Guys, I am no longer wearing matching braces with my tweenagers! I’m officially braces-free and am celebrating by eating my way through gummy candies. After 14 months, I was ready to be done!
I have been so happy with the results and am honestly super happy that I did them. I was in a fairly bad car accident years ago that resulted in some heavy surgery and scarring in my jaw, so to be able to finally bite right, have my teeth aligned, and have full mobility again is life-changing.
For those of you on the fence about getting braces as an adult, it’s one of the best decisions I have made. And if you don’t think you’ll survive, don’t worry, I put together this fail-proof survival guide all about adult braces just for you!
OOTD
I’m still getting used to putting these together for you guys – I am admittedly no fashion blogger! If you think I missed something, let me know in the comments!
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EM’S SHORTS | ANISTEN’S TOP | ANISTEN’S SHORTS | JETT’S SHIRT | DASH’S SHIRT | MY T-SHIRT | MY PANTS | MY SHOES
TOP | JEANS | LOOPY CASE (use code ‘TARA10’ for 10% off & ‘TARA15’ for 15% off)
SHOP ALL MY FAVORITE JEANS
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SHIRT (I’ve got it in white, olive, blue and white stripes and chambray!) | JEANS | SHOES | ROSE GOLD APPLE WATCH
TOP | PANTS (similar) | SLIPPERS | ROSE GOLD APPLE WATCH
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PURSE | TOP (old) SIMILAR | JEANS | SHOES
MY FAVORITE LEOPARD PRINT SHOES
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Emery Is Junior High Bound!
Oh man, I’m not ready to have a middle schooler! Emery graduated from Elementary school (and got a picture with the boy who gave her a 4 out of 3 during the school talent show).
Teenagers and boyfriends are so not something I’m ready for!
EMERY’S SHOES | MY SHOES | MY JEANS | BRAUN’S SHOES
She did, however, get an award for being the most athletic in her 6th-grade class. She beat out all the boys by doing 32 pull-ups and ran her mile in 7 minutes and 27 seconds…which means that 6th-grade boys are in awe of her and she beat me by about 30 seconds on my most recent mile run soooo, I owe her some cold hard cash.
I’m working on making bets I know are a sure thing!
Other than Emery growing up way too fast, she continues to be a bright light in the Thueson household. Gosh, I love this girl. She makes this whole mom-job easy!
We have another graduate in the house who gets 2 more years of it though due to his September birthday! Jett graduated his first year of preschool and Braun and I attended his graduation where he sang a lot of songs and at the end of each of them would yell “THANK YOU… THANK YOU… SOOOOO MUCH!” This kid does not lack enthusiasm!
I see this big grin and forget about all the times he makes me crazy…and then he brings me a piece of his poop in his hand and I’m quickly reminded of what an adventure he is! Haha
Memorial Day Weekend Getaway
We came up to our friends’ cabin this weekend for Memorial Day, and it’s so nice to get away! I slept in until 11 am yesterday AND got a nap in. And I don’t even feel bad – haha! The kids have been out getting dirty as can be and I have been trying to organize my computer and phone. It’s a never-ending battle to organize my life/work/mom/church/work shtuff.
We made sure to bring all of our beading supplies (you can see what we have HERE and grab your own) for the girls to make bracelets, a few games which I’ll link below and my friend stopped at the dollar store on the way up and grabbed a whole bunch of painting supplies – SUPER SMART! These types of purchases always end up being the BEST! The kids are loving them so if you need a cheap summer activity, go to the dollar store and stock up!
Games We Play
#1 Cover Your Assets – always #1. Dash wants to play this every chance he gets. P.S. I also just got a massive box of games from the same company AND a brand new one they’re launching and I can’t wait to share it with you guys!!!
#2 Qwirkle – a game we always love!
#3 Q-Bitz – we got this recently and it is a good brain activity! It is kind of tough for Dash who is 7 but he is getting better at it every time and he likes the challenge.
#4- Tenzi – We LOVE this game. You can play it with a ton of people (they just each have to have their own color of dice) When we play with my big family, we use THIS set of dice and THIS set of dice plus you’ve got to have the deck of cards.
#5 NERTZ – a classic!
All of these games are super easy to travel with so they get played a lot.
SHOP ALL OUR FAMILY GAMES
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OUR HOLIDAY MENU
We aren’t doing anything super fancy for food this weekend but we are definitely including our favorites like our favorite pasta salad – we always make it camping or at our friends’ cabin!
Another family favorite are my Instant Pot Chicken Tacos! Waffles or pancakes every morning are a MUST! Make sure you snag some Pamela’s Gluten-Free Pancake Mix – it’s sooo good! We put sour cream or original greek yogurt on top with berry syrup
SHOP MY COOKING MUST HAVES
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Scotcheroos are always awesome to have on hand as well! But out of all of our meals, I think I’m looking forward to tonight’s dinner the most! We are smoking this recipe for Burnt Ends for dinner tonight!
What we’re listening to
If you need a fun summer playlist that will pump you up and keep it clean, this is the playlist for you! I shared this earlier this month and we’ve had it on repeat ever since! I seriously love the playlists that Emery puts together and I never have to worry about questionable language. You can hit play and listen and then click HERE to access the entire list and follow on Spotify!
And that’s my week! Phew – I’m so glad we made it another week! If you missed them, I did put out a couple of other blog posts including:
Keep your eyes peeled for all of my Memorial Day Sale picks from all of my favorite stores dropping early in the AM! I hope you have an awesome Memorial Day Weekend and spend time with those you love most!
Xx Tara
Your posts are the best! Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you, Myra! I appreciate the support!