April 2020 – Page 2

Friday Favorites {#23}

Posted on April 17, 2020August 20, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy FRIDAY! Week two of distance learning went a bit smoother this week which was a relief. That being said, the weather was either rainy/overcast or chilly. So, we didn’t do a great job of getting outside as much as we usually do. Hopefully, we can do that this weekend.

As with all Friday Favorites posts, I’m linking up with Narci, Erika, and Andrea. Make sure to check out their posts too!

Here are some favorites from the week:

Favorite Pic:

We made the best of a different Easter for us which I wrote about in Wednesday’s post.

The kids did a great job of going with the flow for Easter, and I love this pic of them.

Favorite Kid Quote:

Hayden loves Homer so much. So, when I walked in the living room Saturday morning, I said, “I can’t believe you and Homer aren’t snuggling.” Hayden said, “Homer wants some social distance.” 😂 Funny but also sad that’s a term that’s so common right now. 😢

Also, the kids shared their favorites last week, and their answers are simple, sincere, and funny.

Favorite Clothing Item:

About a month ago, I bought this Universal Thread sweatshirt at Target. I purchased the camo one and then a few weeks later, I ordered it in blush. The quality is great and it’s so comfy…Fun fact: It can be worn with pjs, sweatpants…and probably even jeans that button…but I haven’t tried that outfit look yet 😉 Bonus! It’s only $20.

Favorite Food:

We made one of our favorite meals recently and then one of our favorite desserts for Easter.

Favorite Moment:

Like I said above, it was hard to get motivated to spend lots of time outside with the dreary weather and cooler temps.

Also, about a year and a half ago, my back did me in…a trip to the doctor and he said I had sciatica. Thankfully, with some meds and some rest it went away…until recently.

My back started bothering me about a week ago and by Monday it was to where I could barely sit for long. So, I had to pause on my normal workouts but was determined to at least go for a short walk every day. I’m glad I did. Even in the cold, 37 degree weather we were having Tuesday, I was able to see so many beautiful blooming flowers. My bundled up walk felt more like February, but the beautiful flowers reminded me it is springtime in the bluegrass state!

Favorite Mom Meme:

Ain’t this the truth?! haha

I recently joked that you know it’s math time at our house when Homer puts himself in the kennel! It’s usually the last subject we do (and maybe I need to rethink that) and math isn’t necessarily a strength of mine…so the struggle tends to be real when we are trying to focus on how to use a protractor while measuring angles!

Favorite Kid Activities:

For science this week, the kids were to construct a 3-D object made out of recyclable objects that they could find around the house. Honestly, they found all the items and came up with their vision of constructing robots all on their own. We had to help a bit getting some parts to stay together, but I loved how they turned out. Hadley wanted to add hair with the leftover Easter basket grass, and Hayden did too. Of course, Hadley had to accessorize with a bow and sunglasses! Hayden added the Nike swoosh.

I know Hadley is missing her dance classes…mostly based on the number of Tik Tok performances I have to sit through on any given day. To balance out the Tik Tok (and, for the record, she doesn’t have an account), thankfully her dance studio is offering some online sessions. On Wednesday, she took over the sunroom for an hour long ballet, tap, jazz class.

Bonus: Flashback Friday

This memory popped up on Facebook, and it made me smile. I don’t remember where she got that dress, but I do remember her walking into the kitchen telling me she was going to wear this dress when she gets married. Awe. So sweet!

Well, that’s a wrap on this week! I hope you have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday.

Thanks for reading!

Delish Desserts

Delish Desserts- Graham Cracker Pudding Recipe

Posted on April 16, 2020May 15, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

I was digging through my recipe box (which I don’t use very often) and stumbled upon a favorite dessert that I hadn’t made in a while. I thought it would be perfect for our Easter dessert.

Trav’s mom gave me this recipe years ago, and I think she typically uses strawberry filling. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of fruit fillings, so I use the pudding option!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
3 Tblsp. sugar
1/3 c. melted butter
1 – 8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. whipped topping
1 box vanilla pudding and pie filling
1 box chocolate pudding and pie filling
**(Instead of pudding, you could use 2 cans strawberry pie filling)

Instructions:

Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter together in a small bowl.
Press into the bottom of a 9×13 dish.
Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and whipped topping together (I used my hand mixer)
Put on top of crumb mix in your dish.
Mix the pudding (I used my hand mixer) in a small mixing bowl (**Each pudding box called for two cups of milk—but I just used two cups total)
Put on top layer of your dish.
Chill.
After a couple of hours, I spread the remaining whipped topping on top of the layers kind of as an icing. We also had mini chocolate chips, so I sprinkled some of top of the whipped topping.
Enjoy!

My helper. It’s always fun to lick the bowl!

I hope this recipe is one that you’ll enjoy…It only lasted two days at our house! See you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites!

Take care,

Holidays

Easter

Posted on April 15, 2020May 15, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Wednesday. As I mentioned in Monday’s post, our Easter looked a bit different this year (as, I’m sure, was the case with most everyone!) We did take advantage of beautiful weather on Saturday for an egg hunt in the front yard. Thankfully, it didn’t take much convincing for my kids to put on Easter clothes for some pics before the egg hunt. I guess I was technically bribing them with candy, and somehow taking the photos took twelve minutes longer than necessary! haha.

They certainly are growing up on me! I did ask them that morning if they even wanted to do an egg hunt…I just didn’t know if they were “too old” for that now. They both said, “We will never be too old for candy!” (And, bonus –a few eggs had a dollar bill or two in them!)

Before quarantine began, I had seen Erin post about this Amazon dress that she had bought for all four of her girls. I bought one for Hadley, and it’s so cute and such great quality…and only $18! She can definitely wear it more than just on Easter Sunday.

Hadley’s dress from Amazon

Some outtakes from our Easter pic sesh:

We usually go to Trav’s aunt’s house in Elizabethtown where there are lots of kids and a big egg hunt, so I thought the kids would still want to do that. I thought this activity would take five minutes. Well, it took more like 20 minutes because Travis did such a good job hiding them! On two eggs each, I put a star, a rectangle, and a circle and told them they could get one of each of those. Those were the ones with money in them, and the rest had candy.

Picture with Homer!

And, then…we had a pleasant surprise with a family friend stopping by as the Easter Bunny. We heard a knock on the door, and Hadley said, “Mom! There’s an Easter Bunny at our door!” It was the highlight of their Saturday.

After lunch, we dyed Easter eggs in the sunroom.

Then, we decorated Easter cookies. There are a few local ladies who have their own cookie businesses, and I love when they offer cookie kits. This kit came from One Smart Cookie here in Lexington.

There’s no such thing as too much icing! (Just ask my kids!)

We always leave the eggs out for the Easter Bunny to hide as well as some carrots if we have any. Then, this year, we also left him a cookie! As you would expect, Homer ended up stealing the cookie off of the plate, so I had to leave a different cookie for EB.

The kids know that the Easter Bunny hides the hard boiled decorated eggs and brings them some candy. The rest of the goodies come from mom and dad.

I try not to go overboard and thank goodness for Amazon and other online shopping. Every Easter, the kids get new spring/summer pjs, flip flops, a swimsuit and a few other goodies. I try to be practical and purchase things they will need for summer anyway plus a few other surprises.

Easter goodies from mom and dad, in house egg hunt and a pic of the replacement cookie after Homer ate the bunny one.

After the indoor egg hunt, we had breakfast (pancakes & bacon) followed by a game of Jenga and then watched our church service online. Last year’s service was so beautiful; we certainly missed being there in person this year.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around. It was cold and rainy which was perfect weather for reading and movie watching.

We ordered Easter dinner from a local place, Minton’s, and it was so delish.

We had ham, potatoes gratin, brown sugar glazed carrots , brussel sprouts, and cheddar biscuits. For dessert, we had graham cracker pudding cake (I will share the recipe tomorrow) that Hadley helped me make.

We pulled out our China for dinner…& by that I mean that I had to go find the other place settings besides the two I have on display in my cabinet. 😂We found them in the garage, so clearly we don’t use them very often.

Once I put the napkin rings on, I wondered if I could make a cute name tag. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a little bunny tag, took white paper and put it up to my computer screen to trace the small bunny. Then, I outlined the bunny using black marker, and used some raffia to tie a bow. Hadley wrote our names and glued a little cotton ball to the tail. Then, I attached them to the napkin rings with a small piece of tape. Quick project that turned out so cute.

Using what I had, I made a quick centerpiece using the tray from our coffee table, candles and holders I keep in our cabinet, one of my bunny decorations, grass from the kids’ baskets and some of our dyed eggs.

I love trying to use what I already have in my house to add little touches here and there.

After dinner, we played a couple more rounds of Jenga, enjoyed our delicious dessert and headed to bed pretty early since Hadley had woken us up at 6:50 ready to start the day 😂(which is very unlike her! She tends to sleep in!)

Of course, we missed being with family on Easter but it was also nice to just be home as a family…since holidays usually have us driving here, there and everywhere.

See you back here tomorrow with a delicious dessert recipe.

Thanks for reading,

Home Updates

Transformation Tuesday: Master Bathroom

Posted on April 14, 2020May 15, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

The home renovation posts continue with how we updated our Master Bathroom. This is the bathroom right off our bedroom (obviously!) It’s very small. Travis and I have lived in three houses together and never shared a bathroom until this one (as far as for getting ready purposes). Once we updated the basement bathroom, he did move down there as he moved his clothes to the closet down there as well. So that freed up some space and is a time saver in the mornings!

Anyway, as I’ve mentioned before, we have plans for an addition. If/when that happens, this would become Hayden’s bathroom. So, the updates are quite nice, but we did keep in mind that some day teenager Hayden may have this bathroom, so we didn’t totally bust the budget with super fancy upgrades.

Before:

The pics from the listing aren’t the best, but you can see there’s a small linen closet with a closed in shower, and then toilet and vanity are to the bottom right of the photo.

Also, random note—I don’t think I mentioned it in previous posts but all of our interior doors were very dated. We lived with them that way for quite some time because, as we learned, hanging and painting doors is tedious and somewhat expensive work. A couple of years ago, we finally had that project completed with new doors and handles. (Older doors that we had throughout our house pictured above…updated doors in the demo pic below)

As with most of our previous updates, Travis did the demo, we both made design decisions, and then our handyman neighbor completed the detailed work.

Here’s where the pieces of the puzzle started to get put back together…

We went with gray and white tile and gray vanity to keep the same color scheme throughout the house.

I had forgotten all the decisions that have to be made in these renovation projects until I looked at this floor pic…We even had to choose the grout color! (And at one point, we had to decide which way the tiles looked best–vertical or horizontal)

After:

As with most of the work we’ve had done, we purchased most everything (lights, tile, vanity, shower, etc.) from Lowes or Home Depot. I was trying to shake my gray colored trend and truly thought we’d get a white vanity, but saw this one and loved the counter top. Again, I love the mix of grays and whites.

This curved shower door was such a vast improvement. The bathroom looks so much bigger! Our neighbor, who did the work, pointed out that we could get the plastic insert with detailing to look like tile, and I’m glad we went that route. It elevates the look a bit.

I wish I could remember the wall color but I wanted a light color for the bathroom but also a cool toned color. All of our other walls in our house (besides the kids’ rooms) are Repose Gray or Pavilion Beige.

The two drawers of the vanity have been so helpful as I’m able to store so many more items that I used to have to put in bins and other shelves. The vanity (and the linen closet) provide all the storage I need as well as storage for towels, medicine, and other necessities for the family.

The whole project took a few weeks and we were very pleased with the outcome.

As far as major updates, we only have our hall bath left to complete. It’s the world’s smallest bathroom with a less than ideal set up as both kids use it to get ready in the morning! haha

Previous Home Renovation project posts 🙂

Thanks so much for reading. See you back here tomorrow for a post about our Easter.

Take care,

Meals and Recipes

Monday Meals: Chicken Marinade & Orzo

Posted on April 13, 2020May 15, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Hello! Happy Monday. I hope you had a great weekend as well as a great Easter. Of course, our Easter looked pretty different this year, but we made the most of a gorgeous Saturday for an egg hunt in our front yard followed by dyeing eggs and decorating cookies. Yesterday, we a day spent in pjs watching our church service online, calling family to say “Happy Easter,” and spending time relaxing most of the day.

Although the weather is supposed to be cooler here in Lexington this week, we have been grilling out quite a bit. I don’t typically love chicken on the grill, but if we do grill chicken, we either slather it with BBQ sauce or use this marinade. I made this last weekend and remembered what a family favorite it is.

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts (or tenders)
6 gloves of garlic, minced
Parsley, chopped
1/4 c. Dijon Mustard
1/2 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Instructions:

If I use chicken breasts, I cut them into smaller pieces, almost the size of tenders.
In a bowl, put minced garlic, zest and juice of one lemon, chopped parsley leaves, salt, pepper, mustard, olive oil and then mix into a paste.
Put chicken in the paste, mix together, and then refrigerate until ready to grill.

Chicken mixed in marinade, ready to refrigerate.

A perfect side dish with this chicken is one of my favorite orzo dishes that I found on Pinterest years ago. Even my kids love it!

Ingredients:

1 c. uncooked orzo pasta
1/4 c. butter
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tblsp. chopped, fresh parsley
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
2 Tblsp. milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cook orzo according to package directions until just tender, about 10 minutes; drain.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Stir cooked orzo into butter.
Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese. Gradually add milk, if needed, to reach desired consistency. Stir in parsley and salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve immediately.

I hope you have a great week! I’m about to wake up two kids for week two of virtual/distance learning ! Wish us luck!

Thanks for reading, and happy cooking!

Friday Favorites, Kids

Friday Favorites {#22}: Kids Q&A Edition

Posted on April 10, 2020August 20, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Shew! We made it to Friday. As with every Friday Favorites, I’m linking up with Narci, Erika, and Andrea, so check out their posts too!

Honestly, this week was a huge adjustment as it was our first week of virtual learning along with me working from home. First and foremost, HIGH FIVE to all the educators out there busting it to make school as easy, seamless, and meaningful for their students (and the students’ parents!) as it has been. I have been BLOWN AWAY with all that my kids’ teachers have done. The best thing is the daily 10:00 Google Meet class meeting. I know my kids love seeing their teachers and their classmates.

Also, HIGH FIVE to all the parents out there working AND helping their kids with their school work. I’m a teacher, and this has been a MAJOR learning curve for myself as a high school educator as well as now a teacher to two 4th graders! We will get through this, but I’m certainly looking forward to a nap later today followed by a glass of wine! 😉

For this edition of Friday Favorites, I decided to ask the kids some of their favorites. The age of 10 has been a fun one. They still need me but are also pretty independent. Needless to say, we’ve had lots of time together recently, and I thought this would be a great time (and a great age) to take note of some of their Favorite Things…

Hayden’s Favorites

Favorite color: blue
Favorite book: The Hatchet
Favorite TV show: Garfield
Favorite food: bacon
Favorite game: Madden 20
Favorite animal: dog (specifically the Homster!)
Favorite outfit: shorts and a t-shirt
Favorite subject at school: Social Studies
Favorite sport: basketball
Favorite breakfast food: Oatmeal and Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Favorite holiday: Easter
Favorite vacation: Grand Canyon and Dodgers game in LA

Other Questions and Answers:

What do you want to be when you grow up? basketball player
What’s one thing you’ve learned at school this year? measurements in math
Name one thing you do really well. Sports and reading
Describe your best day ever. Saturdays because I can chill.
If I could choose a different name, I would choose…Cooper (Fun Fact: He was almost named Cooper)
When I’m with my family, I like to…watch TV shows and laugh with them.
What’s one thing you like about your sister…She’s fast.

Hadley’s Favorites:

Favorite color: teal
Favorite book: Mother Daughter Book Club Series
Favorite TV show: Alexa and Katie series
Favorite food: tacos
Favorite game: Diary of Wimpy Kid 10 Second Challenge
Favorite animal: monkey
Favorite outfit: athletic shorts and tank top
Favorite subject at school: Spelling
Favorite sport: Dance and Cross Country
Favorite breakfast food: Waffle with Nutella
Favorite holiday: Christmas
Favorite vacation: Los Angeles

Other Questions and Answers:

What do you want to be when you grow up? An elementary school teacher
What’s one thing you’ve learned at school this year? How to do long division
Name one thing you do really well. Being sassy
Describe your best day ever. Going to Disney World
If I could choose a different name, I would choose…Mackenzie or Addison (Fun fact: She was almost named Addison)
When I’m with my family, I like to…go on bike rides or have a game night
What’s one thing you like about your brother…nothing really, but he can be sweet when he’s not awkward.

Even if they fight too much and some days drive me crazy, I know I’m blessed beyond measure with these TWO! And, Happy National Sibling Day to them as well.

Thanks for letting me share some favorites of my two favorites.

Have a great weekend and a wonderful Easter.

Health and Fitness, Me, Three things

Three Things + A Bit of My Routine

Posted on April 9, 2020May 15, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Thursday! It’s been awhile since I’ve shared a little bit about what we’ve all (individually) been up to, so here’s a Three Things update as well as my self-care routine that I’ve made a focus for myself lately.

Please pardon Hayden’s dirty shirt. He’d just finished a round of backyard golf.

Hayden begged and begged for an Xbox for the past couple of years. Last year, I told him he’d need to save money to purchase an Xbox if he wanted one, and he did so last November. Who knew that five months later that Xbox sure would come in handy?! We still try to limit technology, but he’s been having fun playing a little bit each day as a way to “play” with his friends.
Hayden has also become tech savvy with Zoom. A few days a week, some of his friends (thanks to one of the moms!) Zoom and see each other and chat for awhile. It warms my heart to hear them chatting and laughing (even if they are probably telling fart jokes!)
Hayden is definitely still a voracious reader. He was assigned to read two books for school (Hoot and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and did so in a couple of days. He also likes to re-read books which I think is so awesome. Of course, he also loves watching Lego Masters and episodes of Garfield on Netflix to balance out the book to tv ratio 😉
Bonus: I’ve said it in a previous post, but Hayden has been very content at home these past couple of weeks. He’s quite the homebody and seems to be adjusting well to this new, for now, “normal.”

Like Hayden, Hadley begged and begged for an Ipod Touch. She also had to save money to buy her Ipod Touch and did so last November as well. Again, we limit the time she’s on it, but thank goodness for Kids Messenger because that way my social butterfly can keep up with her friends. It’s really been a great way for them to communicate!
Hadley still loves to bake and is pretty independent while doing so. We’ve baked cookies and brownies recently. Baking is definitely a fun (and delicious) way to pass the time!
Hadley’s dance teachers have been posting videos of their recital routines for practicing. I’m glad that Hadley has been able to keep up with dance during the time off. That being said, she can find the beat in any tune…so lots of improv dancing going on around here.We’re still hopeful there will be a recital…just most likely at a later date.
Bonus: Hadley’s done a great job adjusting to being home, but she is the extrovert who likes to socialize. I know she misses her friends fiercely, and she, more than Hayden, has realized some of the fun they are missing out on (or will miss out on) at school like an April field trip, field day, and other fun activities.

Travis has always been a “doer.” So, having this forced time to slow down, while good, is definitely an adjustment for him. He still keeps busy and goes to work a couple times a week, does yard work (which he actually does enjoy–just doesn’t usually have time for in the spring and summer), and finds other odds and end projects around the house to complete. Of course, Travis finds time for a daily run as well as takes Homer for walks. They log a lot of time together. 😂
I’m continuing to try to find a groove with working from home while helping the kids with their work. Like Travis, it took me awhile to get used to this slower pace, but I’ve realized it’s not often that I have time to do so many things I love like read, catch up on a tv show, workout, and nap—sometimes all in one day! Of course, now that school has started back this week, I’m very busy during the day, but still love the downtime in the evenings.
Newsflash: Homer is still a HANDFUL!! He’s a sweet as he can be, but man, he gets into everything. Just recently, he’s eaten two wireless computer mice, two kitchen dish brushes, the lid to my Swig mug (I was SO mad!), a painting brush, and some molasses cookies from Trader Joe’s! I will say I know he loves having us home…and the kids sure do love spending this extra time with him. They hug on him most of the day and fight about whose bed he should hop in while they do schoolwork!

Similar yet Different Routine

During these uncertain times, I cling to what I can control…which is some of my daily routine. Some things I’m doing for myself include:

I continue to wake up before the kids. I’m usually up by 7:00 to sip my coffee in silence while reading my favorite blogs , checking my phone, and watching the news (sporadically!). For school, I work 8-11 and 12-3:30. The kids both have their class Google meetings at 10:00 each day. So, I get my “me” time in and get some work accomplished before they wake up.
During my “me” time, I always light a Bath and Body Works candle, as well as some other candles in the living room. It sets a calm start to my day.
Since March 16th, I’ve made it a goal to go for a daily walk on top of my at home workouts. Usually the walks are on my own and I listen to a podcast…but sometimes it’s just Travis, Homer and me, and sometimes it’s a family walk. Once or twice a week, we’ve been going on family bike rides…I let that count as my walk. The fresh air and sunshine always does a body good.
I try to work out 4-5 days a week. Thankfully, I’m pretty used to working out at home…but I do miss going to the gym to use the bike and the elliptical.
Real talk: there are days I don’t even put makeup on…but some days I do..and notice I feel a bit better. I continue my routine of washing my face and using toner and moisturizer. As I’ve mentioned before, at least once a week I do a gel mask and another day of the week do a charcoal mask. Also, I’ve been making Facial Friday a thing and busting out my facial steamer. I’m also continuing my weekly at home manicures (just painting my nails ;)) and also change my toe polish every once in awhile. Also, sunless tanner has become my new best friend! Trying to give my legs some life 😉
Also, it’s important to keep things light for my kids. I don’t want them feeling stressed or anxious during these unprecedented times. I answer their questions, but they haven’t had many…and keeping them in some kind of routine has been important. Starting online school this week has helped solidify the routine that will likely carry us into summer. Also, in addition to learning, I try to incorporate other fun activities like crafts or baking to break up the days.
That being said, as a family we are spending uninterrupted time together that we probably won’t get again. So we’ve been going on family bike rides, walks, watching movies together, playing puzzles, etc.

So, that’s just a little update about each of us. See you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites (Kids Q&A edition!)

Take care,

Holidays, Let's look

Let’s Look – Easter at Your House

Posted on April 8, 2020May 15, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

It’s time for another Let’s Look link up with Shay and Erika; make sure you check out their posts too.

Well, needless to say, Easter will look a bit different this year. I’m actually thankful this post came around when it did to remind me of some of the traditions and activities that I still do have control over right now.

Here’s a look at what we typically do for Easter.

Well, of course, the kids have to wear cute Easter outfits every year. Shhh! Don’t tell them, but I’ll probably ask them to put on some nice clothes this year to at least get the cute Easter pic. Plus, I’d hate to miss out on the tradition of fussing at Hayden because he doesn’t want to wear nice pants! 😉

Here are some Easter outfit pics through the years.

2010 is just the sweetest. First Easter (and they shared their candy with me!)

2011, 2012, 2013 (Sunglasses were all the rage then), 2014 (Hayden should be smiling bigger because it must have been warm enough for him to wear shorts!)

2015, 2016, 2017 (Poor Hayden was sick—we took the pic before Hadley had Travis left for family Easter), 2018 – braces 🙂

When I was kid, we always dyed Easter eggs, and left them for the Easter Bunny to hide. Then, my brother and I would search for them throughout the house. We do the same now with Hayden and Hadley.

Here are some pics of the egg dyeing through the years.

Only within the past year and a half have we found our church home…so a new tradition for us is the pancake breakfast and egg hunt at church. Also, attending Easter service has become a new favorite and important part of our family tradition. It’s difficult that Easter does look so different this year, but we will make the most of it.

Pancake breakfast and egg hunt at church with cousins last year.

Before bed, we leave the eggs out for EB to hide as well as some carrots if we have some (and a cookie or two!)

In the morning, the kids see what the Easter Bunny has left them and search around the house for the eggs.

I try to make a special breakfast on Easter morning. Cinnamon rolls, a breakfast casserole, etc. One year I made these cinnamon sugar bunny rolls for Easter breakfast.

After church, we head to Elizabethtown for Trav’s side of the family get together. The kids are always excited to see their cousins. Travis has a very big family with plenty of cousins, himself!

So that’s a look at Easter at our house…

Next month’s topic is Let’s Look At…Your Weekend. Why do I have the feeling my post will be about how my weekdays and weekends look quite similar these days?! I’m hoping we are somewhat back to normal very very soon.

Thanks for reading!

Life Lately

Posted on April 7, 2020May 15, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Hello! We are getting back in the groove of school and work (the at home edition) this week. I thought I’d share some of out activities from “spring break” in this Life Lately post.

I thought I’d start with a laugh. This meme below had me chuckling with the Oregon Trail reference.

Scavenger Hunts

Hadley actually had the idea for an indoor scavenger hunt. I started to look on Pinterest, but she put one together herself based off some that she had seen.

Of course, this activity didn’t take long and I had to set some rules (no running in the house, no pushing each other, …my kids are both very competitive…especially with each other…haha), but they had fun. Home base was the couch, so first one with their item and on the couch won the round. For the record, Hadley won 8-7!

After that activity, I thought it would be fun to do a (non-competitive) outdoor scavenger hunt. Again Pinterest has lots of ideas, but that evening I so happened to see Jen Reed post this (a re-share) on Insta Stories.

Hadley started to write it out, and I helped her finish the list up. We wanted to put it on a clipboard as we walked through the neighborhood. So, last week the kids and I took about thirty minutes to just walk through the neighborhood and see what we could find. We found most everything—even Christmas lights. We never found a license plate that spelled a word or a camper in the driveway. We had fun and got fresh air at the same time.

April Fools Day

Hadley brough her “A” game to April Fools Day! She tricked Hayden by offering him the last sips of my Diet Coke, but she had put soy sauce in the bottle instead! Then, she put Vaseline on his door. Her third prank was she offered him two “mint” Oreos filled with toothpaste. He doesn’t like mint Oreos, so he declined…and also realized what day it was!

I’m no good at pranks, but I tried to help him out. She didn’t fall for apple cider in her apple juice, but he did make a comeback filling her pillow case with baseballs and then freezing her toothbrush overnight. So, the morning of April 2, she had the frozen toothbrush surprise!

Outside Activities

Hayden “played” golf a bit in the backyard. He really started liking golf last summer, but then other sports kind of took over as usual, so it was fun for him to get back at it. We learned our lesson last summer after he broke a neighbor’s window; now he uses plastic golf balls in the yard! Also, I cracked up because he used one of our decorative 4th of July flags for one of his holes!

The kids ride their bikes pretty often, but we’ve tried to go on at least one bike ride as a family each week.

We use our fire pit pretty often in the spring and fall (and sometimes in the summer). Who doesn’t love s’mores?! 🙂

Hayden helped Travis with some yard work on Saturday. Real talk: the yard work came about as a punishment, but Hayden ended up having a good attitude and being quite helpful. Hayden and Travis ended up playing catch in the yard afterwards.

We woke up to a sweet surprise yesterday morning. We were “egged”! Unfortunately, I didn’t realize until around 11am, and some of the chocolate had melted in the eggs we found. This was definitely a fun (and sweet!) treat.

School

Last week, the kids had some trial runs with Google Meet with their teachers and classmates. I went in to wake Hadley (early for her—at 8:40) on Friday for her 9:00 meeting to find her still getting her beauty sleep!

Homer wanted in on the 4th grade meeting!

Arts and Crafts

This craft popped up on my Pinterest feed. When I clicked on it, it just sent me to Google, so I winged the project! It’s probably a craft I would have planned when the kids were younger, but Hadley loves to paint, and we have plenty of eggs (cartons) on hand.

I just used good scissors to cut the bottom of the carton into three flowers. Then I snipped around the edges and cut in the “V” for each flower to make the “petals” better. Then, Hadley and I each painted a flower. I have cute straws in a jar on our kitchen table, so we each grabbed one and I taped them on the flowers for the stem.

Finished product:

I put them out to freshen up the sun room…and then realized they’d probably get attacked by Homer sitting out there that low and unattended! So, I moved them inside. This would be a cute craft to leave on a neighbor’s doorstep or stick in a pot of real flowers as an addition.

Homer

I honestly think Homer loves having us home so much! He continues to keep us on our toes…and Saturday he got in trouble because he pulled the box of Trader Joe’s Molasses Cookies off the counter and ate at least 7 of them!

So, that’s a bit of what we’ve been up to lately. While it wasn’t the Spring Break we envisioned, I’d say we definitely made the most of it. That being said,…

More real talk, y’all: Some days are difficult. I feel like we are all ok being at home (well, Hayden and I are…Travis struggles with having time on his hands, and Hadley misses socializing with her friends), but I just feel like there are times when our best sides aren’t showing…whether we are stressed, anxious, tired, missing friends, etc., I just feel that it’s a rarity for all of us to be on the same page and bringing our best attitudes to the table at the same time.

So, these activities have been fun and some of them we wouldn’t necessarily do but for the fact we have this extra time on our hands, but we are still navigating these waters every day. I do love that most days I’ve done all the things I love in one day: reading, watching a show, working out, napping! BUT my kids get sent to their rooms every once in awhile; heck, I send myself to my room just to get through the next half hour.

Thankfully, the weather continues to be in our favor, and I do feel like this new school routine will continue to provide the structure that we need. The kids love seeing their classmates and teacher in their daily Google meetings, so that brings some sense of normalcy to their lives.

I know we’ll look back on this time and cherish the extra time at home, the extra time together, and the extra slow pace that is being forced on us, but some days are difficult juggling all the hats all the time.

See you back here tomorrow for the Let’s Look (at Easter at your house) link up with Shay and Erika.

Take care,

Projects

New Paint Project

Posted on April 6, 2020May 16, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Monday. With some extra time on my hands, I recently tackled another quick chalk paint project minus the actual chalk paint.

As I’ve mentioned before, I went through a phase of buying more traditional furniture, most of which was dark wood. This console table has been a basement piece in both our previous and current home. It didn’t bother me how it was, but I knew I could use the Limewash Glaze to freshen it up a bit.

Before:

Hadley helped me move the table into the garage, so I could paint it.

Now, Limewash glaze is usually a top coat after painting with chalk paint. But, I didn’t have a color I wanted to commit to, and have used only the Limewash in the past.

I started by wiping down the table with a dry cloth to get rid of the dust bunnies. Then, I used a paint brush to paint on a coat of glaze.

Vertical pic: Limewash Glaze; Top pic: ready to be painted; Bottom pic: one coat of glaze

I wasn’t sure how many coats would be needed, and to be honest, some purplish undertones appeared after just one coat. So, I decided to paint one more coat of the Limewash Glaze on all parts of the table.

Then, I put a coat of Sealing Wax only on the top of the table. Again, I’ve painted pieces before and skipped that final step, but I went ahead and did it this time.

After:

The table is back to it’s original spot. The whole project took about two hours. I did let everything dry overnight before moving the table from the garage to the basement again.

Closeup of the Limewash Glazed brushstrokes.

I snapped this pic a couple of days later when more natural light was shining in the basement.

That’s it! A pretty easy project from start to finish. The Limewash Glaze updates this piece I already had and makes it more my style!

Check out my previous Chalk Paint post if you missed it last time.

I’m off to home school a couple of kiddos while working from home! Wish me luck!