Happy Tuesday everyone! The youth center, on base, had a special for summer swim lessons this year. The lessons cost $25 per session. Each session is four weeks long with classes twice a week. We signed Jordyn up for the evening classes to be sure her Dad would be able to go with us most of the time. Although this was Jordyn’s first time taking official swim classes, by the second class, she looked like a natural. With only the help of floaties she was whizzing around the pool collecting toys, and taking “breaks” on the stairs. Read More
Special Olympics Montana: Spring Games 2017
The Special Olympics Montana Spring Games 2017 took place this past week on the University of Montana campus, in Missoula, MT. This is the first year I was able to go to the event with my team. Even though I have been coaching track and field for a few years I always had a scheduling conflict. This was also my first year coaching the adults (Purple Hornets) track and field team. We had such a great but exhausting time because we went non-stop for four days. Jordyn accompanied me for this trip too which quadrupled my level of tired. Ha! We took a charter bus to Missoula, MT for the games. It was Jordyn’s first time on a bus trip and she loved it. Between seeing the animals outside and movies playing on the bus, she loved every second.
Eden Bodyworks Kids Review
Natural hair has become so popular these days and it makes my heart so happy! I discovered Eden Bodyworks hair care products about a year ago and have been in love ever since. You can only imagine my excitement when I realized there was an Eden Bodyworks Kids line. I immediately knew I would have to give the products a try, and do an Eden Bodyworks Kids review. I have been natural since August of 2007. In the last two to three years, I have been consistent with maintaining a healthy natural hair care routine. When I first started my natural hair journey there were not many natural hair products out there for us natural girls to choose from. However, in the last few years we have seen a spike in hair products for natural hair women like myself.
When I had my daughter in June of 2014 I knew I would keep her hair natural. Unfortunately, there were even fewer natural hair products for babies and children. We started off using other well-known natural hair care products for babies and children, but they weren’t formulated specifically for Black hair, and didn’t give us the results we needed. I used the Eden Bodyworks Kids line on Jordyn’s hair for the first time and I loved them. The shampoo suds felt smooth and washed out easily.
The post wash detangler and leave in conditioner moisturized and defined her curls. Her curls held their shape even after I finished combing them out. She kept looking at herself in the mirror and saying “I like my curly hair.” We decided to put her hair in her “Minnie Mouse” puffs as we call them, and used the coco shea Berry Natural Smoothing Gel to keep her hair in place. Jordyn was so happy with her hair style. She even posed for pictures before bed!
The days following Jordyn’s hair wash and styling day, we used the coco shea Berry Curly Creme for re-moisturizing her curls. I sprayed her hair with a water bottle first to add moisture to the curls, and locked in the moisture with the creme. The coco shea Berry Natural Smoothing Gel is perfect for re-styling her hair throughout the week as well.
To those of you who have natural hair babies and children, I highly recommend the Eden Bodyworks Kids line. Hopefully you find this Eden Bodyworks Kids Review to be helpful in your search for the right product. These products are light, they smell amazing, and make doing your child’s hair a little bit easier. Jordyn and I are both Eden Bodyworks natural hair product users, and we couldn’t be happier with our hair!
Brie <3
Berry Smoothie Pops
Summer may be over a month away, but here in Montana, we’ve already had a few days of summer-like temperatures, and there couldn’t be a better time to eat a delicious, Berry Smoothie Pop! I take my little one to the park every day to run some of her energy off, and we always find ourselves coming back home looking for a delicious, quick, and more importantly, cold snack to eat. One of her favorite post park snacks is a fresh strawberry and blueberry mix. Have I mentioned how blessed I am to have a toddler who loves and eats fresh fruit like it’s candy? Read More
DIY Flower Hand Print
This past week, it has felt like Spring, here in Montana. The beautiful weather, the leaves growing on the trees, smells of BBQ around the neighborhood, etc. It has completely gotten me in the Spring mood which means it’s time for Spring decor in and around the house. I decided I wanted to add more of my little one’s artwork for decor around the house so we made a Spring craft last night. Read More
Jordyn Denise: 2 Years 7 Months
Today, Jordyn is technically 2 years and 7 months old, but she’s close enough to 6 month mark to round down and tell people she’s 2 and a half, right? Either way, we’re rolling with saying “2 and a half” until a month before her 3rd birthday. Ha!Read More
Pre-Vacation Tips & Tricks
I LOVE GOING ON VACATION. I would travel somewhere at least once a month if it were free to do so. In my world, going on vacation is the cure to all concerns and worries. It’s an opportunity to spend quality time with your loved ones, eat good food, and do some fun sightseeing, all while learning about new people, places, and things. I like to tell people I travel with purpose. There are a wide range of purposesRead More
Jordyn Denise: 2 Years 3 Months
If you weren’t able to tell by the cover photo of this blog post, Jordyn Denise, is still very much so a little person filled with enormous personality. LOL. Jordyn is 2 years and 3 months old, today. Or as she likes to tell people when they ask her how old she is: “I’m five.”Read More
Happy Mother’s Day 2016!
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wonderful mothers both near and far. Today, is easily one of my favorite holidays, because we learn each year, on this day, how mothers keep the world going. It’s the simple actions, gestures, and words of our mothers and mother figures, that help keep us on track and progress through everyday life. I have an even bigger appreciation for this day since becoming a mother in June 2014. There is an indescribable unconditional love that comes with motherhood and I couldn’t imagine my life without Jordyn and this love. I wish I could spend this day with my own mother and grandmother, but unfortunately, being a military family comes with some sacrifices, and living far away from family is one of them. I hope they enjoyed their day and they know how much we love them, and how thankful we are to have them in our lives.
Today, my husband got up with Jordyn this morning, and they both brought me beautiful and hilarious Mother’s Day cards. He also marinated some chicken breasts and grilled them along with some potato veggie packets for dinner. I must say…it was DELICIOUS. As he grilled, he played reggae music and Jordyn had a mini jamming session in between playing “fetch” with Ares in the backyard. He gave Jordyn her bath (although he does this most of the time anyway because he’s that awesome) and washed her hair, after she so graciously blew out her diaper for him. We started a Harry Potter marathon on Friday night, because we both LOVE Harry Potter, and we’ve continued it on throughout the day and evening, today.
In all of my happiness today I can’t help but think of all of the people I know who are celebrating their first Mother’s Day without their mothers, mother figures, and even children. I have kept all of you in my prayers and I pray it brought you some sense of comfort and peace. There is nobody on earth who can replace our loved ones, especially our mothers, and I hope you all know my heart is with you.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my Mother’s Day and I hope you all did too. I’m so thankful God chose me to be a mother but more importantly Jordyn Denise’s mother. Although Mother’s Day is amazing, remember to be thankful for your mothers every day, because there are many people out there who wish they had the opportunity. If nothing else be sure to tell your mother you love her. One day you will be beyond grateful you took the time to do so.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Brie <3
[05.08.16]
March Goals: Accomplished?
Hello everyone, and happy (third day of) April!
I’m sure most of you noticed it’s been well over two weeks since I have posted any content. I decided to take a last-minute break from blogging during the remainder of March due to life being pretty crazy busy. Between birthdays (happy belated blog shout out birthday to my awesome sister, Taylor!), Easter, Spring, friends visiting etc. March was a pretty crazy month. I did some serious deep Spring cleaning around the house while my husband was gone for a few days traveling for work. Even he came back home and almost didn’t recognize the house himself. Ha!
Easter sort of snuck up on me this year and I wasn’t even a little prepared for it. I wanted to make Jordyn’s Easter basket myself, but like I said before, I was completely unprepared and ended up buying her one. It came with a basketball (which she loves) and some cute head bands, so it could be worse. Our awesome friends, the Jones’, were in town this Easter, and we threw together some last-minute Easter activities for the kids and an Easter dinner for a group of our friends.
For the month of March I almost completed all of my monthly goals. I fell short by ONE goal, my cooking Periscope broadcast, but it went hand in hand with me taking a break from blogging for a bit. I will try to do two Periscope broadcasts for the month of April to make up for the missed broadcast last month, though. However, all of my other goals were completed and I’ll share them below :-):
Date Night:
Our babysitter was pretty busy between school and work in the month of March which means we had a family date night instead of just a date night with the hubby and I. We went one of our favorite restaurants in town, Bert & Ernie’s, and had a great time eating yummy food. Jordyn is always added entertainment when we are out and about haha.
New Recipe:
I saw this delicious meal floating around Facebook and decided to give it a try while we had friends in town. It was SO good. The only downside was the Facebook video had no instructions or measurements besides the ingredients listed on the video. So thankfully it turned out so good!
DIY Project/Jordyn Activity:
Jordyn and I did another “joint project” for the month of March. During my Spring cleaning of the house I noticed the upstairs bathroom had too much empty space on the wall. I went to Michaels the following day and Jordyn and I bought some canvases (they were a BOGO free sale too!) and created these masterpieces. Mine is on the left, Jordyn’s on the right, and in case you’re wondering: yes, Jordyn’s looks better LOL.
Twitter Chat:
As usual, I participated in the #blkcreatives Twitter chat in March, regarding multiple streams of income. Although I could not personally contribute to the conversation, I still followed along with the chat, because I’m sure it’ll be useful to me one day in the future. It never hurts to learn more before jumping into things.
Natural Hair Style:
I did bantu knots for my natural hair style in March and they did NOT turn out the way I wanted them to which is why it was put into the ponytail on the right haha. A for effort, right? I’m not sure what happened, but hopefully my April natural hair style turns out a lot better.
Nail Color:
For March I chose my only darker green color for the theme of St. Patty’s Day. I love the sparkle of this emerald-green color. The color is called “Here Today…Aragon Tomorrow Suede” by OPI.
New Book:
I finally jumped on the John Grisham bandwagon (20 years later) and LOVED this book. Talk about changing your life and perspective of everyday life for people who are fighting different battles than ours. I highly recommend this book be read by any and everyone because we as a society so easily judge those in different circumstances than ours.
Workout Reward:
I actually worked out 21 days of the 31 days in March and felt so accomplished. I’m also only 22 seconds away from my half mile goal time. Seeing results always motivates me to keep going. I believe it’s also safe to say after three consistent months of working out, 20 days plus per month, working out has officially become a habit. Yay!
The goals I don’t have pictures of for March are my husband love/Kris appreciation gift and my random act of kindness. For my kind gesture for my husband I bought him some new hookah flavors. He loves his hookah and figured I would get him a gift he wouldn’t expect me to buy for him. Needless to say: he loved it.
For my random act of kindness, while at Dairy Queen one night getting my Oreo and Heath blizzard (it is amazing) I paid for the meal of the car behind me. I hope whoever was in the car enjoyed their ice cream/meal and pay it forward to someone else out there.
I hope all of your small and large goals you aimed to accomplish for the month of March were accomplished. Sometimes it’s hard to stay on track and work towards our goals but we just have to remind ourselves why we do it in the first place. I will be back next month to update you on my prayerfully 100% accomplished goals for the month of April.
Happy Sunday everyone and I pray you have a great upcoming week!
Brie <3
[04.03.16]