3 Tips To Find Time Together After Kids

Hi Foxy Friends! Today my friends Dara, Adrienne, Lauren, Ashley, and Sarita are hosting a new link up called Not Just A Mom. I love this, because sometimes we forget that we were people before our kids. Today's topic is how we fit in date nights.

| TIP 1 | Make it a priority - Stop Making Excuses

I feel like so many times people make excuses why they can't go out for example: the kids are too young, they might miss me, I have mommy guilt.  Stop with the excuses and remember why you are with your partner and you were humans before the kids came who went out, probably on a regular basis. Don't have a sitter? Find a friend, do a kid swap. Not comfortable with doing that at night, do a day date. Just stop making the excuses and go out, you'll be happy you got some you time, and you'll be a happier couple, which in turn your kids will be happy and healthy becuase your relationship is too.

Something that might interest you: How To Deal With Mommy Guilt

| TIP 2 | Schedule It!

If you don't schedule it it won't happen. We usually have to schedule it a month or so in advance. Yes it takes a while to do it, but we get it on the schedule so other things don't get in the way. If it's on the calendar, and someone asks us to do something, we say we're busy. If it's not scheduled then it's not going to happen. Trust me, sometimes we go months without going on an actualy date. Sometimes we'll find a day when both of our schedules at work are non busy and we'll go to lunch together, and sometimes we just plan a date when both kids are in school, so we don't have to worry about finding a sitter. Yes you have to take a day off work, but sometimes it's worth it.

| TIP 3 | Does not have to involve going out

Most times we are super busy with sports schedules and what not. But we find time almost EVERY night to spend time with just us. We put the kids to bed, and usually if kitchen clean up hasn't happened before then we do it together. It goes so much faster with the two of us, we do kitchen clean up and lunch making together. Then we head to watch one show before bed. Yes this happens almost every night. No I don't get as much sleep as I probably should, but it's worth it to me to get 30 minutes less sleep to have time with Mr. each night. I really do think this makes our relationship stronger, we go to bed at the same time, we have the same schedule. No one is staying up while the other goes to bed (unless one of us is sick). We have time to chat a bit while getting ready for bed and go over the day and what is happening the next day.

So what do you do to fit in Date Nights with your partner?

Currently - February

Hello Foxy Friends! I'm finally remember to link up with Anne from Anne In Residence...she gives us 5 prompts to follow each month, this month is loving, embracing, tasting, wearing, and preparing. So here it goes:


Loving:

I'm loving the that kids are finding new things that they love. She loves all animals and horse riding days are her absolute favorite day.

This kid has recently discovered flag football and loves it. This is his first game, first touch town...he was an awesome play.

Embracing:

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Hmm....embracing the fact that I want to be organized, but am not an organized person. If someone organizes for me and tells me where to put things, I'll keep putting them back. But if they have no home in my house, then it just sits on a table somewhere and stays there until I can find somewhere to put it or Mr. puts it somewhere. Hence why I bought this set of drawers. My desk is a mess, so I thought if I had somewhere to put the over flow make up and beauty storage it wouldn't sit ontop of my desk...so far I'm 3 days into trying to build it...it's not easy man! Okay it's easy, but the directions are not great, and I ended up putting 10 railings on backwards...so that will be a problem to tackle today. I'll keep you posted.

Tasting:

All the vegan things? Actually, not really, but we tried a few things on a whim. I made these beefless strips in a Veggie Stir Fry. Just to let you know, they go from cooked to burnt in 2.5 seconds, so if you're making them, make sure to watch it. I cooked these, took them out then cooked the veggies, then added them back and used the sauce that came with the beefless tips. It was good, but had a lot of carbs in it.

This one has less carbs, so next time I would make it with this instead.

We also tried the Impossible Burger, and we decided if you were Vegan it would be an amazing find. It has the texture of a burger and tasted pretty good. But we all decided we would choose real beef over this one. But I would be super excited to have a good vegetarian/vegan burger to eat if I didn't eat meat.

Wearing:

I'm sure you guys are so done seeing this, but I can't stop talking about it. This sweater is on repeat right now, and I don't want warm weather to come so I can keep wearing it. Mini Fox keeps trying to steal it, she has it on backwards.

Preparing:

We're going on a trip next week and I really need to start preparing for it. It's going to be cold, and I'm not sure what the kids are going to wear yet...yikes! Also need to get the kids Valentine's Day cards together. They're going to miss their Valentine's Day stuff at school, but both kids still wanted to participate in the festivities at school. Valentine's Day just sort of snuck up on me, and I feel not ready! Which reminds me, if you have some time, you can make this Valentine's Day Robot for your kids, this really only works for a smaller class size though.

Pin here: http://bit.ly/2B5uR4K

Post here: http://bit.ly/1nNyciu

Sentence A Day: January Edition

Hi Foxy Friends! Yep, we're continuing on with Sentence a Day! Thank you Rebecca Jo for starting this, it's such a neat way to document life. Also thank you Leslie for always sending out the reminders.

1 - Much needed lazy day, but did get a workout in, thanks for being open Gym.

2 - Mini Fox's first horseback riding lesson of the year, Christmas gift, which is only 2 months, then soccer starts.

3 - Power went out yesterday and finally came back on today, but had to throw out the stuff in the fridge, guess that's our new year cleanse, now to start fresh! #silverlining

4 - Busy day, switched kids with friends last night, so we did the kid exchange at the gym, I worked out, then did a family workout with the kids hosted by the gym, then did the rock wall, followed by Costco and then a bunch of household stuff and a nap.

5 - Baby Fox had a busy day of sports, baseball tryouts, followed by football practice, he rocked both of them.

6 - Gym time with the girl while Mr. took Baby Fox to piano.

7 - Happy to be back in a normal routine, but the wake up time is KILLING ME!

8 - Great workout tonight, and Chick-Fil-A is getting rid of my favorite wrap..I'm so sad! Update: see day 15.

9 -Mini Fox's horseback riding lesson and suddenly starts pouring, that was NOT in the forecast!

10 -Baby Fox's first football game and he scored a touchdown, so proud of him!

11 - We had no plans, which means hanging out as a family, doing a few errands and movie watching (Cloud 9, on Disney+, both kids loved it).

12 - Church, followed by seeing Blue Man Group then impromptu dinner, crafting and football watching at a friends house, which starting the 3 days cleanse today was a mistake, the food looked so good!

13 - 2nd day of 3 day cleanse...this is the day I always ask myself why?

14 - Made it to the last day of the cleanse and walked on the treadmill, no HIIT workout today, but walking is better than nothing right?

15 -Back to my favorite workout class and they didn't get rid of my favorite Chick-Fil-A wrap, woo hoo!

16 - Mini Fox's riding lesson got cancelled boo, but finally got some yummy food after my 3 day cleanse, which probably negated all of the work I did, but worth it!

17 - Great Wolf Lodge here we come!

18 - Had a great time with cousins at Great Wolf Lodge, and the miniature golf game was epic.

19 - Finally finishing up cleaning up Christmas, don't judge.

20 - Kids and Mr. went to a food bank on their day off to pack lunches for a couple of hours, while I was at work.

21 - Baby Fox woke up at 3am this morning, lost his tooth in his sleep, he was hoping to lose it at school today, was eating soft foods all weekend, but he lost it 5 hours too early!

22 - Two sick kids home from school...uh oh, hope they recover quickly!

23 - Baby Fox is all better and back to school, Mini Fox not so much.

24 - Another missed day of school for Mini Fox, and off to the doctors we went, to have them tell us it's a virus and it needs to run it's course.

25 - MIL flew in for Baby Fox's first piano recital, he did such a great job!

26 - Mini Fox is still sick...hopefully she's better tomorrow, will she ever get better?! P.S. I'm sick.

27 - Hurray, she finally woke up with no fever, hopefully we are over the hump and on our way to recovery!

28 - And that was nope, doc called and said her strep B test came back positive (oops, sent her to school because she had no fever and was feeling good), off to the pharmacy to get antibiotics before my MNO.

29 - Went to urgent care for myself, I have a sinus infection and bronchitis, on antibiotics and steroids, but I'm not contagious so MNO, yep again, here I come!

30 -Mr. took Mini Fox to horseback riding today, she did so much, it's amazing how much she's grown in the last month.

31 - Busy day, made soup for Souper Appreciation for the teachers at the kids school, donated a bunch of stuffed animals unbeknownst to the kids, got that out of the house quick, then watch Baby Fox at his football game, he rocked it and caught both passes that were thrown to him.

It's only February 4th, join us next month on the first Tuesday and link up your sentence a day!

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Click here to enter

Prime Purchases

Today I'm linking up to Tayna For Prime Purchases. I love seeing what everyone is buying on Amazon, and then seeing if I NEED that item too. Click here to see my past purchases. Okay let's get started!

*Some of the links are affiliate links and I will  either receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you click on it or if you make a purchase from one of these links, I may also receive a commission on the sale of the product. Click here for my disclosure page.

Okay this is a silly one, but I ALWAYS have 5x7 folding blank cards on hand. It's a great thing to have on hand for last minute cards and I want them blank so that the kids can draw in them of course. Lately Baby Fox only like to write in them, and Mini Fox loves to draw, so she'll doodle all over the place. People just love getting homemade cards. Cause let's face it most people throw away the cards (minus me, I keep them all), so why spend $5 on a card, when homemade cards are even better.

I bought this to go under my desk. I don't actually use my desk as a desk, rather as a background for my YouTube videos, and the part where your legs go? It's becoming my overflow for extras. Extra make up, extra beauty products. I'm tired of seeing it stacking in boxes, and then having to undo it all to find what I need, so I'm hoping this works out better. It was hard to find something like this that would fit exactly under my desk...fingers crossed it works, it should arrive tomorrow.

These LED nightlights are amazing. We get the cool white ones and boy are they bright. Both of my kids have them in their rooms, and I like that we're not wasting electricity because LED and it goes off when the lights are on. Perfect. Good for guest bathrooms too, because they are so bright.

I got this handle to go with my Faux-Pro (I don't have a GoPro, but a much cheaper $50 one and it works great!) The handle is light weight and under $15. Plus the handle is hollow and waterproof so you could stick money in there if you needed to. I know that it said you could put water in there so that it balances out the buoyancy and it just sits in the water, else it floats to the top.

I wanted to find a different sticky bra, so I'm going to try these out. I haven't had a chance to try them yet, but will let you know if it's a must buy.

I love this sweater, I think this is the perfect for Spring transition, warm enough for the cooler Spring mornings

I am sure you are tired of seeing this sweater, but I can't help but tell you that you NEED this warm soft hug of a sweater. It also comes in buffalo plaid and black base. I want them all, I want to wear it all the time, it's so soft and cuddly.

Alright, what have you guys been buying lately?