1. Last Thursday afternoon this girl donned a poodle skirt and sang, danced, and rocked her way through her second grade musical program. These are the moments they'll remember about elementary school...
2. On Thursday evening I went out with new group mom friends. Well, the combination of moms was new; some of the moms are good friends of mine, some are acquaintances, and some I had never met before. Making new friends never gets easier, but I think doing so - even when we already have good friends - helps us become stronger and more accepting individuals because it forces us to step outside our comfort zones and consider how we come across to those who don't know our histories. I'll "cheers" to that!
3. On Friday evening we (PTO) put on a "Movie Night" at the kids' elementary school. I didn't watch the movie, but my fellow PTO moms and I had a lovely conversation with the two TAMU college students who volunteered to help us out during the event. We periodically take students up on their offers to lend a hand, and while this often goes well, sometimes it doesn't. These two were punctual, hard-working, and friendly, and they gave me hope for our future. Also, one of them was named Ross, which prompted an entertaining conversation about which televisions shows our parents must have watched prior to each of us coming into the world.
He looks like a "Ross", doesn't he?
4. As of 3:05pm today, our last PTO fundraiser of the school year has wrapped and spring break has begun! We have a few activities and birthday parties on the calendar and a short trip planned, but we haven't overbooked ourselves. I want to make sure scheduled time doesn't dominate, and that when spring break comes to an end we feel rested and ready to tackle the remainder of the school year!
5. Happiness Highlights:
Every time we turn on the fireplace I hope it won't be the
last time for the season...I love chilly - and even cold - nights!
These two cuties have been accidentally dressing alike
since they were three years old and in preschool together.
1/3 (well, maybe 1/2 of the one with chocolate frosting)
of four different delectable cupcakes from Silos Baking
Co. at the Magnolia Silos. I enjoyed every last crumb.
This week was Parent Participation Week at Hallie's dance studio. On
Monday afternoon I took ballet and jazz classes, attended Mini Company
rehearsal, and pulled one muscle. I also gained a healthy amount of respect
for the amount of work my seven-year-old puts into her favorite activity.
"Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move mountains."
(This picture isn't staged - she fell asleep like this.)
Happy Friday, Chasing Roots! Linking up with High Five for Friday here:
As I wrote (back at the end of February) Monday's post about Hallie's bedroom, I started thinking about what I wanted to do in observance of Lent. During my college years, 20s, and early 30s, I gave up chocolate, candy, coffee, soda, or the like, but in recent years I have gravitated away from "giving up" in favor of "adding in". I have also looked for opportunities to broaden our horizons, simplify our lives, and/or improve the lives of those in our community. Along these lines, this year I have decided to take on the "40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge".
The Challenge coincides with the 40 days of Lent, and involves cleaning out the clutter that keeps us from being able to truly enjoy and appreciate our lives. The focus is on letting go of stuff, but also on making small sacrifices. According to the Simply Catholic blog, "it should hurt - not a lot, but a bit. There should be some small sense of having to sacrifice or maybe some small bit of contrition at how much we hold onto things when we could give that time and energy to God." An added benefit to the Challenge is that at the end of the 40 days you should have 40 bags (or so) of clothing, toys, books, and household items to donate.
Thus far I've tackled Will's, Hallie's, and my clothes and shoes, a few kitchen drawers and cabinets, the linen closet, and two sections of the garage. Anyone need a crib mattress or balance bike? (Both were loved but are still functional...)
Yes, we're already a week into March, but there's still time to take up the challenge. If you aren't sure where to start, check out the printables and instructions shared on White House Black Shutters. Organizing Moms also shared a few great links for those who would like more information about decluttering in general and/or a simpler, smaller-scale version of this challenge called "40 Items in 40 Days".
I purge reguarly, so when all is said and done I probably won't have 40 full bags of donations. I will, however, have spent the 40 days of Lent making small sacrifices and making 40 spaces in my home that look and feel simpler. "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." ~ William Morris
I find it hard to believe we've lived in Texas long enough to have started redoing - painting, decorating, etc. - rooms in our house we fixed up shortly after moving in, but somehow that's where we found ourselves last weekend. Yes, the list of first-round house projects and upgrades remains long, but the need to turn our Hallie Claire's little girl room into a big girl room took precedence.
In case you're curious, my house/yard short list includes cleaning the carpets in Will's room, the guest room, and the master bedroom (replacing the carpet in these three rooms as well as Hallie's room is on my long-term list); updating our six ceiling fans; updating the lighting, fixtures, sinks, and countertops in our guest/kids' bathroom; updating the fixtures, sink, and countertops in our half bathroom; and planting a nectarine tree and a lemon tree in our backyard. Tom's house/yard short list includes cleaning and painting the gutters, repairing and painting the shed, digging up a few stumps in the backyard, and replacing three exterior doors. Luckily for Tom, his dad plans to visit us and help with his projects later this spring!
My parents, on their way from Wisconsin to vacation on South Padre Island, stopped over in College Station for a few days and to help me with the project - their birthday gift to Hallie. Over the course of two jam-packed days we cleaned her carpets, painted her walls, and put the room back together with a little old, a lot of new, and loads of love.
I realized after I emptied the room that I didn't have any recent pictures of Hallie's space. Most of the pictures below were taken right after she moved in six years ago (so long ago that her diaper genie can be seen sitting next to the dresser); since that time we had rearranged the furniture, taken out the rocking chair, and added a vanity, and my sister had painted more trees - to match the trees on Hallie's quilt - on the wall.
I love the windowseat in Hallie's room.
Ah, the diaper genie...
I loved that bedspread...almost as much as I
loved the trees Aunt Sara painted on the wall.
The only picture I have of the other two trees...taken when I let 4yo Hallie turn her room into a rain forest.
And now, Hallie's new room.
The view from the door.
The wall straight ahead was intentionally blank - it's waiting patiently for Aunt Sara to paint her next mural.
Hallie "dressing corner".
I do love her more than sunshine.
Ready for more books!
Hallie LOVES her updated space, as do I. It feels fresh, clean, and organized, and a few of the adjustments we made gave her a little room to grow.
Isn't that bedspread pattern fabulous?!
We both still love the window seat.
Speaking of clean and organized, a friend walked into Hallie's room and, after admiring the updates, asked, "wait. Where are all of her toys? Where's all the 'stuff'?" Good question!
Moving left to right through the room, some of Hallie's art and school supplies are in and on her desk. (She has an art center in our family/music/play room, and the majority of her crayons, markers, colored pencils, glue, scissors, construction paper, coloring books, paints, etc. have a permanent home in that room.) All of Hallie's non-hanging clothes are in her dresser. Hallie's picture and library books, as well as the things she might need while in bed (bookmarks, chapstick, bandaids), are on her bedside table shelves. Hallie's jewelry and little trinkets are in her jewelry boxes and the baskets on her vanity shelves. And her chapter books are on her new bookshelf. Hallie's room also has a high shelf that wraps around the entire room, and she keeps photos, art, and trophies - things she wants to keep and see but doesn't play with - on this shelf.
The rest of Hallie's clothes and toys are in her closet, which I've tried to organize in a way that feels clean, tidy, and easily accessible to a nearly-eight-year-old.
"In-season" clothes, shoes, and bins of American Girl accessories, Lego sets, My Little Ponies, and Shopkins.
"Off-season" clothes, dance costumes and bags, and American Girl furniture.
Hats and bags.
Her closet has a high shelf as well - it's perfect for luggage, an air mattress (her "trundle bed"), and her sleeping bag.
Her closet also has a built-in toy box, which is FULL of stuffed animals, and shelving.
I am the opposite of a hoarder. I believe in decorating and making spaces feel comfortable and homey, but if clothes aren't worn, toys aren't played with, or other items around the house aren't used (with the exception of those that are truly sentimental), I sell or donate them. For me, when my house is cluttered, my brain is cluttered. And when my brain is cluttered, I feel discombobulated in every area of my life, I am less productive both at home and work, and, though I hate to admit it, I am grumpy. For my kids, I want to teach them the importance of sharing what they have with others (they clean out their own closets and pull out toys, books, and clothes to donate about three times a year) and that accumulating stuff for the sake of accumulating stuff won't make them happier...if anything, it will lead to perpetual dissatisfaction. Some days the lessons sink in, other days they don't.😉
So there you have it - our first reredecoration project in our new(est) house. Maybe now that we wrapped it up I can get back to that lengthy short-term to-do list!
1. While looking for something completely unrelated, I came across multiple photos I hadn't seen since the night they were taken at my SIL's wedding...two-and-a-half years ago. Just a day later, Tom's cousin posted the pictures from her wedding almost three months ago. What fun it was to relive both of these fabulous events!
They both have unique dancing styles...
2. Soccer season has officially started! (Who am I kidding...soccer season never really ends - we just have a month-long break for the holidays and a month-long break in the summer.) But regular season games started last weekend, and it felt great to be back in my lawn chair on the soccer field sidelines, cheering on my boy.
No truer shirt...
3. Will's soccer game didn't end how we would have liked, but our (Will and my) evening ended with another soccer game in which our team came out on top. One of Will's Texans coaches also helps coach the Aggies, so he asked Will and a few of his Texans buddies to serve as ball boys during the Aggies Saturday night spring game. Will had a blast and learned a lot from his vantage point on the field, and I loved having a date night with/watching my boy.
4. On Sunday we made the trek to Waco to attend a friend's birthday party at the Cameron Park Zoo. The drive went smoothly, the weather held out (rain kept creeping into the forecast), and the birthday boy and all his guests had fun.
We seem to have accidentally begun a photo series of these
three cuties sitting on faux animals. Komodo dragon...
...horse...
...orangutan... (They're doing "speak no evil, hear no evil, see no
evil" at our request, but have no idea why or what that means.
And we're not sure what the boys are doing in the background.
...and giraffe.
5. Happiness Highlights:
Sweet friends trying on this year's ballet costumes.
Hallie is desperate for actual curls...
...but often requests kinky, 80s hair as an alternative.
My mom made this Elvis costume for my sister
when she was in fourth grade. The costume has
hung quietly in a closet for more than 25 years,
but I think it's about to make a comeback...
Love this pic of Will and his friend Dylan taking
an "old fashioned" selfie with an actual camera.
Waiting on Will and taking the first photo inside our new car!
Happy Friday, Chasing Roots! Linking up with High Five for Friday here:
Writing
I bit off a little more than I could chew in February - one article for Mama Bear Dares (a new venture for me), one article for Texas Living Magazine, and two articles for MomsEveryday on top of my regularly scheduled programming here and social media updates for the Red Cross - but I anticipate making all of my deadlines...by the skin of my teeth.
You can see the first of the MomsEveryday posts - an enhanced and more detailed version of an Adulting 101 post I shared on Chasing Roots a few weeks ago - here, but everything else won't run until March or even a little later in the spring.
On a related note, I'm particularly proud of two Chasing Roots posts I shared this month: Is It Really Worth It? and SAFE 2 SAVE. I (re)share links to these posts so that if you missed them the first time around, you could consider reading them today; both cover societally relevant topics that are important to me...and to many others as well. Thank you!
Reading
Well, I finally finished a book: Would You Eat Your Cat? by Jeremy Stangroom. Both Will and Hallie were mortified when they saw the book sitting on my nightstand, as if I would actually consider answering the question in the affirmative.
I only had about 75 pages left in this book, so I can hardly say I've emerged from my reading rut. I have a new goal for the month though: I plan to read (at least) 10 pages - of any book - every night in March. I hope this goal helps me get back into the reading groove.
Watching
Will, Hallie, and I LOVE Kids Baking Championship on The Food Network. We find the hosts - Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli - entertaining and endearing, and watching these 10-, 11-, and 12-year old bakers motivates Will and Hallie to become more skilled in the kitchen.
We caught only one movie in February: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Rarely do we come across movies that appeal to and keep the attention of all four of us; Fantastic Beasts hit the nail on the head twice. Maybe knowing the storyline will motivate me to finally read the book...10 pages at a time.
Listening To
As much as I hate to admit it, my new car's interactive sound system is smarter than me. I've only owned the car for two weeks, but I still have no idea how to work the darn thing other than changing the radio station with the dial. I might need to review the system's features with a technology expert...I think my 10-year-old is available.
I have almost caught up with Young House Love Has a Podcast podcasts, so I'm in the market for a another new podcast. I don't want anything political or hard to listen to - I get enough of that from the nightly news. I'm considering The Ellen Show Podcast (the monologues from her daily shows), Jim Gaffigan specials, Something You Should Know by Mike Carruthers, and The Moth. Thoughts on any of these? Yay or nay? Any other suggestions?
Last but not least, I love Train's new song called "Play That Song". The YouTube notes include a quote from the band: "It was such a great time making the video for 'Play That Song'. The idea to be on top of the world and have the whole town react to the happiness was super fun and corny and sweet and I wish life was really like this video!" I too think the world needs more super fun and corny and sweet.
And I recommend this car diffuser - it's cute, functional, and inexpensive ($12.99 on Amazon) and allows me to protect us with my "stay healthy" oils even when we're on the go!
Wearing
I haven't done much shopping since the holidays, so while I only have one new clothing/footwear/outerwear item to share this month, it was a good find for me! I am digging these Puma athletic socks:
They keep my feet cool and dry and have a built-in arch support, and the elastic ankle band is just wide enough to keep the sock from slipping down into my shoe. I purchased my six-pack - two black, two gray, and two white - at Target, but on occasion I've seen them on Amazon as well.
My mom bought and brought me this fabulous bright kelly green cross body purse last week. It's the perfect size for date and girls' nights, as it fits my wallet, phone, keys, and lipgloss, and looks just about as cute as a purse can look. Swoon...
Eating/Drinking
In case you can't tell from the list below, I like to bake during the winter months. Who am I kidding - I like to bake during all months. And I have lots of great recipes to after February's adventures in the kitchen!
15-Minute Healthy Roasted Chicken & Veggies I used the veggies I had on hand - red pepper, zucchini, squash, and yellow onion - rather than the exact list of veggies the recipe called for, and for my spice mix I used 2 T. grapeseed oil, 1/2 t. salt, 1 t. pepper, 1/2 t. basil, 1/2 t. oregano, 1/2 t. thyme, 1/2 t. garlic powder, and 1/4 t. paprika. I also cooked everything for 20 minutes at 425 degrees, rather than 15 minutes at 500 degrees. (I grew impatient waiting for my oven to heat up to that temperature.) Everyone LOVED this meal!
Pumpkin Biscuits I made these biscuits a little larger than the recipe creator (my batch made six, rather than eight, biscuits) and I skipped brushing the tops with butter after baking. They melted in my mouth none-the-less, and I ate more than my fair share!
Old Fashioned Butter Cake This cake did not come out of the pan easily (despite prepping the pans) and did not hold up well during frosting (despite waiting for the cakes to cool completely and softening the chocolate frosting), but...it tasted so good I'm sharing the recipe in spite of those flaws (both of which could have been attributed to me, and not the recipe). I wouldn't recommend making this cake when appearances matter (just in case you experience the same challenges I did), but for your family this weekend? YES.
Snickerdoodle Cupcakes These cupcakes and the cinnamon buttercream are easy to make and taste like a million bucks. The amount of frosting the recipe makes, however, is almost twice as much as is needed, even if the icing is piped. I made a 3/4 batch for 24 cupcakes and ended up with more than a cup of extra frosting.
Strawberry Crisp Strawberry season has arrived here in Texas, which means Strawberry Shortcake Sundays have begun in the Ferris house. I have no idea why, but shortly after Tom and I married I started making strawberry shortcake at least a few Sunday evenings a month throughout the summer. Strawberry season starts much earlier here than it did in Michigan, so Strawberry Shortcake Sundays also start much earlier here as well. Last week I decided to mix things up a bit and make a crisp rather than a shortcake, and the result was well-received by all but Hallie.
Enjoy!
What's new, good, and/or interesting in your life this month? Please share!
