Hello and happy Friday! We are headed to South Carolina after Hailey’s Synthesis class this morning. We’re visiting David’s parents and really looking forward to it. I didn’t mean to completely drop off this week after Monday’s post but it served me well to have my full attention put towards our first week of school. Speaking off, let’s dive right into this week’s FIVE…

Gather Round: Initial Thoughts

We just completed our first week of school! As far as timing, I feel confident that we picked the right time. It’s so hot and humid outside now that unless they’re in the water, the girls want to be inside. Why not learn something at the same time?!

The focus on space has been great, especially with the nicely times release of the new James Webb telescope images. Mind blowing, right?! The Gather ‘Round set up itself though, I’m still getting a feel for. I really like the lessons, but the notebook work isn’t completely winning me over yet. Some of it feels like busy work and other parts of it doesn’t feel like quite enough on a skill. Some aspects though are engaging and fun, like making sundials! I’ve heard some of the more recent releases have more engaging notebook portions so I’ll look forward to seeing how space compares to future units.

Overall though, we are enjoying it; especially the learning together and themed aspect. I’m just trying to figure out how to make it work with the other curricula I want to use (continuing IEW SSS for Hailey, All About Spelling for Kaitlyn, etc). Right now I’m thinking we will complete a unit (which average 4-5 weeks) then take 2 weeks to focus on the other curricula before beginning our next unit. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Bowls: for breakfast, dinner, and all the meals!

What is the current obsession with bowls? Is it just that so many meals are component based now so everything together with a sauce to tie it together just works so well? Or did CAVA and Chipotle make us realize that piling everything on top of each other just tastes superior? Whatever the reason I don’t see myself kicking this trend of savory breakfast bowls or burger bowls or any other bowls at any point soon. 95% of my meals this week have been in bowl form. Roasting potatoes for dinner then having the leftovers to use for breakfast is my favorite.

Feed NC Tour

On Wednesday the kids and I took a tour of the Feed NC facility. I thought I had a fairly good idea on what to expect but was blown away at the number of programs and initiatives they offer for the local community. We’ve been financial donors for a couple years but I’m looking forward to getting more hands on and involved. Once kids are 11, they can volunteer in person alongside a parent, so Hailey and I will definitely be looking for opportunities to do that after September.

Seeing how the operation works was impressive and I got chills more than once hearing about the power of local community and how we can come together to really help people. The pantry of course, but also daily lunch and dinner, grocery drop off, work programs, and more.

I learned that the items they are often most in need of dog food, cat food, and feminine hygiene products, that volunteer drop off can be quite steep in January and February, and that the number of families in need of their services has doubled in the past year with inflation.

We learned a lot and left jazzed up about more ways we can get involved. The best part was seeing the girls’ wheels spinning. They wanted to know if they could gather donations and were brainstorming ways to do so. Getting them involved with giving back is a priority of ours and I look forward to embarking on this journey together.

Joy Organics Biggest Sale of the Year

Joy Organics is offering their biggest sale of the year, 30% off sitewide! It begins today and runs through Wednesday so take advantage of it on the sooner side, because undoubtedly some items will sell out. Use the code YOURJOY to receive the discount.

The CBD gummies are always the crowd favorite and now they even offer SLEEP gummies! This might be more controversial, but since I do know people who use this for medicinal purposes, they also now offer Delta 8 gummies. These will give you a slight buzz, unlike the other CBD only products.

Personally I’m still partial to the CBD soft gels. For more info you can read my breakdown of CBD delivery methods and how to choose the best one for yourself and how it helped me through hard times.

Disney and Universal Prep

Ahh our magic bands arrived and we are just weeks away from our family trip to Disney and Universal. We’ve had some experience with Disney- first a Disney cruise when the kids were 4 years old and almost 2 years old, then Disney World, staying at The Polynesian, when the kids were 6 and 3 years old, and Disney World in 2019 for Halloween when the girls were 8 and 5 years old.

This trip will be extra special because we are going with Nana, Uncle Stat, Aunt Cara, Kyla, and Lacey. Being able to experience the magic together is going to be so cool, but the weather is going to be SO hot. Some prep I’ve done for this trip:

• Rented a single BOB stroller from Kingdom Strollers to serve as a place to hold all our stuff and as a rest spot if needed for the littles, K (8) and Lacey (6).
• Bought these compression packing cubes. Even though we are driving, we always pack in carry on luggage for travel and I feel like these will help maximize our space.
• Bought these collapsible water bottles. Different from Disney, I’ve heard they require you to put stuff in lockers before each ride. In hopes to skip this, we are using fanny packs only for our day at Universal, so these will be great to pack in our fanny packs, fill up at the water stations as needed, then roll them back up.
• Packed these cooling towels because Orlando in the peak of summer is bound to melt us; we are trying to prepare as much as we can.
• Walked through our plans, from rope drop to Genie+ to lightning lanes and virtual queues with Christen, my college bestie who is an absolutely Disney expert. I’m so grateful for her guidance because I feel SO prepared now that I know exactly where to go, how to get there, etc. Sounds more stressful, but having a plan actually makes me feel much more relaxed about the whole thing.

Questions for ya…

1. Any tips or advice for Disney and/or Universal?
2. What would be more fun/helpful to read- a recap of our trip or best tips/tricks we learned?
3. I’m working on my list of blog topics; do you have any suggestions? If you have anything you think would be a fun post idea, please send it my way.
4. Have a wonderful weekend; thank you for stopping by and checking in! <3