Dear Mushka,

There are so many ways to talk with God, and teaching them to children is a long game. It won't happen in one conversation (or year!) but is a habit built day over day.

👉🏻 Praying a Psalm together is one practice we do once or twice a week.

This is the Kids' Bible we use, and this is the Bible we often read a psalm from. I've found this version to be a helpful way to introduce scripture to kids in a way they can hear it (and though I don't recommend it as your only source for personal study, it's nice for me to hear the words in a fresh way, too!)

1. Pick a Psalm. You can work your way through them, open up randomly, start with a favorite of yours, or let you kids pick a number 1-150. 

When in doubt: Psalm 19, 23, 34, 91 are some of my go-tos. 

2. Read it together. Often times, we read just a few verses instead of the whole thing. Most Psalms are too long for kids under ten to focus on for long and that's okay!

3. Read it a second time, asking everyone to pay attention to something that sticks out to them- a word, phrase, main point, characteristic of God, etc. 

I often ask for them to listen for repeated words, to summarize what the Psalmist was talking about, to note what the Psalm teaches about God, or to see how it describes people. 

4. Share your answers with one another. Lead the way here. It's as good a practice for adults as it is for kids. And if the idea is new to you, too, that's okay. Be honest with your kids. Say "We're going to try something new today. Let's practice together!" What a beautifully humble example for your children. 

5. Go around in a circle, praying that idea back to God.

👉🏻 "God, David praised you a lot. Help me do that, too!" (Psalm 34)

👉🏻 "Father, you are strong and faithful. I love that about you!" (Psalm 73)

👉🏻 "You are a Good Shepherd, God. Let me follow you." (Psalm 23)

✨ If I'm really on top of it, we do this practice over breakfast and challenge one another to think on their take-away all day long. I may say in a moment of impatience "God, I remember from our Psalm this morning that you promise to be with us. Be with me now and help me stay patience and compassionate." Then at night, we'll thank God for how our take-away was true today. 

As I'm typing this out, I'm also realizing how sweet this would be in a small group or with a group of friends, so feel free to adapt it to your age-group! No matter what, may God draw near to us as we draw near to him. Amen! 

Xx, Katie

My approach to makup is less is more. With good skin care (I'm trying out Oliveda) a lot of makeup really isnt needed!

But when I want to wear makeup, I want a clean brand that keeps it simple and can be a one-stop-shop. After trying a lot, I landed on Ilia as my main go to. I've LOVED everything I've used so far. Well done, Ilia! (Not sponsored, I'm just a fan.)

I definitely don't use all of this everyday, but if I am really getting ready this is my routine:

Skin Tint- Ilia

Concealer- Ilia

Cream Blush- Ilia

Eyeshadow Primer- Ulta

Eyeshadow- Urban Decay (I'd like to try Ilia when this runs out)

Mascara Primer- Loreal

Mascara- Ilia

Eyebrown Filler- Wunderbrow

Lip Color- Ilia

Shine Powder- Elf

Bronzer- Ilia

Every month I go through my Amazon purchases to see what I loved, should return, would buy again, etc. Here are my favorites from the month of July. 

1 A weighted icepack for headaches & migraines. My husband uses this and says it's lifechanging because it stays on his face if he falls asleep and has a great weight. (Under $10!)

2 The game Sleeping Queens, which all my kids love... and encourages them to use math! My 2 and 5 year old love it, too, but don't understand the math portion, so my older kids help which means more math for them :) 

(Bonus: These zipper pouches, which are perfect for storing card games.)

See all of your favorite game recs here. We're making our way through the list :)

3 The best bra I've ever owned, perhaps? It's SO GOOD! Better than the Soma ones I wear! No underwire but still lifts, adjustable sizing, great fabric, etc.

(And new breathable undies that fit so well. This style fits my body really well and I'm very pleased with the quality for the price.)

4 A affordable label maker that connects to an app. Really easy to use! (Almost 20K 5 star reviews says it all...)

5 This tripod I immediately bought after seeing someone else's. Compact, sturdy, and great to around. I use it for Dear Mushka content as well as family pictures, etc. I think it's a good purchase for anyone who wants to capture everyday moments. 

6 Not an Amazon purchase, but I recently started using Oliveda skin products. I've been delightfully shocked at how fresh my skin looks! Read my review here if you're interested!

See my whole Amazon storefront here. I try to keep it updated for you all!

Xx, Katie

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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