diy valentines.

I decided to (ever so slightly) step up my DIY game from last year and make a different version of the same class and teacher gifts.

Candy-Free Valentines for the Kiddos:

Because these melted crayon hearts are everywhere, I had to give it a try. A little time consuming, but very easy, and they turned out super cute!

What You'll Need:

• Crayons (I've read that Crayola or more quality brands work best. I'm just lucky that those were the ones in my kiddo's crayon box. We have had so many! I made 36 hearts and used about 2 crayons per heart) 
• Silicone heart mold (bought mine from Amazon) 
• Flat cookie sheet
• A sharp knife (shh! don't tell my husband, you know the one who actually cooks, that I went to town on these bad boys with our 'good' paring knife!) 
• Plastic bags (ideally snack size but I made do with sandwich size) 
• Paper (I used card stock to print on) 
• Stapler
• A little bit of patience :) 

What You'll Do: 

• Preheat your oven to 275 degrees 
• Lay your crayon down on a surface that you don't care about or a cutting board and carefully use your sharp knife to cut the paper on the crayon - if you go along the seam, this makes it very easy. Really dig in because it will come off so much more easily. I started out peeling paper and that is for chumps. The knife method was so much faster! 
• Call your kid over to help. Mine was not interested until I told him that he could break the crayons into pieces
• Have your kid mix colors into the heart-shaped mold until he/she loses interest and wanders away
• As soon as their backs are turned, re-arrange to your heart's content. They will be beautiful! 

• Put the silicone mold onto the flat cookie sheet for some stability and put into the 275 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until all of your crayons melt. 
• Remove carefully so that the marbling of your colors doesn't agitate too much. They should look something like this: 

• Wait 30 minutes before popping the hearts out of the molds or, if you're impatient like I am, put a little bit of ice and water into large Pyrex dish to create an ice bath. Once the silicone cools for a minute or two out of the oven, place the silicone mold into the ice bath and then your hearts will be ready in about 5-7 minutes! 
• Carefully pop the hearts out of the mold. I'm not going to lie, I broke a few -- but you can just re-melt and re-set. So pretty! 

• Put your hearts into your sandwich/snack sized bags
• Type or write something cute (I'm all for bad puns) onto the card stock and then staple onto the bag. Our message on the front says, "COLOR me happy to be your friend! - Nathan" and on the back it says, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

And there you have it! Super cute valentines that cost me only the price of the silicone mold...but it will be put to good use. I am a creature of habit and have an inkling that I'll be doing these for the next few years. 

Super Inexpensive Valentine's Gift for Teachers; 

Also a repeat of last year's gift, even less changed than the kids' valentines. 

What You'll Need: 

• 1 box of Betty Crocker brownie mix, per teacher
• 1 Betty Crocker spatula, per teacher (found at the beloved Dollar Tree!) 
• Paper (I used card stock to print on. Saved this in a Word document so that I don't have to worry about re-sizing next year!) 
• Hot glue gun 
• Double-sided tape
• Twine

What You'll Do; 

• Hot glue the spatula to the brownie box - I did mine at an angle. Make sure that the brownie box can still sit upright 
• Print or write out a sweet, pun-filled message for the teacher and tape onto the brownie box. Our message says, "Ms. Kristin I'm aiming for brownie points! ;) Happy Valentine's Day! - Nathan"  Again, saved this so I have a template already done for next year. 
• Tie twine around the box horizontally at the center (totally optional - no function other than to look cute)

And we have another adorable, inexpensive Valentine's Day gift for the teacher. I forgot to look for brownie's on sale in advance, but even with that oversight this cost about $2.30 per teacher. 

snowzilla.

I was absolutely ecstatic when I received a snowblower this past Christmas, like geeking out happy. I am a lover of all things practical and a snowblower falls squarely into that category. See?

First snowstorm of the winter and wouldn't you know, thirty inches of snow. Look at all of this!

That ten inch snowblower had more than its work cut out for it! With a perfectly honed system of knocking snow down with a shovel and blowing it away, we cleared our driveway in about three hours. Not too shabby since we're not used to getting nearly that much snow here!

It took a bit for Nate to warm up to being outside and, heaven forbid, for snow to get inside a sleeve, hood, glove, etc. and there were a few "moments" ...

But on to the fun stuff! Snowman making, sledding, and general outside fun!

Winter finally came, all at once! :)

mom life hacks.

With the holidays coming, the days are going to get even more hectic. Here are my top 10 quick tips that have been lifesavers for me that might help other moms, or anyone with a busy schedule, to wrangle the crazy and preserve a bit of sanity :) 

--1-- Calendar

I live and die by my calendar. It's color coded (everyone in our family has their own color), it has everything about everything, and it keeps me accountable so that I don't forget anything. I personally like to use an online calendar, so that it's easily updated and shared with my husband. To me, our calendar is a thing of beauty!

--2-- Daily To Do List

To do lists motivate me. The act of checking something off of my list encourages me to get through everything, even the things that I really dislike doing (like unloading the dishwasher!). I also write down what was planned for dinner that evening so that I remember to get it started in time. I buy small notebooks so that I can easily keep them in my purse to carry them around and jot things down in. 

To do lists, random thoughts that I jot down, and an excuse to use some washi tape! 

It's also easy to attach a clip and pen to, so that you're always prepared! 

--3-- Command Center

Clutter is not my friend and, while I'm not the biggest fan of things on the side of the fridge, I've found where a command center is really helpful to look at throughout the week. I keep a calendar to keep track of everything, a corkboard for reminders, and a dry erase for meal planning and big events throughout the week. 

--4-- Car Cleanliness

Crumbs happen - with a kiddo in tow, they are unavoidable. Trash piling up in your car can be prevented. A car trash can made from a cereal container and grocery bag has helped to keep the car so much cleaner! Bonus that my kid loves putting trash in, so I never have to ask him to clean up after himself. I also keep a roll of paper towels inside the tote in the car in case there is a monumental mess, along with an umbrella.

--5-- Next Day Set-Up

Okay, a three-part tip here. I'm not sure if I'm the only one that crawls through the morning in a fog until the caffeine kicks in, but it's not my finest time of day. I'm sluggish, I forget things, and I'm more apt to be late. Prepping for the next day the night before helps to save me time! 

Cleaning: A clean house is a happy house. Before bed each night I make sure that all of the dishes are taken care of, the counters are wiped down, the main living areas de-cluttered, the bathroom counters and toilet are wiped down (because, boys), and that everything is ready for the next day. This helps to get the next day started a little easier and also helps to motivate through the next day. 

Breakfast Prep: Somehow using a minute setting up breakfast at night seems to save me ten minutes in the morning. Getting out the cereal container, a bowl, and spoon, setting up the coffee cups, and laying everything out is such a morning time saver! 

Outfit Prep: Okay, so not so much of a "hack" - but it really does save time and streamlines the morning. Picking out clothes the night before, especially if your kiddo helps to pick them, means less arguments about not wanting to wear what's out and insisting on the outfit that's in the laundry. 

--6-- Emails

I have his habit of lying awake in bed at night and thinking of all the things that I need to do the next day and that I might forget. Show and share, taking a specific document into the office, paying a bill, etc. I used to let this interrupt, disrupt, and prevent sweet sleep but I've found that emailing myself a reminder to see first thing in the morning helps to calm the anxiety beast. It may sound silly, but it's been so effective! 

--7-- Note App

Okay, so bordering on neurotic, I also use an app on my phone to jot down any other notes that I need to remember - primarily grocery lists. Can you tell that I am forgetful? :) 

--8-- Meal Planning

Alluded to before in this list, meal planning is another trick to making your week go smoothly, plus it saves me the agony of "what's for dinner?" every night. Every Saturday I clip the coupons, take a look a the current store sales, and my husband and I talk through a meal plan for the week. I don't spend a lot of time looking up deals and clipping coupons (maybe 30 minutes a week), but it definitely saves us quite a bit in groceries! Plus, if you stock up on items that you need for frequently used recipes, then you buy only what you need and can cash in on the sales.

--9-- Pick-up Basket

We all tend to have a lot of "stuff", even if your home isn't cluttered and is pretty organized. Things that we use regularly tend to migrate downstairs with us. I used to spend my evenings up and down the stairs, putting things away. Then there was a life-changing moment when I discovered the pick up basket! Enter a pretty container ....

This blue and white basket/bin lives on our fireplace and its sole purpose in life is to collect the items that need to go upstairs. A toy that needs to go to my son's room? In the basket. A craft supply that needs to go up to my office? In the basket. This way I only need to make one trip to take all of this up at the end of the night and put the items back in their respective homes. Genius!

--10-- Day-to-Day Paper Organization
Paper clutter can be overwhelming, especially the day-to-day paper that comes into your home. I don't like keeping a lot of things on my kitchen counter, but I absolutely love having this paper sorting system in place. I use files for action required, reference, and coupons. When the mail or papers from school, or anything else comes in, it gets sorted immediately and put away. This file organizer isn't too big, either which really limits how much paper you can fit, so it effectively makes sure that you take care of anything that's time sensitive or put away in long-term paper storage.

Well those are my favorite tips for things that work for me and our house to have things run a little more smoothly and have some systems in place to make sure that nothing runs off the rails.

thirty days of thanks challenge.

In the spirit of November and Thanksgiving, I completed the thirty days of thanks challenge again this year and the I'm thankful for the exercise in itself! What a great way to mindfully reflect about all of the good things, big and small, that are in your life. I completed this challenge back in 2013 and did a mini version last summer, if you want to take a look!

Here we go!

• Day 1: Today I'm thankful to be recovering from Halloween, a favorite holiday of both my son and my husband. Check out little man hulking out! We did so much trick-or-treating that today was spent relaxing and trying to get all traces of green off of N's face :) 
• Day 2: I'm still reveling in our awesome Halloween and put this little collage together of every costume that N's ever worn for Halloween. How cute is this?!

• Day 3: Some days I swear that Nate is a carbon copy of my husband. I took him out to run some errands tonight and in Bed, Bath & Beyond, he "pulled a Chris" and set off about twelve of these talking/singing Christmas toys :) 

• Day 4: Today I'm thankful for some true fall weather! There is a crisp, not cold, feeling in the air. The leaves are beautiful! Our next electricity bill will be amazing! (if a bill can in fact be amazing)
• Day 5: We've been watching Inside Out a lot and, much like the little girl in the movie, Nate has an inner goofball island that drives who he is! I love all of his little quirks, even if he does gross things like lick me when I just want to take a picture with him :) 

• Day 6: Today I'm so thankful for my Nana, who celebrated her third heaven anniversary today. I sat and looked through pictures, listened to old voicemails, smiled at the flood of memories, and had myself a good cry. Oh, how I miss her! 
• Day 7: Best laid plans can fall apart quickly ... and that's okay! It's taken me a long time to even consider that as an option, but I'm learning to accept it. We had grand plans today to fill up our Saturday. Then rain came, along with a migraine for me. Sometimes allowing yourself a bit of grace to fall apart or re-prioritize is a huge thing to be thankful for. 
• Day 8: Shopping with my kiddo used to be something that I dreaded, but we've grown out of the days of fearfully running through the store in case of an ill-timed poopy diaper or running away to exercise new-found toddler independence. Instead, he is my right-hand man and helps me navigate through the store. 

• Day 9: What is life without dogs? Our pups are stubborn as anything, but they bring some extra needed chaos and love into our lives. They spend their days roaming around the house to nap in sunny spots and their nights hogging our beds. 

• Day 10: Another Inside Out themed thankfulness thought! Ahh, alliteration. N looked at me today and said, "I'm Sadness. Pull me."

• Day 11: Today I'm so thankful for all of our veterans, past and present, who put everything on the line so that we can enjoy the freedoms that make life so sweet. Both of my grandfathers served, setting tremendous examples for our family. 
• Day 12: I've been loving the Dollar Tree lately to find some fun and inexpensive things for my house. Now that Christmas is right around the corner, I'm starting to explore all the fun Christmas things that they have - including these really fun magnets. N loved putting the different pieces of Santa together. 

• Day 13: Today I celebrated with a bit of ever-illusive ME time! My parents took N out for dinner and Chris got in late from a business trip, which gave me about an hour and a half to myself. I grabbed some necessities from Costco, settled down with a glass of wine (one of the said necessities), and read part of a new book. 
• Day 14: Christmas card pictures! I'll be the first to admit that I stress myself (and the rest of my family) out each year to get these taken, but I love the final results! We're not the best of taking family photos throughout the year, so this is my one guaranteed shot each year. I'm not going to share the photo that we're using on our cards this year (yet), but today the thing that I am thankful for is my ever-goofy son who makes family photo taking an adventure!

• Day 15: I spent a lot of time reading this weekend. I haven't read a book for fun in a long time and I'm absolutely loving this one - The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Album. I really appreciate the imagery, the musical approach, and the story so far. I have a feeling it's going to cause me some tears toward the end, but that just means that I'm invested! :) 
• Day 16: I'm so thankful for my three nephews and (finally!) baby niece. I wish that I lived closer to all of these little goofballs, but I am loving watching them grow up into such awesome kids and Nate sure does adore them, too. 
• Day 17: My friends are the absolute best. It's kind of amazing when people appreciate your own special blend of crazy and still want to spend time with you :) I've gotten especially close with some of the girls from work over the last few years and I really just don't know what I would do without them! 
• Day 18: In prepping for the holidays, I'm especially thankful for our home. It's where we brought N home from the hospital, where he has grown up, and where Chris and I have learned to be parents and better spouses for one another. It's my haven and, while the improvement wish list may always be in the back of my mind, I'm so thankful for this place! 
• Day 19: Thankful for N's teachers today and everything that they've done over the years to take care of my kiddo. Tonight they prepared a Thanksgiving dinner for all of the families and I was more than pleasantly surprised to see what N is thankful for! 

• Day 20: Am I a total nerd to be thankful for a cleaning schedule? Yes, but I am anyway. I've made some small changes and the schedule is probably the best thing I could have done for my sanity as we move into the holidays and life gets even busier! 
• Day 21: Thankful for this kiddo's little mind today. His creativity and imagination keep his little mind busy for hours and the story lines are, more often than not, hilarious. 
• Day 23: Nate can't read yet, but his interest in being read to has skyrocketed over the last six months. Before that we generally read three books a night before bed, but now he initiates the process and generally chooses around twenty books. So we read .... and read and read and read. I generally will read until he falls asleep (ha! that doesn't happen often) or my voice starts to give out (the much more likely of the scenarios). I'm still very worried about him starting kindergarten next fall, but this eases my mind a bit! 

• Day 24: Crafting with kids can be an adventure. I'm finding that these are so much easier to do now that Nate is a little older and we both have fun. And I spend considerably less time worrying about mess. We made these little Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ornaments tonight. So easy to do and we made an awesome little memory in the process! 

• Day 25: Thankful for an unexpected extra holiday from work that will extend my Thanksgiving mini-vacation! 
• Day 26: As we celebrate Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for family: the family that I grew up in, that I married into, and that Chris and I created. We hosted a delicious dinner, had some more than interesting conversation, and this cute little centerpiece actually got us thinking and talking about what we're thankful for! 

• Day 27: Leftovers! After a more than busy day of (Chris) whipping up Thanksgiving dinner and hosting, I have never appreciated leftovers and the microwave more! 
• Day 28: Nate is a trickster who has a great sense of humor - we see this all of the time. And sometimes we see this really sweet, caring soul peek through and it just makes me smile. Nathan spent hours today drawing pictures of soldiers and then devised an entire plan of walking door to door in our neighborhood to leave them on doorsteps. The purpose was for parents to give to their kids who want toy soldiers. Such a sweet idea, right? Adorable but terribly awkward in execution. Thank goodness for my husband who walked around the neighborhood with him tonight...hopefully the neighbors don't mind! 
• Day 29: Decorating for Christmas makes me a bit neurotic to have everything be 'perfect' but I love what the house looks like afterward. The boys decorated most of the tree this year and I only rearranged the ornaments on a very minimal level afterward :) Our house is so pretty right now!

• Day 30: Even though it's always hard to get back into routine after a break from work, I think we appreciate our jobs more than ever this year. Sometimes it's the journey and (especially) the valleys that make you reflect back and rediscover appreciation.

And there you have it! The little, the big, the daily minutiae that makes my heart swell up and put a spring in my step.

be kind, be thoughtful, be genuine, but most of all

BE THANKFUL

texas vacation.

Driving an entire day in the car each day will be fine, we said. We can make some fun road trip stops, we said. We lied. Actually, the driving itself wasn't bad but we are not the leisurely road trip types. We're the drive-til-you're-out-of-gas-and-your-bladder-may explode type of travelers. After lots of caffeine, singing marathons, and passenger-only Neflix bingeing, we finally made it to our Texas destination!

Trip Highlights: 

• Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch
• McKenna Children's Museum
• San Antonio River Walk
• Boating on Canyon Lake

After spending most of the week with Chris's parents, we traveled down to spend some time with Chris's grandparents and go to a wedding. I love that Chris's grandparents are always the last couple left in the 'married the longest' dance. It's so incredibly sweet. After saying our goodbyes to nearly ten entire extended family, we hit the road again. The perfect way to end our time in Texas! 

Naturally the trip home was a bit different, with seemingly thousands more of "are we there yet?" questions. Thankfully, Nate is a pretty good traveler and kept himself pretty content with his arsenal of toys in the backseat. While we didn't see any real sights on the way home, we managed to have fun at the truck stops where we stretched our legs and filled up our coffees. 

Until next time, Texas! 

the alamo + san antonio river walk.

We spent one of our San Antonio nights going to see The Alamo and sights along the San Antonio River Walk. Unfortunately The Alamo was already closed by the time that we made it down there, but we got a few pictures outside and enjoyed the sunset on a boat ride around the city.

Our river boat operator was a lively lady who knew how to cheer up a cranky five year old (much to my utter relief!) and also how to give a spirited, well-informed tour around the city.

After our river boat tour, we enjoyed a great Tex-Mex dinner along the river, complete with a serenade from the mariachi band (which I think embarrassed Nate just a bit). 

mckenna's children's museum.

As part of our Texas vacation, we checked out another children's museum! We went to the McKenna Children's Museum and had an absolute blast! In addition to being a sweet respite from the summer heat, the inexpensive price, ample parking, and many activities made this a great activity-turned-day-trip! Nate just did not want to leave!

The children's museum is all on one level, but is packed to the brim with different centers for kids to learn about different daily activities, as well as some eye in the sky careers.

Outside: amazing water table, climbing structure, sound stations, foam track building, rock wall and animals to climb on - all with a thoughtful overhead canopy to keep most of the sun off! I really can't say enough about how much we all loved the water table. We spent so much time there!

Inside: cowboy ranch, camp site, cave, bank, grocery store, train table, hospital (ER, ambulance, nursery), space exploration, and a ton more. There are a lot of indoor activities, but they are organized to give the appearance of a little town! Very cute and helps kiddos to self-structure the visit. Nathan's favorite indoor areas by far were the hospital and space exploration site.

We had a great time and plan to go again once we head down to the San Antonio area for another visit.

For information on our previous children's museum fun at the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum, click here!