Denim Daisies

 Hello! So we’re going to change this up a tiny bit to make it a fun conversation starter for me and Grant and eventually the boys as they get more opinionated. I’m going to give my top five and then list out theirs with any needed commentary.  My top five: 5. Halloween- I’m not a spooky fun person typically, but this is becoming more fun to dress up with the kids and really get into it. We’re slowly adopting a “haunted mansion” theme for our house over the years and this year it’s adding hangings that look like the elevator stretching and funny epitaph fake graves.  4. Thanksgiving- what’s not to love about eating until you can’t anymore then sitting on the couch watching an old movie or football. Especially as this is the ultimate hygge holiday.  3. Valentine’s Day- I love how so many are referring to this as the “I love you” holiday to just focus on those you love and communicate in their love language. I want this to be even bigger for us as a family as time goes on.  2. Easter- I

 Hello! We’ve made it to Friday! This week that feels like a celebration and marks two full weeks of both kids in school and me at the zoo! There have been a few rough moments with dysregulation and frustration that resulted in Grant and I having to tell off the boys or everyone needing a time out to calm down, but overall it’s been good. Top five from this week are: 5. Swimming at the YMCA: Jamie and Leo are both jumping in and LOVING swimming. Luckily this is an all year thing for us since the Y has an indoor option and we are so grateful! Leo even moved up a level in swim class!!!! 4. Jamie and Leo’s teachers: I could not love these women more and I’m so beyond grateful for how perfect they are for the boys. This is not to put anyone on a pedestal or put that pressure to be perfect on them, but it is a perfect fit in personality for each child and I love it! 3. Working with the penguins: one of my projects at the zoo right now necessitates working alongside team bird to work with so

 Hello! So mornings are our favorite time, it’s when the boys are feeling the most rested, it’s when I’m at my best, and Grant is the ultimate morning person. We love mornings around here!!! Before school we still try to give the kids a good breakfast even though they get an option to eat breakfast at school and so protein waffles with fruit pouches are a big win. (Leo also tried to steal my eggs most days so I always cook an extra one for him.) If it’s a weekend and we’re not at swimming/tennis/church/yard work then we’re out hiking. It took us a while to find some favorite hikes around Cincinnati as we were spoiled by Alaska, but DeVou park in northern Kentucky is only about 15 min away and is a win for us (plus clean bathrooms which is the ultimate score with kids).  We still do our normal starting laundry, walking the dog, workout, quiet time, morning routines, but these are a couple of highlights from the past week that made me smile. Let’s face it, preschool and elementary aged k

 Hello, It is flipping 🥵 this week. So here’s a list of some of our hot activities to stay cool without overdoing the A/C. As per the air quality alerts the recommendations are: don’t idle your car, avoid driving alone, done use gas powered lawn equipment, and fill up your car after 8pm. Basically try to avoid adding to the issue. Grant rides his bike in most mornings and I drive the kids into school on my way to the zoo so we do our best there, we only fill up once a week usually, and we don’t idle waiting for school though sometimes have to a little if we pick up Grant when it’s too hot for him to ride home. I’m not going to have him ride his bike over 90 in the sun, too easy to overdo it on the hills around here and get heat exhaustion or worse. We also have our house set to 74 and will likely move that up a little today because even 75 or 76 will feel cold in comparison. Ideas for this afternoon activities with the kids: - kiddie pool in the backyard - lazy day inside - pool at th

 Good morning and happy Monday! We’re going to switch things up this week and hopefully it goes well enough to make it a permanent change in routine. We’ve made breakfast for dinner every Monday all summer but I think it’s time to switch to making veggie bowls on mondays so everyone can choose their combo similar to currito (I love that place). Tonight the options will be: - Pearl couscous  - Brussels sprouts shaved and roasted - chickpeas roasted - dressing - anything else I can find in the fridge so probably some type of cheese for the boys On a side note I’m starting to rethink having a blog because I was reading about it affecting kids it their on it at all and I can’t tell if that’s just me being overly cautious or if it’s an invasion of privacy which is not the intend as this is really for me and Grant to look back on. Something for us to talk about for sure.  That’s it for today! 💛 Jess

 Hello and Happy Friday! So I’m going to try a different format for fridays and just do highlights from the week which I think will be more fun to focus on the positive and look back on in the future. This week the most obvious highlight is Jamie and Leo enjoying school!!! Both kids have been running into school every morning and I’m loving their enthusiasm. This is clearly a good fit for them though I know it’s the honeymoon period.  Highlight number two is my work in conservation and behavior research! This was my first full week and it is a volunteer thing (I need the flexibility while the kids are at this stage of life) and it’s working out fabulously!!! I love it and I feel valued and useful! Number 3 was Sunday where I got to attend a game with my bestie Lisa and the boys got to go to an adaptive tennis clinic at the Cincinnati Open! Another highlight was Leo getting a clean bill of health from his 6 month checkup and labs!!! No more pokes for you little man!!! 🥰🥰🥰 He loves th

 Hello and happy Thursday! We have a fairly standard dinner routine to keep things relatively stress free for our whole family. We keep to a meal schedule during the week and then experiment a little more on weekends. Here are our current top five during the week meals. Monday: breakfast for dinner, usually pancakes as this is Leo’s all time favorite though we’ll throw in avocado and eggs as well. Tuesday: crepes, you can add just about anything to these from leftover tikka masala to peppers and onion to Nutella for a very picky eater in a desert crepe. Wednesday: pasta night, spaghetti and marinara is a hit and I can usually add some extra peppers and spinach and such into the sauce without anyone getting upset. Thursday: pizza night, we love the Trader Joe’s pesto pizzas and both boys will eat this, sometimes with the arugula that I add after it’s cooked. Friday: comfort food, our favorite lately is Mac and cheese with edamame, though I intend to start adding in soups and bread as it

Hello! This week was very big for Mr Leo as it was his first week of preschool! He kept asking last spring to go to school with Jamie and so this year we went for it and two days in we’re very happy. He had his special breakfast Monday morning and we walked in together with Jamie and then my parents sent a special celebration dinner just for him that evening! Here are some photos from the big day! 🥰 Leo I’m so proud of you and I hope that you have the absolute best year!!! That’s all for today! 💛 Jess

 Hello and Happy Tuesday! I’m not on a lot of social media and so til tok trends or IG reels don’t just go straight past me but miss me entirely these days. I was finding it wasn’t good for my mental health and so I cut out everything but linked in and Pinterest (though I don’t have that on my phone even) over a year ago and it’s been a good change for me. I have a Facebook account again because one of the charities that one of my kids participated in only communicates for events through that but that’s it now. Al that said, I completely missed that there’s apparently a trend going around called underconsumption core which is essentially the new anti-consumer culture title and I’m here for it! It’s not quite minimalism because there is an environmental aspect that isn’t present in minimalism, but the idea is to avoid making a lot of purchases and cluttering your life with a lot of in and out by appreciating what you already have and keeping your current things in good condition or even

Happy Monday! So both boys are now in full day school!!! To quote coco melon… “I’m so excited but nervous too!” With back to school comes… SNACK TIME!!! I’ve started doing charcuterie style boards to give them each a lot of options so they can have safety foods and new introductions. Our biggest hit has been edamame! Jamie is in love with it. Leo is still a big fan of applesauce spinach pouches so no complaints there either. I also throw in some berries, chips, and a small treat! 😉 All in all a win for the boys and it helps as they get used to eating at school. Both kids are pretty into calm mealtimes and my memories from the cafeteria are loud and boisterous so this gives a quiet end to the school day before we start on ‘gasp’ homework for Leo! (Jamie’s teacher doesn’t appear to do this yet but Leo has his first family assignment already which is fun.) I think they’re both excited to be at school though it’s a big change for Leo from being my sidekick all last year to being in a clas

 Happy Friday! Here are my top five moments in ascending order this week. 5. Finding out that love is blind UK and Emily in Paris season 4 dropped this week. I enjoy these shows but enjoy even more the conversations with my sweet friend Lisa as we watch through them! Including having breakfast together at our favorite diner on Jamie’s first day of school!!! 4. Leo’s pout at having to leave school (he doesn’t start until Monday). I’m so excited that he’s happy to be there and even though he might be shy, I anticipate a lot of fun and excitement Monday! 3. Saying “see you later” to our friends at the Y. We’ll still be there on weekends and I’ll go for workouts, but we have spent a good portion of every morning there this summer and we adore the entire team. #weloveourY!!! 2. Evening happy hour in our backyard with Grant. It has been so nice to do this now that it’s not scorching and we rearranged our patio furniture to optimize shade even more. Our love languages are both quality time an

 Hello and Happy Thursday! Yesterday was Jamie’s first day of school and we were excited and apprehensive, you just never know how it’s going to go right? News alert, he did AMAZING!!!! His teacher is fantastic, he did wonderful, and when we got to school everyone was saying hi to him and giving him hugs, the school had arranged for the fire department to come out and do a cordon of all of them cheering and welcoming the students back.  It was so beautiful! I didn’t take pictures of that because I never want to put someone else’s child’s image online on accident, but here’s some fun photos of before school without special pancakes and ice cream breakfast, Jamie’s after school snack, and a special dinner from our favorite pizza restaurant as a present from Boddy and Grandpa. 🥰 That’s all for today! 💛Jess

 Hello and Happy First Day of School!!! I’ll have pictures on that tomorrow, but for today I’m going to share my Indianapolis Zoo Pictures. I had relatively low expectations going into the day for the zoo because Cincy is just so amazing. We were planning on meeting up with my wonderful cousin C, who was in town for a math conference #stemwomen. 🥰🥰🥰 The zoo was an option that she’d suggested and I agreed would be easiest for the boys and boy was she right!!!! Here are the pictures from the day and I highly recommend the explorer pass for the animal interactions as that absolutely made the day for the boys!!! (And me 😉) 10/10 will go again though the lorikeets we’ll just have the adults feed because they flew to Leo first and having a bird land on your head when you’re not expecting it was not super fun for him so I let him have my phone camera to video and take pictures and he got some beautiful ones of these birds showing their sass! That’s all for today! 💛 Jess

 Hello! So my name is Jess and I’m a podcast person. I love a good podcast. My interests go from reality tv to self help to medical parenting to Bible study and more. This latest one that was recommended to me by a dear friend is just general knowledge and I’m LOVING it!!! Everything Everywhere Daily This is essentially 15 minutes of various topics every day. It’s the perfect morning commute or coffee prep background dialogue and it’ll definitely help when you decide to sign up for jeopardy or at least during weekly trivia! 😆 seriously though I’m loving this podcast and I’m learning so much!!! That’s all for today! 💛 Jess

 Hello and Happy Monday! My eldest is headed back to school this week and my youngest starts preschool next week! Seriously where has the summer gone!!!! Unfortunately we managed to catch a bug that has been going around last week #buildingantibodies and so everything blog related went out the window fast as Leo and I were both very under the weather and Jamie couldn't figure out why we were off schedule so much. That being said, it's going to be a busy week and I'm planning to do my recap of our trip with Auntie Colette to the Indianapolis Zoo later this week but I wanted to get back on schedule with something easy/comfort/affordable/location/just-everything-good meal! Whenever Grant is away, oh did I mention I was doing this one solo this weekend as well LOL, I try to have easy comfort foods for me and the boys to give us a higher likelihood of success at meals. If you are around young kids you get this. So pasta is always a win for us and getting locally sourced pasta ma

 Good Morning! I had a recommendation to try the Lazy Genius book and would 10/10 recommend, but even if you don't have the time to get through the whole book or it seems like a lot to digest, I highly recommend her podcast as well! It's a great weekly reminder for me to prioritize what truly matters to me and I'm working on the second part of her tagline to "let go what doesn't". What we are focusing on right now and what I'm learning as we're heading back into the school year is the "decide once" principle. Like many, we are in the nearly-back-to-school week and therefore my mind is on all things organization and fall! This also means that I've decided once on a few things to help with decision fatigue and organization in the coming weeks. The following things are those that we have decided once and will either keep or tweak. 1. Meal Schedule - not to be confused with meal planning which is a little more precise in my mind. We have a sc

 Good Morning! So we did a seemingly random assortment of foods that felt like they would work together on saturday for dinner and the results were *chef's kiss*. Essentially this is a bowl mix of couscous, green peppers, roasted chickpeas or chicken if you need a meat option for someone for dietary reasons, and thai peanut sauce. (We had a meat option for Jamie as he's on a big chicken kick and fed is best when it comes to the kids.) Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil 1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans 1 green pepper 1 cup couscous (I used regular but you could switch for pearl and it would be fantastic as well) 1 bottle kroger thai spicey peanut sauce Toss the chickpeas in olive oil then roast in the oven for 25 minutes at 400. make couscous according to directions on the box. Dice the pepper. Put everything into bowls according to individual preference for proportions and then drizzle the sauce on top. It is delicious, felt great, and 10/10 will do again and maybe focus on the vegeta

 Hello! Happy Friday! I’ve become a huge lightweight and just frankly don’t prefer drinking alcoholic beverages as much but I like the fancy dressed up feel of “going out for a drink”. So here are my top 5 nonalcoholic drinks that don’t make me feel buzzed or yucky after only a few sips.  5. Lemonade with seltzer water: this tastes great, feels fancy especially if you put it in a martini glass with a twist, and I don’t feel yucky afterward. 4. Nonalcoholic beer: most of these have tasted pretty good to me and so they still feel like the classic beer at a football game sans alcohol for me. I don’t have a huge preference though I love the local craft beers that have jumped on this trend. 3. Random nonalcoholic cocktails in a can: usually pretty sugary but haven’t found a bad one yet. I can’t wait for world market to open near us as they apparently have a HUGE selection of these.  2. Non-alcoholic gin and tonic: I love a good gin and tonic and there are a lot of good nonalcoholic gins tha

 Good morning! Here is my recap from Vermont and Canada! It was such a wonderful trip Ms we look forward to returning!!! It seems like there are articles everywhere about how crowded Europe is these days. Too many tourists, shoulder to shoulder single file walking through narrow streets, and just frankly not fun because of the crowds. Vermont and Quebec have clearly not gotten this memo because it was so relaxing to be able to experience these beautiful locations with people but not crowds!  This post is going to be mostly a photo recap but essentially everyday we did our morning routine and then went down to the lake, then Grant and I had a mini-date for lunch, then the boys had quiet time, then we headed out on an adventure before returning for bed and dinner.  Road trip! 13 hours of driving and so for the first time we broke it up in two days and that was a win. I still think we’ll fly next time if possible but breaking it up made this so much easier on all of us! The view from the