Family Archives - Page 4 of 4

National Rainbow Day

Did you know that April 3 is observed as National Rainbow Day? This morning when I learned that Friday, April 3, 2020 was National Rainbow Day, I couldn’t help but think of a better symbol of hope our nation currently needs after 3 weeks of many families practicing “social distancing” and staying home to help contain the spread of COVID-19.

Rainbows are caused when rays of light from the sun hit water droplets which reflect some of the light back towards an observer. The water droplets are usually rain drops, but could also be spray from a waterfall, a fountain, or even fog. To see a rainbow, you must have the sun shining behind you and the water droplets in front of you.

Throughout time rainbows have been seen as a sign of beauty, hope, and promise.

In a time period where we are fearful of a virus contained in human water droplets, let’s not forget how we can reflect the Son’s (Jesus’) rays of light that are shining through us to create a beautiful portrait of hope and promise that is bigger than any virus and assurance that we will make it through this period of uncertainty.

The sun may be shining where you live today so hunting down a rainbow is out of the picture, but there are many ways you can create a rainbow to spread hope in your home or local community.

A list of 20 Rainbow themed activities you can use to spread BEAUTY, HOPE, and PROMISE today.

Tie-dye t-shirts
Draw rainbow chalk drawings on sidewalks
Bake a rainbow cake
Paint rainbows on the windows of your home
Skittle Rainbow Experiment
Dye hard boiled eggs for Easter
Rainbow Shaving Cream Marbled Art
Torn paper rainbows for preschoolers
Make Fruit Loop cereal rainbows
Rainbow handprint rainbow for toddlers
Coffee filter rainbow craft
Make rainbow fruit kabobs
Paint rainbows and messages on rocks and leave on neighbor’s front steps.
Read classic children’s books like The Rainbow Fish, Elmer the Elephant
Make rainbow slime
Rainbow yarn art
Make recycled rainbow crayons from melting crayon pieces
Make rainbow juice popsicles
Go on a color hunt throughout your house photographing single color items and merge them together for a rainbow collage.
Write message of hope and encouragement on colored post-it notes and stick on friends and neighbor’s front doors.

Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.

Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

Make sure to share your rainbow activities on social media and incorporate the following hashtags to inspire and encourage others.

#NationalFindARainbowDay
#FINDaRainbow
#MAKEaRainbow
#BEaRainbow
#CreateLightInTheShadow
#TheWayHomeLife

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Categories: Family, Life

Star Girl

Do you ever judge a book by its cover? Raising my hand high over here! During our extended staycation due to the Coronavirus, I sat down to watch the new Disney+ original movie, Star Girl. The picture for the film recently caught my eye when it popped up as a new movie offering and I wanted to make sure watch it with my girls. I knew nothing about the story line and was judging based on the picture, it would be worth watching.

The movie takes place in small town USA. Without giving away too much of the plot line it contains a powerful message to tweens and teens to stand out from the crowd with all their quirks and the positive power and energy one person can bring to a community and school by not being afraid of who they were made to be.

As we were watching the credits roll, I noticed the movie was based on a book called Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli. As a former 5th grade teacher, I had an instant flashback to remembering the cover of this book. I could visually remember a simple cover with yellow and blue. We looked up the book online and discovered it was published in 2000 and sure enough it was a simple teal cover with a hand drawn green girl and yellow star. We looked among the chapter books lining our book shelf, but couldn’t find it. No doubt I ordered this book through the Scholastic Book Club as I was building my own classroom library from 2002 – 2006 when I was teaching 4th & 5th grade. After moving boxes and boxes of classroom books at least 5 times, I finally sold and let go of 100s of children’s books this past year. I imagine I looked at the cover of this book, having never read it, and tossed it aside because I didn’t think I needed it or my girls would never pick it up to read on their own.

How many times do we miss out on great books and powerful messages because we simply don’t look past the packaging/front cover. Even worse, how quick are we to judge someone based on their appearance that we miss out on the value they could add to our life?

“She was bendable light: she shone around every corner of my day.”
― Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl

While you are enjoying your own Corona staycation this Spring, I highly recommend watching Star Girl on Disney+ with your family or even better order the Star Girl book for your 5th grade+ student to read on their own first and then watch the movie.

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments after you read Star Girl or watch Star Girl on Disney+!

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Categories: Family, Life, Wellness

Misfits Market

Are you looking to keep fresh, organic produce on hand while you are home with limited access to the grocery store? There has never been a better time to look into home delivery boxes. For several months now our family has enjoyed the benefits of having fresh fruits and vegetables delivered to our doorstep every 2 weeks from Misfits Market.

If you use my referral code: COOKWME-RA9UPK you can save 50% off your first “Madness” box until 3/18/20. Make sure you choose the larger box. You can change the size box and frequency at any time.

We have our Misfits Market box set to arrive every other Thursday. You can pick the day of the week you want it delivered and choose between every week or every other week. My girls love getting to unpack the cold-packed box and see what colorful goodies we received each week.

I love the flexibility of this produce program, because you can change the size and frequency of when you want your box delivered. You can choose to skip a shipment if you will be traveling or don’t need it one week. Also after your first shipment you are given the option to customize and choose which items you would like from the available seasonal options.

We love the opportunity to try new vegetables and experiment with different recipes for using fruits and vegetables. Some of our favorite ways to use the produce have been:

• Cabbage burgers – Slice cabbage into rounds, sprinkle olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast in oven.

• Cut up roasted vegetables.

• Juices and smoothies – Great way to use celery and kale!

• Apple Pie – We had a surplus of apples that needed to be used before going bad.

• Carrot top pesto

Let me know in the comments. Are you already a member of Misfits Market? Do you subscribe to another food box program that you love?

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Categories: Family, Life

Garden Party

We recently hosted a garden party Birthday for my youngest daughter’s 11th birthday. Luckily we were able to continue with the planned party before the mandated “social distancing” went into affect due to the Coronavirus threat in March.

The table is set and ready for friends to arrive. Continue reading to discover why the door is closed to the party.

If you are going to have a Garden Party, you need to serve pretzel “sticks,” cucumber sandwiches, and pretty fruit.

I found the small floral cups at Trader Joe’s and they were the perfect pop of color to plant in the white painted personalized tin cans.

Chocolate dirt cupcake jars

We found an assortment of tea cups and saucers at the thrift store to use as planters for succulent plants. The girls could pick which green succulent they wanted to plant in their tea cup. We ordered an assortment of 20 succulents from Amazon that allowed the girls to decide what plant personality they wanted to plant in their cup.

The morning of her party, Sarah Beth came running in my room saying, “I have the best idea! I want to make an escape room with clues to let everyone into the party room.” I didn’t quite understand what she had in mind, so she ran with it and hide clues around the room with a number. The girls had to line up the clues in order and tell Sarah Beth the number sequence to unlock the door. I’ve got to give her credit, it was a great idea and fun to watch the girls working together to crack the code!

In true character, Sarah Beth began planning the decor weeks ago. She gathered all my fake flowers and arranged everything just the way she wanted, complete with a garden doll canopy/tent.

Have you ever hosted a garden theme birthday party? I would love to see pictures from your party, or feel free to take and use what we pulled together for your next garden party.

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography

Hometown Love – Homewood

Homewood – Bandit Patisserie, Leaf and Petal

One thing I like to be intentional about is spending one-on-one time with each of my daughters. One of my youngest daughter’s love language is quality time, so she is always up for an adventure! When one daughter has a planned activity, it is the perfect time to take the other one out for a special date to Starbucks, Target, or to discover new places in our hometown.

I have been seeing rave reviews of the new Bandit Patisserie that recently opened in Homewood, so we began our Saturday adventure with breakfast together in Homewood. I heard you have to get there early to grab one of the adorable homemade pop tarts. My girls know I am not usually keen on sugary breakfast foods, but will splurge once in a while.

I loved the simplicity of the menu. Every item on the menu would have been a solid choice. The modern coffee shop/bakery decor was tastefully done and the morning natural light floods in the front windows.

I was curious why the shop was named Bandit, so I did a little searching and found that the owner Kristen Farmer Hall birthed the idea back in 2013 after baking pastries to deliver to the neighbors. They would ring the doorbell and run away. They became know as the “Baking Bandits.”

Why have to choose between the pop tart flavor choices? We ordered a strawberry and Nutella and shared. We both enjoyed the Nutella one the most!

The oat milk latte was on point!

Treat yourself and take a daughter or friend to enjoy a treat at The Bandit Bakery soon!

I am still looking for the perfect table to complete our kitchen, so we stopped at a couple furniture stores in Homewood to browse. Sarah Beth had never been to the stores on 18th Street in Homewood, so we walked around and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Are your kids as obsessed with squishy things as much as my girls are? Homewood Toy and Hobby never disappoints with their selection of toys and games.

Before leaving Homewood, I introduced Sarah Beth to another local Birmingham favorite. The chicken salad plate from O’Carrs Restaurant.

Our final stop of the day was my choice. I have been driving past the Leaf and Petal shop in Cahaba Heights the last month and wanting to check it out. I could have spent hours just soaking up the oxygen and warmth in the beautiful greenhouse! I was excited to find Calathea Rattlesnake plants in the greenhouse! I fell in love with these painted looking finger leaf plants at the Magnolia Plantation we visited in Charleston.

Small potted plants were the perfect souvenir from our Saturday Mother/Daughter date! I came home with my own rattlesnake plant and Sarah Beth got a small fern to hang in her room.

If you live in the Birmingham, Alabama area, have you visited Bandit Pastry or Leaf and Petal? Let me know what you think once you visit.

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Categories: Family, Life, Photography

Another Arrow in the Quiver

Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
Psalm 127:3-5

I have been enjoying new found freedoms this year and one of those joys is being closer to family and not missing out in being present for the milestones in their lives. It was a blessing to visit with my Sister-in-law and boys this week. I have the sweetest nephews ever! I loved getting to snuggle with this little guy and capture his story. It has been years since I spent time photographing newborns, but I love the simplicity of these images taken at their own home. My Brother-in-law is an avid bow hunter, so we were able to surprise him with archer-in-training portraits.

Here are a few of my favorite images…

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Categories: Faith, Family, Life

Let It Go

Let it Go, so you can grow…

I recently joined a small group book study on the topic of moving in and moving on when moving to a new city. The theme of the first several weeks has been all about Letting Go of what you are leaving behind in order to settle into your new life.

This past year Jonathan and I made our 5th move since we have been married. After being transferred to Atlanta in 2013, we had the opportunity to assess in 2019 if now would be the right time to make a move back to Birmingham. While this was the first move we were able to make the choice about, it doesn’t minimize the effects of starting over with new schools, new church family, trying to figure out what circles you fit in, etc.

I was telling a friend today that one of the biggest blessings of having lived in various places is the friendships and relationships that are formed. While those relationships may seem severed by not physically being so close, the internet today makes it so easy to stay connected to those relationships. It is in moving to new areas that your mindset is expanded and you develop empathy for different groups of people.

As I was reviewing the story of Abram today in Genesis 12 to share with a class of K/1st grade, I see the direct statement from God for Abram to pick up and leave his country and people to go to a new land on faith that he knew nothing about. In following that direct request from God, he would be blessed through a great nation, land, and through his seed. Abraham would not see the fulfillment of God’s big vision, but he didn’t let that stop him from walking out what was put before him.

While we aren’t all called to pick up and move to foreign lands like Abraham, we can find blessings, growth, and purpose in moving to new cities, new jobs, new communities.

Whether my mailing address reads Auburn, AL, Hoover, AL, Madison, AL, Birmingham, AL, Woodstock, GA, or Birmingham, AL ultimately I want to end up with my address reading HEAVEN and I want to bring as many friends and family members with me to that permanent home.

We are all traveling through this life on our Way Home to the final home that has been prepared for us.

If you have ever changed jobs, moved to a new city, or faced any other major life change, what were some things that were the hardest for you to let go of?

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Categories: Family, Life

Extraordinary

You can still do something “extraordinary” in the midst of your mess.

My sweet Sarah Beth teaches me something new everyday! Last week she came to me one night with the desire to do something “extraordinary” the next day. I was a little perplexed in what she had in mind or how I could clear the path to help her do whatever she had in mind. Somewhere she must have seen or gotten the idea that she wanted to build a crayon holder out of a piece of wood. Unfortunately, power tools are not in my working skill set, so I told her she would have to wait till Daddy could help her. Fast forward to Saturday when my Mom was at our house and could safely help her operate a drill. She was able to drill 64 perfectly measured and spaced holes in her block of wood and paint it.

Yesterday she came home from school and disappeared silently for hours in her room. In true Sarah Beth fashion she will start with one area and completely shove everything out of the way to stage and redesign the surface to her taste. It made me smile to see her “extraordinary” creation as the new focal point of her room and had to look past the multiple mounds of stuff piled up awaiting her attention. She was so proud of the way her desk looked that she wasn’t concerned with the mess she had created in the process.

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Categories: Family, Life

Welcome to Our Home

Well hello there! My name is Elizabeth Bailey and I am excited you have taken a few minutes to find your way to our home. I have no idea what I am doing, starting a brand new blog, but I know that this platform is the direction I am suppose to take as we embark on a new year living in a new home. I have committed time to developing different blogs along our journey together as a family. If you have been around a while you may have kept us with us through Creating Memories, E.Bailey Photography, Spoiled Rotten Photography, or Wellness With Purpose. They have each served their purpose and I am thankful I can go back and relive those memories, but it is time for something new! I hope to share things I have learned through my previous paths and new projects and directions that I have on my mind.

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