Life Update & Amazon lately – February 2025 edition

It’s the first Monday of the month, and that means it is time to link up with Andrea and Jill to share what amazing things we’ve found on Amazon lately.

But first a little life update. This past week went SOOO much better than the rest of February. Work has been challenging lately, and that hasn’t changed, but I have changed my attitude about it and am setting some boundaries that are helping. And I’m intentionally choosing to take more time away from work when I need a break. I have quite a bit of vacation built up, and I used some to take off the whole day on Friday.

I’m getting ahead of myself though! So Monday was our monthly 4-H club meeting. Aiden has gotten really interested in 4-H over the last 3 years, and when the Homeschool 4-H club leader stepped down last May, he was concerned that the club would close. He asked if I would consider leading the club for his last year.

I admit I was reluctant – I already work full-time at a demanding job that often requires travel, had agreed to co-sponsor the homeschool Teen Council, teach Nutrition at Cade’s homeschool group, and knew that Aiden’s senior year would be full of planning graduation and related activities for the homeschool group. Plus the actual homeschooling! But, I also know how important 4-H is to Aiden. My mom was my 4-H club leader when I was a kid, and she had many of the same types of commitments. If she can do it, surely I can too?

I devised a plan where the kids do most of the work for running the monthly meetings. Aiden was elected club president, and he runs the actual business part of the meeting. We have volunteers take turns running a roll call and leading the pledges. Each member also takes a turn completing a voluntary public speaking activity (as simple as reading a poem aloud for the younger kids), and organizing a game. The kids have really seemed to enjoy having the responsibility. I have brought an activity that could be completed for the summer 4-H fair to each meeting. This month, we started tomato seeds.

Tuesday evening, Cade and I played a “best of three” Yahtzee marathon. I managed to Yahtzee in the first and third games, but still lose them both. I squeaked out a win in the second game at least.

Wednesday, night we had no plans, until mid-afternoon when I got this sweet text from my handsome hubby. He had a gift card from his birthday we used for a nice dinner out. We spent our dinner continuing recent conversations we’ve been having about dreams for the future and what we want life to look like over the coming years as we approach the end of our homeschooling journey.

Thursday, Aiden and Cade both participated in the 4-H mock interview contest. It was Cade’s first year participating. I’m grateful for these opportunities for them to learn life skills.

And that takes me back to Friday, which I had completely free from work! I woke up early and worked out, then drove Cade to his Friday morning class, and ran into Walmart to buy this brush:

When I arrived back home, I decided to make snacks for Kevin and the boys to have for the coming week. There have been a lot of store-bought snacks of late, and they tend to be both expensive and less than healthy. Before I went to pick up Cade, I made granola, chocolate chip granola bars, the dough for sourdough crackers, and oatmeal (for Aiden’s breakfast),

Cade and I stopped by Chipotle for take-out and then headed home, where I made his favorite lasagna for his lunches for the coming week trying out this gluten-free pasta. Cade and Kevin were recently diagnosed with having the MTHFR gene mutation, which means he cannot adequately process the enrichments in many normal wheat products. I haven’t been able to find wheat-based lasagna noodles that aren’t enriched – if you know of one, please share! Kevin decided to have lasagna for his supper, and said it tasted great.

I also made homemade pizza dough for our supper, baked the sourdough crackers and made chocolate chip cookies (per Aiden’s request). Does anyone else find half-eaten bags of chocolate chips in their freezer? Apparently someone had a chocolate craving…

Saturday was such a great relaxing day. It is my gym day, and we met early this time, so I was home a little after 7am even with a stop at the grocery store. I put a batch of homemade strawberry-mango fruit leather (same general process as my mango fruit leather recipe) into my dehydrator. I also did some super exciting tasks like paying bills and helping Aiden file his taxes. Registration for fall college classes starts next week, so we also put together the list of classes Aiden will take this fall.

Sunday, we went to church and relaxed at home the rest of the day, including reading a book and taking a little nap.

Next up are my recent Amazon finds:

Purple dress

I found this pretty floral dress in multiple shades of purple, and I just love it.

I shared an outfit idea using the dress last week – all those details here.

Leather sandals

I also found these braided leather sandals. They are actually considered orthopedic – and right now they are on sale and also have a coupon.

Here’s one option for wearing the sandals (more details here):

Bucket purse

Next up is this bucket purse. I like that it has short and long straps and is big enough to hold all the things.

Robot phone case

I found this fun robot phone case. I like the green option, but it comes in several colors.

Shelf organizers

I’ve been working on organizing our pantry (which seems like a never ending job), and I noticed there was quite a bit of space between the shelves. I ordered this three-pack of under-shelf racks. They are really sturdy, and deep enough to hold a variety of items.

Transformers thumb drive

I had to get this Transformers USB thumb drive for my sons – they are big fans of all things Transformer. And we always seem to need a USB drive, so I got each of them one.

And this one is actually from Target, but I think it is so funny, so I’m still sharing it today.

Target also has some perfect socks to wear with the sweatshirt.

Have a great week!