Coronavirus Daily Schedule for Kids

This past week has been a whirlwind.  It is honestly hard to even wrap my head around all that has happened and changed with the new developments about Coronavirus.

Last week I began getting emails from just about everyone regarding their new policies with regards to the virus and what measures they were taking to keep everyone safe and healthy.  Anything from my pediatrician's office to the place my son gets his hair cut to Old Navy.  Yep, even Old Navy sent me an email about it.  Honestly, that one just made me laugh.

On Wednesday I had stocked up on groceries for the Mr. and younger two kids because I was set to head to Orlando on Thursday for a cheer competition at Disney World. With all of the growing concerns about the spread of this virus we were notified on Wednesday that our gym was still going.  Thursday morning we had another email saying the gym had pulled all of the teams from the competition and that was the news I got to wake my daughter up with.

"Good morning, honey...instead of going to Disney with your friends and teammates to compete, you get to go to school."

She was crushed, mad, disappointed, confused, and annoyed about life at the moment, but I knew it was the right decision.  Later that day our schools were cancelled, baseball was cancelled, soccer was cancelled, basically our entire life was put on hold.

The reality started to sink in a little bit and we all tried to make sense of what this was going to mean for us.  "Digital learning" is the new catch phrase as far as their schooling goes and that is one of the biggest unknowns.  They all went to school on Friday to get final assignments, directions, and guidance for how to navigate these next few weeks and I have a feeling the majority of my day is going to be helping each of my 3 with their online work and assignments.  Just the logistics of logging into different programs, who gets to use the laptop, who is going to work where, etc. has me a little nervous, but we are going to make it work!  I've set up a small workstation for each of them in different parts of the house so they can hopefully concentrate and focus during their digital learning times.

I know my kids view this as a "break" from school, but I have a feeling that they are all going to be eager and begging to go back to school as soon as they can. That is the hard part though. We have NO IDEA when they will be heading back.  Just like schools all over the country, we would hope to go back in 2 weeks, but my guess is the likelihood of that actually happening is very slim.  I've read articles and reports with recommendations that could have us out the rest of the year.  I'm praying that isn't the case, but if it is, we better get used to this new normal.

I'm obviously no expert, but thought I would share what I'm going to be doing to try to keep my kids entertained, engaged and off of their phones/ipads all day long.  I think one of the biggest things to help us all get through these next few weeks is to create a schedule.  I have to admit this made me laugh though:

There have been a ton of these ideas floating around.  Some seem great if you could really make them happen:

Others that I'm sure my kids were hoping for:

My guess is ours will end up somewhere in-between those two. I know ours will be flexible and we will probably have to adjust what we do by the end of the week, but at least it gives us a starting point.  My kids are 8, 10 and 12 and my goal is for them to have an idea of what our days at home will look like while still keeping a little structure. This is the one I made and what I'm aiming for:

Sports play a HUGE part of my kids' lives so along with keeping their school going I also hope to keep their sports going.  I figure if I can be their teacher while they are at home I can also be their coach! We will be practicing drills, hitting off the tee, stretching, throwing, juggling, tumbling, conditioning and anything else we can think of. I can't imagine them going back to school having done nothing over these next few weeks and I feel the same about them going back to their sports having done nothing.

I also wanted to share a few ideas that the kids and I came up with for ways to stay entertained while they aren't working on their school work or sports practices. We're going to keep adding to this list as we think of new ideas!

make bead bracelets

science kits

learn calligraphy

learn to sew

clean out their closets

organize playroom

clean out old toys/books

chores to earn money

watch movies

silly string

jump on trampoline

paint

learn to do laundry

baking

family walks

How are you planning to survive these next few weeks (or longer) at home with your kids???

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How To Clean White Baseball Pants

Baseball season is back!  My little guy had his first game last weekend and they totally rocked it. The team won in a big way and he was excited to get the game ball!  

With baseball season back in full swing comes the constant cleaning of white baseball pants because he loves do do things like this...

And this..

And even if he isn't playing in a game he somehow ends up dirty! 

I love him to look nice and clean before he gets started though and love the look of white pants.  However, because he plays hard he always ends up with stains.  

I used to just wash the pants with a regular load because I had no idea there was even a possibility of getting them clean again. Then a friend of mine with older boys who play baseball told me how she cleaned her boys' pants and I have stuck with that method ever since.  

I have seen lots of different suggestions for getting white baseball pants clean, but this is how I do it in three easy steps! 

STEP 1 

First up I fill a large bowl or buckets with hot water and 1/2 cup of this White Brite by OUT.  I purchase it at my local grocery store, but it is also available online HERE. 

Then I put the pants in and soak them overnight.  You can do it for a shorter amount of time, but I like to let it sit for longer. 

Most of my friends use Iron Out by the same brand. I am convinced it is probably the same stuff just packaged differently.  

When I take the pants out from soaking sometimes they are clean, but if he has stains that are really set in like from where he was sliding or something it will look like this. 

STEP 2

Next I use what I consider to be the best stain removal product ever! Fels-Naptha is an old school bar soap and it is like a miracle worker.  It's around $1 at most stores and lasts a really long time.  

One time last summer the kids were playing a pick-up game after their real game had finished so he was already dirty, but then I look over and he's taken off both his shoes and his hat to use as a base.  I was so mad and didn't even know where to begin with this.

But Fels-Naptha to the rescue.  It gets anything clean! It takes a bit of elbow grease, but I scrub the stubborn stains on the pants with the Fels-Naptha and then they are ready for the last step. 

STEP 3

For the final step I just throw the pants in with some towels and wash on hot water.  I wouldn't wash with anything colored because of using the White Brite.  I'm always amazed because when they come out they look BRAND NEW. 

Edited to add: My fellow baseball mom told me last week that she was out of Iron Out and needed her boy's pants clean so she grated a bar of Fels-Naptha with an old cheese grater and soaked her pants with a cup of that and hot water.  She said they came out looking brand new!  It's a much cheaper option if you don't want to use the other product!

Do you have a trick for cleaning baseball pants?  If so, please share! 

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Merry Christmas!

From our families to yours we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas!!!!

We are taking this week off to spend time with our families and focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  From the bottom of our hearts we would like to say a big THANK YOU to all of our readers, followers, and friends who have helped our blog grow.  We absolutely love what we do and have so much fun sharing our little slice of the Internet with all of you.

We'll still be over on Instagram and maybe even Facebook this week, so be sure to follow along over there.  We'll be back here on the blog next week with all sorts of fun stuff including our January book club post, our 2018 Favorite Moments post and our New Years Resolutions/Goals.

Enjoy this special time with your family and friends and we'll see you back here next week!

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My New Mom Car

I first have to say that this post is not sponsored in anyway. I just have had a ton of questions from friends who have seen my new car and because I looked and looked for a long time I though this might be helpful to some of you who might be in the market for a new car.  

We've been contemplating getting new car for a few a while now.  We keep cars a long time so I knew I wanted to make sure what I got was something that I really loved and something that would make me happy and check all of the boxes for what I was looking for.  The problem was, I loved my last car so much that it made it hard to find something I loved equally as much. I didn't want to get rid of a car I loved for something that I just liked if that makes sense so it was long and drawn out process.

I got my last car before Boo-Boo was born and it seriously served me well for 7 years.  Here I was, pregnant and so excited when the Mr. came home and surprised me with it.

The girls were pretty pumped, too. (Side note, miss those sweet babies.) 

I loved everything about my car.  I loved the size of it, I loved the viability and how easy it was to drive and park.  I loved having all three of my kids in a bench seat in the second row because they were so young and constantly needed something from me. It made it easy to pass back snacks, waters, pacis, etc.

As they got bigger it still worked great for us for my everyday, around town stuff. 

When we went on road trips we would always take the Mr.'s truck because the back seat was so much bigger and more spacious.  It worked out fine and we were all happy.  Then I got stranded on the way to the beach a few summers ago.  And after that it has just been one problem after another my my favorite car ever so we started looking and thinking about a new car for me.  Also, my kids were getting bigger and needing more space.  Boo-Boo had been sitting in the third row just so everyone could be spread out, but he climbed in through the tailgate every time we got in and out of the car so it just wasn't ideal.  Then on a trip to a cheer comp a few months ago I had another big issue with the Land Rover and decided that was the last straw.  

The Mr. is a car guy. He researches them, reads about them, watches car shows and anything else he can so he knows about all different kinds and engines and seating configurations and pretty much anything you need to know about a car so I trusted his input. However, I was the one that would be driving it and I knew that I spend a huge chunk of my day in the car shuttling kids from one sport to the next so I wanted to love it.  

We asked about y'all's favorite cars on Facebook and got TONS of feedback!  We looked and looked and went back and forth between several different cars.  I dug my heels in because it wasn't my first choice, but eventually I ended up going with the Ford Expedition.

I remember texting Jen as soon as we signed on the dotted line telling her that I have never felt so American.  Here's the thing though. As much as I didn't want this car to begin with, the more I looked at it the more I started to like it and now that I own it I love it SO much more than I thought I would.

What I Wanted In A Car 

-The next size up.  So while I loved my Land Rover and at the size of it before, I knew I needed something bigger.  With carpooling and driving kids around all of the time, we just needed more space for them and all their sports stuff. 

-Captains seats in the second row.  This was a HUGE requirement. I was so sick of my kids complaining in the car, touching each other on trips, and arguing about the dumbest stuff. It made road trips so miserable and they had resorted to putting up blanket barriers just to be able to not be annoyed by each other.  

-Full sized third row seats. I didn't care as much about this because I wasn't going to be the one riding back there, but this was a biggie for the Mr. Because we do keep cars a long time we knew that at least one of our teenage kids would be sitting back there at some point and didn't want to have them complaining because there was no space for their legs. 

-Automatic folding third row. I knew I wanted a third row that would fold with the push of a button and go flat into the floor to allow for more space to carry bigger things, if needed. 

-4 Wheel drive. I almost got stuck once in the snow for hours and I'm never doing that again. Plus, we tow our boat occasionally so need 4 wheel drive for that. 

-Technology. I wanted the latest in technology.  I LOVE having Apple Car Play.  When I plug in my phone it pulls it up and there are several apps that work on the screen from my phone.  We can listen to my music, I can voice text and it reads my texts as they come in (love this feature!).  The other thing I really like is being able to click an address from my phone and have it pull up the navigation to that address.

My kids love that they can control the radio channels, volume and of course their heat or air from the back seat.  And the chargers!!!  Every seat has a place to plug in and charge their devices, which they thought was the coolest thing ever! 

-Easy to park.  Driving on the road is easy...you just go in a straight line. It was the parking that worried me because at places like the school or in parking decks downtown or really anywhere, I was so worried about being able to park a big car.  I got the model that has the birds-eye view camera and it has been SO, SO helpful. I didn't want a bigger car without this feature and it is probably the thing I have used the most since owning it. I haven't parked once without this.  The car is so big that I literally can't see the lines and this shows me exactly where my car is, where the lines are, and how I need to adjust my parking.  I still park away from other cars if I can, but this feature helps so much! 

-Comfortable and Nice.  Yes, it is a mom car, but I spend a ton of time in the car each day, so I wanted it to be something that felt nice to me.  The first day I had it I wanted the Mr. to take Boo-Boo to baseball practice because I just knew it would get dirty. He looked at me and said, "It is only a matter of time." And he was right! I knew dirt and grass would get tracked in from the baseball and soccer fields, I knew snack wrappers and homework papers would be laying on the floor and the pollen would be covering every surface, but I still wanted something that felt nice.  My kids have been really good about trying to keep it clean, but we've already had one kid get sick in the car (less than a month in) so I guess it is nice and broken in now. I feel like this car is a perfect mix of practical and nice. 

So there you have it!  My new mom car that I love and the one I'll be driving for quite some time. Now she just needs a name.  Do y'all name your cars?  The kids named my old car Snow White. Still brainstorming for this one.  Do you have a car you love?  In the market for something new?  Let us know in the comments below!

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Family, Football, and Investing for the PERFECT DAY!

We are still rejoicing from how amazing our weekend was! Life has it's daily chaotic moments, and we feel like time is is moving at warp speed. However, sometimes we stop and take a moment to soak in just how fun that really is. Then we make the choice to put daily life on pause and plan a little something extra that make us appreciate all these moments that make life just that much more fun.

This past Saturday was one of those times. We had a lot packed into our first full week back from the holiday break, and that's always rough on everyone trying to get back into the swing of the routine. We decided to take a moment and plan a super fun day, both with our family and then just our spouses. Now getting the chance to reflect on it, it was one of those "perfect days" we will always remember. Filled with both big moments and small ones, it might not be everyone's choice of day, but for us it was perfection.

The ability to be able to make adjustments and add in a few extra fun things into our day without a worry is such a blessing. We know that through our little piece of this webspace it seems like we get to do a lot of awesome things. And don't get us wrong - we totally do! Several of these are due to work obligations (yes, fun jobs are out there!). Others are due to us taking the time to be more knowledgeable about investing.

We took a look at  Vanguard, and they have such a great philosophy for their long term investment strategies. We appreciate their motto "Invest to live, not live to invest.", and it's one to definitely adopt into your every day.  We took this to heart as we headed into our Saturday of fun.

INVESTING IN OUR FAMILY 

First, we woke up and kicked off the Winter sports season with a bang. Alarm clocks went off early, but that didn't slow them down one bit. They were ready to ball!

Three of our five children began their basketball seasons with their first official games. We love seeing our little ones thrive in environments and excel at the things they love. All the activities they are in require both major time and money commitments, but we are so happy to see their big smiles on their faces at the end of their practices and games, it makes it all worth it!

Afterwards we jetted off for a celebratory season kick off breakfast. We were so proud at how awesome all the kids did during their first games. Especially the boys since this is their first year playing. The siblings all held it together long enough for us to be able to watch and cheer in the bleachers without a worry, and if that all doesn't count for a celebratory biscuit or two, we don't know what does.

The kids loved recapping their games with us, and sharing their favorite parts. The mini-Magnolia spectators were just excited about the cheerful atmosphere and the fact that holiday decorations were within their grasp and glazed biscuits were in their bellies. Family outings like this just make us smile. 

INVESTING IN EACH OTHER

We enjoyed our time together with our families, but as much as we love spending quality time with the kids we also love spending quality time with our significant others. And lets be honest, the opportunities for a kid-free afternoon or evening are sometimes few and far between. According to the Where Investors Belong Survey* Vanguard clients are 14% more likely to make time for date night compared with clients of other investment firms. We let that statistic inspire us as we headed into the second part of our Saturday.

We were long over due for a little date night, and knew just how we wanted to celebrate. We were so excited to learn our favorite college football team was headed to the championship game this Saturday, and to top it off they would be playing only a few miles from our homes. The date night decision of what to do was made easy for us...

We kissed our kids on their sweet little faces and made our way to the stadium to cheer on our team!

We tailgated with some friends. We soaked in the excitement of the crowd. We chatted with fellow fans about the game. It was such a fun atmosphere leading up to kickoff time, and we loved every second of it.

The game was one of the most exciting games we have been to in a long time. We were on the edge of our plastic folding seat almost the entire game. There were ups and there were downs. The stadium's excitement was infectious and by halftime we felt emotionally drained from the rollercoaster of a game it was.

In the end, our team came out on top and won as the conference champs! We also felt like we personally won because we were able to enjoy that game and those moments together.

INVESTING FOR OUR FUTURE

We are so appreciative that we are fortunate to be able to have a "perfect day" like this on more than one occasion during the span of the year. We love the reassurance we feel that once our date night has come to an end, and we've kissed our kids goodnight, that it was just another day. Being able to lead fuller lives with out the stress that money can create is an amazing feeling. We want our investments working for us so we can have more fun memories together, and not stress over the futures of ourselves or our loved ones.

Money is a huge part of everyday life, but so is living. As longterm investors, we want to be a part of a financial community that provides the kind of support that helps us feel safe and secure in our every day decisions.  That kind of security is invaluable. Investing in our future is important, but spending time with the ones we love the most now? That is priceless.

Explore what makes Vanguard investors different here, and see if the Vanguard community is the place for you and your loved ones too.

Share with us! How would you spend your Perfect Day? 

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* The Where Investors Belong survey was conducted by market research firm Kelton Global in 2016. It polled 1,000 Vanguard clients and compared them with 1,000 clients of other investment firms. All differences between Vanguard clients and clients of other investment firms are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. The parental stat refers to clients with children of any age who provided the number of hours per week they typically spend with their children or who, compared to other people they may know, believe to be more involved in their child’s life. . The experiences of these Vanguard clients may not be representative of the experience of other Vanguard clients and aren’t a guarantee of future investment performance or success.  

Friday Favorites: All About Food Edition

Happy Friday sweet friends! Short weeks always feel a little chaotic - but amazing! - because, well, they're short! And I'm not complaining one bit! I'm excited we are back to the weekend already, and we have a weekend jam packed full of fun. 

Part of that includes seeing this girl...

I can't wait! :) 

The rest is filled with soccer kick off, football, a little boating, and a whole lot of sleeping in. I LOVE THE WEEKEND!

Today we are closing out our week with a jam packed post. We are linking up for Friday Favorites with some of our favorite fellow lady bloggers, and I have some yummy ones this week! 

I am so excited to share this girl today...

How cute is she?!? 

This is my girlfriend Brittany, and I am so excited/proud of her! She made the leap this week into the blogging world and kicked off her food based website The Anchored Kitchen. It is stunning!

(And makes me all sorts of hungry!!!)

Our husbands were high school BFFs, college roommates, and now we both have children that ended up being only a few weeks apart from each other. To say I big puffy heart Brittany and her sweet family is an understatement, I know you love her too. She makes great family friendly recipes, creates easy to follow weekly meal plans (um, hello?!) and to top it off is a fellow southern girl!

Pop over. Say hi. Bring us back some yummy dessert. 

More to come on this later, but this week I've been snacking on these yummy little treats. 

It's a healthy cookie.  

You're welcome. 

While we are on the subject of all things in the kitchen, one of my favorite purchases this week was this cutting board. 

It was actually Mr. Cute's big purchase of the week, but seeing as I do 90% of the cooking around here, I feel as though it was really mine. Gotta love marriage. 

A friend of his, Chance, makes these awesome custom cutting boards. Mr. Cute couldn't wait to bring it home when his was finally finished. I wasn't all sure what the excitement was over until I saw it in person. 

It's sturdy, smooth, and not to mention gorgeous! Watch out Williams-Sonoma you've got competition!

To check out Chance and snag a custom cutting board for yourself you can pop over to his Instagram or his Etsy shop. With holidays on the horizon they would make a great gift!

We received this little package of goodness and I can't wait to dive in. 

Fun mail is the best. Fun mail containing yummy food - even better. Fun mail containing yummy food that is for a good cause - the best!

This little package is from the Women's Bean Project, which supports women who have had challenging pasts by creating a place for them to learn and create products with a purpose.  Each purchase is made by a woman looking to stand tall, and find confidence in knowing they have a concrete path and support towards their future. 

I love products that support a bigger purpose, and these all look and sound excellent! Those are some talented women, and I hope the project continues to do well. 

And I have a feeling these brownies will be the first thing I dig into. Nothing says hurricane survival food like brownies. 

Well, maybe wine. But brownies are a really really close second. 

And since all this food eating business is being discussed (and consumed), I've been in the gym a lot more this week. And I've gotten quite a few stares while doing so, but I've brought this along...

Apparently reading and running at the same time is a comment worthy talent at the gym. I call it multi-tasking. But really though, I was so excited to dig into this book I mentioned in Book Club last week. It's all sorts of good, and I can't wait to hear you're thoughts on it if you've read it. If you haven't read it, do so so we can discuss!

Stay tuned...

School activities are now in full force, and I am so excited to see this little guy do his thing this weekend. 

We officially kick off soccer season on Saturday, and Cute has been pumped all week during practices. He can't wait to play an actual game again, and I can't wait to cheer him on. 

He has been thriving this school year, and I am so glad he seems to finally have found a rhythm that not only works for him, but he excels at. Love my sweet big boy!  

And since this post seems to be all about food, I'd be remiss if I didn't share the kids newest favorite snack. 

I'm not a huge meat stick fan, but my kids LOVE them. The kids always want something like this in the store and I usually tell them it's a pass. When I stumbled upon these Vermont Minis I was so excited. 

It's a healthy version of a traditional meat stick. They don't contain any added nitrates, hormones or sugars. They are packed with protein and not oversized. We are on the go so much this time of year, and I am always looking for snacks to pack that are healthy and easy, so I figured we would give it ago. 

The kids are in meat stick heaven (is that a thing?!). These have been their favorite go-to snack in the afternoons, and as a bonus mommy rocks (more than normal) because she finally said yes. It's a win win. 

I grabbed mine off Amazon, but I noticed that you can also get 20% off when you use the code SWAPTHESTICK on the Vermont Smoke & Cure website. 

And that wraps up my favorites this week. Stay safe everyone, and hopefully to all our southern friends this hurricane business is all a thing of the past soon!

Happy weekend friends!

(And now I'm off to eat...)

What are some of your favorites from this week? 

Jen

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