Travel & Vacation: Dry Erase Board Notes
Karlie’s dry erase board note to Jake
In case you already haven’t noticed our family LOVES to travel. Occasionally when Jake travels for work the rest of us get to tag along with him. A lot of times his days are long and we don’t always get to see him throughout the day. On our last work trip I told the girls to bring their dry erase boards and markers so we could “leave Daddy a note” for the day. If he came back to the hotel room and we were not there he could see our notes, know what we were up to, and hopefully feel the love that we were sending his way. It is not always possible to know when he may have a moment to run back to the room and if we are across town we cannot make it back in time to say “hi” so this is a little way to let him know that we are thinking about him even though we couldn’t be there to give him a hug in person.
During this recent trip all of us were up with the sun at 6 am every morning and off in our separate ways shortly thereafter. Sometimes it would be midnight or later before we reconnected again. Several times Jake also left a note on the back of the dry erase boards for us which the girls loved. If he had a few minutes and knew that we would be getting back really late he would prep dinner for us so we could make it quickly while the girls were showering so they could eat, relax for a few minutes, and crash in bed.
We ate all but one breakfast and dinner in our hotel room. All our lunches we packed in our backpacks and would eat whenever we were exploring for that day. To help with the preparation and meal plan we brought a hot pot (yes, like the ones you use in college) to make our meals. We were able to make some good, quick, healthy, and inexpensive meals in our hotel room like sloppy joes, mac-n-cheese, chicken & rice, soup, and more! It was nice to relax together at the end of the day before hitting the bed.
Every time we left for the day each girl would get out their dry erase boards and leave a note for Jake. I would add an note to the bottom or side of each of their notes. They had a lot of fun doing this for him and looked forward to it every morning.
Brina’s note to Daddy
Karlie letting Daddy know we are going to check out the animals!
Brina’s note to Daddy with a variety of colors.
Karlie’s note that includes a “heart family” of all of us. Cute!
Brina’s note with hearts and letting him know to have “fun and do a good job”!
Brina’s note to Dad with my note to the love of my love.
Jake’s note letting us know he prepped the meal and all we had to do is add water and boil.
Sweet note from my Handsome man!
Note from Karlie with her and Daddy as heart people.
The girls love their Dad so very much. It is precious to see how they enjoy not only doing little things for him, but also how excited they get to spend some extra time with him. Thankful for a husband who works so hard to provide for our family. He takes good care of all of us and always makes each of us feel special. He is thoughtful, generous, and kind. Even though he works hard he always makes a point to spend time with us as a family. I am blessed in many ways.
If your spouse travels and you go along with them you can easily do this for your spouse as well. It was super simple, but made everyone feel more connected throughout the long days apart. I hope that it made Jake’s days a little bit brighter.
No Bear… Just A Kind Dog…
The letter I found on the front porch container!
On Saturday we enjoyed a quiet family brunch on our back deck. It was nice to sit outside in the refresh air, eat delicious food, and spend some time catching up with my family. As we began to clean up and bring the dishes into the house I rang the doorbell at the back door because I realized once I arrived at the door would not be able to open the door without dropping something.
Instead of running to my rescue after ringing the doorbell both girls ran to the front door to see who had stopped by for a visit. It was then I realized that they had no clue that the back doorbell even worked. They were completely puzzled. How could someone ring the doorbell and disappear in a matter of seconds? I teased them that it was probably just someone coming by to drop off free books when they saw our dog, Skipper they left quickly because it was not polite to just walk into someone’s house uninvited.
I finished cleaning up after breakfast and went about doing other activities not really thinking much about the doorbell and teasing the kids about the free books. Later that day I went out the front door to get the mail and saw this note posted on the container on the front porch. I should have known that our kids love books so much they would be concerned about not being able to get to the door in time to get the free books.
Sometimes they do random things, like this note, that catch me off guard and make me laugh. I didn’t realize how seriously they took me. I did explain to the girls that it was me that rang the doorbell on the back deck. They both had forgotten about that doorbell. After talking with them it made more sense that I was ringing the doorbell than some stranger ringing the front doorbell and vanishing into thin air. We all had a good laugh about doorbell prank and note on the front porch.
Lunch Box Notes
Brina and Karlie lunch containers with a note
Every once in awhile I write to a note and stick it in the girls school lunch boxes. They always like finding their notes and over the months I notice they keep a stash of notes inside one of the pockets of their lunch boxes. The fun part is coming up with something different to do for each note. For this note I wrote their names in bold marker colors and attached them with Disney princess tape to the outside of their lunch containers.
Brina’s Note
Most time the notes are the same or similar with only slight variants. The notes for this particular day both read: “Have a great day at school! Learn a lot and have fun! I look forward to seeing you soon! Love, Mom XOXO”
Karlie’s Note
What are some creative ways you leave notes for your kids or spouse to brighten up their day?
A Little Bug In the Lunchbag
What is in their lunches today?
The other day after the girls had made their lunches and after they were in bed I put in a little “bug” note for them to read at lunch. I cannot remember where I picked up this bug note pack (maybe Hallmark?), but the bundle of notes has lasted me a long time. The girls always enjoy getting the bug notes in their lunch box.
Whenever I go through their lunch bags (usually to make sure they packed everything & sometimes to double clean the bags) it is pretty common for me to find a stack of these and other lunch bag notes in their lunch bag. The notes don’t take much time to add to the lunches, but they sure mean a lot to the kids getting them at school the next day. The bug notes are cute, unique, and have neat sayings on them.
Each “bug” note is different
Bug notes for the girls lunches
A Sandwich Container & Dry Erase Marker
The best part about packing a lunch for my husband and kids is I get to sneak in a note occasionally. These sandwich containers are great because I can write on them with dry erase markers, put them in the lunch box, and erase them before washing them once they are back home at the end of the day. If you are looking for a super simple way to “send some love” and remind your family members how much you love them try writing in a dry erase marker on their sandwich container and see what they say about it.
Creative Kids: Invisible Writing
The girls love to do crafts and all kinds of fun activities…..(so do I)! 🙂 As I was getting ready to leave for a few hours the other day I left a “secret” note on the girls bar stools. They didn’t realize it was a note because it was invisible . The night before the girls had asked if they could paint again soon so I decided that since the paints were going to be out anyway I might as well leave an invisible note for them to discover the next morning.
These invisible notes were a hit and super easy to do. Take a white piece of paper, write a message in white crayon, and have the kids paint over the letters to decode the message. Once the girls figured out it wasn’t just a plain white piece of paper on their bar stools they quickly decoded the message.
They decided it was pretty neat and the next spent hour writing invisible notes back and forth to each other. I love it when I start a fun activity and they run with it. Thankful that the girls get excited over the little stuff.
These would work really well for younger kids too. You could do a picture instead of a note as well.
Way to GO!
So proud of my man! XO
My husband has to travel occasionally for work since he has teams he manages in various areas. Sometimes the traveling is due to speaking engagements as well. Earlier this year he had to travel for a Technology Summit speaking engagement where he was a keynote speaker.
I am so proud of him and thankful for all his hard work! He is a great provider for our family. God has truly blessed us with many great opportunities.
When he came home from this speaking engagement I had a case of Orange Crush waiting for him in the fridge. On the carton was a note from me “Jake, Way to Go on your presentation! I love you! XOXO – Bridgette”
Taking the time to pick up a special item, write a note, or some other activity to show appreciation for someone only takes a few minutes of your time, but the positive impact of your action is usually much greater. Spend a few minutes coming up with a way to show someone you love how much you appreciate them today! You and the one on the receiving end will be blessed by this thoughtful action.
14 Gifts of Love
Gifts & Goodies for Daddy! The girls and I are going on a trip over their Spring Break to visit family, however, Jake is staying home to work. We will miss him greatly and even though he will probably enjoy his few days of peace and quiet we decided to wrap up some special surprises for him to enjoy while we are away. We have a wrapped present for each of the days we are gone. The wrapping paper I choose was a mix of happy smiles and hearts to show him how much he makes us smile and that we love him very much. The presents are a variety of goodies that he likes (I cannot tell you exactly what they are yet because he may read this article).
The girls have also put together several sweet notes for Daddy that they have hidden in various places all over the house for him to find. On their easel is a huge heart that says “I love you Daddy” with a series of little hearts along the bottom. Super cute! They are excited to go on the trip but I am thankful they are thinking about their Daddy who will be staying here. All of the notes they did on their own. They had an idea that I was putting together a couple presents for when we were gone because they were with me on one of the adventures to pick up something for him, but the note idea the girls came up with on their own. Hope he enjoys his special goodies while we are away. What special things do you do for your husband / spouse when you have been apart?
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