WW: Nature Walk {Linky}

 

Seeing areas like this reminds me of The Little House on the Prairie. 

Nebraska’s state flower - Goldenrod

Grover’s NEAR! And FAR!

Like all good things, our hike ended. Actually husband got us lost, so we walked and walked along a highway for a long time. Ha!

WW: Flirt {Linky}

These flowers looked like they were almost kissing.

Post ANY post you want comment love on! It doesn't have to be wordless or wordful. I like rules sometimes, but they are meant to be broken. Link up a post! 

Women's Casual Tunic Review

Recently I got Zevrez Women's Casual Tunic Pullover Floral Long Sleeve Crewneck Sweatshirt Grey Dress to review: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075NH6YZN?th=1&psc=1 I do think it's way to short to wear as a dress! I do love how it could be worn dressy or casual. 

Oh ya and I got my new glasses. I've been wearing them a lot because right before I got them on Thursday night, I got my first stye in my lower eyelid too. :( Glasses kind of cover up eye flaws. :) I didn't know what it was, but all the nurses in my family informed me that it was a stye and how to treat it: Hot compacts and over the counter stye med. It doesn't surprise me that I got one. Stress is a big factor, and it was midterm time last week. Then pollen has been high here. I'm sure I've been itching my eyes without even thinking about it.

Detail of Sleeve:

Material and Care:

• It's made with a polyester fiber. 

• The fabric is soft. I don't know if it will get less soft over time. It seems like many sweatshirts do get less soft the more they are washed.

• The fabric is breathable. I wore it this weekend. It was one of those fall days that started off cold, and got increasingly hotter as the day wore on. Thankfully the shirt is breathable. 

• The material has good elasticity. I could move around without any problems. 

• It says in the Amazon description that it's easy to wash, yet the tag said to hand wash. That's hardly easy to wash in my book. I hardly hand wash anything anymore. Since I went to the zoo, I felt it needed to be washed. I turned it inside out, washed it in cold, and hung dried it. So far it's in tact. The flowers may fall off in time. That would be the first things that would go ware wise.

• It can be worn for dressy events or casual events. 

Cost and Sizes:

• Small - $15.98
• Medium - $19.98
• Large - $19.98
• Extra Large - $19.98

I'm not sure why a small is a different price. In a store it wouldn't be. It did say in the Amazon description that 6 sizes were available. I didn't see 6 offered though.

Would you wear this as a dress? I just think it's way too short! Even if I didn't have it bunched up, I still wouldn't wear it that way. I love the style as a dressed up or down sweat shirt!


Disclaimer: I got this Women's Casual Tunic in exchange for an honest review. This company didn't influence my review. I only review products I think will fit my family, or my readers.

WW: Peek a Boo {Linky}

I was busy taking photos of flowers. I happened to notice that my family was gone.

They were hiding. Peek a Boo!

 

Flowers on My Pillow

This is the 2nd week that Travis will be gone for an extended period of time for his art residency. This time he left on Tuesday night, and will get back on Saturday to help with some Easter things. 

The one that his absence is getting to the most is Isaak. Isaak is our kid that has a sweet and sour personality. 

I think he's feeling things he can't explain right now. Our children have always been good with words. Isaak has always said, "I don't miss anyone. I don't even know what miss means."

I asked Isaak for help putting groceries away, and he complained because Mica wasn't doing the task. Mica was in the shower.

I stopped and said, "If you can't stop complaining then you can just go to bed. I don't want to hear negativity."

He kicked boxes of JELL-O across the floor. He went to get ready for bed in tears.

I called him in to talk with him once he cooled down. He wasn't very happy at his own behavior, that he had to do something that his brother didn't have to do, and that I sent him to his room.

I walked in my room and there was this on my pillow:

I opened it up and there was ground cover flowers in it.

The next night I asked Mica to practice spelling words with Isaak. 

Isaak said, "Mica go get my spelling words, paper, and a pencil!" 

Mica said, "No! I'm asking you your spelling words. I'm not getting all that for you! It's your job." 

Isaak got really grumpy, and demanding. 

I told him, "Mica's right. You need to take some time to chill out." 

Isaak said, "But you told Mica to help me." I said, "Help! Not do. We'll talk about this after you've calmed down."

When I talked to him I asked, "Are you upset that Dad is not here? Is that what this is really about?" 

He said, "Yes" with a sad look on his face. 

I said, "Isaak it's ok to miss someone. That is calling missing someone. It's not ok to take your frustrations out on Mica and I. Do you want to call Dad?" 

He shook his head no. 

I said, "Ok. Go sit down to apologize to Mica for your behavior, and study your spelling words with him. I'll cuddle you after I'm done with dinner. 

I always wonder in situations like this if I'm handling it right. I know some people would say that Isaak needs a harsher punishment. I know that we're (as parents) always around for him. He's not used to one parent being gone a lot. Yes he needs to be punished, but he also needs positive attention like being read to, cuddle time, and board game time - things that he loves.

Bloominous DIY Flowers Made Easy!

I'm a big fan of do it yourself projects. Projects where the artist's hand is in it are: 

• More rewarding

• Creative

• Fun

• Less Expensive

 It does help when you have the right supplies to help with DIY projects. 

I recently stumbled across a new website called Bloominous. They just opened in 2014. They certainly have all the supplies to make fantastic DIY floral arrangements. 

They have kits for pretty much any type of event. 

Many of their kits are sold for weddings. Brides can save so much money just by going the DIY route. They can save anywhere from 30% to 50%. Now brides can focus on having fun with their wedding; instead of being stressed about the money that gets spent.

One of my favorite memories from when I got married was getting together with my close friends and family to make mints for the reception. It wasn't a stress factor, it was a bonding memory. I know if I would have made my own floral arrangements I would have loved that to!

There are three perks about using Bloominous for special events:

1. Cost Saving of 30% to 50%. There is little mark up when you DIY. In a typical florist shop they mark things up 300%!


2. They send flowers that are cut, dethorned, and trimmed. This makes the DIY project go so much smoother. When you have a special event that's about to happen, time is of essence. All their kits come with photos that show step-by-step instructions. You can put together their designs in 10 to 20 minutes.


3. A design that maintains both a professional look and quality design. A florist that has been involved in the field for 10+ years have worked on the kits. More thought has gone into the kits beyond just the flowers themselves. It's about the vases, favors, and more.

 

Each set comes with a 100% fresh quality guarantee. If for any reason you are not satisfied with your order, Bloominous will replace your kit, or refund your money.

Each order has a flat overnight shipping rate of $19.95 or you can get free shipping with orders over $99. For big events it's easy to spend $99.

Visit their Bloominous' Website to learn more about how they started.

Like Bloominous on Facebook.

Follow Bloominous on Twitter.

Follow Bloominous on Pinterest.

Join Bloominous on Instagram.

  

I received an Amazon Gift Card in return for writing this post. I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. The photos in this post are from Bloominous.com

Random Tid Bits

1. Daddy was talking to me about how his co-workers think he's not being the husband he should be because he doesn't get me flowers for Valentines Day, birthdays and so on. I've told him that if he gets me flowers consistently I will be annoyed. I don't like him wasting our money on things that are going to die. He is really wonderful and makes me jewelery sometimes. That's much more unique, and special in my mind. Plus he has gotten me flowers a few times. Because it's infrequent, it's much more special. I don't like when people tell someone how they should be. It's like someone telling me how to discipline my children. If I want your advice I'll ask for it. 


2. My students in one class are working on a campaign for a nonprofit organization of their choice. They have to do a flyer, a mailer of some kind, a billboard-bus bench-environmental graphic {one of their choice, not all of those}, and a blog. It needs to look consistent. Once their design is done for one thing, they carry that same look throughout. I've been showing them things with their blog weekly. They have to make more than one page for it. The additional page is the nonprofit's mission statement. They have to have the nonprofits social media buttons that link up, 5 to 7 posts, a banner, a share button, and a disclaimer at the bottom saying that it's student work. Anything that they share from the actual nonprofit they have to source. I've shown them how to do each thing more than once. I record the lectures, and put them on the server for them to watch. I had a lot of them wait to do a lot of things with their blog until the last minute. For some reason there is a vast difference of students in the class. We have very smart workers, students that don't try that hard and on top of it do not ask questions, and a needy student that doesn't try at all to figure things out for herself, but wants A's. Let's just say after that day I was tired!


3. My sister that is pregnant decided to go with a name I picked out again! I love picking out baby names. I picked out Emerson. His name is from Ralph Waldo Emerson. The new baby's name will be Edison. My Dad had an uncle named that. Old names are coming back. My Brother-in-law is one of those people that wants all his kid's names to start with the same letter. I think that would get confusing.


4. Each time I'm done with something, I think of something new I have to do. I can see why people get stressed during the holidays. I always feel a lot better after finals are done. I'm not stressed, I'm just super busy! 


5. People were complaining at work about how it's so cold out. The temperature took a dive. I said, "I don't care what it's like outside. I'm just happy that Travis "Daddy" cleaned the garage out. My car now fits in it!" :)

Today I Have No Voice

Laryngitis kicked in when I woke up this morning. I actually feel better then I did all weekend, but I can't talk. I hope I get my voice back. It's finals week! Ekkkk!

Getting ready this morning was interesting. Isaak couldn't understand why I was whispering. He kept saying, "What Mommy? I can't hear you!"

Yesterday was a good day.

Mica showered me with gifts. I got a handmade necklace and a hand print image. Daddy gave me a card. Isaak gave me nothing, but his Mother's Day gifts came last week with the Mother's Day Tea Party at his school. There he gave me lots of things! By the way I expect nothing for Mothers Day. To me the holiday isn't about material items. When the boys make me things at school, I definitely won't turn them down!

We went to Village Inn. I had a white egg omelet, a yogurt parfait and a German Chocolate pancake. I never thought about putting coconut on top of a pancake. It's good. When I told Grandma Spiehs about it she said, "Yuck!" Not everyone likes coconut. I didn't until I was an adult. They give every Mom a single carnation, which is super nice! Isaak had a funny face pancake meal. He ate almost everything! Mica had chocolate chip pancakes and applesauce and ate almost everything! I teased him and told him that he was going to give birth to a chocolate chip pancake. Daddy had a manly skillet meal. 

Then we went to the grocery store to buy Grandma Spiehs a couple flowers. I didn't want to pay too much of a visit considering I felt crappy. We dropped the flowers off, talked for a few minutes and left.

We went home to unpack our groceries. There Daddy checked movie times. I got packs of veggies and fruit together for the movie. We went to see The Secret World of Arrietty at the cheaper theater. It was one of the first anime movies I've ever seen. We wanted to see the Avengers, but in the ratings it said it was best suited for ages 10 and up. Who knows. The kids like Hugo, and that's for that same age group. The Secret World of Arrietty was nicely written. The boys seemed to enjoy it.

We went home and the boys napped. Daddy called Grandma Apel, mowed the lawn and then joined me in picking more berries. We have a lot now! We'll get more soon.

I made salmon, asparagus and potato fries for dinner.

The boys helped Daddy work on what's called a 3 Sister Garden. I clean the muddy boys up, while Daddy cleaned their shoes. Then I swept all the main rooms, did a load of laundry and cleaned Mica's room. Daddy had to go into work. We had fun and we were productive. I couldn't ask for a better Mother's Day minus the cold I have.

My Boy's Brought Me:

I love the vase that is an ice cream cone!

More then anything I love that they stopped by my work to see me.

Thank you Daddy!