16 Things to Remember in 2016

Welcome to 2016 my friends! I hope you had a wonderful celebration to ring in the New Year with people that you love. We stayed home as we usually do, ringing in the year with the kids. We kept our ‘party’ pretty low-key, watching the festivities on TV while playing board games and sipping on bubbly. We had snack foods and root beer floats to top off the evening, and at the stroke of 12 we broke out the silly string and poppers and created a huge mess in the living room and kitchen!

I’ve been cherishing these last few days before the routine happens again. Yesterday I went and had a pedicure and lunch with a friend and caught up for a few hours and today we all hung out at the house and took down the Christmas decorations and packed them away for the next 11 months. We are officially down to our last day of our vacation and I’m already looking forward to our next long weekend.

These past two weeks have showed me house nice it is to slow down and just be. Be happy; be content.

4 Ways to Share Joy

I have to admit, even though Christmas is a couple of days away, I haven’t felt very joyous lately. It’s not like I’m that I’m not happy or excited to make cookies and watch my children open their gifts, but I think my mood is just coming from a combination of things: extra holiday stress; a brain that doesn’t slow down; and a self-derived pity party for myself because we won’t be celebrating the holidays with any extended family this year. Add in all of the Pacific Northwest rain and gloomy weather and it just puts a little extra damper on things.

Even though I’ve been personally feeling the holiday blues a little bit lately, there have been a few things that have really lifted my spirits - and they might surprise you.

It's More Than a Holiday Program

Metal chairs fill the gymnasium floor. Handmade paintings, decorations, and ornaments line the walls and stage. Lights and additional risers have been brought out. Programs are all printed on festive colored paper.

Two Things I Learned This Week

Why hello! My name is Melissa, and occasionally when I find time I actually stop by on here and write! I know, sounds crazy right? I’ve wanted to write and share so many things lately, but I’ve just been so tired I find myself falling asleep while browsing on the computer, and haven’t been able to stay up and actually write a post for a few days now.

This past week has been a never ending circle of ups and downs and between trying to juggle work, the house, and the kids’ schedules – I was beat! I finally sat down last night before promptly falling asleep on the couch (oops!) and briefly reflected on the week's events - happy it was over. While I was thinking about all of the events that occurred over the past few days I realized two important things:

An Ode to Fathers

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.  #NauticaforDad #CollectiveBias

I think that fathers should be celebrated more than once a year. So often we hear about and only focus on the fathers who could (and perhaps should) do more for their children – but what about all of those men that go above and beyond and try their hardest to care for their families? Eleven months out of the year we keep pretty quiet on the subject.

All over social media I see jokes about mothers who need a break, or some coffee, or a glass of wine, but there are dads out there who have the exact same responsibilities, and they deserve a break too.

To all of the dads who work all day and come home only to turn around and coach their children’s sports teams – thank you.

To all of the dads who spend countless hours rocking colicky babies to sleep at 3 am; knowing that their alarm clock will go off at 4:30 – thank you.

To all of the dads who stay home and take care of the house so their partners can have the career that they want to have – thank you.

And to all of the dads who didn’t have to be a dad, yet stepped in to become a parent when a child needed one – thank you.

My husband has done many of those things for us; being a dad for Anika when she and I were alone; staying up countless nights so that I could get a couple hours of sleep; and rearranging his work load and schedule to help with the kids so I could pursue my career and have breaks.

I wanted to get him something nice for Father’s Day this year, because I don't think that the kids should be the only ones to get their Dad something, spouses should as well. Something that he could use and would never buy for himself – so when we were at Macy’s last weekend I snuck over into the fragrance department and purchased the Nautica Life gift set for him. For only a couple dollars more than what you would normally pay for just the men's fragrance. This deluxe gift set is only $65.00, a $128.00 value. This gift set includes: 3.4 oz Eau de Toilette, 2.5 oz Aftershave Balm, 2.5 oz Shower Gel, and 1 oz Eau de Toilette, all wrapped up in a in a nice box – so nice looking that I’m not even going to bother wrapping it!

The Nautica life men's fragrance smells fantastic and I’ve never bought Wayne cologne before, so I know he will be surprised and appreciate the quality of this fragrance and the thought behind it.

I hope you have something special planned for the Father in your life this weekend – and will make more memories with them not only on Father’s Day, but throughout the year. 

I'm also happy to be part of a fabulous giveaway that includes a cruise vacation package for one Grand Prize winner and five second place winners that will win a Nautica Men's Fragrance gift package! (Winners must be  18+) 

~Melissa

Nautica for Dad

How to Have a Radiant Summer

Compensation provided by Arm & Hammer™. All opinions are my own. 

I’m back! After working the past couple of days at my “other” job – I was beginning to go through blog and social media withdraws! I think I may have a slight addiction. :) 

The kids have been out of school for a week now – and we hadn’t really done anything together yet, with my birthday, working, and the softball/baseball routine still going strong – it really didn’t feel quite like summer yet.

Until today.

(Thankfully) I slept in until 8, laid in bed until 9, then decided to had better get up and break up the arguments (ha!) and tell the kids to get ready and load up – we were going to pick some strawberries. My friend Carolyn and I had decided a few days ago that we all needed to go together, so the kids and I met her at the u-pick farm.

The next two hours we spent in the radiant sun – hunting for the reddest, juiciest berries that we could find. Noah and Emma also happened to find some pools of water in between the strawberry rows which promptly turned into mud when they splashed in it!

We came home this afternoon with 16 pounds of strawberries, half of which I froze and the other half became strawberry jam.

Today finally felt like summer.

What activities really make summertime sink in to you? Is it BBQs in the backyard with your closest friends? Or perhaps spending the day at the county fair? Whatever activity it is, summertime should be full of fun memories. I always feel the most radiant; the most full of life – in the summer.

Summers are simpler, with less stress and more downtime (hopefully). Summers are not to be taken granted for – but so often we do. We rush through activities because we have to move on to the next one; we go through the motions, but aren’t always mentally present – I know I’m completely guilty of this.

As I knelt down picking those berries today I was present and living in the moment. I wasn’t on my phone or worrying about other things. It was a truly radiant moment for me, and I want my summer to be filled with moments like that.

Have you ever had one of those moments? Moments that when you look back it makes you smile? Right now through the end of 2015 Arm & Hammer Truly Radiant™ wants you to share those moments with everyone. They’ve partnered with the City of Hope Cancer Treatment Center to launch a social media initiative and are encouraging women to share their radiant moments using the hashtag #TrulyRadiantFinish across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For every hashtag used, Arm & Hammer is donating $1 to the City of Hope.

I love Arm & Hammer's Truly Radiant because they also want women to feel strong and beautiful with their smiles, and they've launched three new products this year for a stronger, cleaner, whiter smile.

There's the Arm & Hammer Truly Radiant Rinse, which is the first and only whitening rinse that strengthens enamel and helps stop stains before then start without alcohol or peroxide. Then there's the Rejuvenating Toothpaste, that goes beyond the surface to strengthen, clean and repair tooth enamel in a crisp, mint flavor. And finally, the Arm & Hammer Spinbrush™ Truly Radiant Manual Toothbrushes are the only manual toothbrushes that feature a rotating head, plus elongated, all-access bristles that get deep in-between teeth to help blast away plaque.

How amazing is that? Will you share your radiant moments with your friends?

And just how do you have a radiant summer? I believe that by counting your blessings and intentionally making memories, this could be your best summer yet.

~Melissa

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Arm & Hammer™.

Happy Belated Birthday Little Man

Hello everyone! This past weekend was jam-packed full of celebrations – with field trips, a 90^th birthday party, the opening season of softball and t-ball, our school’s annual Family Fun Fair (I was the main organizer), a little holiday called Mother’s Day, and company at our house for 4 nights – but all of the celebrating began with Noah’s 5^th birthday last Thursday.

I remember being in a heap of emotions and diapers 5 years ago, with a newborn, a 2 year old, and a 6 year old, tired from the lack of sleep and crying. I would sit up rocking Noah in the middle of the night and couldn’t help but think about how life would be when he was 5 – all of the kids would be in school and I’d be turning 30.

And somehow, someway, life flew by – and now my happy little boy is 5 years old – my last baby, and I can’t help but wish I could have just a few more sleepless nights with him and moments of snuggles.  

Thursday, on his birthday, Wayne and I both attended a field trip that his preschool had over at Precision Helicopters outside of Newberg. It’s a training school so they had several different kinds of helicopters for the kids to check out. We’d been there before, but every year it’s just as exciting for the kids to climb up in the helicopters and watch the large one take off.

I brought cupcakes and all of the class sat in the field and celebrated Noah’s birthday with us.

Afterwards we took Noah out to lunch. It’s became our little tradition with each kid, allowing them to pick a place and have a one on one lunch with both Wayne and I. 

Noah’s big party was held this past Saturday, but we always try and make the ‘real’ birthday special too

I frequently talk about making memories and celebrating life on here, but I was reminded of how important it was again when I sat down with elderly woman whom I occasionally work for a couple of weeks ago to talk about life. The kids, our schedules… she’s someone whom I’ve felt a connection with ever since we met couple of years ago, and she has the family that I can only hope mine grows up to be someday.  Last time we talked she said,

 “Now honey, I don’t want you to think I’m preaching at you – but you make those memories with your kids now. Today they are entering Kindergarten and next week they are graduating high school, and you’re going to miss this time. We always sacrificed things that maybe our neighbors thought were a necessity, so we could spend time with our children. We traveled around the world to show them different cultures and history. We encouraged them to continue with school and educate themselves so that they could live the life they want and could also use their abilities to give back to the community. But enjoy those moments now – I sure do miss them.”

If I could go back and remind my 18, 22, or 24 year old self that – I would…snuggle those babies, celebrate those birthdays, and live in the moment.

Happy belated birthday little man – you’ll never know just how much joy you have brought to my life. 

~Momma

They never said it would be easy.

I very rarely open up like this on the blog. I frequently talk about our family and life and things that make me happy - and try to keep all of the negativity away from this little space of mine on the Internet, but that doesn't mean that life doesn't come without it's ups or downs. 

Because it does.

I've been a little overwhelmed lately, between keeping up with my work at home, the PTSO, and I was scheduled again for more shifts at my 'other' job this month than I desire to have. Anika is starting soccer again as well as track - and although I don't think I necessarily have any more on my plate than all of the other moms out there, I feel like I'm torn into too many directions - too many jobs. 

And then there's Emma. 

My sweet little Emma. My shy girl. The girl who told me she no longer wants to play soccer, but loves T-ball. She has always been my laid back child, unlike Anika and Noah who are fast paced and highly active. She likes to take her time and will literally whine like no other if she is rushed. 

Well - I got a written warning for Emma in the mail today, for pinching other students and lying about it. None of my kids have ever had a written warning before.

And then I got a phone call.

They want her to go see a counselor from the local Family and Youth center. 

My heart sank.

We went through this with Anika a few years ago - it felt like déjà vu' yet different, because my two girls have the completely opposite behavior. The reason why we had to take Anika to counseling was because she had a hard time managing her ADHD in class (thankfully she's has been doing AMAZING the past two years!), but Emma, she won't open up or talk to people, won't do her work in class, and the teacher doesn't know what to do to help her. 

And I'm tired. 

Part of me thinks that her talking to someone else will be good for her, to get her to open up and learn to get over her shyness and hopefully get her excited about school - after all she's only 7.

But the other part of me is so upset that two out of my three kids have had troubles. Why? I want to argue with myself and begin questioning myself - what am I doing wrong? Why is everything so challenging? Why are my kids the ones who need extra help? I try to keep as much consistency for the kids as possible...we do family meals every night, we have a good bedtime routine....why?

I also remember some of the ridiculous things we had to try and do with Anika when she was in counseling. I know some of it is good, and they had good intentions, but half of the time I wandered what planet her counselor came from. 

No my kids don't come from a broken home, no there's no big changes and nothing out of the ordinary happening right now.

I guess what my point is in this rambling post is that we all go through trials and tribulations. Don't always assume that just because things look perfect that they are. Everyone goes through chaos and craziness...and maybe I just needed to hear myself say it again.

I hope that we can work through whatever is troubling my little girl and help her gain the confidence that I know she has deep down inside.

God only gives us what we can handle, right? 

~Melissa

Why I Took a #MEday - and Why You Should Too

We work hard. Let’s face it – between juggling the kids schedules, your spouse’s agenda, work, volunteering, after curricular activities, plus handling all of the little mundane things (like shopping, cleaning, and bills) there’s just not much time left – is there?

Sometimes I tend to overdo it, and in the past I've found myself in a vicious cycle of being over committed, completely exhausted, unable to focus, and in doing so I know that I’m not being the best ME that I know I can be – and I know I’m not the only one out here that struggle with this.

I’m not sure why we always feel the need to have an excuse to take time for ourselves, because in reality it should be a necessity. It’s not being selfish to take time for yourself. Ever.

Sometimes taking a ME day isn't necessarily an entire day or a huge planned event, sometimes it’s just making an effort to do something for you, whether that be taking a hot bath, spending half of an hour in a coffee shop solo sipping a latte, a 20 minute nap, a pedicure, or even a 30 minute workout in the gym – taking time to do all of those things will in return make you a better wife, better mother, better YOU. I make sure that I do these things on a weekly basis for ME.

Taking care of yourself makes you a better self.

According to a recent survey conducted by domain.ME 8 out of 10 participates stated that they felt stressed about their work and life balance - and that’s not right.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to have a girl’s night with a couple of friends plus some co-workers. One of my friends drove down from Astoria and she and I stayed the night at our other friend’s house. We met everyone and then went to a special movie theater that served snacks and cocktails.

After the movie the three of us went back to her house where we snacked and talked until nearly 4 am. These women, like me, are incredibly busy and I won’t lie and say that it didn't take any effort to make our girl’s night happen, but we all decided that it was a priority and made the time to have fun. I know that sounds crazy, right? But it’s so important.

Even though I was very tired the next day it was so wonderful to be able to catch up and maintain my friendships, celebrating each other’s lives, while each of us had a little ME time.

International ME day is coming up on March 16^th, but we shouldn't need a set day to take time for ourselves. Everyday some small part of the day, should be devoted to spending time with ourselves.

When was the last time you took some time for you?

~Melissa

This post was sponsored by domain .ME. All thoughts, opinions, and photos are, as always, my own.