Tag: Family

Happy 9th birthday, Zephaniah! 🥳

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Zephaniah is nine! My, that happened so fast. Each year, it feels this way because the kids are growing so quickly. It’s bittersweet.

I feel incredibly blessed that God has given me the gift of celebrating my children’s birthdays, but I also can’t help but feel a little weepy that my babies are growing up!

Zaya (6), Zechariah (11), and Zhen (13) helped me make Zephaniah’s birthday cake—a homemade chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting.

We made a diy dinosaur theme for the cake (because Zephaniah loves dinosaurs 🦕) using chocolate cupcakes for a volcano and food coloring gel for the orange-red lava and green grass.

Then, we topped the cake with miniature dinosaur toys.

Zephaniah invited our neighbors to his party, and he was so excited when they arrived. Elijah (26) and Mj (24), our oldest children, also joined us for his birthday celebration.

6-7 chicken muggets for the birthday boy!

For party food, we had pizza, chips, and 6-7 chicken nuggets. I saw the 6-7 chicken nuggets at Aldi and thought the kids would find them hilarious. Lol! 😂

The kids had a blast! They played outside for a little bit before coming inside to play Zephaniah’s new video game, Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen.

My mom (aka Nana) mailed him a birthday card with $25 tucked inside. This is a cherished birthday tradition from Nana that the children always look forward to.

Then, we take them to the store of their choice (usually Target, Walmart, or Five Below) so they can go shopping.

Zephaniah said it was the best birthday ever! 😊

💜 XO

A butterfly morning 🦋

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Our little caterpillar completed her metamorphosis and became a beautiful Swallowtail butterfly!

It felt like Christmas morning, as I came down the stairs and saw her perched upside down on the tulle in the habitat box the kids had made for her.

What a wonderful surprise!
The chrysalis

When we found the caterpillar in our garden, the kids decided to “raise” her in a diy caterpillar habitat. Then, they named the caterpillar Cali.

Of course, we weren’t really sure if the caterpillar was male or female, but the kids decided it was definitely a girl. Lol

We waited a little bit before releasing Cali because her wings were still damp and needed time dry off.

Once we felt it was the right time, we brought the butterfly box to the front porch and slowly opened the tulle we had placed on top of the container.

Cali didn’t fly out of the box right away, though. Her wings weren’t ready just yet. So, we spent some time ohhing and ahhing over her. 🥹🦋

Two of our neighbors walked by wanting to know why we were huddled together and the kids were squealing with delight.

We showed them Cali calmly resting on Travis’ hand, and one of the neighbors said she thought the butterfly was beautiful. 😊

And then all of a sudden, the butterfly fluttered her wings and flew off of Travis’ hand and onto Zephaniah’s chest.

The kids squealed again, and Zephaniah froze. But he had the biggest smile on his face.

A few minutes later, the butterfly flew up into the air and fluttered away.

💜 XO

Wordless Wednesday: Front Porch Sitting

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Today’s Wordless Wednesday post features recent photographs I took of two of my children Zaya (6) and Zephaniah (9) when they were enjoying a morning of what I like to call “front porch sitting.”

Every morning, my two little ones like to sit on the front porch on our thrifted chairs and read a book, sip tea, and watch the neighborhood go by.

💜 XO

H-Mart grocery haul

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We made a trip to H-Mart, and I unintentionally ended up with a big grocery haul. Lol! Isn’t that how it always happens?

To me, H-Mart is like the Target of grocery stores. I go in with my short list, and I somehow always come out with a cart full of way more than I had planned.

Travis and the boys heading into H-Mart.

Over the past few months, I’ve become increasingly interested in Japanese and Korean home cooking, especially the simple, everyday meals families prepare. So, I decided it was time to explore a few ingredients that were completely new to me.

Travis was able to help me pick out some of the products. He was stationed in South Korea for about a year, and he said he ate out at a lot of the restaurants (which he loved!). He even took a cooking class while he was living in Korea.

The boys helping Dad get the jasmine rice, and Zaya photo-bombing with a peace sign. Lol

This trip, I picked up seaweed snacks, sesame oil, sushi rice, Japanese mayonnaise, and a few other items that caught my attention along the way.

Travis and I were using our phones to google which seaweed brands were good for making gimbap and sushi rolls. As we were trying very hard to determine which brand to get, a lovely Korean woman, who was also shopping in the store, overheard our conversation and walked up to us offering to help.

She was so sweet. She showed us which seaweed brands she uses to make gimbap. We smiled and thanked her profusely for her kindness. That helped us so much!

The kids, of course, were especially interested in the ramyun aisle.

One of the things I enjoy most about cooking is learning something new. I love learning how to cook many different types of foods. I may not know exactly what I’m doing yet, but that’s part of the fun!

Every new ingredient, recipe, and kitchen experiment teaches me a little more than I knew the day before.

Here are some photos from our H-Mart grocery store haul.

This 25-pound bag of jasmine rice was on sale for less than $20!

Now the real adventure begins: figuring out what to make first! Do you enjoy learning how to cook different types of recipes?

💜 XO

Sunday at the library 📚

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Took the kids to the public library after Mass. It was supposed to be a quick trip, but you know how that goes—going to the library is hardly ever quick with four kids in tow. 😂

Here are a few of the books the kids checked out. 📚💜

Zephaniah (9) loves Vox books. He likes to follow along with the narrator reading the book aloud.

Vox books has helped him with his reading skills, too!

Zechariah (11) always checks put at least one Minecraft book when we go to the library. This time he got four Minecraft books! 😄

He loves playing the game and creating so many designs. The books help him learn new ways to build and create.

I spotted this one on the “New Books” shelf. The little cowgirl riding her horse caught my eye.

Zaya and I watch a lot of the Canadian TV show Heartland, so I thought she’d love to read this book.

Silly Zhen (13) found this book in the nonfiction section of the children’s library and she thought it’d be a funny read. 😂

When Zaya (6) saw the illustration of Bob Ross on the cover of Rima and the Painter, she immediately grabbed the book and excitedly showed me the book.

“Look, Mommy!” Zaya said to me happily pointing at the Bob Ross illustration. “It’s the painter we watch on TV!”

💜 XO

Happy birthday, Zaya! 🥳

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Zaya celebrated her 6th birthday! 🥳

We had a family cookout at home with hot dogs, burgers, chicken, and homemade red velvet cake.

Burgers were the birthday girl’s special dinner request, so a cookout it was!

Zaya’s birthday is extra special to our family because she was born on our 9th wedding anniversary!

Yes, our sweet girl shares a very special day with her mommy and daddy. 🥰

Zaya was born on our 9th wedding anniversary during the 2020 pandemic! 💜😷 What a time!

This year, Zaya wanted to help make her own birthday cake because she loves cooking.

So, we made a red velvet cake together, complete with homemade cream cheese frosting. 🎂

Zaya putting frosting on the birthday cake. 🎂
Zaya lighting a prayer candle at church for her birthday. 🕯💜🙏🏽

A family birthday tradition for the kids is to go to a store of their choice to spend their birthday money. Their grandparents and older siblings usually gift them with birthday money.

Zaya birthday shopping at Walmart.

Zaya picked Walmart for her birthday shopping. She had $25 to spend, and she bought a remote control car, princess nail polish, and eyeshadow.

Zaya loves playing dress-up with costume dresses and makeup. Lol 😄

Happy 6th birthday, Zaya! 💜

💜 XO

6-7 chicken nuggets

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I don’t even remember how this whole “6-7” trend started, but it has certainly become part of our everyday life, hasn’t it? 😆

The latest addition to the trend? Six- and seven-shaped chicken nuggets. I’m not even joking. Lol!

The new 6-7 chicken nuggets sold at Aldi.

The kids spotted them while we were grocery shopping at Aldi, and of course they immediately wanted us to buy a bag so they could try them. 🤣

And the price of the nuggets?

Why, $6.70, of course.

This reminds me of when Domino’s featured their 6-7 pizza sale last —buy a large pizza for $6.70 using their promo code “67.”

Zhen (13) and Zechariah (11) checking out the new 6-7 chicken nuggets. 😆

The kids were so excited when they found out about it, that they asked us to please buy them the new Domino’s 6-7 pizza for our family Pizza Friday. 🍕🤣

And so we did, and nope, the pizza wasn’t shaped like the numbers six and seven. Didn’t taste any different, either.

But the kids thought it was funny, and it made us all laugh. Totally worth it, imo! 😂

💜 XO

Photo info: photos featured in today’s post are of the kids at Aldi checking out the new 6-7 chicken nuggets.

Summer checkups and ice cream 👨🏽‍⚕️🍦

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We had our annual checkups recently. I like to schedule everyone’s appointments during the summer so we can get them all taken care of at once.

Thankfully, the kids and I all see the same family doctor, and he is kind enough to schedule us in one large time block.

Zaya (5) waiting for the doctor in the exam room.

For the most part, we all received healthy reports.

I did have an unusual little spot on my right ring finger that required a biopsy, but thankfully, everything turned out well.

I got delicious Hershey’s Moosetracks ice cream! 😋🍦

After our long appointment, we headed to a local ice cream shop. I think we all earned a treat!

💜 XO

I voted! 🇺🇸

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Tuesday was the Michigan primary (the day after we celebrated our 15th anniversary!), and I made sure to cast my vote!

Travis and I always take the kids with us when we head to the polls, whether it’s Election Day or a primary election. We believe it’s important to include them so that voting simply becomes a normal part of life.

Photo of me on voting day! 💜

I honestly can’t remember ever going to the polls with my mom or dad when I was growing up.

That doesn’t mean it had a negative effect on how I viewed voting, and I certainly don’t blame my parents. It was simply a different experience.

Politics wasn’t really discussed with the children when I was growing up. (Of course, other 90s kids may have had a different experience than I did.)

I will say, though, that I didn’t fully understand the importance of voting when I was younger. It wasn’t until I was in my thirties (I’m 45 now) that I began to better understand the voting process and just how important it is for citizens to participate.

By including our children and having ongoing conversations about voting and how our government works, Travis and I hope they’ll have a much deeper understanding of the process by the time they turn 18. 😊

No matter where a person stands politically, I think understanding how our government functions is an important part of becoming an informed citizen.

💜 XO

Photo info: the photos featured in today’s post are from Tuesday’s voting day, 8/4/26.

Raising a swallowtail caterpillar 🐛

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When I bought a parsley plant at the farm store, I discovered what appeared to be a swallowtail egg on the plant.

So, we waited a few days for the egg to hatch, and sure enough—a swallowtail caterpillar emerged! 🐛

The kids really wanted to “raise” the caterpillar we found on the parsley. ast summer we took care of one and watched the swallowtail caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a beautiful butterfly. 🦋

Prior to finding our new little friend, I was thinking about buying a butterfly kit for this summer. Since we found a swallowtail caterpillar on our parsley, I didn’t need to buy a kit! 😁

Zechariah and Zhen looking at the caterpillar on the parsley plant.

It just so happens the kids have diy butterfly biome kits their big sis Mj (24) gifted to them last summer.

They placed one of their butterfly houses in a clear container box to create a caterpillar habitat for Cali (the name the kids gave the caterpillar lol).

We brought the caterpillar box inside our house and placed it on one of our art shelves near a window.

Based on our experience from last summer, caring for a swallowtail caterpillar is pretty easy. All you do is place it in a medium-sized box (preferably clear so you can see inside the box.

Zaya (5) checking out the little caterpillar. 🐛

Place an herb plant such as fennel or parsley in the box so the caterpillar can eat. Caterpillars eat and poop A LOT 💩. They’re basically like a newborn human baby. Lol! 😂 Just no crying. Haha

So, be prepared to see little, round balls in the box. 😆 You can just clean it out with a paper towel.

Later, we ended up scooping out the soil and straw because I realized it was just too much to keep up with.

Secure tulle to the top of the box for air flow and to keep the caterpillar inside the box. As long as there’s food in the box (such as fennel or parsley), the caterpillar will stay put.

But once the caterpillar is done eating and ready to form into a chrysalis, it will start to “wander” in the box. This is when it is looking for a safe place to change into a chrysalis.

This is also why we added the butterfly biome to the box for the caterpillar.

The chrysalis stage is very fascinating. Once the caterpillar turns into a chrysalis, you can actually see the outline of its body on the chrysalis.

I’ll share updates on our swallowtail caterpillar as it continues to grow!

💜 XO