Friday things, 4/3

Not gonna lie. It's been a week. March has kind of done us in at this point but now it's April and it's still going...the metaphor for the week is this:

Mav grabbed my book and ate it during the day on Wednesday.

BUT.

Here are some randoms and recommendations I wanted to share before I forget:

1. Saddleback Kids Easter Story. This is adorable. We watched it at school this week and I really like their content for quick videos when the kids need a reset. I turned it on again this morning for my kids.

2. See Kai Run shoes. I've consumed a lot of content about kids' shoes over the years and SKR is consistently at the top of the list. Sutton needs a pair of sneakers and I glanced around at Target two weeks ago...They are $30 for preschooler-aged shoes and they look so cheap in person. SKR was having a sale and everything was $25 so I let Sutton pick the pattern she wanted <3

It's cute the way the styles all have names and this one has my name. 

But $25 for podiatrist recommended shoes is a definite "yes". I've been buying this brand since Wells was a year old. Sometimes Target does collabs with them and I've bought those too but they price is high so it's usually better to buy them direct when there's a sale. 

3. 

We love this tent so much. She sleeps in it at night. Easily the best $25 we've spent on a birthday gift and I think my niece is getting one for her birthday in May. 

4. I placed a Walmart order last weekend because I needed a bunch of random things and didn't have the energy to wander for an hour with two kids. This is the number of emails they sent me about ONE order over a period of 24 hours. Like, that's enough, Walmart and reason enough not to use them...they didn't used to do this and I've been utilizing this service for almost 9 years. 

5. Whatever I just found screenshotted on my devices: 

iykyk

Linking up

Friday things, 3/13

1. I've had horrible allergies in my eyes for the last two weeks. I finally got it under control with steady zyrtec but I couldn't even look at a computer screen for days there. I went to urgent care and got the standard "welcome to Kanas" speech concerning springtime allergies and I always say "it's not my first time and also I've lived in Missouri for the last 4 years..." and that always throws them off a little because they act like everyone complaining of allergies is fresh off the plane from a perfect climate zone like San Diego or a subarctic place like Fairbanks. Either way, the visit was free but I wasn't a fan. 

2. So coming off of not being able to sleep for a week, constantly dealing with switching back and forth between contacts and glasses, and now taking zyrtec every night, I made an eye appointment and turns out I can't actually go to an eye appointment even for an actual concern because of my insurance. I went less than a year ago for a contacts fitting. I would need to go to my PCM and then get a referral to an ophthalmologist, which...the last time I got a referral to someone, it took 11 months. Here I thought just a regular optometrist that I've seen before would be able to check my eyes more closely than the disgruntled PA working on a Saturday at urgent care. 

Either way, military healthcare, as always, is a true you-get-what-you-pay-for-situation.

3. I am in a media rut. I stand by everything I recommended a few weeks ago. I have however found myself back at one of my ultimate favorites, a true comfort-watch:

If you've never watched Homeland, it holds up! It started in 2011, ended in 2020. It's always weird to think that 2011 was so long ago (again, I'm convinced that 2013ish was the last good year lol), but this show does not disappoint if you're thinking about if it will be cringy or awkward today. 

Claire Danes is always cringy anyway. 

Cannot recommend enough. 

4. Because of the allergy issues, I went an entire week without attempting to wear eye makeup and then threw away my cheap e.l.f. mascara because I didn't like it anyway. Because I'd used so many eyedrops, my lashes were starting to break. I did have a moment of panic there. I splurged on Honest mascara because it comes with a primer. I've bought this mascara before and I cannot recommend it enough. It hurts to pay $20 for it, but it's the best out there. 

5. In other news, Wells was really sick for exactly one day two weeks ago and now he still has a cough, Sutton is slightly fever-ish to kick off our spring break, and Scott is pretty sick. It's definitely spring when everyone gets sick! ...I've gotten away with just allergies. But that's basically where I've been: juggling all the things while not really feeling good at all. I do have a lot to write about so let's hope the zyrtec keeps working. 

6. Some of these have been on my desktop for a few weeks so apologies if they're untimely: 

(not me, but Scott)

I was taking so much allergy medication last weekend that I had no idea what was happening. 

Another show ^ (Mad Men) I cannot recommend enough, from beginning to end. 

Linking up with Friday Favorites!

Friday things, 2/27

This week, I posted recent content again. Cannot recommend Paradise enough if you need a show to binge this weekend! 

Linking up with Friday Favorites!

1. I have big, big thoughts about this:

Grown adults who are not or were not teachers have no idea how this works. My first year in the classroom, I was sick most of the year. Started with student-teaching. Literally the sickest I'd ever been to that point and still couldn't miss without a doctor's note. I had a cold or a cough, literally, for the next 5 years on and off. I had strep throat for the first time ever as a 25 year old. Scott would catch what it was from me and get it twice as bad. It never failed. His years in Afghanistan were probably a respite from the constant respiratory viruses, to be honest. 

My point is, you have these people who haven't been around small children since they were a small child. They go to work in an office or something and then when they have kids post-25/30/35, they're all shocked and put out that they're getting sick again. Like, nope. My immune system did the work pre-30. So this does not apply to all of us. It's actually just showing a level of ignorance. 

This is a result from a society being one where children are not considered to be a huge part of many peoples' lives. Birth rate is down, people think kids are too much work, no one wants to go into child-centered fields anymore, adults just want a dog or a cat and kids are too much of a hassle, etc.

At this point in my life, my kids get colds and coughs and low fevers occasionally, Scott will get sick for a day or two (not as much as he used to), and I'm usually fine. The one exception was when my immune system was definitely compromised during pregnancy exactly 4 years ago and I had a sinus infection for 4 weeks. 

**Bonus comment regarding kids: You know how people are like "stop being lazy get up before your kids this is your own fault that you never get anything accomplished"? 

Well, blogging in real time, I got up at 5:05am this morning to "get stuff done" and guess who was up by 5:20? My kids. 

I wish all of those people nights of restless sleep and I hope their nannies quit because let's face it: the only way moms are "getting it all done at 5am" is if they have hired help. Change my mind.

2. I tracked grocery spending for February and the good news is that I came in at $699. I'm going to guess that a few expenditures would put that over $700 but that includes things like paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap...anything I would buy at Aldi. I made a few small Walmart runs because I will only buy name-brand in certain products (soda, sour cream, etc) but cutting out those $150-200 Walmart pick-ups made a difference. 

3. Scott brought home a Dubai chocolate bar. I had no idea these were so stupidly expensive. But I really liked it. The irony of talking about it right after I mention I saved money on food this month is not lost on me. However, what Scott spends at gas stations is none of my business, you know? I was just tracking food and such. But anyway: I think a lot of people think Dubai chocolate is too sweet but I think it's just about perfect.

4. Does anyone know an actual method for keeping an orchard alive and blooming? I've read a lot about it. I have finally switched to water. 

5.