• My Boys | A Snapshot of Daily Life

      by SimplyHollyJo on June 22, 2020 , 1 Comment

      It was a normal weekday morning. My husband and I had woken up, gotten ready, made breakfast and coffee, and released the kids. The weather was unusually cool and outdoor play required light jackets. Mainly because quarantine had kept me from dressing my boys most days. Why fight them to get dressed when PJs make great play clothes? The cool weather had me craving more hot drinks and maybe a blanket. It really wasn’t that cool, low 60’s, but my body was craving the sun from all the low moods being induced by the current life circumstances. I was beyond […]

      Blogging + Writing, Kids, Life, Motherhood
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    • A Hope for Spring, A New Struggle | #AllThingsNew

      by SimplyHollyJo on March 27, 2020 , 1 Comment

      March is almost over and Spring is officially here. I had so much hope for Spring. Back in July/August of last year, I fell into one of my usual “funks,” and it somehow carried over into Winter. I have been dreaming about sun on my skin and grass under my feet. Of digging in the dirt, and playing in the water. But life doesn’t always go as planned. After a Winter of household sickness, and then trying to get myself out of the house more after our recovery, I had really started depending on the idea of Spring and Summer […]

      Family Wellness, Kids, Motherhood
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    • Realistic Expectations for My Kids | Surviving Parenthood

      by SimplyHollyJo on May 31, 2019 , No Comments

      As a mom of two toddlers, I sometimes have a difficult time keeping the expectations of my kids within normal range. I don’t have a lot to base my gauge on  since I was never really around a lot of small kids while growing up, or ever really. I’ve only recently dove into the world of little ones.  Some days it’s easy to remind myself that they’ve only been on the earth for a very short time. They are just trying to figure out the many, many things that are happening to them and around them. Other times mom guilt […]

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    • Four Ways to Ditch the Mom Guilt

      by SimplyHollyJo on May 3, 2019 , No Comments

      Mom guilt is real. It is rough and can feel constant. Especially in this day and age. Today I’m going to share some things that greatly help me fight the mom guilt monster. Get around other moms As the saying goes, “It takes a village.” True story. When you surround yourself with other parents, in community, you share stories. You share your lives. When you open up about your experiences you start to realize that a lot of us are all going through the same exact things. Rough days, awesome days, in between days. It opens your eyes to realistic […]

      Motherhood
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    • How to Encourage Your Kids to Go Outside

      by SimplyHollyJo on March 22, 2019 , No Comments

      Are you trying to encourage your kids to go outside more but aren’t really sure where to begin? Well, I am still a work in progress, but let me share a few ways that have helped me… Go Outside This is pretty self explanatory. Go outside. Step out of your home and move forward. Most kids want to be where their parents are, even if they don’t want to admit it. So when you model going outside, or making the outdoors a priority, then your kids will follow. (You can sneak back inside later if you want.) Explore Once you’re outside, […]

      Kids, Motherhood
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    • Surviving Hand, Foot, and Mouth | Round Two

      by SimplyHollyJo on December 20, 2018 , No Comments

      I hate hand, foot, and mouth. It really messes up my schedule.  As I discussed in a previous post, the boys came down with hand, foot, and mouth previously. Then about a month and a half later…spots started showing up on Wyatt’s diaper area. Okay, at first I thought it was just diaper rash. Maybe I left his diaper on too long? No biggie.  I sent him off to stay the day with Grandma and Grandpa like usual. He came back the next day and I went to change his diaper again…red and white blisters everywhere.  NOOOO!!!!! I think a […]

      Crunchy Living, Family Wellness, Kids, Motherhood
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    • Surviving Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

      by SimplyHollyJo on December 3, 2018 , No Comments

      I survived hand, foot, and mouth disease, and this is my story. They always tell you that adding kids to any equation means getting sick more often. “They” do not lie. Growing up I had my share of illnesses. Obviously I started out as a kid as well! But as a teen and beyond, I didn’t get sick much. I would get maybe one cold a year, and I got either a stomach bug or food poisoning on the first day of senior year. Fun stuff. In college I started dating Joey when his sister was only 5 months old. A […]

      Babies, Kids, Motherhood
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    • A Solution for Moms and Morning Coffee | Mom Hacks

      by SimplyHollyJo on November 19, 2018 , No Comments

      All moms that like coffee know the “problem” with trying to drink your hot coffee in the mornings. You get distracted, or dragged away, only to find your once warm and comforting coffee cup hours later, cold as an iceberg. Eventually I just dealt with it. Chugging it down whenever I got a spare moment. the main problem with that is that I don’t drink coffee for the caffeine. I don’t feel like caffeine helps me at all, I simply like the taste of black coffee. Quality black coffee. Yum. No matter what I did though, it was almost always […]

      Motherhood
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    • Staying Out of the ER | A Daily Mom Goal

      by SimplyHollyJo on November 6, 2018 , No Comments

      So life is hard. Parenting is hard. It’s all just hard. It can be super amazing at times, boring at other times, and just plain hard. So often times I will get to bedtime and I’m just happy I survived the day. Lately when one of the kiddos is doing something dangerous…which is most things when you have a big head and uncoordinated body…I tell them some variation of “be careful” (usually trying not to actually say those words,) followed by “Mommy doesn’t want to go to the ER today!” Goals. We should always have them. That’s one of mine. […]

      Kids, Motherhood
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