On another outdoor, quarantine family adventure, last week we visited with alpacas! It was a surprise for the kids, and I wasn't sure how fun it would end up being, but we all had a blast!
We went to the alpaca farm in Bonner Springs, Manna Meadows - and they have a great set up, altered to be COVID-safe. We had a private tour by one of the owners and, not only got to pet, feed and walk the alpacas, we learned so much. Let's just say, after this tour and experience... Alpacas > Llamas!
We were also lucky to be there eight days after a baby alpaca was born. All legs and already running with his mama. We visited the female alpacas first, they were split up between the new mama and baby with 3 other pregnant ones, and then the others.
Then in the second barn, the male alpacas were all grouped by age. You really can't tell a difference between a male and female alpaca. They are all so cute - and very soft. But the males on this farm are more socialized and used to humans, so we got to get more up close and personal with them.
We even got to take one, named Will, on a walk. Liam asked how long it took for an alpaca to learn their name, and truth is they never really do, but they all had really cute names nonetheless.
We're all pretty obsessed with alpacas now. They had a little shop on site, and we bought a little stuffed alpaca for each kiddo and they've been sleeping with it ever since.
{My outfit details linked up here + the fanny pack here}
Like many others, I've experienced a wide range of emotions over the last 3+ weeks of quarantine so far. Thankful that we have a home and jobs, sorrow for those struggling, longing for my old life back, missing my family and friends, anger for having to cancel trips and other plans, fear for the unknown, sadness for my kids when school got cancelled, and so on and so on.
But more that anything, anxiety for all the things above and the unknown of this situation still to come jumbled up at once . For me, it's helped to not pay too much attention to the news and to take one day at a time. I'm choosing to be concentrate on the thankful feeling and think about all the things I can do vs. can't do.
While my husband and I compete for the quiet spots in the house for our work meetings, and the kids are starting to get the hang of virtual school in-between kind of plying together/mostly fighting, we are finding a rhythm and comfort in other activities to make the most of the time home together.
Here are a few things that we have been doing:
1. GO OUTSIDE
Work outside
Eat outside
Walk outside
Draw with chalk outside
Draw on your friends' driveways
Nap outside
Just stay away from other humans outside.
Getting outside has been my personal saving grace, and I can tell it helps my family, too. Even when the weather has been cold, we bundle up and go on a daily walk.
2. EXPERIMENT
On a Zoom happy hour with some friends, we were talking about some at-home products to take the place of services we often get done elsewhere. We decided that we should each try something (that we can order online for delivery) and then we can share our findings!
This is the time when you can hide (or strategically position yourself) behind your computer, so a little experimentation isn't so scary. Now is the time to take chances!
I have never done at home tanning/tanning lotion. And now with the sun peaking out, my pale skin is glowing and no one will see if I mess it up - I'm going to give it a try (I'll report back). I did some research, and found that St. Tropez Self Tan Express Bronzing Mousse was the easiest to apply for beginners (read: hardest to mess up).
One of my friends is going to experiment with at home hair care to cover her roots and another friends is testing out some at-home manicure products.
{I also took this time to test a new hairdryer and skincare products!}
3. VIDEO CHAT (sometimes)
I dove headfirst into video chatting with all my friends, co-workers, family every day and night at first. And while that is really helpful and makes me feel good to connect with my loved ones outside my house, I'm getting sick of staring at a screen!
So, I pulled back a bit on the quantity of additional screen time activities outside of work and am focusing in on quality time each week (not every night). I'm loving Zoom best for video chat. Google hangouts is too walky-talky, FaceTime is running slow for me, and WebEx is glitchy for me.
Blue blocking glasses have also been a new purchase that I feel like is helping me. I was starting to have a constant headache after so much screen time, and since wearing these glasses (only $15 and come in a lot of colors) most of the day, I haven't had a headache (so that's a win in my book!).
Take up a new project or skill, like try a new type of art or dance. Maybe a house project you've been putting off or better yet, a new skill, just for fun. I know we are all learning some new skills for thriving in this new WFH, virtual school facilitator and keep everyone alive stage - but something else, something purely for fun...
Even better, learn something with your kid(s)/family/partner. I haven't done this yet. Trying to get into our new schedule with virtual school and work, but I have two ideas on my mind:
1. Learn to play the Ukulele (tons of free lessons on YouTube + relatively inexpensive to get the instrument if you don't already have one. We already have one!)
2. Stop motion with Stop Motion Kids Camp (for kids and adults). I plan to do this with my son!
My friend has been working on her Tarot Reading skills - which can be done on our virtual happy hours, so already very useful and interesting for us all.
...into doing things that helpful, but also while having fun. This is the ideal time for me to brush up on my creative parenting skills.
For example, we have a lot of big trees in our neighborhood/yard, so a lot of sticks laying around. If I asked the kids to pick those up, they'd complain all day and probably hardly actually do it.
So, instead, I gave them the idea that they could build a house out of sticks! That's all I had to do for them to get to work collecting allllll the sticks into a pile! Success.
I have also resorted to paying them to be outside. Well, paying them to clean out all our flower beds free from dead leaves, which happens to be outside. They are outside using energy, we get to get work done quietly, AND the yard work is getting done! It's a win-win situation.
And finally, my kids came up with a "secret family language" (kudos to them for this idea) that is keeping them busy writing notes in this language. Busy + practicing spelling in a new way! Win-win.
6. COOK MORE
This could also fall under "experiment" or "do something new" but I've been using this time to get a little more actual cooking in vs. just warming up dinner in the microwave. Get creative with pantry staples and items that can be more easily found in the current landscape.
I had gotten two new cookbooks for Christmas and just ordered another one to keep my creative juices flowing (while being healthy), but you can also find a wealth of recipes online!
Something, anything... small or big... it'll help! I've been cleaning out closets and drawers when I need a break from all the screen time for something more hands on. Seeing the progress relatively quickly has been encouraging for me.
This is a bit overdue, but in the midst of my girls trip to wine country, back to school and Italy (more on that soon), we moved a whole half of a mile into a new home! Moving... especially from your first house where you brought your babies home... is so bittersweet (no matter how far, or not far the move). But we're so excited about our new home, which offers more space, a beautiful backyard, and completely different lay out.
We are trying to get settled and quickly getting used to all the new noises and flow. Unpacking has been the bane of my existence... for every one box I unpack, I swear 2 more reappear. And because of the new layout, a lot of our old furniture didn't work - so I am also madly selling things on Facebook Marketplace and Poshmark.
This also means... (cover your eyes, Greg!) we need new things! BUT I am <trying> to be patient and take my time to get the right things which will be clear once I've figured out how we'll use the new space and what kind of room designs/vibes I am feeling. The fun part is starting those designs - which I've already begun!
For now, I just wanted to say good-bye (digitally) to the old home and give you a little taste of the new home...
You can see more of our old home starting here and scrolling down.
Good-bye sweet house:
I'm not sure what is worse... packing or unpacking? 🤷
But we tried to make it easy on our awesome movers (and us later on to have the right boxes in the right rooms, and at least on the right floors) by color coding the boxes with different colors of tape:
And did I mention how awesome our movers were? Of course it ended up being close to 100 degrees that day, and they worked HARD. We had some furniture that didn't end up fitting around a turn to get to the downstairs staircase, and they did a bunch of re-work + ended the full day with everything in tact and nothing broken! O'Connor's Moving does local (Kansas City area) moves and you should call them if you are moving.
And even though we moved into our new home 6 weeks ago - we still have boxes to unpack and things to organize and furniture to order. But we're sure glad to be here! We love the cul-de-sac, and already our neighbors!
Hello new home!
Perhaps my favorite room...
The screened in porch! This is also the first room we bought new furniture for right away. We did a bunch of research and landed on this Polywood set because it will LAST FOREVER and it's made with Sunbrella fabric, has great reviews and comfortable.
This furniture comes in a lot of different color combos and sets, but we loved the bright blue with the white, which makes me feel like vacation mode out there. (will love it even more when we paint all the exterior and it's not that brown/green).
Despite the boxes on boxes still happening, I'm finding joy in little vignettes. Especially those calling Fall. Pumpkin everything coming right up.
These seasonal Meyer's soap (dish and hands) smell amazing. Highly recommend. And if you get a big pumpkin dish, fill that right up with candy corn and peanuts.
And the kids love our backyard, which came with this little swing set and lots of room to run and play.
Now give me all your 'how to decorate your entire house without killing your bank account' tips! Please, and thank you! :)
Instead of movie night with popcorn, we turned a Sunday morning into waffles and Netflix! You would have thought I just filled our house with Legos, LOL dolls and puppies when I broke out the Eggos and Reddi-Wip for a waffle bar. It's moments like this that makes me remember that it's the simple things in life that bring so much joy to children.
The waffle bar allowed for each kid to choose their own waffle kind and top it however they wanted. I love when I can give my kids the freedom of choice. And I also love when we can all find a fun show that has a positive message and instills inclusion, problem solving and friendship. Nora got us all hooked on "Spirit Riding Free" on Netflix, and it was the perfect morning compliment to our Sunday waffle bar party. The series is about a girl named Lucky who moves to a new town, makes new friends, and has new experiences, stepping outside of her comfort zone. And shows how she has all she needs within herself!
We often make our own waffles, but I have to tell you... shopping at Walmart for Eggos allowed us to purchase multiple varieties for more options, and gave us more time to spend together eating and watching Spirit (check out these show-themed activities!). The Eggos toast to golden perfection in just minutes, and are warm, fluffy and delicious! I also really excited my kids with Reddi-Wip as part of our spread, and I personally was excited to try the non-dairy version made with high-quality coconut cream. Reddi-Wip uses less hydrogenated oils than other frozen whipped toppings, so that makes me feel good.
After this sweet morning, I vow to do more surprise and delight type things with my kids more often. Celebrating the everyday and spending time together.
Nora's birthday this year was a BIG one! The big fifth, number 5! She is wearing kids clothes vs. toddlers clothes now. She can write well, and loves to use new (and big!) words. She loves learning and taking care of her baby dolls. When I'm traveling, she is the one that loves to FaceTime and chitchat with me. She is amazing, she makes me laugh, and she is so smart.
We celebrated her birthday in California this year, right before Thanksgiving. So, this past weekend, we culminated her multiple-week long birthday celebration with a pizza party at our favorite pizza place, 1889 Pizza Napoletana, with a few friends and some family. We had a blast, and the owners at the pizza place made the whole experience so interactive and fun!
Coming off of a lot of travel and in between more travel, I needed something more turn key - and this was a blast! All I had to do was bring some balloons, cupcakes and some little aprons for the kids that I picked up for cheap (and they loved!). Overall, the kids had SO much fun. They made their own pizzas, from scratch and then ate them! It was the perfect little celebration for my big 5 year old!
