Dear Mushka,

My oldest son and I were invited along on a mother + son trip to NYC to celebrate our boys turning 10. I thought I'd share what we did so you could use it as a starting off point for planning your own trip!

Friday:

We took the earliest flight we could (6:00 a.m.) and landed in New Jersey at the Newark Airport. In my opinion, there are pros and cons to all the airports that can get you to NYC so choose the flight that makes the most sense to you.

We took an AirTrain from the airport into Penn Station in the city. It was about $20 for me and my son, total. From there we decided to walk to our hotel because the day was so nice, but we could have also hopped on the subway up to Grand Central Station. 

We checked in (our room was already ready!) and were grateful for the free waters in the lobby. We stayed here and had a great experience. 

Then we headed to Los Tacos for lunch. They are SO GOOD. This is a must for me everytime I'm in the city. 

From there we headed downtown to the 9/11 memorial. We didn't do the museum on this trip, but it's very well done if you have the time. We also walked to Trinity Church and found Alexander Hamilton's grave site. (#nerdalert!) Anddd... a street pretzel for these pre-teen boys who were "starving". 

We had timed tickets for Liberty & Ellis Island so that was next. I hadn't been in about 20 years and it didn't disappoint. Your ticket lets you take a ferry from one island to the next, on your own time, and then back to the main island when you're done. We spent a few hours on each island and could have stayed longer-- especially at Ellis. I didn't realize they were national parks; both were so beautiful! 

For dinner, we headed back uptown and grabbed pizza at Carnegie Pizza. It was delicious! Then we found Junior's Cheesecake for dessert (always a winner) and stolled through Times Square before heading back to our hotel for the night. 

Saturday:

We enjoyed sleeping in a little, but didn't want to waste too much of the day. NYC is so quiet on weekend mornings. Take advantage! We grabbed breakfast at Brooklyn Diner (which was fine, but more pricey than it was worth IMO).

It was raining when we finished breakfast so we made our way over to The Museum of Natural History, where they let us in earlier than our tickets allowed. It's a huge museum so look at a map and decide what's most important. Don't miss the ocean area and the giant blue whale. You can lay on the floor underneath it, which is kind of stunning. 

Hours later, we came out of the museum and headed downtown to The High Line. The boys didn't love it (I think they were tired of walking from the museum), but it's one of my favorite areas. It's an old railroad track that's been converted into a walking trail over the city streets. It's very well maintained, has a ton of art, often food vendors, and lots of good benches for people watching. Hop on and off as you wish. It ends at the Meatpacking District/ Chelsea Market if you make it all the way down. 

We hopped off somewhere along the way, grabbed smoothies, and then found a playground around the Chelsea Piers. In the summer, so many NYC playgrounds have splash pads to cool off in. I wanted to run through them myself! Then we meandered over to the piers, which look across the Hudson River to New Jersey. It's quiet and peaceful, with lots of paths to walk on or places to sit. 

From there, we rose a bus (which is part of the transit system in NYC) to the Harry Potter store. My son hasn't read any of the books, but he was still enthralled with the store. It's very well done!

Then we grabbed dinner at Eataly in their Flatiron location, which is a giant Italian supermarket with multiple restaurants inside. La Pasta + La Pizza is really good. Usually we grab a cannoli there, too, but they ran out of filling.  

Madison Square Park is across the street so we walked over there (and watched someone make a case for illegally standing on the marked off grass... he was "grounding" so the officer let him stay!)

Then we decided to slowly make our way back uptown. You could certainly hop on a subway anytime, but walking in the city is one of my favorite parts! We ran inside The Empire State Building and eventually made it to the library. We didn't go inside the library on this trip, but you should if you haven't. They have great free exhibits and a fun children's area downstairs! 

Bryant Park is next door and is a dreamy area with food vendors set up around it-- and movies in the park over the summer! It's a delightful park, always full of people playing ping-pong, doing yoga classes, and enjoying the city. I got an ice cream sandwich, which was so good. 

As we were heading back to our hotel for the night, we saw tons of people staring at the skyline. Apparently Manhattan Henge, which happens twice a year, was happening right then. We just stumbled upon it! Gotta love the city. (I then remembered this cute novel I'd read about it.)

Sunday:

We grabbed bagels at Liberty Bagels and took them to Central Park to eat. Delicious!

You don't need anyone to tell you how wonderful Central Park is, but if you're going with kids it might be helpful to know that there are 21 playgrounds there. Hecksher is at the front of the park and the largest, but there are lots of winners. There are also giant rocks to climb all over around the park, which have always been a hit with my kids. There are pickelball courts, a zoo (which I've never done), and lots of food vendors. Enjoy it!

From there we headed to Rockefeller Center. Last year, there was roller skating where ice skating takes place in the Winter but it wasn't there this year so we just walked around, popping in lots of local stores (Lego, Nintendo, FAO Schwartz, etc). 

Had it just been up to me, we would have made our way to the Upper West Side to stroll the more charming residential area, but our kids were about New Yorked out so we decided to head towards the airport. This time we took a bus all the way from outside Grand Central Station to Newark Airport. It was more expensive (around $40 for both of us), but easier as it dropped us off right in front of our terminal. (For reference, an uber would have been $100+ so still less expensive.)

Truly, there's so much to do in the city with kids. (We didn't have time, but walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to the DUMBO area is awesome, too.) We were so grateful for the opportunity to go-- and for a wonderful home to come back to. Thank you, Lord! Xx, Katie

P.S. Here's another blog post that details another trip to NYC with two of my kids!

I'm about seven years into drinking this smoothie 5-6 mornings a week and still absolutely love it. 

Learning the importance of protein, fiber, and greens in the morning... and learning to remove the carbohydrates that immediately turn to sugar... has allowed me to feel full & satisfied until lunch time everyday. 

I make this while my kids are eating breakfast and put it in the fridge until I'm hungry. Oftentimes, it keeps me full until early afternoon. 

CHECK!

Here are a few combos I regularly turn to:

#1

· 2 Scoops protein powder (I love the taste of this one-- not protein powder-y at all)

· I Scoop collagen powder (I truly see a different in my joints when I use this. Crazy!)

· 1 Tbsp ground flax powder (the fiber helps break everything down in your body)

· Handful of spinach or kale (I keep mine in the freezer so it never goes bad)

· Half of a frozen banana 

· Handful of frozen riced cauliflower

· 2 Cups milk

· My Mix-Her packets (I use her greens and her pleasure)

#2

· 2 Scoops protein powder 

· I Scoop collagen powder 

· 1 T chia seed  

· Handful of spinach or kale

· Half of a frozen banana 

· Tbsp peanut butter

· Handful of frozen riced cauliflower

· 1 Cup decaf coffee & 1 cup milk

 #3 for our kids (we split this between 5 kids)

· 2 Scoops protein powder in vanilla

· 1 Tbsp ground flax powder

· Two handfulls of spinach or kale

· Large banana

· Large handful frozen strawberries

· Enough milk to cover in the blender

 To Make: 

· Add everything to your blender and mix! 

Note: We've had this blender for ten years now (whoa!) and love it. Our jar broke once and they replaced it, no questions asked. It's a little more pricey, but it's made 2 smoothies for our family every morning without problem. We've gotten our money's worth! 

Enjoy!

Organic Plant Protein Powder

Grass Fed Collagen

Organic Chia Seeds

Organic Ground Flax

Last year, we started incorporating a family Sabbath day into our week. I don't think the how details matter nearly as much as the why details, but I also know it can be helpful to learn from others so after a little trial and error...

Here are a few things that work for us:

•We do our Sabbath from Friday night to Saturday night, starting with the lighting of a special candle. (Doing it on these days allows us to linger in our home Saturday morning and freely use Sunday afternoon to prep for the week ahead.)

•We eat pizza and salad and then snuggle up for family movie night. We all look forward to this!

•We eat cinnamon rolls (or something equally decadent) for breakfast and stay in pajamas as long as possible.

•I usually abstain from Dear Mushka work, social media, & tedious home projects. Just knowing it's off the table brings peace to my soul.

•Our kids don't have to do school work or a daily home chore (the other days of the week they have a specific area of the house to help clean).

•Saturday night, we often have friends over, enjoy a bonfire, or go out on a date— something that feels different than the other days.

•We frequently thank God, aloud, for giving us current rest + rest for eternity through Chist. Just speaking about the Sabbath often keeps us in a spirit of worship.

Of course, details will ebb and flow as the months pass, but for now this has become such an anticipated rhythm in our home. Many of our actions look similar to other days, but my soul recognizes this as a day of rest, gifted from God. And our children are learning, too!

Here are a few books I recommend if you're looking to begin this practice: 

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Sacred Rhythms

Sabbath

Here are a few products I use on this day: 

My Daily Bread Tabs & Prayer Cards- because more than anything, I want this to be a day to communte with the Lord

At the end of Colossians, Paul exhorts the Christ-followers to use wisdom in their interaction with unbelievers. In 4:6 he says "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." 

As we all know, salt is a vital mineral. It preserves food, increases flavor, aids in healing, and even balances fluids in the blood and helps muscles function. In a similar way, what we say and how we say it should be life-giving, too.

Moreso, our words should be a reflection of our heart's appreciation and joy of the gospel so that we're always making the best use of time with unbelievers. Our speech should add life-sustaining benefits to a conversation, offer healing, and point the way to the eternal preservation of souls. 

If this feels intimidating to you (it does me!), I encourage you to pray for the Holy Spirit's help and then practice. I love to talk out these concepts with my kids where the stakes feel low (as we'll have these converstations hundereds of times over the years). You can also grab a friend and ask to rehearse sharing your faith in a genuine, non-awkward, way. The more you do it, the better your story & faith will roll off your tongue. As a cook learns how to season his or her food properly with practice, tasting bites as they go, we too can learn how to effectively share the gospel with others. 

The Salt Necklace was designed around this passage because I needed a tangible reminder of this concept. It encourages me to speak life in our home, and to be prepared as I go into the world, too!

This year, I switched from morning coffee to tea. I wasn't sure I could enjoy a drink as much as I enjoyed my (very creamer based) coffee, but this lavender-infused drink is such a delight. I look forward to it every day. 

To make the Lavender Syrup:

1. In a sauce pan, combine 3 T lavender buds (fresh or dried) and 1 cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add 1 cup of sugar or honey. 

2. Lower heat so it maintains a gentle boil, and stir until the sugar or honey is dissolved.

3. Simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Turn off heat and allow the lavender to steep as it cools. Strain out the lavender buds when it's reached your desired flavor-- anywhere from 15-30 minutes. 

5. Store in an airtight container in the fridge (I store in this). This recipe makes about 1 cup; I usually double it as it easily keeps for 3 weeks.

Tip: Jar this up for friends as a sweet gift!

To Make a London Fog:

1. Let Earl Grey tea steep in hot water for 3 minutes. (Bigelow is the best I've tried!)

2. Add in 2T your Lavender Syrup

3. Add a splash of cream. Froth if desired. (I bought this and it's been used almost daily since-- great for hot chocolate, too!)

That's it! Once your syrup is made, the drink it quick to make each morning. Enjoy!

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This year we tried something new: We stopped using a house cleaner and took on the task ourselves.

🧹 Between running a small business, home schooling, and raising 5 little ones it was something I needed to hire out for a few years (which was a huge gift!), but I wanted my children to learn how to keep a home clean, too. Our kids are 9-1 so they help on various levels (and I often go behind them), but they're practicing and it's getting done!

Here's what worked 👉🏻 Choosing one area of our house to teamwork each day.

M: KITCHEN. Each kid gets a rag to wipe down counters and chairs while I clean trickier areas. (The kitchen gets wiped down after most meals, too).

T: BATHROOMS. Our two oldest have a whole bathroom to clean- mirror, counter, sink, around toilet, trash can. I clean inside the toilet, the tub/shower, and whatever they missed. It's a work in progress for sure.

W: BEDROOMS. They divide and conquer, dusting baseboards/surface areas, vacuuming, and cleaning up misc toys. I pick up behind them and dust high areas.

TH: PLAYROOM/ LIVING ROOM. They dust, vacuum, wipe down the art table, and put toys back in approproate bins (we're fairly lax about this on other days of the week). I dust/vacuum the living room.

F: MUDROOM/ OFFICES. They clean their cubby area and vacuum the mudroom. I do my office. Robert is supposed to his but I actually have no idea if it gets done haha

S: No chore because it's the sabbath! This is a treat for us all.

S: OUTSIDE: Depending on the season, we weed or blow off leaves or wipe pollen off the furniture.

MISC: There are a few areas that aren't included here (like dusting the hallway baseboards). I save things for a consequence as needed. Big tasks (like cleaning windows or dusting fans) get done when I feel grossed out by them.

🧹 As always, take what's helpful (or save it for later) and forget the rest as you steward the space God has given you.

With 5 kids (including 4 boys who eat about seven meals a day), we go through food quickly! Sometimes we shop in store and other times we use Instacart to have the groceries delivered- it costs about $1-$1.50 extra per package, which can be worth it when the alternative is shopping a closer but more expensive store. 

Use this code for $10 off your first Instacart order! KLEWISD268E5158

Here are our go-to Costco picks:

PRODUCE

• Fresh organic fruit
• Spinach/ Kale to freeze for smoothies
• Frozen strawberries for smoothies
• Frozen broccoli and green beans
• Bananas
• Purely Frozen Organic Riced Cauliflower

MEAT & EGGS

• Adielle's Chicken sausage
• Kirkland's Grass-Fed Beef Patties
• Teton Waters Polish Sausages
• Kirkland Organic Chicken Breasts
• Kirkland Organic Ground Beef
• Kirkland Organic Turkey Breast Slices
• Kirkland Organic Pulled Pork
• Kirkland Organic Pasture-Raised Eggs
• Kirkland Grass-Fed Butter

DINNER

• Rao's Marinara Sauce
• Frozen pizza for quick dinners 

DRINKS

• Kirkland Organic Whole Milk
• Stok Coffee
• Poppi Variety Pack
• Kirkland Organic Raw Kombucha

BAKING

• Organic Unbleached Flour
• Kirkland Sea Salt
• Kirkland Organic Chicken Stock
• Maple Syrup
• Raw Honey

SNACKS

• Jojo's Organic Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Filled Bars
• Kirkland Organic Tortilla Chips

MISC

• Kirkland Diapers

Want to hear more about our family and business? Right this way!

This year- 14 years into our marraige- Robert and I began praying outloud together consistently. For years, we've prayed in spontaneous moments, but never had we set aside a time to speak with God, together, every day.

We found 6:55 a.m. to be the perfect time— just a few minutes before he begins breakfast & and I get our little kids up.

We surrender our day to God and, in turn, lay out our worries and hopes in front of one another, too. It's been a sweet, intimate way to begin our day.

👉🏼 Let this be encouragement to you- Just because you didn't begin a habit as a newlywed doesn't mean you can't start today.

👉🏼 And to those of you who have been married just a few years, please know that a marriage takes time to grow. Give it time if you aren't where you hope to be!

___

If you need a little guidance for your own prayer time with your husband, let these products guide you:

1. The Marriage Fighter Pack comes with 10 topical verse cards, made to apply to your marriage. Idea: read one a day with your spouse and pray it over your marriage together!

2. The Unity Necklace was designed around Psalm 133:1, which says “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Ask God to give you and your husband grace and wisdom as you seek to live in unity together each day.

3. The Harvest Necklace is based on Galatians 6:9-- a reminder that the holy work we pour into our marriages isn’t for nothing (even when it may feel like it). Don’t give up, sister. God is working. Grab this necklace as a tangible reminder if you need one!

4. The Lord, Teach Us to Pray Husband pack which features 31 writen prayers, based completely on scripture, for you to pray over your husband. You could pray these with him next to you or on your own time. (I use that set on my own each day.)

Our Romans 8 Memorization Collective comes with a monthly stunning digital download in collaboration with Laci Fowler Art. (In our opinion, the download is worth the price alone!)

It's an 16x24 poster size, which is large and beautiful. Hang one alone or a few in a row for a real statement. 

To Print: 

1. Download your digital file. You should find it in your email every month, around the date of your original purchase date (depending on the day of the week; we manually send these and aren't in the studio over the weekend.)

2. Print your download! Upload your files to a printing service. A few suggestions are listed below. Each site site will walk you through the process- I promise it's easy. Some even offer delivery! 

Note: These were designed as 16x24 prints, but can be ordered in any size that contains the same 2:3 ratio if you would prefer (see graphic below). Some of these printing services only offer a few of the size options. 

• Wal-Mart
• Walgreens
• Mpix 
• Snapfish
• Prints of Love
• Alphagraphics (local- check locations)

 3. Frame your print. A google search for a "16x24 poster frame" will yield many results, but here are a few of our favorites.

· If you think you'll want to hang 5+, this set of frames is the best deal (at roughly $10/ a frame!)

· This set is great for 3 frames

· Here's a great one for just one frame. It's more pricey, but the frame is nice and thick. 

· This is a great lower-budget frame (availble in the 20x30 size)

· Of course, you could also hang your poster with this frame instead! It's inexpensive & really functional-- in fact, it's what I've been using to hang mine!

Questions about your download? Email hello@dearmushka.com and we'll be happy to help!