Hey!

Is it almost summer break for you? The schools here get out middle to late May, depending on which parish they’re in (we live in one parish but are close to another) - Louisiana is the one state in the USA that uses parishes instead of counties. 😅

Anyway, since we homeschool, we start and end summer whenever we feel like it. Since the baby is due mid June, I want to end school by the end of May - is there any sound logic there? Likely not. But it makes sense in my head.

Both my kids have been puttin’ in the work to finish their work by May 31 - Alexander’s ahead of schedule now, so he will be done by about May 17 or earlier. He likes the challenge, so he may do double-work days just to finish earlier. Annabelle may go into June, but we will just wait and see. When she puts her mind to it, she can move pretty quick! But often, she likes to take her time. To each their own; as long as they get it done, I don’t really care how long it takes.

Summer plans?

Are you doing anything fun this summer?

Since we homeschool, we don’t typically do that much during the traditional summer months because it’s hotter and things are more crowded. We may take a trip in September or October, though. Alexander’s really been wanting to go to the beach; I’d be nervous driving 8 hours away right now. If we wait, it will be a tad bit cooler, less crowded, and I’ll be more comfortable in the car.

As for the summer, I imagine we’ll do some local things:

• bowling

• movie dates

• ice cream parties

• swimming in our backyard pool (it’s just an above ground, but it’s enough for us!)

• going to parks

Instagram question box

I love when other people put up question boxes. I TRY to ask a question or two, but usually I can’t think of anything. So I like to see the questions and answers that other people have submitted!

Occasionally I’ll post a question box to my IG story, which is probably repetitive because I feel like I answer any question, any time someone asks. But you know? Maybe there are people who aren’t comfortable asking a question that they have, and someone else asks it for them. I figure it can be useful here and there!

A few days ago, I put up a question box. Here are some of the questions I got, plus my answers:

1. How to start a sourdough starter? There are many methods to this. What I did (twice!) is…

   1. Start by adding equal weights of filtered water and unbleached flour (50g each, for example). Mix well in a glass jar. Cover loosely with a lid or damp rag. Mark the top of it with a marker or rubber band.

   2. 24 hours later, you can dump out* about half of the mixture, then add equal weights of water and flour again. Mix, cover, mark the top. I’d move it to a new jar each time! *Once it’s established, I don’t dump any of it; you can use it to make lots of things.

   3. Repeat step 2 a few times until you see some growth happening. If you aren’t seeing anything, try putting the jar in a dark place, like the inside of a cabinet.

   4. Once you get some growth, try feeding it every 12 hours instead. And once it’s doubling within 12 hours, you can test it out. You plop a spoonful of the mixture into a glass of water: if it floats, it’s most likely good to go! If it sinks, keep feeding it.

   5. Once it’s active, you can use it to make a loaf of bread or just put it in the fridge until you’re ready. And you don’t need to dump anything anymore - look up “sourdough discard recipes” for ideas of what to do with the extra growth. To be honest, I just use the whole amount now and don’t discard anything.

2. What are my daily habits? This is not going to be inspirational. But here are the things I do every day!

   1. Mornings: Skincare. Make and eat a big breakfast. Make and drink one iced latte. Wordle and a few other word games. Covet Fashion, where I make my daily outfit (and more, if my fashion house is in a rally… 🙃). Get dressed. Bible study sometimes - if I do it, it happens while I’m having breakfast. Respond to IG messages. Check FB memories.

   2. Throughout the day: Start laundry. Do dishes. Tidy up… constantly because of Charlie! Haha. REST, a few times a day. Cook, bake. Go outside at least a little bit every day. Listen to a podcast. Help get the kids to their rooms for evening room time (they hang out on their own for a while each night, before bedtime).

   3. Evenings: Once the kids are in their rooms, Cam and I hang out. We chat about the day, our plans for the next day, watch something together. Cam goes to bed before me, so once he’s out of there, I do a few more things: NYT crossword puzzle. Happy Color (a few pictures). Watch something or listen to a podcast or audiobook. Skincare. Check that all the doors are locked. Start dishwasher.

3. How often do you go on dates? We don’t, really. Probably a few times a year. But we do have daily chats. We’re always checking in with each other, and if something needs to be discussed, we do that when the kids have gone to bed. We do fun things together all the time, just not official dates. We live 40 minutes from town, so if someone comes out to watch the kids, it feels like we are just driving for pretty much the whole date.

   1. Communication is huge. We’re always talking about what’s going on, what’s bothering us, our wins and losses.

   2. Since he works from home, we’re with each other way more than most couples! We are closer now, in our marriage, than we’ve ever been (we’ll celebrate 13 years in August).

   3. I do think dating is important and am not downplaying it. I just don’t think a date has to look like getting dressed and going to a restaurant or something. I think you can date at home, too. We have lots of little special things we do that we look forward to, just at home! I’d love to hear your thoughts on this though! ❤️ When the kids are grown (and gone), I am confident we’ll have a solid relationship remaining; it’s not just about the kids, you know? I feel good about us. 🙂 

Kid favorites

I’ll get right to it! Here are a few things my kiddos are enjoying and using a lot right now.

Alexander

• IQ Digits (although he has just about the whole collection of IQ games and cycles through them! Digits is the current one he’s playing.)

• These little plastic building pieces. I found small tubes of them in the Target dollar spot a few years ago and bought 5-6 tubes. There’s no brand written on the actual pieces we have, so I’m not sure what brand we have; that item (pictured and linked) looks the same, though!

• Nintendo Switch: He’s played a few games over the years (Mario and Zelda, mostly), but right now he’s really into Mario Maker. He makes levels and likes playing levels other people have created.

Annabelle

• Ashlyn, her American Girl doll she got for Christmas. She dresses her up with clothes from other dolls. She really just likes all things make-believe; she’s got 20-or-so dolls (and animals), so I won’t link them all. I remember having a net in the corner of my room where I’d toss all my stuffed animals and dolls!

• Barbies - Half of her Barbies were mine when I was a kid, and the other half were Cameron’s cousin’s from when she was a kid. So we have never actually bought her a Barbie or Barbie accessory, I’m pretty sure!

• Sidewalk chalk - AB could stay outside all day if we let her; she loves playing in the sand or mud, playing in water, drawing on the concrete, blowing bubbles, riding her scooter. Anything outdoors. It’s great for her, but I’m NOT an outside person - luckily, Cam is, so he stays out there with her. And also, luckily, we have a large front yard and a house set far back from the road, so she can generally play safely by the house while I check on her every few minutes.

Charlie

• Floor puzzles (that ocean one is 48 pieces, which is his max right now)

• Wooden puzzles (those are 24 pieces - we only have the dinosaur and safari, but I could only find the 3-pack!)

• Toob animals - we probably have 20 different sets of the Toob animals that I’ve collected over the last 10 years. I like them because they have the full name of the animal (“sea turtle” or “painted turtle” and not just “turtle”) written on the bottoms (SO TINY, I literally need a magnifying glass for the frog set).

• Egg puzzle - It looks like the exact one we have is no longer made, but each egg has 3 different characteristics: a face on the inside/outside to match, a color inside, and a shape on the bottom to match to the box.

• Bubbles - He’s learned how to blow bubbles, but he also likes this little gadget that just makes a bubble storm.

• Melissa and Doug letter puzzles - He knows a handful of letters, but he likes all types of puzzles. This is perfect for him, to help with letter and letter sound recognition.

• Number Work: We have the set of these 4 books. There are also Letter Work, Map Work, and Shape Work. Each book has some sandpaper-y material to help the kiddo trace the numbers (or letters or shapes or whatever).

2 inspiring things I came across

This TikTok video! It starts off like this: “If you liked ‘this book’ as a child, you should read ‘this book’ as an adult. If you liked The American Girl Doll series, you should read anything written by Kristin Hannah.” And she just keeps going with more and more ideas. It got me excited to check out a few new authors and books!

Weekly meal plan

Here are some ideas for you to steal next week!

New breakfast idea:

The kids and I recently went to First Watch, a brunch place. I got something called the Elevated Egg Sandwich, and it was mind-blowing. So good. I went back a few days later and got myself another one. But it’s $13*. I decided to just make it at home! I did a price breakdown for one sandwich and it came to $2.64. Woo! I will explain how to make the sandwich and include the prices. *It also comes with a side of amazing potatoes! And I totally understand why a restaurant has to charge more than just the cost of food (overhead expenses, salaries, etc)!

• Brioche bun: $0.83

• Spread a little mayo ($0.06) and lemon juice ($0.10) on one side

• Spread some mashed avocado ($0.50) on the other side

• Lay some arugula ($0.15) on the bottom piece

• Meanwhile, cook up 1 piece of bacon ($0.30)

• In the bacon fat (or in a new pan), cook 1 egg ($0.50)

• Top the egg with shredded Gruyere cheese ($0.20)

• Place the bacon and cheesy egg on top of the arugula. Enjoy!

You CAN find cheaper eggs, and Gruyere can be very expensive. But overall, it’s a delicious sandwich… and much cheaper than $13. 🥰

Dinner ideas:

• Spaghetti - We typically use jarred sauce but mix in grated carrot, chopped mushroom, chopped spinach, etc - whatever we happen to have! We mix in the veggies and heat it on the stove to soften them. Depending on what the kids want, we’ll add in some cooked ground beef or turkey as well!

• Chipotle burrito bowls - I found a few copycat recipes on TikTok that were VERY good! Here’s what I found for beans, rice, and chicken. We topped ours with salsa, guac, and sour cream as well.

• Salmon cakes - I’ve made these many times - great recipe! This week, we paired them with creamy Brussels sprouts and oven fries.

• Chicken Pad Thai, noodle-free - This is a Whole30 recipe that’s excellent. We aren’t doing W30 right now, but this is a good one no matter what! BONUS: This makes for great leftovers.

• Bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin - Cam remembered this meal from our DC days, back when he cooked and I didn’t! He would make this meal occasionally, and it was always a hit. I don’t have a recipe for you, but there are hundreds online!

Round ligament pain

I mentioned on IG that, for the first time, I’m having round ligament pain! I didn’t experience this with the other pregnancies. It suuucks.

I got several suggestions from IG followers that I’ll share here too! I may leave something out because I did not take screenshots of the replies -face palm-

• Drink 1 Tbsp of olive oil at bedtime (via her midwife)

• Spinning Babies exercises (I took the class, may as well do the work!)

• Chiropractor

• Pelvic floor therapist (I contacted a local one, haven’t heard back)

• Cross your legs into a number 4, then press down on the knee that’s poking out

• Cat/cow

• Get on all 4s, then drop from hands to elbows (this is for relief)

• Focus on pelvic floor when sitting, standing, rolling over

• Wear a belly band (I’ve heard in the past that you can overdo this, and it can backfire… like your muscles get weaker because of the band, which makes things worse, so I’m wearing it occasionally!)

It’s been a week and a half of using these ideas, so I can say, it’s definitely gotten better. I also went to the chiropractor, and she helped with the tight muscles as well!

Until next time

If you want to see old emails, here’s a link to all of them!

I hope you and yours have a great week. Please let me know if you need anything from me: prayers or suggestions or encouragement or anything.

If you’d like to support me and my content, then here are two ways:

• My Amazon wish list! There are some baby-related items on there too. 🙂 My PO Box is still open, by the way!

  • Bethany King

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  • Shreveport LA 71148

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Much love,
Bethany