Things I am loving right now

Things I am loving right now.

Charity Miles – This app combines two of my favorite things working out and giving back. You can choose a charity then choose the type of work out and then get started for walking or running you get .25 per mile and for biking you get .10 per mile. It is so motivating to put in those miles knowing they will go to help people.

Reading -  I just picked up All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and Firefly lane by Kristen Hannah I am so excited to read these book and cross a few more off my list.

Christmas cards – I love going to the mail to see if there are any cards from friends or family. It is so fun to see all the pretty cards and see how much people have grown or changed. I also reading the newsletter to see what people have been doing.

Christmas activities – we have so many fun things that we do this time each year and I always get so excited to see them. The Lights of Christmas, Swason's, Snowflake lane and so many more fun adventures for us to have this month.

Chai Lattes –This is my cold weather drink of choice sometimes I go get them at Starbucks and get a yummy peppermint cake pop or I will buy some at the store and warm it up at home either way it is so nice. I love having some while reading up a good book.

Hallmark Movies –  My daughter loves watching them with me and sometime my son will join us but usually he doesn’t like to watch mommy shows. We have watched many together already and we will watch many more I am sure. The just make you feel good and bring some Christmas cheer. One of my favorites this year is I’m not ready for Christmas.

Christmas music – we sing these in the car and walking my daughter to her line for school, really almost anywhere they are so much fun to sing and I love to hear what my kids think the word are to the songs.

 Christmas tree smell - We don't have our tree yet but I have a few candles that smell just like them and every time I walk buy them it smells so good and it just feels like Christmas.

What are you loving right now?

God can get us to the finish line

So most of you know how much I love reading so I was thrilled to find out I was picked to be part of Candace Cameron Bure’s book launch team. I grew up watching Full House and I read Candace’s book Balancing It All and loved it. I think she is such a great example and I love that she is not afraid to share her faith and stand up for her values. 

As part of the book launch team we could write a blog post about one of the topics or themes in the book. One theme that I felt I could write about was crossing the finish line.

A few years ago I went back and got my master’s in education online and it was a really challenging time for me. There were many  times I really had to pray and ask God for strength to get through it.  A month after I started my masters Kevin had hip surgery and then I started a new job.  It was a busy time plus I had a 21 month old daughter to take care of and  all the regular house work and errands. My initial response to my all this was it is already a hard time why would God bring us so much stress and hardship. I remember that I prayed a lot that I could get through the work and that Kevin would feel better. The last part of my masters I added fun pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness and headaches. 

  There were many I times thought maybe I should do this later  or  I should quit and not finish it at all but I kept feeling like God was leading me through the classes and telling me to keep going ,I could do it.  I had to learn to let go of somethings I was doing and do the things that I really needed to do so I could get my school work done. I trusted that God would help me get though the all the work, the papers and discussions and he did. I actually did way better than I thought I would because I was so tired and sometimes felt like I was just frantically throwing papers together. I learned so much though this time , I was able to finish my Masters a month after I had my son and I got a 4.0, only one way that happened with all the craziness.

 I know God was by my side leading me through this challenging time. I learned that life isn’t always going to go the way we want it to ,sometimes it is like running a race we have to keep going even when we feel like we can’t go one more step, until we cross that finish line . God is always there cheering us on and carrying us when we feel to weak . I had to learn to ask others for help and to let things go ( which was so hard as a perfectionist ) but most of all I learned that God is there for me and his plan is best, I just need to trust him to get through.

 One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 12:1 NIV Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  It is a great verse to remember in times that are hard and we feel weighed down - let God help you throw off those things that weigh you down so you can finish the race he has planned for you.

This post was inspired by Candace Cameron Bure’s new book, Dancing Through Life: Steps of Courage and Conviction. Order your copy of #DancingThroughLife today!

Teacher gift ideas

There are different times throughout the year that I love to show my kids teachers that I appreciate them. There are a few places I love to get gifts and as a teacher I love to think outside the box and these stores are great for that. The first place is The Vintage Pearl they have great necklaces , bracelets and ornaments. This year we got her teacher an apple ornament at Christmas time with a cute mug with her first initial on it. She loved it.
Another place I love is Barn Owl Primitives they make amazing signs that I love! It was so hard to chose just one sign for her teacher. Last  year I got the We can do hard things and this year we chose Have courage and be kind since it was from Cinderella came out this year and we thought these are good words to remember. We should always be kind to people and there are going to be times we will have to have courage but we can do it.
The last place was thirty one gifts for the frog bin. Payton said her teacher loves frogs and I saw this and knew we had to get it for her. It would be great for a classroom or at home to store things in and I love the little pocket on the side.  We put some yummy Trader Joes smores candies – so good warm or just as they are..

After you have picked your presents give them a personal touch with the wrapping. For the long signs I just leave the paper they came in and have Payton decorate them and right the to and from on it. This year we wanted to make a special tag for the frog basket so we made a collage frog from catalogs. We started with a cut clip art frog we found then cut it in pieces and found different greens or other colors for the pieces. Then we traced and cut and glued the pieces together. On the back I asked Payton what it should say and gave her a few ideas, she came up with what she wanted to say , then typed it up. I printed and cut it out so she could glue it. It was a lot of fun and something we did just for her teacher.


If you want something different I did a few thank you gifts for a few teachers who helped me out this year and supported me. This one is a cute pail with the Trader Joe’s S'mores candies inside and a cute badge buddy from Thirty One Gifts and a Starbucks gift card. Super easy and fun. I love getting creative because I know how hard teachers work and they deserve to be appreciated and loved.  After all they take care of our kids and teach them more than just math and reading.

End of the school year

Well another year of school has come and gone. This last part seemed to go so fast. Payton wanted to go to school today because she missed her teacher. That is the one thing I do love about her school, they have great teachers. I always love to compare the pictures of the first and last day of school and she how much she has grown. I know she has learned so much and made some new friends and she is excited for second grade.

 

  She got a beach ball from her teacher on the last day and the kids got to sign them with sharpie. I thought this is such a fun idea for kids and a great end of the year gift!

 This year was my first year of subbing up here and it is a little different than Oregon. It was definitely challenging but I learned a lot and made so many great connections. I also was so excited that I got to teach at Payton's school and I especially love that when I subbed sometimes I got to have lunch with her teacher who is so sweet. It was also fun to meet student there and Payton loved having her mommy at school sometimes.  It really  was great to feel respected and appreciated after last year at a private school where I did not. It just goes to show God's plan is better and maybe we can do more good at a public school , we can be the light in the darkness.
 We are excited to have some fun this summer and have some new adventures. Now to make that summer fun list so the fun can begin!

Summer reading

I love reading, it is something that I have always enjoyed and still do. Good books draw you in and you never want to leave. I always feel a little sad when I have finished a book I have loved. That is why I read to my kids and I want them to see me reading because it is important and we can learn so much about the world and ourselves.Good books make us laugh, cry and  think. 
One reason I love summer is I have more time to read and relax. I am really excited about the new Jen Hatmaker book For The Love that comes out in August – she is a funny lady. I applied to read her book and be part of her launch team but didn’t get picked so for those other #4500 we got to preview some chapters, some had me laughing out loud or laughing so hard I had tears running down my cheeks. Others had me thinking. I love when a book can make you laugh , cry and really think another way about things.
I just finished Smart Money Smart Kids by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze , it was a great book and we are working oh helping our kids learn to win with money. They even saved up money to buy a Tsum Tsum small cute Disney toys that you can stack but it was an easy goal since they were only 4.95. It was interesting how my 4 yr old had no trouble handing over his money but my 7 year old did.
Right now I am reading Balancing it All by Candace Cameron Bure and I am loving it. There is a lot of great information in it about how to keep your life balanced as a mom it is something I am always working on.
Another book I am excited about it the Lake House by Kate Morton even though it won’t be out until October. I love her books and have read them all so I can’t wait for a new one!
There are a few other books that people have recommended like All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr , The Fringe Hours by Jessica N Turner  and I will be on the look out for blog post for other books to try.
This summer we will also join a reading challenge to keep the kids reading and on track this summer. Our local library system has a challenge for kids to read at least 20 minutes a day.It is so important to keep reading with our kids and letting them see us reading and enjoying it! They watch what we do and see what is important to us and what to copy it.So check your local library or bookstore and see if they have a fun reading program to make reading fun and help keep them reading.
Be awesome! Be a book nut!”
― Dr. Seuss
“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn't be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.”
― Roald Dahl

Lets go fly a kite… and eat a cupcake

A few weeks ago we went to Magnuson park to celebrate our nieces 3rd birthday. It was a cold day but perfect for flying kites. The kids were really excited about this because they always want to fly kites but it is not windy enough. Cousins one who shares flowers  and one who loves to lick cupcakes.They did a lot of running up and down the hill but it was so much fun. They were happy just to be able to fly their kites.

Yummy cupcakes and lots of fun presents and if you need some help the psychiatrist was there. They all took turns asking for help and giving it.

  They found a duck friend and chased it all over before it flew away.

Cousin love. Saying good bye to the birthday girl

A super fun long day for us with ballet before and a Organ concert at church.  Sometimes those are the best kind of days.

Discovery park

Payton had the day off school and we thought it would be fun to go explore a new park. Discovery park is a huge park where you can hike, go play on the beach and explore the area. You can look at the lighthouse but not go inside. There is also a fun play ground with a little zip line.

 

Grandpa climbed on logs that had been made into a fort. It was one of many that people had made and it was fun to explore.

 

Payton enjoyed writing her name in the sand and trying to make sand castles while Logan collected sticks and threw rocks with Grandpa T. It was a beautiful day and we saw many sailboats and barges go by as we played.

Next we had to go find the playground because you can’t go to a place with the name park with out playing on a slide or some swings. It was a little walk to the playground but not bad and the kids had fun climbing and playing. The zip line looked fun but Payton was afraid to go at first but eventually she went with me a few times the second time I let go and she went on her own.

So happy she did the zip line by herself and she had fun! We will definitely be back to play this summer.