BOOK REVIEW : Girl Wash Your Face

So I read this book for the book club I am in and really loved a lot of the concepts and ideas she covered.  Although I feel like several of her stories that she used to illustrate the points didn't apply or connect with me as well as they may for other readers. 

LOVED: The way she pointed out the lies we tell ourselves in life.

LOVED: How she recapped the end of the chapters with how she overcame/overcomes the lie

DISLIKE: Several of her stories she used to illustrate the lie were a bit of a stretch to me

DISLIKE: I feel like throughout the book she puts herself on a pedestal and put other down (judges them) 

BIGGEST DISLIKE: In the book she talks about toxic relationships. She says to get out and get away. The personal story she uses is that of her and her husband and how he treated her when the started dating.... paining him in an awful light and then basically says he changed so it doesn't apply... Umm what is this telling other women or girls??? mixed feelings on this...

FAVORITE CONCEPT/TAKE AWAY: I love how in the book Rachel talks about other people's opinions and how to deal with them. my favorite take away is how she quotes another person, I think it was her therapist, saying that someone else's opinion of you is NONE of your business. WORDS TO LIVE BY! how many times do we get caught up in how others think of us???  

Over all good book and a lot to think about from the book. Again I loved the lies and how she over came them and I began to see how the lies apply to me and what I do now and what I can do to overcome them in my own life.  Now on to her next book....

You can get Girl Wash Your Face here

***Update to my Biggest Dislike***

I have watched several of  Rachel's youtube videos and listened to several of her audios and now understand a little more of her story and how her personality is. Anyway one of the videos was of her and Dave (her husband) talking about marriage. They talk about their story and how everything happened and you get more from his perspective (he does not pain himself in a pretty light either). Anyway, I still feel conflicted on her example in the book but I get it now on why it sort of fit. For here it was about being willing to leave and not put up with the abuse any more. She had to face it and "wash her face" stop crying and move on. End of story. The fact that he realized what he lost and came crawling back and had to change his own behavior to treat her respectfully is an add on. 

***Update to the update***

Dave is an amazing husband for him to be willing to let his wife share their story openly and for him to be willing to publicly admit that he was abusive but has changed and is now in a commit relationship with his wife where they are equals. 

Steal of a Deal

Back story: a few months back we were at Walmart to pick up a few things for the kids and as we were walking out they were loading things onto the clearance display carts. Nate walked over to see the price and it was too good to pass up! $54 for a 12 man tent! Giant bonus is it has built in LED lights that run along the ceiling that have several settings of brightness. 

Check it out on Amazon Here

All set up for our test run in the back yard. Just a little note as to setting up the tent. This takes a minimum of 2 people and that was a bit of a challenge too. Grant it if you are using a 12 man tent you probably have a handful of people around to help out with set up. The total set up time for Nate and I was 45 min. From unboxing to final set up all staked into the ground. Take down was done in 15 minutes. Another bonus is we don't have to have a fly for it because the fly is built into the zippered mesh windows. There are 2 doors, 4 wall windows, 4 triangle ceiling windows, 2 floor vents and 2 roof vents that can be closed.

It has your standard storage pouches plus 2 HUGE Storage pocket organizers! These are great for the littles toys, flash lights, bug spray, sunscreen,  electronics, glow sticks, and soo much more. 

Here are 3 kids sleeping bags and a large storage tote and there is still space for our queen mattress and our baby's pack n play. Did i mention even after all of that we have tons of open space?

Final pic to show how tall it is. My hubby is 5 ft 10 in and has plenty of head room. No more slouching our bending over to stand up and walk. 

Living Scriptures Big Book

My kids love coloring and activity books and I love when I can find one that is great for during church. This one we picked up in Utah before moving to Michigan and our kids love it! There is something for everyone in this BIG BOOK. My 7 year old loves the dot to dots and the coding pages. My 4 year old loves the find the differences pages and coloring pages and my 2 year old loves doodling on any page he can that has pictures of animals. 

Diaper Bag for Multiple Kids

So we have had this diaper bag for only a short wile be we LOVE it. it is versatile so daddy or I can grab it and go. (Not that Nate really cares about that kind of stuff) It has a ton of storage and pockets in it for organization and came with several storage bags too. Here is the Amazon link (click here)

Some of the amazing features of the bag are the padded backing to the backpack and adjustable straps. Another plus is the bottom of the bag has grippers/ rubber pads to help keep it off from wearing when on the floor. Finally the stroller straps built into the bag. No more digging for straps out of the bag, also great for clipping a blanket.  

Another big seller for us was the YKK zippers. These are amazing heavy duty zippers. For us zippers normally wear out or tear on bags. Having something durable is a big deal with 3 boys! 

Side pockets. One is designed to hold wipes the flop has a magnetic snap to keep it closed. The other side pocket is the thermal pouch big enough for bottles, I stash my wallet here. 

Front Pockets: Here I stash the things we need easy access too. Crayons, pencils, little toys are in one for the boys. The other pocket has lotion, my makeup bag and the dry/wet bag

Dry wet bag. The big pocket is lined to hold the wet in. It has a strap that can be snapped to the bag or stroller. The outside pocket is mesh and allows for holding things you don't want wet. I have used it for keys, sunscreen, sandy flip flops, ect

1st big pocket. This pocket is a thinner pocket so it is great for coloring books, activity pads, tablets ect. 

2nd Big pocket. This is where I keep my planner and pens. I love the built in pen storage at the top! The pocket opens flat as shown so this would work great as a diaper changing pocket too. 

The Back of the pocket has 3 bottle spots, we breastfeed so I use it to hold our sunscreen, water and a few snacks. the mesh pocket is empty right now but I put my keys and phone here when they are not in my pocket. Finally is the clip feature. I use it for hair ties

Big pocket. This pocket is massive! It can hold so much stuff. I like to use several pouches and wet bags to hold our stuff and making it easy to grab what we want when we are in a hurry.  Where the changing pad is you can place a laptop or tablet too!

Diaper Changing pad. Comes with the diaper bag. Only wish is it had build in pocket for a small thing of wipes and diaper.

2 Storage Cubes came with the Diaper Bag too. These can hold so much! 1 has 8 size 1 diapers, 5 size 6 diapers and a small thing of wipes. The other pouch has all of the extra clothes. 1 outfit for A (2 year old) and 3 outfits, hat, hair bow, socks and mittens for the baby

2 more pockets in the big pocket. great for holding hats, blankets burp cloths ect. The possibilities are endless

4000 Stickers: Things that Go

We love this book! After pulling it out a year ago the boys have yet to finish it! We have it in our church bag right now but they would carry it everywhere before that ( Added to our church bag in April).  I had a few people ask me where my mom got it and I really don't know but here is a link on amazon for it. (Click Here)

Inside you will find stickers for the different themed pages. There are several coloring pages mixed within the book and then several sheets of smaller stickers for the kids to use where ever. Ours usually end up in note books and loose paper. 

Great for kids 3+ but our 2 year old loves to use this book too

Baby Nursing Station

After 4 kids I have created my own system for when I am nursing. The Main reason is so everything is in one place... Ok let be honest here everything isn't in one place and it's not one set. I have a main set in one place (the living room on the right side of the couch) and then others throughout the house where I typically have the baby when nursing. Like the Bedrooms or Office. If baby spends a good amount of time there I usually have what is needed in arms reach. 

 Here is what I try to keep handy and in arms reach when nursing and how I put it all together. 

Cute Basket, tote or bag for storage. I try to find something easy to move around to where I am sitting. I usually keep this one by the couch. It matches my home decorating but can still be lifted and moved one handed. Bonus is it can be emptied and the liner tossed in the wash. 

Diapers and Wipes for baby. I keep at least one of my toddlers diapers in here too for those quick changes before feeding baby. Go with the bigger pack of wipes, so you don't have to replace them as often and several baby diapers. Update: I have also added in a folding changing pad, an extra outfit (onsie and sleeper) for baby and blanket just in case when things get messy.

Nursing gear, I have hot/cold gel packs stored here till I need to heat or cool them. I like to have a Nursing shield clean and in a case for when I need it and extra nursing pads. My nursing cream is with all this along with chap stick and hand sanitize. 

Several binkies because they tend to walk off with baby. I like to keep a few different brands on hand with a new baby because you never know what style they will like to start out with. Our living room Basket is our central binky location so as we find them they get dumped into that basket. 

Nail file, clippers and nose bulb. I like to trim my kids nails when they are asleep.When they are this little it's the easiest time for me to do it. Even better is after a warm bath, lotion them up, nurse them and trim away while they sleep. PS this is a good spot to keep a small thing of lotion if your little has dry skin.  

Nursing cover for when guests or others are around, baby hand mittens, socks, and several burp cloths. .If you don't have a cover you can also use a light blanket.

Several mommy snacks are a must!  While I nurse I try to use it as a reminder to eat and drink, for this it is nice to have several easy snacks and water bottles at arms reach. Sometimes I will throw a few snacks in for the kids because they always seem to ask for something when I just get started. I promise it's not always junk food. Granola or protein bars, fruit leathers and trail mix are a few other things I like. BIGGEST tip think on handed. 

Making everything in the basket neat and ready to go is the final step. I use a small cloth bag to hold the small stuff so it doesn't get lost in the bottom of basket.