Denim Daisies

 Hello, We are a little off schedule this week as the boys have today off and Leo had yesterday off which allowed for a special 1:1 day. Leo is enjoying the “lie in” today and Jamie is my lazy morning buddy! 🥰 I’ve continued doing my post-work mini-workout with my weight vest walking around the zoo before picking up the kids. On Monday the African painted dogs were REALLY curious as there weren’t a lot of people around and one came right up to me at the glass. They’re some of the best hunters in the world for their teamwork and stamina so definitely a species to appreciate from a distance, but so important for the ecosystem and so wonderful! Leo has continued choosing games for his special time (1:1 time each of the kids gets every day after school) and it’s been a lot of fun. I’m not always the best at creative play, but I can play a game like it’s my job! 😉 For Leo’s day off yesterday we went to Trader Joe’s, made breakfast at home with our bestie Lisa, and then went to the New...

 Hello, I recorded this to give myself an idea of what I was up to later in life from the fun to simple. It was great to get used to taking more pictures but it’s definitely harder to remember than I would have thought. Fairly typical wake up time at or just before 5. Jamie usually comes in anytime between 4-5 so we got a bit of a “lie in” on this morning. And you can see my tea strainer from some camomile tea the night before. Definitely a good pre-bed drink. First up is unpacking the dishwasher. I used to hate dishes but I’m finding that doing this in silence is really nice in the morning. Water with vitamins and then coffee! Quiet time with my Teddy bear. Then time to get ready. Typical work outfit for an office day. My breakfast, the kids usually have toast and a protein shake and then have a bigger meal at school.  Drop off! 🥰 Today was a computer/office heavy day. But I still got out on a walk once I finished up. This is from the public area and you can see Schottzie (t...

 Hello, I have a Spotify playlist for the kids that honestly I love too. Here are our top five songs that get all of us doing a full dance party/car karaoke! Link to playlist:  Kids after school playlist 1. Can’t stop the feeling: Justin Timberlake We love this song and it’s one that calms us down and gets us all cheering and dancing. 2. Good Mood: Paw Patrol Movie The boys loved paw patrol and so they insist that this must be on any time we go downtown to “adventure city” 3. I like to move it: Will.I. Am. Version from Madagascar  We all love singing to this one and even Leo will insist on a solo. 4. Greatest Show: Greatest Showman Jamie LOVES this one and it’s probably our most requested from him. 5. Immortals: Fall Out Boy from Big Hero Six We love this movie, its message, the music… just everything.  That’s all for today! Now to try to catch up as I’m running a bit late! 🤪 💛Jess

 Hello! We had a lot going on this weekend but most of it was routine life that I’ve already talked about. One of the differences was that on Sunday afternoon all of us were able to rest and just spend some time in each other’s company. For my that translates to cooking together, eating together, playing a family game of Mario kart, and just snuggled up reading our own books.  I love reading. I always have. Mostly easy and light books that are fairly predictable and just make me smile. After we moved to Cincinnati proper, Grant and I joined the public library and I found out that I could download the app and read countless books on my kindle through this. Game. Changer. Grant and I both mostly use the ebook format like this now and we check out hard copy books for the kids to read with us in the evenings.  We also use the library for the printing and fax services as we can print up to five pages a day for free. Additionally they have a lot of family programs including a k...

 Hello, We’ve finally made it through the cold snap and, while I usually love the cold, I couldn’t be happier as our home and this area just isn’t designed with negative temperatures in mind. I’m so grateful that we were able to get real snow, the boys could go sledding, I could pull out my skis and get some distance on them, but I’m equally grateful that we’re back to normal southern Ohio weather inter weather. Today I’ve got a cold weather sauce for spaghetti or any other pasta really. I forgot to take pictures as I usually have my phone away at dinner and especially try to, not always perfect there, on Sunday. It’s a red sauce inspired by Antoni’s recipe on Queer Eye the latest season and it’s super easy and smells/tastes AMAZING! Ingredients: 1 large can crushed tomatoes 1 yellow onion minced 1 stick butter 2 tbsp olive oil 1 green pepper chopped 1 tbsp minced garlic 2 tbsp Italian blend seasoning Put the olive oil in the bottom of a large pot or Dutch oven and then add in and ...

 Hello, There are two things that I want to remember about this week that I have been incredibly grateful for.  The first is my spouse, Grant. I was having a rough evening Friday and just needed sleep… literally falling asleep on my feet at 6pm. Not only did he give me that rest, but he did the full bedtime routine with the boys solo and he made our favorite dinner of savory crepes with eggs, asparagus, and pancetta. It was delicious and I got the rest my body needed. I am so incredibly grateful to have a spouse who is an equal partner in everything in our life. We’ve definitely put in work, and we will continue to do so, but he is amazing and deserves so much credit. The second is our dog Teddy. He is the most loving and gentle guy, but from trauma in his past before he was abandoned in a parking lot at roughly four years old, he is very reactive to strangers, especially males. This has caused us to be a little quieter in our home life which has paid off in having our home as...

 Hello, As part of my “use it up” goal I’ve been organizing a lot of our cabinets including the dreaded cabinet under the kitchen sink with all the cleaning supplies. I took out everything that we don’t actively use, sorted it, and anything that we don’t use but could I placed in areas where we would notice it and then use it. One such product was a starter pack from EC30. I’m pretty sure my husband got it from work about a year ago as he works for the parent company P&G and I was excited about the prospect of minimal waste products that are more environmentally friendly. Some of the products from this pack I LOVE and some are probably more niche than what is required for our daily life. The hand soap sheets are what I want to review today. These are frankly really easy to use, you just grab one and run water over it to active and then start scrubbing.  Pros: - ensures that you wash your hands for a FULL 20 seconds - smells clean - sustainable - easy to use Cons: - if you ...

 Hello, I’m going to switch my weekly highlights in favor of joining with the “Friday Favorites” post from Erika’s alittlebitofeverythingblog.com weekly post and link-up. Here are some of my favorite things from this week: Cold Weather Day Activities: restaurant and blanket fort and of course… Poop Bingo 🤪 It dropped down earlier this week here to -3 with windchill getting as low as -12 so that was a blast from our days in Alaska. Schools closed due to this on Wednesday and so we had a morning of creative play with the boys and they built a “cubby” with all their rooms and a restaurant with full delivery service. Poop Bingo has just become a staple for our family. 🤪 Tea   One of my goals for the year is to simplify and “use it up” so I’ve started going through our tea cupboard and just drinking a cup or two of tea every afternoon and it’s been very relaxing and let’s me feel like I’m accomplishing a goal. Zoo Workout I help out at the zoo while the boys are in school to keep...

 Hello, Back to school today and back to normal routine for me which gives me so much comfort. Inspired by this, im going over my daily “little things” that are bringing me contentment in this season. Playing the piano Im not a pianist, but I love the challenge each evening of tackling one or two songs while the boys are brushing their teeth. There are some days when they’re just too high energy and it doesn’t work out, but most days this is a little thing bringing me joy. Knitting while listening to The Bible Recap I am someone who needs something to do with my hands to sit still. Knitting has become that for me when doing my daily quiet time. This is definitely an every day thing for me and I just do two rows at a time. I’m hoping that by spring I’ll have a scarf for the boys and then will start on hats for everyone for Christmas but we’ll see.  Watching Bluey with my kids I love this show. The boys love this show. It’s a great series of entertaining social stories that hold...

 Hello, It’s back down in the negatives today and the boys are out of school again. So for this Wednesday I’m just doing a life update. Very similar in concept to the “what’s up wednesday” posts on my favorite blogs. 🙂 Food We have been on a journey to significantly decrease the amount of animal protein we eat. We tried going full vegetarian but unfortunately I started getting some pretty back headaches after a few weeks again and as soon as I switched back they went away. With that we eat most of our meals vegetarian and swap when we can for beefless beef or even tofu, but we still incorporate animal protein in at least 1-2 times a week. Clothes 6am crazy hair black lounge set 🤪 Matching lounge sets. Seriously. These are my best friends these days. I wear my hiking pants or jeans with my work attire and I wear a dress to church because I like to dress up and wear my whole closet, but other than that you will find me in a lounge set. I have two for day wear (green and very light ...

 Hello, This weekend was a pretty cold one and it’s only gotten colder (temps with wind chill dropping down below -10). That said we had a mostly indoor weekend, we watched a few shows and movies, we celebrated MLK with Sesame Street, and we played some board games! Poop Bingo A new one from my wonderful friend Nicole was Poop Bingo! Let me tell you it was a hit! The title and content is funny but scientifically accurate, good learning for our hikes, and easy to play for a four and six year old. Grant and I love board games and Arnis has adopted that love. It’s not quite Jamie’s thing yet but he’s trying to get into it.  Overall 10/10 recommend and a super fun way to spend some family time!  That’s all for today, despite some pretty arctic temps, we’re heading into school for the boys this morning. Grant will stay home to maintain the pipes so they don’t freeze… the joys of 108 year old house in a more southern location. 😉 💛 Jessie

Hello! It’s definitely a cold one today in Cincy with the temps at 4 and the windchill bringing it down to a frigid -11. Frankly that’s cold even for Grant and I and we’ve definitely experienced cold before. Needless to say this is a cuddle inside kind of day and I look forward to ensuring that we have MLK’s speech playing along with all children’s shows I can find that relate to such an influential person and such an important and powerful message that we need to this day. It will be also fun to cook a lot with the kids today both for entertainment and helping keep the kitchen warm. A favorite for our family is vegetarian tacos! We use the beefless beef from Trader Joe’s which is lentil based and then lot of seasoning, tomatos, queso, and avocado! 😋 I’ll make sure to share the kids programming that I can find and we will ensure that we focus our day on light and love. Thank you Dr. King. 💛 Jessie

 Hello, It was such a wonderful week. We were back in our schedule, Grant got home early Friday so we had a lot of time with him this weekend and I was able to get back to my routine at the zoo. Truly it was a great week. One thing I was beyond grateful for this week was my friend Lisa. She was so kind and made a delicious lasagna for us that ended up lasting most of the week for dinners and so it took that stressor off of me during “zoomie hour” when the boys have that final burst of energy but normally Grant is there so we can tag team.  Having a friend who is there for you and supports you is the biggest blessing and I am so grateful!!! That’s all for today!  💛 Jessie

 Hello, Here are some highlight pictures from this week. I am looking forward to a year from now when I can look back at these and see this digital scrapbook essentially of our daily life. 🥰 This was a recommendation from Jamie’s OT to give him some visual predictability for Dad’s time away this month… needless to say it was erased in about 10 minutes and a snail drawing took its place. 😂 Sledding with the boys at my parents house was so much fun. Arnis is definitely my thrill seeker and Jamie wanted to snuggle into me as we went down and then went off to make snow angels and a snowman with Biddy. 🥰 Walking a reactive dog is a challenge, especially on ice, however Teddy is the biggest love bug and loves his one-on-one time with Mom when Dad is away.  Arnis took this while FaceTiming with Dad. Grant reads to him through FaceTime when he is gone during the week and Arnis LOVES having individual time with Dad. Crocky and Tiny made the school run with us one morning. 🤪 We deci...