This post is meant to be an all-in-once resource for Christmas with little kids. It has a LOT packed in – everything from modeling gratitude & generosity to Advent ideas to figuring out how MUCH (or little) to actually get your kids & what are the best toys that last …
Have you ever heard of a Jesse Tree? “Using a Jesse Tree at Advent involves a series of 25 daily scriptures, devotional readings, and symbolic ornaments. Each day’s theme teaches a piece of redemption history, beginning with creation and culminating with the birth of Jesus. It is visual, interactive, and …
I’ve grown to really like celebrating Advent the past several years. The word “Advent” comes from a Latin word meaning “coming.” There’s something about the anticipation. The set-aside time and space to look at the Giver of all good gifts. To remember that He became the greatest Gift we’ve ever …
YNAB is by far, our favorite online budgeting tool for tracking spending and money management. YNAB costs $6.99/ month (billed annually), and the most frequently asked question I get about it is, “Why pay when there are free budgeting tools available like Mint? Is YNAB worth the money?” This YNAB …
This slow cooker vegetable beef soup/ stew recipe is from my faithful red plaid Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. If you don’t have one, get one! It’s a staple for all the basics in cooking!! Vegetable Beef Soup [Slow Cooker/ Crockpot] Ingredients 1 lb boneless beef chuck pot roast, cut …
In this post, I’ll show you exactly how to meal plan for a whole month (even if you hate meal planning). With 4 small children running around, I don’t want to spend a lot of time meal planning. So, I set up a system where I can now plan breakfasts, …
In this post, you will learn 12 simple tips for cooking dinner in the morning, 15 recipes for make-ahead dinner ideas and 10 quick & easy recipes you can pull together in less than 15 minutes. Cooking dinner in the morning has been the best meal prep tip the last …
In this post I will give you my 12 best tips for surviving with 2 under 2. Our first 2 kids are 17 months apart, and the first few months with our second baby were SO hard. I basically felt like, “WHAT DO YOU TINY PEOPLE NEED FROM ME AND …
In this post, you’ll learn which 9 items to purchase in order to build a capsule maternity wardrobe on a tight budget. We had 4 babies in 5 years (no multiples!) while paying off debt AND living on one income. So, if you are looking for some tips on a …
I hear people bemoaning the darn grocery budget all the time! It’s so hard to know how much groceries “should” be costing. In fact, one of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “how much do you spend on groceries?” or “What should your grocery bill be?” In the last couple years that …
Becoming a parent can be hard on your marriage. There’s a big learning curve, trying to figure out your new roles as parents, and how to communicate with each other. You don’t want to talk about your kids all the time, but when you finally get a quiet moment alone, …
Let’s be honest. The title of this post is ridiculous. Nothing could ever totally help you with preparing for baby. But, should you find yourself expecting a baby (or hoping for, adopting, or fostering a baby), there are a few things that might make the transition to mommy life just a …
In this post, you’ll learn the exact laundry system I figured out to the laundry overwhelm for a big family with several small children. I used to be drowning in laundry. With 4 kids under 7, there were clothes everywhere all the time. Dressup play = clean clothes all over …
Whether your food budget is $100 per month or $1,000 per month, if you want to stick to the food budget you’ve decided on, you have to know how to track your grocery spending. After all, if you have a budget, but don’t know how much you’re spending, then do …
I originally wrote this post several years ago after we got our first two babies sleeping through the night by 12 weeks. Since then, we’ve done the same thing with two more babies and thousands upon thousands of people have read and shared this post. I’ve also written a more …
Before I had children, back when I was a perfect mother, I subconsciously imagined that our mornings would be slow and cozy… I thought it would be fun to have the kids come crawl into bed with me, and we’d all wake up slowly together. There were also unicorns jumping through rainbows in this figment of …
First of all, if you are a new parent, CONGRATS! Kids are an awesome gift and you will sleep again. I promise!! This post is designed to help you understand the eat play sleep schedule you might have heard about. We’ve had 4 babies of varying sleep personalities and used …
There is an infamous 4 month sleep regression that happens sometime around when a baby is 4 months old. Coupled with typical postpartum exhaustion and/ or depression, it can be exhausting and overwhelming for even the seasoned mama. You can help your baby through this sleep regression and I plan …
Confession: I’ve use to think Aldi was gross. I thought that you would only shop at Aldi if you had to. And if you could possibly afford to shop anywhere else, you obviously would, because ew, Aldi. I don’t know why I thought that, and seeing as how I’ve done …
Our zero-degree-freeze-the-snot-inside-your-nose midwestern winters are in full swing, and we are officially hibernating. I bought 3 months worth of food and we’re not leaving the house until April. The freezing months of winter here cause us to get a little bit creative with our indoor activities. And by creative, I mean, …