It's after midnight, on Saturday/Sunday. I just finished listening to a podcast (Casefile!), updated my computer's software, and did my nighttime stuff - you know, wash face, brush teeth, switch from contacts to glasses, that sort of thing.

And now I want to share some goodies with you guys! When I first sat down to write this week, it felt different for me. As some of you already know, I've left Instagram, at least for a while and possibly for good. That sounds so silly, but it's been a big part of my days, every day, for many years. So this feels like I'm sitting down to have a chat with an old friend.

I've got so much to share, so let me get to it, eh?

Covering my eyebrows

This is so random, but one way I start these emails is by going through the photos in my phone. It always sparks a few ideas to include in that week’s email.

I found 3 pictures of my attempts at covering my brows. Why am I trying to get better at this? Well, it's been confirmed: I'm teaching a "theater makeup" class for our homeschool group, to the older kids who sign up. And one skill that I want to teach is how to cover your brows. But first I need to be VERY good at it! I've watched several different techniques from different people on YouTube, and I think I'm improving.

If you haven't skipped this section yet, and you've got any experience with this, let me explain the problem: I can get the color to match my skin pretty well now. The dark aspect of my brows is not really the issue. The issue is the individual hairs: I can see the texture through the makeup. My brows are apparently quite thick, I guess? What the heck am I missing? If you have any suggestions, send them to me. Maybe I've tried it but maybe not!

New glasses

I mentioned this last email (here's a link to all the old ones if you missed any), but I got new glasses from Warby Parker. They finally came in!

"I Spy" printable

This isn't my creation: here's a link for you to download this yourself for free. Annabelle didn't get into it that much; it was very time consuming the way we did it!

Alexander and I took our time coloring in each of the different objects in different colors rather than all one color or not coloring at all. All in all, it was about an hour-long activity!

Family meetings

A lady I followed on IG for many years has a weekly family meeting. She and her husband along with their 3 (soon to be 4) kids gather around the table for 10-15 minutes each week. It's always been something I want to really get into, but I'm just not the best at sticking to things that I start.

Because it's felt pretty chaotic lately in the fam, I wanted to start doing these weekly meetings. I've mentioned this in the past, I'm pretty sure, but we literally did one meeting and then stopped. *face palm*

We're going to start them up again. Every Saturday at breakfast, we'll sit down and chat:

• What did everyone enjoy this past week (or just recently in general)
• What's something that was hard, frustrating, or that we didn't like
• What is happening in the next week
• Is there anything anyone needs
• Discuss any issues, like if a certain rule needs to be reinforced or possibly amended

Another thing Cam and I want to start up is 1-1 dates with the kids. For now, it makes sense to shoot for 1x a month per kid. The way we're going to try it is this:

• Tuesday, I'll go do something with just Alexander
• Friday, Cam will go do something with just Annabelle
• Tuesday, I'll do something with just Annabelle
• Friday, Cam will do something with Alexander

And we'll repeat that. (Tuesdays and Fridays are easiest for Cam's work schedule!)

Personally, that has got to go on a calendar, in ink, in detail. Otherwise, I will either forget or come up with a reason to change or cancel it. Wish us luck!

Piney Park, Marshall TX

Who knew that just over the border from us was this stunning, magical Christmas park, in little ole Marshall TX?

A week or so ago, we visited Piney Park. There's a massive tree, a giant slide, food trucks!!, a long and winding walking trail just jam-packed with lights, and a maze made of twinkle lights. This place was just filled with Christmas-time magic. Besides being doggone cold that night, we all loved it. Charlie was such a good sport until the very last few minutes, right when we decided to try taking a full-family photo. Oops!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that night:

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Conan Needs a Friend

I tend to enjoy true crime podcasts more than others, but I also love the Office Ladies podcast.

Welp, I've found a new one that I have been enjoying: Conan Needs a Friend, hosted by Conan O'Brien.

I really enjoy the episodes where he does Conan Needs a Fan. Listeners write in to "apply" to be a fan. Conan and two of his assistants chat for a while with this person. What I find interesting is the jobs and hobbies of these people! I've learned so much honestly. One fan was a lady getting her doctorate in psychology. They talked about cognitive therapy, how when you are feeling really down about yourself, you should write down all those negative thoughts. (I'm not funny. I'm stupid. No one likes me., etc) Take a walk, have a snack, move around, then come back to the paper. And after a little while, you'll see that most of that doesn't feel true anymore.

They explained it much nicer than I am.

Another person who was on an episode is a skydiving instructor who has jumped out of planes over 1,000 times. So I learned about when you know to engage your parachute, how to land softly, and what not to do when you tandem skydive.

One guy on another episode designs summer camps. Did you know they have summer camps that are Harry Potter themed? Like, you walk around the camp and the woods with your costume and wand and the whole thing is a theme? And at other camps, you can build a drone and then use a VR headset to fly your drone around the woods. Whoa.

Anyway, if you like learning random tidbits and also having a laugh here and there, you may like that podcast! The "fan" episodes are around a half hour long.

Gift ideas for the kids (and more)

This year, it seems we aren't doing much gift giving on either side of my family. That doesn't mean I don't have some ideas for gifts though! I did a big ole gift guide last year, which you can find in a highlight story on my Instagram.

But I do want to share a few ideas I have for my own kids as well as a few ideas I had for, well, anybody!

Kid gift ideas (all Amazon links are affiliate links!)

• ​IQ Games - Alexander 7 or 8 of the IQ games and still plays at least one of them every single day. If you haven't ever jumped on this idea (I've shared it many times!), I highly recommend them. There are a few new ones that he doesn't have, and I imagine he'll get them all for Christmas this year.
• ThinkFun brain teaser games - ThinkFun makes Rush Hour, which is one of my kids' favorites. I'm going to snag another one or two from this brand!
• ​Pogo stick - Mostly I want to try it out myself :)
• Roller skates or blades (plus knee pads, etc)
• A bowl that's just made for making and eating ramen (Alexander's go-to meal he makes for himself)
• Kid friendly cooking set
• ​Skip-It - Did you have one as a kid? I sure did!
• ​Jaw harp - Totally random, but I figure it's a small instrument that isn't too loud. Could be fun!
• Magnet beads - Specifically, Annabelle has been requesting these for months. Alexander has some, and she wants her own.
• ​Perfection​
• ​Uno

Other ideas

• A Cameo from someone the person really admires (these can be pricey, though)
• Gimbal for iPhone (this makes it so that your videos are very smooth even if you are running or moving around a lot)
• Phone tripod and maybe even a ring light, for the social media fanatic in your life
• Bombas! - These are our favorite socks.
• 12-month calendar that has individual sheets for each month (as opposed to the flip-through style)
• Gold utensils - Just for fun!
• ​Aqua Notes - This is the waterproof notepad that goes in your shower! I shared it a while back, and I use it a ton!
• Magazine subscription
• Colorful pens

Ultimately, the way I come up with gifts is by starting with what the person likes. For example, Alexander's list says "puzzles, mazes, Nintendo, other video games, ramen, jumping, storytelling, building, creating". I used that to create his list of possible gifts!

TikTok

If you're on TikTok, so am I! I am trying to post 1 video per day. "Bethany, if you got off of IG, why are you posting on TikTok?" Well, TT is so much different than IG. On IG I was posting every little bit of what I was doing every day on my stories then replying to (literally) 200+ messages throughout the day*. I was only in the app maybe 2-3 hours, but it was distracting me constantly. Unfortunately, I'm not great at moderating my time: I'm all or nothing. So right now, in this season, it has to be nothing.

*I absolutely loved those chats, by the way!! And I can't not reply. To me, it feels the same as if someone stopped me in the grocery store, said "I love your dress!", and I just looked at them and kept walking.

With TikTok, I take a little time here and there to make my one video, then I post it, and that's it! For now, it's just for fun. If it gets to the point that I am constantly thinking of content, replying to comments, yada yada, then *zzzz* (that's supposed to be a chainsaw), I'll cut it out too.

That's it for this week!

I had a few more things I wanted to include, but it's already pretty long. I'll add them to the next one.

As always, I love getting replies from you. It can be a note about your day, what you’ve been enjoying lately or what you’ve been struggling with, how I can pray for you, what you’d like to see in a future newsletter, anything! So feel free to hit that “reply” button.

​Tip Jar! If you find my emails helpful and would like to leave me a "tip" you can do that here! I also just love hearing from you. 😊Have a great day!

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