Hey, It's Okay!

First of all, Happy Halloween! If you celebrate it, I hope you have a great evening. This is our first time doing trick or treating off base, so I hope it's not too insane.

You're welcome to link up with Hey, It's Okay on any day of the week! But please make sure your post has something to do with Hey, It's Okay. Sometimes people link up their regular posts and it confuses me.

Hey, It's Okay......



--To have thought it was cute when Natalie responded like this:

When I told her DanTDM responded to the blog post she really wanted me to write:

--To be ready to go back to my regular schedule. Tom was off for two weeks and while I love having him home, it always throws everything off. I try to get stuff done online and he wants to have a full on conversation so then I have to stop. So I'm currently behind in e-mails. I'm sorry if you sent me something and I haven't replied yet.


--To have written a post over at The Military Wife and Mom about why I hope Tom isn't stationed overseas again. I guess some people are offended that I said this but uh...last I checked, everyone was able to have their own opinion? You can read it here.


--To be confused on the comments on the The Walking Dead Facebook page from people saying the episode was too violent. Did they not read the comics? It basically followed that. I had to cover my eyes a few times, but it didn't bother me because the acting was so fantastic.


--To think it's cool that my kids are over on The Today Show website about awesome Halloween costumes. If you scroll down you'll see them as the League Of Their Own characters.


--To hope the teachers will be okay having the kids be in school on Halloween and then the day after Halloween.


--To have enjoyed my date with Tom over the weekend. My parents took the kids. We're low key so we just went to the outlet mall, ate at Weinerschnizel, and then went to Bucees, which is this giant gas station with a beaver mascot:

Why My Daughter Loves The YouTuber DanTDM

**I'm an Amazon affiliate member so the link for the book I mentioned is an affiliate link. However, it won't impact you at all if you click it. It'll just help me buy more books. I want the new Jodi Picoult. So thank you, if you click! I appreciate it.**



My daughter watches videos on YouTube. Probably too many. But sometimes Mommy needs quiet, so I allow it. We don't limit screen time unless grades are poor. The YouTubers she watches a lot of are CookieswirlC, Kelli Maple, Stampycat, PewDiePie, and her brother Tommy, of course. (You can check him out here. He makes gaming videos, plus videos on what it's like living with Autism.)

She also watches DanTDM. The TDM stands for The Diamond Minecart. Dan is a twenty-something from England who plays a lot of Minecraft. He doesn't JUST play Minecraft though. Natalie says she loves watching him play Roblox and Pokemon Go too. But there are many reasons why she loves DanTDM.

1. He makes great videos. Obviously tons of other people agree, because he has over 12 MILLION subscribers. Parents tend to like him because he doesn't swear in his videos.



2. She loves his pugs. He has two: Ellie and Darcie. I think it's why she wants a pug now. She thinks his are "too cute!"

Source

3. His British accent makes Natalie smile.



4. He has blue hair right now. Natalie thinks this is fabulous.

5. He's easy on the eyes. I told her this once and she was all, "First of all, Mommy, you're too old for him and second of all, he's already married to JEMMA."



6. He wrote a book! I struggle to get my daughter to read, which pains me because I LOVE to read. I assumed each person I created would be bookworms, but nope. However, Natalie has been reading his book. It's written like a comic book, which means it's easy reading, and the illustrations are colorful. The book is called Traysaurus and the Enchanted Crystal.

If you want the book, you can buy it here.

To learn more about Dan TDM, you can check out his social channels! (And nope, this is NOT a sponsored post, my daughter just really wanted me to write why she loved Dan on my blog. She's hoping Dan notices this and will say hi.)

YouTube

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Fun Fall Looks For Tween Girls

Fall is here! I can hardly believe it. But it's time for crisp mornings. Pumpkin stuff. Halloween. Beautiful colors.

It's also time for fall clothes! Sweaters! Skinny jeans. Boots. Honestly, my daughter dresses better than I do. I basically wear jeans and t-shirts all year long. I don't even have boots because I'm more comfortable in my sneakers. My daughter has always been more of a fashionista.

If you're looking for some fun fall clothes that still make your kid look like a kid, I have some great choices.

This dress is from Justice. I love this style!

The next outfit is from The Children's Place. My daughter loves emojis.

This dress from Target was a gorgeous blue so I had to get it for Natalie. She actually wore this for school pictures.

Does your tween like Beanie Boos too?

You can wear the dress with a belt. Sometimes Natalie does. Sometimes she's "not in the mood for a belt."

This shirt would be perfect for the Pumpkin Patch! It's from Gymboree.

Tossing up some leaves!

This dress is from Gymboree:

Finally, we have another gorgeous outfit from Gymboree. Natalie probably only has about a year left before she outgrows it. She's moving into the size 12s, which is the largest they go.

What is your favorite look? If you have kids, do they dress better than you do?

Hey, It's Okay!

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. They have a section called Hey, It’s Okay and will list a bunch of things to be okay about. You're welcome to join in and do something like this on your blog any day of the week. Just make sure you link up and that the post you link up is a Hey, It's Okay Post.
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--To have watched the latest episode of Walking Dead in horror. Yikes. Meanwhile, my husband was all relaxed and like, "Hey, Negan told them the rules and Daryl had to act like an ass.."

--To be excited that Tom and I get an evening date this weekend. My parents are watching the kids!



--To not be sure how much candy I should buy for Halloween since it falls on a weekday. I have 6 big bags so far.



--To think it's RIDICULOUS that some California soldiers have to repay their bonus. They risk their lives for their country and this is how they're thanked?



--To be bringing a ton of Natalie's outgrown clothes to Once Upon A Child today.



--To have gone to Creamistry for the first time. It's a place where they make liquid nitrogen ice cream in front of you. It was so delicious!

When The School Nurse Calls

My husband and I had just returned from lunch. He has two weeks of leave, and it might be the only leave he gets for a long time since he's a MTI now. So we've been taking advantage of it, going on lunch dates and exploring Texas. And by exploring Texas, I basically mean going shopping. And eating.

As soon as we parked in the driveway, my phone rang. I answered and was told it was the school nurse. My heart plummeted because the last time the nurse called, Natalie had lice. I immediately thought, "Oh no, not again" because when Natalie had lice, it was an all day event of scrubbing her hair. Then Tommy freaked out because he doesn't like germs, and was panicked that he'd get lice. (He didn't, thank goodness.)

The nurse said, "I have Natalie in the office complaining of a stomach ache. She doesn't have a fever but she's gripping her stomach." I am grateful for the nurse and travel nurse jobs. 

I chewed on my lower lip. Maybe I was immediately supposed to go, "My poor baby! I'll be right there." But my daughter is 9. She's nearing the age where she'll see what she can get away with. So I hesitated because responding. Eventually I said, "Do you think I should get her?"

I went through all the possibilities. Maybe she wanted to come home because of a test. Maybe someone was being mean and she didn't want to deal with the bully. Girls can be mean. Or maybe it was because of a boy she liked who didn't like her back. Maybe he was being mean.

"Well," the nurse said kindly. "She's not a kid who is in here on a weekly basis like some others. So I believe her. But if you want me to send her back to class, I will."

I thought it over. What if Natalie DID have a stomachache and needed her mother? What if she had to go back to class thinking I didn't care? One of the reasons why my husband and I decided that I should stay at home was to always be here for these kids. If I ignored Natalie's stomachache, what message would I be sending?

Parenting is hard.

"I'll get her," I finally said. I thought of my little girl frightened in the office, gripping her stomach. Wanting her Mommy. I'm lucky enough to be able to get her anytime during the day.

"Okay. See you soon," the nurse said.

I drove to Natalie's school and found her in the office. She looked tiny on the chair. Her arms were encircling her waist. She glanced up and a tiny smile played on her lips, "Mommy," she whispered.

My heart melted. I had made the right choice. Unless she was a really good actress. Still, after I signed her out, as we walked to the car I asked, "You didn't want to come home because someone was being mean, right? You can tell me."

Natalie shook her head. "No. My stomach has been hurting all day. I could eat my lunch but then it really started hurting. The teacher told me to try and use the bathroom. I did and it still hurt." She shrugged. "I'm missing art. I love art and we can only go every two weeks now. My friend says it's because of something called cutbacks."

We got home and she went right to bed. I reminded her that she would not be playing with friends if they came to the door after school. My rule is if you stay home sick, you can't play. She understood. She slept for two hours and when she woke up she said she was feeling better.

She was able to go to school the next day. Maybe it was a quick stomach bug. Maybe her body was fighting something. Maybe it was growing pains.

But I'm just glad I was able to be there.


Would you pick your kids up if the nurse called but there was no fever or injury?

Teenagers Can Trick-Or-Treat Too

I've been seeing articles floating around stating that teenagers should stop trick-or-treating. I do not agree. When my son was 13, he went trick-or-treating.

If your teenager has a costume and they are polite, I'm not understanding the problem. Why are we forcing our kids to grow up so fast?

I wouldn't even mind if a teenager came to the door in a shirt like this:

At least it's something. I also require manners. If your teenager shuffles up and says nothing, I'll prompt him. My son always said "trick-or-treat" and "thank you." If your teenager has manners, they'll get candy from me.

My son is 15 now and has decided ON HIS OWN that he will not be trick-or-treating this year. He's wearing the shirt I posted and will be passing out candy. I'll miss him being with his sister and I. He's had some great costumes over the years:


He was Beetlejuice:

Jimmy Dugan from A League Of Their Own "There's no crying in baseball!"

Mario:

I've got to remember that he's growing up.


But I also know there will be other teenagers still out trick-or-treating. And so long as they are polite and have costumes on, I'll be handing the candy with a smile and wishing them a Happy Halloween.



When did you stop trick-or-treating?

Hey, It's Okay

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. They have a section called Hey, It’s Okay and will list a bunch of things to be okay about. You're welcome to join in and do something like this on your blog any day of the week. Just make sure you link up and that the post you link up is a Hey, It's Okay Post.
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--To plan on watching the final debate even though it always makes me uncomfortable in some way. Maybe we should have bought these masks to make it more amusing.

--To be so excited that The Walking Dead returns on Sunday. Who dies?


--To plan on checking out various places to eat since Tom is on leave for two weeks.


--To think it's hilarious whenever my husband wears his t-rex costume. You can see a video of him here.


--To wonder where we should eat when we go to Universal Orlando in March. We're just spending a day there.


--To think it's cute that Natalie got so excited over this pug bag at Walmart. She's one of those people who loves that the Christmas stuff is already put up. Meanwhile, I'm like, "Let me have my turkey first!"

How To Amuse Yourself At Lowes

My husband loves Lowes. He could spend hours in Lowes salivating over all the power tools. It's sort of how I feel being in Target. I get it. Still, after five minutes I am completely bored and I'm ready to leave. But my husband is never ready to leave after five minutes. So I've learned ways to amuse myself.



1. When your husband is looking for an exact nail because Lowes has 234978 of them, grab a large one and use it as a microphone. (That's my husband in the black shirt looking at the 234978 nails.)

2. Husband looking at the 2897234 drill bits? Take a large one and amuse yourself with it. (I mean seriously. Who needs that big of a drill bit? I guess someone does.)

3. Confuse your children and give them the giant drill bit. Tell them to pose with it.

4. Laugh when your kid is like, "What are all these? Why do you need so many choices of these things?" (But then realize it's probably how men feel when they look at women's shoes. Or in my case, all my books.)

5. Have a nail fight with your kid.

6. Since Lowes also has 60834 screws, take one, place it in your husband's hand and go, "Wanna screw?" Don't be offended if they tell you to "cut it out" and "stop embarrassing him."

So how do you amuse yourself at Lowes? Or do you enjoy the store? I do have female friends who love it in there but they're the ones who understand staining and purposes for the giant drill bits.