OUR GO TO PRODUCTS FOR STAYING HEALTHY

As we all have health on the forefront of our minds right now I thought it would be helpful to share some of the things we've been using for years to keep our immune systems up. These items are all things I've used over and over again since we've been adding more and more kids into our world :)

Essential oils is something I've been using since I was in high school...well before the mainstream EO trend was happening in our world. I remember at an early age my grandma introducing me to and using tea tree and lavender oils for almost anything she could think of!  Since then, oils have been a part of my regular routine in some way or another. 

Most days I'm either diffusing something new in our home or rolling on oils all over each of my kids.  I'm constantly using Thieves for our whole family and have been for a couple years now. From roll ons, to cleaners, to diffusing it daily in our home. I love the smell of it so much that it seems the benefits of it are just an added bonus at this point! This blog post from my friend Karen (who also sells Young Living) is a great resource on how to use Thieves and is much like how I use them too. If you haven't used it before I can guarantee you'll fall in love and never go back. 

My daily routine with Thieves is:

-This cleaner to wipe down counters, tables, toys, any surfaces or areas that are constantly touched. I've had the bottle for a year and am only halfway through it, it lasts a long time!

-Thieves oil in a 1 oz. roller with 5 drops theieves, 5 drops oregano, 5 drops lemon, and filled with avacado or grapeseed oil (I also diffuse this in the living room and kids room at night)

I also buy some oils from my friend Aubrey. Her instagram has so many great tips and tricks on how to use oils for all the things! I love diffusing oils in our home to calm the mood, or just make it smell good--cuz 6 kids ya know! I also like buying these oils on Amazon too!

A couple years ago I was introduced to the brand Wellements and ever since then I've been a huge fan! Wellements creates products that promote health for our little ones that are all certified organic, which is why I was instantly on board for using their products for my kids. From gripe water to cough syrup to elderberry pops, I've used almost everything they have to offer. One of my go to's for Penny has been their gripe water for when she has an upset tummy. It might just be in my head, but I'm 99.9% sure that the instant she gulped it down she stopped fussing and was able to sleep better. My girls have also loved the elderberry pops, which help support their immune system when germs come flying their way. I've also used homemade elderberry syrup for our family for years for when cold season comes around. When the girls started having coughs a few months back it felt so nice to pull out the cough syrup to give them knowing that all the ingredients in it were safe and natural for my kids. Here's a list of all their items I've been using and have loved:

- Probiotic gripe water

- Daytime & Nighttime cough syrup

- Multivitamin drops

- Iron drops

- Vitamin D drops

- Baby chest and foot rub (for congestion)

- All purpose balm (for dry skin)

- Soothing throat pops

- Elderberry pops

Here's a code for 15% off your order:
COLEY15

I hope this all is helpful for you as you're sorting through how to keep your family safe and healthy through these weeks. But most of all I hope you're hanging in there and finding moments of laughter and beauty and peace as we all continue through this together.

SAGE'S 4TH BIRTHDAY + 4 TIPS FOR PARTY PLANNING

Sage turned 4 a few weeks ago and we celebrated with a strawberry themed party. Now that the girls are getting older and imaginative it's been fun coming up with party themes together with them. This theme was all Sage's idea and it was so fun being creative with all the details and sticking with the idea of sweet strawberry decorations. I love that the theme also is a reflection of who Sage is right now-- sweet with a bit of spunk, but delightful and full of goodness!

I created a lot of the decor on my own and just grabbed the basic things like table cloth and plates from Target and pretty flowers from the grocery store. I drew up some strawberry illustrations and hung them on twine for a simple background piece. Sage and I had fun decorating her cake together, placing strawberries on top with flowers and sprinkles scattered around. She was pretty proud of it and the strawberry cake flavor was delicious! We also decorated sugar cookies in the shape of strawberries together and I loved how cute they turned out.

We always love having an activity or game at their parties so we came up with a relay race for everyone (adults included) using only your mouth to grab a strawberry and run it across the yard into another bowl. It was pretty comical and entertaining--and surprisingly competitive. :) We loved celebrating our Sagey-girl this way. I love that her siblings jump right in to celebrating everything with her too and seeing how much they love their sister!

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With so many parties we've created over the years I thought I'd give a couple of my go to tips for keeping it simple, but meaningful at the same time:

1. Choose something you and your little can do together to make the party special for them: I let them pick out a theme, then we always bake and decorate a homemade cake together. It's become one of my favorite traditions to do with them

2. Choose a color theme: I find it best to use no more than 3 colors that blend well together for the overall appeal to be pleasing to the eye

3. The dollar store can become your best friend: I've found so many party goodies here that are simple and cheap. I usually grab the basics and then add cuter details around it to jazz it up a bit--like flowers, the strawberry illustrations, balloons, etc.

4. Come up with a simple activity for kids to do together (and maybe adults too if you have them stay for the party). I find that having an activity creates a fun atmosphere for the kids and give them a bit of structure instead of having a handful of kids running wild haha! A simple craft or game to play is perfect--plus it makes a sweet memory for everyone. 

Find more inspiration on my Instagram story highlights under "party"

Do you have any other ideas you add to your parties? I'd love to hear your thoughts too, leave a comment below. 

LIFE AS A FAMILY OF 8

So life as a family of 8 might be the one that has felt the most tiring (except for that time when we had 3 babies under the age of one)! It's probably the adjusting to a lot of things all at once this year that has made our days feel mostly like a blur, I mean we're officially school parents now and waking up before the sun comes up is no joke! While the overall feeling of life right now feels tiring and so full, I think this season more than ever I've wanted to be purposeful and intentional with our time and remembering to still see beauty.

We had the privilege of my sweet friend Karen (Elan Photographie/Fortitude + Finn) come into our home to snap some moments in time of what life is like for us right now. It made me teary looking through them seeing how she was able to grab snippets that say so much about our story. It made me look at the mundane details that usually are our days in a new light. I wanted to write down the little things that mostly get forgotten among the chaos so I always remember these little things that add up to the bigger picture as we're raising these precious hearts. 

A few things that are giving me life:

-a crowded couch of little ones snuggled up next to each other

-the sound of little feet running, jumping, and playing around on our dirty tile floor

-special treats and Shane making coffee for us in the morning 

-a back porch/patio with tiny tricycles racing around the table

-the girls playing coffee shop and restaurant in their playhouse and decorating it like it was their own home

-blocks spread across the floor from hours of sibling play and imagination happening 

-giggles on top of giggle on top of loud giggles!

-Dash always playing with or throwing around balls

-late night conversations with Shane connecting with each other

-snuggles from Penny in my arms

-constant coloring at the art table

-the pure love and delight Penny's siblings feel for her

I believe taking time like this to look a little closer allows gratitude to sink in deeper. And in turn, it changes my perspective when life feels hard and exhausting. I want to come back to these moments when the exhaustion hits and remind myself why I really love being a mama and why it's all worth it in the end.

I hope this inspires you to do the same. Maybe grab a journal or pull out the notes on your phone and jot down a few things in your day that you're loving right now. I guarantee it will be a heart changer for you when you need to pull it out again on the days that feel draining. And when it does feel hard and tiring for you, know that I'm right there with you. You're not alone mama.

All photos taken by Élan Photographie Studio

Peter Pan Family Halloween Costumes

Well we pulled off another year of family costumes together and I wasn't quite sure if it was going to happen with baby 6 due on Halloween. But it seems baby is staying put for a little longer so we headed out to a park this week to grab some pics of our family theme this year: Peter Pan and the Neverland gang. 

Shane as Captain Hook, Mama as Smee, Dash as Peter Pan, Jaelynn as Tinker Bell, Joci as Wendy, Raleigh and Sage as Mermaids. 

Earlier this summer I introduced the girls to this favorite childhood Disney movie of mine. It was when I was telling them stories about when I was little and pretended to be friends with Peter and the lost boys that one of them said we should dress up like the characters for Halloween! :) Since then, the ideas went swirling in my head of how we'd pull it off. I did a lot of DIY on this one, making the tinker bell skirt and mermaid outfits on my own (and teaching myself to sew with a machine for the first time ever). It was a challenge but actually kind of fun at the same time trying something new creatively. The girls were all really into helping me pick out all the pieces and putting it all together. 

We also added pieces that will be worn again in their regular wardrobe, which I always like to try and do so we get multiple uses out of it. 

I know I probably get myself way too into these things sometimes, but this year after looking back on all our previous dress ups it made me thankful that we have kept this tradition going. It felt like the girls were more involved in picking everything out and choosing what we'd do as a family together so that felt really fun to have them be a part of it more. 

And I can't go without mentioning again how thankful I am that Shane goes along with all of these ideas of mine. He's the best dad, husband, and trooper there is--especially trying out that wig without hesitation just to complete the "look" we were at least trying to go for! haha 

(favorite picture of the night right here--flying Peter Pan ^)

Pretty thankful for this crew of ours! And thankful they let me pull off these silly traditions with them each year. Not sure if I'll be in the hospital or not during trick or treating time, but we'll be wearing our costumes either way :) 

Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween getting full on all the sugar you can handle!