A Mama's Feelings About The Pandemic

“Dad, I’m sorry I made new friends and wanted to play with them.”

-Reese Elisabeth. January 19, 2021

Unprovoked, not guilted, not shamed, not scolded. Just a girl who felt badly today when she rode her bike in the neighborhood and excitedly saw some girls close to her age.

F THIS PANDEMIC.

That’s how I feel. That’s how we feel. And I would bet it’s how YOU feel too.

How old are your kids? Reese is seven years old, Pierson is eight. And this is their childhood. When every day, we are reminded that the world around us is CRUMBLING, still, with the global pandemic. It’s been no one’s FAULT. A LOT of people have gotten sick, are sick, I will never poo poo that.

But right now, my heart hurts for kids. Asa grew up in a subdivision type neighborhood and remembers riding his bike ALL day with friends from all over it. Being outside for hours on end, running and playing….and since I grew up in the country and NOT in a neighborhood, I just remember playing with the cows next door and having ZERO issues. I’m kiddingggggg, I remember going to church every Sunday and playing with my best friends, and I have all the best memories of playing Barbie dolls, going for walks and just enjoying being a GIRL.

The past year? My kids were robbed of that. Will there be other times and moments for them to make friends? Sure. But read the quote at the start of this post again. “I’m sorry I made new friends and wanted to play with them.”

There’s really nothing I can do to FIX this. Both Asa and I are getting the covid vaccine soon (Asa on FRIDAY of this week); as teachers in a huge district and the need for these kids to GO back to in person classes, we believe it’s what is best. And you know what? I hope and pray that the ‘right amount’ of people will GET vaccinated, and that the spread will lessen insanely. I hope and pray my kids can run and play and be wild and crazy and play tag and hide and seek and ride bikes and go IN the houses of FRIENDS.

My sweet girl. The one I was so shocked and frankly upset to be pregnant with EIGHT years ago this week. She’s my warrior. My spitfire. My Spunky Brewster.

When Asa Glass kissed my forehead that day and said, “We’re going to have a baby,” little did he or WE know…how stinking BLESSED we would be. Oh how I remember those thoughts: I wasn’t ready to be pregnant AGAIN, or to have a baby AGAIN. And look at her now. Reese has big feelings (like her mama) and she has a huge heart. She’s an extrovert at large and thrives on relationships. Friends are her love language (like her daddy.)

Our kids, Y’all. They’re not perfect but man do they have hearts of gold! If you’re hurting for your kids lately, will you comment on this post? We are in this together, mamas (and daddies) and friends and family. Asa shared to his Twitter account how he was sad for Reese with her statement and he had two friends immediately respond: “It’s hard for a 39 year old.” “And a 37…”

It’s HARD! And I’m giving you a big, giant, smothered HUG right now!

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.” -Jeremiah 17:7

xx

Grab and Go Power Snack

I’ve heard such great things about ‘power bites’ but have never made them until now! I did a quick search on Pinterest actually, when we were going to spend a day on the boat. I was looking for an easy and homemade snack that I thought everyone could enjoy—and these were definitely a hit!

I’m sure there are so many ways to make these, but this recipe was from Like Mother Like Daughter’s blog page (and I believe she found it from another blogger too.) I have made these two times, the second time I just eye balled the ingredients (that’s how simple it is to make!) There are no eggs or flour and no added white sugar—sure, there are some m&m’s and mini chocolate chips, but still these are so much healthier than your average cookie. And the protein is a bonus for me, because I always need more of it :)

Here’s the easy peasy way to whip these up:
Add 1 1/4 cup of old fashioned oats, 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter, 1/4 cup of honey, and 1/3 cup of both mini m&m’s and mini chocolate chips into a bowl and stir it all up until combined. Then roll the mixture into small balls (I used a cookie dough scoop, about 1 to 1.5 inches in size.) Washing your hands in between to prevent all of it from sticking too much to them will help! Then place the bites onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and let it set in the fridge until solid/chilled. You can store these in an airtight container or a ziplock bag (which is what I do) and I leave ours in the fridge to stay nice and chilly.

The kids love them, I love them, and they take maybe 5 minutes to make so this is definitely a winning recipe in my book!

According to her website here are the nutrients: Calories: 102kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 34mg | Potassium: 62mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 14IU | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg

I would LOVE to hear if you make these and what YOU think! Comment on this blog post or tag me in your Instagram stories if you share!

HAPPY SNACKING!
xx

Our Top 5 (Louisville and Surrounding) Trails to Hike

Stores are shut down, restaurants, malls, heck even playgrounds and parks. The biggest way we are staying busy and HAPPY is honestly through a ton of outdoor time, and specifically hiking. Here are 5 of our favorite places that we frequently revisit and wander around with our sweet pup Emma:

1.) Garvin Brown Nature Preserve: a 46-acre nature preserve that is owned and preserved by River Fields.

Directions to Garvin Brown Preserve:
To access Garvin Brown Preserve, take River Road to Bass Road. Continue to Bass Road to Park Road. Park in the paved parking lot near Hays Kennedy Park's soccer field. Cross Hays Kennedy land for about 800 feet until you come to the small gate at the entrance of the preserve.

2.) Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve: Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve is a 170-acre non-profit nature preserve dedicated by Virginia Creasey Mahan and Howard Mahan to enrich the community through conservation, education, preservation, and community enjoyment.

Directions to Creasey Mahan: 12501 Harmony Landing Rd Goshen, Kentucky

3.) Tioga Falls: an interesting and scenic waterfall located near Louisville Kentucky. The hike to the falls is scenic and passes by some really awesome railroad trestles. The falls is best seen in the spring or after a good rain…when we went recently, the waterfall was absolutely beautiful! PS: this is where Asa asked me to his girlfriend a hundred or so years ago, so it’s pretty special to me!

Directions to Tioga Falls: West Point, Kentucky 40177 (Click here for their website)

4.) Wild Hyacinth Trail in the Parklands: Turkey Run Park inside the Parklands, has some of the most extensive collection of hiking trails. Just thirty minutes from downtown Louisville, you will not be disappointed when you land here for some outdoor time! Specifically the Wild Hyacinth Trail is right across the street from the Stout House, and as you walk, you surely will hear spring peepers, woodpeckers, and the sound of flowing water in the Turkey Run Creek. It’s about 1.5 miles and rated as moderate, and our kids and Emma traveled it without any issues at all. I can’t seem to find photos from this hike, so you’ll just have to trust me that it’s beautiful and worth it!

Directions to the Parklands: 1411 Beckley Creek Parkway (5.40 mi) Louisville, Kentucky 40245

5.) Elm Lick Trail at Bernheim Forest: this was a 5-mile hike that our family recently did with cousins and all our dogs! It is rated as difficult and it definitely had some challenging parts for us, going up and down some steep slopes, and taking around 2.5 hours to complete. You will come across the Elm Lick Watershed and see so many diverse landscapes. There are streams, grasslands, oak-hickory and beech-maple trees, and even an old homesite.

Directions to Bernheim Forest: 2075 Clermont Rd, Clermont, KY 40110

Overall the weather here in Louisville has been quite nice. A little on the chilly side, but nothing too cold. Some of the days we have bundled up in our fleeces or hoodies, but we always feel nice and warm once we get moving. It is SO easy to get bored and restless staying indoors…we can’t really hang out with friends or family indoors or host meals for people that we love. Honestly hiking has been a godsend for our family, and I will continue to share with you all on Instagram where we go! Definitely follow along in my stories there, weekly we are going outside and on family walks. I hope wherever you are you are staying well and ACTIVE!

How to Make your Own Play Dough + Add Essential Oils

We’re all in this together. Stuck at home. Unsure of what’s going on in the world. Trying to avoid spreading germs and keeping those at risk around us SAFE. So with that comes a LOT of time. Our kids are in first and second grade and they love school. Their teachers are phenomenal, and daily they were being challenged to excel and shine in their every day lessons. We know that while we may not be first and second grade specific teachers, that our kids are blessed to have TWO teacher parents, who are able to be hands on and attentive during this time at home. We do not take this lightly, nor do we take it for granted. Prayerfully, nor do they…

Today after their math and reading lessons we wanted to do a fun science activity. We have been talking a lot about using resources that we already have on hand at home, so when they recently realized that their own store bought Play-doh was pretty dried up, we were inspired to make our own. The kids were so intrigued and Y’all, this was SO easy!

Here is what you would need:

• 1 cup of water

• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (or I have read that vegetable or olive works)

• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar

• 1/2 cup of salt

• 1 cup of flour

• food coloring of choice + essential oils

You will mix everything together in a sauce pan on the stove over low/medium heat. For us it took less than two minutes to have it all stirred in and at that dough like consistency. We let it cool, then brought to the table to let the kids get started!

I saw this recipe from my friend Casey on Instagram, she is the QUEEN of DIY with her adorable girls and she is such a fun and totally real mama. (Check out her blog HERE!) Using Essential Oils to add to the homemade play-dough made this activity even more enjoyable for us as a family. We are treading through uncharted territories with this COVID-19 and stress levels can get quite high. Essential Oils in general tend to help support our emotions and today they definitely boosted our spirits AND made our house so delicious smelling. We used lemon, lavender, peppermint, and last minute I grabbed the ylang ylang to add to our pink play-dough.

Did you know that all of those oils have a huge variety of benefits when we use them!?
Lemon: refreshing, energizing, uplifting AND has anti-fungal properties
Lavender: also has anti-fungal and microbial properties, is calming, and uplifting
Peppermint: energizes, disinfects, largely energizing, and is a great oil to boost spirits
Ylang Ylang: “flower of flowers,” this one is a big mood enhancer and stress reducer and it smells heavenly!

We added about 5-10 drops of the chosen essential oil to each mound of play-doh, and overall, this activity was a WIN. The kids thanked us several times throughout the day for making it with them, they played with it super often, and the density and texture of the play-dough was spot on. Even if you don’t have kids, I still recommend making this. What a great sensory activity for you to do AT HOME, while you have a LOT of time on your hands. If you are local reading this and don’t have oils but would like to try them? E-mail or text me and I’m happy to gift you some samples. We can even practice our social distancing skills and I can leave them on the porch or in the mailbox for you ;) Seriously though. Need oils? Holler at your girl. And if you try this recipe, will you please tag me in any Instagram or Facebook posts/stories you may do!? Find me at Instagram here!

Praying for all of you, sincerely! Thanks for reading and browsing through these photos. As always, hit reply or contact me through this page.