No Black Friday For This Mama

Sounds a little crazy, huh? No Black Friday shopping? Staying up late or going out early in search of the latest and greatest deals around?

Nope, not for this mama.

See, I'm still feeling warm and fuzzy over Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season. I still feel like I have a whole lot to be thankful for, especially the non-material-possession type things. 

Watching a bunch of crazed people pushing and shoving and being rude to one another over material stuff that isn't necessary would ruin that feeling for me.

And personally, I feel like it totally defeats the purpose of Thanksgiving for me. I spend weeks preparing my home and my heart and my daughter's heart for Thanksgiving. We talk about what is REALLY important. We talk about the difference between want and need. We talk about what we are so thankful for, what the Lord has blessed us with.

Going on a major shopping trip and being surrounded by stuff, and people on a mad search for stuff, takes away from that for me. I do shop online from now until Cyber Monday. I'm not against the whole idea of finishing my Christmas shopping and saving money! It's just the encouragement to "buy buy buy" and come in ON THANKSGIVING to beat other people to the things your kids NEED.

Let's be real here, my little girl does not NEED any of this. And it doesn't matter what I get her, I know she will be happy and thankful and so excited because it's Christmas and Santa came, and Baby Jesus was born on this day. The things I'm shopping for are a matter of want, and while I want to get things I know Reagan will love, if I don't find it or it sells out on line because I was too busy cuddling with her and being lazy in our post-Thanksgiving haze, well that's fine and it won't make or break our Christmas.

The act of giving and receiving in His name is what makes Christmas. The fact that our Saviour was born on this day makes Christmas. It's the real reason for the holiday and the experience of Christmastime that means so much.

So if you see some people acting out over Black Friday or find yourself caught in a shopping frenzy, just remember the real reason for the season ;)

xoxo,

Katie

Holiday Stress Relief

The holidays are a fun and exciting time! It's the most wonderful time of the year, right?! In all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it's also very easy to overplan and stretch yourself to the limit. An overwhelming to do list is not uncommon, and that takes away from the enjoyment of this wonderful time. In the season of giving to others, it's also important and HEALTHY to remember to relax, destress, and take care your yourself too!

Here are some of my favorite ways to relax and enjoy a little rejuvenating "mommy time":

1. Take a breath. Meditation heals a multitude of stressors. Sometimes all you need to gain a better perspective is to sit in a quite spot, breathe deeply, and think.

2. Get your yoga fix. Even a few minutes of stretching and balancing can help you literally find your center and concentrate on yourself. The health and exercise benefits of yoga are also an added bonus!

3. Sip on your favorite seasonal beverage. I love all the holiday flavors at Starbucks right now. Nothing calms me during a busy shopping trip like a festive flavor from their red holiday cups. My Keurig is also my best friend this time of year. When I need an pick me up to get through an exam or keep up with my daughter, I have to go no farther than my kitchen. Whether you love hot chocolate, coffee, eggnog, or cider, there are lots of new flavors and old favorites out for the season, so sit back, relax, and sip to unwind.

4. Get a mani pedi. Whether you want to pamper yourself at home or let someone else do it for you, you'll look great and feel great! I have a foot spa that bubbles and heats water and enough bath salts and foot soaks and nail polish to open my own spa ;) so if I'm super busy, I'll just do it myself. My sweet little girl got it for me for my birthday this year! There is not too much that a nice foot soak, lotion, and a little polish won't fix!

5. Take a bath. If you really need to relax more than your fingers and toes, take a bubble bath and soak it out! Shopping and baking and keeping up with kids is hard work! Take a dip with your favorite scent of bubble bath. You deserve it.

6. Light a candle. Ever heard of aromatherapy? I'm currently burning Bath and Body Works' Pumpkin Carmel Latte, but they also have this one from their stress relief line. Anything lavender scented is also great for inducing relaxation, but I feel like cozy fall and winter scents work well for me too!

7. Read a book. What better way to forget your holiday stress for a little bit than to escape from it? My current favorite is Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly, available here. (Hint: It's about mermaids.)

8. Write it out. Sometimes keeping a journal or just writing things down occasionally is the best way to get things off our chest. Blogging works for me ;)

9. Pray about it. The little things and the big things, God says we can bring them to him. Whether you're worried about Christmas finances or burning the turkey, let go and let God take your troubles. Talk about relief!

10. Read your Bible. The Ultimate Counselor has this amazing book with a ton of the best advice we'll ever receive if we only seek it out. There are Bible verses for hard times, look them up and feel the peace they bring to your heart and mind.

11. Phone a friend. I love my friends because those women know how to listen and they know my heart. Sometimes a vent sesh with them is exactly what I need, and they are always there for that. (Love y'all!!)

So there you go, 11 of my favorite quick and easy ways to unwind when I need it most! Do the holidays stress you out from time to time? What are your favorite ways to unwind? Comment below!

xoxo.

Katie

Thanksgiving Madness

We have up to 7 Marines coming to Thanksgiving dinner and staying with us next week whom none of us have ever met. Sounds crazy right? Add in the fact that we normally have 20 or more people in the family at our gatherings, and it sounds more crazy!

My cousin is a Marine and we have a long history of military service in all branches in our family, so the fact that we have the ability and the heart to open our home to these men who serve our country makes me so happy! My family has such a heart for others and so much to be thankful for, so it really drives home the meaning of the holiday.

Now this is all a recipe for mayhem, but to top it off my grandmother is having a cardiac catheterization done on Tuesday. Yes, two days before Thanksgiving dinner. My grandmother, my wonderful grandmother, who cooks nearly every dish for every family dinner. My grandmother who goes even more above and beyond for special holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So how are we going to make all this happen?? I'm not sure yet, haha, but I did start making treats yesterday so I don't have to cook it all in two days. I attempted Oreo truffles with orange candy melt coating and fall sprinkles. This is how they turned out:

Don't worry, they taste better than they look! Thank God! I just couldn't get the consistency of the candy melts right! And I was even using a Wilton melting pot!! And then I ran out of the orange concoction and resorted to the partial bag of left over birthday cake flavored candy melts... Not my finest work :)

But on the bright side, I got to make treats with my little girl, we're all happy, we're mostly healthy, and we have lots of love and food to share with some special people who can't make it to their families for Thanksgiving, so I'd say we're doing pretty darn good! How are y'all getting ready for Thanksgiving?

xoxo,

Katie

Mommy Daughter Date: Tea for Two

I've mentioned Reagan's behavior chart that keeps those terrible tantrums at bay (mostly), and I promise I'm posting on that soon. Basically I let her pick rewards within reason, and on one of her latest picks included a tea party for the two of us. We had so much fun, I just had to share!

Full disclosure... I had totally planned on cleaning the front porch (her play area) so these pictures would be "perfect" but life had other plans for me. I recently posted about how much my shoulder had been hurting and how it was making everything harder... well I may have a torn rotator cuff! Don't ask me how I managed this, I have NO CLUE!! But a tea party was planned for this day, so a tea party was going to happen! After all, Reagan had earned it, and I needed some one on one time with my little.

Another thing to note is that I didn't make any of these treats! I went to the store the night before, after finding out this news about my arm, and decided I would buy everything to make it easier on myself, rather than baking it all like I had originally planned.

Mamas - you are busy and stressed and want to do it all. I want you to know that spending time with your children, even with a messy play room and heat and eat treats is STILL A VICTORY!

And you know what? It's still fun! I love to plan and photograph things for my blog and instagram. I love to make it pretty and share it and for a brief minute look like Super Mom on the outside. But doing that all the time? Especially when I'm hurt? It's exhausting, and it's too much. So let me be the first to tell you, a fancy tea party that completely thrills your little girl is easy and really doesn't take much work at all! You can even do it with a gimpy arm and still receive hundreds of thank you's and accolades from your three year old ;)

So here's how I pulled off this super doable "fancy pants" tea party:

First, I made a trip to Walmart. That's how all great things start, right? A trip to Walmart or Target? Haha. So I scouted out mini foods, because tiny foods are cute and perfect tea party material. Here's what I came up with: lots of frozen things. I found frozen dark chocolate covered banana slices and strawberry slices, macaroons, and mini eclairs. For the actual food I got mini quiche and crab rangoon. 

Reagan helped with the prep...

aka ate the crumbs from the macaroon package ;)

So we laid out all the desserts on our fanciest platters. All they had to do was thaw! Easy peasy!

A little advice on the chocolate covered bananas... The package says to thaw them for 5 minutes before serving. It was well over that long before we got to the dessert course and they were mushy and slimy inside. The strawberries did not have this problem. I would suggest taking the bananas out just before serving instead. Reagan loves bananas though, and she thought they were divine :)

The rangoon and quiche just needed to be popped in the oven for a few minutes, so that was easy! For the tea, I just used some decaf English tea. Ours is called "Yorkshire Gold" and it's delicious. Earl Grey or any similar tea is good too. I wanted to make sure it would go well with cream so we could use the whole tea set!

So I brewed the tea, got out our very best china and gold cutlery (saved for special occasions like Christmas and Thanksgiving) and I set Reagan's play table for our tea party. We also used her other table for our makeshift buffet. Don't forget your linen table clothes ;) 

Reagan invited baby Rapunzel to join us too.

And her Poppop (great grandpa) stopped by for a bit :)

You can kind of see in the next one how she was trying to be fancy and use her "tea manners" haha! Oh she just melts my heart!

We had a wonderful time pouring tea, practicing our manners, being fancy ladies, and enjoying our treats. The best part? The conversation and the bonding. I'm a firm believer in "dating" our children and I so very much enjoy the quality time we get together from this. It doesn't have to be expensive or even involve leaving the house. I just plan these special dates for us, put away my phone (except for capturing a bit of the moment) and connect with her. Little ones have some very interesting things to say when we're willing to listen! 

I hope y'all have as much fun with your fancy tea parties as we did!! I'll definitely be sharing more of our mommy daughter dates in the future! Let me know if there is anything else you'd like to see and tell me how yours goes!

xoxo,

Katie

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