Ashley Does: Why I Love Being A Girl Mom (Part 2)

Being a #GirlMom has it’s ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world! Have you read Part 1 yet? Be sure to take a gander before reading Part 2 today!

Ashley Does: Choosing Adventure Over Stuff – A Birthday Weekend In Manitou Springs, Colorado (Part 1)

I loathe birthday parties.

It’s no secret. I don’t like having a bunch of other people’s kids in my house. I don’t like the chaos or the mess or the expense. I tend towards introvertedness (yep, that’s a word now!) and entertaining strangers and their children is just not how I want to spend a Saturday afternoon.

This year, we made the decision as a family to stop with the birthday parties and start a new tradition: Birthday weekend trips as a family!

The cost is about the same as that huge birthday party with friends and favors and rentals, but it’s fun you guys. It’s a blast. And we are building memories instead of accumulating more junk in the form of birthday presents (can I get an amen?!).

The kids have loved it, and now that we have been through all the birthdays in our family, I can look back and reflect on how this decision has enhanced our lives. 

Ashley Does: The Moosey Dilemma – The Child Versus The Tween in My Daughter

A ragged, over-loved, no longer fuzzy stuffed moose named Moosey sits atop my daughter’s pile of clothes to pack for her first overnight trip with school.

He has been her constant companion for over 2 years now. They go everywhere together, he’s under her arm as she falls asleep at night, and she loves him fiercely.

This trip, however, is an uncertain one for Moosey. 

Ashley Does: Four-Year-Olds Never Stop Talking Ever No Matter What And You Can’t Make Them. So Here’s What I Do Instead.

It’s 2:30 in the afternoon and my house is the quietest it has been since 6:00 this morning.

That is when our four-year-old barged into our room, whimpering that she had lost a specific stuffed animal and that she would not be able to go back to sleep without it.

Since we are such great parents, we waved a hand in her general direction, mumbled that she was fine, and sent her back to bed. 

Ashley Does: 30 Day Fill Your Cup Challenge – Week 1 & A Giveaway!

Have you started the 30 Day Fill Your Cup Challenge yet?

I hope you have. You are worth 15 minutes a day to #fillyourcup and make sure you are the best you you can be!

Since it’s Monday, I’m posting a little reminder just in case you got behind over the weekend. Not that that could ever happen, right?!

Ashley Does: Sorry, Instant Pot, It’s Not Going To Happen (A Love Letter To My Slow Cooker)

I know you want in my kitchen, Instant Pot. I know you do. You and your shiny, new, young, fast lifestyle.

Newsflash: I am not young, or new, or shiny, or fast.

I relish in things that take time. Life is so fast, and we miss so much by rushing around.

As for me and my house? We will honor the slow cooker.

Ashley Does: A Day In The Life Of A Work From Home Mom

The life of a work from home mom is not exactly what I would call glamorous.

It’s fulfilling, and crazy, and busy, and sometimes boring. It’s also a lifestyle that is often misinterpreted and highly debated (just ask the internet).

I took a day in my life as a work from home mom and took a picture every hour to explore some of those emotions and intricacies.

It ended up being an introspective exercise that took a lot longer than I had anticipated to write about. While it sounds like a perfect solution to the “to work or not to work” debate…working from home definitely has its high and low points. 

Ashley Does: Playroom Clean-Up

Last week, Caroline and I spent a few hours getting the kids’ playroom organized, cleaning up, taking out trash, and sorting through toys.

Luckily she’s three, so I could entertain her with something while I quickly stuffed unused toys into a large bag to take to Goodwill.

After reading Shonda Rhimes’ The Year of Yes, I was inspired to get rid of things in my house that don’t bring me immediate happiness or that clutter it up – when the house is cluttered, my brain is cluttered and I’m not a very effective wife, mom, or human being.

Kids don’t quite understand this concept – if you hold any toy up in front of one of my girls, immediately they have special memories and a million reasons they need to keep every single one. Therefore, Mama cleans and declutters the playroom when the older kids are at school!

Ashley Does: Helping My Kids Work Hard and Manage Their Money

Money management. 

It’s a hard concept for many fully grown, functioning adults to grasp.

I know it was a hard lesson for me to understand even after “growing up” and starting a family.

Because of that, Joe and I have decided that it’s one of our priorities that we teach our girls the importance of money management, working hard for what they have, and learning how to patiently wait for what they want rather than impulse buying all.the.things.

You can imagine how well this is going over with our 8, 6, and 3 year old daughters.

To their credit, they are eager. They want to get the money and put it in the envelopes they made at church. It’s the working for it part that they are getting hung up on.

Aren’t we all?

Ashley Does: Freedom Friday (Freedom From The Mompetition – Updated)

This article was originally published December 6, 2014. I have come a long way since this post, and SO much has changed. But one thing hasn’t: the deep, burning desire to distance myself from the Mompetition. It felt like the right time to share this with you again – I hope it brings you some freedom today!

Not enough.

Those are the two words I spoke at our church’s Women’s Conference two years ago. They had asked us to come up to the front and speak the words that we had identified with, whatever those may be, and then speak the words that God actually uses to identify us.