Mommy Date: The Beginning (Lauryn #1)

Having four kids, and the large age gap that exists between some of them, tends to make me feel guilty about the amount of time I can spend with each of them. It's difficult to entertain each of them when we go out or are on vacation. Very few places can hold all of their attentions equally - and the older they get, the harder it is to keep them happy. So it got me thinking - how can I make sure that I bond with each of my kids in a way that would be fun and beneficial uniquely for them?

I've been thinking about this for sometime now, and the idea was actually spurred from a Bucket List Family video I watched on YouTube. The dad, Garrett, regularly has "Daddy Dates" with his kids where he takes them somewhere special and it's just two of them. Quality one-on-one time. I loved the idea.

So, of course, the "Mommy Date" in my household was born.

I originally thought I would start this with my oldest - having brunch somewhere and shopping around some quaint suburban downtown area - but it just so happened that the availability presented itself a little earlier with my youngest daughter.

Weekends are a time where I run my errands and get my grocery shopping done. Once a month I head to Trader Joe's to pick up some of my favorite staples (the closest Trader Joe's to me is about 30 minutes away, so a monthly trip is more manageable than a weekly trek). Knowing that Lauryn loves food just as much as I do, I thought I'd let her tag along with me. I did not intend to make the trip a morning/afternoon event, but that's exactly how the day panned out.

Lauryn hadn't eaten breakfast before we left, so a donut treat was first on my list. She, of course, picked a chocolate one, and was really well-behaved at Country Donuts - and it was our first solo trip there together.

Trader Joe's was a big hit. I knew Lauryn had some Trader Joe's favorites too (like chocolate cat cookies and alphabet cookies) so I thought she's get a kick out of coming to the store with me. I am blessed to have my mom live with me, so I never have to take the kids grocery shopping with me - which I am so, so grateful for! So, for them, coming to the store with me is a definite treat. I was actually surprised at how engaged she was at the store. She noticed things that I didn't - like umbrellas hanging from the ceiling and a barn with a cow above the dairy section. It was also fun pointing out the different fruits and having her name them. I think we both had more fun there than we thought we would.

On the way to Trader Joe's, we passed a Touch-A-Truck event that I thought I would take her to afterwards, but after she saw the cow above the dairy case at the store all she could talk about was cows and pigs and farms. Serendipitously, I scrolled through my Facebook page and found a nearby Springtime at the Farm event happening that same day. How lucky were we? I knew she'd much prefer that to some John Deere's any day. And boy, did she!

At Primrose Farm in St. Charles she spent a couple of hours chasing chickens, talking to horses, feeding cows, petting goats, planting flowers, and churning butter. I honestly couldn't have planned the day better. They had a baby cow, Peach, who was celebrating its first birthday. Lauryn got to feed it some hay (a dream for her), and Peach proceeded to eat her mitten. Priceless memories!

You can check out the highlight reel from our day below. I'm dabbling more with iMovie so I hope to get better at preserving our memories with videos. If you've never tried video editing, let me tell you that it's A LOT of work! I have so much respect for those YouTubers that post vlogs week after week. It's crazy time consuming!





So my first Mommy Date is in the books, and I can't wait to do this with my other kids too. I still plan to take my oldest out for brunch and shopping, but the weather didn't exactly pan out for us to enjoy the outdoors this weekend. We've had some crazy weather the last few weeks - ranging from 30 degrees to 70 degrees all in the same week! Just waiting for spring to firmly plant her feet on the ground.

Hello There, Old Friend!

I rediscovered this page a few weeks ago and it made me really sad. I last posted here when the twins were six months old - almost 2 years ago - and I hate that I didn't keep up with it. All the cute things they've done over the last two years, the gorgeous pictures, and the memories we've made were not documented and it just makes me really sad. Plus, in the last few weeks I have revisited this page numerous times, typed in a few sentences, and put the computer back down.

It sucks to say, but life with twins really is super-busy and difficult. I used to write at night, but as the twins took more and more of my energy, I was zapped by the end of every night. There were months that I wouldn't even turn on my computer at home. Months! Which is crazy considering I used to be on the computer every night for years.

I even started a bullet journal to chronicle twin life - a journal that I also abandoned more than a year ago.

Why, why, why???

At the time you think that you'll always remember what they said, how they acted etc, but being a mom of four, I should've known that that was a lie. My oldest is 19 now and I only have a highlight reel going through my brain. Those small moments? All forgotten. Oh how I wish I would've kept up with this blog.

Well, for right now, I'm back. I hope to post updates more frequently, sharing pictures of the kids and just life in general. It's not always fun. It's not always exciting. But it's our normal, regular life, filled with precious memories that I want to document.

XOXO,
Amanda