Daily Tidbits Archives - Page 3 of 53

I’m Baaack!

August 31, 2015 1 Comment

You may (or may not) have noticed that I took an unofficial blogging break this summer.

I simply have one word to describe what happened.

Burnout.

I think every blogger knows exactly what I’m talking about. When you start accepting sponsorships and getting paid to write articles, it becomes easy to slip into just producing content to keep up revenue. I felt chained to write things. Instead of being able to pour my heart out on this space, documenting life’s little journeys and DIY mishaps, I felt like I had to “perform”. Little by little, I just started dreading it.

When we left on a 3 week road trip for CA (40+ hours in the car with 2 kids!! Blog post coming soon!), I decided I would take that time as a break. When we got back, we started working hard on our backyard projects (in the Texas summer heat, oh yes we did! Heatstroke WHATTT?), and I decided to take a longer break and just focus on being with family in my spare time.

So, that is how I unintentionally took a 2.5 break from my blog! I knew it wasn’t forever, just enough to give me a rest.

I was able to re-evaluate what I actually want to write about, so I will be sticking to it for the next couple of months. We have been doing a TON of work on our backyard, so I have lots to show. Our big add-on/renovation starts in a few months, so that will also be coming up. I have worked extra hard to set up a neat Montessori home-school room, and we officially begin next week, after Labor Day. I’ve also begun working at a pregnancy care clinic, and attend an adoption training seminar this Wednesday. So much to talk about!!!

In addition, the kids and I will be traveling to SOUTH AFRICA for most of December! My navy brother is getting married to a wonderful girl from Johannesburg, so they decided to have the wedding in her home town. We will be living in an apartment for a few weeks while we see the country and get ready for the wedding (the boys and I are in it). I cannot wait to use this blog to document everything we see and do (I have to learn to drive a car on the WRONG side, while driving on the WRONG side of the road! Ah!).

Unfortunately, Jesse is unable to attend, since he has to teach for his school and attend his PhD courses up until the last minute here in Dallas. Technically, if he left after his last test, he could manage to make it. But he’d spend 40+ hours of air travel, just to be in South Africa for 2 days. And the cost of the ticket would be GINORMOUS that close to Christmas– for one ticket, it would be more than the cost of the boys and I traveling, all put together. Since we will be coming back to Dallas a few days before Christmas, we decided that we could handle a few weeks apart, since it means we will still be together for the holidays. I’m actually kind of excited about doing Christmas the old fashioned way– getting our tree and decorating it Christmas Eve night, then leaving it up until Epiphany in January!

Thank you to all of my readers out there 🙂 We will be seeing each other a lot more soon!

Fun Activities for Kids in Dallas

June 7, 2015 1 Comment

We have now lived in this city for just over 9 months. With summer upon us, we have been researching and buying season passes, finding things that we would enjoy as a family.

And, at long last, I feel like we finally have a handle on some of the fun activities for kids in Dallas! If our kids were a little bit older (pre-teens) there would be a world of other options, but these are the things that we will be utilizing this summer. You can too, if you ever want to visit!

Here is our list:

Normal/Nice Day:

Dallas Zoo: I put this one at the top of the list because we were just there on a 90+ day, and it was so shaded that it was totally doable for all but the hottest days this summer! They have different rotating exhibits (currently they have a Jurassic Park one!), and a family membership is really reasonably priced and comes with free parking. The park is HUGE (I’ve been to San Francisco’s and Sacramento’s for comparison) and has water misters and fans everywhere if you need them!

The Arboretum/Children’s Garden: This place is amazing. We just upgraded our general Arboretum membership to include the Children’s Garden because it is just a mile away from our house and we go all of the time. The Children’s Garden is full of fun hands-on and educational activities for kids, and even has a splash pad! They do homeschool/story reading events year round as well. They even have a giant Disneyland-esque treehouse!

Our FAVORITE part about the Arboretum right now is the underground parking garage across the street. It’s free (with membership) and has an underground walkway that takes you right to the front entrance. When you come back to your car after a hot day, it’s still nice and cool inside!

Trolley Rides in Uptown: Our kids love riding the free trolleys in Uptown, and they’re kind of a neat stroll through history at the same time! The line begins at Uptown Station near Lemmon Ave. and loops all the way through downtown and then back up again. We like to park right near the Dog Park on Lemmon, watch the trolley arrive and use the turntable, then we jump on and ride it to Klyde Warren or any fun place we’re eating at in the West Village or Uptown!

Covered Parks: We all know that even a slightly sunny day can make slides really hot for little kids. Luckily, Dallas has lots of parks completely covered by awnings! Our favorite right now is Reverchon (which is also right on the Katy Trail, a long shaded trail that runs through Dallas!)

Super Hot Day:
In Dallas, July/August and the first half of September are high 90s temps and miserable for the outdoors unless you’re in some sort of water. Luckily, Dallas has a TON of free/cheap stuff to do!

YMCA: We just joined our neighborhood YMCA because their pool has a large shallow area/splash pad/slide area! For the price of our gym membership (that comes with free childcare, parents-night-outs-babysitting, and sports league discounts), we have a “waterpark” just down the road!

Klyde Warren Park: This park is the #1 free place to go when it’s hot. They have several giant splash pad areas, along with a shaded playground that is all gated. And the food trucks/live music almost every night a week are an added bonus for parents! Parking is a bit tricky, but if you park far away the free trolley line will take you right to the park (and back again).

Community pools/splashpads: Dallas has several free community pools and splash pads at several of their parks. We haven’t been to them yet, but I’m guessing they will be a bit crowded on super hot days! Still, I’m keeping it on the list 🙂

Burger’s Lake: This is in Fort Worth, and a little pricey at $10-15/person. Still, it sounds awesome, so if we’re ever in the mood to splurge we’ll probably try it. There are slides, sandy beaches, and even a trapeze! You can bring your own picnic and grill too!

On the more expensive/older kids side of things, Dallas and the surrounding suburbs have tons of water parks! There’s Hurricane Harbor, Bahama Beach, Rowlett Wet Zone, and Great Wolf Lodge.

Bad weather (too hot, snow, thunderstorms or rain):

Galleria Mall: Just outside of Nordstroms on the 3rd level is a HUGE indoor kids playspace! It’s built for ages 6 and under, which might be a limitation for some. For us, it’s the perfect set-up– my friends and I bring our coffee and sit on the benches in the cool air-conditioned indoors while we watch the kids play! Win!

If your kids are older, there’s a large year-round ice skating rink inside too!

Northpark Mall: This mall is where friends and I go to walk around (they have a “stroller/fitness” trail!) and let the boys play with legos at the Lego Store. They have a small library within the mall (how cool is that?) where they do puppet shows and story times daily! The entire mall is fashioned as a giant rectangle with a large lawn area in the middle for kids to run around on. They also have a free Mommy and Me yoga class!

The Perot Museum: We are going to wait until our kids are a bit older to get a membership here, but we hear that it’s awesome. The basement level is all for kids, and they even had a Sherlock Holmes exhibit where you have to find clues and solve a mystery! They have a ton of science and summer camps for kids.

Indoor Trampoline Park/Arcade: This one is little too old for our kids, so it wouldn’t be worth the money for us until they are older. But it looks like something for us to keep in mind in a few years!

For lots of other activities (including the best arcades, orchard picking, and even river rafting!) here’s a good list.

Hope you enjoyed this list and can take advantage of these fun activities for kids in Dallas soon!

$5 DIY Boot Tray

May 23, 2015 Leave a Comment

It’s been raining a ton here in TX– and by, “a ton”, I mean that the governor has declared several counties in TX a disaster zone because of all the flooding. Apparently, the satellites are even noticing a difference all the way from space because so much of TX is now greener than it’s been in a LONG time!

Now that we have a giant un-landscaped (for now) backyard, we also have a lot of mud. My boys are 4 and 3, so mud and puddles basically sound like Disneyland. We have a coat/shoe/outdoor stuff storage area in the Expedit near our front door, but we haven’t yet had a place for muddy boots.

It was starting to become a problem, and I kept thinking that it would soon dry up and we wouldn’t even need our rain boots anymore.

That was…weeks ago.

With lots of rain in the forecast all summer (thanks, El Nino!), I decided to finally get a boot tray.

Um…when did boot trays become SO stinking expensive! Has anyone but me noticed this? I wanted a galvanized steel one to match our house, but $30 was the cheapest I found at Target. YEAH RIGHT. $30 isn’t a lot of money in the big scheme of things, but just for a boot tray? Why? WHY?

After much looking, I realized that a boot tray just has to have two main functions: not be too shallow or deep, and also have ridges for letting the water/mud drain and dry. I decided that I would just find a way to make one.

So, given the fact that my grad classes are now DONE, I got inspired by Jenn at Clean and Scentsible, and adapted her tutorial to get the matching “galvanized steel” look I was going for. Instead of using a tray, I found a sturdy old rectangle cooking pan in our possession. Just like her, I realized that if I just dumped the rocks in there, it would be about two seconds before my boys started throwing them all around the house. Enter: Super Glue!

Using our neighborhood $ Store (this took $2 of rocks and $3 of glue), I was able to put this together in under 2 hours while watching TV with Jesse. Granted, the smell of the glue was a bit annoying so we had to put it outside to dry, but such a better idea than spending $30 at Target! Just make sure that your tray is sturdy enough– those little rocks may not look heavy, but trust me, all together they really are!

So, there you are! I hope you enjoyed our $5 DIY Boot Tray 🙂

Coming Up For Air

May 19, 2015 1 Comment

The above picture was taken here in Dallas last week. This is what all the rain has done!

My last semester of graduate school is complete! After I take a comprehensive exam this summer, I will have my MA English diploma in hand!

These last few weeks have been a bit rough with all the writing and reading I had to get done. The boys actually started punishing me by destroying the house while I was studying! They are used to having my undivided attention, and the fact that I often had to shut myself in a room and write made them a little less than cheery. One night, they even stole all the batteries out of the remotes and hid them! Another, they re-arranged all the furniture in their room :/ Crazy little monkeys!

Fortunately for me, my husband is an English teacher (as am I, technically!), so when I needed help with editing my papers, he was more than the perfect for the job. I had a final deadline of midnight on Sunday to get two papers in, and my brain was so tired, it was like the words had dried right up. Jesse swooped in and saved the day, helping me talk through some of my finer points and conclusions so that I could fix certain spots in both of my papers. I got a real taste of what a great English teacher he is! And, in the end, I actually felt very confident about all the work I put in. In sports, they call that, “Leaving it all on the floor”, and I feel like I really did give it every ounce I had. I’m not even sure if there was anything I could’ve improved on, honestly! Turning in papers that you actually think are publish-worthy is a great feeling, especially after researching both topics and realizing that no one has written on your specific focus (here’s the part of the story where I could get extremely technical, talking about 16th century/Medieval England and Spenser’s Faerie Queene).

Any who, for the past few days, I’ve slowly been putting my life back together– tackling mounds of laundry, cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen, tending to my neglected garden, and even hanging out with friends. Sometimes I wish I could entrust all my house chores to the right house cleaners in the Hanover PA area.

Yesterday, I met a friend to go walking around White Rock lake. We had ALL 5 of our kids in tow, walked 3-4 miles pushing heavy strollers, and the weather suddenly got quite hot (ahem, 86 degrees!), so it ended with lots of sweat and crying, most of it from the kids 😉 Today, I had two old friends (one of whom just announced that she’s pregnant!) over for coffee and tea! Their kitchen remodeling tips helped me create the cook space I’ve always wanted. Just two days in to “freedom”, and I’ve already doubled my social life, ha!

The other task we are about to embark upon is a home renovation project. I mentioned a long time ago that our new house is just shy of 1100 square feet, which is not big enough for two growing boys. If we ever have a third baby or decide to start fostering kids again, more space will definitely be in order! We met with an architect last night to draw up plans for a large sunroom/family room off the back of the house, something a lot like this:

We also have a contractor coming out to give us a bid this Thursday as we need to get a basement renovation calculator to mark the estimates of the expenditure for the future. Once this room is built (hopefully sometime this summer!), we will use our current living room as our dining room, transform the dining room into a breakfast/sitting area, and then use the new sunroom as a giant living room! A large L-couch someday would be nice for having a bigger family, and we definitely want a “homework” area somewhere in there. It’s honestly hard to picture right now, though, but Pinterest sure helps 🙂 We want the new living room to look something like this:

via Modern Organic Interiors

Once we have a bigger dining space, I am bound and determined to get a piano! We have a keyboard now, but I really want the boys to take lessons on an actual piano– I was a piano teacher for nearly 10 years, so I have some opinions about these things, yes?

Our summer is packed with lots of activities, complete with a vacation out to see family in CA, so even though Jesse soon begins his 3 month break (having a teacher for a husband is AWESOME!!), we will still be very busy. Hopefully I will have time to chronicle our home renovations and vacation here on the blog!

Fun Activities for Kids in Dallas

$5 DIY Boot Tray

Coming Up For Air

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