Thursday Threads

Each week I will post my outfits! I'm currently using a capsule wardrobe. I started my fall capsule and hope to try new outfits!

*Don't mind the children, pets, dirty mirror, or junk in the photo. This is real life :)*

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy, The Mummy Chronicles,  Shoes to Shiraz, 

[SQT] The Longest Cold Ever

1. Sorry for missing a few weeks there. We have all had the longest lasting colds! I've been sick on and off for the past six weeks! This last round really knocked me down. I even had to take medicine. I'm not like anti-medicine or anything, I'll give it to Story if she's sick, but I don't personally take it. I don't have a good reason other than I don't think it really helps. But I just finished off my second bottle of cold medicine. I'm slowly climbing out of the sickness fog. It's about time too. I've got like one million things to do. Seriously, why is there always so many things to take care of?

2. Our dumb van broke down on Saturday. I shouldn't call it dumb, it's like a fourth child. Our mechanic can't look at it until today so the babies (toddlers?) and I have been stuck at home all week. If you're a diligent reader you'll remember that we had van trouble over the summer. I hope it's an easier, and cheaper, fix than last time! For real, we've got Christmas stuff to get.

3. I've been super busy with girl scout activities! Like, woah. We had a recruitment night and nine new girls signed up. We now have thirty-seven registered girls in our troop. That's a lot of girls! It's pretty amazing considering the size of the school.

4. Story and Jordan went to a Me & My Guy dance a couple of weeks ago! It was Hawaiian themed. They had a blast! Our local Girl Scout Service Unit hosts one each year.

5. I've gotten a whopping two people crossed off our Christmas list. I really thought I'd be on top of it this year. I even bought a few presents for the kids over the summer! I got my list ready and then we all got sick, and then our van broke down. Now there's like two weeks and I can't order anything. AHHH!! Slightly panicking. Story is mostly done but I only have one small thing for Finley. And I haven't even started on stockings... My dad will be here for Christmas and so will Laura, our past foreign exchange student! 

6. We have the cone of shame around our tree this year. Oliver loves to take down the ornaments. He yells "ball!" every time he sees the tree. He and Finley work together to get the ornaments down. He's also figured out how to reach inside the gate and unwrap the presents. Kids are just the best!

7. Our mechanic called! The van will be fixed on Monday! That's such a huge relief! I've got meetings all week and Jordan has concerts.


Linked with Tif, Andrea, and Kelly

Thursday Threads

Each week I will post my outfits! I'm currently using a capsule wardrobe. I started my fall capsule and hope to try new outfits!

*Don't mind the children, pets, dirty mirror, or junk in the photo. This is real life :)*

Girl Scout Meeting #12

Meeting twelve was a hodge podge of make up work. We are able to get through almost every step per badge in one meeting but sometimes we need to finish up a step or two. We also worked on the Brownie Quest and Agent of Change journeys.

Pledge/Promise

Snack/Dance Party

DAISY

Considerate and Caring

Read Zinni's story

We broke into levels this meeting and the daisy girls worked on a petal. They read Zinni's story and talked through what happened. 

Share a Care Jars

For this activity the girls were given jars, stickers, and ribbons to decorate. The girls had so much fun working on these! They all looked great!

Soldier Thank You Cards

Each daisy made a thank you card for a soldier!

BROWNIE/JUNIOR

Brainstorming

We sat down and talked about our community, what it needed, and what we could do to help. The girls had a lot of fantastic ideas! Several of them focused on helping those with physical handicaps. They decided to put on a talent show and all those that attended had bring an item to donate. 

Life Size Me

We had to make up step five of My Best Self. The girls broke off into pairs and traced each other.

Marching

Most girls completed the Celebrate Community Legacy badge but we had a few that still needed to complete a step. I taught the girls the basics of marching. Now, I'm not very good at it and my husband (a former Cavalier) would probably have had a fit to see it, but the girls had fun!

My Family Story

The girls were given the My Family Story packet to work on over break. They were asked to bring in a special family piece and we talked about them. 

Thursday Threads

Each week I will post my outfits! I'm currently using a capsule wardrobe. I started my fall capsule and hope to try new outfits!

*Don't mind the children, pets, dirty mirror, or junk in the photo. This is real life :)*

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy, Tucker Up, The Mummy Chronicles, Shoes To Shiraz,  

[SQT] Minimalism

1. I recently joined a Facebook group that's centered around minimalism and motherhood. I've always been one to want "stuff", decorative pieces, photos, shelves, throw pillows, anything to fill it up. Both of my parents have hoarding tendencies so I think it was jut ingrained in me. We've moved so many times in the past six years, and we've moved all of this stuff with us. Majority of it was yard sale or Goodwill finds. Once we had two babies seventeen months apart, I put all of it away. I didn't want to constantly fight with them over touching some random ceramic thing. I told myself, "I will get all my pretty things out in a few years when they're older." But you know what? It's so refreshing to not have so much "stuff" out. I don't have to worry about it, or clean it, or store it. 

2. Finley and Oliver have been sick all week. No one has been sleeping well and it's been a total drain. I came down with something yesterday and I'm pretty miserable today. Of course, I have a million things to do so I'm just going to have to suffer through.

3. Thanksgiving is next week. NEXT WEEK!!! This year has flown by. It still feels like it should be summer. The warmer weather isn't helping either, Isn't it normally snowing by now? Yesterday it was in the 70's. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving but this is the first year in a while that I'm not pregnant or nursing, so I'm going to have to chill out on the extra helpings.

4. Since Thanksgiving is next week, that means Christmas is what? Five weeks away? Have you started shopping?! I've gotten a jump start on the children's Christmas. I think we're going to try a different approach this year. Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read. Then Santa gets a few things plus stockings, Our kids really don't need anything, I don't see the point in wasting money on a ton of toys they're not going to play with, We have an entire playroom and they play with the same things over and over.

5. Jordan turns THIRTY this year!!! I'm throwing him a party today. I had grand plans for it, but this week has gotten away from me. At this point, I just hope to feed everyone and then go lay down. Nah, lol, it's going to be fun. I've never thrown a grown up only party before. At first I was like, "I need a theme, and a fun cake, oh and streamers and balloons!" Then I realized Jordan would kill me if I did all that. 

6. I got nothing else. I'm too tired and sick.

7. And I've got so much to do today..... :(


Linking up with Kelly, Tif, Andrea 

Thursday Threads

Each week I will post my outfits! I'm currently using a capsule wardrobe. I started my fall capsule and hope to try new outfits!

*Don't mind the children, pets, dirty mirror, or junk in the photo. This is real life :)*

Linked : A Labour of Life , The Pleated Poppy, Tucker Up

Girl Scout Meeting #11

Meeting eleven was actually a field trip! We took a walk to a local polling place on election day! We luckily live in a small town so we were able to walk from the school to the municipal building in about twenty minutes. This was a multi level trip that finished up "I Promised A Girl Scout I Would Vote" and also Celebrate Community Legacy badge for brownies.

BROWNIE

Celebrate Community Legacy badge

Step 1 - Explore Community Symbols

On our way to the polling center the girls were tasked with calling out when they'd spot an American flag. They yelled out "flag, flag!". Our numbers were a little off but I think we spotted around seven flags on the way. 

Step 2 - Sing Together

While walking the girls sang whatever patriotic songs they could think of. They knew a little bit of "America The Beautiful", and "You're A Grand Old Flag". They also went on to sing a few Christmas carols, ha ha.

Step 3 - Follow The Parade

Most of the girls completed this step last month. We were in a community parade. For those that missed it, I will teach them to march at our next meeting!

Step 4 - Be A Landmark Detective

The original school in our town was destroyed by a tornado in 1986. There is a landmark that happened to be on our way to the municipal building! We stopped and the girls took turns reading about the tornado. The moms also told stories about where they were when the school was destroyed.

Step 5 - Join A Ceremony Or Celebration

Once we arrived at the polling location the girls cheered on voters! They had signs and handed out candy. We also gave thank you cards to the poll workers. Of course, it started to rain so we were all soaked! We were not allowed to get within 50 feet of the entrance so we were just standing in the rain for about fifteen minutes. 

The field trip was a lot of fun. I'm glad the girls got to see democracy in action. 

[SQT] A Sad Time To Be An American

1. There is so much I'd like to say regarding the outcome of Tuesday's election. But I'm not. I'm grieving in my own way. I'm ashamed of America and ashamed that so many, personal friends and family included, voted for that horrid man. Who knew there was so much hatred and bigotry left in this country. I have three beautiful children that will not learn behavior like that at home. I was very saddened by the sheer number of small children, first, second, third graders, who loudly proclaimed they hated Hillary Clinton. Don't spout your evil to your children. Give them the chance to be decent human beings.

2. We took our girl scout group to a local polling center on election day. I really wanted them to be a part of the day a woman broke the glass ceiling.... It was a good learning experience either way. They were part of history, whether good or bad. They passed out candy to people waiting in line, made thank you cards for poll workers and clapped and thanked people for their vote. It was cold and rainy but those girls stood out there with smiles on their faces.

3. MOVING ON! I hosted my first LuLaRoe party. It was good! I walked away with a few pieces and even snagged a pair of black leggings. I've been on a bit of a leggings kick. I've sworn against them for all these years, but I can't deny the comfort level.

4. I got my first pair of high waisted jeans. Game changer! I had a Kohl's gift card so I picked something from there. I went with Lauren Conrad High Waisted Jeggings in dark wash. They were on sale when I got them! I think I'm going to order them in black when they go on sale again.

5. I'm itching to get our Christmas stuff out. We normally wait until after Thanksgiving but I just don't want to this year. Honestly, the whole meaning behind Thanksgiving is lost. We're fighting with the Native Americans still to this day. It seems pointless to celebrate a farce. Also, you can still be thankful and have Christmas stuff around. 

6. I rescued a kitten on Monday. I noticed this tiny little kitten across the street from our house. It was limping and walking back and forth on the sidewalk. I watched for a while to see if it would leave, or it's mother would come. After about forty minutes I got out our cat carrier and walked over to it. This poor little kitten's eyes were matted shut and it was sneezing. I loved on it a bit and put it in the carrier. I figured I'd take it to a local shelter, no problem. Get it home, give it food and water and put it in our bathroom. I called shelter after shelter and none would take it. I got a hold of an awesome lady who fosters animals and she agreed to take it if I could get the ACA to give it medical attention. They agreed and I dropped it off there. This little baby had an eye infection, upper respiratory infection and a fractured back foot. It's on medication now and is doing better!

7. Oliver is starting to take steps!!! He's not very good at it but he's learning. He normally takes two steps and then lunges into my arms but sometimes I can get him to take up to five steps. Won't be long now.

Linking up with Kelly, Tif, Andrea  

Thursday Threads

Each week I will post my outfits! I'm currently using a capsule wardrobe. I started my fall capsule and hope to try new outfits!

*Don't mind the children, pets, dirty mirror, or junk in the photo. This is real life :)*

Linked : Color and Grace, Pleated Poppy , A Labour of Life