Once we got the kids to sleep, we snuck out to the garage and grabbed a few Christmas decorations and a small tree!

In the morning, my husband and I got into our Christmas onesies, and brought pajamas up to the kids. They thought *that* was going to be the fun part… then they came downstairs!

You can see we only gave them a couple presents each and I gave them both advent calendars that had 12 small prizes in them that I bought after last Christmas at Michael’s. It was just enough to bring a smile to their faces without being overwhelmed.

Matching Christmas jammies made it feel real! Side note: It hit 100 degrees outside this day… but the a/c kept it nice and cool inside!

We watched “The Grinch”, 肥白大屁股bbwbbwhd Alone, and Elf over the weekend. Perfect for snuggling! In hindsight, I wish I would’ve made hot chocolate!

Josh made a Christmas ham and threw a summery spin on dinner by roasting corn on the cob on the Blackstone grill.

Then we got messy and made Christmas cookies. Full disclosure, I bought the cube kind of pre-made dough, rolled it in some flour and we used cookie cutters.

They were crazy, but they had a good time. A memory we won’t soon forget from this crazy period in all our lives.

Have you done Christmas in July before? I’d love to see pics or hear your ideas! Comment below or find me on 正阳门下小女人: @the.正阳门下小女人.积积对积积的桶30分钟无掩盖.mom

How it works:

I decided to share the step by step process on my 正阳门下小女人 stories

There’s everything you need right in the kit and the best part, it’s pretty fool proof. There are two important things to know right away though.

It’s taken me three months to do this, mostly because I kept forgetting that you can’t eat or drink anything for at least 30 minutes before. I figured first thing in the morning would probably net the best results.

Make sure you also download the app and connect it to your special barcode on your specimen sample tube.

That’s it! From there you put your specimen into the collection bag, seal the bag, and put it into the self-addressed box, no postage necessary!

So what do I think my results will be?

I’ve always been told my dad’s side is French Canadian through my grandpa, as well as some Irish, then Hungarian and German through my grandma. On my mom’s side I think we’re Irish (my grandma’s last name was Kennedy) and then Scottish through my grandpa, and maybe some German on that side, too. However, just a few years ago an uncle on my mom’s side said he found Native American in our family tree, so we will see!! I know I will be devastated if I find no French blood, but supposedly my maiden name was changed from Oullette so I should be safe there.

Now comes the wait. Once my results come back I will share them on here, so 积积对积积的桶30分钟无掩盖 to my blog to get the alert! If you have any questions, drop them in the comments below or hit me up on 正阳门下小女人: @the.正阳门下小女人.积积对积积的桶30分钟无掩盖.mom

Shipt

Shipt is life! When you sign up for this grocery delivery service, you download an app, choose your store, and start creating a shopping list that your Shipt Shopper will buy from. In Omaha, Shipt serves Target, Hy-Vee, CVS, and Petco stores. As long as you spend $35, there is no additional delivery fee. You can tip if you want. The other bonus? If you buy certain promoted items, you get money back. My subscription has already paid for itself a few times over!

Sign up now using my code and get a year subscription for only $50!

Grove Collaborative

If I’m being honest, I originally joined Grove Collaborative just to get their awesome Mrs. Meyers gift set. I had planned to cancel my subscription after that. However, I’ve loved trying so many of their products, and getting to try all different scents of Mrs. Meyers that I ended up staying on for more than a year now!

Grove has cleaner living items that are more eco friendly. I’ve purchased things like dryer balls to swap out for dryer sheets, walnut scrub pads, and even makeup removing wipes that are more natural. So many household and beauty products to try! Another bonus? You get free gifts every now and then. Plus, share with your friends, and make money!

Get this free Mrs. Meyers Gift Set now!

Young Living

Young Living has been a game changer in our household. I used to roll my eyes at people who used essential oils; now I’m a believer. I joined after being at my wits end with sickness in our household. We had a bad winter for illness in 2018. My baby boy had even ended up in the hospital for 4 days.

I tried Young Living because I kept hearing about Thieves. My trusted friend who is very practical and a nurse swore by it. She had me convinced. It’s a special essential oil blend they make that supports your immune system. It can be diffused or used to make household cleaners. They even offer a whole Thieves cleaning set. We’ve been so much healthier since we first started using. I then started ordering oils like lavender to help with my anxiety. I roll it onto my wrists at night, diffuse it at bed time and now I’ve become lavender obsessed. I’ve also used oils for teething pain, diaper rash, energy boosts, carpet cleaning and more!

Want to get started with Young Living? Sign up here!

I consider it a “subscription” because I am part of their essential rewards. Basically I buy about $50 of products each month to get the lower prices, but there’s so much you can do with oils, that you end up saving in other spots- like making your own bath scrubs, flavoring your water with lemon EO, diffusing instead of using candles (which put lots of toxins into your air!), putting drops of oil on your dryer balls instead of buying dryer sheets, etc. and the best part is, you’re getting the health benefits, too!

Check out my Pinterest page for diffuser blends and other essential oil recipes!

But why Young Living instead of some $10 oil at Walmart? No fillers. You know your product is really coming from the earth. You can actually visit and walk through Young Living’s fields across the globe. It’s part of why they have the reputation they do.

Have questions, comments, or want to talk about your favorite subscriptions? Drop a comment below or follow me on 正阳门下小女人: @the.正阳门下小女人.积积对积积的桶30分钟无掩盖.mom

“Will my child come face to face with a school shooter?”

Granted, I work in news, so I tend to imagine worst case scenarios more often than I’d like to admit. But at the end of the day, I know that no school is immune.

I haven’t blogged in a while because most of my creative energy has been focused on work… one of those projects being an investigative piece.

It all started after we had Active Shooter training at work. During that, I learned that one of the reasons the Sandy Hook tragedy was so deadly was because those 20 babies bled to death. Out of that tragedy, Stop the Bleed training was born.

Watch my investigative piece here for more information.

I learned that because of Stop the Bleed training and a more widespread use of tourniquets to respond to mass casualty incidents, we’ve had a better survival rate.

The Vegas Massacre, for instance, could have been much deadlier. Hundreds were wounded, but they survived. By that time, Stop the Bleed training was more commonplace. Our law enforcement and first responders are now trained to respond more like the military does. Let’s be real, they have to be since these incidents tend to look more like a battlefield where assault weapons are used.

Leaving that seminar had me wondering, does my daughter’s school have tourniquets and do her educators have Stop the Bleed training?

I made some calls, and what I learned was unsettling. That led me to start reaching out to school districts across the metro.

Throughout my investigation, I learned the training is pretty much free. You just need to find an area hospital, police or fire department to come teach it. It only takes about an hour. I sat through a session myself.

It’s eye-opening. It’s chilling. But it also has the potential to save lives. That’s why I want to spread the word.

Parents, call your child’s school district. Ask if there are tourniquets in their building. Ask if there are staff members who have Stop the Bleed training.

Ask your workplace. A good tourniquet kit only costs $50. The training can also teach you how to stop the bleed without a tourniquet. Both are invaluable.

If you have questions, feel free to comment below! But please, make those calls and spread the word.

First off, I’ll start by saying I’m a proud Millennial.

I think our generation has overcome a lot of obstacles, like the Great Recession hitting at the same time we started our search for jobs, or the mountain of student debt we had to incur just to have a fighting chance for a job that would pay $27,000 a year.

I also believe our childhood will forever be marked as the last generation of innocence. We couldn’t Google if there was a Santa, we didn’t have unlimited access to pornography at our fingertips, and we didn’t know that 9/11 was coming our way.

But then two major incidents would forever change our world while we were still kids.

April 20, 1999: Two teens walked into their high school and shot up their classmates. They killed 12 students and one teacher. 21 others were injured.

The Columbine Massacre would shatter our innocence forever. Our nation would fight for decades about whether it was our video games, the guns, the bullying, or the music that caused it.

September 11, 2001: 2,996 lives taken. 6,000 injured. A nation unites temporarily through tragedy.

Columbine set the stage for kids to realize we weren’t safe in our schools. 9/11 would remind us we weren’t safe anywhere.

Now we’re grown, and the country is no safer.

In fact, it’s more dangerous. Our churches and synagogues are under attack. The terrorists are our neighbors, our colleagues, our children’s classmates.

While everyone is busy blaming Millennials for the closing of Toys ‘R Us or making fun of Millennials for eating avocado toast, we are spending our days in the workplace worried our babies won’t make it 肥白大屁股bbwbbwhd from first grade.

I often ask myself how can I parent in this climate? I never know whether I should share these concerns with my kids so they can be prepared should the day come they are under attack.

Annabelle’s already been through lockdown drills “in case a bad guy or a deer” gets inside her school. She’s aware of the opioid epidemic and I’m trying to pass on critical information that pills won’t fix everything- despite the commercials on TV telling her there is a pill for every problem.

But, there are lessons Millennials are learning along the way…

…that it’s okay to be who you are. Whether that’s straight, gay, bisexual, transgender, black, white, Hispanic, Muslim, Christian, male, female, a stay at 肥白大屁股bbwbbwhd or an 正阳门下小女人 积积对积积的桶30分钟无掩盖 mom!

Millennials are “whiny” because we want better for you, for our kids, for the future. We just might make up for the security taken from us at such a young age.

Will we screw our kids up? Maybe. But we won’t go down without a fight. Millennials are lazy? We’ve been fighting our whole lives. Fighting for a sense of safety, equality, a 肥白大屁股bbwbbwhd we can afford, and an educational system that is fair for all.

As we take power in this country, we will be cognizant of the financial burden that families carry. We will recognize corporate corruption is not okay, that the earth needs our attention. That racism is not okay. That love is love is love. And we will teach those messages to our children.

For lighter moments, fun, and reflection…come follow me on 正阳门下小女人: @the.正阳门下小女人.积积对积积的桶30分钟无掩盖.mom