Today marks the beginning of the longest spring break I’ve ever had — 11 full days!
The schools are giving us Thursday off (because so many people leave early anyway)… so Dave and I are taking bets as to how long it will be until people start leaving on Wednesday! 😂
I loved school as a kid — and I love it as a parent to 4 children and a teacher’s spouse too — but I will always and forever look forward to Spring Break as one of my most favorite times of the entire school year.
For one, it’s the only school break that isn’t associated with a holiday (although this year’s Spring Break does coincide with Palm Sunday and Easter).
And also, it’s the only school break that (usually) isn’t cold and wintery — so we get to enjoy being outside.
Most excitingly though, Spring Break means there are only 8 more weeks until summer vacation — not that I’m counting though. 😎
Keep reading for more of my favorite things (including my delicious, super soft sourdough sandwich bread).
FAVORITE MOMENT = Clean Windows
We’ve had some epic sunrises and sunsets here lately… and after a long winter with very little sun, I didn’t realize how dirty our windows had gotten until the sun started shining again.
So last week, I got my trusty window cleaning cloth out and did all the east and west-facing windows.
RELATED READING : How to make all natural window and glass cleaner.
I’ll get the north and south ones eventually too — but at least now I can enjoy the sunrises and sunsets through clean windows!
PAST FAVORITE = Slip-Covered Furniture
I’ve been a fan of slip-covered furniture since the moment we moved into our first house 17 years ago.
Back then, I was buying $10 one-size-fits-all slipcovers at garage sales to cover up the hand-me-down furniture we had.
I eventually made a few of my own slipcovers — they turned out pretty well.
And then we purchased our beloved white IKEA sectional.
Everyone (and I mean everyone) said we were crazy for buying white, but I haven’t regretted that purchase once over the last 12 years.
RELATED READING: How I keep my white couch clean.
I also found a local lady who will make me custom slipcovers for anything I want, which has been very helpful over the years.
In general, I’m a huge fan of slipcovers — not only are they a frugal way to change up the look and feel of your home, but they are also SO practical. Just wash them and put them right back on again!
RELATED READING: More about my slip-covered furniture
FAVORITE CLOTHING = Kids’ Shoe Deals
I recently realized that kids’ shoe sizes are different than women’s shoe sizes…
For example, a size 6 youth is exactly the same as a women’s size 7.5 (which is what I wear).
I’m not sure how it took me 37 years to figure this out, but thanks to this new-found information, I was able to snag a really amazing deal on cute athletic shoes for me and my 11-year-old (who officially has bigger feet than me!)
Nike Airs are all the rage at school these days, and although I’m not one to follow clothing trends, Nora needed new athletic shoes REAL bad… and I haven’t purchased new athletic shoes for myself in over 10 years.
So, I shopped the clearance kid’s section at a local store and found us each a pair of Nikes for right around $30.
It’s still A LOT more than I pay at thrift stores, but considering these were regularly $109 (women’s sizes were even more), I’d call that a deal!
And yes, I realize the women’s shoes are probably made to hold more weight and be slightly more supportive, but there are kids in Nora’s class who weigh more than me, so I’m willing to risk it!
If you’re curious, here’s a size conversion chart I found online (it seems to be accurate for me).
FAVORITE BOOK = The Tiny Seed
This Eric Carle book has been one of our favorites for years and years — all our kids love it, and I do too!
READ THE BOOK: The Tiny Seed
It’s not a religious book, but it would be very easy to tie in with the parable of the soils / sower if you wanted to turn it into a biblical lesson.
RELATED READING: Our Most-Read Toddler Board Books
FAVORITE FIND = The Spice Way
Ever since all the craziness of 2020, I haven’t been able to reliably find herbs and spices at our local grocery stores.
So I’ve started buying them from The Spice Way.
These herbs and spices are packaged in pouch-style bags for roughly $6-$8 per bag (which is cheaper per ounce than at the grocery store) and they have almost every type of spice, seasoning, etc. you could want!
These bags are easy to store and they make it so simple to refill my favorite spice jars.
The Spice Way offers free shipping and bundle discounts — you can also buy them on Amazon.
I’m a fan!
RELATED READING: How to store + organize spices and seasonings
FAVORITE HOBBY = Yardwork
April is my favorite month to do yardwork as the weather is usually warm and “sunnyish” after a long cold winter — everything feels fresh and new.
Plus, the whole family is more than ready to be outside as much as possible.
Of course, by July, I feel burned out and don’t want to do anything outside except swim, but right now, yard work is one of my favorite things to do.
I listen to audiobooks or podcasts while I work, the kids play in our yard and with neighbors, and the time just flies by!
RELATED READING: My Favorite Low-Maintenance Perennials
FAVORITE RECIPE = SOFT Sourdough Sandwich Bread
I’ve been doing sourdough since 2019, and this recipe is my go-to recipe for super soft sourdough sandwich bread (my kids don’t like the crusty sourdough bread).
It’s SOOOOO easy — all you need is time (so make sure you plan ahead!)
Simple Sourdough Sandwich Bread
This recipe is very simple to make and oh, SO delicious. You just need to plan ahead because it ferments overnight!
Ingredients
- 250 grams sourdough starter (bubbly)
- 500 grams water
- 1000 grams flour (all-purpose or whole grain)
- 1/2 cup soft butter (1 stick)
- 2 Tbsp. honey or sugar
- 1 Tbsp. salt
Instructions
- The night before, mix all ingredients together (you’ll want to use a mixer with a dough hook).
- Mix/knead for 5 minutes, until a slightly sticky ball of dough forms.
- Place dough in a large greased bowl or container and cover with a towel or plastic wrap.
- Let rise overnight (or at least 8 hours).
- In the morning, punch down the dough, form it into 2 equal loaves, and place them into greased 9″ loaf pans (or 3 8" pans for smaller loaves).
- Cover the loaves and let rise until doubled (about 2-4 hours)
- Preheat oven to 375ºF
- Bake bread in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes.
- Immediately rub the tops of loaves with a stick of butter (this helps the crust stay soft).
- Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
- Enjoy immediately or cool, slice, and freeze for later.
Notes
This recipe makes enough dough for 2 very large 9" loaves, 3 smaller 8" loaves, or 15-24 rolls (depending on how large you make them).
Keep in mind, this is SUPER SOFT sourdough bread, so you will not get that traditional thick, crunchy crust like the "fancy" round sourdough loaves. However, the taste is still amazingly delicious... and my kids will actually eat this bread because it doesn't have "bad crust"! 😂
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I make the dough before bed at least once or twice a week, then shape the loaves while I’m making breakfast, bake them while I’m making lunch, and then we enjoy fresh bread for dinner.
I slice the remaining bread and put it in the freezer (it goes stale very quickly).
Then we just pull out however many slices we need for toast, sandwiches, etc. (letting them defrost if necessary).
FAVORITE QUOTE =
“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshines are hard to beat.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder
Yes yes! See my note above about yardwork being one of my favorite things in April!
FAVORITE ARCHIVED POST = You can’t want it for someone else.
Clara and I went to the butterfly exhibit this past week for a school field trip, and I was explaining to her that the last time she saw the butterflies, she was only 6 months old.
Naturally, when we got home from the field trip, she wanted to see pictures… so we dug out her baby photo book and went back into my computer archives.
Our photo hunt landed me on an archived post I had forgotten about, but am so glad I reread — I hope you enjoy it too!
If you’ve ever wanted something for someone else, I think you’ll be able to relate!
Read the full post here.
That’s all for this month. 😆
If you’re interested, you may scroll through all my Favorite Things posts HERE!
Hannah Reid says
I feel slightly better that I’m not the only one who is excited by spring yardwork and burnt out by summer!
Andrea says
haha — I doubt we’re the only 2 who are burned out on yardwork by July!
Let’s just enjoy it while we can now though 🙂
Liane says
My windows are a disaster and it’s supposed to rain so they get to stay dirty. But I did learn a ‘trick’ a few years ago that really helps. The trick I discovered came on the heels of a severe storm that blew off several of our screens. We took them and the ones that were still attached and stored them until spring. Disclosure — we have a small one story home with only 6 windows, one sliding glass door. Two of those windows have two screens – they are two single hungs in one frame and our master has two screens on a really wide short window. Anyway taking them off and putting them back is ladder-free easy peasy. My big discovery is our area is really dirty and the steady wind all summer deposits a lot of dirt on the screens . Dusty gritty dirty stuff since we are surrounded by dead grassy fields from about June until it rains in Nov unless there’s a drought like we’ve had the last 6 yrs. Now we have had a ton of rain this year. The first time we get a storm the wind blows the rain right through the screens and makes a mess. Ever since the storm blew off the screens, my windows are far cleaner. There is still silt to vac out of the tracks but it’s a lot easier to wash them. I wash with plain old liquid dishwashing soap. It works on glasses and plates, so why not windows? My fav rags are diapers. My granddaughter is 23 but the diapers are still hanging in there. I do have to hide them from my hubby who would use are car rags lol. I’m so looking forward to clean windows!
Sue says
The other way you can go with women’s shoes. If you have larger feet, (women’s 9 1/2 here ) go to the men’s section. I can usually find my size in the clearance area because I am a smaller less common men’s size.
That is funny Dave is off the week before Easter. We are always off from Good Friday to end of Holy week. I never heard of the week before Easter off.
Enjoy!
Kim says
Andrea, your hair is sooooo attractive!
I’m going to check out that spice shop. Do you use a particular salt?
Andrea says
HI Kim — yes, I always use Redmonds Real Salt. We love it!
Moira says
Actually, Spring Break was in fact called Easter Break when I was growing up, and it ended with Easter Weekend, at least at my schools here in San Diego, CA and in Lakewood, CO.
Also, what did your daughter think when she saw the photo of herself as a baby, looking at a butterfly? That would be a good one to frame and hang on a wall at home.
Thanks for the work you put into your website and all your posts for us readers.
Andrea says
ah yes, that’s not how it works with our local schools. Our spring break is always the first full week in April — which coincides with Easter every few years (this year being one of them!)
And yes, Clara loved looking back at her old photos — they look through their photobooks on a weekly basis, so she had already seen that picture, but it was fun to reminder her again 🙂
Liane says
I grew up in San Francisco which is (or was at the time) very Roman Catholic. There were as many parochial schools as public. Easter vacation started on Holy Thursday and went through Good Friday, and the entire week after Easter. It did not follow a fixed calendar. My daughter attended two private Christian schools from Kindergarten to 12th grade. They were in different cities. The K-8 school followed the public school district where we lived and the and 4 yr high school followed the district where it was located. That meant parents with kids in both schools had different schedules. It was frustrating for them in some ways because the younger kids were off before Easter and the high school kids were off after Easter. Then when we had grandkids the same rigmarole. I had two grandchildren in two different schools on two different vacation cycles. Their baby sister who I did not take to school was on still a third schedule, offset slightly. I think it makes a ton of sense to not follow a holiday but rather a fixed calendar period. Of all the holidays we celebrate in the states only Independence Day and Easter move around. At least Independence Day is always July 4 but can fall in a one week period, right? Easter follows the phases of the moon and changes so often it makes planning difficult. I guess we can thank the pagans for that!
Kat says
I so enjoy your site-been following before your youngest was born. Question-do you make your own sourdough starter or buy it? Thanks
Andrea says
I got it from a friend years ago — that’s how I’d recommend doing it.
There’s no need to try to make your own, and I definitely wouldn’t spend money buying it — just ask around, you’ll find someone with a starter that you can take some from. Then it will be a really active starter that’s ready to go right away.