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.

Dash's Vintage Inspired Sports Room

Right before I started taking pictures to document Dash's room we found out our new little one would be arriving. I've dreamt of decorating a little boy's room for a good while and when Dash arrived I couldn't wait to get started. The arrangement will change a bit after new baby arrives, but I'm hoping and praying for another little guy to add here to share in all the "boyness" of this room with big brother. 

The inspiration for designing this space came to me from both mine and Shane's love of sports as we grew up playing. I didn't want it to be overly sports themed that would dominate the decor and I knew I wanted to add in neutral pieces to soften it up a bit. Since Shane and I both come from sports backgrounds I thought it would be fun to add that into the mix of things, bringing in old pictures from our dad's sporting days and even some of mine and Shane's from when we were kids. This is where the "vintage" theme came into play. I started collecting all the old vintage sports items I could find, some that came from our own family and some that I found at Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market (always a great place to find the perfect vintage items!). 

Some of my favorite pieces on those shelves are the ones that came straight from Shane, like all the little trophies from when he was growing up and the wooden bat he broke as a kid. The ASU basketball jersey was also Shane's from the time he played on the team during college. I added in old photos from my dad and Shane's dad from their basketball days too, which was a fun touch. And since Shane and I both love golf (he proposed to me on the 18th hole at TPC Scottsdale) we had to add in golf touches throughout the space. :)

We had some help from Burts Bees Baby and Ashley Home furniture from their new baby & toddler line with the bigger items in this room, like the rocking chair, new crib, and changing table/dresser and I love how they lightened up the space in a simple way. This room is pretty small and with any small space in our home I've always stuck to lighter colors on the walls. I knew I wanted to make this more boy-like so I painted one black wall to bring in contrast and bring out more of the dark blues and blacks sprinkled throughout the room. 

To bring some of my art into too I created this "lets play ball" watercolored piece and I love how it fits right in to everything else. 

Vintage photos of me and Shane from when we were kids. Shane's basketball photo, and one of my first from "playing" golf :) Both of us about 4 years old. 

This might be one of my favorite rooms I've done in our house yet. I'm not great about sharing all of the before and afters of our home--I can't remember to keep up with them-- but I've gotten a lot of requests in the past about it so I'll try to share more as things come together. We've lived here for 5 years now and done a TON of work to this tiny space and it's probably just now starting to feel more like "us"... even though the project list is really never ending :)

I'm in full on nesting mode around our house right now since new baby will be arriving in the next couple weeks so I'm rearranging and purging lots of things left and right (Shane's reeeally excited about it). But honestly it's so fun for me to create a new space that I know will bring comfort, freshness and more simplicity to our home. The girls room is on my list right now and I'll be sharing more of that when all the chaos is finished up. Four girls in one tiny room is no easy project! 

Thanks for being here friends! 

Our Christmas Season

The Christmas season came and went in a blink. We had the sweetest time over the past month soaking in all the holiday goodness. I imagine this time of year will always make me miss spending it in Germany like we did a few years ago. There's nothing quite like Christmastime in Europe, but we try to make the most of it here in the desert. Running around the Christmas tree lot with the smell of pines, free hot chocolate in hand, and seeing Santa Clause is always a favorite and started off the season just right! Since Raleigh was born we started the tradition of going to Whitfill Nursery to get our tree and spend the evening there listening to the music and sitting by the fire. Its so fun to watch the girls start to get excited about all the fun of it now. 

A new thing we did this year was family Christmas "caroling" around the block. We took treats to friends in the neighborhood and sang songs to them--well if that's what you'd call it, it was more like the girls would stare as mom and dad started the singing! We'll see if this tradition sticks, but the girls enjoyed riding around in our 4 seat stroller I decorated with garland and lights, so I guess it was a win!

This year, our Christmas felt like it went on for two weeks--which I'm definitely not complaining about. I loved doing lots of Christmases with both sides of our families and extending it beyond just one day. One of my favorite things we started this year with the girls was doing our Advent Calendar for story time before bed each night. They were so excited to pull a card down to read and get to hang an ornament up after each reading. Some of the things that would come from their mouth on what they heard was pretty comical too. But after each reading the thing they would repeat the most is "God is with me always" which was a pretty sweet thing to hear coming from a toddler! We spent Christmas day making crepes for breakfast, going to church in our jammies, then opening presents. I loved looking at our living room full of mess  after wards seeing how much activity had gone on that morning, knowing how we are making sweet memories as a little family. 

A few snaps through out the season from my Instagram

The month was also full of orders and art projects for my little business and it felt so rewarding seeing people choose my work. As the new year begins it only makes me more excited to see what's ahead. Yes, I have goals and hope and dreams, but nothing "new" or different than what my heart has prayed for and has been working for already. The new year only gives me a hope for whats to come and all the new I've yet to embrace and I'm feeling so thankful for it all!

Hope you all had the sweetest Christmas season and are finding hope in the new year too! 

Three Ways to Style Your Advent Calendar

The season of Advent is just around the corner and I can hardly wait to get our calendar out to start some new traditions. This year I decided to put together a few ways you can style this illustrated calendar for your own home. Each day has a verse on the back that takes you through the Christmas story giving meaning to each beautiful card that you turn over. 

I'm excited to share these with the girls this year and come up with way of how we can use them in our family. I always love hearing how others have used them over the years as well. If you haven't grabbed yours yet, you can shop the link here to get one. 

Be sure to tag me @coleykuyperart in instagram to show how you're using yours this year!