It’s officially spring, which means growing excitement around upcoming house and yard projects! If you come back in August, we’ll be decidedly LESS excited about projects… but in April, we’re always so ready to get outside and start crossing off our ever-growing list of things to do in and around our home.
As of 3:00 this afternoon, it’s also officially Spring Break week (10 days) for our family!
Our plans are… absolutely nothing.
Yes, I’m excited!
We’re enjoying a 3-week lull in church and school activities after the boys each came in 2nd place for our school’s 3-on-3 basketball tournament, and Nora’s volleyball team won the final tournament. After Spring Break, the boys start Little League (same team), and Nora will participate in middle school track and graduate from 8th grade. 🥹
I’m still planning and prepping for my little bake stand to open later this spring — feeling nervous that I’m wasting my time and money, but also excited to try something new!
Lots of fun things on the horizon for us… and lots of favorites to share with you this month.
Favorite Moment = We have a reader!
All of our children loved being read to… which naturally transitioned into them reading for pleasure on their own around Kindergarten.
Of course, we still read to them, but by Kindergarten, they could read easy books on their own, without much help, and they seemed to enjoy it.
Then, Miss Clara Jo came along and absolutely refused to read on her own. She cried when we tried to help her, and insisted she couldn’t do it… so we just kept reading to her, hoping it would pass.
Teachers assured us she wasn’t behind, but I was getting nervous now that she’s in 2nd grade.
Then, over Christmas break, she started reading on her own all the time. She used her Christmas money to buy a set of A to Z Mystery books on Marketplace… and basically hasn’t stopped reading since.
She regularly reads a smaller chapter book every day — it’s like a literal switch flipped in her brain, and now it makes sense and she loves reading.
I share this because it’s exciting for us, but also because I know other parents are likely worried about their child’s development. There may come a time for more drastic measures, but, as several more seasoned parents and teachers continually reminded me over these last 3 years, it often just pays to let kids learn at their own pace.
Favorite Routine = Family Cleaning
For roughly 18 years, I did nearly all the cleaning in our home — with others helping out as needed or when asked.
However, that changed in the summer of 2024, when we implemented a new “family cleaning routine” on Monday mornings.
Now, almost 2 years later, we’re still doing a version of “family cleaning” every week (or over the weekend during the school year).
The tasks will sometimes shift based on the week or the season, but for the most part, this is what our family’s cleaning routine looks like:
- NORA = girls’ bathroom, trash, and laundry
- SIMON = vacuum everything (also, sometimes vacuum the cars and the outbuilding)
- JAMES = boys’ bathroom, trash, and laundry
- CLARA = windows, mirrors, dusting
- DAVE = our bathroom, trash, and laundry; wash dishes, and pool maintenance in the summer
- ANDREA = kitchen, mudroom, laundry room, mop hard floors, help start and rotate laundry, lots of random little things that probably only I notice!
The kids can usually get their tasks done in 30 -45 minutes of hands-on time (not necessarily all in one chunk), so it’s really not that bad — but it saves me hours of work!
We’ve kept their jobs mostly the same for 2 years, so they are all quite efficient. There’s a chance we might switch things up in the future, but for now, I’m a fan of our family cleaning routine (and the kids honestly don’t complain too much!)
RELATED READING: 8 Tips to Speed Up Your Weekly Cleaning
Past Favorite = Straightening Brush
About 4 years ago, we purchased a hair straightening brush for Nora’s thick, frizzy, curly hair… and we were absolutely SHOCKED by how well it worked. Best of all, she could use it herself without worrying about burning her fingers or scalp.
She and I have used the straightening brush almost daily over the last 4 years, so it was nearing the end of its life.
Clara has also been interested in trying to do her own hair recently, so I decided to purchase 2 new straightening brushes (one for upstairs, one for downstairs). Clara loves it and can easily straighten her own hair without help!
If you’re looking for a fantastic tool to straighten almost any type of hair, or a hair tool for young children, a straightening brush is a great place to start.
RELATED READING: DIY Hair Detangling Spray for Kids
Favorite Clothing = Lotta Clogs
I love my Lotta wooden clogs — especially in early spring when it feels a little too early to wear sandals, but my feet need something other than wool socks and boots.
I haven’t shared them before because they are pricy (unless you find them on eBay for $45 like I did 😂). However, now that I’m finally getting around to sharing them as one of my Favorite Things, I realize their owner retired and shut down the website. Bummer!
There are several similar-looking clogs on Amazon if you like the look of my shoes. I can’t vouch for their quality or comfort, but they do all look cute! These Clarks clogs look super comfortable, and the Sandgrens brand looks almost identical to the Lottas.
That said, my best tip would be to search for “Lottas from Stockholm Clogs” on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or at thrift stores… and if you find them in your size, snatch them up!
RELATED READING: 6 Reasons We Almost Always Buy Used
Favorite Book = Last Light Over Galveston
I recently shared a favorite book, If It Rains, by Jennifer L. Wright — a historical novel about the 1935 Oklahoma Dust Bowl.
Since then, I’ve read two more books by the same author:
- Come Down Somewhere (about the 1945 Trinity nuclear bomb testing in New Mexico)
- Last Light Over Galveston (about the 1900 hurricane / flood in Galveston, Texas)
Both were very enjoyable to read, while also being historically accurate and very informative. If I had to pick, I liked Last Light Over Galviston the best.
READ THE BOOK: Last Light Over Galveston
Seasonal Favorite = Pesties
We just got our first (of 4) yearly Pesties shipments in the mail, and I applied it over the weekend (I also got my hair chopped!)
All I need to do is mix the tiny bottle of concentrate in the disposable “bag” and fill it with water. I spray the mixture in and around our home, and it works so well at keeping bugs out of our house.
We’ve previously struggled with lots of little spiders and Box Elder bugs… but after starting Pestie a couple of years ago, we have significantly fewer bugs. It’s fantastic, and I highly recommend it.
RELATED READING: Natural Pest Control Recipes
Random Favorite = Good Customer Service
Back in the fall, I thought it would be smart to enter all our gift cards into the various restaurant apps on my phone… then I wouldn’t need to worry about losing the physical cards or forgetting them when we decided to stop at a restaurant.
It seemed like a very “simple and organized” solution… but possibly not the most “secure”. 😩
In March, I had 2 different situations when my gift cards were stolen from my restaurant account Apps, and then extra expenses were charged to my credit card!
One of the Apps (Subway) didn’t even send me a confirmation email after an order was placed (in California!) The other App (Panera Bread) did send a confirmation email when the order was ready (also in California) — which was too late for me to contact the store and cancel it.
I was upset and frustrated — partially because it’s a strange feeling to have something stolen from you; but also, I worried about the security of my credit card and the other information I had stored in both of those Apps.
I started with my credit card company, which quickly canceled my current card and issued me a new card in less than 48 hours. They also fully refunded the expenses charged to my account.
Then, I contacted Subway and Panera — both of which, after understanding the situation, fully refunded my gift cards (and then some)!
I’ve now taken the time to go through every App on my phone, deleting any accounts that aren’t necessary, deleting information from accounts that I want to keep, removing credit card information from every App I can, and setting up dual-factor authentication for everything else.
It was a bit of a hassle, but I’m thankful for really great customer service reps at Subway, Panera, and Meijer MasterCard!
RELATED READING: How I Store and Organize Our Gift Cards (the old-school way!)
Favorite Recipe = 30 BBQ Side Dishes
It’s almost BBQ season here in West Michigan — and I know many areas of the country have already been eating outside for weeks!
If you love a good picnic or backyard BBQ, I’ve got lots of easy, delicious recipes that are perfect for spring and summer.
Most of them can be made in advance too — letting you just enjoy the party without worrying about food!
GET THE RECIPES: 30 Backyard BBQ Side Dishes
Favorite Quote =Happiness Is…
This image pretty much sums up my thoughts about staying home for Spring Break. 😉
Favorite Archived Post(s)
Exactly 6 years ago, over Spring Break, our family decided it would be fun to play “musical rooms” in our home (we moved almost every piece of furniture into a different room!)
- We started by moving Clara out of her crib and into Nora’s bedroom upstairs.
- Then, we moved our master bedroom into the former (tiny) nursery.
- Next, we transformed our old master bedroom into a cozy den that we use ALL the time.
- With our living room furniture in the new den, we brought in a 12-foot table and created a massive dining room in our former living room.
- And finally, we turned our former (much smaller) dining area into a “keeping room” — a.k.a. we put a couch in our kitchen!
It was fun making all these switches, but I honestly didn’t think they would stick for 6 full years. However, we all still love the way our “new” layout functions for our family… and we don’t have plans of rearranging again any time soon.
The entire “musical rooms” process only took a few days and cost virtually nothing in the beginning.
We eventually purchased a few things for our new spaces, but it was a really fun, really frugal way to transform our entire home in the matter of a week.
That’s all for this month. 😆
If you’re interested, you may scroll through all my Favorite Things posts HERE!
Chris says
Ooohh, I’ll have to check out that book!
I guess I’m strange. I absolulely love traveling. I also absolutely love being home. 🙂
I just love your little cozy sitting area at the end of your kitchen.
Enjoy your spring break!
Shelly says
As a mom of three dyslexic children (all in college now!) I am probably overly attuned to any red flags that might even hint at possible learning difficulties, dyslexia in particular. While I completely agree with your approach to child development (and every child grows on their own schedule) this approach to helping young children learn to read can have inadvertent negative consequences, as the interventions to help dyslexic learners are more effective the earlier they are applied. I realize this may not apply to Clara Jo since it seems like the switch has been flipped, but just sharing because other readers may see this comment and it may help another child too! There are varying degrees of dyslexia and all of my children have different levels of challenge. My middle son appeared to have squeaked by without getting that gene (dyslexia definitely has a genetic link) but we discovered later in his elementary years (5th or 6th grade) that, in fact, he does have dyslexia (to a smaller degree than his brothers) but he also has some higher levels of compensation that allowed him to appear to not struggle with reading, until the level of reading became more challenging (in the 5th grade.) His very smart brain compensated by using text clues or memorizing words, and probably many more things that neither he nor we were aware he was using, to decode a word or the meaning of a passage correctly. It wan’t until a thorough test/evaluation using “made-up word” decoding (with no text for clues) that his deficiencies could be identified. All of our children benefited from specialized tutoring for dyslexia and they are all successful young adults now! Their spelling is still (and always will be) horrible- but thank God for spell check and editors!
Jenn says
You may also enjoy Issac’s Storm by Erik Larson. It is about the same storm. Of course you could be tired of reading about natural disasters. 🙂
Andrea says
haha — it has been a lot of natural disaster books lately! Interesting, but yes, maybe its time for a little more light-hearted reading. I’ve heard Al Roker has a good book about the Galveston hurricane too.
Jen says
Happy Spring Break! Enjoy your down time! We also got Pestie, based on your recommendation and have been very happy!
Also, if you enjoyed the book about the Dust Bowl, I would HIGHLY recommend the Ken Burns PBS documentary on the Dust Bowl. It was very sobering, but I enjoyed it.
Mary says
I understand your feelings having your gift cards compromised. In the last year we’ve had two episodes of fraud. A check stolen from the US mail, “washed” and changed twice to take $9500 from our account. Then a credit card notification that my card was used to purchase $780 worth of tickets to the NYC ballet.
We will never put a check in the mail again and are doing everything online but I have concerns about that too. And I agree with you, great customer service from our bank was a great help.
Andrea says
oh wow — that’s a lot!
Glad you got it all figured out.
I have heard other instances of mailed checks being stollen — sounds like it’s not the best way to do things anymore!
Andrea says
thanks Jen 🙂
Glad you will also be “pest-free” this spring/summer!