kapachino

Category: personal

  • around here

    liam sick

    This feels like the longest week ever, anyone else? For me, combine hormones (ahem) with the constant rain & storms, this sick child who has had a fever for almost two weeks, plus two other stressful & emotional things I can tell you more about soon, and I am just ready for some sunshine, rest, and good news.

    I’m waving my white flag where the blog is concerned, and I will be back next week or the week after. In the meantime, find me on Instagram and send some prayers our way! Thanks friends, have a lovely weekend!

  • non-candy easter basket ideas

    Did you know that Lent is already halfway over? My spending freeze is going pretty well (only a few small infractions, mostly kid-related) and my new daily practice of reading the Bible every day has been wonderful, thanks to an app with a reading plan + devotional that I love.

    Currently, I’m not sure how I’m going to handle Easter with my kiddos. I’m vacillating between staying strict on the spending freeze to include not making extra purchases for them, and another of my goals for this year which is to celebrate more holidays at home, especially relating to the church calendar.

    Of course we do celebrate Easter already – we go to church and do an egg hunt there and with the cousins, as well as having an extended family meal – but I also like the idea of having a special breakfast at home with small baskets ready for them to discover a few well-chosen gifts inside. So while I don’t know yet if I’ll be making any extra purchases this year, I’ve put together some ideas for you of the kinds of things I’m thinking of for this spring celebration.

    non candy easter basket ideas

    1 – The One Year Devotions for Preschoolers – My mom got this for Meredith for Christmas and it’s so perfect for her age. Each devotion has a cute picture, a short and sweet message, a Bible verse, and prayer. I highly recommend it, especially if you want to give a gift that has a spiritual focus.

    2 – Wildly Co. clothing – A good excuse to buy a piece of ethically-made, classic clothing for spring!

    3 – Rain boots – As we enter the rainy season it’s a good idea to get a new pair of these. Tip: stalk ThredUp for the best deal.

    4 – Crayola Sidewalk Chalk – This stuff is the best, and Easter is a perfect time to refresh your stash.

    5 – Mini Madre Beads – Meredith wants all of these, but especially the unicorn one. ;)

    6 – Resurrection eggs – Are these a little cheesy? Yes. But they tell the story of Jesus and would be a fun activity for the kids to do as well as filling up their baskets.

    7 – Potted plant – One idea is to help them plant it, or just let them take care of it. And I like the idea of doing an aloe vera plant, because it has healing properties (so you could tie it in to a mini-lesson about Jesus being our healer). They are also very hardy, so bonus!

    8 – Stamps – My kids really don’t get tired of these cheap little stamps. And they are so cute.

    I’d love to know what you’re planning on doing for your kids for Easter. Or how did you celebrate growing up? My parents didn’t buy us non-candy stuff every year, but I remember being so pleased whenever those extra treats did show up.

  • welcome to my inner monologue

    Death_to_stock_Marzocco_Coffee_5

    I recently saw this picture of a drawing of what’s on one mom’s mind and thought YES. So this morning as I got ready for work I literally recorded my thoughts on the voice app in my phone, and transcribed them for you. I could have kept going and going but I had to cut myself off somewhere. Welcome to the madness:

    Should I join a yoga studio? Do the kids watch too much TV? Should I have another baby? Should we get bunk beds for the kids? Should we get them from IKEA? When should we buy them? Should I wait until after my Lent spending freeze? Or wait until Meredith’s 5th birthday? How will I get them to sleep in their own beds all night? I’m definitely going to paint the living room white. Should I do that now and a little bit at a time? Or should I wait until after I finish decorating my room and the kids’ room? How do you paint wood paneling? I need to look that up.

    Should I blog today? How am I going to find time to write? Gosh I wish the kids would go to bed on their own so I could have time with David afterwards, or time to write, or whatever. Ooh, I really need to finish Bel Canto by this weekend. It’s so good. I picture the opera singer as Sharleen Joynt from The Bachelor. I wish I could watch The Bachelor with David again.

    If I’m going to have a baby, then this is a good year to do it. I’m already 34 and I wouldn’t be high risk yet. Should it be our last baby? Should we even have one? I have two siblings, David has two siblings. Three seems like a good number, but then there’s a middle child. It’s going to be a scheduled C-section. She could fix my scar.

    What are we going to have for dinner tonight? Oh yeah, we still have a lot of leftovers. Good. Hmm I’m almost out of my tinted moisturizer. Maybe I should have a Facebook Beautycounter party and get some more through that. I really need to trim my nails. I’m so glad we got the cats, the kids love them. Meredith is so cute with Ziggy. Even though the litter is really annoying. I really want a Litter Robot. But I also really want a new couch and chair for the living room. But I also really want to pay off our debt as fast as we can. If we have another baby that means more daycare costs. But Meredith IS going to kindergarten next year, so that will save us some. I wonder when kindergarten registration is? If I have another baby, what hospital would I deliver at?

    Ooh, yoga is today, can’t forget my clothes. Today is the last yoga class with my favorite teacher. I wonder if it would be worth the money to join a studio? Or maybe I should figure out a different way to exercise. I’ve got to get back in shape. How am I going to do that, plus work and read and craft and blog? I wish I could put more effort into that stuff. Maybe I should try the 21 day fix. I need to make a plan.

    I’ve GOT to get to work on time, I need all the hours I can get. Gosh mornings are hard, and they used to be my favorite. I wonder how busy work is going to be today? Are we going to be able to get an IV in that guy? He’s a really hard stick. Tomorrow I’m probably going to have to audit charts again. At least I hope they have work for me. I wish I could afford to work part-time. There’s so much creatively and at home that I want to do. What am I thinking, wanting to have another baby?

    It’s exhausting to be me. Can anyone relate??

  • five on friday

    Hi friends! I’ve had a busy week at work and home so instead of compiling links I decided I’d just pop in and share a few personal things with you before we head into the weekend.

    parenting

    one

    I have noticed lately that my patience with the kids has really improved. If you don’t know, my kids have been historically pretty intense with some strong tantrums. I want to report that they have definitely decreased in frequency, and when they do happen I rarely lose my cool anymore. I’m not saying that I’ve figured things out; I would guess that if the tantrums were happening every day again that I would struggle. But right now parenthood feels good.

    yoga

    two

    For the last couple of months I’ve been doing pretty well making small changes to my fitness & diet. I’m feeling ready to be even more active, though. I just found out that the yoga class I attend at my work gym is being cancelled, which is super sad because it’s one of the only exercises I really enjoy. So now I’m seriously considering joining a studio! I would also like to get back to running short distances. Or maybe I should try doing videos at home again? They don’t usually work for me (I slack off or just don’t do them) but I want to find something sustainable that I enjoy.

    clay

    three

    The Crafter’s Box has been one of my favorite new things this year. February’s craft was making marbled clay planters and I discovered that clay is definitely NOT my craft. But it was so fun to play with! Can’t wait to share my finished product with you eventually. In other crafting updates, my mom and I set up a standing monthly craft date for a Sunday afternoon. She is working on a giant crocheted blanket for me, and I want to practice my knitting.

    jeans

    four

    I’m only a little over a week into my spending freeze but already it has been so freeing! Sure there are still some things I want to buy, but this is really giving me the chance to think about some intentional future purchases. I’m decluttering my closet and my home even more so that I know what I will actually wear, use, and love. For example, a couple of weeks ago I purchased multiple pairs of jeans but ended up returning almost all of them. I really feel like I have a good idea of the style and fit that I’m going for, and I have my eye on a couple of brands that seem promising.

    blue sky

    five

    The weather has been absolutely GORGEOUS here lately and we have been taking all the walks we can. I only wish it wasn’t still getting dark so early!

    For more consistent personal updates, follow me on Instagram where you can find me most days! I’m also randomly active on Snapchat; you can find me at kapachinoblog. And I’m pretty proud of my Pinterest boards, if I may say so. ;)

  • lent

    ash wednesday

    I don’t come from a liturgical church background, but this year I am observing Lent along with other church holy days. As I get older and discover more about myself and my personality (ISFJ) I have realized that traditions, holidays, liturgy, and observances really inspire me. I’m leaning in to that and hoping to bring it into my home as well.

    I thought and thought about how I should personally observe Lent. Some things I considered giving up were sweets, social media of some form, caffeine (that was just a passing thought), and TV. I also thought about adding in some things: exercise, family time/activities, Bible study.

    This is what I settled on: I am going to do daily Bible readings from the Book of Common Prayer, and I am going on a personal spending freeze.

    The thing I wanted to change most was to have daily Bible study time. I am currently doing one with my church, but it is too in-depth for me to find time for it every single day like I want to. But just because our sleeping situation is less than ideal and I’m not able to wake up before my kids, that doesn’t mean I can’t find time to read a short Scripture passage and say a prayer. Instead of choosing a daily devotional, I’ve chosen to follow the Book of Common Prayer because I want to feel connected to the Church.

    I also wanted to make some sort of sacrifice and give something up. I decided to give up all personal money spending for a few reasons. For one thing, I’ve just spent too much lately. It hasn’t been frivolous; I have been buying some high quality clothing items that will be a great help to me, for example. But as I’ve been spending, it becomes easier and easier to spend, and I noticed my attitude trending toward the needing of certain things to feel adequate. So I’m cutting myself off!

    A few exceptions: I’m allowed to use gift cards, or replace any empty toiletries or essential makeup items. But that’s it. I’m not going to be buying extra things for the kids either, but this is not a family spending freeze.

    I’d love to hear about your relationship with Lent, if you observe it and how, if you’d like to share!