Life

Duck Eggs and I Understand Now

When I was growing up, I never saw my mom buy anything for herself. She would take me back-to-school shopping and not even glance in the women’s department. I would always ask her why she didn’t buy herself clothes, or maybe a purse? A pretty necklace? Her response was always that she wanted her kids to have the new clothes, fun items, etc. rather than herself.

Since becoming a parent, I finally understand what my mom would always tell me. I would much rather buy Sadie a new shirt than myself. I think I can count on one half of a hand how many items of clothing I’ve purchased for myself since I’ve had Sadie, and most of them have been nursing bras. It’s just so much more fun to buy clothes for my child than myself!

Garanamals leopart toddler long sleeve shirt from Walmart

Like the above shirt. It was $4.50 at Walmart and Sader Tot is in need of fall clothing so I picked it up for her. While we were in the store, I didn’t even glance at the women’s department. I’m becoming my mom, haha. Not really, though, because I don’t have too much trouble using my spending money on books 😉

I just finished up Finding Zoe by Brandi Rarus and wow, what a (true!) story. It deals with adoption, deafness, and identity. It had so many twists and turns that I had a hard time putting it down. I’m also working my way through Hannah’s Song, which is a Bible study on the book of 1 Samuel. While I don’t agree on the author’s viewpoint oo salvation, the rest of the book has been very insightful.

Onto duck eggs.

My brother and his wife bought a few chickens and ducks this spring and they’ve been getting eggs lately and passing some on to me. They know they way to my egg-loving heart ❤

Duck eggs and chicken eggs

Can you guess which ones are the duck eggs?!

My brother said he heard duck eggs are excellent to bake with because the high fat content results in fluffier baked goods. I asked them if they wanted me to bake them anything with some of the eggs as a thank you and they requested challah. Can’t wait to make it 🙂

In other news, we had a normal day over here at the Zottola Zoo. Sadie learned about the color orange and did some painting.

Toddler painting with orange paint

I went on an organization spree while she went down for a nap. Our linen closet is one of the spaces in our home that slowly becomes a catchall over time and today was the day I decided to finally tackle it.

I ended up nailing baskets and old plastic containers to the door to add some extra storage and it helped clear up a lot of space inside the actual closet!

Closet organization with baskets on door

Time will tell if it all holds up 😉

Yesterday was Niva’s first birthday and tomorrow she is getting spayed. Poor girl. It was so hard to see Mavis struggle after she was spayed (I’m going to blame my crying on the pregnancy hormones in 2018, lol) and I’m hoping it’s a better experience for everyone involved this time!

Do you have any catchall spots in your home? Our linen closet, basement, and a few drawers in our living room are our places.

Do you like to buy clothes? I would much rather spend the day in a bookstore than clothing store, but enjoy getting Sadie clothes.

Six Thoughts on Saturday

I’ve been blessed with a couple of hours to myself this afternoon! Jimmy had a training at our church and I had to pet sit, so my mom is watching Sadie girl for a bit. I am so thankful for her willingness to help out ❤

Speaking of Sadie, my mom reported she is having a blast with her cousin and the bubble machine my parents have, lol.

Toddlers playing with bubbles from bubble machine

Since I have some time, I thought I would share some thoughts that have been swirling around in my head lately!

1. I can’t make this stuff up. Sadie and I were hanging out in her room the other day and I heard Malcolm and Niva playing in our bathtub but thought nothing of it because they play in there all the time. A few minutes later, there was a huge crashing noise in the other room and Sadie and I found this scene.

Husky pulled shower curtain down

Niva and Malcolm somehow pulled down our shower curtain, shower curtain liner, and the whole entire curtain rod and pulled it across our living room. I can’t even make this stuff up! I live in a zoo 😉

2. Hearing and face masks. I don’t talk about my hearing loss a ton, because it’s pretty mild. I’ve been recommended and fitted for hearing aids by my audiologist, but insurance doesn’t cover the full price so I say “what?” a lot and pretty much have to be looking directly at someone when they’re talking to me. If there’s no background noise, I do really well. With COVID-19 and mask wearing, hearing what people are saying has become so hard. Everything sounds muffled more than it already does for me, lol.

3. Cute messes. Jimmy and I were getting dinner ready last night and Sadie was in our basement playing for quite a while. It was finally time for dinner and she still hadn’t come upstairs. I peeked down the steps (you know, the ones Malcolm got glass all over…) and saw that she pulled all of our shoes out of our shoe racks and lined them up.

She also somehow figured out how to climb the steps while wearing my size 9 (#bigfoot) Crocs. Impressive 😉

Shoes lined up

4. Potty training. Okay fellow parents who have potty trained their children, help! What age did you begin potty training and how did you start? We’ve been reading this book and even got Sadie a potty of her own, but can use any tips and advice!

5. Pet sitting. While I don’t pet sit nearly as much as I used to, I love seeing Haley. She was one of my first petting sitting clients. She did well with Lola and saw me through the end of college, starting pet sitting full time, bringing home Malcolm, Mavis, Sadie, and Niva. Needless to say, we have a special bond that I cherish ❤

Girl with chocolate lab

6. Nails. I used nail wraps (which are basically nail polish stickers) the other day and have been really impressed with them. They look legit and have held up well. I don’t think they’re affordable enough to use regularly, so I want to know: do you paint your nails often? What is your favorite nail polish?

I go through phases of painting my nails and taking great care of them… and then sometimes I ignore them for a few months. My favorite nail polish brand is China Glaze and good ol’ Sally Hansen, but I’m always open to trying different brands!

Tell me something on your mind today!