…and a little bit of that! Happy mid-October! Oh my goodness where is the time going?!
I am GLAD September is over and we can officially all embrace the idea that the holidays are on their way and summer is O.V.E.R! I wanted to catch you up on what’s been going on around here!
We all know I am a fan of a good routine to simplify things around here. I found myself getting flustered in the AM when I didn’t know what I was going to make the girls for breakfast. So I started a little system.
- Monday- Oatmeal (with maple syrup + brown sugar, bananas blueberries + honey, peanut butter + honey)
- Tuesday- Toaster Favorite (toast with butter + jelly, toaster pastry, English muffin, mini bagel, or a muffin)
- Wednesday- Freezer Waffles!
- Thursday- Oatmeal again.
- Friday- Toaster Favorite.
I add fruit and it makes me feel good that they’re getting a little of what they want and a little of what they need. The weekend is when I get fancy and make pancakes, this French toast recipe (my fave!), cinnamon rolls or I go completely opposite and its a total free-for-all.
Anyone else starting their Holiday Shopping?! I tend to take a while to decide so I wanted to get a move on! So far I have a few ideas of things I want to get the girls-
- Slippers- I can not for the life of me find a cute pair of moccasin type slippers for them! Let me know if you see any!
- Matching holiday jammies– I grabbed these last week + they’ve already arrived!
- Hair bows for Harper + Head bands for Audrey
- Family board game– a board game is a must and this was always a favorite of mine. Also no small pieces for Audrey to run away with. Win Win.
- a Caboodle for Harper- I mean how could I NOT!?
- Books! Harper loves to read and Audrey has hit the phase where she just wants to be read to all the time. So lots of books!
We usually follow the saying “Something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read.” I don’t only get them 4 things for Christmas but I like to follow some guidelines to keep things under control. It’s easy to start shopping now and let it get out of hand between now and the big day. We have a budget for each girl and then do a few gifts for friends + family but at the end of the day we really like to have the focus be on the girls and making it magical for them.
I’m going to start working on their December First Box (seriously my favorite tradition) ASAP so I’m not scrambling the week before Thanksgiving. I’ll make a separate post with ideas about that. So fun to set the mood for the month of December and to have all of the pieces on hand for any upcoming activities!
We have constant projects going on around here as we work on updating our 90’s builder grade home to make it reflect our style. I’ll have to do a separate post because our bedroom refresh is almost done (I never knew a refresh could take so long, ha!) and our basement project is nearing the finish line!
In other news, Harper is rolling right along with school and is doing wonderful. Some AM hiccups, as expected- routines are hard! We’ve all made some adjustments to managing this new schedule, especially me! If you’re still trying to get into a routine I have a few ideas for you!
- Set a timer! Some people might find this to be ridiculous but I have a timer set on my phone for pick-up. I just don’t want to get caught up in a project and end up being late.
- Pack lunches the night before! If you can swing this it makes ALL the difference to our morning. I will sometimes even make two sandwiches while I’m getting Audrey her lunch and set the other one aside for Harper’s lunch box.
- Lower your expectations! Joe and I had a chat about what things I could take off of my daytime plate so it could free up more time for me to work + be present with Audrey. So we decided that tidying up can happen when he gets home from work + cleaning can happen Saturday morning. Might not work for everyone but so far its been helpful to relieve some stress from my day to-do list!
I hope you found something helpful by reading today! Thank you for following along!
xoxo, Emma
