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Whether or Not to Send Kids to Preschool During Covid-19
Parenting is a challenging season, and parenting during a pandemic is even more challenging. I have learned more about myself and how I parent in the past 4 months than ever before. I have learned to give myself grace when things don’t go exactly as planned. I have embraced the occasional TV time when I am nearing my breaking point. And I have dug deep to find fun activities that bond us closer together. We have become such a tight little family and for that I am grateful for this quarantine. That being said, one of the parenting challenges that came up recently is sending the boys to preschool. Both…
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Father’s Day Weekend Recap: First Visit to See Family in Waynesville, North Carolina
Seeing family is so good for the soul! It has been since February since we have seen Drew’s family and since December since we have seen mine. While we FaceTime often with family, nothing replaces visiting in person. This past weekend, we had our first trip to see my in-laws for Father’s Day weekend. Both of Drew’s step-siblings and sister along with their significant others were there which made the trip that much more special. My in-laws were very kind to keep the boys for an evening on Thursday night while Drew and I ventured to the Inn at Biltmore for a much needed child-free evening (separate post on our…
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Anniversary Weekend and Weekend on Lake Lanier
We celebrated our 6th anniversary this weekend with plenty of family time and sunshine. While it wasn’t a typical anniversary of going to a tropical island, to the beach or even out to a fancy dinner–it was exactly how I wanted to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary (lets be honest, a tropical island vacation will always trump everything–but you know what I’m saying!). We started the weekend off with a pool night with a few of our neighbors. Our neighborhood is starting to “turn over” with new, younger families moving in which means that our boys are finding new friends to play with. It is amazing to see the boys…
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Indoor Toddler Boy (and Girl) Activities
We have been so blessed with beautiful, sunny weather the past couple of months. My boys thrive when they are able to be outside and use their imaginations surrounded by nature. Unfortunately, our luck has changed and it has been rainy in Atlanta for the past couple weeks. The next few days calls for rain, which means this mama needs to be creative to make fun indoor activities for two rambunctious little boys. Today, I am sharing a few of the activities that we enjoy doing inside and that allows the boys to get their energy out. Since it is warmer outside, we use our covered porch to do some…
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Finding the Right Workout for YOU
Discovering what exercise is right for you can be trial and error mixed with learning a lot about yourself. It has taken me years to realize that it is alright to change it up and switch out of your routine when you find yourself in a workout rut (or in quarantine). There are so many different things you can do, but at the end of the day you need to find something that you enjoy (and even if you don’t a hundred percent love it, you like it enough). We are all so lucky to have bodies that we can move each day and we need to not lose sight…
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First Vacation after Coronavirus: Long Weekend in Destin and Crab Island
We just came back from an incredible long weekend with some of our closest friends. We originally planned to visit Drew’s best friend and his family, who welcomed a new baby girl in January, in March. However, with the coronavirus in full swing we decided to postpone until May. While I was super hesitant given that restrictions had just been loosened, I am very happy that we decided to go. I did not realize how much our entire family was craving some normalcy and socialization with close friends.Many of our friends in Atlanta travel to 30A for family vacations. We always go to South Carolina beaches, and never experienced the…
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Things I Learned at 32 (and wish I knew earlier!)
Life is funny, you learn things as you go and look back and wish you implemented things sooner. Today, I am sharing with you a few things that I started doing at 32 (and wish I did earlier!). If you are younger than 32, try them out and if you are older than 32 and don’t do these things—well, there is no time like the present! Things I learned at 32: Wash your face: Say what?! It literally took me until this year to regularly wash my face. Gross, but true! I have ridiculously sensitive skin and felt like washing my face irritated it more than it benefited. Well silly me,…
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Stress Relief Techniques During The Quarantine
Week four of the coronavirus quarantine and its time to find new stress relief techniques in our household. We have been indulging more on our adult beverages and running/biking to relieve stress. While the extra runs are certainly great for the body, the alcohol consumption is definitely not! After many discussions, input from others (thank you friends on social media!) and online research; I complied a list of activities that hopefully will provide joy and stress relief to others during this crazy period. List of Stress Relief Activities: Journalling: If you haven’t tried journalling now is a perfect time to preserve your memories of this crazy time and destress by…
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Becoming a Bargain Shopper: Tips to Getting a Great Deal
Who doesn’t love a good deal?! Finding a great deal isn’t about purchasing things that you don’t need (admittedly, I have purchased many things just because they are a “good deal”), rather its about knowing what you want, knowing the price you feel comfortable spending on the item and then searching and waiting for it to hit that price. This day and age, we have so much information at our fingertips that finding a great deal is so much easier and doable (if you have patience!). The state of our economy, the amount of lay offs and people taking pay cuts to help businesses stay afloat is devastating. My heart…
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Motherhood Lesson: Riding a Bike for the First Time
I write this with so much pride for my four year old: Reid rode a bike for the first time! I am beyond amazed that with very little assistance and skipping training wheels, he was able to ride a bike on his first try. All I have to say is: balance bikes are amazing!We gave Reid a balance bike when he was 2.5 years old. He took to it pretty immediately and loved going on bike rides around the neighborhood. At first he simply walked with the bike (probably for the first 6 months) and then around 3 he got the hang of it and would balance and glide along…