Our family enjoyed the longest spring break of our school-going lives last week — 11 full days!
When I was a kid, we “only” got one week… but so many families took off the Friday before that by the time I was in middle school, the school started giving us Friday as a bonus day.
As a result, many families started taking Thursday off too… (you see where this is going!)
Well this year, they gave us Thursday off — and wouldn’t you know, a whole bunch of families pulled their kids out on Wednesday. 😂
It feels like a version of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”…
I joked with our kids that we’ll eventually have 2 full weeks off for spring break and go back to school at the beginning of August to compensate for it.
Whatever the case, our family enjoyed all 11 days of our break (no more, no less!)
FAVORITE MOMENT = A Week Offline
Speaking of spring break — I decided I didn’t want to do any computer work over our break this year, and I went 9 days without even touching my computer. It was glorious!
I did check my email a couple of times from my phone, but only because I was waiting for a specific email that needed a timely response. After that, I only used my phone to listen to ebooks (and of course, to call a few people!)
There are days when I wear my rose-colored glasses and think how much “better” life was before the internet. But in reality, I know it’s a good thing, in moderation. A tool we can use to benefit our lives or a tool we can become obsessed with.
That said, I did not miss it for one week!
FAVORITE ROUTINE = Simple Skin Care
Even though I don’t hang out on social media these days, I’m fully aware of the very popular skincare routine “reels” and videos that are all the rage.
Women (and even young teens) using dozens of pricey cosmetics every morning and evening to supposedly keep their skin looking young, firm, and wrinkle-free — OR, more likely, using dozens of pricey cosmetics in hopes of high commissions via their affiliate links.
May I offer a simpler skincare routine?
- Cleanse with oil (Dave and I have used this homemade oil cleanser for 15+ years now)
- Moisturize (I’ve used this 3 Citrus face cream since 2010)
** None of these products are promotions, sponsored, or affiliates! 😉
I can whip up several months’ worth of facial cleanser in about 2 minutes for a couple of bucks, and I buy one 8-ounce container of face cream roughly every 6 months.
That’s it!
Dave and I do the oil cleansing in the shower at night and then moisturize after drying off. We don’t do anything in the morning.
My simple skincare routine has worked for me from my mid-twenties until now — almost pushing 40, you guys!
Keep in mind that I’m far from a beauty expert, but my skin feels great and looks fairly decent — a few wrinkles, lots of freckles, but nothing major.
Best of all, I don’t have cabinets and drawers filled with fancy concoctions, I don’t spend thousands of dollars on pricy chemicals, and I don’t use precious time and energy each day applying dozens of treatments or worrying about my skin.
If you enjoy pampering your skin, keep it up! But if you’re not on board with expensive, time-consuming skincare routines, know that you’re not the only one.
RELATED READING: My Favorite All-Natural Cosmetics
PAST FAVORITE = Room Darkening Shades
Every spring, after the time changes and the evenings stay lighter longer, I’m always so thankful for the room-darkening shades we have in all our bedroom windows.
Even in broad daylight, we can get our bedrooms extremely dark, which is so helpful for our sleep and rest — especially since we put several of our children to bed when it’s very bright outside.
The shades are a bit pricy compared to regular mini blinds, but they look so much nicer (especially with our white window trim) and their function is far superior.
Our cordless blackout cellular shades have been going strong for 13 + years now with no issues, and I’m thankful for them every single night!
As an added bonus, they help keep the heat and cold out as well.
RELATED READING: Our kids’ bedtime routine (from several years ago).
FAVORITE TOOL = Ball Pump
We’ve gone through countless ball pumps over the last 8 years — they all seem to break so easily, or just stop working (possibly because we let the kids use them!)
Then, a couple of years ago, I purchased what I thought was “just another cheap ball pump” on Amazon… and it’s still working, despite all the kids and their friends using it regularly!
From what I can tell, our pump doesn’t have a brand name — it’s just a “portable ball pump” that works amazingly well and seems to be nearly indestructible!
This pump is very small with a handy flexible hose and multiple extra needles.
Best of all, it pumps air when you push the handle in AND when you pull it out — so it inflates things in half the time.
We use it for sports balls, pool floats, and my office ball chair. The boys even take it to school to pump up balls on the playground!
As long as they don’t lose it at school, I foresee this tiny pump lasting us a long time.
RELATED READING: How we organize our sports equipment.
FAVORITE BOOK = The Hiding Place
I thought I read The Hiding Place… but apparently I’ve only read about it.
I knew what the book was about, I had read about Corrie TenBoom, but I never read the entire book until this past spring break when I plowed through it in roughly 2 days.
SO good!
Definitely up there with the top books I’ve read over the past year — maybe of all time.
I love reading about WWII, and the fact that many of Dave and my ancestors are Dutch (from Holland) made it an even more fascinating read.
Corrie and her family risked their lives to help Jews and underground workers escape from the Nazis, only to eventually end up in the Nazi death camps themselves. Corrie did survive and this book is her story of how faith ultimately triumphs over evil.
READ THE BOOK: The Hiding Place
If you’re interested, there are other versions of this book too:
- Graphic Novel
- Young Reader version
- AudioBook
- eBook
- DVD
- Return To the Hiding Place (a follow up book)
- Life Lessons from The Hiding Place (a follow up book)
- Corrie’s Prison Letters
FAVORITE MEDIA = The Bible Project
Anytime I do a Bible Study on a book of the Bible, I look it up on The Bible Project first as they have super cool video “sketches” that bring the book to life.
Watch the Old Testament videos.
Watch the New Testament videos.
I’m awed by the amazing artistic skills, but also by how they can concisely summarize an entire book of the Bible in just a few minutes.
The videos are appropriate for kids and keep their attention.
The Bible Project could be a great tool to use in your next Bible Study and in your home.
Explore all the Bible Project videos here.
FAVORITE RECIPE = Chicken Salad
One of my favorite spring-time recipes is Chicken Salad.
Unfortunately, I’m the only one in my family who really enjoys it, so I usually make a small-ish batch and eat it for lunch a few days in a row (it never feels boring or repetitive to me).
I love using up whatever I have in the house, adding in some chicken, and enjoying a new flavor combination every time (although I always sprinkle in a little sweet curry as it adds TONS of flavor)!
If you like chicken salad but are looking for a few simple ways to liven it up a bit, check out my “make-it-your-way” recipe below!
TRY THE RECIPE: Make-it-your-way Chicken Salad
FAVORITE PICTURE = Sleepy Sloth
One of our kids’ favorite children’s books is The Very Sleepy Sloth.
The point of the book is that we are all created with different gifts and talents so instead of trying to excel at what everyone else is good at, we should be content with what we were created to do (in the sloth’s case, that’s to sleep).
This very sleepy sloth reminded us of that book and gave us all a good laugh last week!
The sloth just laid there the entire time we stood by his cage — never even flinching a muscle! I wonder if he ever loses feeling in his limbs from loss of blood flow?
RELATED READING: Our most-read toddler board books.
FAVORITE QUOTE
This photo, quote, and caption made me smile… I hope you enjoy reflecting on it too!
FAVORITE ARCHIVED POST = Decision Fatigue
I’ve gotten a handful of emails and questions about decision fatigue… so I thought I’d share 2 archived posts that might help.
If you struggle with decision fatigue, keep reading:
The first post offers a simple 3-step process to reduce decision fatigue… the second post provides dozens of real-life examples of how we implement these steps in our home and life.
Don’t let decision fatigue burden your life… you can make simple changes (today) that will propel you in the right direction and help to simplify your life!
That’s it for this month.
If you’re interested, you may scroll through all my Favorite Things posts HERE!
Suzanne says
Since you love The Hiding Place (I do too!), you should read The Watchmaker’s Daughter by Larry Loftis. He was able to find more information from letters, diaries, and photos than was available when The Hiding Place (THP) was written. He gives details about the people that hid in their home and what happened to many of the people, and much more. It does overlap with THP. I LOVED it!
Andrea says
yes, I need to get this book next (several have recommended it to me now!) Thanks for the reminder!
Kim says
I have discovered and enjoy using The Bible Project.
Another online help I would like to suggest is: Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable.
Tom is a personal friend of ours, a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and was a professor there for over 40 years. He has written extensive notes on every book of the Bible. They have been a marvelous help in personal Bible study. I hope the next time someone is stumped on the meaning of a scripture, that they will take a look at his notes.
Andrea says
Thanks so much for sharing this resource, Kim!
JJ says
Somehow I missed your chicken salad recipe. Sweet curry sounds amazing with it! I need to make this!
So glad you had a great vacation! Quality time plus a lot of relaxing is the best! I’ve lived in 5 states, and FL is my favorite. I guess you could count that as a favorite thing!
That is such an awesome family picture! It’s fun for the kids to see themselves growing in pics. These are the good old days!
We love The Bible Project! It helps to see how everything connects.
Sara Hagerty’s, The Gift of Limitations, was incredible to listen to recently! Now one of my all-time favorites!
Andrea says
Well, the chicken salad recipe was years ago — you were probably busy with little kids then 🙂
And yes, THESE are the “good old days”!
Julie Kaiser says
Another good book about Corrie ten Boom is “The Watchmaker’s Daughter” by Larry Loftis. It is similar to “The Hiding Place”, but it has more details.
Andrea says
It’s on my “list” Julie! I’m excited to read it and sure I will enjoy it too! Thanks for the suggestion!
Teena says
My boys read The Hiding Place as part of their language curriculum through Lifepac. They both liked and one of them even re-read it for fun.
Andrea says
wow, a true testament to the quality of writing and captivating stories. I mean, if teen boys are willing to read it more than once, it HAS to be good!
Kristi says
Hopped over to The Bible Project site to check out the videos and ❤️❤️❤️. Thank you for sharing this!!
Andrea says
yes, they have so many resources. Dave mentioned that he listens to their podcast too — so that’s another resource you might want to check out!
Missie says
If you enjoy books set during WWII, then you might read We Were The Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter. It is based on a true story of her family during the holocaust. I would recommend watching a YouTube video of her being interviewed. She did not know her grandfather was a holocaust survivor until age 15 and then he passed away shortly after that. She began interviewing surviving relatives in her 20s and later wrote the book. They all survive, but that does not keep you on the edge of what happens next. A great story of family love and resiliency.
Andrea says
I’ve read that one, Missie — and yes, it’s SO good! I think I’ve actually watched the YouTube video too. Every time I read another WWII book, I have trouble rationalizing how it all REALLY happened in real life. I just can’t fathom any human treating another human in those ways. Absolutely insane!
Rachel says
What is Nora’s skincare routine, as a tween? Is she wearing any makeup in that airport photo or she simply naturally beautiful?! Love the beachy waves too!
Andrea says
Hi Rachel, Nora doesn’t really have much of a routine yet (she’s 12). She washes her face in the shower at night (with the oil cleansing method) and that’s about it for now. She doesn’t wear makeup yet either — outside of some concealer for a bit of acne. And yes, her hair is VERY thick and wavy. We’ve tried various methods to control her frizz and I think we’re finally making strides in that area! LOL!
Chris says
If you end up finding a good way to control frizz, please let us know. I have a bad problem with that.
Andrea says
will do — we’re definitely still searching though.
Probably, living in Michigan is not the best plan (hello humidity!)
Chris says
Thank you. also live with high humidity. 🙁
Fern says
If you enjoyed The Hiding Place, I imagine you’d also enjoy The Five Silent Years of Corrie ten Boom (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310611210/). Corrie had a stroke and spent the last 5 years of her life unable to speak, but it didn’t stop her from continuing to have a huge impact on others. She was quite the inspiration throughout her life!
Andrea says
Thanks Fern! I have several of the Corrie ten Boom books in my “library list” right now — hopefully I’ll make it through them all by the end of the summer!
Debbie says
I also like the simplicity of your skin routine. I did try doing your oil cleanser concoction years back and somehow it didn’t work for me. I still use an oil cleanser as my first cleanse but I just have to buy it. I do enjoy my other skincare formulas and serums because it definitely helps with my skin pigmentation and and reducing the look of wrinkles. It’s a necessary inconvenience much like exercise to me. 🙂
Andrea says
I’m glad you found something that is working for your skin now!
I did hear from several readers (years ago when I first mentioned my oil cleansing method) that it took about a month for their skin to “get used to” the oil cleanse. Dave and I didn’t have that issue, but if you were ever interested in trying it again, it might be worth giving it a shot for several weeks to see if your skin started to tolerate it better.
KG says
I love the simplicity of your skin care routine. Do you use a daily sunscreen on your face? If so, can you share what you like?
Andrea says
Hi there — no, I’m not great about sunscreen (ever)! And the main reason is because I don’t like the feel or smell of any sunscreens on my skin. So unfortunately, I can’t recommend anything you to at this point. In the mornings, I just brush on a little bronzer, mascara, and vaseline (for my lips!)
Sara says
You would love “Things We Couldn’t Say” by Diet Eman as well – WWII nonfiction set in the Netherlands. I heard her speak at Dordt in the 1990s.
Andrea says
YES! I read that book a few years ago and loved it too!
JoAnn C. says
That’s a great picture of you and Dave.
Andrea says
Thanks JoAnn 🙂
Suzanne says
Great post, Andrea! That sloth is very funny! And as usual, you have lots of good ideas and information to check into. I think I’ll re-read The Hiding Place – it’s been decades since I first read it. And I’m going to re-read your article on decision fatigue. It’s very real and I can always use a “refresher” on how to deal with it. Have a great rest of the month!
Andrea says
Thanks Suzanne,
Yes, decision fatigue is big this time of year!
Lynn says
I read The Hiding Place years ago and loved it! Recently, we watched A Small Light on Hulu about the lady who hid Anne Frank’s family. Highly recommend this series if you haven’t already seen it! It is only 8 episodes.
Andrea says
Thanks Lynn — I’ll need to look up that show. We don’t have Hulu but I know you can always get a free week trial 🙂
Donna Marie says
Looks like someone has a daughter who is tall as she is!!! Lol I’m so glad you had time in Florida. Disney is too expensive for a family, so I don’t think you need to go! Keep up the good work!!!
Shareen says
Disney actually completely unnecessary. The prices are extravagant even for Florida residents. They are not family either.
Andrea says
haha — I still have a good inch on her, but she likes to wear taller shoes 🙂
and yes, we’re not really “amusement park ride” people, and we don’t like standing in line either!