GOOD THINGS AROUND THE WEB

Sharing a few good things from around the internet: 

A shop full of charming banners.  I follow this shop on Instagram and just think everything Karen makes is the sweetest. 

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The 'One Bag Challenge': What I Learned by Living out of a Single Duffel Bag.  I tend to daydream about and (likely) romanticize the idea of fairly extreme minimalism.  I found this article and the author's takeaways fascinating. 

I don't think I could ever live without a home base.  I am a homebody and I know I would not feel comfortable truly living out of a bag.  Still, the idea of a very small home with very few possessions is hugely appealing to me. 

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Ashley's Coffee Project (a photo of her daily coffee each day this year) is fabulous.  I love that it has a cohesive look, but shows how her days and reading material vary.  I love the way you can see the seasons changing through subtle hints in the photos.  Basically, I just love this idea. 

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I never would have thought to look for lighting on Etsy, but these are beautiful. 

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"Anytime I go on a trip, I make a little list on my phone of things that inspire me, things I want to “take home” with me."  ....yes.

FIVE FEBRUARY FAVORITES

Amazon links are affiliate. 

Unintentionally, this list ended up being very "Suzy Homemaker,"  but that's okay because some days that's who I am.

1 / This podcast episode about bathroom cleaning by The Lay Genius. 

There are several good tips in the episode, but the part that was game changing for me was when she recommended dusting the bathroom before spraying all the surfaces.  It makes a surprisingly big difference.

2 / Mrs. Meyer's Multi-purpose Cleaner (Honeysuckle). 

Although I've heard rave reviews about the Mrs. Meyer's brand of cleaning products for many years, I had somehow never really even considered buying it.  A couple weeks ago, I did a sniff test of the scents available at my Target and bought my favorite.  And, now I almost want to clean because it just smells so good. 

3 / Slow Cooker Sausage and Tortellini Soup

I've been making this recipe for several years, but it fell out of our rotation a year or two ago.  I'm happy to say that it's back and I'm making it for dinner tonight.  Easy and yummy and perfect for a winter day. 

4 / Amazon Prime

I mean, I always love this service, but it is particularly great right now - as birthday gifts for the kids can be bought, in secret, in just the few minutes I have here and there and then magically arrive on the doorstep a couple days later.  What could be better than that? 

5 / Five minute family pickup. 

We used to do this a time or two a week and I would give the kids a piece of candy at the end as an incentive.  It worked well.  Eli (who particularly loves candy) would sometimes even request we clean up so he could get the reward.  A couple weeks ago, we made a daily pickup (of whichever room was the messiest) part of their chore chart, so it is now getting done almost every day.  And wow!  Somehow, just those five minutes on a regular basis makes a really big difference in the tidiness of our house 

I'm linking up with Ashley from A Big White Farmhouse to share Five February Favorites.  If you hop on over to her blog, you can find the links to a lot of favorites.

MONDAY LINKS

Amazon links are affiliate.

This is a sort of miscellaneous post of things that I wanted to share, but don't feel worthy of their own posts.

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Read Aloud Revival.  I planned to do a full post about the RAR website, but realized I don't really have THAT much to say about it.  It's good.  If you have kids and think books/reading are important I would love to direct you to RAR and to their recommended reading lists and podcast in particular.  If you have interest in home schooling, I would also recommend becoming a premium member, as there are several great online workshops available. 

This tiny house by Ana White.  I've been intrigued with this movement for years and years.  But this one stands out as different.  If I were single, I feel confident I could move in and love it.  

Becoming an adult.  The part about the exclamation parts.  Yep.

The Instagram collections feature.  Do you take advantage of this?  It has become my new method of  keeping a "books to read" list.  I also have collections for recipes, quilts, gift ideas, travel, scrapbooking, homeschooling, my One Little Word and about 10 others. 

Cordless stick vacuum.  I used my birthday money to buy this last April and have zero regrets.  It makes kitchen clean up easier and although we didn't buy it with the intention of using it for other parts of our house, we haven't taken the "big vacuum" out of the closet in months.  It is light weight, the battery life is great and it easily transitions from hard flooring to carpet.  It's a winner.

The Lazy Genius - aka Kendra Adachi.  I found her a couple months ago through Instagram.  And then I started listening to her podcast and reading her newsletter and blog.  The podcast is my favorite bit.  She's doing a great job teaching me to be a lazy genius.  I'm sold on Kendra and her brand.

7 GREAT 100 DAY PROJECTS

One of the cool things that comes with projects shared on Social Media is the sharing/social part of it. Through the hashtag, I have found many projects to follow and had many others reach out to me.  It's fun to have new people/projects show up in my feed.

Here are seven 100 day projects I've been following and loving.  (Read all #the100dayproject related posts here.)

@elisejoy
#100plantsonfabric
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@mariaroseadams
#100daysofminnesotafood
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@bckueser
#100daysofsumi (looks like some other people are also using this hashtag)

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@stephfizercoleman
(she doesn't seem to have a specific hashtag, but is instead using a few different ones - that are also being used by other people)
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@anastasiailcov
#100daysoflearningdutch
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@bessiemaaayyy
#100daysofantoinetteandbess
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@jessicajoy.art.craft
#100daysoffreemotionquilting
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I've learned that I really appreciate people with a pretty consistent and distinct style.  I like to be able to look at a photo in my Instagram feed and immediately know who created it.

49 days to go!

TUESDAY LINKS

This post contains affiliate links.

I have been just eating up the daily podcasts from Side Hustle School by Chris Guillebeau.  They are short.  They are intriguing.  They are thought provoking.  They fit with my plan to work on entrepreneurial endeavors in 2017.

I read rave reviews about this book for babies as I was searching out Christmas gifts to buy for Maggie.  I was a bit skeptical - I didn't think it would be bad, but I just didn't see how it could be so special -  but I bought it anyway.  To my delight, Maggie loves it.  It doesn't seem all that different from other "first" books for babies, but she is all about it.  I think the size of the book may be a contributing factor; it is much bigger than most board books.  It has been added to my list of books to buy as baby gifts.  ...which should, perhaps, be a post in itself.

Leggings - - oh, these are so fun.  I think they could be just the ticket for that upcoming half marathon on my calendar.

How to Make Great Homemade Pizza.  I received a pizza stone and pizza peel for Christmas with the intention of making homemade pizza a weekly tradition.  I've used Kristen's recipe and instructions for the last two weeks and - - - success!  This will be a new, weekly, staple for our family and I'm excited about it.

This IG post.  Yes.

These blocks/tiles are the bomb.  Sam received two small sets for Christmas and they have been played with nonstop ever since.  More tiles are at the top of both boys' birthday wishlists.  

Pretty "love" dish towel.

Cheers!

MONDAY LINKS

A few good and share-worthy things I've found around the internet:

4 Decluttering Epiphanies / Sometimes all the decluttering stuff feels like, "yeah, I've read that before," but this post offers a slightly different perspective and it resonated well with me.

And, I found the above post via Kathleen's monthly newsletter - which I would highly recommend... it's kind of like reading several small blog posts in one email.

Family Updates (third item on the linked list) / This is something that my sister and I have been doing sporadically and that I really enjoy.  Just as Rubin points out, it is so nice to feel connected with the small and everyday things going on in someone's life that would otherwise be inaccessible because of distance.

Bibs / I originally found these thanks to a link on Sarah's blog.  They are fabulous.  We just put our first set to rest (due to baby food staining) and Maggie received a brand new set for her half birthday.  Thanks grandma and grandpa!

A Roundup of Pink Sneakers / Well, I had (for once) no sneakers on my Christmas wishlist, this year.  But, pink sneakers?  I don't think I've ever owned any and now I want to.

I think I need to create some sort of printable of this quote to hang on my wall.  The words are so true and totally speak to my heart.

Pretty sure a good chunk of my November fun money will be spent on this and this.

How to Find Product Sources on Pinterest / Um, hello.  This is fabulous and I had no idea that this was a Pinterest feature before reading this post.

Happy Monday, friends!

CHEERS

A few good and share-worthy things I've found around the internet:

* I thought this post about a grammar rule we follow without being taught was interesting and thought provoking.

* Fashion is so not my thing.  But, I keep being drawn to Caroline's blog and I am particularly attracted to her fall remix series.

* The Simple Dollar is one of the few blogs I've read faithfully for many, many years.  Trent's recent (and still ongoing) 31 Days to Financial Independence Series is great.  I have been completing the weekly exercises and using the blog posts as a sort of personal finance workshop.

* Do you use the Ibotta app?  I often fail at couponing - forgetting to bring them with me or forgetting to use them once I get to the checkout - but this app makes it all easy.  I've only used it for the last few months, but have already "earned" more than $40.  I particularly love that there are discounts on produce and not-brand-name-specific items.  I only wish it worked at Aldi, where I buy the majority of our groceries.  (Link is an affiliate link.)

* How to support a friend who's lost a baby.  I'm filing this one away, but hoping (of course) that I won't need to refer to it.

* I was a loyal Young House Love blog enthusiast and was so excited when they started podcasting.  But, their podcast just isn't doing it for me.  I unsubscribed after listening to their first several episodes.  And then I saw, via Instagram, that they are currently renovating their kitchen.  So, I will definitely be listening to the recently released episode about the renovation and anxiously awaiting the correlating blog post.

Cheers to Wednesday!  I hope yours is wonderful.

CHEERS!

A few good and share-worthy things I've found around the internet:

If you need an inexpensive, quick and personalized way to fill a wall, I recommend doing a rotating family photo wall.  I redo ours each year and have fun including captions - a la "Stinker" Eli above.

A beautifully written essay on language.

Things you don't know before becoming a parent: small stuff, big stuff.  These articles made me nod my head, laugh and tear up a bit.  The part about the first couple years NOT going by quickly felt particularly true.  Have I really been a mama for only four years?  It pretty much feels like forever.

20 ways to relax when you only have 20 minutes (via Yes and Yes).

Dear Moms, Get in the photo.

Have you met Alexa (also known as the Amazon Echo)?  We purchased one (her?) about a month ago and it (she?) has been a great addition to our family life.

Reward yourself with things that move you closer to your goals.  (I need to do this more often.)

A lovely collection of journals.

Need cheap and easy entertainment for toddlers / preschoolers?  These do the trick for us and have become a staple gift for the boys for every possible gift giving occasion.

It's been a good week around here.  It feels like we have a pretty good rhythm to our days, just now - not too quiet and not too busy either.  Sam's birthday was last weekend and Eli's is next weekend.  Parties are fun, but a weekend of down time in between the celebrations is okay with this mama. 

Cheers to the weekend!  I hope yours is wonderful.

GOOD STUFF - OCTOBER

I couldn't resist the call of orange and black for an October post.

ampersand print
baby "skinny sweats"
watch

It's hard to believe that Halloween is only a few weeks away.  I've never been a big fan, but it is fun to see Sam excited about it.  Last year, we had to bribe him.  "Wear this costume and you will get candy."  This year, he's been wearing his costume around the house just for fun.  

The Vacation Bible School that he attended over the summer had five animal characters and one of them was "Yeddy" - a Himalayan brown bear.  Four months later, he is still listening to Bible School music and talking about the animals.  So, we bought him a brown bear costume and he is "Yeddy."

Eli is all about tractors, so he is going to be a farmer.  He is still too young to understand any of it, but I figured that he would be happy if he could carry around a toy tractor.  

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I'm not a watch person, but I think that watch is pretty pretty.  If I was forced to wear a watch, that one would be a contender.  Also, giant ampersand art and baby skinny sweats = good stuff that I would totally add to my shopping cart.  

CHEERS

A few good and share-worthy things I've found around the internet:

Don't find the time, find the why.

This has been Sam's favorite game of the past few months and I added this (related) one to his Christmas list.

An excerpt from Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me? that makes me anxious to read the rest of the book.

I learned about this removable wallpaper company via A Beautiful Mess.  I think our entryway would benefit from a wall-full of one of their papers.

If this isn't a great argument in favor of homeschooling (and just generally spending time with your people), I don't know what is.

Have you ever lost your car in a parking garage?

64 encouraging things to say to kids.

If you're an Instagram hashtag user (or want to be), Delaney's hastag trick is a big time saver and will help you keep things organized.

Fall wedding ideas that don't scream Halloween.  No wedding planning happening around here, but a lot of these ideas can be translated into general party planning or home decorating.

We've been diligent church-goers the past few months to help Sam get into the routine of Sunday School (because new things are a struggle for him).  There is no Sunday School this week, so we are shaking up our weekend routine and planning some sort of fun family activity on Sunday morning... perhaps the zoo or the apple orchard.    

Cheers to the weekend!  I hope yours is wonderful.

CHEERS!

A few good and share-worthy things I've found around the internet:

I've made and used this (crazy easy) scrub a few times and dig it.

A post titled "just buy the freakin' minivan" that's not really about minivans.  But this one really is.

You're busy.  But, making time for memory keeping is possible and worthwhile.  Really, it is.

If you (or someone you know) is getting married, I think this is a really cool idea.

Wish it isn't wasn't true, but I'm totally a card collector.

A print to remind you of all you can be.

I've been crushing on these trail running shoes and might have to fit them in to next month's budget.

The fastest way to get unstuck - loved this!

Cheers to the weekend!  I hope yours is wonderful.

Brian's parents are in town and I am looking forward to some time with them. 

GOOD STUFF - SEPTEMBER

sweatshirt

enamelware

tote

fondue pot

mirror

Some black, white, happy and cozy good stuff as we look toward autumn.  

That sweatshirt is on my wish list.  

We were given a quick fall weather "teaser" at the end of last week and over the weekend.  The temps are back in the mid to upper eighties, but that little preview got me in the mood for cooler weather and cozy evenings at home.  

I have a funny relationship with the seasons.  I generally claim summer as my favorite, but it seems like I'm always ready to move on to the next season when it arrives.  It works out well that I live in a land of drastic weather patterns and definite seasons.  Fall and spring are usually pretty short-lived, but we do get to experience a weather change four times each year and I'm a fan.  

Good stuff.  

INSPIRED

I've been following Erik Johnson on Instagram for a few months and assumed that he had been taking photos for several years.

Then, this photo came through my feed and I've been thinking about it since.  

One year.

29,454 photographs.  

Three words and a number (plus a scroll through Erik's Instagram feed) tell such a huge story.  It's a story of dedication and focus working together to make something awesome.  It's a story of time plus talent.  It's a story of building.    

Consider me hugely inspired and know that I have been pondering where this own kind of intensity can fit into my own life.

FAVORITE BOOKS - ONE YEAR TO 18 MONTHS

Throughout his infancy, it was pretty obvious that Sam enjoyed certain books more than others, but the book choices that we made were largely based on what Brian and I preferred to read, since Sam didn’t really have a way to express his own preferences. 

Once Sam hit the 12 month mark, he let his preferences be known.  We experienced a noticeable shift in what we read around our house.

He no longer seemed to enjoy most of his story-based books.  Instead, he just wanted to see/read and re-read certain pages from those books over and over.  We must have read, “The bear wakes up and the bear feels GOOD!” (from Bear Feels Sick ) hundreds of times.  When he was very relaxed or sleepy, he would still let us read him story books in their entirety, but those times were pretty few and far between. 

Instead of stories, Sam really liked:

• “Identify” type books with photos of objects and single word captions (this)
• Interactive books – lift-the-flap and touch-and-feel. (this, this)
• Books with photos of babies. (this)
• Personalized books that included photos of him/ photos from our life.
• Books he could “read” on his own – he particularly liked his Hallmark read-aloud book that my mom and step-dad recorded for him. (this)
• Small books that he could easily hold in his hands.  We have a stash of books that are even smaller than regular board books and he seemed to like holding onto those and turning the pages.
• Any books with animals.  He became verbal during this time frame and enjoyed making all of the animal sounds.  (this)

The types of books that he suddenly seemed to enjoy weren’t the most stimulating for us to read, but it was more than awesome to watch him soak in new information and start to interact with the reading material. 

He did still enjoy his nursery rhyme book (we love Out Came the Sun), but let us know which rhymes he did NOT want us to read and we learned to skip those pages.  As that was a lot more enjoyable for Brian and I to read than “one ball, two ducks, three boats,” we read a lot of nursery rhymes.

Between 18 and 20 months, Sam shifted preferences all over again and now likes his story books.  He still enjoys all of the book types listed above, but he no longer wants to read them repeatedly or seeks out those books as his first choice. 

Watching him grow and change and learn is an amazing thing.  I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to do so. 

OUR FAVORITE BOOKS FOR BABY

With our first year of parenting under our belts, I think that Brian and I could safely say that we've put in a good 300+ hours of reading baby and kid books. 

It is one of our favorite activities to do with Sam and he seems to love it, too. 

Before we said "goodnight" to Sam, on the night he was born, we read him "Baby's Hug-A-Bible."  We have read to him every single day of his life and it didn't take long for him to take interest in books. 

He started looking at the pages by the time he was two months old.  At that point, we would lay side by side, flat on our backs and I would hold the book over our faces, so that Sam and I could both see the pictures.  By the time he was three months old, Sam really loved reading time and I remember being amazed by his attention span and the fact that he would (sometimes) let me read to him for twenty minutes or more, at a time.  His attention span waxes and wanes on a daily and sometimes hourly basis, but overall he still loves book reading time.

Just now, he loves our nursery rhyme book,"Out Came The Sun," best and recently has taken a big interest in books that are a bit more interactive, such as lift-the-flap books and books with textures that he can run his hands over.

Here are links to our ten favorite books (shown in the photo above)- in no particular order. 

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archembault

Baby's Hug-a-Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

 Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes by Eric Litwin (9 months),

Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

Out Came the Sun: A Day in Nursery Rhymes by Heather Collins 

You're My Little Love Bug by Heidi Weimer

Your Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton

On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

I would 100% recommend any of these books to prospective parents, someone looking for a baby shower gift or to Mr. Bunny, who might want to add a little literary fun to an Easter basket. 

TOP 10 THINGS FOR BABY AND MOM

1. Bumgenius Freetime Cloth Diapers. - There is a separate cloth diapering post coming up later in the week, but I had to include these in my top ten list.

2. Three cute crib sheets and three mattress pads.  We have found three to be the magic number.  Even with two consecutive spit-up or pee-through incidents, we can keep the crib ready for a nap or bedtime.  The crib sheets in the image above are these.

3. Living room friendly boppy pillow cover.  I bought mine from this etsy seller and love that it isn't a "baby-ish" print.  The grey and white houndstooth coordinates with my couch and I don't mind having it in my living room.  We use this pillow all the time - for feeding sam, for an arm rest or for a pillow rest while we read books or play with blocks on the living room floor.

4. Voice-activated baby monitor.  We run a fan just outside of Sam's room.  When the monitor is set to its regular (not voice-activated) setting, we hear the hum of the fan in our room and I can't sleep. When it is set to the voice activated setting, we don't hear the fan.  I live a happier (and more sleep-filled) life because of it.  There are several brands out there.  We use the Sony Baby Call. 

5. Living room toy storage.  We use a big green metal tub.  This keeps toys accessible and makes clean up easy.  The biggest key to the easy clean up is not having more toys than fit in the bin.  When that happens, I send the extras to the basement play room and occasionally do a big toy switcharoo to keep things intersesting for Sam.  The silver tub in the image is from Amazon. 

6. Foam bath pad or an adult sized bath towel.  Fold up the bath towel and lay baby on it, in the big tub.  Or, use the foam pad for the same end result.  I love that we don't have a baby tub to store.  Also, I have heard stories of babies having a difficult time transitioning from a baby tub to the big tub.  Since Sam has been bathed in the big tub since he was only a few weeks old (we did sponge baths prior to that) we didn't have to worry about that transition.  We bought our yellow bathing sponge at Target.  I couldn't find a link on their website, but here is something similar from Bed Bath and Beyond.  

7. Medela Breast Pump.  I gave it a go, but nursing did not work for me.  I became an exclusive pumper and felt like I was married to my pump for eight months.  I am glad that I am past that stage, but thankful that this awesome pump allowed me to give my baby breast milk.

8.Good Bibs and Prefold Cloth Diapers.  Our Sammer spit-up like a champ.  He was born in February and it wasn't until November that he had his first spit-up free day (which was proudly noted in our 2012 Project Life book.)  Three layer bibs with snaps were our lifesavers and prefold cloth diapers helped to absorb much of the gooiness, too.

9. Boon Lawn Countertop Drying Rack. I am a fan of clutter-free countertops.  That is pretty much an impossibility with a baby around.  If I have to have something on my counter, I want it to be pretty.  Thanks to Boon for making a pretty dyring rack.  

10. Multipacks of striped onesies.  We probably wouldn't recognize Sam if we found him in a room full of babies and he wasn't wearing stripes.  I'm kidding, of course, but that poor kid wears stripes nearly 24/7.  We aren't big fans of animal-themed clothing or shirts with cutesie sayings.  The onesie in the image is from here.  Our favorite ones have been these guys.  We also liked these solid colored fellas. 

A few other things that almost made the list:  Sophie the Giraffe , Planet Wise Hanging Diaper Wet/Dry Bags, and Earth's Best Baby Food .