The Life of Bon: June 2016

Thursday, June 30, 2016

She likes to move it, move it!

I am going to be upfront with you.  The craziest thing about having a two weeks shy of two year old is that my girl does not slow down for one second.  She's a little Tasmanian devil.


Among June's favorite activities are:

- Destroying
- Exploring
- Climbing
- Jumping
- Running
- Swimming
- Hiding
- Swinging
- Sliding




June is always on the move.  It baffles me.  Yesterday she was figuring out how to curl her fingers ino a fist.  Today she is climbing the rock wall at the playground.  SLOW DOWN, KID.


Wow, you must be thinking, as you look at these pictures.  What in the world diaper allows a baby/toddler (Babeler, if you will) to move around like a Tasmanian devil with no fear of leaking or the diaper falling off?  Why, these bad boys of course!



If I'm being 100% honest with you, I'd actually much prefer it if June weren't in diapers at all. I feel like June is very close to potty training.  We even tried it for three days earlier this month.  It was a total failure but thanks for asking!



In all seriousness, I did have visions of underwear and big kid potties in my head, but June had a different idea in mind.  So we are settling for the next best thing to potty training-  Huggies Little Movers diapers.  These are so great for my busy toddler and I have been more than impressed with the way she can jump, climb, and run in them without any leakage, looseness or other problems.  I also love that they have those convenient purple tabs for when June is ready to potty train.  It makes the diaper to big girl transition so easy!





And I know you may be wondering where to score the best deal on your diapers.  We all know they ain't cheap.  I would like to suggest for the best possible deal, SAM'S CLUB!  Right now, the Little Movers diapers are $3 off on already wholesale prices AND Sam's Club offers free shipping on diapers and wipes.  Sorry, you just can't beat that no matter how hard you try.




This post is sponsored by Huggies.  It is a dream come true for me to be able to write and share pieces of my life with you and receive some payment for it.  Thank you for supporting the brands that support my blog and my family.  Each time you click on a link in this post you are financially helping our little family and we are so appreciative! SO THANK YOU.


Monday, June 27, 2016

FACT: It has been way too long since we have talked about Bachelorette.

I think we can all agree that the biggest tragedy of me missing lots of blogging time has been the disappearance of The Bachelorette posts.  Don't pretend like you come here for anything substantial or meaningful- it's all about that reality tv juice!

I have not been writing about The Bachelorette the last three weeks, but you'd be a fool if you think I haven't been watching it.  Monday night Bachelorette is what I liiiiiiiive for!



I'm three episodes behind in writing and there's no way I can recap all three episodes, nor is there any way you would still be interested in those.  So I'll do a quick run down of some of my thoughts in hopes that we are all briefed and ready to go for tomorrow.  This week will be the return of regular Bachelor recaps.  Or so I hope!


SOME VERY IMPORTANT LIFE CHANGING THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BACHELORETTE

#1:  I mean, I don't exactly expect wholesome entertainment when I watch this show but what was going on with the group sex talk date a couple weeks ago?!  I consider myself pretty open about stuff like this, and I was absolutely mortified.  I like how Jojo kind of tried to explain herself, "I think it's really important that a man be comfortable talking about sex..."  Yes, but that is sooooo not what you are asking of them here, Jojo.  Which brings me to a question I long have about this show, WHO CHOOSES THE DATES?  How much say does the Bachelorette or Bachelor actually have?  Someone out there must know this answer.

#2:  Of course the above date is where the fist really started to hit the wall (see what I did there?) with Chad.  No one really buys that Evan shoved him (or do we?) but it's pretty clear that Chad grabbed the shirt and tore it... blah blah blah feels like high school.  Don't get me wrong, I looooove the drama but Evan drives me CRAAAAAAAZY.  I think he is the weasleyist little contestant and how in the world he has snuck by this long on the show is a mystery to us all.  I was so happy when she finally sent him home- not a minute too soon!  (And not after he asked Chad again and again for a new shirt.  Give it up Evan!  You're going to have to foot the bill of your own new $8 Target v-neck!)

#3:  Perhaps contrary to popular opinion, I was super sad to see Chad go.  The man is scary as all get out, but I actually kind of felt bad for him in a lot of moments.  Obviously his strategy for dealing with conflict needs some work, but the men in the house really all did gang up on him.  Him whistling through the forest and walking back to the house AFTER he got sent home from his date- that was a first!  I have watched exorbitant amounts of Bachelor/Bachelorette and I've never seen that one before.  Now that he's gone we're all going to be bored.  BOO.

#4:  Jojo's date with Luke was everything I hoped it would be.  I have loved Luke since the very beginning and he is my pick for the winner.  If Jojo has half a brain (to steal a line from my good friend, Chad) she will choose him.  Of course, half of me hopes she doesn't choose him so that he can be our next Bachelor.

#5:  I know a lot of you like Jordan and I have heard a lot of people say the think/ hope he will win.  PLEASE, JOJO, NO!  After several weeks of watching him I finally figured out what I don't like about him.  He reminds me of a student I had a few years ago who was the slipperiest, slimiest snake in the grass you've ever met.  My student was good looking and charming and knew all the right things to say and you could just tell he was used to getting his way all the time.  I always felt like I was being manipulated by him and lied to.  Like I was just a pawn in his larger game of high school domination.  I hated this feeling and this student drove me crazy!  He has lived a lifetime of entitlement and getting exactly what he wanted and it drove me crazy that I was just one of the many people to fall to his manipulations.  This is exactly who I feel about Jordan!  Something about him seems off to me and I just don't trust him.  He's way to shmoozy.  Don't like him!  Can't like him!  And if she chooses him, it will end in heartbreak, mark my words!  Please see the red flags, Jojo!

#6:  I kind of feel like Jojo got a bad crop of boys.  Anybody else?  Obviously I love Luke and I think James Taylor is about as sweet as they come, but the rest of them feel fake and manipulative to me.  I think Derek (who is moody and jealous) was right when he called out the Mean Girls clique.  I don't care much for Robbie or Chase and I CAN'T STAND ALEX.  He has such a weird complex where he has to call everyone out for the stupidest things.  Why did he care that Jojo gave Derek the rose and said she wanted to "reassure Derek"?  The way Alex and Chase grilled Derek on that afterward was so uncomfortable to me.  I could never spend any kind of significant time with someone like Alex.  That guy is a mean little bully who just jumps from victim to victim to compensate for his own feelings of inadequacy.  I see through you, Alex!

#7:  Daniel finally left us this past week.  He and Evan are the two great mysteries to me- how they managed to stay on as long as they did is truly baffling.  I think Daniel may have had the greatest exit interview I have ever seen on Bachelor or Bachelorette:  " She's obviously going for personality.  And my personality is sh*t.  She's obviously not going for body."  HAHAHA.

#8.  Vinny really grew on me and I was sad to see him go.  I mean, I think it was pretty clear the producers had Jojo keep him around so he could give all the men haircuts, but that guy had some great one liners.  As Greg said, "Vinny.  The things he says make a lot of sense.  The clothes he wears don't."

#9:  I didn't super buy the sidestory with the magazine and Jojo's ex.  It kind of felt like a slow drama week after Chad went home so the producers so coyly said, "Hey, guys, have you seen this magazine....?"  Meh.

#10:  Robby is the first one to say "I love you" to Jojo.  Go Robby!  Right now I really like Robby but we saw previews that there is some kind of ish going on with a girlfriend back home, so I don't know how much more we will see of him.  I hope the girlfriend rumors turn out to be bogus because she deserves some quality guys.

Okay, I think I have officially rattled off everything in my brain Bachelorette related.  Tell me:

#1:  WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN? (No spoilers please!)
#2:  WHO DO YOU WANT TO WIN?
#3:  WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE LOVE- TO- HATE CONTESTANT?

P.S.  I was chosen to be part of this campaign and I'm so excited.  It's the product we use in our house more than any other in the world so, well, it's a great fit!  One day the product I use more than anything else will be designer shoes, but not today!

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

So, about that blogging thing...

Hello?

Is anyone out there?

Hello?

Hi.

Hi, my name is Bonnie.  I used to have a blog.  Well, I do have a blog. I mean, the blog is still here.  I used to write on my blog.  I then took an announced and unplanned two week break from writing on that blog.

Here's the thing about missing a day writing on your blog.  It makes it a little easier to miss the next day.  The next day even easier.  By the time you hit day five or six you figure no one in the world will ever notice you were gone.

There's some reasons I haven't been writing as much- some I can tell you, some I cannot.  (Oh, don't you loooooooooove/ hate that aura of mystery?)  

The reasons I CAN tell you are these:

1)  We are working on an expansion of Hey June that has been very exciting and very fun for us. It has taken up alot of my energy.   BUT we've run into a lot of problems.  We were hoping to launch said expansion at the beginning of June but it keeps getting pushed back and now I don't know when/ if it'll happen.   I'm trying to be happy and believe in good things to come and not get worked up over stuff over which I have no control. IT IS NOT EASY, PEOPLE.

2)  It is summer and this is the first summer that it feels like June really gets what is going on.  I have been selfish with my time with her.  I want her all day every day.  We go to the pool, we build campfires, we go to the park, we play play play.  It blows my mind how fast she is growing up, how fast she is learning and changing and becoming not my baby anymore.  I'm trying to jun this time with hern.  A teaching friend, whose kids are raised and grown, told me at the end of the year luncheon, "You only get 18 summers with them" and this hit me in the sharp, sad way that passing comments like that sometimes can.  This is summer #2 and we're making it worth something.

 This is a paddle boat and the water is literally two feet deep.  Hence, no life jackets.



Takes her diaper off ten times a day.

3)  My sister, who has lived internationally for most of my adult life, and out of state for the past 13 years, is back from Germany for the summer.  She will be here until August and then she'll head to Spain or maybe Washington DC or wherever the army decides to send her.  I hate having her live so far away, but I love going to visit her, so you win some you lose some.  Since she's been here the last several weeks I have been spending much more time with her and with family.

4)  I have felt a bit insecure with my blog lately.  Mostly like I can't keep up.  It's really exciting to watch people who are doing this blog/ small business thing with me be crazily successful.  But when I'm not feeling my best self it can be overwhelming and sad, and I am wrought with jealousy.  I am not that good at taking picture and my instagram is not the aesthetic treasure trove that I feel like it needs to be to keep up with my blogging peers.  Every time I hear the word periscope I feel slight anxiety because I still don't know what it is, and I can't bring myself to invest in it when I just figured out snapchat.  When I apply for campaigns and I'm not chosen for them, I feel a quick stab of rejection and failure.  Sometimes I imagine internet strangers who hate me reading my blog posts and rolling their eyes and finding more ways to hate me.  I don't know what the secret is to millions of followers or the secret to millions of online sales.  I don't have either of those things, but I HAVE ENOUGH, and sometimes I lose sight of that.  I think I needed some space away from my blog and from the internet to recenter and refocus.  I do love my blog.  I love to write.  I love the community that is here.  This blog has become a part of me these past five (FIVE?!) years and it has been our saving grace during our tough times this past year.  I don't know that I could ever give up the blog (at least not in the foreseeable future) but I think I didn't realize how much I needed a break until 2 days suddenly turned into 2 weeks.  Thank you for allowing me that space and still sticking around.

AND... that's a wrap.  I'll be back this week!  Back with a Bachelor recap and a tale of potty training failure if you're lucky.  Hold onto your butts!

P.S.  Hey June is having our June celebration sale (We love June!)  Everything in the shop is 20% off using code JUNE20 through Wednesday, June 22.


Wednesday, June 08, 2016

On School, Greg, and the Best of Times




Hi Blog.

It's been awhile!  Eight days if you're counting.  I didn't go on vacation.  Nothing happened in my family.  I just didn't write.  But now I'm writing.  So thanks for still sticking around.

Things around here have been both a) very busy and b) very happy.  The best of both worlds.  School got out last week-- Friday was our teacher check out.  The Monday following (as in two days ago) I decided it would be a good idea to potty train.  That pretty much went up in flames.  Or up in pee.  However you want to look at it.  Now we're done potty training (for now) and I've decided instead to focus on more measurable and quantifiable goals. (Thanks, teacher trainings!)   Like number of times we can go to the pool each week.

But before this blog switches over to full on summer mode, I want to say a few things about school ending and my students and all that jazz.  I was weirdly emotional about this school year ending.  It is my third year at this school and my sixth year teaching.  It was a really good year for teaching and a not so good year for other things.

I had the sweetest students this year.  I taught four classes in a row with no prep, which is something only the stupidest people do, I promise you.  There were so many times I said to Greg, "I can't teach four!  I need one less!  Why did I teach four?!" and he would answer, "Which class would you take out?"  And I thought of my four classes, each one unique and weird and special in its own way and I knew that for some reason I needed all four of those classes this year.  My kids were so sweet this year.  So anxious to please.  So funny and thoughtful and kind.  I don't know where they came from, these extra special kids this year, but I am really grateful.  They came to me in a year when I needed it.

The last week of school I strangely really missed Greg at the school.  When he first quit I missed him fiercely, but after a few months it became the new norm and I feel like we all adjusted.   Greg quit in September and he only taught with me for one full year before that.  I've taught at this school without Greg more days than I've taught with him.   But then the last week the missing him came back strongly- I couldn't go anywhere in the school without being reminded of him there; students suddenly seemed to be asking about him nonstop.  The last three or four days of school are basically a joke because the kids have yearbook parties and assemblies and graduation practice.  There's a lot of hanging out for the teachers.  It's the best time to be a teacher.  Chill and relaxed with the taste of summer just barely on our tongues.  I loved these days to visit Greg in the drama room, to take a long lunch with him, to sneak into the daycare to visit June.  I missed him this year at graduation.  I missed him at the end of the year teacher luncheon.  The last days of school just felt so lonely without him.

Looking back on the beginning of the school year and everything we endured while Greg was teaching, I am really glad that Greg quit when he did.  It was not a sustainable job for him long term.  It was really ridiculously hard at so many times.  But there were also times when it was really ridiculously good,  That's the part that I still miss the most, and I guess that a part of me is still grieving the good that we left behind.  I grieve not having students in both of our classes anymore, I grieve not sharing the inside jokes we had about teachers and rules and whatever else goes on at a high school. I grieve not eating lunch with him every day in the faculty room.

I think I have mentioned on here before that a friend wisely told me when Greg quit that we were leaving behind one dream, but that we would find another, better dream for us.  I really do believe we are finding that better dream and that we are carving a path and a way for our family that can make us all unbelievably happy for years to come.  I am excited for that bigger dream, but last week I guess I had to give myself time to fully bury the old dream.  To let it have its place in my sad heart and to realize that there were really good things that we left behind with that job.  We are moving to better things, but it doesn't mean that there wasn't so much good with what we had.

So I guess this post is an ode to that- an ode to the good that we had together.  To the high school teacher dream- to working at the same school, to having our daughter downstairs in daycare, to eating pizza together in the faculty room, to sitting next to each other at parent teacher conference.  To the making jokes about the inappropriate shirt a student tried to wear, to understanding the woes of standardized testing and to stupid student learning objectives.  To the waking up early in the morning together, to driving to school with our baby in the back seat.  To the visiting Greg in the auditorium after school while he directed Les Mis, to going to the high school football game together on Friday night.  An ode to trying to slap his butt in the hall when students weren't watching.  To the administering the ACT together, to seeing Greg surprise me during his prep with unexpected Chic-fil-a.  To taking the Shakespeare team together on overnight competitions, to chaperoning the school dance and to sending snapchats during faculty meetings.

An ode to the best of times.

And a hope for more best of times to come.