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i got the call this morning at 5am that grey's school was going to have a snow day and like mothers round the county, I sighed and whispered to myself, 'oh boy, it's going to be a long day.'   there's something in the air on snow days, isn't there?  a particular kind of hay fever sprouts up and has the kids climbing the walls (in my case that's a literal statement). I sent some serious gratitude out there to the pinterest gods and goddesses (read: creative moms) who saved breakfast ( these delicious cinnamon/sugar cream cheese roll-ups that double bonus'ed me by using up some old hot dog buns that were headed for the bird food pile) and then saved the actual snow day with these Bingo sheets that had the kids all pumped about checking things off the list and required only one screen option (win!) As is only imaginable in a house filled with four siblings six years and younger, our snow day was filled with high pitched, decibel pushing:  shouting, laughi...

A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute Intentional Time Outdoors :  9hrs+ (of 1000 hrs) We had a beautiful day on Saturday and despite Violet's sick belly, we made it outside for a little while and I think the moving and fresh air did her some good to at the very least help her take an afternoon nap easier.  And the two big kids had a blast fishing with my parents in the unseasonably warm weather.  I racked up some outdoor time with my half marathon training miles over the weekend including my first ever 5 mile jog! (thank you to Uch & Kev for watching the babies so I had the time to get it in!) Reading still nothing but don't you worry - I watched all eight episodes of Stranger Things and loved the 80's feel flashback so much I can hardly wait for the next season. Mustering through a full on sick week at our house - The demogorgon of sicknesses has arrived in our house and infected six out of six of us in some shape or form (shout out fel...

We are starting our ninth year of our commitment to the 12 Months of Kindness Project and it's really become part of who we are as a family.  We try to choose kindness, patience, and empathy in all things we do throughout the year - but our #12mokp is a way for us to intentionally build out at least one kind act for each month of the year.  I have found that if you don't plan it ahead of time, the days just swallow you whole in the regular busy of life and you find yourself at the end of the year in a blink trying to remember where all the days went. Our 12 Months of Kindness Project gets its own dedicated page in our family yearbooks and the kids ask regularly when we will do certain things again.  We love that our kids are learning first hand that being nice can be easy and makes you feel good....That we get to choose to be nice in all situations - it's up to us! Over the last few weeks, the kids and I have talked about some of our favorite kind acts we've done in the...

A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute. Intentional Outdoor Hours :  5+ hrs (of 1000) While in North Carolina on our weekend visit, we were lucky to spend a few hours outside on a nice long walk around the neighborhood and some playtime in the yard.  Gosh, the sunshine on our faces and the grown up chatting with my best friends (and snacking on Girl Scout cookies!) did some serious cup filling to my soul.  Also, my half marathon training began this week with three miles on Tuesday and Thursday with some yard laps.  Thanks to the Running Gods, both days were pleasant running weather in the high 40s & low 50's!  The training is going okay, but three miles is about my max at this point (I think I could probably crank out four if I had to right now), and honestly the thought of all thirteen miles in only three months is still quite terrifying (life threatening?! ha).  I'll get there, little at a time. Reading nothing this w...

A New iPhone keeps Restarting? If you got a new iPhone recently and are eligible for replacement without burning a hole in your pocket, the first thing that you do when you are stuck with an iPhone that keeps rebooting, shutting off or freezing is to head to the store and see if you can get it replaced. Older Models, Out of Replacement Period etc. For the rest of the crowd that isn’t as lucky, continue reading the article. My iPhone keeps restarting! What do I do? We noted that this problem occurs predominantly in bit older iPhones i.e. iPhone 4s, 5, 5c, 5s models that upgrade to iOS 8 or later. Many readers also reported that  iPhone 6 and 6 Plus reboot randomly  after upgrading to  iOS 9 . My first reaction was – must be a hardware-software incompatibility issue. But wait. Apple isn’t Android. They know what they’re doing and iPhone 4s does run iOS 8 smoothly. Well, that’s not the point anyway. We’re trying to fix an issue here so here are the ways, in which you can try...

Nowadays iPhone is becoming more and more fashionable and popular. Sometimes we will use the iPhone exchange information by SMS. Therefore the information SMS contains plays an indispensable role in our life. But what if sometimes you may lost the SMS, such as deleted by accident, failed to jailbreak your iPhone device; failed to upgrade; iPhone was lost or stolen. This situation can cause your worry and panic because some messages in your iPhone 5S are so important to you.This is a common situation which is happened here and there in the daily life. And some people say it is no way to restore text messages on your iPhone device. In fact, there's a way to  retrieve deleted SMS from iPhone 6S/6S Plus/6/6 Plus/5S/5/4S/4/3GS . But you need to find a reliable yet professional tool to help you. Coolmuster  Data Recovery for iPhone iPad iPod  (Windows Version) is a professional recovery tool, which enables users to find back lost or deleted text messages, photos, videos,  ...

I set out a goal of reaching 1000 hours outdoors in 2015 and after giving it a good effort (although, if I'm being honest, not a great effort), I accumulated over 510 hours counted that we unplugged and got outside.  And despite a small defeating feeling from last year's attempt, I'm going for it again this year.  If for any reason, you've been asking yourself why am I doing this at all - here's both a rationale and a recap from last year's effort that will hopefully shed some light on why I'm doing it (and inspire you to try to be better at outdoor time too).  I wrote a little about my immediate reflections last year in April  about how being outside was making me feel more calm and seemed to enhance our quality family time (but was also a lot more difficult to rack up the hours than I initially thought). I was originally inspired by Ginny who runs the  1000hoursoutside instagram account .  At about the same time, I had read  The Winter of our Disconn...

A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home these past two weeks. Intentional Outdoor Time : 1.5 hrs (of 1000) Got in two walks/jogs this week while the sun was still shining.  The dogs and I got out solo one afternoon and on our way back home, Bullet sniffed over in a pile of some grass which ended up being a coyote trap.  It caught him right in the paw and I had to call Brandon at home to run back to the trail to help him get out.  Bullet is fine and was walking on his pinched paw by the time we got home...and actually, it's not his first time in a coyote trap. Crying like the emotional big cousin that I am at our cousin Kara's bridal shower on New Years Eve day.  The girls (and Rusty!) were in attendance as her flower girls and I walked around snapping photos of the beautiful space and the gorgeous bride.  It was such a thoughtful and perfect bridal shower and there were so many personal touches that I seriously had to stop myself from flat out sobbing...