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Tuesday Talk!

Hi!! Happy Tuesday!!
I sure hope your week is off to a great start!!

Sooo...yesterday I shared my goals for August and many of you commented that you're working on similar goals!! Its so nice to know we are all "works in progress" AND that as women, wives and mothers we are just trying to do our very best- every single day!!

Anyway...two of my goals involved being more intentional with my time.
Specifically, one of my goals is to spend some time each day, with my 3 girls, PLAYING and being present with them. We do a lot of fun things together- but I have definitely not been doing a good job of just getting on the floor and playing with them. 
So yesterday, I shared this goal with my girls! I let them know that I wanted to have some extra special time with them before they head back to school and that we needed to think up some fun activities to do together!
We all thought of several ideas- playing barbies, play doh, bake cookies, jump on the trampoline, color/craft, etc. I had the girls write these activities down on pieces of paper and we stuffed them into a mason jar :)
With three little girls, all of whom have VERY strong opinions and personalities, it can go from pleasant to NOT FUN AT ALL in a matter of seconds if someone gets bent out of shape. With having all of our activities put into the jar- there's no arguing about what we are going to do. I explained to them that whatever activity gets picked, is what we are doing- and if they don't like it- they can sit out- but they will miss out on special time with Mommy. 
They all agreed they would "NEVER do that Mommy!" HA! How quickly they forget....just minutes before we did this little project they were scream-yelling at each other because one of them didn't give the other a certain color marker they HAD to have for their picture. HA!
Charlotte decided to call our activity jar- "Mommy Time" and she wrote up a label for it and taped it around the jar. The girls are so excited to know each day, we are going to have some time to play together! And I feel good knowing I have a "plan." If I just told myself, "I need to play with them sometime today," 9 times out of 10- it probably wouldn't happen. Meal prep, feeding the baby, cleaning, laundry...I always have something I could be doing!! Having the girls involved in my goal will ABSOLUTELY hold me accountable and I am SO looking forward to pressing the "pause" button every day to have some fun with these 3 precious little ladies of mine!!
My second goal that involved being more intentional with my time involves my hubby :)
I need to do a better job of making him a priority...life is FULL and beautiful and hectic for us right now and we have definitely gotten into a little rut with making sure we are being the best spouse for each other. 
While I would give just about anything to go on a little 24 hour getaway with Aaron or heck- just spend a morning together- that is not in the cards for us right now....having 5 kids is AMAZING- but it definitely throws a wrench into hiring a babysitter or feeling comfortable asking your friends to watch them for you- HA!
So- for the season of life we are in right now- "at home dates" is where it's at :)
Nothing super involved or planned out- just setting aside time for each other- that does not involve us vegged out on the couch watching TV/being on our computers.
I have heard about a lot about conversation starter cards and how much fun they are- and I thought they would be the perfect thing to pull out on our "date nights!"  I had originally planned on getting these cards- but at $25- that was a little bit more than I wanted to spend. So I found these cards, which had equally great ratings, for $7.99! BOOM. Amazon does it again. I promptly ordered them- and they will be here tomorrow. Gotta LOVE Prime! HA!
I am going to put myself in charge of our first date night- and it is going to involve us sitting out on our back patio, some beers for Aaron (I don't drink :) and these conversation cards!!
Simple and fun- and focused on us just BEING TOGETHER.

I would love to know- what are some ways you spend intentional time with your kids and/or spouse?? 
I am all ears for "date night" ideas!! 

Hope you have the BEST day and just wanted to thank you so much for reading my random ramblings. I LOVE reading all the sweet comments and emails from you and it is so amazing to know that while we are all so different- we have so many similarities amongst ourselves!! That makes me smile :)

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Full Hands Full Heart


Comments

  1. My Glittery HeartAugust 2, 2016 at 6:23 AM

    What a great idea putting the girls ideas in a mason jar!!

    Ben and I LOVE "deck dates" we will usually have family time on the back deck... Dinner or watching a sporting event. (Ben brings a tv outside and several years ago we had a cable hook up installed on our back porch) then after the kids go to bed we will stay outside and just talk!! Love it!

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    1. JustineAugust 2, 2016 at 9:02 AM

      Love it Heather!! Just sitting outside makes it feels like you are "getting away." We don't have a deck... But I think I will start calling our dates "deck dates" anyway! Ha'

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  2. JenAugust 2, 2016 at 6:44 AM

    Love the conversation cards idea!!!

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    1. JustineAugust 2, 2016 at 9:04 AM

      Don't they look fun?? I will definitely let everyone know what we think of them! :)

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  3. AjaAugust 2, 2016 at 6:56 AM

    Happy to report yesterday my oldest (7) wanted to pretend we were lions all day, and the look of sheer joy on his face was so worth not getting "as much done." As I put him to bed last night he said "and last but not least the mommy lion snuggles with her baby as the sun sets." Thinking of him growing up and of course not wanting to snuggle with his "mommy lion" made me realize playing with our kids is SO worth it! Just wanted to share that encouragement from someone working on the same goals! :)

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    1. JustineAugust 2, 2016 at 9:05 AM

      Oh I loved that you shared this Aja!! Isn't incredible how much it means to our little ones to get just some extra love and attention from us?? Thank you so much for the encouragement.. It's so good to know I am not the only one working on this! :)

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  4. Ruthie GrayAugust 2, 2016 at 9:43 AM

    I love your activity jar "Mommy Time" idea! Shared to Pinterest and I'd like to feature it next week on my Tuesday Talk space! I've been stressing the importance of spending time on these fleeting days of the summer season with our kids before the hectic school year begins, so this will fit nicely!

    Always love your stuff, gal! ;)

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    1. JustineAugust 3, 2016 at 6:57 AM

      Thank you SO much Ruthie!! Your encouragement means so much to me!!! My girls are so excited about Mommy time- we couldn't do it yesterday because the boys decided they didn't want to take a nap- we went to the pool instead :) Fingers crossed today we can pick an activity from our Mommy time jar!! :)

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  5. Leigh (Balancing By Faith)August 2, 2016 at 10:45 AM

    You set your goals - and you don't joke!! I love that you are getting to it right away! Your sweet girls smiles, too too cute!! I can't wait to hear how your goals go for August!!

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  6. Tanya August 2, 2016 at 11:57 AM

    That is so awesome that you are being intentional with your time with the girls and your husband. Have you gone to the website Dating Divas? They have lots of dating ideas, including at home ideas. I use their printables sometimes for family movie nights etc, not just dating. My favorite time with Michael lately has been taking an evening walk...a little fitness and lots of talking, even though it's SOOO hot!

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  7. StephanieAugust 2, 2016 at 12:12 PM

    Being intentional can be so hard with the go! go! go! world we live in. But I love how you are jumping right into being more present. Good for you!

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  8. PolkaDottyPlaceAugust 2, 2016 at 10:07 PM

    I loved that you asked your girls to help you with your goal to play with them. They look so excited for their mommy time and I love that you set some ground rules. Smart thinking. I bet these activities will easily be the highlights of the rest of their summer break. Those conversation cards look like so much fun. On road trips Kevin and I will play a silly game of would you rather. We make it up as we go and personalize it to us. Would you rather craft with Martha Steward or cook with The Pioneer Woman for a day? Would you rather play coach Notre Dame football or be the QB on a Notre Dame team? It's silly, but we always come up with good ones. Our date nights in have been struggling lately. In the past we have made a fun treat together after the kids are in bed, take turn picking movies for a movie night in, patio date, cheese sample tray to try new snacks, late dinner for 2 or do a book club together (we each read the same book and talk through it). Love your game plan for your goals this month!!

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