kids – Bits of Love Creations

Loving on Your People…

Loving on your people… even after they move out? Well, yes!

If you know me, you know that my kids moving out on their own will not deter me from being the quirky, over-the-top mom. So my oldest moved out this past fall and while it’s been an adjustment, it’s actually been a fairly smooth transition. He only lives about 15-20 minutes away and we’ve seen him more often than I thought we would, so thats good! Lol!

So each year, I place the conversation hearts I’ve made on the bedroom doors of my kids. These hearts are made of colored construction paper, with words written in sharpie. Every year I go through my stack of hearts and pick words/phrases for each of them. And when I think of new words, I make new hearts to add to the stack! On the 14 days leading up to and including Valentine’s Day, I tape a heart on their bedroom doors. A word/phrase that is a quality I see in them. Something I’m proud of, something I admire, and something I respect. It’s my little extra way of showing them in “the month of love” just how special they are to me.

If you’ve been around the blog for a bit. you’ve no doubt read about this here.

But this year, with my son no longer here, I wondered what I would do? He lives on his own for now so I figured, why not keep the tradition by sending him the hearts I would put on his bedroom door if he were here? So that’s exactly what I’ve done!

I took 14 envelopes, and the 14 hearts with words I’ve chosen this year and I hand delivered them to him at his new place with the instructions to open an envelope each day starting with February 1st. He was suprised and not quite sure what I was up to, but it didn’t take him long to figure it out!

My original plan was to send the envelopes in a box with a few little things for V-Day, but since his dad’s birthday is the same day, I will undoubtedly see him so I opted to save the postage and just give him the envelopes for now.

It may seem silly, over-the-top, or strange to some; but I don’t care! Lol! Showing the people in my life how much I love them and how special they are is important to me and it seems like the world could use a little more of the little things to show we care.

What’s even better about this whole scenario? He’s actually hanging them on his bedroom door in his condo and was happy to send me a picture when I asked. I cannot tell you how happy that makes my heart. Through good and bad, the bond I’ve created with my kids will still always be the most important job I’ve ever done!

File_000 — The pic he sent me of his door… my heart is full!

Stay at Home Camp

When my kids were little, I stayed at home with them. Well, ‘stay at home’ is maybe not the correct terminology because we (I) rarely stayed at home. I volunteered at their school and we were constantly doing things with friends like having playdates – moms and kids 🙂

One thing I didn’t do very often growing up myself, was go to summer camp. With the exception of church camp, this was just something my sister and I never did because my mom stayed home with us as well. We did, however, stay with our grandparents a lot. Each summer my sister would go to one set of grandparents and I would go to the other. We would stay for 2 weeks and then swap. I would go to the other set of grandparents and she would go where I had just been. I do remember at my grandparent’s house in Memphis one year, my grandma let me make a sign for the door to the guest room where I stayed. Kind of like my own little cabin away at summer camp. I found that picture recently, me with my sign on the door to that room I spent so many summer in… and it brought back a flood of memories. Even in my 40’s I still remember the feeling, the fun, the anticipation of spending those weeks with my grandparents. It’s something I am very grateful my parents encouraged us to do. Those memories are lasting my lifetime.

I’m probably 8 years old here with my sign on the door of the room where I spent most of my childhood summers.

Being a family with 1 income, camp really didn’t fall within the budget and honestly, I enjoyed spending time with them when they were off school in the summers. We had a decent size back yard, a nice sized swimming pool, and plenty of toys/games/activities to keep them busy. So what was the point? Well, I learned that for them the point was that they wanted the experience, I guess. So I began to brainstorm. And looking back, there are so many more things I could have done with this idea, but they still talk about it in their 20’s so I guess it worked out just fine. The key for me was cheap or free but with a lot of memory making and education.

To make it as interactive and exciting as possible (and cost effective), I sat down and made a list of things around our city we could do for free or very little cost. i named the camp, Camp Firefly. The reason behind this name was that each of the 3 of my kids had the same kindergarten teacher and their classroom were known as the “Fireflies”. As the last Reed Kid had just completed Kindergarten and the Firefly legacy, it was an easy choice.

Then I went to go ole WalMart and Dollar Tree. At WalMart I bought a pack of men’s small white undershirts and fabric markers. At Dollar Tree I bought a pack of poster boards. That’s it. And with those items, our Stay At Home camp began. Camp Firefly!

On the first day of camp, the kids decided on their cabin names. Their cabins were, of course, their bedrooms. Jake had his own room so there was no negotiations there, he could choose whatever he wanted. And he settled on… Jellybean Cabin. The girls, however, shared a room. Surprisingly enough, there was little to no struggle getting them to agree on their cabin name. Butterfly Cabin. So with their choices made, time to decorate!

With the poster boards, they made signs to hang on their ‘cabin’ doors. I’m pretty sure their dad though I was nuts, but that was nothing new lol! Next step was camp shirts! Now, this was pre-Cricut. Well, the original Cricut was maybe out by then, but one would not be in my future for a very long time. Enter fabric markers! They had a blast decorating their shirts. They let their creative juices flow! We ate lunch on the deck, and swam in the afternoon. I would say it was a successful 1st day of camp.

Now since this was about 15 years ago, the memories have stayed but the specifics have not. After that 1st day, the rest is a blur of activities.

One day we went to a local drive through park near us. Lone Elk Park. It’s an exapnsive park that houses Deer, Elk, Bison, Geese, and at the time, Owls. It had long been one of our favorite pass times as a family on the weekend mornings and it’s free, so it was a natural choice for a day’s activity. Near the end of the park is a shelter with picnic tables. We ate our picnic lunch there. Dad was off work so he went with us and one of their cousin’s went as well.

The World Bird Sanctuary is also in the same entrance as Lone Elk Park. This was another free activity. Being our 1st time there (it hadn’t been open long), it was a new experience ad the kids learned a lot about the different birds. Watching the birds interact with their handlers and learning about their natural habitats was certainly interesting.

One of our ALL-TIME favorite activities is our local zoo. We are in the suburbs of St. Louis so we are very fortunate to have access to the world renowned St. Louis Zoo! We are very fortunate to have this FREE, world-class zoo in our city. At the time the kids were little, the Emerson Children’s Zoo, located inside the zoo, was free admission before 9:00am. So that’s the 1st place we would head. Once we completed our time there, the rest of the day was spent on the rest of the zoo. Having a yearly zoo membership we could save on parking and other activities within the zoo that may have a small fee, like my favorite, the Sea Lion show. But there is an entire days worth of fascination and education with just the main zoo itself… all for free.

There were other activities we did during our week long stay at home camp, like playing at the local park, riding bikes, swim day, and much more. Local to our area (St. Louis) there are a lot of affordable attractions to help summer or a stay at home summer camp be more fun! Six Flags, The Butterfly House, The Magic House, and the City Museum, just to name a few. Check the internet for coupons and membership savings. There is so much you can do on a budget and with a little creativity that provide those memorable moments lasting a lifetime. Be creative!

Have a lovely day,

8 Birthday Party Ideas on a Budget

I don’t know about any of you, but I had a blast planning and throwing birthday parties when my kids were young. However, the one thing that was always a struggle, especially since I was a SAHM, was money. Why in the world does everything cost so much money?

I began to use my creativity to plan and execute these parties. It became a sort of challenge for me to see how fabulous (for the kids) I could make these parties on as little money as possible. Now – total honesty here, I don’t have many quality pictures of these parties. Sure, I have the standard – birthday kid w/cake and maybe opening some presents, but 15-20 years ago I didn’t know I would want other photos for something like this. So alas, what I do have had to be scanned and most likely out of a birthday scrapbook!

Now not all of these ideas I’m going to share will be a perfect fit for every child. And not all of these ideas will be fit for today’s culture, as my kids are now grown and grew up in a different decade, but feel free to read through these and maybe they will spark your own creativity or maybe you can adapt to today’s culture. This was also before the introduction of Pinterest and Dollar Store Crafts – type of sites.

All I really know is, while all my kids are currently in their early to mid twenties, they will still share stories from some of these birthday parties. And that warms my heart, because at the end of it all… my goal was for them to have a party with friends and loved ones making memories and celebrating their day!

1. Fiesta

Bright, fiesta colors in $1 table clothes, plates, napkins, utensils and cups are easily found at your local dollar store or Walmart, You can even use the $1 table cloths to make decorations. Use your imagination and get a little crafty!

Pinata – We got ours at WalMart and filled it with a huge bag of candy for very little! Luckily we had a tall Shepherd’s Hook in our back yard that we hung it on and just let the kids use a bat to swing at it.

If you do party favors (sometimes we did, sometimes we did not) you can check out sites such as Oriental Trading and Rhode Island Novelty for inexpensive trinkets and fun items to either decorate with or use for party favors.

2. Super Hero

So easy! We did a super hero party for my son and all kids were invited to wear a super hero costume or make and wear one! Even just a simple piece of fabric, bed sheet, or old table cloth can be made into a cape!

Party City has great decorations, favors, plates & napkins; just be sure they fit into your budget. You can always use the dollar store or finds from the Target Dollar Spot or even WalMart to create the look you are going for.

3. Spa Day

My girls always loved a good spa day so it was natural they would choose to have their friends over for sleepover birthday parties to do spa activities.

My mom would come over and help me “treat” each girl to a manicure. The Dollar Store was our “go to” for party favors and all of the beauty essentials.

4. Shopping Mall

This one my youngest still talks about to this day and she is about to turn 21!

She only wanted 5 of her closest friends over for a party and a sleepover so my other 2 kids and I turned the house into a shopping mall.

Each “store” was in a different room in the house. I used the Dollar Store and Oriental Trading to purchase the stock for the “stores”.

I used the computer to make and print out currency for them to use with my daughter’s name on it and each party participant was given money and a shopping bag when they arrived. In the pet shop they could adopt animals, so I also used the computer to print adoption certificates they could have filled out when they chose their animal.

5. Luau

Another bright colored – fun party! Like a fiesta, using brightly colored $1 table clothes, plates, napkins, utensils and cups is easy and inexpensive party decor.

The dollar store almost always has luau-type decorations and favors including leis and grass skirts each summer making it even more budget friendly!

We have a pool so that was an easy entertainment solution, especially for a luau!

6. Bratz

OK so this is totally dating my kids and myself, I mean do they even make Bratz Dolls anymore? Even if they don’t or your young one is into a different, more current cultural icon, this can be adapted to almost anything.

So plain and simple, we chose solid colored decorations (plain colored plates, napkins, etc.). Each party go-er was invited to bring their favorite Bratz doll with them and had a photo op at the end of the party with the birthday girl and their dolls.

I also took a piece of poster board from the dollar store and drew a Bratz doll, colored it in and hung it on the wall for a “pin the lips on the Bratz doll” game! They had a blast and it turned out fairly cute. Easy peasy, super inexpensive fun for the night.

7. Sports

This could not be any easier. A group of kids, a back yard, soccer balls, basketballs, footballs, plenty of playtime and inexpensive decorations from the dollar store and WalMart = party success!

A breaktime with birthday cake just long enough to rest and then back at it for playtime, and the birthday kid as well as party go-ers will all sleep well tonight!

8. Party at the Park

Perhaps one of my favorite venues to hold a kids party other than our house was the park. You can rent a pavilion or picnic area if you would like or want to be sure you have a spot, or you can just take a chance that there is enough space for all the park goers that day. (not gonna lie, we did this quite a few times)

Out of all the times we had a party at the park, most often we would show up early to “set up” and snag a spot fairly close to the park playground with multiple picnic tables. We also would bring our own fold-able banquet table and lawn chairs. Balloons, streamers, etc.

Playground = instant entertainment

Park = means we wouldn’t have to limit the number of friends invited.

That made this an easy and very affordable party every time!

There are many more party ideas out there. Some more affordable, some more creative, but the point is: the kids will remember the memories, not how much money you spent trying to make their parties ‘Pinterest perfect’. It is about being together, celebrating the birthday kid, and adding to those childhood memories they will cherish for years to come.

Have a lovely day!

DIY-No Sew Easter Baskets

So every year I think I will find the perfect Easter Baskets, and every year I am not happy with the ones I settle on… I know, super dumb – 1st world problems. My girls and I brainstormed about what we could do this year without going to the store OR spending any money. Megan explains below what we ended up doing. Another crafty bonding – quarantine project with my kids! I love it!

Note: They aren’t perfect, but they are perfect for what we wanted. They were 100% free, using items we had already in the house and just something fun we could do to stay busy and let creativity flow!

Want or need new Easter baskets, but can’t get to the store due to the quarantine? Us, too. So, we decided to try our hand at making some homemade ones. We just used materials we already had lying around the house so we also spent $0!

What will you need? We used some cardboard boxes for the base, cardstock for the walls, and covered them with batting and fabric to make them pretty and customized for each person. In addition to this, we used packing tape, scissors, a bowl, wire hangers, and lots of hot glue so we didn’t have to do any sewing.

First, we cut circles of cardboard using our bowl to get the size we wanted for the bottom of the baskets. Next, we glued fabric to the bottom of the cardboard, covered the top with batting, and then covered the top with fabric.

For the wall, we cut cardstock in half “like a hot dog bun” (or long-ways) and taped enough pieces together to wrap all the way around our base. After getting the right length, we glued strips of batting to what would be the inside of the basket wall and then covered the wall with the fabric we chose for that specific basket. We then carefully glued the wall to the base and folded and overlapped the fabric at the seam for a clean line.

Lastly, we cut and used half of a wire hanger for the handle (of course you can use as much or as little as you would like in order to get the length you want). We covered the wire with fabric by basically folding and gluing the fabric around the wire until it looked like a roll. For some of our baskets we decided to get fancy and roll two more pieces of fabric without wire and “braided” them around the handle, gluing as we went, to make the handle look loosely braided.

To finish off the look, we glued the ends of the handle to the inside wall of the basket and covered them with squares of fabric to match the wall. (If you chose a patterned fabric for the wall then it’s a little more difficult to line up the design perfectly, but is super satisfying when you get it to look right!)

We hope you’ve been creating and making memories too during this quarantine time! We always say it’s the little things that make the big memories!

Have a lovely day!

What About Me?

So there’s lots of new faces around here. I’ve been encourage to do an “Introduction to me” post.

Here’s the problem I’ve always had with that… who am I?

If I don’t know, how can I share with others?

I start talking about myself and end up talking about my kids every time. Why? Because they ARE my life. They are grown, and still they are my life. However, I’ve begun my own journey in the last couple of years. So maybe I do know a little more about myself that I thought. Let’s see.

I always wanted to be a stay at home mom. Not to “not work”, but to cultivate the relationships, bonds, and lives of my kids. I truly feel it’s one of the MOST important jobs we are to EVER do. We are raising those that will run this world. Take care of this earth. Raise their own some day. They not only need to be taught how to live and survive and right from wrong, they need to be taught how to relate to others. To care for others. To love others.

Now that my children are grown, I’m on a journey to rediscover myself. You always hear about parents making their kids a priority over themselves and who they are, but you never truly understand until you are in that position. And that’s exactly what I did.

So who am I???

For now, let’s start on the surface:

I love music! All kinds of music!

I have a handful of favorite tv shows. Friends is definitely at the top of the list. Right up there with it is One a Tree Hill & Charmed. I like so many different genres and many other shows, but those are definitely at the top for me. One of my childhood favorites was Wonder Woman. The original. Wonder Woman. Like the Lynda Carter version. There will never (for me) be another Wonder Woman like her.

I love to cook for my family. Well, when I’m feeling it. The day to day rigor of – work, come home, fix dinner, work some more, head to bed – gets to me often and I just don’t feel like it. But when I have time and am in the mood, I love it!

I love, love, love to read!

Fun fact : I own every Nora Roberts book she’s written under her given name. I love her writing style and the way she develops her characters and their relationships. You truly feel like you’re a part of the story.

I’ve also been making small strides to get back to caring for myself:

I’ve recently increased my water intake to 1/2 my body weight in ounces/day. Currently (as I’m writing this post) I am on day 60! I definitely see some differences in the way my body feels.

I’ve also developed routines for each morning and each evening. (I’ll elaborate on those in another post) Before I would clean my face when I felt like it, or take my vitamins when I remember, but developing these morning/evening routines have been a huge factor in my development of self care. My youngest, Mallory, took a course in school where she learned all about deficiencies and tried to help me figure out what was the most important for me to take lol. I’ve also had a doctor’s input in that area.

I want to evolve my self care to accomplish a more healthy lifestyle. And I’ve made moves toward this. I stretch every morning and every night, Megan even gave me some suggestions for this one – being a dance instructor and all. Stretching is so important for our bodies.

When I started this journey of rediscovering myself and taking care of myself, my kids were (and are) all onboard. My son, Jacob, has even talked with me about the importance of this for me. They are seriously my biggest cheerleaders and it’s really great to experience. It makes me realize just how wonderful they’ve become and how “worth it” it really was to stay at home and raise them because we were able to build lasting bonds that go both ways.

This is (and I am) definitely a work in progress.

In order to be fully transparent, this whole post has been a struggle for me. Nudges from each of my kids have pushed me to hit the publish button. It has always been very easy for me to show love to others. To pour time and energy into others. But it’s not been as easy to do that for myself. I’m always evolving and self care is getting easier and easier. Showing myself love in that way is becoming more natural for me. However, talking about it, sharing things about myself is never easy. The tightening in my chest and procrastination was all too real with this post. I’m pretty much an open book. I will share just about anything with anyone. But writing about myself just feels so vulnerable.

I hope you stick around each week for the fun posts, but also check back in because I will be updating my progress on this self care, self discovery journey I’m on.

Until next time…

Busy or Productive – Which One Are You?

Don’t be busy. Be productive.

Have you heard this before?

This was always me! So much of my life was me thinking I had to be busy. Something always had to be going on for me to feel accomplished. I’m not sure if it was mom guilt, SAHM guilt, or something else; but the older I get and the older my kids get, the more I realize what it is to be truly productive!

You see, once upon a time when my kids were young, I did (or tried to do) all the things. I always said yes! I was a room mom. I was in their school’s parent organization, in fact I ran in for quite a few years. It was a full time volunteer gig. I sold candles on nights and weekends to bring in a little extra money so I wouldn’t feel ‘as quilty’ for being a SAHM. (that’s a whole other post idea). I was there every second for my kids and their activities, but what I realize now is that I didn’t need all that “busy” to be making the impact I wanted to on my kids’ lives.

Was I there for them when they were sick? Yes.

Did I make sure they were clean, clothed, fed? Yes.

Did I spend quality time with them regularly? Yes. All the time, actually.

Then all of those other things I felt I needed to say yes to were just noise. It’s ok that I did that, I enjoyed most of what I did, but what were my reasons for doing all the extra crazy busy things? If I could tell my 20-something self one thing it would be to slow down. Enjoy the time and be intentional with what you choose to say yes to. It truly does go by way too fast and being unnecessarily busy makes it go by even faster!

I would also tell my younger self that routines help create room for more time! I truly believe this! And in the extra time I’ve given myself through the routines I’ve created… the time I have for myself is most cherished. Look for that in another post coming soon 😉

I tend to be more intentional with how I spend my time now. Accomplishing tasks that move the needle forward in life, in business. Cutting out all the extra bluster and focusing on what I want, what I need, what my family needs… that’s the ticket. I can be there for others while being there for myself.

At least for me, busy creates chaos. Sure, there are still times when the chaos creeps in, that’s life.

Busy is multitasking, while productivity is focus.

Busy is telling everyone what little time you have, while productivity is making time for what is truly important.

I’m still working on this. It’s a process to progress, but priorities, intentionality, and focus are my guide.

Are you truly productive? Or are you just busy?

Coffee Crawl – Toasted Coffee House

Welcome to our first Coffee Crawl blog post! Each morning my oldest daughter, Megan, and I start our day with coffee and each other. We often talk about trying out the local coffee shops, and since it’s something we like to do together, we decided to turn it into our adventure! Spending time with each of my kiddos and doing things that interest them is precious to me. Check out the Burger Bounce with my son, and coming soon will be Fashion Finds with my youngest. But you are here for the Coffee Crawl with myself and Megan! Read on for her recap of our time at our first stop!

One of the constants throughout my day is coffee. Time is treasured by me, and I find that when I miss my morning coffee talks with my mom, my day feels off. She’s the first person I talk to everyday, typically. Usually this time consists of us making coffee at home and chatting about what is happening in our lives or meeting to talk over logistics for Bits of Love Creation’s latest projects.

We’ve decided to take our coffee time on the road! Visiting small coffee shops around the greater St. Louis area, we want to share our experiences of these local places. Of course, we are by no means any sort of acclaimed critics, we are just everyday girls sharing the impact and impressions we receive from local small businesses.

Our first stop was one close to home: Toasted Coffee House in High Ridge, MO. It’s tucked away in a small strip, not really on a busy street which was a draw in itself. When we opened the door there was a flood of sensations; the smell of coffee and food, the light chatter of some customers, and a warmth and coziness that made us feel right at home, not to mention the adorable decor! We walked up to the counter to order and were greeted immediately with a smiling face who was happy to help us with making our decisions, and answer any questions we may have had.

I also have to mention that I have a severe food allergy. It’s rare to find places where the staff take the time to tell you the ingredients in the food you want to order to ensure there aren’t any risks, yep, we found that here!

We ended up getting their regular black coffee and their breakfast poppers. We both chose the Toasted House Coffee blend, mom added a bit of creamer to hers. We both ordered the bacon, egg, and cheese poppers, but they are offered also with sausage and in a veggie option! Here’s a description from their menu: “House made honey wheat roll stuffed with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, + your choice of bacon or sausage. Veggie poppers available Saturday + Sunday”.

We found a table and stayed for a while to soak in the vibes. Artwork from local high school students are hung on the walls. They have a calendar of events being held, a mural painted above the front window, and an area where they sell products from other local small businesses. Behind this area was a small alcove of sorts that has activities and chalkboard walls for children to play while their adults enjoy the coffee and atmosphere.

They also had a bin collecting for Brendan’s Friday Backpacks, a local charity that provides single-serve, non-perishable, kid-friendly food to local school children. Read more about their mission here.

Donating to charities, supporting local businesses, great food & coffee, friendly & helpful staff, and a cozy atmosphere definitely make this stop a win in our book! We will Definitely be back! Until next time…

Have a lovely day!

Burger Bounce – Fitz’s SoCo

Welcome to the first edition of the Burger Bounce! The adventurous burger dates with myself and Jacob, my oldest child and only son. I’ve always loved to hear him tell stories, or read what he would write for his papers in school. Just talking with him, you get a sense of his humorous disposition. When we decided to write about our burger dates, it was only natural that I asked him to write them. I’m not sure if he said yes because he truly wanted to, or because he loves his Momma, but either way is fine with me. I hope you enjoy reading our reviews!

You’d be forgiven for not knowing that there was a Fitz’s restaurant independent of the famed St. Louis root beer chain, but it’s also just as likely that I am a member of the silent minority in that regard. After the restaurant’s reopening in 1993, they’ve only been expanding into the area while I was none the wiser. As this has also happened to me with the A&W restaurant, who knows what other beverages are out there with associated eatery’s? Perhaps there is a Snapple drive-in somewhere, or maybe a purchasable Bennigan’s brand lemonade?

In the end, all of that is besides the point. Merely to illustrate my surprise when being invited to eat at the restaurant with my mother. Double my shock when i discovered they served actual edible food as well, as opposed to walls lined with Cardinal Cream IVs. It’s near impossible for me to turn down a burger of any kind, so I heartily agreed to partake in what soon became the first entry in a series of establishments known for quality hamburgers. Of course, whether the two of us agree with the placement of these meats in the upper echelon of the food world will be determined by each of us, since everyone’s taste is as unique as a snowflake.

When walking into the Fitz’s in South County, you’ll notice a wall of soda separating those waiting for a table from those already eating. While the majority of this beverage blockade is comprised of root beer brown, there are flashes of additional color for things like the hard pink of Strawberry Pop, or the brilliant orange of… Orange Cream. It creates something neat to be looked at, and these drink packages can be purchased from the counter and taken with you, allowing these drinks to put the fun in functionality. Additionally, the structure of this Fitz’s had a neat raised level structure, with one section slightly higher than others for no immediately apparent reason other than to give the illusion of more space, which did seem to work. It definitely felt more open, even though I would also say the place was “packed” at the time we went.

This establishment also has an attached bottling line, where from behind the safety of a pane of glass, you can see the machines that run the bottling assembly. It wasn’t running at the time, quite possibly because it would produce an amount of noise that would drown out individuals that are already trying to drown one another out. The equipment is likely either used when the restaurant as a whole isn’t open in order to add to the stockpile of drinks they sell in 6-packs at the front of the store, or it’s primarily for show with the once operational machinery now being relegated to set-piece status. Either way, it’s fun to see, and it’s the type of aesthetic that actually warrants photography from tourists.

Now, to get to the food, which was the whole reason we went in the first place! The visit wasn’t just to look at soda and smell the brine of pickle chips after all. I went with a standard root beer out of a Fitz bottle (for the experience, of course!), and their Sunshine Burger. Now, already I was in, because I’m a sucker for putting an egg on a sandwich. But they also offered two types of cheese, neither of which was American, which I loathe. So of course I got it, and it was great! The egg is usually the problem spot in sandwiches like these, with the egg always leaking too much of the yolk everywhere and just making a mess, as well as getting things soggy. You think I’d learn my lesson at this point but no. If it’s available, I always get a burger with the incredible edible egg. Sometimes, however, it does manage to pay off as it did here. The menu said that the sandwich comes with both Pepper Jack and Colby cheeses, though due to the overpowering spicy nature of the Pepper Jack, I had completely forgotten that Colby was even on the sandwich. Overall, it was one of the better egg-based burgers. The fries, however, are a bit of a different story. They weren’t terrible, in fact I can recall having similar fries with the same familiar starchy consistency at a burger place I frequented when I was in college. My main problem was with the aftertaste, it was almost like a bitter buttery flavor. As if someone had put butter on a griddle, melted it all the way down, and then let it sit until it burnt to a crisp. At least, that’s how I’d describe it. In the past I’ve been able to attribute this taste to being bad oil in the fryers, so perhaps it was just time to change those out and pull in some new ones. That’s a little disappointing as well, because while some will pair anything from tater tots to coleslaw with their burgers, the french fry is at this point the classic staple. That’s usually why I always go with fries, because it’s become the natural fit for a hamburger meal. So for me at least, if there’s something off with the fries, then it can lower the meal a bit. I would be willing to go back and see id there’s any change to the side situation, and maybe that will be done at some point in the future.

As for my Mother, here’s what she had to say:

This is actually not the first time I’ve been to Fitz’s. Usually when I go here I order a chicken wrap of some sort, but for my visit with Jake a burger is a necessity. I decided on the Bourbon. It’s a burger topped with smoked cheddar cheese, smoked bacon and crispy onion straws, served with a side of their house made bourbon mayo. Now, I don’t like mayo… in fact if it had not been listed as coming ‘on the side’, I would’ve either asked for the burger without or not ordered it at all. However since it was on the side I figured it was worth a try. I’m also not the biggest bacon fan. I know that’s a most unpopular opinion, and I don’t hate bacon – I’m not just a fan of putting bacon on everything! What typically sells a sandwich for me when checking out the menu are the onion straws and/or the type of cheese. In this case the cheese was smoked cheddar. As I am a cheddar cheese fan and the burger also came with smoked bacon, it seemed like a good fit. The onion straws though… love! I did try the house made bourbon mayo. Not bad at all and added a new layer of flavor to the sandwich. I did not use much of it, just enough to get the taste. The burger was good and I would in fact definitely order it again.

I do, however, agree with Jake on the fries. Not bad, but definitely not my favorite. We are in agreement that the after taste is much like a bitter butter (say that 5 times fast!) taste. Old oil in the fryer would make sense to me if that were the case. However I feel it’s just how they always serve them since the times I’ve been there before they have tasted the same. It’s not something that would keep me from going there for sure. A little salt and ketchup to dunk them in and they are decent.

The overall experience from atmosphere & decor, to aesthetic & food makes me a fan. I love Fitz’s and will always be willing to go, especially if my dining companion is my son. These times with him enjoying something he loves (in this case, burgers) is something I will always cherish. It’s not about the food, it’s about enjoying the time with him and taking an interest in something he loves.

Take an Interest

One of the things I always did while raising my kids was really try to intentionally take an interest in things that interested them. So many times it’s easy to put them in a sport or activity we did as kids. Or introduce them to a hobby we are interested in. That is perfect in the sense that they won’t (or we won’t) know what they are interesteed in until we give them those options. That is the best way to start. I did that with all of mine.

Sports, choir, drama club, or anything else, we encouraged them to find something they enjoyed. I made it my mission to take an active interest in what made them happy. I may not have understood it, it may not have been my cup of tea… but if it was important to them, I made sure to show an interest.

Fast foreward to now… they are all grown, young adults if you will, and I feel I have a very strong relationship with each one of them. So carrying over from their childhood are hobbies and interests that they each enjoy that I have learned to enjoy too, if for nothing else than just spending quality time with each of them.

So we have decided to do something fun!

My son Jacob, likes burgers. He always has! He could literally eat a burger every night of the week. We have talked about Mother/Son dates to try some of the “best burgers” in our hometown of St. Louis. So that’s what we are doing! He has coined our little adventures, ‘Burger Bounce’, and he will be writing much of the blog/review. Those that know my son know that he has a dry sense of humor and very eclectic approach to writing. This should prove to be entertaining at the least. Be on the look out for the Burger Bounce coming to the blog very soon!

So with my older daughter, Megan… she and I have a mutual love for coffee. Her’s is definitely a stronger love than mine, though as I am happy with my plain coffee and a little creamer at home in the mornings. She, on the other hand, could drink black coffee all day and even throw in a specialty coffee from a local cafe. We will be having our time together that she has named ‘Coffee Crawl’. Specifically visiting local coffee houses and those that give back to the community. Look for the “Coffee Crawl’ also coming to the blog soon!

And then there’s my baby, Mallory. She is still in college so she isn’t home much, but when she is we have discovered that we share a strong love of… shopping! I swear that girl owns more shoes than most. We love to shop the deals and sometimes just have fun window shopping and laughing until it hurts. We don’t get to shop together often throughout the school year, but when we do and find good deals, we will be sure to share those in our ‘Fashion Finds’ blog posts.

I am excited that this is something they love to do with me. To me there really isn’t anything more special than having found wonderful friends in the young adults you’ve raised. I know, super corny…but that’s me! And it’s so true. My relationships with them mean the world!

Look for our adventures coming soon! Until then,

Love on Your People

So we are almost to February 2020! How did that happen? January went by so fast!

With February comes the threat of more winter weather (especially here in the Midwest, am I right?), and Valentine’s Day. Mostly a commercialized holiday of sorts that promotes love and being in love. But it’s not just for that!

It’s a perfect way to celebrate those in your life.

So the past year or so I have seen the posts all over social media platforms about the cut out hearts on the door of your child’s bedroom. This is actually something I have done for years! I actually did it for my husband a time or two (his birthday also happens to be Valentine’s Day), but I’m not even sure he noticed lol!

I do always do it for my kids though. Even when they were away at college! As long as they live in my house, this is an inexpensive, heartfelt way I can express my love and admiration for them. And they seem to look forward to seeing all the hearts even if it is a picture sent to them at school on Valentine’s Day after it’s complete!

Each year I do this, I really try to think about each of my kids. What they’ve accomplished this past year, their triumphs, and their struggles. I choose words that I feel really describe them in my eyes.

Sometimes they are the same words as the year before, sometimes they all have some of the same words or phrases, but all are relevant to them and their life and character.

This is a neat way to express these affirmations to them. Who doesn’t feel better about themselves and life in general when someone (especially someone who loves them) takes time to express their feelings about them. I know I would!

Try this. Try this with your kids, your roommate, your significant other, or even a co-worker at the office. A little act of love and kindness can really make someone’s day!

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1. Fiesta

2. Super Hero

3. Spa Day

4. Shopping Mall

5. Luau

6. Bratz

7. Sports

8. Party at the Park

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Note: They aren’t perfect, but they are perfect for what we wanted. They were 100% free, using items we had already in the house and just something fun we could do to stay busy and let creativity flow!

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