Sky Zone

Parker got to hang out with my mom on Monday for President's Day.  It was busy, but he did pretty well sharing spaces and taking turns for the special activities.  I can't wait to go with him next time.

New Beds for the Kids

We've been thinking about moving Esme out of her crib for a while now that she is approaching 3.  I went bed shopping last weekend to see if anything caught my eye.  I found one I really liked for Parker.  I wasn't planning to get him one, but he's just has a mattress and foundation for a while, so a proper bed seemed fitting.  I fond a sleigh bed fore Esme as well, but they were down to just the floor model and it was pretty beat up.  I went home and researched some sleigh bed options and found one from Ashley Furniture.  

I took Esme's crib down on Sunday before church, then moved Parker's bed in to her room since we wouldn't have hers until Tuesday.  I wanted her first try to be a nap instead of full blown bedtime.

She did so well!  She played with her stuffed animals for a bit, then laid down and fell asleep.  She didn't even think about getting out.

My parent's helped to pick up Parker's bed Sunday afternoon.  We got it assembled, then picked up a new mattress at Menards.  Both of them were excited for the new bed!

Esme rocked her first bedtime in a big bed too!  She hasn't gotten out once yet, but it's only been a few nights.

Her furniture arrive Tuesday, but I didn't have time to assemble it.  Parker had a snow day on Wednesday, so I took the opportunity to to assemble it and rearrange her room a little.

Esme was in awe of her new set up when she first saw it.  She keeps saying "new bed, new bed."

Hopefully these new, real beds can carry our kids in to their teenage years.

Not for sale.

I just realized that I never shared about a very exciting venture that I have been helping my friend, Lisa, with.  Some people call us the Leisas.  Lisa and her family attend our church.  I had very minimally acquainted with her previously, but we started chatting at a church softball game last summer.  I knew she had just returned from the annual mission trip to Honduras, so I asked her how it was.  She shared all of the wonderful things they did, but also about a heartbreaking experience.  

The team typically stays in San Pedro Sula, where they work with the local church and La Patria School.  This year, however, they added a trip to a more remote town called Yoro to install a water filtration system.  While there, Lisa learned about how severely they were being affected by human trafficking.  Young girls would go missing out of nowhere.  If they returned, they likely had STDs or had become pregnant.  She shared how deeply this affected her and how she felt like she needed to do something.  She couldn't just forget what she saw.  She wasn't sure where to start, but thought that selling t-shirts to raise some seed money.  I casually mentioned that I owned a t-shirt press and the means to make custom shirts and our precious friendship was born.  Later that night, I sent her my first set of sample fonts and styles.  Both of us were so excited to see where this would go.

I made a few as a test run and a couple months later we sourced some responsibly made t-shirts. I was cutting out 100 "Not for sale." pieces in vinyl before I could even blink.  Lisa came over for an afternoon and we knocked them out in about 5 hours with her weeding and my placing and pressing.

 We made a handful in Spanish and may add those in future runs.

 I also added an Instagram handle and hashtag to the back of my shirt, which was made in the first run.

We made the shirts at the end of September and have already raised enough money to run electricity to the school and a small home that will be used for some of the women to make food and crafts to sell and support themselves.  I feel like there is going to be so much to come from this effort and I can't wait to be a part of it!  If you would like to support us on social media, I have linked below.  Shirts are $12 if you are interested in getting one!

IG: https://www.instagram.com/peoplernotforsale/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peopleRnotforsale/

Pretzeldent's Day 2019

It's everyone's favorite time of year, Pretzeldent's Day! This year was extra fun because Esme got to wear the shirt Parker wore to the very first celebration 5 years ago!  Every person also got to choose a presidential "pin" to wear.  I chose Jimmy Carter, because, Jimmy!

Lot's of delicious pretzel and other fare as usual!

Another new addition, was a United States coloring book for the kids.  Esme had fun coloring with Ember.

We couldn't stay for all of the games this year, but did get to participate in 4 of them.

The first was called "Boys to Men" and we had to match younger pictures with each president.  Our team got 7 out of 12 on the first shot and won in the end!

I didn't get pictures of the second game, but we all had presidents taped to us and we had to line up with a group of them that fit a certain category (ie: all the ones who lost the popular vote, but one the electoral vote.)

The third and fourth rounds were identifying pretzel logos and presidential monuments, then pretzel and presidential trivia.

Esme had a great time running around with the other kids and I managed to get a group picture before heading home.

We are already counting down the days until next year!

Valentine's Day 2019

Happy Valentine's Day!  Ours was pretty much the same as always.  I made Parker some valentines for school with tops.  He did a great job signing his name to all of them.

He got another great haul from his classmates, but I forgot to get a picture before we dug in.  I saved Esme's outfit from last year since it was a little big.  It was a perfect fit this time around and she was adorable as ever.  She's become quite the "cheese" master and loves posing for pictures.

I told Jimmy earlier in the week that he should just buy me a variety of specialty cheese in place of flowers in the future.  I don't get flowers a lot, which is fine with me.  I thought this would be a fun way to try new cheeses that I wouldn't normally spend money on.  He nailed it with a three cheese bouquet!

We continued our fondue tradition by inviting Jimmy's parents to join us.  My mother-in-law, Cherry, made the same beer cheese fondue the first time I went to their house for dinner.

She also brought some delicious homemade sugar cookies.  We normally only get these at Christmas, so it was an extra special treat!

Family Snow Clean-Up

It hasn't been an especially snowy year, but we have had a few storms the last couple of weeks.  The cold temps also mean it's staying on the ground.  It warmed up a bit on Sunday, so the whole family went outside to clear the driveway.  Parker likes to push the snow around with his shovel, but isn't much help.

Esme is in the reverse shoveling stage...At least she's small and can't move that much volume.

Parker decided this was a great time to break out his bike.  It was pretty slick, so he didn't get anywhere very fast.  There is a funny clip at the beginning of the video below of his tire spinning.

It's been a few months since Parker has been able to play with Paisley, so it was cute to watch them interact again.

Hopefully we will be able to get out to play some more this winter.