Cherry Picking

Phew…I took a bit of an impromptu Spring Break, and one week turned into two…and then it was HARD to get back into the swing of things. We are in the homestretch of homeschool for the year, and I am NOT gonna lie, I am ready to have a bit of free time each day to FINALLY tackle some of these projects. First up, clean the garage…who else needs a HUGE garage overhaul.??? Mine is BAD!!!

Speaking of homeschool, I plan to do some reviews of this year’s curriculum, and then a sneak peak at what we have picked out for next year. I have not shared a TON about our homeschool choices because I am pretty new to the whole homeschool mom thing. But SOOOO many people have asked about what we use and how we tackle homeschool and owning a business, I think it is finally time to start giving ALLL those answers. Wanna know WHY we chose to homeschool?? You can check out that post over HERE.

It has been pretty quiet on the blog lately (Spring Fever is REAL!!), but I HAVE shared a few great books. HERE I shared all about the new Chip Gaines book NO PAIN NO GAINES and then I shared another bunch of Jane Austen inspired books HERE for those who need a bit of the Regency Era in their lives. And after LOTS of asking, I even posted some decorating tips HERE on how to create beautiful vignettes around your home. I was creating an Easter vignette, but the steps work for ANY time and ANY place…coffee table, entryway, open shelves, kitchen counter…

Wanna know what I found this week that I CANNOT live without?!?!

Emersyn found THIS dress for me at Target and I figured if my TEEN was telling me to buy it, I BETTER BUY IT!! Haha. But seriously, besides the adorable buffalo plaid, it is also super comfy AND has pockets?? Does anyone else get all giddy when a dress has pockets?? I am like a little girl with a new Easter dress…twirling and happy when I find pockets in a dress!!

ANDDDD I picked up THIS dress. Now I know what you are thinking…Don’t you already have THAT dress Jess?? Yes…and NO. A few weeks back, I grabbed this dress in a different color and I LOVE it. It feels like wearing jammies to church. So when it popped up in the store in this pretty coral color too. I grabbed it. AND I am not even kidding when I say this…there are two more color options and I will probably grab another one before summer is over. I am THAT person. It is just too hard to find clothes I like and feel comfortable in…why re-invent the wheel?!?!

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Ok. So I have been seeing lots of influencers this year using tanning drops and been TOTALLY intrigued. But the problem is that the ones they are all sharing cost about $50 a bottle. I cannot imagine ANY bottle of ANYTHING that I would pay $50 for. If it was like a tummy tuck in a bottle…MAYBE. So anyway I just decided to forget it and be 50 dollars richer AND pasty white…and I was pretty ok with that. Then I decided…THERE MUST BE A LESS EXPENSIVE OPTION!! And I started to research. THESE had the most good reviews, so I decided to give it a try…AND I LOVE IT!! I just add a few drops to my moisturizer at night, and wake up with a nice glow. It is not SUPER noticeable…just a nice tan glow…like I maybe did some yardwork over the weekend (but I didn’t of course…haha). After a VERY bad experience with a spray tan in my 20’s, I had pretty much given up on self tanners, but THESE drops are sooooo good. AND they don’t smell. You know what I mean about that self tanner smell…these don’t have that!!! And they were under $15, which made me feel like I was WINNING at life.

You guys…I think I have found the perfect dog toy for GUS. Normally he can destroy a squeaky toy in a manner of minutes. He leaves a pile of fluff and a chewed up squeaker behind and that’s it. BUT THIS TOY HAS LASTED US 3 DAYS!! That MAY not seem like a lot, but just to put it into perspective…Gus has COMPLETELY eaten our outdoor lawn furniture. HE IS A CHEWER!! This morning when I woke up, I heard him outside throwing this around and playing. He loves it. It squeaks. It rolls. It bounces. It keeps him entertained. He has finally figured out that he has to carry it by the handle. I love this thing!! He was never super interested in the KONG with the treats inside, but this one…he is obsessed!!! And I saw that they have different sizes for larger, or smaller dog breeds. I think my next purchase will be the football version…just to keep him interested. This toy has made both Gus AND me very HAPPY!!

What am I reading??

I am currently reading AMERICAN ROYALS by Katharine Mcgee. The basic gist is this…Instead of the United States electing George Washington as the PRESIDENT, they created a monarchy and had KING GEORGE WASHINGTON. This book is about his modern day descendants who are now a princess, a prince, and the future queen of America. The premise alone is so intriguing to me right now too because we are currently studying the Revolutionary War in our homeschool and there are some fun little historical tidbits in this book that make it a super fun read. For example, the royal guards are called the REVERE GUARD and they wear a lantern insignia…to represent the 2 lanterns used to signal Paul Revere. AND I love that the family lives at Mount Vernon instead of the White House and that there is a Duke of Orange…aka Orange County. It is a YA book, so it is written for the younger cooler kids, but since I am still young and cool ON THE INSIDE…haha…so far I am liking it. I will keep you posted.

ANNNDDD….this is not a book, but I have been watching this cute NETFLIX show, COUNTRY COMFORT, and thought I would share. It is basically like a mix between The Sound of Music, The Nanny, and Parent Trap….oh except with country music. It is super cheesy, not great in the acting department, and kind of a weird premise (she is literally hired as a Nanny because her car breaks down in front of their house), but I tend to forget all of that because of Katherine McPhee singing country music!!! PLUS the youngest little girl is so sassy and southern…I love her. Basically the main character is a country singer wannabe who becomes a nanny for a bunch of cute kids who are missing their mom (she passed away). Their dad has a horrible annoying girlfriend (think Parent Trap) and they ALL have the cutest southern accents. PLUS it is clean and kid friendly and THAT almost never happens anymore!!!

What is catching my eye over on Pinterest this week??

I am in a total food rut, so I have mostly been searching Pinterest for new simple dinner recipes. So far…this is what I have found that has caught my attention…

These teriyaki skewers are JUST what I have been craving, so I HAD to add this one to my grocery list. And with really simple ingredients, I THINK this is something that my kiddos will not complain about. YUMMM!!

We pretty much HAVE to have a pizza night…and I LOVE the idea of mixing it up with these garlic toast pizzas. So simple and easy for those nights when I DO NOT want to think about making a complicated meal. PLUS…who doesn’t love garlic toast?!?!

Smothered chicken burritos with sour cream green chile sauce…need I say more?!! The video of her making these actually made me drool a little bit!!

And last, because I can never pass up a recipe from SIX SISTERS STUFF, I am gonna try ROOT BEER pulled pork sandwiches. I will have to add some pickles and coleslaw to the top…because that is how one should properly eat a pulled pork sandwich, but I am intrigued by the root beer!!

Make sure you follow me over on PINTEREST too, so you can catch ALL of my favorite pins each week as well!!! I have a whole board just FULL of easy dinner ideas!!

A little something to think about this week…

Sometimes we try to run so fast that we may forget where we are going and why?!?

–David A. Bednar

I find myself running fast ALL THE TIME, but forgetting my goals. Like today…I found myself yelling at my kids for taking too long and making us late for church…but forgetting that the purpose of heading to church is to help us be more like Jesus. I guarantee HE wouldn’t have spent his sabbath morning yelling. Or getting frustrated that we are behind in our Math curriculum and trying to fit in multiple lessons each day to finish by the end of the school year…but then remembering that THE WHOLE POINT OF HOMESCHOOLING Ethan in Math is so that he is able to work at his own pace and really grasp the topics. Ugh…that realization hit me hard this week. Time to learn to give ourselves grace. We are enough. We are doing our best. Let’s all slow down and remember our WHY this week. Time to slow down and enjoy the journey!! I am ready to head into this next week with a new attitude. Let’s chat soon. JESS

You can find some more of my CHERRY PICKS…HERE and over HERE!!