Gah!!!! Where has my blogging spark gone???? Let me drop in to share a few family highlights/lowlights/goings-on from our crew the last month or so….
We’ve been digging in the deep seas of triggers and traumas for these three and it’s been both ridiculously hard and filled with small growth sparks and putting all the broken pieces back together again. 
We did a thing and bought a trailer! We are excited to take this bad boy out in its maiden voyage….I am quite proud of saving up my Doterra biz earnings to pay for this memory making machine for my family. Enter next pic….
My love for sharing oils has been sparked again by the energy of my team and I love how Many families we are sharing the love with. 
Finally had our banquet to celebrate our #uncironszn. And it was filled with laughs, tears, and inside jokes….just the way any family celebration should be. I love these ladies with my whole heart. 
Would it be a blog post without a pile of cats pic? 
Ssssnnnnnoooowwwwww!
My little man looks like this famous little man and it shocks me into doing side by side comparisons and posting them on IG!!!
We’ve been battling it out with my new U12 crew and it’s been such an amazing journey coaching my son in a sport I am so passionate about. 
BraveGIRL and her twin watched their older sister and guardian get married and it was beautiful and bittersweet as it marked the event leading to them moving across the country. Grieving with our kiddos as their bio families ebb and flow with life is one of the most straining and complicated part of this parenting journey. 
I got to take leaders from my HS team to an event encouraging teens to take a stand against sexual assault and creating a culture of consent in their schools, circles and communities. The ideas and drive in these young women inspire me….I’m just here to drive the car. They get to tell me where we go.
Weekend truth bombs
Have you found out your enneagram type yet?!?! I’ve been loving exploring mine and the types of my loved ones. Leave your type in the comments below!!!!
5 years as TBD!
5 years ago a two adorable ragamuffins tumbled into our home and filled it with laughter, grief, joy, pain, and love upon grace upon growth for all of us. Here are two scrapbook layouts I did of our first week together (filled with snow ironically). 
We have learned so much in these 5 years and still have much to learn but us opening our arms and hearts and home to create Team Brave Dinosaurs and a few years later to expand our family even more is both the bravest and proudest decisions of our life. 
Thanks for joining us in this journey and reading along as we stumble through parent and childhood together. And as usual, a genuine thank you to the husband for saying yes, to WG and WB for choosing us as their forever, and to Our extended families (both biological and chosen) for your support, community and connection we’ve desperately needed on this path. I can’t wait to see where the next 5 years take us!
One Little Word 2019
It took me a whole month to let different words marinate and settle…through some different readings and heart searching, I have landed on the following word to guide my 2019. 
A few components of “value” I hope to explore….
I DO what I value – do my activities and schedule reflect my values?
Drilling down – if you have more than 3 priorities, you have no priorities….what 2-3 values mean the most to me? Which values can I operationalize and live out daily?
Showing others their value – I believe so many in my close circle have an incredible amount of value and importance…do I reflect that back to them? How can I value them with my words and actions? How can I let them know their meaning to me?
Right now I am reading Brene Brown’s newest book, Dare to Lead and she asserts that “our values should be so crystallized in our minds, so infallible, so precise and clear and unassailable, that they don’t feel like a choice – they are simply a definition of who we are in our lives. In those hard moments, we know that we are going to pick what’s right, right now, over what is easy.”
My charting to explore my top 2 values from her book:
I love that when I landed on growth and connection, all of the other words fit under them for me.
I also struggled with personal and professional values and came to the conclusion after reviewing my list that there was no difference between the two. Whether I’m mom, Coach, counselor or Coordinator, I want growth and connection to lead my actions every choice and step along the way.
Our favorite breakfast recipes!
As I shared previously we have decided to not keep cereal in our home to try and encourage more real food and protein first thing the morning for our growing kiddos.
Here are a few favorites I have started prepping ahead of time for good grab-and-go options (for all of us!).
Egg cups – one slice of ham, a little cheddar cheese, one egg, 350 degrees for 10 minutes –> delicious breakfast for the whole family for an entire week!
These morning glory muffins are amazing and filled with zucchini and carrots which completely tricks my kiddos into eating a ton of veggies while half asleep. We also love to bring these camping for quick and easy breakfasts around the campfire!
Other good options:
Slow cooker oatmeal
Hard boiled eggs
Smoothies (made the night before)
Protein bites
Any other good ideas I don’t have yet blog readers???? Please share!!!
On tidying up
Along with everyone else this new year, I got hooked on the new Netflix show, Tidying up with Marie Kondo. I had read the book a few years back but seeing it in action was perfect for me as a visual learner. Loved the inspiring tips she shared and how peaceful the homes she was transforming seemed to be after the big tidy.
My room and closet had exploded over the holiday season so last weekend was a perfect time to load all the clothes from all the closets into my bed and get to work. I purge my clothes often so I was surprised that I still had so much in my stash that I was unsure on….doesn’t spark joy?!?! Thank you and into the giveaway bag it went. 
PS the verbal “thank you” to my clothes felt silly but was quite meaningful and therapeutic. I think clothes and material things can teach us lessons and serve a purpose and expressing gratitude for them or for yourself for purchasing was kind of cool in a way….Kondo states that this process helps counteract some shame that can come from having so many clothes or items that we don’t use and I think that’s a great way to keep the tidying process going with minimal negative emotions around it.
The reveal:
Sooooo many Ferndale volleyball shirts….instead of consigning those my players will get to battle it out on the court for some free “retro” gear for their closets come this spring and summer. 
Scott’s mild OCD loved the new folding and drawer process. Now to see how long it lasts….
I saw many of you jumping in to the same thing last weekend!!! What did you tidy and how did it go????
On experience gifts…
I’m not sure if I have written it here on the blog but I love gifting and also receiving experience gifts for holidays. My husband and I have always focused on doing things together for big events vs. giving gifts and this love and tradition we try to pass on to our kiddos as well. 
This Christmas, I was super excited to gift my Mom and Grandma with a trip to the Sound of Music Sing-along experience at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. If you’ve never been, it’s a little like the Rocky Horror Picture Show experience but with less shocking outfits and no sexual innuendoes. People shouting at the plot lines (my favorite was when Captain VonTrapp told sweet Maria to turn around upon meeting her and an audience member yelled “# me too.” Perfect.) and an entire theatre singing along with every single song (usually I’m the weird one in the crowd knowing every single lyric….here? just normal). It was a wonderful day and a shared memory with three generations of us Weber women that I will cherish for years to come.
My sweet BraveGIRL turned 16 this January and I am continuously trying to pump the importance of personal development into both her and WonderGIRL as they grow and learn and form their identities in their teenage years. Bringing them to the Made for More documentary by Rachel Hollis (I promise I’ll stop referencing her in every post) was a great opportunity to start conversations around strong women, confidence, not being impacted by comparison to others, and other solid messages that I would love for them to adopt in their daily lives. We had a super fun dinner beforehand and they loved the movie, but my favorite moments was our discussion in the car afterward where they shared their take-aways an we got to have an open and honest discussion. 
My favorite part for them to hear was how Rachel combats the old adage that “everything happens for a reason.” This common encouragement can really dismiss someone’s trauma and especially a young child who can’t even begin to think abstractly as to why something horrible has happened to them. Rachel encourages people instead to find a purpose or a meaning out of an experience. Not gonna lie – I got a little teary sitting in between these two 16 year olds, with a world and a life ahead of them, getting inspired to have a healthy view of their past and an actual encouraging way to move into their future. My two girls’ traumas definitely did not happen to them for any sort of positive reason but my biggest hope is that they can use the strength and resiliency they grew during these experiences to cruise through other smaller life stressors and maybe even use it to impact/inspire others who have gone through things similar.
I know many of you love gifting experience gifts too – what’s been your favorite to give????
On getting control…
of my calendar and our time!! I’ve been joking lately about the need for a personal assistant just to schedule and drive to the crazy amount of appointments our kiddos have. But since thats not a reality, Scott and I have been trying to stay on top of the schedule with weekly discussions around the calendar and recently with a new app we love called Cozi.
Each kiddo and family member (even the cats) get their own color and you can add all sorts of things to the calendar for everyone to see. What I love is that our teenage daughters can add things to their calendars and be in the know about all family events so they’re not surprised by any appointments. Plus they (and we) can add items to the grocery/Costco/Doterra shopping list as soon as they run out for everyone to see.
I still love love love my paper planner and we reference both things when chatting about our schedule!!! But when scheduling with multiple people, the ease of the app that everyone can add to is amazing.
Calendar audit:
I got this idea from Rachel Hollis’ podcast (are you sick of me referencing her yet?) but she recommended looking at all of your appointments and activities from the previous year and assigning whether or not they were valuable and an effective use of your time. I did this with my professional calendar and it gave me great clarity on starting this new year with some purpose at work. I haven’t yet done it with our personal calendar but I plan on doing it soon!!! There are so many things we fill our time with and I am always looking for ways to make sure those choices are good ones.
Any other suggestions for time and calendar organization???? Bring them on….also, since I’ve been looking at a computer screen WAY more than I ever have in my new role, more headaches have been popping up. I’m trying these LadyBoss blue light filter glasses at work to see if they help. Wish me (and my eyes) luck!!!
On my word for 2019…
I’m still waiting for the right word to pick me a few weeks in to the new year….and I’m okay with that. These are the ones popping up for me as I think about what I would dream for in 2019 and what could move me and my family forward in healing and love. 
Last year my word was Spark and it fell a little flat for me in the last 6 months. Although I loved the word and my intention behind it, just some words motivate and stick more than others. I’ll keep you posted on what word I choose and add some detail as the hubbub settles and one becomes clear to my brain and heart.
What’s your word/phrase/intention/mantra this year??? Happy 2019 to all of you – let’s make this a good one peeps!
A look back….a look forward
Some of our best decisions as a couple and parents this year:
– make date nights a priority (and start trusting kiddos to be home by themselves more)
– weekly schedule planning sessions
– go after career goals and support each other through promotions and moving on
– invest in quality therapy for kiddos and not just what was right in front of us at the time
– talking about our values as a couple and analyzing if we’re sticking to those or not
– scheduling in self-care (massages/facials monthly for me, chiro/hunting meet ups for him)
– quiet times/morning times to highlight what I’m grateful for and get set for the day
Some missing pieces that we’d like to change next year:
– being more intentional with how we’re showing love to our children (love languages, quality time, etc.)
– accept where they’re at
– commit to a trip together without kiddos
– attend a personal development conference together
– more transparency about mental health struggles in hopes that stigma goes down in families around us
– host more things at our house….we love our space and want more people in it with us!!!
Excited to see what 2019 has in store for this crew of mine and all of our collective hearts and minds!