Stitch Fix

A couple of weeks ago I finally jumped on the bandwagon and ordered my first Stitch Fix box.  I didn't enroll for a subscription, and instead just ordered a one-time box to test it out.  I answered a series of questions on their site about my style preferences, paid a $20 fee, and before I knew it, a personal stylist was packing my box for me.  I was so excited when it arrived!

Here's how it works: once your box arrives, you look through the contents and decide what to keep and what to send back (for free).  For anything you decide to keep, the initial $20 investment is applied.  When I paid that to begin with, I thought certainly there would be at least one item worth keeping, therefore making my down payment worthwhile.  I knew that out of five fashionable items, there's no way I'd lose my $20.

My box arrived earlier than anticipated.  It sat on my counter through homework, dinner, lunch-making, etc.  Once the evening calmed down, I devoted some time to looking through the items.

 I wasn't specific in the initial survey about wanting clothes for certain settings or occasions, which I'm sure makes it a little difficult on the stylist.  But I was thrilled everything she picked (which is almost as bad as loving nothing).

 

 

 

In the small box there are two pairs of studs, one gold and one turquoise.  The only item I don't totally love (due to length) is the shorts.  But here's the catch ... if I keep all five items, I get 25% off the total price.  So by sending back the shorts, I lose the 25% off and will actually pay more for four items than I will for five.  So even though the shorts aren't my favorite, they fit well and look decent ... and for the price, are worth keeping.

I would definitely recommend the Stitch Fix experience.  It certainly beats going through rack after rack at the stores, because who has time for that?   I don't know that I would need to subscribe to a monthly shipment, but I can definitely see using it a few times a year and/or before a specific occasion.  Yeah for packages full of cute clothes and accessories!

Wordless Wednesday

Mother's Day

I'm not going to lie: I pouted for a while this morning.  Everything I had really wanted to do today involved being outside, so when we woke up to dark skies, strong winds, and rain in the forecast, I was disappointed and moped around for a bit.  But then I went to the gym and got over it.  The girls were excited to give me the gifts they'd made at school.

 We decided to try a new place for a late lunch: Rock & Brews.  The rain held off for a while, so we sat outside and enjoyed delicious food and fun music.  Steve taught the girls how to play foosball.

 And I took advantage of the $3 Bloody Mary deal.  I should have taken a picture before we ate all the garnishes because the presentation was pretty impressive.

 After eating, we swung by the mall to let the girls ride the merry-go-round.  Steve and Emma went to the Disney Store while Sara and I went to Justice.  She has been begging me to take her clothes shopping there, so I said we could go in an look around today.  It was fun to watch her look through the clothes and select a few stylish new tops.  She was pretty excited!

We came home and had some quiet time before the girls and I had an evening date for frozen yogurt.  Love these two crazy babes.

Wishing a Happy Mother's Day to the moms (especially mine!), and thinking of those who are waiting and hoping to be moms. xoxo

I'm back!

I took an unintended blogging hiatus over the last several weeks.  We have had a very busy spring, with a little slower pace today only because Sara was sent home sick from school.  The nurse called me this morning and said Sara was complaining of a stomachache and headache ... plus she had a high temp, so her school day was over about as quickly as it started.  We swung by Walgreen's for Saltines and Sprite, and now she's on the couch watching "The Parent Trap".  I asked her if she was just trying to get out of her spelling test.  She said no, but didn't act too upset to be missing it.  Sara has had more sick days this school year than she has ever, including while in daycare.  Hopefully whatever has her feeling lousy today will come and go quickly.

Our April consisted of lots of visitors!  My parents came through on their way back to MN for the summer.  We had a fun weekend with them, even though it rained most of Sunday.  They got to see Emma dominate at her soccer game and of course we ate at Ojeda's.  On Monday morning when they walked Sara to school before hitting the road, she asked them to stay just one more day.  They debated it that morning and then decided to stay.  Sara was surprised to see them show up at school for lunch, and she told her teacher, "My wish came true!"

 

The following weekend, Steve's sister and her daughters came down from Kansas.  Steve and Jody went to the Mavs playoff game, and even though they lost, Steve was excited that he caught one of the shirts that they shoot out of those cannon things.  It's huge and I think our whole family could fit inside of it, but still ... everyone like to win a free prize, right?!  Sara played in a soccer tournament that same weekend, and her team came in 3rd.  They had three games in one day, but fought through the exhaustion to enjoy a team pizza lunch!  Once the tournament was over, Sara and Emma enjoyed an afternoon of swimming with cousins Lyndsey and Lexey.

 

 

The last weekend of April was the event we'd had on the calendar for a long time ... Draft Weekend with college friends.  The guys have had a long standing tradition of watching the NFL draft together, and this year it became a family affair.  Friends from KC, Des Moines, and Omaha came to town Thursday evening.  The festivities began and didn't end until they left Sunday morning.  We did have some rain, but we had enough nice weather for everyone to get in the pool a couple of times and soak up some sun.  The kids had fun playing together, and so did the adults.  The whole crew went to Emma's soccer game on Saturday and then the moms were able to sneak away for a couple margaritas.  Emma went to bed in tears Sunday night saying, "I don't want our friends to leave."  Even though it was loud and messy and chaotic, we loved having a house full of our friends and their families.  The people we don't see very often are still some of the most important to us, and we treasure our time with them.

 

 

 

Emma's soccer season ended last weekend and the team celebrated with a pizza party one evening this past week.  They were SO excited to receive trophies!  It was fun for Emma's first soccer experience to be with friends and a coach from her school.  She is a very focused little player, and once we realized what to do with the ball in front of the net, there was no stopping her scoring!  

 

The summer soccer season for starts in just a couple of weeks.  They'll both play indoors in the summer, and we're looking forward to watching them both continue to improve.  Speaking of summer, OMG, it's almost here.  I did finally get our childcare squared away, and I'm still in the process of registering the girls for a few fun camps in the area.  I'm glad they will have the opportunity this summer to sleep in, be at home, play with friends, swim, etc. ... that's what summer break should be all about, right?  Until then, though, the next few weeks hold lots of activities, including Field Day, Daisies Bridging Ceremony, dentist appointments, and whatever else decides to come up.  It's exhausting but I've decided I kind of thrive on being on-the-go.  Still, I'm looking forward to our quiet weekend ahead!

Book Talk

 I recently read What Was Mine, a story of a woman who so longed for a child, and when the opportunity presented, she abducted one.  She raised the child as her own and gave her a very good life.  But when the cold case comes to the surface when the child is 21-years-old, lots of worlds are rocked.  I felt like this book was a little far-fetched at times (but maybe not, given the crazy circumstances?), but it was gripping and kept me hooked.  When it ended suddenly, in my opinion, I was disappointed.  A decent read, but it will leave you wanting more.

 I loved Pastrix, a memoir by Nadia Bolz-Weber.  "Pastrix" is a condescending term used by some to describe female pastors.  Nadia grew up in a strict, religious home, but she took an unconventional path and now leads an unconventional congregation.  They are based on accepting all, attracting all, and loving all.  I have struggled with religion quite a bit in my adult life and I found this book to be so validating.  I also found hope in it, knowing there are people like Nadia who lead congregations that are "come as you are, be who you are" ... and if you cuss, enjoy adult beverages, lead alternative lifestyles, and screw up all.the.time., you are still worthy.  This is a book I can see myself reading again. And again.

So ... after I read Pastrix, I decided to open For the Love, which had been sitting on my Kindle for a long time.  I didn't buy it or ask for it, but it showed up, and I had ignored it because religion is not my thing.  But I thought, what the heck?  Jen Hatmaker is famous in the blog-o-sphere and on FB and on HGTV.  And in my head, she is super religious.  Her message in this book was all about giving and accepting grace as we maneuver our way through adulthood, parenthood, our jobs, our marriages, and middle-age.  Although I felt like she was preachy at times, and I realized I don't see eye-to-eye with her on all issues, I appreciated her message and realized that I read this at the right time.  We are all worthy of grace, and most of us (ME) could stand to give a lot more of it.

"I'm hoping to lead a tribe that does more healing and less hurting."

Jen Hatmaker

Growing Pains

We are having growing pains in our home, and I'm not sure whose are the worst, but for the sake of my pity party, I'll say mine rank right up there.  In the last couple of weeks, Emma has had multiple behavior issues at school.  One day they even called me while she was in the office, and I sure did have them put her on the phone so I could give it to her straight.  She "yes, ma'am"-ed me until I told her to scoot herself on back to class with better behavior.  On that particular day, she and a friend refused to come inside from recess.  Once the teachers were able to get them in, they ran out of the classroom and down the hall.

Between the lesser behaviors such as running around the classroom, not following basic directions, and telling her teacher "no", Emma's antic this week takes the cake.  On Tuesday when it was time to come in from recess, all of the kids but Emma and a friend were lined up following directions.  Emma was still on the playground, up on a bridge that connects two structures.  Not only would she not come down, she and her friend took off their clothes - ALL OF THEIR CLOTHES - threw them over the side, and danced around laughing.  The office staff had to come intervene.

Everyone I've shared this story with has laughed hysterically.  I get that it's a little funny, but all I can picture is my daughter two or three years from now pulling this sort of stunt in elementary school.  Not funny.  Not even a little bit.  It takes a lot of staff to manage this sort of situation.  And then you have the angry parents of the kids who had to see the naked one calling to inquire about what steps will be taken to ensure this doesn't happen again. Plus it's chaotic, and totally compromises the integrity of the learning environment.  I sure hope she can get this out of her system, but I happen to know some special friends who come to kinder with behaviors like this still in their little systems ... and I'm wondering if my Emma will be one of them.

I don't expect my kids to be perfect; we all have our days, of course.  But blatantly disrespectful?  Becoming a safety hazard?  Stripping?  Um ... no.  Not in the plans.  As someone who routinely meets with parents about their child's behavior, the last few weeks have been - to say the very least - humbling.  They've been incredibly frustrating, and at times I certainly haven't been my best self as a parent or a person, but man am I humbled.

Yesterday someone randomly asked me if we plan to have any more kids.  HA-HA-HA! 

Green Space

 Our backyard project is finally nearing completion, and it's been a long time coming!  When we moved into our house in the summer of 2013, the backyard was full of landscaping.  Although it looked okay, it required a lot of maintenance and took up most of our pool deck space.  Steve got right to work on removing much of it, but this back section remained. Jumping off the back bricks into the pool quickly became popular, but you always had to dodge branches in order to do it.

After we had the pool re-tiled and plastered this winter, we decided it was time to just make the whole space new.  We had all of the shrubs removed.  Although I love green, it was just too much and we really wanted usable space.

 We opted for synthetic lawn (aka turf).  It's awesome!  The job was completed this afternoon, and although we can't walk or put anything on it for 24 hours, it already makes such a difference out back.  Although we don't have a dog now, we might someday, so we went with the pet-friendly turf. 

 We're not 100% sure what we'll put up there yet, but Sara really wants a hammock and I could go for an ISU bags game.  We're so happy to have some green space inside the fence ... and no more getting scratched by bushes when trying to jump into the pool.

Anyone else ready for pool season?  Come on over!