For Elle’s 9th birthday I knew she wanted a squishmallow birthday. My kids are obsessed with those soft fluffy pillow friends. At first I had lots of ideas, then I had very little time, then I almost gave up, but then… the magic happened.

Here are all the details

I bought a cheap disposable table setting to help decorate.

If you you are wanting to do a Squishmallow birthday be forewarned, as of November 2024 they are not licensed in any major retailers that I found. So if you want a Squishmallow cake, plates, or decorations you can forget it. However this knock off “Kawaii cartoon” party supply kit did the trick just fine.

Next up my kids decorated our chalk board to make a welcome sign to display outside the front door. I love getting the family involved in the behind the scenes stuff. This was a great project for the girls.

The photo backdrop was 114 balloon set that was actually donut theme, but I didn’t include the donut parts. I just like the colors. For $8.99 it was a fantastic party addition and was part of the party favor thank you cards which I will get to at the end.

We had a ton of Squishmallows on hand anyway so those were scattered about- at the entrance, in the photo booth, on the couch. We also have some mini Squishmallows with which we played the game Hidden in Plain Sight. The way it works is you have an object, in this case the mini Squishmallow, that you have one person hide somewhere. The catch is you can’t put it under or behind something where it’s completely covered. You have to be sneaky and put it strategically somewhere that someone could see it without touching anything. It’s a fun game and I love it because I don’t have kids going through my cabinets or personal stuff looking for the thing!

For food we had pizza and some sides along with my fruit pizza specialty.

It’s an axolotl, in case you can’t tell. I know it’s not perfect, but I love this tradition and regardless of how it looks it quickly gets devoured EVERY TIME I make it.

The cake is from Walmart. It was pretty but not Squismallow. We did set a couple on top to tie it into the theme.

I would have loved to have a full blown Squishmallow cake if time or budget had allowed. This cake was perfectly fine though. Everyone loved it.

The craft was fun because I found these inexpensive squishmallow stickers on Amazon and they used them to decorate some bags I found at Hobby Lobby.

The bags came in handy for the main attraction which was THE PINATA! This is another tradition of mine. I love making pinatas!

This time there are some lumps and cracks that really had me worried.

However, that’s another thing where I have to remind myself that it’s okay. It’s your daughter’s ninth birthday. It does not have to be Pinterest perfect. The very simplified tutorial is get a balloon,

cover it with paper machete,

then tape card board ears

and paint it.

She’s the artist of my four children. I as so pleased with the end results. It’s Cam in case you weren’t familiar.

I put candy and more stickers in the piñata and the girls had a blast whacking it with a  light saber (it’s what I had on hand for a stick).

Then I added an additional party favor which were these cute little winter squishmallow ornaments that I got as sets on sale from Costco.

Last but not least we did photos. Then later I made customized thank you cards. I had them printed as 4×6 photos so it was less than a quarter per thank you. You can’t beat that! Each one had the party guests name on it a cute font but I took that part out for the blog.

My daughter Elle absolutely loved this party. She said her favorite part was the piñata and she loved that we got to work on it together. I’m glad it turned out so great. It is the last little kid party I will ever do. Insert crying emoji. She is the baby of the family and next year she’ll be double digits. Not saying there won’t be opportunities for theme parties. You can’t harness this party animal! Times and tastes are changing though and I get that. I’m glad to have this one last hurrah for her and for me.

Time for my annual review of the past year. Sadly, I didn’t do a lot of blogging in 2024 so hopefully this is a chance for me to document the last 12 months.

January- I continued subbing. I was blessed to be each of my kids teacher at least once. I also taught art, music, pottery, english for all grades, library, ASL… Every day was an adventure. I also picked up a subbing position for adults with special needs. I had no idea at the time that this would be significant because the job became available later in the year and I jumped at the chance to do it full time! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though because this is January we are talking about and I had no idea this would turn into a life altering opportunity.

In February our chicks that we got back in late August of 2023 were all laying eggs and we were seeing what colors they were.

I am obsessed with eggs and egg color so this was a really cool thing for me. It was our first time having green, blue, and dark brown. This was a dream come true for me!

Does it change the taste? No. All “farm” fresh eggs are delish and the color doesn’t matter. They are pretty to look at though.

We also started a bathroom makeover almost a year later the final details still aren’t finished, but it’s functioning and it’s waaaay better than what it was. Here is the before photo. Yes it was that bad.

J put in a new door, new floors, toilet, sink– the whole shebang.

March came and SJ turned 14.

She had her first sleepover birthday party with her friends and it was truly awesome. SJ’s birthday is Z’s half birthday which meant his driver’s permit was expiring. So we have another driver in the family now and it’s pretty awesome.

April was super exciting because I became a full-time employee at my children’s school where I had been subbing the past two years. Because I can’t show any of the TONS of photos I have of these students that I got so attached to I will bless you with some glimpses of the facility dogs who I was also very attached to.

Because I was full-time I missed out on seeing a total eclipse but the rest of my family traveled a short distance to be in the path of totality and I was able to see some of it from where I was. It was a very cool experience for all of us! That is one of the highlights of 2024 for sure.

Then just one month later another spectacular sky sight was the aurora borealis! I was not expecting to see such an amazing display of color in my own backyard but it was amazing.

Also, SJ was doing soccer, Ezie was in soccer, Z was leading worship for youth group and Elle was officially signed up and suited up for cheer (which would start in the summer).

In June our garden was taking off, and was very successful this year if I do say so myself.

I also celebrated my birthday with the grand opening of Aldi so that was awesome.

July was the most wild, fun, adventurous month of the whole year and there is no way I can cram it all in to a few sentences (it deserves its own post). But if I have to sum it up- we went to Detroit with friends and a week later we went to Florida.

Florida was our biggest family road trip ever. It was unforgettable.

August means it’s time for back to school.

I was moved from that job I loved to a new job that I was unsure of. This was definitely a tough transition for me, but God is good. He knew exactly where I needed to be. I am working in a junior high program focused on behavioral and mental health. I had to have specific trainings and certifications to even work this job so it’s I am not in a typical paraprofessional position. I love my team and my students though. For as much as I pitched a fit over it I am very thankful to be where I am.

September was a ton more cheer, soccer, and Z had homecoming and his first college fair.

I also did a book table at a women’s conference. This was an extremely busy season for our family and I to be honest I am still recovering!

October we surprised Ezie with tickets to see 21 Pilots. I was terrified of how high and steep the seats seemed at first but in the end I LOVED it. I still go back to those moments at the concert when I hear the music. Another top moment of 2024 for me for sure.

We also did another fall camping trip to Hocking Hills with our friends. It did not disappoint. I am so thankful for these camping memories.

November I had a big Squishmallow party for Elle. It was so tough to pull off because I was working full time and wasn’t sure I had the capacity for it . I pushed through though and it was one of the best of the theme parties I’ve thrown.

Also J’s “brothers” surprised him with the life long dream of seeing his team, Michigan, face off against Ohio State. To say Michigan was the underdog of the game would be an understatement, but they won! I was so happy J got to have that experience!

Last but not least December. Christmas time. It was a really busy holiday season and I’m not going to lie, I want to make a list of things to do differently next year so that it’s not as stressful. In the end though it was really wonderful.

I am so thankful for all of my friends and family. More than anything I am thankful for the gift of Jesus of course and what a blessing it was to get to share this at the Newspring church women’s group just a couple of weeks ago.

That is the year in a nutshell. I am glad I took this time to reflect because it really does make my heart overwhelmed with gratitude! I’m ready for 2025 but 2024 is one of those years I will always look back on fondly.

It’s that time of year! J and I have been sending a custom Christmas card since the year 2000! Almost the 1900s. Crazy.

Okay, so this card was a year in the making. I was inspired by the sand selfies that I saw from friend’s vacation photos. Usually they are done with a shape of a heart.  I loved the idea, but I wanted to make it my own. What if we put the phone in the snow for a Christmas card? Then I thought, why not do one for every season! The results were so fun.

To answer questions I’ve been receiving about the photos- yes it’s all real.  No AI for our Christmas cards! They are all in our yard other than the sand one. The phone is an iPhone 14 pro. I used a water proof case when we did the snow and sand pictures so that I didn’t damage the phone. The trick is you can’t use self facing camera for these because you have to put the setting to ultra wide angle. Here is an example of what it looks like if you don’t do the wide angle setting.

Once we had our settings in place we put the shutter on a timer, set the phone into the hole with the screen down, then we all leaned in ready for the shot.

We started this card almost one year ago. The first shot was a beautiful snowy day in January. The kids were all out sledding and having a blast. J was working but we got him to come outside for a moment to take the first photo for our card series.

Then when spring came around I made sure I had everyone dress somewhat “springish” and we set the photo in our flowers in the front yard.

The flowers are called Moss Phlox (I just learned that!) and they are perennial so it’s a beautiful patch in the front of our house every spring/summer.

The flowers look much smaller than they appear in the Christmas card photo. They made for a super easy frame though. The exact date of the photo was April 28th.

That’s winter and spring. Next up was summer. I knew we would get lots of beach time since we were going to Florida. The first set of photos didn’t really turn out as well as I’d hoped

so we redid the photos when we were in Key West.

Here is an outtake with my great nephew that we were visiting.

Everyone in the family was super excited to get to have the opportunity to take the photos again! Just kidding, that was sarcasm. In fact I have been honest that these selfies even though they are super simply were a labor of love that almost didn’t happen!

It wasn’t too bad though and I think we were all happy in the end. The first try was July 24th and the next set was two days later on July 26th.

Lastly we barely got the finally installment! Fall was so busy for us! Between soccer, cheer, birthdays, book events, photo shoots and more it was nearly impossible to take a quick photo!

I ran outside on October 23rd just to find a good spot.

This tree was golden and gorgeous. The problem was when we finally went to do the photos it was over a week later (November 1st) and the trees were nearly barren. This shot was the least natural. We had to create the effect of leaves by finding pretty ones and strategically placing them in the frame.

We tried holding them but obviously that didn’t work. We tried using a cinder block to create the depth. Here is what the phone looked like.

And this is behind the scenes of the setup.

At first I worried that last shot just wasn’t going to happen.

We did manage to get the shot though and that completed our set!

It was an ambition idea that we somehow managed to pull off. Whew. One cool thing about these photos (and the card) is that you can turn it any way you want.

It can be horizontal or vertical and there is no upside down! I love to see which way people display it. I hope it bring lots of smiles this Christmas season. I smile every time I open a Christmas card. They truly bring be so much joy. I can’t believe it’s already Christmas. I hope you and your family have a wonderful and blessed holiday. Merry Christmas!

Last week my kids had the incredible opportunity to ride (and some even flew with the controls) in an airplane with an FAA certified pilot. After they experienced having an up close firsthand look at aviation I knew I had to spread the word about Young Eagles!

What is Young Eagles you ask? My mom was the one who found out about it and it is a phenomenal program developed with the sole mission to introduce and encourage kids in the world of aviation! It’s completely-100%- FREE and the volunteers are great.

My parents took my brother’s kids to one in Kentucky last year. This year my kids went to one in Ohio. The airport was not far and the registration was simple. It worked out perfectly for us because seconds after I signed up my four kids they closed registrations because it was full. I also was lucky enough to have just the right ages. The program is for kids ages 8-17 and Elle is 8 and Z is 17 so we covered the whole range.

The program began with some history and instruction then they went out to the airplanes.

It was all very well organized, professional, but also super fun and welcoming.

Z and Elle actually flew together.

SJ and Ezie flew together along with one other participant.

The flights last approximately 20 minutes.

They each got a log book along with a very informative packet, and a certificate signed by the pilots. The pilots also return their registration form to the EAA Young Eagles office, where the flight will be officially registered in the World’s Largest Logbook.

The Young Eagles program began in 1992 and since then over 2.3 million kids have enjoyed a free introductory flight. Young Eagles isn’t just in Kentucky and Ohio it’s all over the country. The website g

I get excited about this because I love how it enriches the community and inspires children but one of the reasons it’s extra cool to me is because my dad was a pilot. He started learning to fly at age 14 and then got his pilots license at 16.

I know it’s not for everybody. I barely tolerate driving a car, I am not cut out for flying a plane like my dad! I think it’s a cool opportunity though and could open the door to your child’s future career or passion.

This is just a little glimpse of all that the program entails. Definitely check out the EAA’s Young Eagles website for more details. It’s too good of an opportunity for me not to share. Thanks to Mémé and Pépé (my parents) for finding out about Young Eagles.

School is official back in session and this is a year like no other in a few different ways.

First of all I got a new job. I still work for the school, but instead of working with adults with special needs in the high school I am working in a school based day treatment classroom at the junior high.

If you google what that means you probably won’t find much (at least I didn’t when they told me that was my job and I tried to figure out what that meant). SBDT is the most intensive program in our district for students with emotional and behavioral health concerns. Children in this program have struggled to maintain behavior that is safe or fit for a traditional classroom setting. My job, along with a team of two other paraprofessionals, an intervention specialist and a therapist, is to help these students overcome some of these challenges that have disrupted their education. So it’s an intense job. I will be getting a lot of training and I will take all the prayers! I do believe God placed me here for a reason and I am hoping to make a difference. I know that my coworkers geniunly care about these kids as well so I am thankful for this unified team.

Now onto the Busch kids! Elle is in 3rd grade and is doing cheerleading for the first time this year. She is getting so tall, but she’s still the baby of the family, especially since she is the only one that is still in children’s church.

Elle goes to the elementary school with Ezie. Ezie is in 6th grade. His class is the last group of 6th graders to be at their current building. They are building a new junior high and it will include 6th grade when it opens next school year. He’s also in youth group now which is hard to believe.

SJ is in 8th grade. Similar to Ezie she will be the last group of 8th graders to go through her building because they are shutting down that school when the new junior high is ready. SJ also just started fall soccer.

Z is a Junior in high school now. I know children grow up and become adults. All of us adults did this! Somehow it still seems unbelievable when it happens to your own babies. Z is excelling musically and academically. We are hoping he can find some kind of job soon to float cost of gas and spending money for when he hangs out with his friends. I am trusting the right job will fall into place.

So that’s the whole shebang. I took these pictures on Sunday before church as a bit of a practice round before school. I have taken photos with my professional camera at the beginning of every school year and I wasn’t going to let this job get in the way of that. This isn’t the first time the first day of school photos weren’t necessarily  on the same day as the first day of school. Thanks to staggered start dates, different schools (including when SJ was at OVV) we’ve always kind of picked a day for pictures. They did wear these outfits other than SJ who chose her shirt, but then ended up hating it. Don’t get me started on how picky that teenager is! Also Elle always wears her hearing aids to school and she doesn’t have them in these pictures.

I’m really happy with how all the photos turned out. I only have one year left of first day photos with all four of them, so yes I color coordinated and yes I am savoring every last drop of having them home. I am going to close out this blog post now before I get too emotional. Thanks checking out this update.

I have been an Aldi fan since January 2019. I know it’s odd to know the exact date you fell in love with a grocery store but I did a whole spiel on Instagram so it’s documented. I also have a blogpost I wrote three months into when I converted to Aldi. It’s actually a pretty good summary of what I love about Aldi and it’s all still true except the part where I went from spending $700 a month down to $500. COUGH! 2019 was another lifetime wasn’t it? I spend DOUBLE that now.

Last year I was beyond thrilled when I started hearing rumors that Aldi was coming to my town! Then it was confirmed and I actually said on a neighborhood group “If Aldi comes late June that will be the best birthday present ever” followed by a shopping cart and coin emoji (if ya know ya know).

Summer arrived and Aldi was almost complete and ready to open at the end of June as anticipated, but wait, it gets better. THE ALDI GRAND OPENING WAS ON MY BIRTHDAY! I was ecstatic.

So I found a couple of friends crazy enough to join me for this big event. We originally were planning to arrive at 6:30 am for the 8:30 am ribbon cutting but one of my friends arrived a little before 6 and saw that there were people lining up.

I was already ready so I immediately hopped in the car to head that way. It was important to be the first 100 people in line because you would be eligible for a golden ticket, some of which were $100 gift cards, and everyone got a goodie bag. Regardless of the prizes I wanted the satisfaction of knowing I was in the first 100!

I arrived to find a decent line but it didn’t look like 100 people so I figured we were good. With my coffee, a big bottle of water and chair in my arms I marched over to Aldi along with my two amigas and we parked ourselves in line with the other fanatics.

For my birthday they gave me the sweetest gifts including a chicken mug and a chicken keychain to put a quarter in for your shopping cart. How perfect is that!?

We also chowed down on donuts from Holtman’s (my fave) and a pastry from Servatiis (also my fave).

All complete with a candle and a balloon. I know people wondered how or why I would wait in line for a grocery store. To be clear, I was willing to do it by myself but with friends it made the time fly by. It wasn’t boring waiting in line for hours, it was fun!

At about 30 minutes before the ribbon cutting someone started handing out numbers to mark where we were at in line.

We were numbers 30, 31, and 32.  More and more people continued pouring in, but the police were having to redirect them because there just wasn’t anymore room! I saw how long the line was and I can imagine how it felt to be number 99 or 100 and just barely make it. I also imagine how it felt to be 101. Ouch.

There were also people from the city there celebrating the new business so received some freebies from the city of Milford while we were waiting.

When the time finally came to go in we each were handed an Aldi reusable bag full of Aldi products.

I was expecting free samples, but these were full size products. We were also each handed a golden ticket! Mine was worth $10 and so were my friends, but I think someone in front of us got a $100 gift card (I posted a screenshot of her collage above). We also received multiple $10 off coupons which for me was like cash money for me because I know I am going to use everyone of those coupons.

We shopped a little, but not much. This wasn’t about the shopping. It was about the experience. I loved it and would do a grand opening again.

Later that day on Facebook a conversation started on the neighborhood group where a lot of people were flabbergasted by who on earth would want to line up for a grocery store. They just didn’t get it.

One person went as far to say “Some people just have no life! My goodness people it’s a stupid grocery store.” One person replied asking him why not let people have their joy and he said “I celebrate Jesus, my family and health you know the stuff that should be important to people.” I know better than to engage with negativity online but I couldn’t help myself. I had to share my experience.

I got a lot more happy birthdays after I posted that. To be honest this was one of my favorite birthdays. I am thankful for another year of God’s faithfulness, health, family, and friends. And I’m not gonna lie, after driving 20+ minutes to an Aldi every week for the past 5 years I am thankful to now have one 4 miles away.

It’s been a solid 11 years since SJ got her cochlear implants.  As an adrenaline junkie she has had her fair share of adventures. She’s been rock climbing, rappelling, cliff jumping, kayaking, and caving to name a few.

SJ has also had a little exposure to thrill rides at carnivals and theme parks. This year for Christmas she received a King’s Island Pass.

King’s Island is Cincinnati’s 364 acre amusement park. Of course she was the most excited about getting to ride all of the roller coasters, but there isn’t a lot of information out there about roller coasters and cochlear implants. I know cochlear implant users ride roller coasters, but the opinions about how cautious you should be varies.

One side claims you shouldn’t attempt riding a roller coaster at all if you have a cochlear implant. I called SJ’s CI manufacturer (Cochlear Americas) to get the official stance on the matter and they told me the audiologist recommends wearing a helmet for any high risk activity, which according to their list included carousels. CAROUSELS!? The fake horsies that calmly go around in a circle? That seems extreme.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are CI recipients who ride any and all roller coasters and keep their processors on with no modifications. For the record, I know someone in real life who had a CI processor fly off on a ride and it was lost forever. I will not be in the camp of zero precautions, but I also don’t want to limit her from having a reasonable level of fun.

When SJ went to King’s Island with her friends this summer she taped them on, took them off for various rides and brought extra tape to secure them again.

So that’s my Advice for anyone with cochlear implants wondering how to approach roller coasters or rides. If you are going to an amusement park tape your processors on and tether them to your shirt with a clip. Here is the tape we use.

and here is the clip we use. You can get both items on Amazon.

I would personally suggest taking your device off and storing it in a secure place like a pocket with a zipper while on the ride. Bring extra tape so that you aren’t using the same piece and it looses its stickiness. This isn’t official medical advice so talk to your audiologist or ENT for stipulations that are specific to you, but as someone who is always researching and hasn’t been able to find much online I wanted to share our experience. Most importantly just be encouraged that having hearing devices does not have to hold you back. You can still have fun!

Although I was nervous about her King’s Island visit SJ came home with both processors and had no issues at all. In fact she had the time of her life and talked endlessly about how much she enjoyed the rides.

My friend who brought her to the park sent pictures which were so fun to see. I went through them one by one with SJ and asked her how she handled her processors in each scenario. Here were her responses.

The Banshee is inverted so you hang from the roller coaster tracks instead of riding on it. SJ said she took her implants off for this one because she was told it was “super crazy”. She also took her Crocs off because people have lost shoes on this ride. She said she doesn’t like not hearing on the ride but also thought it was VERY fun!

The Rushing River Log Ride made me nervous because it’s water and her devices can get wet, but they aren’t water proof. SJ loved this ride and told me she kept her processors on the whole time. She did get wet but it wasn’t submersion and we have a drying box to put them in at home. We’ve used Zephyr by Dry & Store since day one of our hearing loss journey.

The Beast is a roller coaster that I remember from my childhood, not that I ever rode it because for the record I AM THE OPPOSITE of SJ. I am scared of heights and at her age I was terrified of roller coasters. SJ said “I took my implants off of this one because it was one of those ride that were very bumpy. It had a lot of sharp turns and stuff. So yeah, if I did keep my implants on then they were probably going to fall off.”

Here is what SJ told me about the Diamond Back “For this one I kept my implants on but at one part there was like some water but none of it hit me so my implants stayed dry and they stayed on the whole time. I thought it was fun but I wished it had more water.”

Mystics Timbers is one she had done many times before and she told me that she kept her processors on and it was fine.

When I asked SJ about each ride I had voice to text transcribe as she talked to me and here is exactly what the text says

“For the Orion my friends said I should take them off because they thought that they would fly off, same with my crocs, but I just keep them on because I didn’t want to not be able to hear anything while on the roller coaster. They stayed on pretty well. The magnets did come off but I just put them back on.”

Me:

“My implants stayed on just the magnet parts came off.”

She calls her devices her implants. What she was saying is that the hearing device stayed securely taped to her ears, but the magnet which is attached by a coil came off of her head and she just reattached it while riding. It turned out okay, but still freaks me out. For the record the Orion is the seventh-tallest and tenth-fastest roller coaster in the world. At one point it goes 91 mph. I want to puke just thinking about it.

One ride they did not get a photo on was the Flight of Fear which is an indoor roller coaster. I have ridden it before and so has SJ. There are signs posted that warn riders to remove earrings or hearing devices because of the over the shoulder restraints. So for that ride she does remove her processors.

SJ gives 5 stars to all the rides. She absolutely loves Kings Island.