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Its The Maples!

The Maple Family Official Blog

We’re The Maples!

The Maple Family Blog

Hi All!

Welcome to the Maple family blog.

Most of the time, it’s going to be me, Marie, aka “Mama Maple” writing about our adventures but who knows you may get the occasional post from Andrew and even Jack. If Henry ever writes it will be a shocking surprise as Henry is still learning his “ABC’s” 🙂

So, if you found us on YouTube, Instagram or Facebook or you happen to be one of our loyal subscribers from our decade + online, thanks for visiting us here.

The Maples blog and social media channels came from what we were already doing on a smaller scale, documenting our life and the adventures we were having with our kids, which we then in turn shared with our family friends and email lists.

Since Andrew and I both work from home as internet entrepreneurs (we’ve never had a traditional job and we’ve both been marketing online since 2001) we made the decision to homeschool our children.

These choices, along with others, have made it so that our life (though always chaotic) is filled with an abundance of time and location freedom which leads the people who know us to think that we lead a somewhat unconventional life.

So since our subscribers were asking us to “vlog” more, we just started doing it. It may sound funny but with a customer base of over 100,000 people we are still pretty shy people so the idea of doing vlogging our life was a little intimidating. What we didn’t bank on was having an 11 year old and subsequently a 4 year old (who loves to follow along with what his big brother does) who LOVES making videos, everywhere, all the time, LOL!

 

 

 

So here we are with now…making weekly episodes of what life is like for our little family of 4, thereby fulfilling a request from our family, subscriber base and our children.

Yes, life is slightly unconventional but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

We’re free spirited, we don’t like the confines of a box, and we like to do things on a whim. We’re also very aware that what makes up a great life for us is the little things that bring us pleasure, and lots of love from the 2 people who have decided to join us on this life journey.

So here we go…we’d love to share more of our family with you, and we hope you share more of you with us.

Jack, our 11 year old mentioned I should write a quick list of the things we love, so that for those of you who are just hitting this page and don’t know that much about us, maybe after this somewhat long but not exhaustive list (we find new things we love everyday, lol) then you may feel like you know us just a little bit better!

Things That We Love:

Soccer – All 3 of the boys play (and I wish I did, but I really don’t run 😉 .

Andrew plays in a Master’s League for men and coached youth soccer for a number of years. He’s an AVID Ajax fan!

Jack plays Elite Level soccer, and is a ball retriever for the professional soccer team in our city. He hopes one day to play at the highest level he can and hopes his hard work will get him. Be sure to check out our road trip vlog when he went to train in Florida with USMNT Eddie Johnson – what an amazing experience!

Jack in the red.

Henry is only 4, but after watching his brother and father play (days after he was born he was literally on a soccer pitch at 7 days old) he’s a natural striker as confirmed by one of his coaches and a retired FIFA ref but apparently he would rather be a goaltender!

Andrew holding baby Henry
7 day old Henry

Food – Yes, we love food and are perpetually hungry all the time! Seriously, a good time for us involves going to grocery stores, specialty food stores and picking up different things to try. We love to cook, Jack especially, and we our own resident mushroom cutter at home in Henry.

House-a-holic – Yes, I admit it. I have no decorating eye, but how I wish I did, 😂!

We are lucky enough to own a beautiful, almost 200 year old United Church Manse and I could spent all hours of the day, decorating and redecorating and finding antique pieces that I love to decorate with.

One of my favourite things to do as a child was to re-arrange furniture to bring a freshness to the house, and just this past week I’ve done it again just in time to ring in the Christmas season…

Getting the house ready for the tree, vintage ornaments the Ikea stars that I’m thinking of hanging! Aren’t they pretty!?

 

Vintage Finds – Point me in the direction of an antique store or any vintage finds, and I’m there, dragging along my boys and they surprisingly enjoy it as much as I do.

Travel – We love travel and as Henry gets older we hope to do more if it. The last few years have been more of a road tripping phase for us – we just drove down to Orlando, Florida from Nova Scotia, Canada but hey, it’s a long drive but with so much to see down the east coast, so worth it, especially for Jack and Henry who get to soak it all it. If you haven’t watched our road trip video, start here…

Working from home – I guess I should also mention that we’re entrepreneurs and really believe in working for ourselves because it’s created the style of lifestyle we enjoy and affords as the financial freedom to do the things we want 😊

Anyways, above is just a little sampling, at this point I’ll just cut myself off, because I keep on finding things we like but hey, as we get to know each other better, I’m sure we’ll find more things in common.

Thanks for landing here.

We’re pretty thankful you stopped by…

Cheers,

Marie

Quote –

When it rains, look for rainbows. When it’s dark, look for stars…

 

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🇨🇦 Fam of 4 + 🐶 Internet marketers | Travellers | Foodies | Organic | Lifestyle | Soccer Obsessed | Downtown TO -> Rural NS | Follow our adventures!

Boys went tobogganing today! . . #outdoorfun #out Boys went tobogganing today! 
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#outdoorfun #outdooradventures  #winterfun #wintersports #getoutsideandplay #getoutsidemore #getoutsidemoreoften #toboganning #toboganningfun #toboganningtime #sledding #sleddingfun #letssled #canadianwinters #canadianwinter #canadianwinters🇨🇦 #winterinnovascotia #winterinnovascotia2021 #wintersunshine☀️
So my husband just did it - he put up his first co So my husband just did it - he put up his first course on the Outschool platform:  Blogging for Kids 101!

Teaching our children online marketing skills is big for us - it's what made it possible for us to both work from home full-time for the last 16 years (we built our online business while we were still in University, so we have never had a “traditional” job outside of the house.)

During quarantine the past 6 months, our then 11-year-old, started his own blog.

He is such an avid soccer fan and plays elite-level soccer, so that's what he decided he was going to write about.

Little did we know that in just a few short months his blogging passion would see him:

👉 Interview more than 20+ professional players on his own YouTube show and podcast
👉 Be interviewed by CBC Sports about his blog
👉 Have him nominated for an award by the Canadian Premier League for his reporting 

It’s certainly been a whirlwind!

Andrew and I have had so much fun teaching him how to blog and if your child is interested in blogging, Andrew has a class for kids who are interested in learning how to start a blog, even if they have zero experience! 

You can check out the class using the link in the BIO.

What I love about blogging is that it is such a beautiful way for your child to express their inner passions and thoughts. It gives them a voice to provide feedback and value in the world that they live in and is a great way for them to explore new ideas.

Do your kids blog?

What do they blog about? 

Feel free to drop their links in the comments section, my boys are always looking to connect with other kid bloggers!

#kidblogger #homeschooling #homeschoolinglife #homeschoolingrocks  #homeschoolingbyheart  #homeschoolingfamily  #homeschoolingmama  #homeschoolingideas  #homeschoolingboys #homeschooling2020 #homeschoolingfun  #homeschoolingadventures  #homeschoolingmoms101 #homeschoolideas #homeschoolidea #virtuallearning #virutallearningplatform #virtuallearningforkids #virtuallearningforkid #outschool #outschoolclasses #outschooleducation #outschoolteacher #outschooler #outschooling #outschoolclasses #outschoolclass
As he was getting dressed to play outside, Henry w As he was getting dressed to play outside, Henry was struggling to put on a glove and he said to me, “Mommy, I don’t think I have enough fingers for this.” 😂
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#snowdays #playinthesnow #thisis5 #5yearolds #lovethisboy💙 #lovethisboysomuch #outdoortime #novascotialife #christmassnow #whitechristmas❄️ #mybabyboyforever #thingskidssay #funnythingskidssay #funnykidstuff #kidssaythefunniestthings #kidssaythefunnieststuff #lovewhathesays #lovewhathesaid
As I mentioned the other day, I have been making t As I mentioned the other day, I have been making these "Name Word Art" boards, and someone asked me to make them a slight variation of that and requested a "Goals for 2021" board.
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I thought it was such a brilliant idea because in our house, Andrew and I have always had a practice of creating vision boards, and it's something we taught to Jack and Henry at a very young age.
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The vision/dream boards are something that we build with the kids quite frequently as their goals change, albeit they are built on bristol board or on their cork boards, but with the New Year coming up, in addition to our own, I decided that I would offer a personalized vision board for people who wanted a "visual" reminder of their goals for the New Year - Bring it on 2021! 
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If you're interested in having one of these made, pm me. I am having an absolute blast building all these boards! Check out my newest board below!  Plus, if you’re coming from this post, pm and I will give you one of my Etsy shop coupons for being friends here on Insta!! 
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#newyearsresolutions #newyearsresolutions2021 
#goalsetting2021 #custompersonalizedart #goalsettingworks #visionboards #dreamboards
✨New Announcement✨ I’ve been making these li ✨New Announcement✨ I’ve been making these little personal visual boards for friends and family for awhile, and just recently someone said I should look into opening an Etsy shop, which is what I’ve just done...eeeek!!!!
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Can’t even explain how excited I am for this little store as making these little graphics make me so happy 🥰!
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I can make these cute little graphics and all you need to do is provide the details for the person it’s being made for!
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Also, no need to ship as I provide the high quality digital file that can be printed at any shop for less than $5.00 (or at least that’s what it is for us) at any local shop - we went to Staples.
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So since I’ve just opened my new shop, I’m offering a special! 
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They are normally $15 for one as they have quite a bit of customization (all part of the fun) but now for the Holiday season I’m offering my Insta friends 2 for $25. 
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They are a great little present 🎁especially if you’d like one for each child - and they make great stocking stuffers! 🎄✨🎅
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If you have any questions, let me know.  I’m so excited and yes, slightly giddy about my mew shop - ShinesDarlingDesigns, and I’d love to make one for you and your loved ones a personal and surprising gift! 
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#etsyshop #newetsystore #mynewetsystore #digitalprintsgiveaway #stockingstuffersideas #personalgiftsarethebest #christmasgiftsforkids #christmasgiftsforher #christmasgiftsforhim #personalizedgift #customgiftservices #etsyspecial #etsyspecialoffer
Looking for something to get the soccer player in Looking for something to get the soccer player in your life? ⚽️✨
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As many of you know my son Jack, is a brand ambassador with RIOBOL, the size 2 Brazilian ball (weighted like a size 5 that improves precision, touch, and control) and from November 27-30th RIOBOL has everything in their shop for 40% off. 
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Use Jack's link: http://www.CPLFever.ca/riobol and enter "BLACKFRIDAY" at checkout to get 40% off! 👍
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#riobol #ballmastery #rioboltraining #rioboltrainingball #soccerskillstraining #soccerballkids #improveyourtouches #1000touchesaday #improveyoursoccerskills
Can’t get over how sweet these pj’s are, Star Can’t get over how sweet these pj’s are, Star Wars themed with storm trooper gingerbread men! 😍 
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They came from a lovely package sent by my cousin all the way from California.
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Do you have Christmas pj’s that you  love?  Tell me all about them!  Our house is all about the Christmas pj’s! 😂😀🎄✨🎄✨
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#starwarspj #starwarschristmaspjs #stormtroopergingerbread #stormtrooperpjs #hestoocuteforwords #thisis5 
#christmastimeintheair
✨✨ The boys made some Linzer sandwich cookies ✨✨ The boys made some Linzer sandwich cookies the other night as we decorated our first of the Christmas trees for the holiday season! 🎄🎄🎄
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They made these sweet little cookies all by themselves as they listened to their Spotify Christmas playlist made by our tween! 
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Love these 2 little boys with all my heart! 🥰
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Scroll through to see their finished product!! I think the cookies turned out pretty perfect and they tasted amazing!  Our doggo was pretty excited about them too - look at him eyeing Henry 🤣🐶
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Of course we ended up eating them as we took in the Netflix premiere of the “Switched Again” which was fun and by the end of the movie, they were all gone.
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I’ve been informed that after our eldest’s soccer practice tonight, we’ve got more of this on tap for tonight!  Love this time of the year!
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#christmastime #christmastree #christmasiscomingtotown #themostwonderfultimeoftheyear🎄 #christmascookiesfordays #christmasbakinghasbegun #christmasbaking #netflixchristmasmovies #christmaswithmyboys #linzersandwichcookies
Made a crustless pecan pie the other day, and it t Made a crustless pecan pie the other day, and it turned out really well! 
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We are gluten free in our household, and lean paleo, but had a huge craving for pecan pie.  Not enough GF flour meant I needed an alternative crustless pecan pie it was!
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#pecanpie #crustlesspecanpie #pecanpierecipe
Callum, Mage from “The Dragon Prince” 🎃👻 Callum, Mage from “The Dragon Prince” 🎃👻
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#halloween2020 #halloweencostume #halloweencostume #halloweendiycostume #callumdragonprince #thedragonprince #dragonprincecosplay #dragonprincecallum #dragonprincenetflix
Courtesy of my 4 year old. . . . #dresserdrawer #d Courtesy of my 4 year old.
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#dresserdrawer #dresserdecor #stickersonfurniture #noahsark #animalstickers #dadolddresser #antiquefurniturelove #4yearoldart #thisis4 #4yearoldinthehouse #inlovewithmylife #momofboysonly #thesweetestboyintheworld #thesweetest
Today I picked up these yummy, non-dairy ice cream Today I picked up these yummy, non-dairy ice creams for the kids!  Made by @yellofruit I’d never heard of the brand before but was thrilled to find them.
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I’m a person who loves to read labels, so I was happily surprised at the clean, organic ingredients, and was thrilled that they were both so delicious! 
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I’ve got a picky little 4 year old at home and when I pulled the ice cream out of the freezer his eyes lit up - I think judging from the packaging he thought he was going to eat something delicious!
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I’m happy to report that both flavours were eaten eagerly, the strawberry was lovely and the chocolate was a big, big hit! 👏👏👏. 
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#nodairyicecream #nondairyicecream #nondairyicecreamforthewin #yellofruit #yellofruitsummer2020 #yellofruiticecream #yummyicecream #nondairyalternatives #nodairynoproblem #nodairyneeded #nodairynoglutennoproblem #nodairynogluten #nodairydiet #nodairyproducts #nodairylife #soyummythough #lovethis #nodairydesserts #nodairydessert
I love picking fruit in the summer!☀️ . . The I love picking fruit in the summer!☀️ 
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The kids have such a great time and eating fruit off the tree is such a delicious treat!
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Here was our cherry 🍒 bounty last week!
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#cherrypicking #cherrypicking🍒 #fruitpickingseason #cherryseason🍒 #lovecherries🍒 #sourcherries #cherrytarts #cherrypie🍒 #fruitorchards #sweetcherries #cherrypickingseason #getoutsidemore #getoutsidens #naturesbountybeauty #summertimefun #summertimevibes #summertime❤️
My son is giving away a FREE RIOBOL! If you or yo My son is giving away a FREE RIOBOL!  If you or your kid or someone you know plays soccer and would love one of these, enter the giveaway!  Go to @jackmurraytv for more details! 
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Posted @withregram • @jackmurraytv ✨It’s GIVEAWAY time! ✨
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I’m giving away a FREE RIOBOL this Monday!
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To enter is super simple, all you need to do is the following 3 things:
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⭐️ Follow RIOBOL
⭐️ Tag 3 friends
⭐️ Follow me @jackmurraytv 
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Good luck!
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The RIOBOL is an excellent training tool! Weighted like a size 5 but in a size 2 ball, it creates control, precision and confidence!  Be sure to get yours today!
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#createconfidence #createconfidencecontrol #getbetterfaster #ballmastery #ballmasterymonday #soccertrainings #futsalskills #canadasoccer #brazilianfutbol #braziliansoccer #riobolgiveaway #technicaltraining #instasoccerkids #instasoccer #footwork #footworkdrills #soccertechnique #soccerdrills
My little man doing the “Samba” using his RIO My little man doing the 
“Samba” using his RIOBOL.
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For more on the RIOBOL go to www.RIOBOL.com and use the 20% discount code “JACKMURRAY” for any merchandise purchase.
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#ballmastery #ballmasteryfootball #soccerdrills #soccerdrillsforkids #soccerdrillsdaily #soccerfootwork #soccerfootworkdrills #soccertraining #soccerplayer #improvefootballskills #footworkchallenge #braziliantoetaps #braziliantoetouches #brazilianfutbol #brazilianfútbol #futsal #soccerfootworkspeed #soccerprecision #practicemakesprogress #onethousandtouches #thousandtouchesontheball #thousandtouchesaday
I’m pretty excited about today's post because Ja I’m pretty excited about today's post because Jack just recently partnered up with an amazing company, RIOBOL.
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RIOBOL is a Brazilian technical training ball that is a size 2 ball but as heavy as a size 5 soccer ball.
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Since Jack started working with it, and testing it out, he’s really enjoyed using it and has been really impressed at how it's helped with his touch and how in just a short period of time he’s seeing improvements.
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As a soccer player, you want to be able to create.
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Creativity on the ball is one of your best assets and in order to have the freedom to CREATE, players need the confidence and the ability to control the ball. 
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The mission for RIOBOL is to develop that instinctive ball control.
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Over the next few days Jack will be sharing videos on how he uses his RIOBOL and will also be doing a super sweet GIVEAWAY so that you can enter to win one of your very own to start using right away!  If you’ve got anyone who would love to practice their soccer technique  and ball mastery skills with this ball, be sure to enter!
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And just so you know how awesome this company is, they donate a portion of every RIOBOL sold towards building soccer parks in the poorest communities.
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So be sure to check out the riobol by going to http://www.RIOBOL.com 
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And right now, to get a 20% discount on all purchased merchandise (check out their cool 😎 shirts!) be sure to use the code “JACKMURRAY” on checkout!
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GET • BETTER • FASTER with RIOBOL
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#trainingball #soccertraining #soccerequipment #rioboltraining #getbetterfaster #futsal #giveaway #braziliansoccer #ballcontrol #ballmastery #futboltraining #technicaltraining #thebeautifulgame #weightedball #streetsoccer #canadasoccer #ussoccer #controlconfidencecreate #juggling #soccerjuggling #soccerjugglingpractice
The Mojave. . . . Sadly, we’re not doing much tr The Mojave.
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Sadly, we’re not doing much travelling these days (hard for us as we work from a laptop and the kids are homeschooled), but these photos came up in my memories the other day.
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It was 9 years ago today, we took a barely 3 year old Jack, flew to the States, rented a car and went on a road trip travelling through the Mojave desert from Nevada to California.
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It was a very surreal, and magical experience.  I had just lost my father a little less that a year before and being in the desert, in the silence, with no one around made me feel like he was with me and gave me so much comfort in my personal grief.
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This trip was so good for my soul and so many of my favourite memories are of my little family and I road tripping.  I’m looking forward to planning more.
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What are your favourite travel memories?
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#mojavedesert #mojavenationalpreserve #mojave #mojavedesertcalifornia #roadtripmojave #roadtrippin #roadtripusa #roadtripping #oasisofmara #joshuatreenationalpark #desertphotography #desertlandscape #
I can’t believe my last post was at the beginnin I can’t believe my last post was at the beginning of May!  It was a family picture of us and our masks and since then, I’ve gone silent 😳
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Truth is lots has happened but I’ve been mostly living life off my own social media and helping our little guy (our 12 year old) with his blog and his new found passion of interviewing pro soccer players ⚽️⚽️⚽️
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During quarantine our son, who is a ball retriever for the professional soccer team in our city, started a blog and started interviewing players.
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Since online marketing is what Andrew and I do for a living, we’ve helped him set it all up, have taught him how to use YouTube and certain software to his advantage and given him the checklist for SEOing his blog posts etc...
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Happy to report he likes it and he even got his first influencer/brand repping gig in this quarantine period by building his blog, YouTube and Instagram following!
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Personally, I’m going to try to post with a little more consistency as my social media accounts help me remember what goes on in my life, lol, but how have you guys been doing? 
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How has quarantine been?  How are you feeling now that things are re-opening?  Lots of conflicting thoughts and feelings on my end, but trying to work through them.
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Hope you guys are having a good Wednesday!
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#imback #quarantineactivities #quarantinelife😷 #kidblogger #kidbloggersonig #kidbloggersofig #kidbloggers #kidbloggersinstagram #kidbloggersofinstagram #kidbloggerofinstagram #searchengineoptimizationtips #youtubekidsblogger #youtubekidsvideo #youtubeinterview #youtubeinterviews
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