Sunday Social Week 42

Linking up again for Sunday Social! 

 

This weeks questions are all about Spring, which doesn't seem to be coming to Minnesota this year.

1. What is your favorite thing about spring?

 I love a lot about spring. Warm weather, playing outside with bubbles and sidewalk chalk. Digging in the dirt. Tired, exhausted children who played outside all day long. Sigh. Spring is wonderful and it needs to come soon!

 

2. What is your favorite kind of flower to grow or receive?

Well, I can't grow anything succesfully, so growing is out of the equation. Recieving...I've only ever gotten roses! How sad. I do love all the gorgeous boquets of random flowers, I've just never been giving one. Sad.

3. What is your favorite nail polish color?

Asking me to pick a favorite nail polish color is like asking me to pick a favorite candy. It's not possible. I like to have as many colors as possible and I change it up constantly.

4. What is your favorite outdoor activity?

Hiking/walking. I love going to the Nature Center or Nature parks and walking around. I could do it for hours and hours. 

 

5. Do you have any fun spring plans?

We are actually Moving!! We close on our first house next Friday. I imagine this Spring will be filled with getting the house in order, cleaning up the yard, putting stairs on the deck and all the fun stuff that comes along with moving into a new house. Ahhh! I'm so excited!

My Personal Shopper

I don't want you all to be jealous or anything, but I have a personal nail polish shopper. Yup. I'm awesome like that. 

Not only do I have a personal shopper, but he's cute, funny and completely devoted to me. He's pretty dang good at picking out colors for me as well. Plus, he works for food and shelter! The only downside I can find is that I still have to drive him to the store. 

I'm admitting it here. The crazy kid in that picture picks out 95% of my nail polish colors. At the store and at home when I actually get around to doing my nails. 

Today he told me I needed to use my new colors he picked out. Both of them. He wanted the glitter underneath the silver, but I told him I didn't think that would work that well, so we compromised. 

The base color is Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in Celeb City.

The top color is Sinful Colors in Frenzy. I for some reason failed at getting a better picture of the glitter, but it's really pretty!

Not only are these inexpensive polishes, but these brands last a decent amount of time if applied with a good base coat and top coat. 

I love my little personal shopper!     

Who loves Giveaways??

Unfortunately I'm not having one. But my good friend, Jess, is!

Jess is going to Disney World very shortly and is coming up with all these adorable ideas to make the trip special. 

Her super cute daughter, Jayla, has been throwing a fit about not being invited to Disney World. As of yet, she has no clue they are going. So Jess asked me to make her an "invite" from Disney World as a way to tell her they are going. I whipped one up really quick and I think it turned out pretty dang cute, don't you think?

She also decided she wanted to make matching T-shirts for them to wear. She looked through Etsy and found Clean Cut Studios. Courtney has a shop filled with the cutest Iron on Transfers and decals! 

Jess ordered some shirts for their upcoming trip and they turned out so cute! 

Jess talked to Courtney and she agreed to give one lucky reader a $15 gift card and free shipping! How awesome is that?!?

 So head on over to Hated On The Playground and enter the Giveaway! Good luck!  

March Birchbox

Last month I decided I wanted to treat myself and I signed up for Birchbox. If you've never heard of it, for $10 a month they send you a little box filled with beauty samples. 

I had heard mixed reviews, but decided to sign up anyways. I waited about 2 weeks on the waitlist, but finally got my email saying I could buy one. 

It arrived yesterday and I was super excited to open it. This is what I received.

   

 Not gonna lie. I was slightly disappointed. I think I was expecting more makeup. But alas. This is what I got, so I thought I would go through it and give you my opinion.

 The nail file. I can always use a good nail file. This one was custom made for Birchbox. Not sure where they got a print of my Grandma's couch from 1983, but ok. They claim it's worth $5. I don't know about you all, but I've never paid $5 for a basic nail file. Maybe they paid extra for the awesome couch print?

 The Body Gel. I haven't actually tried this on my body yet. I squeezed a bit onto my finger. Not sure why, but I did. Let me describe it. Picture this... You're walking through JC Penney and you see an adorable, sweet old lady with her hair perfectly curled on top of her head. You smile at her and BAM! You are hit with half a bottle of Eau De Grandma. Your smile waivers. You try not to gag while you run, as fast as you can, away from that smell. But it's everywhere. It's in the clothes, the floor, it's stuck in your nose and you can't escape it until you bathe in a bottle of vinegar. That is this body wash. It's Grandma in a bottle. I refuse to use it. Seriously you guys, I put this on my finger 3 hrs ago and I still smell like Grandma. Not cool.

 I haven't tried the eye makeup remover yet, but the lipstick is not me.

 I haven't tried this yet either, but I'm not that excited to. The smell isn't that great either. I'm not sure if I can handle it being in my hair. But we'll see. Maybe next time I flat iron my hair I'll try it out. I'm thinking I'll save it for when I go Up North and I can't wash my hair. I already stink, might as well add a different stink to it. 

I'm still torn on whether I'll be keeping my subscription or not. Maybe next months box will be awesome and I'll be missing out. Ugh. Is this how they rope you into this stuff?? I also signed up for Ipsy, so hopefully that will be better!

Winter Just Sucks

Oh my gosh, you guys. I seriously have a HUGE case of the winter blues. I'm so over this snow and cold crap. I was kinda sorta ok last week. Then we got more snow and cold on Monday and now I hate my life. 

I stepped out of the shower on Monday and gasped at my pale white arms. This is so not ok. I haven't been this pale in forever. I neeeeed the sun!

 

 I don't want to do anything but sit on my butt. I don't want to bake. I don't want to craft. I definitely don't want to clean. I don't even want to be on my computer. 

 Which is why I've been uber non-existent in the blog world. I seriously feel horrible for not even replying to emails or comments or anything. I do feel bad, but I just don't want to do it. Please tell me I'm not the only one. And you southerners with your sunny, warm weather, zip it. I kid of course, but don't rub it in. I'm depressed enough. 

So I leave you with how I feel lately. I hope it makes you smile.

  

I hope you all are having a better week than I am!

Giving kids back the game

I usually don't go on tangents about serious topics, but today I just need to let it out. I apologize beforehand if this gets long, I'll try to keep this as short as possible.

Dawson had his first soccer game of the season yesterday. He's playing in a Recreational U7 (6 & 7 yrs olds, for those who don't know) league. It's a league for fun, meant for kids to figure out if they like the sport. David is coaching the team and the coaches are told a few key things. They aren't supposed to teach positions or strategies, they are supposed to focus on ball handling, dribbling, passing, the basics. Score isn't kept. There is no winners and no losers. Just. For. Fun.

If you've never seen 7 yr olds play, this is what it looks like. 

   

A swarm of adorably enthusiastic kids attacking a soccer ball. 8 little pairs of feet all going for the same thing, even if it's against your own teammates. 

The game went great. The kids had fun. After an hr of nothing but running they were exhausted, but they all had huge smiles on their faces. 

Afterwards Dawson saw one of his classmates that was on another team. We went over to say Hi and the Mom mentioned another team and how tough they were. She said "they were ummm...established."

David and I were talking about this and he told me the "established" team is actually a "stacked" team. The coach scouts out players from other teams the year before and works with the Soccer club to put the children he wants on his team. This team is basically unstoppable. They haven't "lost" (remember the whole no score kept thing?) a game and they basically blow all other teams out of the water.  

Does anyone else see the problem with this?

These kids are supposed to be having fun. They aren't supposed to worry about winning and losing, but they are still aware when a team is kicking their butt. They will still drop their shoulders in defeat when they walk off a field where they have been scored on dozens of times by a team filled with the best players. 

At the ages of 12 or 13, yes, I expect a team to be filled with the best players. Which is why they have try outs. You are tested for your abilities and you are moved to the teams you deserve to be on with hopes that your team will be the best. At the age of 7, 8, 9? No, you shouldn't be expected to be the winning team every game.

I'm honestly saddened by this. 

I'm disappointed that the soccer league allows a man to come in and make a team to defeat all other teams in a U7 league. They stress that this is a fun league. They tell all coaches that they aren't supposed to worry about being winners or losers, but they will let a coach make sure his team is always the winning team.

I'm disappointed that there is a coach out there that is so determined to be the best that he will knowingly and purposely stack a team to defeat all others. That this man can look at all these little boys, these 6 & 7 yr old boys, and have no care that he is doing whatever he can to defeat them week after week, in a Rec. league.

Obviously we all want to see our kids be winners. We want them on a winning team. We want to have that pride and brag about it. But do we want them on a winning team for them or ourselves? If our small children win a sports game, who makes a bigger deal out of it. Us or them? 

At this age, kids just want to play. Most of them don't make a big deal out of winning or losing. They want to get out there and run, kick a ball, act crazy. They get off the field and they are more worried about the snacks and juice boxes they get at the end of each game.

I think as parents of young children we need to realize that this game isn't for us. This is about the kids and them having fun. It's time to relax, enjoy the lack of competition while we can. Enjoy those smiles, those care free times when they don't care if they win or lose. 

I think it's time we give sports back to our children. Don't you agree?