and they used to throw huge, crazy adult Halloween parties every year before any of us had kids.  They have a full-size basement that they turned into their very own bar and I’ll just say that some crazy good times were had down there back before we all had kids.  We’ll just leave it at that.  ;o) 

They hadn’t been entertaining in the bar area for a few years as it had turned into more of a storage area since they’d had their two girls, so we were excited when they decided to “reopen” the bar for Donnie’s party.  We grabbed a six-pack of Donnie’s favorite beer and headed over around 6.  There were tons of people there… maybe 60-70??  Maybe more??  And things definitely looked a bit different this time since there were 20+ kids running around, but we had the best time.  They had barbecue, drinks, and even some live music for entertainment.  The kids ran wild, playing, eating snacks, and just living their best lives.  We stayed out way past their bedtimes and they were sad to leave.  I was sad to leave, too.  It was such a fun night.

Sunday, February 16

Sunday morning we decided to skip church.  I just couldn’t bring myself to wake the kids at 6:30 after keeping them out so late, so we had a lazy morning at home watching cartoons, reading, and lounging around.

I had seen a hair tutorial in one of my favorite blogger’s IG stories that I wanted to try on Olivia, and it turned out SO cute.  It looks like it would be really complicated, but it’s honestly pretty easy!  Olivia was thrilled and she looked darling so I gave myself a big pat on the back for that one.  ;o)

As we were getting ready to go to my MIL and step-FIL’s for lunch, B somehow managed to throw his back out just doing routine things and it has been really bad.  He’s thrown his back out a couple of times in the past, and while it was painful for him, it was never anything like this.  This time he can barely walk, he can’t sit for long periods of time, and he’s only somewhat comfortable when lying down.  Every time he moves he yells out in pain and it’s just been awful to watch him.  He’s being stubborn and doesn’t want to see a doctor yet, so I’m just praying he heals quickly and that it’s nothing that requires any kind of medical assistance.  I’m typing this on Monday, one full day after it happened, and he’s not doing any better.  He had to stay home from work today because he can barely move, and I’ve been taking care of my little patient since he can’t do much for himself.

Anyhoo, he was able to finish getting ready and get to his mom’s for lunch, although I had to help him put on his socks and shoes and such.  We had a nice lunch over there and baseball practice ended up getting canceled again because of, you guessed it, more rain.  Ugh.  The cousins got to spend some good quality time playing games at Nana and Poppie's, though!

B spent the rest of the afternoon popping ibuprofen like candy, icing himself, and laying flat, and I did some work and prepped for the week ahead while the kids played video games. 

We went to my parents’ house for dinner and my mom decorated cookies with the kids for dessert.  They love to decorate cookies so it was a real treat for them! 

Happy Wednesday, y'all!  

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