Lindsay's Sweet World

Friday, April 26, 2019

Five on Friday - Oils Station, School Fundraiser, Egg Hunt, and Well Visit

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Today is Field Day at the kids’ school so I’ll be helping out with that all morning and then the kids get out of school at NOON today so we get to start our weekend a little early! Woo hoo!

Now for some favorites from the week!

O N E – New Essential Oils Station in the Kitchen

Shortly after I received my starter kit from Young Living, I set up this cute little station on our kitchen island to house my diffuser and oils and it’s now one of my favorite spots in the entire house. Every day when we get home from school, the kids and I dig through the jar and pull out oils to find fun new combinations to try. Some days we diffuse blends to help us relax, some days we diffuse blends to give us that extra burst of energy to get through the rest of the day (well, me anyway… the kids always have plenty of energy!), and some days we diffuse blends that help with focus so that Jacob can get through his homework like a boss.

I love that there are so many things that we can use the oils for, and I love even more that the kids are loving them as much as I do! And this cute little area makes me love them even more!

Also, I’ve had several requests for an entire blog post dedicated to essential oils, so I have something in the works. I’m hoping to have it up in the next couple of weeks! I’ll be discussing why we use them, what all you can use them for, and why we love them. If you’ve been thinking about buying a starter kit and getting into essential oils, I would love to have you join me! I’m in a little group with some other ladies and I am just beyond amazed at what a wealth of knowledge they have been since I started!

T W O – Plant Lady

Our weather has been gorgeous lately so we’ve been spending every single possible second in our back yard and on the porch. Every year we get four ferns for the front porch and that’s always the extent of our green thumb adventures. Well, this year my mother-in-law planted some herbs for me so I’ve been taking care of (and using!) those. In addition to those, I had three empty pots on the porch that I had used last year to try (and fail) to grow my own herbs from seeds, so I decided to plant some annuals in those instead. I ended up with pink geraniums in two of the pots and I planted some Watermelon Coleus in the largest pot. They are so pretty!

I love going out there to water them each evening. It’s always so peaceful. When it starts getting hotter I’ll have to start watering them in the morning instead, though. Let’s just hope I can keep them all alive!

T H R E E – Impromptu Photo Shoot with the Kiddos

On Good Friday the weather was terrible here. At one point during the early afternoon, the rain slowed to a slight drizzle, so we grabbed the umbrella and snapped a few pictures outside so the kids could get some fresh air.

Jacob is receiving his First Communion this weekend, and we had just completed his First Communion banner, so I wanted to get a picture of him with it. He was so proud of it! It came as a kit from our church so we didn’t have to design it or hand cut everything, so I promise it wasn’t as involved as it looks!

Anyway, while we were out there Olivia wanted some pictures of herself doing arabesque, so we got a few of those, too. And since the kids were both being so photogenic and willing to take pictures, I even snapped a few of them together. I just love these two so much.

And lots of people asked about Olivia’s dress when I posted this on Instagram… you can find it here on Amazon. It’s only $14.99 and the quality is excellent!

F O U R – Olivia’s Love Note to Mommy

Since the weather was so bad on Good Friday, we spent most of the day inside coloring and doing crafts. Olivia has been on a love note writing kick lately, and she’ll often write little notes to B and me and Jacob. Well, her note to me on Friday said:

“I love Mommy. She is going to have a baby soon.”

Whaaaat.

No. No, Mommy is not going to have a baby soon.

She must know something that I don’t know. Haha.

F I V E – School Fundraiser Class Basket

Every year our school puts on a Spring event (this year the theme is Casino night again!) and it’s always our biggest fundraiser of the year. A huge part of the fundraising is the silent auction that they have, and each grade in the school has to provide a themed basket to auction. Since I’m the room mom for Jacob’s class this year I (along with the other two room moms for second grade) was responsible for organizing the basket idea, collecting money from the parents, and creating the basket.

We decided to do a “Pamper Yourself” theme, and we collected enough money to purchase a spa package that includes a facial, a Swedish massage, a manicure, and a pedicure, a $100 gift card to Ulta, a $25 gift card to Bath & Body Works, some essential oils and a diffuser, and loads of other items used to pamper. I purchased several of the items on Amazon and I was so pleased with the quality that I thought I’d share a few of them with you.

Plush Robe – I had hoped to have enough money to buy one of the Barefoot Dreams robes from Nordstrom, but since they’re so expensive we decided to allot that money elsewhere. I set out to find something comparable for a cheaper price, and I ended up getting this one from Amazon for only $24.99. Y’all, IT FEELS AMAAAAZING. I cannot believe how nice it is! If you’re looking for a luxurious robe that’s also affordable, I cannot recommend this one enough!

Silk Pillowcase – these are awesome for protecting your hair and facial skin while you sleep, and I was able to find this one on Amazon.

Bath Bombs – this pack of six was packaged so neatly and cute and the scents sound so good!

Jade Roller – these are all the rage right now because they are said to increase circulation, smooth out fine lines and wrinkles, and reduce puffiness and inflammation in the face. This one was so nice and it was packaged very cute so it would make a great gift! I loved this so much I added it to my wish list!

Tumbler – I wanted to get a couple of cute little novelty items for the basket to make it attractive to bidders, so I found this tumbler on Amazon and it could not be more perfect for our theme! It’s insulated and it comes in several different colors.

Plush Socks – this was another item that was perfect to make the basket look super cute. You can never go wrong with fuzzy socks! I love these so much I added them to my wish list, too!

Our basket was turned in to the school a couple of weeks ago and I’m crossing my fingers that it raises lots of money for the school! We’ll find out May 4!

S I X – Olivia’s Easter Egg Hunt at School

Olivia had her Easter egg hunt this past week at school and I volunteered to put out the eggs. They had written the kids’ names on the eggs which meant they had to find their own eggs with their names on them. That made the hunt last a little bit longer than the ten seconds that it would have lasted if the kids had just been able to grab any eggs. Haha.

S E V E N – Olivia’s Five-Year Well Visit

I also forgot to mention this on here a couple of weeks ago, but Olivia had her five year well visit at the doctor. Y’all probably don’t care about the stats, but for documentation sake for us, I like to post them on the blog. She passed both her vision and hearing screenings with flying colors, she didn’t have to get any shots (much to her delight!), and her stats were as follows:

Weight – 40 lbs. (50th percentile, which is down from the 65th percentile at her four-year visit)

Height – 44.5 inches tall (81st percentile, which is up from the 75th percentile at her four-year well visit) Looks like she’s gonna be tall and skinny like her Momma and Daddy! Well, technically, I suppose I’m not really all that tall. Brian is, though.

I forgot to snap any pictures of our visit so I have nothing visual to share… who even am I?!

Finally, since everyone seems to love my Friday funnies, I think I might make them a regular thing. Enjoy your laughs for the week!

Happy Friday, y’all!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and By BMG for High Five for Friday.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Our Weekend - The One with Easter

We had a four-day weekend for Easter and it was one of my favorite ones to date! On Good Friday we had some bad weather roll through early in the morning and then the rest of the day was rainy and cold. B had to work most of the day, so the kids and I spent the day inside snuggling, coloring, and working on Jacob’s banner for his First Communion next weekend.

B got off of work at 2 and then we all headed out to run a few errands. We dropped off some donations, stopped by Rooms to Go to search for a cabinet to store all of our DVDs, and when we didn’t find anything there, we headed to a local thrift mall to go exploring. We’d never been before and the place is HUGE so I had high hopes that we’d find something perfect, but sadly, we had no luck.

We decided to grab Mexican for dinner on the way home, and then we spent the rest of the evening watching TV with the kids and catching up on a few house things.

Saturday morning Jacob had a soccer game and it was freeeezing – so out of the norm for mid-April in Georgia. We all bundled up in sweatshirts and big jackets and hoods to block the wind and occasional sprinkles of rain, but we still froze our butts off and I was counting down the seconds until the game was over. Jacob’s team lost 2-0 but he played a great game himself. He was finally on offense and he was SO CLOSE to scoring his first goal, but it went out just near the goal. Such a bummer!

We stopped by Zaxby’s for lunch on the way home and then we spent the rest of the day dyeing Easter eggs (our first time using the Cool Whip method!), watching the G-Day game (UGA’s spring practice scrimmage). My cousin works with the team and he was Kirby Smart’s right hand man for the game, so we kept seeing him on TV over and over again. We see him on TV every now and then down on the sideline, but he got loads of TV time during this game.

After the game, I started cleaning out the closet in Brian’s office. It’s been a HUGE mess and it’s so cluttered that half of the stuff that belongs in there has been piled in our front sitting room for a few weeks and it’s been driving me nuts! It all got out of hand because I started cleaning stuff out again at the beginning of the year, so I’m now trying to get it all organized and get all of the donations out of the house, as well as sell the things that need to be sold.

Saturday evening we met my parents, brothers, SIL, niece, nephew, and uncle at our favorite little pub for dinner and drinks, and then it was back home to get the kids showered and off to bed early since we were going to be up earlier than usual on Sunday for church!

Sunday morning the kids were up earlier than necessary but they played until B and I got out of bed, and then it was time to head downstairs to find their Easter baskets. Jacob found his first – in the bath tub in the bathroom downstairs – and then Olivia found her in the closet under the stairs. I grew up waking up to Easter baskets on the dining room table, but B grew up with the Easter Bunny hiding his basket, so we adopted his family’s tradition and the kids love it. They both spent a little bit of time looking through their goodies and then it was time for breakfast followed by the real reason for the day – JESUS’S RESURRECTION!!!!

We arrived at church about 30 minutes early because it packs out quickly on Easter Sunday and miraculously we were able to get a pew with my parents and brother and SIL and the kids. Mass ran about 15 minutes long which meant that we were in there for a total of about two hours, but it was an Easter miracle because all four of our kiddos were little angels the entire time! Even my niece, who is just six months old, was a perfect quiet angel! I got to hold her for a good chunk of the time that we were in there and I just ate up all of those baby snuggles!

After church we stopped outside to snap a few family pictures (and one of Olivia with her BFF from school) and then we had to hightail it out of there to be at my mother-in-law and step-father-in-law’s for Easter lunch at noon. I was able to get several good pictures of the kiddos. How stinking cute are they in their Easter best?!

We ended up being 15 minutes late to my MIL and step-FIL’s because the traffic was awful getting out of church, but they kept lunch hot and we dined on ham and mashed potatoes and carrots and pineapple casserole and scalloped corn and so many other faves including those adorable deviled eggs my MIL made. HOW CUTE ARE THEY?! She said that they were a pain to make so she’ll probably never make them again. Haha.

After lunch the kids were eager to get the egg hunt underway, so my MIL and SIL and I all went out back and hid eggs around the yard. We probably had, like, 500 among the three of us, so each kid ended up getting over a hundred eggs, I would guess. Haha. They racked up on candy and cute little trinkets and even some money!

After the egg hunt we headed to my aunt and uncle’s house to celebrate with my family. Unfortunately, our family’s Easter celebrations always overlap, so we didn’t get to spend quite as much time at either place as we normally would. We were able to stay with my fam for about an hour, though, and then we headed home.

Easter was the absolute most gorgeous day weather-wise – crystal clear blue skies, low humidity, and a high in the low seventies – so we immediately headed outside when we arrived home and we stayed there for the rest of the evening. My father-in-law came over to give the kids some Easter goodies from him and he ended up staying with us for the rest of the day, too. I made a delicious cheese board with an assortment of crackers, fruits, cheeses, and smoked almonds, and I was super excited that I was able to garnish it with rosemary from my own little garden. It’s the little things. :o)

B whipped up some Moscow Mules for us, and we had those and the cheese board for dinner. Since we always eat such a huge lunch on Easter Sunday and also because my mom doesn’t ever do Sunday dinner on Easter, B and I started doing cheese boards for Easter dinner a few years ago to keep it nice and light.

We spent the rest of the evening soaking up the sunshine, playing baseball, playing soccer, and watching the kids color at the table on the back porch. It was one of the most relaxing days I’ve had in a long time and it honestly couldn’t have been more perfect. What better way to celebrate Jesus than spending lots of time out in His Father’s creations?

Don't mind Brian's face here! Lol. I loved this picture of him with his dad since they were twinning, but I sadly didn't get a good shot of Brian making a normal face. Hahahaha.

The kids were off for Easter Monday as well, but B had to work, so the kids and I ran to the grocery store and then met B downtown for lunch. After lunch I took them to the downtown playground by the river because the weather was a carbon copy of Easter Sunday – just perfect. They played for a good long while and then we went home so I could do a little bit of laundry and work. They played outside the whole time until it was time to get ready for ballet and soccer, and just like that, our four-day weekend was over.