I was going through a box of photos from my childhood with my kids the other day. It was my “braces period” so the photos weren’t my favorite. I would have looked better with Invisalign than my giant metal mouth, and my kids were happy to tell me all about it.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend a mini-bloggy bootcamp courtesy of the SITS girls and Invisalign. When I got the opportunity to write a sponsored post for Invisalign, I was only to happy to do so. Even though this is a sponsored post, the opinions are all mine.

If you aren’t familiar with Invisalign, Invisalign is a series of nearly invisible, removable “aligners” that are used to gradually straighten teeth without metal or wires.

I got braces in sixth grade. I had the huge overbite AND the weird teeth that were higher than the rest AND the spiky ones that looked like fangs. My smile was messed up.

I’m going to go ahead and blame braces for all the evil in my awkward teenage years. There is no other possible explanation for the funky hair and full length chiffon dress. (It couldn’t possibly have had something to do with the fact that it was the 80′s.)

If you look really close, you might see some blue frosted eye shadow. I’m certain I smelled like Love’s Baby Soft.

My husband and I both wore braces. We wear glasses. One of our kids seems like he won the genetic lottery. The other one is already wearing glasses and obviously will be in need of orthodontic services soon. He already has the funky dracula smile.

As a mom, I was already dreading the whole orthodontic thing because I had horrible memories.

Braces hurt. Braces made me unwilling to smile. Braces made the whole teenage dating thing a even more awkward. It was just… bad. Really really bad.

(raise your hand if you remember how your lips felt after a really long good night kiss on the front porch.  mine always felt like i’d been rubbing my face against the cheese grater.)

Since it wouldn’t be fair to show you a “before” shot of how nerdy I looked with braces without showing an “after” shot, I dug around and found another wedding family photo for comparison.

Not even a hint of Love’s Baby Soft in that photo.

If I could do something that would let my kids skip past the whole awkward phase off sparkly blue eye shadow, bad perfume, and awkward cheese grater kisses, I would.

I may not be able to protect my boys from all the weird and awkward parts of their teen years (I’m quite certain they’ll wear too much Axe on a first date), but I can at least protect them from the cheese grater thing.

Orthodontic technology has changes a LOT since the eighties!

Invisalign is better.

When compared to metal (or even ceramic wire & bracket) braces, the clearaligner option has many benefits. Although the cost is roughly about the same as traditional braces, the system usually requires fewer office visits, shorter appointments and no “emergency” visits for broken wires or brackets. Metal wires and brackets can cause irritation or even accident-related injuries,especially for teens involved in sports.

I love that Invisalign simplifies the experience, speeds it up, and costs about the same as traditional braces.

As the school year comes to a close, it seems appropriate to share some thankful thoughts on just how much I love my school and appreciate the teachers.

This has nothing to do with the fact that they’ve cared for my kids during the day for the past ten months (giving more time to be kid free and do whatever it is I do all day).  It has everything to do with the fact that my kids go to an amazing school.  I’m blessed.  My kids are blessed.  And I’m thankful.

There’s a long list of reasons why, but on my heart today are the PEOPLE that make up the school.

I love my school and appreciate the teachers.

Tomato Basil Goat Cheese Bruschetta is one of my absolute favorite things about summer. Either this or Caprese Salad makes it onto our summer menu at least twice a week.

Get your hands on some fresh, sun ripened tomatoes.  I used cherry tomatoes cut into quarters, but you could use whatever you’re growing.

This takes fresh goat cheese (the creamy kind).  Use a little spoon to create globs of creamy goat cheese goodness all over the tomatoes.  I go for pieces that are about the same size as the tomato pieces.  You want about half as much goat cheese as tomatoes.

Go out to your garden and pick a handful of  fresh basil. Clean your basil leaves and then stack the leaves up on top of each other.  Gently slice them into thin ribbons and then scatter them on top of the cheese.  For a cup and a half of tomatoes, I use 10 to 15 good sized basil leaves.

Drizzle a good quality olive oil all around the salad.  I don’t measure, but I’d guess it’s about 1- 2 tablespoons worth.

Drizzle some balsamic syrup (reduced balsamic vinegar) on there too.  Again, I don’t measure, but it’s about 1-2 tablespoons.

Sprinkle a bit of kosher or sea salt on the top, along with a few grinds of fresh black pepper. If you feel extra fancy, use Maldon Flaked Sea Salt (affiliate link).

Stir and combine the ingredients gently.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  I like to add a little more balsamic vinegar on the top.

This is wonderful on a bed of baby spinach leaves as a main dish salad, or served with some crispy garlic bread slices for an appetizer.  Or if you’re like me, just eat it with a spoon before your husband comes home.  Hide all the evidence and serve him cold cuts for dinner.

(not that i’ve ever done that honey.  honest.)

Tomato Basil Goat Cheese Bruschetta Recipe

To make it be actual bruschetta, spread it onto the crispy thick bread slices that you serve bruschetta on.  Personally, I use cheap french bread from the grocery store cut into one inch thick slices and lightly toasted on both sides.

It’s Five Minute Friday, hosted by Lisa-Jo Baker at The Gypsy Mama.  Five minutes of free writing flash mob goodness.

If you aren’t familiar, the rules are simple.  Lisa-Jo Baker gives a single word writing prompt every Friday.   Each of us have five minutes to write and post.  No editing, no second guessing, no fancy stuff.  Just plain writing – straight from the heart. (click HERE for the official rules and details).  Then we go visit other participants and shower them with comment love.

Last week, the word was COMFORT

This week, the word is SONG.

On the surface, this looks like a story about little birds learning to fly.  It’s not.

I’m sure your next assumption is that the little flying birds are a metaphor for my children.  That would be a mighty fine story and you’re welcome to tell it to yourself.  This… this is something different.

There was a little bird in the front yard the other day.

It was a baby blue jay to be specific.  Although, perhaps the word “juvenile” is a better description.

It wasn’t quite flying, but it was doing the fly-hop thing.  The parental birds were in the nearest tree branch, crying out what sounded like encouragement and instruction.

My neighbor and her daughters were quite distressed.  They were worried that the sweet little baby would be devoured by one of the neighborhood cats.  They were worried that the bird would die of cold, unable to fly back up to it’s nest.  They worried that the bird would starve.