Where have you been?

Did I drop off the face of the earth? I might as well have- I am so sorry I have been absent from the blog scene. My life went from on direction to another and another in a matter of weeks and I am still reeling. But this is my attempt to catch up and put all my runaway thoughts in order.

First things first…

Texas Trip

The last you guys heard from me was that my sister and I were taking a trip to Dallas/Fort Worth to visit our brother. And that trip(though is had it’s ups and downs) was fantastic success. And I will be doing a recap of it next week. So stayed tuned!

Second!

Culinary Cooking Challenge???

I will be doing a wrap-up next Monday, the challenge is coming to an end. I will be replacing it with a new and exciting content but I simply don’t have time for it. I will of course still cook and bake for fun. But for now the Culinary Cooking Challenge is on an indefinite hold.

Third-

Cafe au Paír and Bakery

That’s right I am starting a bakery!!!! (Internal freak-out) Right now I am strictly doing local pies for Thanksgiving, but I am opening my bakery’s full menu(breads, rolls, cookies, scones, muffins, hand pies, etc.) up in December. So if you guys live in the south-Eastern WI area get excited! I will be doing a full post in the coming weeks.

Lastly… Er fourthly…

I bought a house!

(More internal screaming!!! And maybe some external) This rapid development is what really threw me for a loop! My parents(who are moving to WI) and I bought a house together! They’re gonna live upstairs and I am going to live downstairs. And I am so excited and so happy! And I just can’t wait!!

I know that’s a lot- it’s a lot for me too. Just a lot. (Stress and excitement in equal measure) Anyway obviously more will come in the coming weeks but yes- God is good and moving and just all kinds of things. Until next time…

Lots of love,

Tally

Devotional Art Journaling: Kids Addition

So last week I shared with you a growing new interest called Bible Art Journaling. This week I thought it would be cool to share with how you can use art journaling not only for yourself, but to help the kiddos pay attention and grasp what the Lord is saying through His precious Word too!

This particular project we did while reading through Jonah(I know shocking right?) I always have little projects, or just simple coloring pages ready, when I do the morning devotions with the youngsters. They art while I read.

This project was especially fun as I didn’t critique they’re color choices or placement of their shadow box characters. I simply showed them mine and then read the Bible, while they, completely unchecked, decided how they wanted their masterpieces to look.

This was the 3 yr. olds composition to give you an idea- crazy good right?

The below projects we used to keep interest in a rather boring part(to the kids anyway) the Genealogy of Christ. So we made family trees. We also used it as a review on the stories and characters we had already learned about(we’ve been reading through the Bible for about a year now). So don’t be daunted by “hard” and/or “boring” passages of Scripture.

In the end all that’s really important is that you’re spending time with your kids, rearing and training them in the way they should go. And the most important thing is that they are hearing God’s Word and seeing the importance you’re putting on it by making it a priority.

Lots of love,

Tally

Nannying in the Summer

Welcome back to the ole blog! I cannot believe that this weekend is July 4th. It frankly doesn’t even seem possible. And since weather in Wisconsin has been the equivalent to the rainy season in the tropics it doesn’t exactly feel like summer.

I realized I have never done a post dedicated just to nannyhood in the summer. It looks a lot different than nannying at other times of the year. Super busy and yet somehow laid back and more at ease. (Note: I have done a few nanny related posts last summer here and here but not one totally dedicated to the summer perspective) So here are four easy tips/tricks/things I have learned going on 4 years of being a professional live-in nanny!

Took the kiddos to a classic car show- Boys loved it!

#1 Never Ending Activity

I feel like summer is misleading. You naively think, “Oh, school is over! The calendar will empty!” Yeah no. Swim lessons, swimming, dance lessons, family visits, community events(outdoor movies, water shows, live concerts) and the list seems to go on and on and on.

For me personally this month next month and August are booked solid as far as work goes, which quite honestly has spilt into my personal life. So much happening!

My advice is to go with the flow as much as possible, but do not let yourself get burnt out. If it is getting to be too much say “No.” No I can’t cover an extra hour. No I don’t want to come the fifth pool party this month. (I mean seriously?!) It gets to be much. Even for people who are super sociable, which I am not. LOL

So allow yourself the grace to say, “No.”

Donut Stand at a live concert we went to- So yummy!!

#2 Don’t Forget to Have Fun

That’s my philosophy this summer. Whether I am working or not I intend to enjoy every second of this season. (I’ll let you know how it works out) so yes you’re gonna be crazy busy and the endless stuff can easily become overwhelming(remember it’s okay to say no) but instead of looking at the list of “to do” look at all the crazy, amazing opportunities you have!

One of the greatest benefits of being in this kind of profession is having the access to life experiences you might never have gotten to enjoy otherwise. I for one am extremely blessed for all of the things I have learned, heard and seen in my tenor as a nanny.

Paddle Boarding with the Kiddos

#3 Give Grace

To the kids, to the your boss, to your friends, to you… to the kids… to the kids… Emotions can run high in the heat and remember the overwhelmed feeling you have in your chest when looking at the calendar is the same exact feeling everyone else has. The kiddos especially are feeling the strain of long, hot days packed full of adventure. So allow yourself and them days where you do nothing. And if you can’t do that allow for mistakes, frayed emotions and quick tears. It’s gonna happen.

Days like these…

#4 It Won’t Always Be This Way

My final bit of advice is to remember that life is constantly changing. Moving. So enjoy this time, it’s ups and downs and quick turn around while you can. You have no guarantee of tomorrow. So have fun with those kids and yes go for that late night paddle board ride with your sister. This summer is going fast!

Lots of love,

Tally

The Busy Business of Summer

How is everyone doing? Well summer is in full swing here now. This whole week has been upper 90’s in temps and the sun has been blazing down. Which has made swimming every day, all day an absolute necessity.

With summer comes an extra sort of busyness. Every night this week I have had an event or a party or something going on. Add that to work and meeting with friends, chores, cooking, writing- Ah! My calendar is booked!

That is why I wanted to write this brief post for you(and mostly for me) It’s okay to say no… it’s okay to have nothing to do… it’s okay to breath…

It is so easy to get swept up in activity and life that we loose sight of the important things. Quiet Bible study time with the Lord. Time spent with family where you’re not running somewhere to get something done. Sleep. And the list goes on.

So my encouragement to you this summer is just to slow down and take it easy. Don’t let the busy business of life distract you from the important.

And remember it’s okay to have some days where you have absolutely nothing planned.

Lots of love,

Tally

Living in Trailer

No I didn’t move, get fired or in anyway change lifestyles; unless you call living in a small trailer on my boss’s lake house property for the next six months a change in lifestyle… Which maybe it is come to think of it. (Lol) Anyhoo yes I am officially trailer trash! My parents are so proud. No but seriously I am actually super excited to show off my new lake hideaway.

Complete with my own outdoor(if still potted) garden!!

Okay enough pictures of the garden already!

As you can tell we are all fully moved in and organized. The trailer provides my sister and I just a little more privacy than we had last year at the lake, which so far I am loving! And even though the bathroom is unusable the house is less than five feet away and so far it hasn’t been an issue. (Besides the bathroom got beautifully repurposed as a green house/George’s own private jungle)

Are you catching on the beach theme?

Though it is small it mighty! And has a crap ton of storage for all our stuff. The real test will come this week, when I start cooking. Things might get interesting. On kind of a related note here is my apartment tour I did not too long ago.

Lots of love,

Tally

Apartment Tour 2021

For this post I decided to give you guys a brief tour of my apartment/suite in the basement of my employers’ house, where I have lived comfortably for the last… three and 1/2 years. Yikes time flies! I’ve never done a full tour so this should be fun.

We’ll begin at the beginning… I know shocking. And then just follow the room around. As you will see my decorating style is basically lots of stuff and dogs and quotes… lol!

Arguably one of my favorite spots in my room; the coffee bar.

Yes I make all my many culinary creations with a hot plate, combination toaster oven and a microwave.

All the things… though this bar cart was a lifesaver for cabinet space.

Another favorite part of the room; our mini home gym.

My current reading list.

Mini library.

And the bathroom.

Yeah so this is my own private domain! Stay tuned in the coming weeks as I move with the work family to the summer lake house and where I stay while there. So excited about that post.

Lots of love,

Tally

Favorite Crafts for Kiddos

Hello all! I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter. It has turned out to be a very wet week here in Wisconsin, but I personally love the spring showers. One, because they mean green and growing things and additionally they remained me of fairy tales, an English countryside and simpler ways. Which as I find I am more and more drawn too. Anyone else?

While I am super excited to get outside once the rain has passed; rainy days are practically made for arts and crafts. Below are four of my all time fav crafts that I have done with the kiddos.

Greek shields!

I guess I should have said these are the top four projects we’ve done in the last six months. And most of them tie into whatever we’re learning in school, but are still fun and simple crafts you could do with your littles.

First up are these awesome Greek shields(we were learning about Greece obviously) and they were very fun to make. The easiest way would be to take pizza cardboard circles, then google Greek shield patterns and paint. I outlined the designs for the kids and then let them paint in the blank spaces. It was loads of fun.

Four Seasons Pastel Picture

Next is this visual representation of the Four Seasons by Vivaldi(again school related) that turned out a lot better then I thought it was going to. Using oil pastels and then coconut oil on q-tips to blend the colors. We “arted” while we listened to Vivaldi’s composition. It was a really relaxing Saturday morning. Again I drew the tree and then let them have at it. Just directing them to think of the colors of spring. And what colors make other colors. We talked lots about color and picking them with purpose for this project(A color wheel is very helpful to have handy)

Claude Monet Picture Study

This project was from last year but was also school related and was just so much fun to do! Using painting tape you cover up the bridge and then just using acrylics and our fingers we blended like Monet. Once dried we coated it with Modge Podge to give it the nice sheen.

Barbie Mummies

Finally if you want endless rounds of laughter grab your favorite Barbie Doll, dress her in her best and roll her in t.p. Make sure you do the recommended three wraps(like the Egyptians did) and then wrap her in a blanket(or felt sheet) before taping on your carefully colored death mask. If you aren’t in stitches at this point burry your mummified Barbie in a cardboard box sarcophagus, which you can also decorate. One of the littles took this project even further and buried his mummy under his bed with treasures, statues and extra clothes for the afterlife. I unwittingly stumbled upon the burial ground when cleaning a few weeks ago. Let me just say it made my day!

So there you have it, some fun activities for you and your littles to do. Let me know if you do any of these projects I’d love to hear how they turned out for you.

Lots of love,

Tally

The Homeschooling Perspective

So I had an interesting conversation a couple of weeks ago from a mother, who was considering homeschooling and what that would look like for her family. When she found out I was homeschooled and am now helping to homeschool two first graders, she had many, many questions. I thought it would be fun to do a quick interview with myself based off what we talked about and share it here.

Van Gogh Art projects from last week’s art class.

What has your experience with homeschooling been?

So I and my siblings were homeschooled from kindergarten all the way through high school. Some families choose to let their kids to go to public or private high school, and while we were all given that option none of us chose that route. Which I think speaks volumes about our experiences.

So you enjoyed being homeschooled? What do you think you gained by being homeschooled?

For myself I loved being homeschooled! Yes it was super nice to not have to go to school(and therefore get dressed) And it was nice to have your school day go from 9am-1pm. What kid wouldn’t like that? Plus we followed a traditional school year from Labor Day to Memorial Day with a nice long summer break.

However if I was to pick one thing as my chief advantage, or take away from being homeschooled it would have to be: the ability to learn. If I don’t know something both in an academic and practical sense, I know I can learn it. Because I’ve done it before.

Homeschooling requires discipline on the student’s part to sit and get your work done. Especially as we got older our school work became a list of required reading, tests and worksheets, papers written and essays turned in. Our Mom(and Dad) didn’t sit there beside us and make sure we did it. On Mondays we got our assignments for the week and then on Fridays we had to turn it in. This taught us time management and organization in addition to the discipline to learn. I now have the ability to be like, “Yeah I don’t know anything about this subject but I know the steps to learn it.” This is undoubtedly the greatest strength homeschooling taught me.

So what was the biggest disadvantage?

With homeschooling your topics can play(and normally do play) to your parents strengths. So for instance I can’t play musical instruments or read music, but I’ve written six novels and I wrote three of those in high school. (One for school and two just cause) My history and language skills are very cemented. Can you guess which were my parents’ strengths? Yep history and language. Neither of my parents are musically talented and so we had a disadvantage there. These of course can be supplemented outside the home.

What’s one stereotype of homeschoolers that you’ve run into the most?

Do you feel like you’re socially inept? I have been asked this sooo many times.(which frankly I find the question quite rude) And the answer is no… Do you think I’m socially inept? Being a homeschooled kid doesn’t mean I was locked in the basement until I turned eighteen. We went to church, AWANA, I was a Girl Scout, my sister played softball, etc. So no I am not socially inept.

Anyway I hope this was informative! If you have any additional questions please feel free to ask me.

Lots of love,

Tally

What I Eat In A Day

… If I’m working.

Felt I needed to clarify that, because when I’m not working my eating habits vary slightly. (Normally I forget to eat- oops) Anyway since I have been really digging my own meal preps here of late I thought I would share a few with you. Bon’apiti!

Breakfast

Here I am having my craft coffee(Colectivo’s Winter Wonderland blend) with just a dash of 1/2+1/2. Plus strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and half of a banana. Then half of a light English muffin and a scoop of fat free cottage cheese. Before eating I smooshed all my fruit on my muffin making a mini fruit pizza. So yum!

Breakfast is that meal of champions, that grand starter of the day… Why do so many people try to skip you? I cannot and never have been able to skip my most favorite meal of the day. I have to have my breakfast(coffee) before anything serious can even remotely be done. So even on my days off this meal remains pretty much the same. Every other day I try to have an iron, protein rich smoothie(since I hate taking my iron supplements and I have to hide them) Or I do overnight oats, chia pudding, Greek yogurt, cottage and fruit, oatmeal, etc. But normally lots of fresh fruit.

One because it’s delicious and two because it looks pretty. Banana spilt with yogurt.

Lunch

Oh look more fruit! So here we have spinach greens, a fried egg, an apple(shared with the kids) half a mandarin orange, celery, cucumbers, raspberries and my fav blueberries. Topped with a tablespoon of salsa and guacamole.

Lunch is probably the easiest meal for me to forget to eat. Especially when I am working since I am normally trying to feed four hungry kiddos in between school times, laundry and naps. But I normally do something similar to the above option. A spinach salad topped with… something. Leftover chicken stir fry, grilled chicken, leftover… some kind of protein to tide me over till afternoon snack.

Same salad as above but this one has leftover lemon chicken and a hard boiled egg on it. Not that you could tell with all the other goodies.

Afternoon Snack(over as I like to call it the 2nd Cup of Coffee)

Say hold up! That ain’t coffee… no, no it’s not. On this particular day I was trying to be good and stick to one cup of coffee. So I had hot tea instead with a dash of honey. It was torture. The tea was good but it was not coffee.

I have a really hard time “making” it to supper without eating again. And why should I have to try and make it till dinner? Afternoon snacks aren’t just for kids people. Normally I have fruits or veggies with peanut butter. But since we had this amazing bean dip I took advantage.

This is a tiny snack mainly because I couldn’t decide what I wanted. But it’s bean dip, carrots, cucumbers and that other half of a mandarin orange… yeah not my best.

Supper

Okay so I had leftover Chinese takeout for dinner a top a spinach salad(gotta have me spinach)

This is how dinner normally works for me on “work days” I eat with the work-family and whatever they’re having or eat whatever I have leftover in my stash for the week. I think I’ll do another post of what I eat when I’m off because that’s when I normally make food for myself and my sister to eat on for the rest of the week.

Evening Snack

To be totally honest with you I normally don’t eat an evening snack. Either because on my nights off I wait to have dinner with my sis, when she gets off or because dinner while working was super satisfying. Yeah so not much of an evening snacker.

There you have it guys my meals for a work day. Plus quiet a bit of water and Bubly. I hope you enjoyed this.

Lots of love,

Tally

Pittsburg 2021

Hello all my wonderful readers! As I write this post(which you will get next week as perusal) I am laying in my bed on my yearly work trip to Pittsburg, PA.

A pics from last year’s trip. Read post here.

We usually visit the Steel City in the summer, but because of the crappy year formally known as 2020 it got pushed back all the way to 2021… yay…

Being a live-in can require traveling with the family you work for, which I have covered here. As well as a bonus post about being a nanny when just the parents travel(here) This is probably one of my favorite things about nanny hood. I have always been up for adventures and exploring new places and to do that for free? And to get paid to boot!(not that there’s not work involved- there is) Such a cool and rewarding experience.

So without further ado here are some of the picks from the trip. Hope you enjoy!

We brought the snow with us from WI.

Macaroons from Oakmont Bakery… to die for!

When in Rome late night snacks are allowed.

More baked goodies from Oakmont Bakery.

Not a lot of pics mainly because the family I work for just visited family and everything else was pretty much on lock down. But it was a really nice trip.

Also guys be sure to check out my “Nannyhood” section on the website for even more info on my dream job. Or if traveling is more your thing(wanderluster over here) then check-out all my many travel blogs and look books.

Lots of love,

Tally