For reference my older kids are 6 and 4 and my two littles are under 3. This post contains affiliate links. Two years ago I shared a very detailed post on how we do preschool at home in the summer. When our family started fostering last year I began looking for inexpensive summer learning activity books. I knew I wasn't going to have time to put together binders for each child like I had the year before. What I purchased worked out so great and I am planning to use the same products again this summer. Here is a roundup of what we are going to be using this year plus purchases from last year that we loved! Workbooks & Reading Programs These Summer Brain Quest Between Grades books are fantastic! Fun enough that your kids will ask to keep working through the book but still educational. We had to limit the number of pages done each day so we didn't finish the book in the middle of summer. We love Curious George in our house. So this Curious George Sight Words … [Read more...]
Mother’s Day 2019
My two oldest had special mother's day themed events at their schools last week. I loved getting to spend quality time with each of them. Their teachers did an amazing job and I left feeling so loved. I love looking back at their artwork over the years so I am posting this for my future self. Mommy Spa & Mom Facts My son had a pamper mom day spa in his classroom. He gave me a massage, applied my makeup, and painted my nails. It was super sweet. I loved seeing how focused he was on applying my makeup and enjoyed watching all his classmates do the same. My oldest answered the following questions and fill in the blanks for his teacher and these were presented to me last week at his classrooms mother's day event. How old is your mom? My guess is she is her 60's What color is her hair? My hair What's her favorite drink and snack? Water and pizza My mom deserves a hug. What's her favorite thing to do with you? Play What does she like to do for fun? Go … [Read more...]
5 Things I Survived The First Year of Motherhood
With Mother's Day right around the corner I was reflecting back on my first year of motherhood and a few random memories came back to me. It is hard to believe that my oldest is now in elementary school. I hope you enjoy reading about 5 things I survived my first year of motherhood. Weird Dreams I'd wake up at night believing I'd brought the baby into bed and that I lost him in the sheets. I nearly had a panic attack the first time it happened. I was frantic mess screaming, turning on the lights, and ripping the sheets off our bed. Josh would wake up both confused and alarmed. Then he would go check on the baby in his room and there he would be sleeping soundly. Josh had to keep reassuring me that he was in his crib. I was in tears and it took me going into his room to see he was ok for me to be able to try to sleep again. It happened every night for a few weeks. Other nights Josh would wake up to find me roaming the hallway. I honestly think I was sleep walking because … [Read more...]
10 Minute Hill Workout
The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this week in Arizona. Cool breezy mornings with even a few sprinkles is generally unheard of this time in May. The afternoons have been equally fantastic with sunshine and blue skies! I am not sure how long it is going to last but the summer heat is right around the corner so I will enjoy this weather as long as possible. I have been spending my mornings enjoying a walk outside and today I decided to add a few hill sprints into the mix. Treatments are just wrapping up on my legs for varicose veins and I decided to test out how they are feeling now. Before treatment I could barley run or even stand for long periods of time. My legs felt so heavy and they would ache. Today running was possible and my legs didn't feel like they weighed 100 pounds each. Yay! Find an outdoor hill with a moderate incline. Do as many rounds as possible of this workout for 10 minutes: 15-20 second uphill sprintrecovery walk/jog downhill10 walking lunges10 … [Read more...]
What’s In My Grocery Cart
I am sharing my current five favorite items that are in my grocery cart. We usually go to the grocery 1-2 times a week. And when I say go to the grocery store I mean I order our groceries online at home in my pajamas after the kids go to bed and then pick them up the next day never having to leave my car. It is amazing and saves so me time and money because I am not wandering up and down the aisles looking at all the new products and adding things that weren't on my list into my cart. Hope you enjoy seeing a few items that make it into our grocery cart each week! Larabars We have been eating these for years and I recently discovered this new to me flavor. And it so so tasty. We usually buy our LARABARS at Costco in bulk because it is so much cheaper but when I see a flavor I have yet to try at the grocery store I buy a few bars and the Mint Chip Brownie did not disappoint. Our grocery store only sells individual bars of this flavor but Amazon sells them in 16 count cases. … [Read more...]
April 2019 Fitness/Wellness Update
Welcome back to another fitness/wellness update! This last month I tried out Intermittent Fasting, walked for 30 minutes each day, and also continued to track my macro's. In mid march I actually took my measurements because I was curious to see any results with what I was going to be doing in April. I am happy to report that I lost a total of 5 inches and I am down another 5 pounds. Yay! It is crazy to see how much has changed in a relatively short amount of time. Click HERE to see my first pictures from February. Eating For the last several weeks I have been tracking my macros in MyFitnessPal. While I normally don't track my macros I really wanted to focus more on what I was eating. What I discovered is that I was consistently not getting enough calories + not eating enough carbohydrates. My macro breakdown looks like this: 50% carbohydrate, 30% fat, and 20% protein protocol. I have also been intermittent fasting, something I NEVER thought I would do. As far as … [Read more...]
