SOCIAL MEDIA

Monday, January 31, 2022

What I'm Priming: January 2022

Hi there and happy Monday! Prior to this year, we had not had snow in Charlotte for 4 years.. now we've had it 3 weeks in a row! We are getting spoiled by Mother Nature over here and I am here for it. I am one of those people who thinks if it's going to be cold, it may as well snow. That being said, it is supposed to be 66 degrees here on Thursday and I'm not complaining about that either--  hah!

Today I am sharing what I've been Priming for the month of January and will be linking up with Tanya tomorrow for Prime Purchases. I am also linking up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday.


Candle Making Kit-- I have been making my own candles and Michael's was out of the wicks. Amazon to the rescue! I save my old Bath & Body Works candle jars and use those for my homemade candles. You know that last little bit of wax you get in a candle that won't melt once the wick is done? I save that too and use it in my new candles! I melt the last little bit, add it to my new melted wax, add some essential oils that go well with the old scent and voila! If you want to learn more about making your own candles, check out this link from Martha Stewart.



Humidifier-- Our old humidifier died and with us running the heat 24/7 around here, the air has been really dry. This is a necessity in winter!


Valentine's Day Earrings-- I settled on a pink J Crew sweater for the kids' Valentine's Day parties, but wanted some heart earrings to go with it. 



4 Pairs of Lightweight Rattan Earrings-- I must have had summer on the brain at some point this month because these came up on my recommended purchases. They felt like spring/summer to me.

Rabbit Wine Opener-- We got one of these Rabbit wine openers about 10 years ago as a gift and it is the easiest wine opener we've ever used. Unfortunately it broke a week or so ago, and we needed a new opener. There was no question that I wanted this one again. 


That was it for this month! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else links up with. Have a great week!


Friday, January 28, 2022

Friday Favorites

 Hi there and happy Friday! I hope you all had a good week. This was the first "normal" week we have had in what feels like forever, and I have to say... it feels reeeeally good to have a routine again. You don't realize how much you crave that routine until it's gone, huh?


Devin was traveling for work all week so it was just the kids and I holding down the fort. It was a remarkably smooth and easy week thank goodness. I swear the kids can pick up on the vibes of "it's only mom this week, we can't push her too hard or else she'll lose it". They aren't wrong. ðŸ˜†

Today I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites. Let's have a look at the highlights of this week:

Favorite Activities:

While Lily Grace was in school this week, Liam and I got to spend some great one-on-one time together. He is in the sweetest stage right now where he is still so young but thinks he's a lot bigger than he is. He wants to do everything the big kids do, and he thinks he's a big kid too.


He and I went to the library twice this week while LG was in school and he automatically goes straight to the section where the train books are. He is on a big Thomas the Tank Engine kick and I think we've read every Thomas book about 2 dozen times. 


Then he and LG like to play trains together when she gets home from school. 

Alpha

I signed up for a course offered at our church called Alpha and have been really enjoying it so far. We meet once a week to share a meal together, watch a video that explores the Christian faith a little deeper, and then discuss it in our small group. Not only have I been enjoying the course, but I really like all of the people in our small group. It's a good mix of outgoing/funny people, some more reserved/shy people, people who are parents, young single people, people who are grandparents, etc. Everyone in our group is very different from one another, yet we are all there to discuss the one big thing we have in common: our faith in Jesus. I look forward to it each week and come home feeling so energized by our conversations.

Ours takes place at a Catholic Church, but the Alpha program is actually run by various denominations and can be found all over the globe. It originated in Britain back in the 1970's and over 24 million people have taken the course. Here is the link to find one near you in the US. The international link was giving me a hard time but you could try Googling it.  


It's funny, I was telling my friend Kathleen about it and she said "Oh my dad led that at our church back in high school!" Kathleen's dad is a Presbyterian minister. So apparently I am late to the Alpha club. 😊 

Favorite Foods:

We made these grilled portobello burgers last night and they were delicious!!! They were topped with sun-dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers, which gave the mushrooms a great flavor boost. They also had a basil mayo spread on the top. They were actually pretty easy to make too, which is obviously a big bonus. So good!


Not-So-Favorite Thing:

Ya'll... when Liam and I were at the library this week we saw these educational tablets in the kids section. We do not have a tablet/ipad at home for the kids to use, but I have been considering buying one lately. I figured I'd check this one out from the library and see what we thought of it after a week. Like every other mom, I had such a love/hate relationship with this stupid thing. Was it educational? Yes. Was it great at keeping LG's attention when I needed to do other things? Yes. Is she learning basic technology skills that are going to be a part of her life? Yes.

But... Do I think it was addicting for her? ABSOLUTELY. It was the very first thing she asked for when she woke up each morning. It was the first thing she wanted to do when she got home from school. She wanted it after dinner. She wanted it before bed. I realized real quick that I needed to set some ground rules for this thing. We decided she could only have it for about 15-20 minutes while I was making dinner... but if I'm being honest I didn't always stick to that. Then I would feel that inevitable mom guilt for putting her on a screen instead of doing something more hands on. Needless to say I'm ready for it to go back to the library... but I know we can't avoid this forever. 

This is a part of parenting that is all new territory for me!! As a teacher we obviously used them in our classrooms, but we used them sparingly. Moms whose kids are older-- I need your advice. How do you handle technology? Absolutely zero judgement on any mom for however you handle technology with your family. If I had a nickel for every "when I'm a mom I'll NEVER _______" moment I've had, only to find out the opposite was true... we'd be sitting pretty over here. So please, I'd love to know your family's rules on technology. Leave me a comment or send me an email (laurendarrell13@gmail.com). We're all navigating this craziness together, right?



I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

What's Up Wednesday

 Hello hello it's What's Up Wednesday! Today I am linking up with Sheaffer and Shay to share a little this & that from the month of January. 

What We're Eating: My AeroGarden has taken off!! Look at all this lettuce:

Monday, January 24, 2022

A Day in the Life of Us

 Good morning friends! I hope you all had a nice weekend. We were lucky enough to wake up to 2 inches of snow on Saturday, giving the kids a fun excuse to get outside and play. Charlotte hasn't gotten snow in YEARS and now we've had it two weekends in a row! Snow has always been magical to me, but especially now that we live in NC since we don't get it often. Today I am linking up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday.


Last Friday I had planned to do a "Day in the Life of Us" post, but fair warning, Liam napped all afternoon so the afternoon portion turned out to be pretty boring. 😆 Oh well! That's a glimpse of real life, right? Here's a look at our day last Friday, January  21st, 2022.

Friday, January 21, 2022

Friday Favorites

 Hello friends and happy Friday! With the holiday on Monday and a snow day on Tuesday, this week has flown by!! I can't believe it's already another weekend! Today I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites. 

Here's a look at our week:

Favorite Activities:

SNOW!! We were lucky enough to get roughly a foot of snow in Blowing Rock over the weekend and our entire family was on cloud 9! 

Monday, January 17, 2022

First Day of Wee Ski Lessons

 Hello friends and happy Monday! It sounds like quite a few of us got snow over the weekend, and I hope you all were able to get out and enjoy it! Today's post will be short and sweet as we are still out and about enjoying the snow. I am linking up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday. 

On Friday afternoon our sweet girl had her very first ski lessons, and she and I were both really excited. Devin had to work Friday, so the kids and I left Charlotte, drove the 1 hour and 45 minutes up to Blowing Rock. We dropped Liam off with my parents and then LG and I were ready to hit the slopes! 

Ya'll the whole process of getting checked in, getting our lift tickets, getting our boots and skis, getting our locker, going to the bathroom one last time and getting over to the ski lessons was an ordeal! She was very cooperative but the whole process took us close to an hour and a half, which felt like an eternity! We finally made it to the ski lessons and our sweet girl immediately connected with her teacher and was ready! 

Friday, January 14, 2022

Friday Favorites

 Hello there! Happy Friday! Today we are on our way to the mountains for Lily Grace's first WeeSki ski lesson. I am more excited than she is. One of the best parts of parenting is getting to share the things you love with your children, and I have some of the fondest memories of skiing as a kid. I can't wait for us to be able to ski together one day!

Today I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites. I have a random assortment of fun things for ya!

Favorite Things We Ate:

Monday, January 10, 2022

Not Just a Mom: Favorite Bloggers

 Good morning friends and happy Monday! Today we are kicking off the new Not Just a Mom for 2022. Here are our new graphics for the year (thanks to Adrienne!):

Friday, January 7, 2022

Top 21 Amazon Purchases from 2021

Good morning friends and happy Friday! This week has turned out differently than we expected, but honestly ended up as such a blessing. I took the kids to get tested on Monday afternoon, assuming they would test negative and be in the clear to go back to school this week. Unfortunately they tested positive, and the doctor told us they could continue to test positive for 90 days after infection (cue me being like "WHAT?! They need to test negative to go back to school!!"). Thankfully the schools have changed their policies, we used to need negative PCR's to return, but now a doctor's note stating when their quarantine is over and they are able to safely return is fine. 

Anyway though, it gave our family an extra week at home together and we had a wonderful time just relaxing at home, with nowhere to be but together. While I love running around and getting errands done, there's something kind of nice about being forced to just sit still and be present in the moment. 

Today's post is a roundup of my top Amazon purchases from 2021.. my top 21 from '21! These are the items I used regularly throughout the year and I would highly recommend every single one! 

Monday, January 3, 2022

Our Bout With COVID and What I'm Priming: November AND December

 Hello there! Happy Monday and happy 2022! 

I hope you all were able to enjoy the holidays and spend some good quality time with family. Unfortunately for us, Devin woke up on Christmas morning with a 102 fever and head cold symptoms. Within a few days the entire family all started showing similar symptoms. We immediately knew it was COVID. 

We went and got rapid tested for COVID as soon as we were able to get an appointment, on Monday afternoon. My test results came back negative, but Devin's came back positive. Something about that didn't sit well with me. We had the exact same symptoms, but he was positive and I was negative? I went back and got a PCR, which sure enough came back positive. Fortunately Devin was the only one to get a fever, the rest of us just had head cold symptoms and some minor stomach issues. I am VERY happy to report that we are all feeling back to 100% and will be going back for PCR's today to confirm that we are negative. We feel very lucky to have had mild symptoms and are relieved to be on the other side of this now. I am praying that all of you are staying healthy and am praying that this calms down as quickly as possible. I really don't want our sweet kiddos to be out of school!