Honestly March was about the same for all of us, with the global uncertainty we are just trying to make the best of every day! Getting outside as much as possible and enjoying the fresh air and sunshine! Plus K started walking and we potty trained M!

I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.”

Welcome to “Moments” here on JoyFoodSunshine. At the end of every month I share a recap of our family’s favorite moments!  So here it is for March 2020!

Life with my tribe

How are you all doing during social distancing? Honestly I’m having a hard time figuring out what to even share in this post, given the current global situation. But I’m trying to just live our life as normally as possible, so I’ll try my best to do that here too, as well as offer some suggestions for living with social distancing and what our family has done to try to thrive instead of just survive. 

Because we homeschool, life hasn’t been as dramatically different for us as I imagine it has been for many other people in the world. The lack of fellowship and community and group activities is definitely starting to take its toll, but we’re trying to make the most of our time as a family. We have had some big milestones with the kids this month too!

Keilah Started WALKING!

You guys! Keilah finally started walking at 13 months! (Oh and she turned 13 months! LOL)! She loved it at first, then she full-on boycotted walking for about a week. Every time we’d try to get her to do it she would just plop on the ground and let out a squeal of displeasure. 

Well she’s back in the game! She loves it when I hold her finger and walk with her around the house. Ritch and I also have her walk between us at night. We take turns putting a toy on our heads so she laughs and walks towards us with glee. Her efforts are always met with a roaring round of applause, to positively reinforce this new skill that I hope she masters by summer!

She has also started standing up in the high chair, which has forced us to pull out a belt and strap her in! LOL! She still isn’t talking, but she has started repeating animal sounds when we read her a certain book – it’s adorable. Our new bedtime routine is, after I feed her a bottle she gives me the cutest eskimo kisses for at least a full minute or two, then we snuggle up and she falls asleep on me. I love our time alone together so much! 

Mara started potty training 

Since we are staying home indefinitely, I figured it was the perfect time to finally potty train Mara. She turns 3 next month, so I figured now is as good of a time as any! We’ve been at it for 4 days and she’s only had 3 accidents, which I consider pretty great! And two were her peeing on the bathroom floor while she was washing her hands in warm water, so I kind of can’t even blame her for it those! LOL!

People often ask me what method I use to potty train my kids. I  call it the “whatever works method!” haha But it always involves positive reinforcement in the form of sugar. Mara loves her candy so it is highly motivating for her. This was taken after she pooped on the potty without prompting or my help for the first time – girl can have as much candy as she wants if I don’t have to clean a poopy diaper! LOL!

Mommy daughter Date

Just before all the restrictions were imposed, I was able to sneak out on a mommy daughter date with Naomi. She might be my favorite kid to take out because she just loves quality time. She’s not into dates for the stuff she gets, she just wants to be with you and hold your hand and talk. She’s so sweet. Every time I asked her a question she asked me the same one, then she even came up with some of her own that she wanted to ask me! 

I took her to Claire’s for the first time and my goodness gracious she was in little girl heaven. I let her get just about whatever she wanted (and we still only spent $30 haha). She picked out a tiara and necklace that she has worn every day since. She also picked out a wand and bunch of other jewelry and hair accessories.

She is definitely my most “fashion forward” kid, so Claire’s was a dream come true for her. She asks me regularly if she can dye her hair colors (pink, purple, etc.), claims she wants “fancy jewelry” for her birthday and talks about being a hair stylist when she grows up. She can already do her own hair better than her much-older sister! It is so awesome to see her come into her own and find her own special skills and interests!

A few of my favorite things…

Here are a few products and other things I have loved in March, mostly things that have helped us get through social distancing (while it was snowing and raining)! I don’t turn on the TV during the weekdays. I really try to limit TV to Saturday morning cartoons (Ritch’s thing) and one family movie night a week. (NOTE: This all goes out the window if we’re sick or if I’m pregnant (I’m not) LOL)! So during this quarantine I’ve been trying to find fun activities to do with the kids so I don’t use TV as a crutch. 

This Disco Ball. 

A good friend of mine posted about this disco ball and I knew I had to buy it. We have regular dance parties in our house, and I knew this would be a great boredom buster. I waited to bring it out until the end of week 2 of social distancing, and it was a TOTAL hit. For days all my kids did during their free time was rock out to music. We’re still loving it! I personally think it’s awesome that there are two settings you can choose that make the lights flash to the beat of the song that is playing! So awesome!

Coloring Books

Another boredom buster I saved for week 3 of isolation is new coloring books. I got Gabe a cool star wars coloring book, and the girls this pretty animal coloring book and a princess Sofia one too! They love to color and these were a great distraction when the weather wasn’t nice! They basically colored for two days straight, which was glorious!

Paint by Number

My sister got Bethany one of these paint by number kits for Christmas. She pulled it out again this month and started working on it. Since Gabe loved watching her I figured he would enjoy actually having one of his own. So I bought him an awesome dinosaur paint by number and he finished it in a couple days! I got Bethany a second, smaller kit too that she finished with Gabe! While they’re painting I let the two little girls paint on regular paper with paints we already have! 

Salt & Pepper Grinders

For a more practical, adult purchase I bought this set of Salt & Pepper Grinders because mine finally broke (after 12 years)! They work well and seem really sturdy! 

Recipes I’m Making on Repeat

Here are a few recipes we enjoyed in March!

Smoothie Bowls

Healthy Peanut Butter Skillet Cookie

Homemade Pizza Dough

Homemade Mac and Cheese

Black Bean Brownies

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Favorite meme of all time

Thoughts about Homeschooling Vs. Quarantine Schooling

 

I hope you all are doing well and stay healthy!

 

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