Friday Thoughts
It’s been a while, but I’m pretty excited to be popping back in with a Friday Thoughts post (they’re my favorite because of YOUR comments). I have a lot on my mind. Like, a lot, a lot.
And I’m excited to get your feedback and thoughts on all my rambly venting today. 🙂
All the other past Friday Thoughts posts here.
1) Family Vacation: I need your help! This resident homebody needs to know: what is the best family vacation you’ve ever taken? To where? And why? (I’m gathering some highly scientific data to present to Brian next week, so thanks in advance.)
2) Sunday Dinner Assignments: Last fall I realized weeknights were not working when it came to teaching my kids how to cook. Too busy. Too noisy. Too distracting. Too stressful. Too much controlling OCD (ahem, taking full ownership for that one).
So we switched the system up a bit, and I can’t believe how well it is working. I love it! The kids love it! And honestly, they have totally shocked me and Brian with their rock star cooking abilities.
I call it Sunday Dinner Assignments. Super clever and catchy, huh? Gosh, I’m a marketing wizard.
How it’s working so far: I plan out a simple menu for Sunday night and assign one of the kids for each section. This involves a super high tech system of writing the menu on a post it note with one of the kid’s names next to each section.
Usually it’s a main dish, homemade bread or rolls of some sort, a side dish or two, and dessert. And in most cases, I let them choose the specific recipe they want to make (within reason and with approval).
I don’t put myself on the rotation. The kids execute the whole meal AND they are responsible for washing the dishes for their recipe. My role is to not helicopter and just answer questions and step in if they ask for help.
Yes, it’s a bit chaotic and messy; they try and work together to plan out oven usage and stagger the prep/cooking times so there are only a couple of them in the kitchen at a time.
The best part is seeing how excited they are to tell Brian which dish they made when we sit down to dinner. Of course we have had quite a few spills (including a whole bucket of honey) and arguments about who gets to use the favorite whisk first (that one ended in tears + at least one bruise)…and there have even been a few times where something was…um…slightly inedible.
But the learning process has been invaluable. Each one of the boys has made homemade rolls (or this buttery bundt bread is a fave choice) at least twice by themselves, and let me tell you, if they do nothing else in their lives, I’m going to hang on to some mom pride over this accomplishment.
They are all used to the system now and ask me on Saturday night if I know what their assignment will be yet. I’m sure this Sunday Dinner Assignments thing will go through several variations as we stick with it, but it’s working pretty great right now.
In the interest of full disclosure, about every fourth or fifth Sunday, I have a little “moment” and decide I can’t handle anyone else being in the kitchen and declare it “Mom’s Sunday Dinner Assignment All By Herself Please Leave the Kitchen Area Immediately.”
How do you teach the kids in your life to cook? Are you able to let go of the control and give them free reign?
3) Eagle Scouts:Both Walker and Jackson earned their Eagle Scout award a couple Sundays ago (with three other young men from church). Scouting has been a fun journey for them, even if they didn’t love every single minute.
Quite honestly, toward the end, I didn’t know if our relationship would survive the paperwork process, but I’m really, really proud of them for achieving this award. And I’m really, really proud of myself for making it through, too. Haha. No, but seriously.
At the ceremony, my 15-year old chose to give his mentor pin to me, which was so touching and sweet! The scoutmaster handed him the microphone so he could say a few words about why he was doing this, and Jackson cleared his throat and very meaningfully gave this tender tribute: “well, I’m giving this mentor pin to my mom because she basically threatened me that I couldn’t get my driver’s license until my Eagle Scout was done. And also, she drove me around to a lot of places.”
And you know what? I totally gave him a huge hug and kiss on the cheek because I’LL TAKE IT. The tribute and the mentor pin. 🙂 I love these boys and am really, really proud of their hard work, including learning the art of making real, live phone calls, which apparently might be the hardest, hardest, hardest thing to ask a teenager to do.
4) Natural Deoderant:ok, you guys, I’ve tried a lot of natural deoderant out there, and I’m sorry for the inclusion of too much info here, but I’ve done so even at the cost of some serious underarm chafing and rashes (Schmidt’s, I’m looking at you). Lume, Tom’s, Schmidt’s. I still feel like I smell like a pre-pubescent middle school boy.
Help? Am I missing something? Is there a natural deoderant that actually works and doesn’t rip up my skin? Please enlighten me and the rest of humanity.
5) Being a Finisher: I’ve been working on teaching my kids the art of being a finisher. And instead of lecturing, I decided I better just model the desired behavior and actually finish a couple projects I’ve been working on for years.
I started this crochet quilt when Camryn was a toddler. Yes, that’s 5+ years ago. And I just barely finished it over the holiday break. And then I wrapped it up and put it under the Christmas tree as a present to myself. I’m embarrassed to say I actually cried tears when it was done.
It’s been a labor of love. And now I’m afraid to actually ever use it because what if it unravels? (Free pattern from Purl Soho and yarn from Knitpicks, which was enough yarn for my mom to also make one of these blankets, which she finished years before mine – she’s a rock star)
The other blanket I finally finished was this Fancy Forest quilt, pattern by Elizabeth Hartman. A couple years ago when I decided I wanted to learn to quilt (never had before), I chose this as my first quilt. Yes, you just go ahead and laugh at me, because everyone else in my real life did, too!
I admit it was a bit ambitious, but I figured if I was going to learn, I was going to learn. Anyway, you can see how well that worked out. It took me, again, about five years to finish this quilt. And there are so many mistakes I can hardly bear to look at it. (Sidenote: not sure quilting is the right hobby for someone with a brain like mine.) But I finished it! It’s legit the hardest project I’ve ever done.
And I am really, really proud of myself. I even took a long arm quilting class at a local quilt shop and long arm quilted the top of this bad boy all by myself, and I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE SCARED AND MORE PROUD OF ANYTHING I’VE DONE IN MY WHOLE LIFE EVER. Also, I sweated an obscene amount during the long arm process. Also, this may be why we need to really delve into topic #4 up there. Also, I promise to never talk about sweat again.
Do you have any goals to finally finish something this year that you started long ago?
6) Vegan, Vegan:A good friend of mine is transitioning to a plant-based/vegan/no sugar diet to combat a stage IV cancer diagnosis. We basically talk about the food part of this journey nonstop, and my brain is going a mile a minute to figure out how to help her (and also incorporate more plant-based recipes in my own life)!
She and I have already been experimenting with different cashew-based dressings and sauces among other things. We’ve had some wins. And some losses. Haha. Do you have any great vegan/100% unprocessed recipes to share? Favorite online sources? Cookbooks?
7) Grit and Resilience: this TED talk is really fascinating. I really, really want my kids to be gritty! And let’s be honest, I want it for myself, too. To persevere through hard things and not give up. Since I’m 1,000% certain lecturing does.not.help. I’m trying to find more ways to help foster resilience in my kids. Any experts out there on growth mindset? Have I gone too far? Is this too deep for a Friday? What are your thoughts?
8) Games:You know I can only go so long without talking about what games we are loving at the minute. One of you awesome persons recommended the game Patchwork – aff. link on my holiday game gift guide. We love it! It’s a 2-person game and it is so, so fun. You don’t have to be interested in sewing or quilting or buttons or anything to love this game. It’s super strategic with a little bit of luck, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
The other game we’ve been pulling out for a quick game sesh is Left, Center, Right (we have the basic version and also the wild version – aff. links). Super, super fast. Super, super fun. Everyone around here loves LCR!
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Ok, you guys, thanks for sticking with me through this rambling post!
Love your guts.
Don’t leave until you add your thoughts below. I need your insights, humor, wisdom and recipes in my life. 🙂
UPDATE!!!! You guys. YOU GUYS! I have spent hours (days!) reading through your comments. I’ve read every single one. I wish I had time to respond to you each personally. Instead, I literally just made a MASSIVE spreadsheet (ahem, nerd alert) with all of your vacation, deodorant, vegan and grit recommendations. And you guys, this spreadsheet is gold. I can’t wait to organize it (ahem, second nerd alert) and read through it and learn from it and PLAN A VACATION and make some plant-based meals and try out the 5,000 deodorant recommendations all while telling my kids to stay gritty. Haha. But seriously, I could kiss all of your faces for all of the comments. The insights. The personal stories and experiences. As always, you’ve made me laugh and think and think some more. And you have given so, so many good recommendations. WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT YOU? No really, what would I do? I’d actually have to find friends in real life and that would just be super lame. So glad you guys are my people. I loved reading every single one of these comments. I promise to update a future Friday Thoughts post (or maybe just at the bottom of this one) with my spreadsheet findings! xoxo
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Regarding the vegan/whole foods – I have been using Megan Gilmore’s blog, Detoxinista for a while. She is the best! And all her recipes are pretty much foolproof. I received her Instant Pot cookbook for Christmas a few years back and I love it! It’s probably the one cookbook I refer back to again and again. Cookie and Kate also has great vegetarian and whole food options too.
Also, I am SO impressed with your Sunday dinner assignments!! HOW? What? HOW?!? teach us your ways!
You are an inspiration to me! Some thoughts:
1. Native Deoderant. I love it and have been using it for years. I’m a sweater, and yet I sweat far less with it (even though it’s not an antiperspirant, weird) and I think it works great. Free shipping and the smells are wonderful.
2. Grit and resilience: Angela Duckworth’s book “Grit” is fabulous and has a chapter or two specifically donated to this. I do all my dishes with an audiobook in ear and that’s how I got around to just listening, because reading a book book just ain’t gonna happen. She has some great points, including something along the lines of how each member of their family picks a “hard thing” they are going to do that year and then they follow up on it together as a family. So for example, dad can say he wants to run a marathon, mom wants to work on not yelling or maybe talking with her estranged brother, and son decides he wants to get better at talking on the phone . You get the picture. Then they do their hard thing that year and they are all in it together. I loved this idea!
She also has good thoughts about extracurricular activities and how to help your kids stick to them instead of quitting right away.
Again, highly recommend the book. In the end, though, I taught 9th grade and learned from my students that most of what they become as they age is modeled for them. So have grit, and they will too.
3. I have the Oh She Glows cookbook and have had decent luck with it. Good luck to your friend. That is so hard.
Love you Mel!!
Do you follow @justingredients? She just made her own deodorant and it’s good! Also Maui!!
So many great topics in this post!
1. Some of our favorite vacations have been local. We try to take a yearly summer trip to explore where we live in the Pacific Northwest. So one year we visited Mt St. Helens, Tillamook cheese factory in Oregon, and the Oregon coast. Another we camped on a nearby island. Another we visited the Olympic peninsula. Last year we did the Oregon coast again then headed west toward Bend. Most of ours involve camping most of the time, utilizing national parks, and a hotel on the last night. No matter where you live, I think there is always so much to see nearby. With one or two notable exceptions, we’ve never taken our kids on a big, faraway vacation because $$$, but my husband and I have recently started going away just the two of us. Highly recommend. As for those exceptions, we took our kids on a road trip in an RV to San Francisco a few years ago because Lucy wanted drive in a “house car” and see the Golden Gate Bridge. It was an impulsive trip but one of the best memories ever for our family.
2. I LOVE your Sunday dinner assignments idea! I’m a control freak in the kitchen so I have not set my kids (or husband) up as well as I should for being able to cook, but it’s something I’m trying to work on. I love the idea of giving everyone a job and letting them choose from there.
3. That’s awesome that your sons earned the Eagle! Good for them and for you!
4. No deodorant recommendations, sorry! I’m happy with the conventional stuff and haven’t felt inclined to explore alternatives yet, partly because I seem to hear such underwhelming reports about natural deodorants.
5. I’m guilty of not being a finisher! I have a BYU t-shirt quilt I started for my husband’s birthday 7 years ago that is still not nearly finished! But I do have a few quilts under my belt that I finished between then and now so maybe my confidence has improved enough to get it done. I work best under a deadline, so my works in progress are usually things I chose to make but didn’t have to make and therefore let myself be lazy about. I think your forest friends quilt looks amazing! One of the best things about quilting is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s your own, and there is beauty in whatever you make with your hands. Your children will cherish it because it came from you. I think there’s vulnerability in an imperfect quilt. Right now I’m working on a butterfly quilt for a friend.
6. I’m sorry about your friend. I don’t have any resources to offer that don’t involve Googling. Good luck.
7. Resilience is a topic that my husband and I have been discussing a lot lately! I have that TED talk queued up to watch now. For us it feels like a constant battle with ourselves over whether we’re being too hard on our kids or not challenging them enough. Hopefully it balances out in the end!
8. Love your game recommendations. We finally bought a wardrobe from IKEA last month to house our games, and using the tip I saw on your blog about storing games on their sides like books, it has been a game changer (no pun intended)! So much better organized, and we can lock it so the toddler can’t unload everything.
Try the card game Skyjo…just took it on a week-long vacation with the family and we all loved it! So fun!
So I typed out a very long comment on my phone and then realized that it did not send. So I am going to use some grit and try again on a computer. 😉
First thing, a while back my family went on a try to be vegan. It lasted for a couple weeks. Now we just try to add more of those meals in. But in those two weeks, I discovered a very lovely recipe Crispy Potatoes with Vegan Nacho Sauce. The sauce is the bomb. It could probably use a little tweaking since I remember it being a little thick, but the flavor was amazing! I also learned to love nutritional yeast. So very good on a lot of things. I have emailed you the recipe for this. Hope you can make it a winner!
Second, I have been using a homemade deodorant for about six+ years. I love it. I have never once used it and smelled badly afterward. I have sweat like crazy, but that is what I feel like our bodies were meant to do. Now, just a side note. There was one time when I think I used a really dull razor and got razor burn where it left me burning and super red. Once I healed up, I was fine. So beware of that. I think this must have happened to my daughter who also used this deodorant up until the time she had this same thing happen. She now uses Just.in Aloe Vera from Walmart. She seems to really like it and the scent is pleasant I think. Also, I always add Wild Orange (DoTerra) to my recipe as I love the smell and I accumulated a bunch of it a while back. I ordered my deodorant containers on Amazon and just reuse them. I have also shared this deodorant with my sister and another friend who totally loved it. I know the recipe makes a lot, but you could always cut it back if you wanted to make it just to try. Oh, yeah. I already emailed you the recipe.
Your handiwork on the crocheted blanket and quilt is beautiful! I know you said it wasn’t perfect, but that is what makes homemade things special, I think. The human quality of imperfections. And I’m sure you learned a lot in the process, especially in the quilting.
Last thing, watched the TED talk and I totally agree with you about helping my kids to have grit and the growth mindset. I have seen in my own life that it comes from trying something hard and not quitting, but completing it, even if it is difficult. I also learned something interesting about grit as I watched my son struggle through a semester of AP Chemistry. Things usually come easily to him, but this class is dubbed the hardest in high school and he was failing most of the way through the semester. He was super stressed, but kept plugging along. It was not easy for any of us. It took a toll on our family. But my husband and I kept giving him our encouragement, love and support. Towards the end of the semester he did extremely well on a couple of tests and his grade came up to C. When we asked him what was different, he said he had been praying all semester that he would have help and that he could do better. But once he REALLY prayed and possibly fasted (I can’t remember for sure) that he could do well enough just to pass the class. And that is when he felt he had help with those tests that pulled his grade up. So I think faith has something to do with grit. Sometimes we get in a position where we start something, or a life situation where something is hard and despite our best efforts, we can’t do it alone. We have to believe. And we have to keep acting. And when we do overcome, or get through the trial, we have learned we can do hard things, with help of course. And in helping with growth mindset, I try to teach my kids that mistakes are how we learn. And that they are a natural part of the learning process. Mistakes can help us as long as we recognize them and use the knowledge we learn to go on and do something differently. Anyway. Happy Friday!
Natural Deodarant. My current routine is Crystal Deodarant stick I found on Amazon. I keep it in the shower, get it wet, apply like 30 circles. It is like a salt stick I believe. I also use Native Deodarant – Coconut and Vanilla. I don’t feel like just Native works as well by itself. Sigh.
Yay, natural deodorant! I love your post. I personally have tried many, many. My tried and true is a bottle of unflavored milk of magnesia from Dollar Tree. Nothing fancy but a thin coat every morning when I dress. Absolutely no irritation or application needed!
Also—didn’t realize I posted my novel to the world. ♀️ I forget..I rarely post things. Sorry Mel, sorry world!
And—I think Kate best bites posted recently about her favorite natural deodorant.
Hi Mel!
I did the Sunday dinner assignments for my kids too. It worked for the most part. Some kids love to cook and others endured it but they were hungry so they had to participate! If you didn’t cook, you didn’t eat (Took that page right out of “The Little Red Hen” book). The kids are grown now and I have received lots of “thanks for making us do that” over the years.
When my son was on a mission in Romania, he would make the best rolls and bread and was usually the cook in his companionships while the other one cleaned – an arrangement that worked quite nicely for him.
And another son joined the army and preferred in his own cooking over the army mess hall so I consider that a success!
My daughters can cook too, one loves it and really enjoys it and the other one is just hungry so she does what she has too.
Side note- my favorite “thanks for teaching me mom” moment came from my army son who thanked me for teaching him how to clean a toilet. It saved him and his squad from extra drill instructor punishments because his squad had the best cleaned bathrooms in the platoon!
Warms a mother’s heart and I’ll take that too!
Love your blog!
So I typed out a very long comment on my phone and then realized that it did not send. So I am going to use some grit and try again on a computer. 😉
First thing, a while back my family went on a try to be vegan. It lasted for a couple weeks. Now we just try to add more of those meals in. But in those two weeks, I discovered a very lovely recipe Crispy Potatoes with Vegan Nacho Sauce. The sauce is the bomb. It could probably use a little tweaking since I remember it being a little thick, but the flavor was amazing! I also learned to love nutritional yeast. So very good on a lot of things. I have emailed you the recipe for this. Hope you can make it a winner!
Second, I have been using a homemade deodorant for about six+ years. I love it. I have never once used it and smelled badly afterward. I have sweat like crazy, but that is what I feel like our bodies were meant to do. Now, just a side note. There was one time when I think I used a really dull razor and got razor burn where it left me burning and super red. Once I healed up, I was fine. So beware of that. I think this must have happened to my daughter who also used this deodorant up until the time she had this same thing happen. She now uses Just.in Aloe Vera from Walmart. She seems to really like it and the scent is pleasant I think. Also, I always add Wild Orange (DoTerra) to my recipe as I love the smell and I accumulated a bunch of it a while back. I ordered my deodorant containers on Amazon and just reuse them. I have also shared this deodorant with my sister and another friend who totally loved it. I know the recipe makes a lot, but you could always cut it back if you wanted to make it just to try. Oh, yeah. I already emailed you the recipe.
Your handiwork on the crocheted blanket and quilt is beautiful! I know you said it wasn’t perfect, but that is what makes homemade things special, I think. The human quality of imperfections. And I’m sure you learned a lot in the process, especially in the quilting.
Last thing, watched the TED talk and I totally agree with you about helping my kids to have grit and the growth mindset. I have seen in my own life that it comes from trying something hard and not quitting, but completing it, even if it is difficult. I also learned something interesting about grit as I watched my son struggle through a semester of AP Chemistry. Things usually come easily to him, but this class is dubbed the hardest in high school and he was failing most of the way through the semester. He was super stressed, but kept plugging along. It was not easy for any of us. It took a toll on our family. But my husband and I kept giving him our encouragement, love and support. Towards the end of the semester he did extremely well on a couple of tests and his grade came up to C. When we asked him what was different, he said he had been praying all semester that he would have help and that he could do better. But once he REALLY prayed and possibly fasted (I can’t remember for sure) that he could do well enough just to pass the class. And that is when he felt he had help with those tests that pulled his grade up. So I think faith has something to do with grit. Sometimes we get in a position where we start something, or a life situation where something is hard and despite our best efforts, we can’t do it alone. We have to believe. And we have to keep acting. And when we do overcome, or get through the trial, we have learned we can do hard things, with help of course. And in helping with growth mindset, I try to teach my kids that mistakes are how we learn. And that they are a natural part of the learning process. Mistakes can help us as long as we recognize them and use the knowledge we learn to go on and do something differently. Anyway. Happy Friday!
I know exactly how you feel about the deodorant. It can be so frustrating. I went that route in 2015 and I haven’t looked back yet. Also I should mention before I switched I kept getting stronger and stronger deodorants. I almost always had sweat stains. It was horrible. I researched it and it mentioned a detox period that could last as long as two months. I sped it up by applying a bentonite clay and a ACV paste. It helped a lot. I got my information from Wellnessmama.com.
The rash could be from the baking soda. They have a lower version for sensitivity. My favorite deodorant has been the Pit Paste. They have a different name now—Pretty Frank. Their website also talks a lot about the detox period. They also have different strengths. They are a super good starting point.
Good luck I hope all that helps and makes some sense. It has been worth it for me to switch.
Hi Mel! Love the sunday dinner idea! My 9 year old made your drip biscuits this week-he’s obsessed with biscuits, and it was awesome! I love the arm and hammer baking soda deodorant, unscented . Not sure if it’s as natural as the other stuff but it has no parabens or aluminum and actually works. I have a friend who just went vegan for cancer too and I sent her a box of stuff from Trader Joe’s. They even have a list in their store of everything that’s vegan in it, it’s sooo much cheaper then any other place. I just went to a cooking class and learned to make some vegan gluten free pizza dough (along with the full gluten kind) The best one was actually a quinoa crust and it was delicious! I can’t take a picture of it here but maybe I can email it? It was so good!
Our most favorite vacation so far has been to the Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs, although I know they have then all over. My kids loved the water park…we didn’t splurge for any of the extras they sell and my kids were totally fine, plenty to do without them. We also went to the Air Force Academy, which is right across the highway from Great Wolf Lodge. When we were staying there, the Air Force was doing parachuting drills, which we could see out our room window, it was so cool!
While there, we also went to the Garden of the Gods on Colorado Springs…totally amazing…and free!
I’ve been a follower since the very beginning, like 2009? Thanks for the awesome recipes!
Best vacation for our family was going to Eleuthera. It’s an outer island in the Bahamas. I actually heard about it from a food and travel blog. We have gone now 6 times. It’s not touristy so not for everyone but we fell in love with the island and the people. I am SO proud of you on your quilt. Especially the long arming. I have a longarm business and it’s definitely a bit tricky at first. Now I mostly let the computer do it. My machine is all robotic now. My offer still stands if you ever want to make another one, I would happily quilt it for you for free. The least I can do since our family has enjoyed your wonderful recipes for over 10 years now.
Native deodorant coconut vanilla is the best – order online. Love your Friday musings – thanks for being REAL!
I just love you!!! So so so proud of your Eagle Scouts (and you!!!) and the Sunday dinner assignments. Uhhhh-maaa-zzinnnnnggggggg!!!!
1) my favorite of all time place on earth is Alaska. Served mission (Munich❤️❤️❤️) and traveled some throughout Europe. We took our kids to Scotland last year…because my husband who has also traveled a lot counted it as his favorite European destination from his own childhood. He went as an 11 year old and still loves all the castles and history. But Alaska is my complete zen place. So beautiful, people are so amazing. I love to stop in little villages while driving around. Found one this summer on the Kenai and had to admire the beautiful Russian orthodox style church, the cemetery and they happened to have signs up which talked about how during the different world wars and other US involved wars they lost up to 1/3 of the population of their tiny village. And then it would grow again and then another war. These Russian American citizens sacrificed so much.and I love to read a few of the grace markers in different places. The faith and strength of the people really shows. So neat and kind of reverent for me. Anyway—that’s my favorite thing to do…my kids put up with our stops to local cemeteries/churches in between the most amazing fishing/wildlife/hikes of all time. And the people up there can’t be beat. I also just LOVE UT so much. Especially Southern UT. The parks are so amazing and the Shakespeare festival in cedar city is a favorite. So fun to do Bryce or Zion during the day and go to an amazing performance of Hamlet at night…and crumbl or an amazing Thai restaurant there and cafe rio. Haha. Of course the DC/church history trips are amazing too. And Israel…I’d love to get our kids there some day. But…looks like we are shooting for Japan as a family next.
Grit—with some pretty stressful things for my husband at work right now I recently remembered a Devotional or some talk from Elder Christofferson about our daily bread. There is also a short video clip. SO good!!! Just neat about how we plan plan plan for the future but sometimes we just need to live for the day and remember our daily bread and get through it…relying on our faith and prayers and the Lord. Also if I could send you the links I would but an amazing uplifting video I often share with friends or family struggling is found if you search…F Enzio Busche video. It’s about 7 minutes long and from a BYU devotional he have as a General Authority some years back. Maybe it’s because I love him and love Germans…but it is such a strength to me when I’m struggling with different things. I love so many of the Mormon Messages for this too.
Ok—sorry! Too much!!
Lastly some of my favorite games right now…lost cities…2 person…quick and fun…like the one you mentioned, strategy and some luck. Also, I enjoy Azul…plus it’s pretty! And a fun puzzle type my kids and I enjoy (but my husband doesn’t) is Set. I like to take it camping…and just leave it a set up on a table and kids can sit and try to find sets. It’s tricky and fun.
Ok—you’re the best!!! Thanks, truly for all of your help and how you inspire me! I look up to you a ton!!!!! ❤️
And SOrry for writing so much. I will not be offended if you never read it.
Love all of your posts and recipes! Love your quilts! That is amazing , especially for a first quilt experience! We are trying to go more vegan in our diet as well and love the comments you’re getting on that. I suggest you look at Just Ingredients on instagram – she has a lot of great information and she has her own deoderant that people seem to be having good luck with. Have a great day!
Family Vacation: We love Carlsbad! We have gone for 3 years in a row now-honestly all of us(My husband, 20 Yr old daughter and 12 yr old son)love it. Super relaxing but enough to do to not be boring. Close enough to San Diego to sight see. So fun.
Primally Pure deodorant! Expensive, but awesome and works really well. I like Blue Tansy and Geranium scent.
Hey! Such a fun post to read! Mel! The quilt!! I’m a quilter but stick to the easy stuff. I am SUPER impressed and you are spot on to be proud of yourself you deserve it! It’s beautiful! (And this is getting log but the Afghan ). So I’ve tried a bunch of Natural deodorants: Lume, Schmidt’s, Native, and for a second Tom’s (oh yuck). They all gave me a rash eventually (with the exception of Tom’s that didn’t get a second chance). About 2 or 3 months ago I tried Just Ingredients deodorant. The texture is awesome and no rash (or itching) so far. Goes on smooth and works! We’ll see how it does this summer but it’s been my favorite so far. Good luck! And I love the Sunday dinner idea!
I love the Fancy Forest quilt! So ambitious! I’m teaching myself to play the ukulele/ so much fun- but I can’t sing and play at the same time so that’s a project for me.
As far as natural deodorants, I am still looking or one that works as well. With regard to family vacations, when my kids were young we rented a cabin on a lake for a week for 4 summers. We took a few day trips from the cabin to sight see, we participated in the resort activities, and we swam and boated. My grown kids remember those years fondly. Best trip tho was to the island of Kauai. We zip lined, hiked, snorkeled, swam and drove around the island. It was our last big family trip after one graduated college and one high school . We stayed at Kauai Beach Resort.
Your quilts are both beautiful! Good job! I have no thoughts on natural deodarent, but our family loves to travel so I have plenty of thoughts on family vacations! We have three kids–15, 13, and 11. One year we went to Disney World, Universal, and Discovery Cove in FL, then we rented a car and drove to St. Pete’s Beach for a few days. It was nice to combine theme parks and the relaxing beach. Another favorite was Oahu a few years ago. There is so much to do there–beach, hiking, snorkeling, Polynesian Cultural Center, Waikiki. We stayed at the Marriott in Ko’olina and rented a minivan and drove all over the island. Two years ago we stayed at an all-inclusive in Mexico on the Riviera Maya (Iberostar Grand Paraiso) and it was great to not have to think about food. We went to Xcaret one day, which is like an adventure/cultural park, where we swam in their underground river, went snorkeling, went to their animal preserves, and went to their amazing show at night where they had singing and dancing from every part of Mexico. I felt like I learned so much about Mexico there. On that trip we also set up a tour where they took us to Chichen Itza, took us to a really cool cenote to swim in, provided a lunch buffet with Mayan food, and went to a really cool town called Valledolid. Some other fun trips that my kids really liked have been San Diego (Mission and Pacific Beaches and Coronado), Lake Powell, San Francisco, Goblin Valley (we rented one of the yurts there from recreation.gov and it was amazing), Cabo San Lucas, and Spain (my husband went on his mission there, which made navigating much easier). I’d say everyone’s favorite was probably Hawaii. We loved it so much that we’re trying out Maui for spring break this year. You’ll have fun wherever you decide to go–the most important thing is that you’re together without all the distractions of every day life. I truly believe that family vacations are where the best (or at least the most memorable) memories are made!
Give Native a try. I have used it for several years, and it seems to be doing a good job. I’m trying out Lume right now (not exactly sure why, since Native works for me) and I’m definitely noticing more smell, but they do recommend you treat all your clothes and give it a couple of weeks. So I’m working on that right now. But I’ll probably end up using Native again.
For family vacations it totally depends on your style of vacations that your family prefers and also time of year, budget etc. We have traveled as a family A LOT (work for the State Department and lived lots of places) and I asked my oldest what his favorite trips were and his top three are 1- England. We went to Harry Potter studios for a day, rode the big red bus, Westminster Abbey, saw Matilda, all of the London things and then you can escape to the countryside. 2- Athens and Crete, Greece. A day in Athens doing the sites then took an overnight ferry to Crete. We did an all inclusive with a water slide park, private beach, the pink beaches, the Temple of King Minos, hiking and biking, loved loved the food. 3- Adventuring in Slovenia. Ljubljana is one of our favorite cities but then you have lakes, gorges, with hiking kayaking paddle boarding, and canyoneering, all mixed in with Amazing food (best of Italian and German with their own flair – truffles are from a region in Slovenia, need I say more?). Hope that helps. I would totally help you plan a trip if you need
Natural deodorant. I have tried lots of brands (4-5) as well and Primally Pure is my favorite. I have super sensitive skin and if they did work for me, after 6-12 months they stopped. Or I would get red and irritated. Primally pure has some amazing resources on their blog that talks about how to combat all of these and also the importance of “detoxing” your pits every few weeks, etc. Some seriously amazing resources that have helped me with all of the irritation woes. Their Blue Tansy and Tea Tree are my top ones hands down. Good luck!!
You said Eagle Scouts and I automatically started thinking Europe because of the History etc. but with a bigger family, flights can get $$$ I also have some great suggestions for places in the States ♀️ Hilton Head Island in South Carolina is an amazing one as well and super family friendly. We just love the people in the South. Glacier National Park, Northern Michigan is great for outdoors and camping….or a church history tour. We lived by Kirkland, Nauvoo and Kansas City growing up and have been to Palmyra most summer for the pageant….this is the last year for it. Anyways, I wish you luck. But like I said, if I knew more what you had in mind/budget, preferences, I would be happy to help! I love helping people plan their family trips.
Hi. I’m with you on trying to find a natural deodorant that works. I currently order native. It hasn’t come yet, but hoping for good things. I tried lune, didn’t love.
Best family vacations. We love to travel and travel quite a bit. We have 3 kids 12,14, and 17. For the last 21 years every summer we spend a week or more in Lake Tahoe. It’s our favorite place. My kids have a wee off so every 6-8 weeks so we try to plan something big or small with those. Loved Glacier National park. Glamped there. Hawaii is always a hit, New England, us history tour(DC, Williamsburg, Philadelphia). We try to break up into cities or regions and plan something.
I’ve been using native for a while now and I really like it. It does the job and I don’t have any reactions.
Have you been to the Red Woods?
My mom took us there when I was 16 and to this day it was and is my favorite thing we ever did! I can still remember it like it was yesterday. We hard core camped there but you don’t have to do that if camping is not your style you can still get the amazing experience of being there. We also added in the coast and wow! Northern California and Organ are so beautiful!
Good luck with everything!
Your afghan is amazing! And the quilt . . . oh my gravy. I have been quilting for years and would not attempt this. I did machine quilt one of mine on a large machine and it was gnarly. I’ll never do it again but at least I appreciate the process of others! I did make a quilt for our wedding that was beyond my scope in a big way. I have no idea how it came together in such a short timeframe. A modern miracle! It was a great way to learn. Sounds like you have grit in spades!
I love the recipe from http://www.pinchofyum.com for a lentil soup with squash and kale. Your friend would love this. It is perfect as is. Didn’t need any doctoring.
https://pinchofyum.com/the-best-detox-crockpot-lentil-soup
I use Primally pure deodorant. I’ve tried the charcoal and the geranium, one. No other natural deodorants have worked except this brand. They are a little pricey but well worth the cost. I work out quite a bit and am get really sweaty. No nasty smell…at all!
Hope this helps.
A few thoughts—first that quilt is amazing! I’m going to second others and suggest you try a much easier quilt (like a log cabin style) to see if quilting is really not for you. cluckclucksew.com has some really great free patterns as well as some you can buy.
Love the Sunday dinner ideas with your kids—it’s inspired me to be better at teaching my young kids about cooking and baking.
Have you read Angela Duckworth’s book? Grit:The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Some great stuff there!
As far as vacations I have two suggestions 1) Oregon Coast, I know you went a while ago, but it’s one of my favorites: ocean, tide pools, redwoods (check out Stout Grove at Jedidiah Smith Stake Park), Fern Canyon (I’m thinking you’ve been here…), etc. There seems to be something for everyone and I love that there is plenty bog downtime, but also plenty of go-and-see/do time. 2)Maybe not a vacation, but backpacking in the Sawtooths or the Teton Crest Trail. Such a fun family experience and one of my fondest memories from growing up with my family.
Thanks for posting and good luck with your quest for vegan recipes, I’m looking forward to trying the ones you share.!
Life is Good 🙂
2 Fave Family Vacations:
1) A Disney Cruise. Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, it’s totally worth it. The service is amazing and they take care of everything. The first family vacation that has truly been relaxing for the parents as well as the children. 2) We took an extended family vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina and it was lovely. We rented a big house with 6 bedrooms and a pool and a hot tub a short walk from the beach. We could be as active as we wanted or sit around and relax on the beach all day. There’s interesting history (highly recommend Roanoke Island!) and cool animal life (wild horses, dolphins, etc). And the weather was perfect! Warm but with cool beach breezes. A true home run.
I love your Friday Thoughts posts!
1) We love going to the Oregon Coast, McCall Idaho, Hawaii, and driving down the coast of California stopping along the way.
2) This is the best idea! Can you share some of your simple meal plans that your kids have made?
4) I have been using Primal Pit Paste for years and it works great for me. I don’t love the stick form, I like the little tubs.
6) My favorite vegan blogs are Minimalist Baker, Oh She Glows, and Cookie and Kate (that one is technically vegetarian, but she always shares vegan modifications).
Thanks again for other Friday Thoughts. Try Native deodorant. You can find it at Target now but I usually buy their seasonal 3 pack straight from them.
Our road trip to San Francisco was a highlight. We also love sunriver in Oregon and go every summer.
1. Kauai, hands down the most magical family vacation ever. It maybe meant so much to us because we scrimped and planned and saved for nearly 2 years. It felt incredible to reach that goal as a family. The island is so gorgeous and we seriously loved every minute of it. Well, except for a minor rage moment between my husband and me at Costco. LOL Once you’re there it’s not crazy expensive. Just be sure to budget $30 in shave ice every day at Hee Fat.
Not a quilter, so my opinion may not be worth much, but I love your quilt and I applaud your ambition in choosing that pattern. It looks wonderful.
As a knitter (and sometime crocheter), I can appreciate the struggle to finish projects, and the frustration when it doesn’t turn out perfect. I’ve learned that they aren’t mistakes, they are “design elements.” So just love your quilt and be happy that you actually managed to finish it.
Two ideas for vacations. For family vacation especially since you have scouts how about Washington DC with focus on the Smithsonian. We took the train there which was also fun. The other is the Canadian Rockies. I can’t begin to tell you all the great hikes there are.
For natural deoderant I use a product called No Pong (Australian)
Native deodorant and just ingredients have been great for me and I’ve tried a lot! With that being said sweat will still happen! And I carry around a travel size native in my purse (find at target) at all times because it also doesn’t last as long as the other chemically filled deodorants. Give yourself some time to get use to it and do an armpit detox with A Bentonite clay mixture every few weeks
Hello Mel
Congratulations to you and the Eagle Scout a great accomplishment. Your quilt is beautiful! You should be so very proud. My Mom made me all of my maternity dresses (youngest baby is now 29) and I am planning to make a lap quilt from them. She has passed and I look forward to having her sit on my lap from time to time. Living in MI we vacation in the UP all the time. Our favorite places include Munising. There are so many beautiful waterfalls to hike to it is truly beautiful. In addition we enjoy the Soo Locks. Seeing these ginormous freighters is incredible. Besides all this MI has so many lakes to enjoy. I hope you get a chance to visit us someday.
Hi Mel- have you jumped on the kamut flour bandwagon?? I recently started using it and i am loving it! I obviously haven’t tried it in all my (let’s be honest, your) recipes 🙂 yet but I am loving the kamut bread by food nanny. And I’ve tried it in a bunch of cookies and it’s been amazing.
I love that you had two boys get their Eagles at the same time! I felt so accomplished as a mom when my oldest got his Eagle. At the time I was Scout Advancement Chairman so I was in the thick of it with him. It is a ton of work and they should be proud! How special you got the mentor pin. I love it. At this point I will have to have my 16 year old join a troop to get his Eagle. All he has to do is his project but he’s not sure if he wants to finish it. We will see!
Family Vacations—-I am a firm believer that one does not need to spend lots of money on exotic trips or theme parks to make a memorable trip with your family. I think I am one of the few that has never taken my kids to Disneyland (don’t fall over) but we have done some pretty awesome trips. The Oregon Coast is simply amazing and we have gone several times. Every fall (it was this January for last years trip as it never happened in the fall) we rent a cabin in Donnelly and go up for about two nights and three days. We’ve been doing this every since my youngest was 6 months old and she is turning 11 soon! Almost each year we have been lucky enough to have snow. We take up our four wheelers and pull the kids behind them on sleds, have movie nights, fun treats and food, etc. One year we had Thanksgiving up there and it was magical. And I learned how to ice skate another year as an adult. Those trips my kids LOVE. Four years ago we took the kids to see their grandparents in Nauvoo while they were on a mission….and we made a road trip out of it. We love road trips! We were gone 3 weeks and saw amazing things…Mt. Rushmore, St. Louis arch, etc. besides church history stuff (which was so pivotal for my kids testimonies). We go on road trips to Utah, National Parks, California to San Diego. That was a fun trip. But it was a little more expensive being it was California. My kids had so much fun being at the beach and stuff they we didn’t even go to Sea World. We did do a big trip this last summer before my son left on his mission. We planned and saved for a few years and took them all on their first plane ride back east and did tons of church history sites + DC, NYC, Hershey PA, Niagara Falls and stuff. It was the most amazing thing ever and the BEST thing to do before my missionary left. Let me tell you…if you ever go on a big road trip I am your gal for organization tips and itineraries! But besides these last few big trips we took, most things around here are simple. Every New Years we do a time capsule. and I noticed this year two of my kids wrote down the trip they want to take is either to Burley to see Grandma or to their cousins house in Idaho Falls. Sweet.
Good job on finishing the projects! Honestly, sometimes I get so overwhelmed by stuff like that I don’t even start. So good for you! I would love to quilt also. But seriously…that is like an advanced first one! Amazing.
I love your cooking idea. I have actually been thinking how I could incorporate more of this into our family. Weeknights are so busy. I finally got a good dish schedule down that works really well for our busy schedule and makes sure everyone helps. But the once a week for food is perfect!! I need to get my 14 year old daughter in the kitchen more. Thank you for this idea!
I’ve listened to that TED talk before and I remember that I liked it. I will have to listen again. I am all about wanting to help them become resilient. I have been proud of my missionary and how he has dealt with some things…but each child is so different! I have a few others who wouldn’t have handled things as well. It is such a deep thing to think about and always keep in mind. Lecturing does not help…I still remember tuning my parents out! By the way…have you tried Carleen Tanner’s parenting classes yet?
Oh, and we are really into an oldie but goodie game right now. Catan, formerly known as Settlers of Catan. We are obsessed!
For dinner last week I made your Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps. They are now in the monthly rotation! Yay for fast meals that everyone will eat. I couldn’t survive without your website! YOU ARE AWESOME!
I use the Crystal Deodorant Crystal Deodrant Body Stick after I shower. I have had it for almost 4 years and it is still going strong. I think I don’t stink! Norwex sells something similar for a lot more. I have been really happy with it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000L978FU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
As a quilter myself- mega MEGA props on conquering an Elizabeth Hartman pattern. I’ve been quilting for about 7 years and only managed to finish a crib size fox pattern by her. So. Much. Cutting. And piecing. So your tears are 100% warranted because that’s an incredible accomplishment!! Way to go! I hope you snuggle in it and wash it to death because it definitely deserves to be looked at 10000 times a day;)
I rarely comment but I have loved your blog for over 10 years and feel like I should say… you are the best! These Friday thoughts posts are awesome! Thanks for putting yourself out there for all of us! I wish I knew you in person and could hug your cute face! Too weird??! Sorry! That’s how I feel.
Vegan – cookie and Kate – she is vegetarian but her cook book gives options for all diets. Chocolate covered Katie has the best desserts but also a Sticky Sesame cauliflower that is totally delicious and you don’t even miss the meat.
I love your Indian butter chicken recipe with just potatoes and no chicken. It is awesome! I could put together a whole list but not off the top of my head. You should read Discovering the Word of Wisdom by Jane Birch. It was a very enlightening read. We are not vegetarian all the way but it helped me learn a lot of cool things.
Natural deodorant! Thank you for asking that question! I have been wondering the same thing myself! I am tired of the Schmidt’s itch and oil stains in my clothes…
Anyway, you’re the best. Thanks for making cooking so enjoyable!
So I am going to try to hit all the points I can remember. That being said, I am six months pregnant with my 7th, so if I forget something and comment twice, you’ll know why.
First thing, my mom, who has type 2 diabetes, but not your typical diabetic, has gone on a vegan diet a few times to help manage her diabetes. And I have watched a few documentaries about vegan ism and so for a couple weeks, our family tried it out. My favorite recipe from that time is this. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/easy/a36256/crispy-potatoes-with-vegan-nacho-sauce/
I have wanted to make it again, but forgot about it until you brought up eating vegan. Hope you try it and love it as much as we did! Also, during that time, I grew to love nutritional yeast. I always put it on my macaroni and cheese now and other foods as well. Delish.
Okay. Second thing. Natural deodorant. I have been making my own for years now. My daughters have used it. One daughter mentioned that she started chafing from it, and now she uses the Jason soothing aloe Vera stick from Walmart and loves it. I am going to email you my deodorant recipe in case you want to try it out.
Last thing, which I feel deeply about as well, is helping my kids get grit, and a growth mindset. It is definitely easier with some personality types. Or maybe those persons have experienced the sweet feeling of accomplishing difficult things and feeling that super rewarding feeling of success at a younger age? Not sure. I have not done any widespread research, only my own small life experience. I know that growing up, we worked a lot and my father especially sometimes expected extremely difficult things of us. Those extremely difficult things, that at the time, I thought were impossible, when completed with urging from my father, are something hat grew my grit, if you will. I have watched my oldest, who is extremely bright and most school subjects come easy to him struggle for a semester in AP Chemistry. He was was failing the whole semester despite his best efforts. Then nearing the end, he turned to his Heavenly Father with his troubles, knowing that just to pass the class would feel like a success at this point. Miraculously he was able to get fairly high scores on his last couple of tests and passed the class with a C. Now I am not putting it lightly. This whole semester was extremely difficult for our family and for my oldest, with the stress, etc. I am not exactly sure what I did right. I know I encouraged him to keep trying and to pray for divine help. I guess what I am getting at is that I feel there is a measure of faith that goes into grit. Sometimes we start something and realize after we have started that it is not what we expected, nor do we want to finish because of the difficulty ahead. THAT is where your modeling of finishing things comes in and encouragement and faith come in. Also, I am trying to teach my kids that mistakes is how we learn things. It is okay to mess up. Acknowledge it. Own it. Apologize if necessary. Try again. Learn something from the mistake. And next time it can be better. Hopefully this adding to their growth mindset.
Anyway, now I am beginning to ramble. Hope I have been able to help in just a small way. You bless our lives pretty much every day in some recipe that I make for my family. You are amazing and I think of you like a friend that I have never met.
Have you done an armpit detox? My husband couldn’t get any natural deodorant to work for him, but then we read that you have to do an armpit detox before they start working. He went without deodorant for two weeks and did bentonite clay in his armpits. Which sounds funny, but now he’s wearing natural deodorant and it’s working OK!
As for favorite family vacations, the beach has been a hit for us. If you can swing Hawaii, I would vote for Hawaii. So many beaches, so much to do, hiking, exploring. And of course so beautiful.We also love the Carlsbad California area for beaches. If you go to California, stop at Handel’s for ice cream!! Or San Diego is great for beaches and lots of other things to do too!
I have been a follower of yours for years, I love your blog And I love how through your writing how you make everyone feel like we are your friend.
For a family vacation come to Santa Clara, Utah. You can eat cookies at Dutchman’s market (the original Swig cookie and far superior in my opinion), get a Veyo pie, and go to lunch with your unofficial fan club in my ward. Plus our church building is right by the vacation rentals so you are all set
But seriously, the best family vacation we ever took was renting a cabin in Tahoma, California on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Absolute heaven. Or an all inclusive resort in Cabo San Lucas. That was pretty great too!
The kids cooking on Sunday is brilliant! I need to try this once my kids are a little older!
For vacations, my favorite as a kid was camping (I have zero memory of the stress and all the stuff that went wrong like me parents so I don’t think they agree!)
As a mom, our vacations have been simple. Disneyland or a road trip to visit family. I don’t think the destination determines your fun! I think merely planning a trip and having activities to do during it make for an A+ trip anywhere! Having said that I’ve heard legendary things about Disney Cruises!
For plant based food sites try “Minimalist Baker” and “Cookie and Kate”! (Cookie and Katie has a pineapple Thai fried rice that is to die for! Simply add some tofu for some extra plant based protein!
“Pinch of Yum” just posted an incredible Sofritas recipe and I’m dying to make it. She’s got some good flavorful plant based meals too!
I am so sorry about your friend. I just lost my father in law to stage IV lung cancer, cancer just sucks. All of it. I think you are being so helpful finding yummy comforting food for her! Praying she gets better soon!
Have you played Azul? We love that one. Our family loves National parks for vacations. We recommend any of those. Smokey Mountain was our last year’s and we loved it. Hiking along the Appalachian Trail (for about 8 miles in one day) was really cool. Love your Sunday dinner plan. I do the same thing. With teenagers it doesn’t work to have them cook during the week days. It is too busy. Way to go on finishing your quilts! They are beautiful!
Here are a couple of thoughts for you. I only have used two types of deodorant for the past 20 years. Both are great but not perfect. The first is Real Purity, made here in California it works well but you need to let it dry, (It’s a roll on) before you put on your clothes. You also need to switch it up sometimes, it seems your underarms get kind of used to it, so then I use LaVanilla, the sport type. This is a sort of gel waxy press and drag on. It is also very good for a natural deodorant. They are both sold on Amazon.
My favorite vacations are: Hawaii, (almost anywhere there), Nantucket, Vale Colorado, or Islamorada in the Florida Keys. I live in California so I have pretty good weather all year.
Thanks for all your great recipes and advice, I love reading about your life and times.
I second La Vanilla. It’s my favorite. Makes me smell better and I didn’t seem to need any adjustment period or detox to start using it.
For your friend with cancer (love and prayers for her) – follow Medical Medium/Anthony William and start juicing celery every morning, among many other things he teaches. He’s got great recipes too.
I have used primal pit paste for 5+ years- they just changed their name to “pretty frank”. I think it works really well (i have tried many brands)- i have found that i can’t personally use the citrus scented ones or it irritates my armpits. (My kids can just fine)
I also LOVE their “chapstick” vanilla peppermint.
Oh is on deoderant! I tried them all too with no luck!
Screw natural deoderant. I switched back to my regular, “it’s Possible but we don’t know for sure if it’s horrible for you but it could also be fine” deoderant, and haven’t looked back! This girl was not liking the smelling and stress from smelling either! Haha at least we tried