High Five for Friday #137 | Mom Brain + The Eclipse

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // August 25, 2017 // 6 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Becky, Tif, and Della! Come, read up on what we’ve been up to this week and get to know some amazing bloggers down below!

How was your week? Let’s share!

1. We’re in the last of the summer weeks here. I’m looking forward to getting back to our usual routine. But we are trying to make the best of our last few weeks. The weather is finally starting to cool off! So I think we’re going to be squeezing in a few more adventures.

2. My mom brain was in full swing this week. I blame the eclipse.

It was my turn for a doctor’s appointment at Big Duke (that’s what we call the hospital clinics haha!) and I managed to get us all out of the door bang on time for my appointment! We even had plenty of time for Elizabeth to help push William’s stroller all the way to the clinic office. High Five for me! When I check in, the lady at the front desk looks at me over her glasses (you know you’re in trouble then) and says, “Oh honey, your appointment is tomorrow.”. NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I asked if there was an opening right then, but alas, no. And, as luck would have it, the next day on our return I arrived a few minutes late. Poop. There really should be an appointment slot reserved each day for moms who get days wrong.

3. Who saw the eclipse???? I’m regretting we didn’t drive the 4 hours to the totality zone… I wish we had. BUT seeing the eclipse at 95% was pretty cool! We swung by Krispy Kreme to grab some special eclipse donuts, and then make our pin hole viewers. And then NASA had a live stream of the eclipse across the country, so we were able to watch the totality eclipse from Oregon before the eclipse started at our house. That was cool! And then Elizabeth and I headed outside to set up camp on the front lawn to watch the eclipse. Elizabeth was SO into it right from the start. But as the eclipse neared the peak, she was over it. HAHA! But it was pretty cool at our house. It wasn’t necessarily dark at our house. But it wasn’t bright. Almost like there was a big thunderstorm rolling in. We shared our eclipse glasses with our mail man, who pulled up right at the peak time. The coolest part of the eclipse was noticing all the eclipse shadows.

My parents are the stuff of retired dreams! They decided, spur of the moment, to drive from southern Michigan down to western Kentucky the morning of the eclipse to see the totality! They almost missed it because of traffic!!! But they saw it in the end, and got back to Michigan at 2am. HA!

4. My husband and I had our date night on Wednesday this week. We went to the Durham Bulls baseball game with his work department. It was lots of fun! And the weather was cooling off, so it was pretty pleasant. I still sweat like crazy, but hey! Overcast and breezy is better than sunny and steamy.

Take me out to the ball game! (Just don't rain on me!) #durhambulls #durhamnc #bullcity #mytown #widn

A post shared by Katie (@ktcupoftea) on Aug 23, 2017 at 4:46pm PDT

5. Yesterday we explored a new park about 20 minutes away from us. It was a cool park! They actually built an obstacle course meant for a kids version of American Ninja. Elizabeth was a tad small for most of the equipment, so I felt like I was on heightened alert the entire time. And poor William had to be trapped in his stroller most of the time because I needed my attention and hands free in case Elizabeth needed climbing assistance. But it was fun!!

When your kid climbs to the top of a tall rock structure, your heart beats a little faster (in mommy fear) but you're grinning BIG ? this was at the Graham Regional Park for locals. Awesome park! #biggirlstatus #parktime

A post shared by Katie (@ktcupoftea) on Aug 24, 2017 at 9:58am PDT

6. Bonus! Elizabeth had her first hair cut this week 🙂

Today’s featured blogger is Lindsey from Brushing Our Way Through Life! She’s a wife and a mommy with the extra big task of being the biggest cheerleader for her husband, who’s a Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery resident. I loved getting a peak at her daily life, and a fun day trip post to a fun coastal town! And she sells LipSense, so if you haven’t tried it yet, ask Lindsey for help. Swing over and say hi to Lindsey!

How was your week?? Can’t wait to hear all about it!

Loading InLinkz ...

High Five for Friday #136 | Summer Dragons + Foot Peels

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // August 18, 2017 // 7 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Becky, Tif, and Della! Come, read up on what we’ve been up to this week and get to know some amazing bloggers down below!

Loved reading stories about your H54F friendships last week! Thank you for joining in with us!

How was your week? Let’s share!

1. Elizabeth’s doctor appointment last week went great! Dare I say delightful?? She ended up not needing a blood draw which is the win of all wins. So we celebrated with a quick trip to Krispy Kreme. Both kids were so charming there that a random passer through stopping on her road trip to Virginia stopped to say how pleasant they were behaving. There’s probably nothing better as a parent out in public.

The sweetest moment though was Elizabeth showing her Peter Rabbit the huuuuuuge fish tank at the Duke Children’s Hospital!

One fun thing at Duke Children's – the HUGE fish tank ??? Elizabeth's Peter Rabbit loved it too ☺️ her appt went great! #dukechildrenshospital #dukehospital

A post shared by Katie (@ktcupoftea) on Aug 14, 2017 at 7:32am PDT

2. Our weekend was a smidge chaotic. On Sunday my husband went to the PGA Champs down in Charlotte. I held down the fort at home. And then in the afternoon William stayed home with a sitter while Elizabeth and I headed off to a pool party. You may remember at this party last year Elizabeth was drowning… literally. So this year I made her PROMISE to never leave my side. She happily obliged. And we had a great time, just the two of us.

3. This week Elizabeth had her final week of summer camp at her preschool. Best. One. Yet. It was all about castles/medieval times. Elizabeth came home with the neatest crafts. She made a dress, crown, scepter, goblet, lance, dragon… so many things!

4. The last few weeks I’ve been a walking zombie. (ok that’s an exaggeration… but it feels like it) My husband has been juggling an extra busy schedule, PLUS several projects the last few weeks. That’s meant me holding down the fort each day. And then he stayed up late each night working on projects. I should have been productive in those moments, but I was pooped from the day, so I stared at a wall until he was done. And then… up late, then up early the next day… you can see the problem. I’m looking forward to this weekend, when all his crazies are done and we’re back to normal!

5. Did I ever mention I bought one of those foot peel things from Amazon? You’ve seen them… the kind where you slather on a mystery cream and then a few days later your feet are supposed to peel away, leaving behind something so soft and smooth you could sleep on them. If you were flexible enough, anyway. Well… I did that over a week ago… and still waiting on the massive peel. To be honest, my feet feel WORSE because instructions said to not use lotion on them and the goo you’re supposed to put on your feet basically dry them out. So…. yes. Do you have a foot thingy you recommend??? Let me know! Below is day 1 of the foot thing. Strap plastic booties to your feet so they can soak in a foot goo AND sweat thanks to the plastic bag trapping foot moisture.

Fun.

Today’s featured blogger is Sheryl from How to Make a Life! Sheryl is a counselor and life coach specializing in helping clients to recreate their lives. Her site is full of inspiration and motivation to help make your best life right now. I loved her thoughts on how making your bed each day can shift your mindset and mood. And I’m such a productivity fan, so loved her post on the One Minute Rule. Think of all the tasks you skip over in a day that could take you just a minute or less to complete. Instead of passing them over, just DO them! Swing over and say hello to Sheryl!

How was your week?? Can’t wait to hear all about it!

Loading InLinkz ...

High Five for Friday #135 | I Found An Award!

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // August 11, 2017 // 5 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Becky, Tif, and Della! Come, read up on what we’ve been up to this week and get to know some amazing bloggers down below!

Loved reading stories about your H54F friendships last week! Thank you for joining in with us!

How was your week? Let’s share!

1. This weekend we were chill and low key. It was lovely! Sunday we actually had a spontaneous brunch with some friends. We went over to their house and had just a great time! They are expecting their first child any day now so it was a hoot letting William test all of their baby proofing ha!

And then in the afternoon my husband headed out to the back yard to raise up Elizabeth’s little fort she has. It’s now as high as it can go, and it’s SO COOL! Elizabeth is a huge climber. So now that it’s a little higher she loves that she can climb around so easily. My husband and I just sat in our chairs and watched her play for about an hour. Ah bliss!

2. Did you ever compete for the Presidential Fitness Awards in school? If you were a kid of the 90s then you must have! Every year we had a series of different fitness tests to complete – run a mile, push ups, pull ups, sit ups – and if you did so many you got either the National level (second place) or Presidential level (first place). Each year I hit all the Presidential level milestones……. EXCEPT the pull up. I still can’t do a pull up to save my life. So each year I ended up with “participant”. It was frustrating! One year I cheated on the pull ups and managed to get myself a National level badge. Hooray! (it was a hallow victory)

This week we went to a thrift/rummage shop where the kids could stuff a bag full of “treasures” for $5. Tons of fun digging in all the barrels of stuff they had – rubber bands, plastic tops, ribbons, wood scraps, etc. But I managed to find an actual Presidential level badge!!!! I snuck it in Elizabeth’s bag! HA! So hooray! I won Presidential level!

3. For the last month, Elizabeth has been doing so well transitioning from afternoon naps to no naps. I don’t want to jinx us, but basically every day she’s content to play in her room for almost 2 hours each afternoon while William is napping! So I get the benefits of afternoon naps but she’s still tired at about 6pm or so each evening and falls asleep right away. Occasionally though I’ve caught her asleep in her room, which is fine! Her preferred sleeping spot is in her little princess tent, surrounded by all of her friends.

4. Today should be a crazy start! As you’re reading this, we’re over at Duke Children’s hospital for a endocrine check up for Elizabeth. She goes each year to get blood drawn and have her hormone levels (particularly ones for growth) checked. Elizabeth was born with some genetic abnormalities, and concerns about growth hormones was one of her potential side effects. THANKFULLY she has shown no signs that her body isn’t producing adequately. But yesterday she was already pep-talking her self up. She kept telling me that “I need to get a shot. But it hurts just a little. I will be brave.”. Ah, my sweet girl. That’s where Elizabeth and her mommy share a trait.

5. Oh friends. I’ve been trying to find time to edit the last few weeks’ vlogs, but there has been no time! It’s so frustrating. I think I’m actually 3 weeks behind. Oi. There have been two other blog posts though! YAY! If you missed the other blog posts this week check out my meal planning post and video AND an update on my 60 Day Habit experiment!

Today’s featured blogger is Tara from Mommy In a Nutshell! She’s a wife and mommy of 2 (soon to be 3!) kiddos! She has baby #3 on the way and loved reading her first trimester update. She also has a great round up of things you need before you hit the back-to-school rush. Loved her tip about stocking up on germ-fighting supplies! Tissues, medicines, etc. Because you know your house will be a germ fest once kids are back to school! Swing over and say hello!

How was your week?? Can’t wait to hear all about it!

Loading InLinkz ...

Half Year Goals Update | Lessons Learned So Far

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // August 10, 2017 // 2 Comments

Remember at the beginning of July when I talked about my back-half of the year goals? I decided it was time to focus on some good habits through the back-half of the year. Plenty of research suggests it takes about 66 days to establish a new habit, so I decided to start focusing on a new habit each month.

So far, I’m through Month 1 of my 6 month habit fun!

I decided my first habit to tackle would be planning for the next day.

To track my progress, I set up a handy little tracker in my bullet journal. I figured I’d be grabbing my bullet journal each evening for my new habit, so the tracker can easily live there!

So far, during July, I was about 50/50 completion. Not bad, I guess, considering it was a new habit.

In the process, though, I learned a few things about myself that made a difference towards the end of month 1.

First, I learned it was easiest to complete my new habit of planning for the next day when I tied it to an existing routine. After all, habits are supposed to be something that you do without thinking about it.

I decided that my planning time should happen during my bed time routine. My typical evening routine consists of a shower, hair washing, blow drying, washing my face, etc.

It seemed like a great idea because I do a lot of thinking in the shower and come out with brainstorm ideas and tasks that need to get captured. So why not move that planning time to my bed time routine?

That worked, at first. But then I noticed that I was skipping a few nights of planning because I was just too tired. I even would skip a shower JUST because I could barely keep my eyes open. So…. no planning that night.

I realized that the problem was leaving that LONG routine to the end of the long day had me exhausted. I had gotten into the habit of delaying the bed time routine because I couldn’t stand the idea of showering, etc when I was so tired. So I was staying up later, avoiding the process, which made everything worse!

So I moved that whole routine, planning time included, to right after putting the kids to bed! Once I kiss them all goodnight, I head straight for my bathroom to wash my face, shower and blow dry my hair! And then it’s downstairs for planning time. I start the tea kettle and sit at the table with my planner. And by the time the tea kettle shuts off I’ve basically finished my plan for the next day.

Win!

And because I was no longer needing to delay heading to bed because I was already ready for bed, I was actually getting into bed earlier!

Sometimes it just takes a refresh of existing routines to get some inspiration.

Another thing I learned was that I am very driven to succeed if I have external influences and pressures. If I was trying to do this whole process all by myself, then I would let myself down quickly. But because I’ve stated I’m doing this on the blog and in videos, I’ve got you all to keep the pressure on to actually complete these habits.

I mean… it’s not like you’d all yell at me if I dropped the ball. But I’m just pretending you are all putting the pressure on 😉

So I’ll be perfecting this habit all through the month of August. But a new habit started up August 1.

I’m tackling water intake now!

I drink more water when I have a visible container to drain. So I grabbed a 2 liter pitcher, filled it with water, and put it in the fridge. My goal is to at least finish one of those.

I also drink more water when I have a glass with a straw. Something about a straw…

And with the lessons learned last month, I’m tying this water drinking to existing habits. I can’t have my morning cuppa until I’ve had one bottle of water. And I drink the same at each meal. So that’s basically my 2 liters right there! Anything beyond that is a bonus!

So far so good on these new habits!

How are you at establishing new habits? Have any successes to share? Tell me about them!

Meal Plan with Me | My Meal Planning Process

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // August 7, 2017 // 1 Comment

I’ve talked quite a bit about meal planning over the years… and if you’re been reading a while you know that I know meal planning is a smart idea. But I REALLY dislike doing it.

I love to experiment and try different processes. And thankfully I discovered that things like Pinterest and ordering groceries online are huge helps when it comes to meal planning.

Since it’s been several years since I last wrote a post on my meal planning process, I thought it was time for an update! And why not in video form, since it’s my favorite?

I’ve also written a TON of different posts on meal planning, so if you’re trying to revamp or start up your own meal planning process, these might be helpful!

The Simplest Tip for Easy Meal Planning

Grocery Shopping & Meal Planning Hacks

Favorite Meal Planning Printables & Tips

How I Menu Plan

Do you meal plan? What’s your go to process?