2018 Resolutions

This is mostly a letter to myself, combined with a sort of public announcement to keep me accountable to the thoughts I’m having today.

This year is happening. I’ve been reluctant to set resolutions in the past, sure that I wouldn’t uphold them. But this year, I’ve felt a shift in me. I want some change. More than that, I’m ready for big change. I’m ready for our lives to look, feel, and be different this year.

Goal Number 1: Contribute to our family income while working from home.

Why –> So that I can provide the extra support that our daughter needs. I love providing my kids with a safe, fun, and clean home environment. I just want to be a mom. A really awesome mom. And I feel like I need to be at home to do that.

Ever since I was a little girl I knew that I wanted to be a mom. I struggled through high school and college determining a career. I spent most of the last two years working part-time outside the home and every time that I came home from work, I felt like things were falling apart. Stress levels were off the roof. Kids were cranky. Meals weren’t healthy. Routines were scattered. Our autistic daughter struggled. We weren’t thriving. I made the decision to quit my job last May, in the hopes that being home would add stability to our family and it has, tenfold. But my first resolution is to find ways to contribute to our family income while maintaining the stability we’ve found with me staying at home.

Goal Number 2: Complete the #JanuaryWhole30 and beyond…

Why –> We’ve been moving in this direction for four years now. We’ve been slowly eliminating items from our family’s diet in the hopes that it would improve our health. My husband has Crohn’s Disease and in 2013 we tried the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. He lost over 20 pounds in two weeks. It was severely restrictive. The results didn’t last. He didn’t feel better, at least not enough to stick to eating that way forever. We couldn’t continue it. Over the last two years, we’ve slowly given up dairy, all but cheddar cheese which doesn’t seem to bother anyone as much. I try to choose healthy whole grains when shopping, and gluten-free when it’s available and only if doesn’t taste like cardboard. But it hasn’t been enough.

My weight has gone up and down over the last twenty years. My BMI always ranging from overweight to obese. I gained weight during my Irish twin pregnancies and then lost roughly 70-pounds after my son was born. It was my priority. I calorie-counted, restricted, and exercised around the clock. I did Medi-fast meals. I dropped weight quickly. But couldn’t maintain the extreme effort for longer than one year, and over the course of the next year, I gained twenty to thirty pounds back — all while still maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise. I was and continue to be confounded. Looking at my choices, compared to the Standard American Diet, I eat healthily. I exercise regularly. I shouldn’t gain weight so easily. My metabolism is clearly working against me. Sometimes, it feels like I’m in the wrong body. It doesn’t reflect the care and energy and support I give it. Where are the results that I’ve been striving for over the last twenty years? Cue the Whole30.

I recently discovered the Whole30 and it feels like all my researching about health and nutrition was finally put in one simple, healthy, free (amen!) plan. We’re doing it. We’re starting January 8th, because I was sick all through December and I didn’t want to start it on January 1st feeling unprepared. We’re getting ready for it now. The husband is on board. The kids are… going to deal with it. I’ve made my Thrive Market order. I’ve cleared out the pantry. We’re having our “last meals out” that we know we likely we won’t eat at again for a very long time, if ever, because we’re going into this Whole30 with the mindset that we’re likely not going to come out the other side the same people we were before. We won’t be looking to go back to the old foods or go back to less than great habits.

Uh, Stephanie, you forgot to tell us what Whole30 is… Oops, sorry. It’s a thirty-day whole-health reset. We are going to consume healthy animal proteins, tons of vegetables, and some occasional fruit. We are not going to have any grains (oats, bread, quinoa), gluten, added sugar (#goodbyestarbucks), dairy (milk, cheese, cream), beans/legumes (including peanut butter, #shottotheheart). It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be worth it. I’m going to blog about it. So if you want to follow along on our journey on the #Whole30, please do. There are so many reasons why we are trying this, I’ve only touched on a few, but I’ll try to share more over the thirty-day journey. You can also follow along on Instagram: @senseandstephanie

Goal Number 3: Become a Young Living Oil Expert

Why –> This goal not-so-coincidentally coincides with goals one and two. I’ve been researching Essential Oils for a long time now, and I finally decided to take the plunge. I purchased my first starter kit last November and have been slowly integrating the oils into our daily life. I’m looking forward to seeing how the oils make a difference in our home and health this year. I’ll be launching a separate website all about Essential Oils and how you can learn more about them soon. Stay tuned for that!

Goal Number 4: Do one Pull-Up

Why –> I think this is going to be the hardest goal of them all. Not kidding. But it’s something I’ve wanted to be able to do since, like, Kindergarten. Too many days in elementary school physical-education classes feeling humiliated by my athletic-ineptitude. Leaving that little self-degrading, insecure girl behind. #buhbye

How on earth am I going to do this? Good question. Step one is going to be following through with goal number two and completing the Whole30 and committing to eating Whole30-ish for the rest of my life. I’m desperately hoping that this program will help reset my metabolism and push me forward to being the person I’ve always felt like I could be. Once I get through January and February with food resolutions I’ll be setting some small, achievable fitness goals towards building strength and losing fat. Come June, I’m going to be begging for a pull-up bar as my birthday present. Then I’ll have six months left of the year to re-analyze how to work towards my goal of one pull up.

Goal Number 5: Save more. Give more.

Why –> In 2012, we took Financial Peace University at our church in Florida. We had just purchased a new car, our first home, had our first baby, were learning about her disabilities, and we were expecting our second child, fearful he would have the same genetic conditions. I had school loans out the wazoo and we used credit cards to purchase things like a new fence. After taking the class, we followed Dave Ramsey’s baby steps and made huge hurdles to saving up our emergency fund and getting out of debt. In 3 years and 6 months, we paid off $51,541 of debt (not including our home) while making between $48,000-$58,000 a year, and became “debt-free!”

Going through that process enabled my husband to quit his decade-long career in retail management and start a new career as an Insurance Claims Adjuster, a job that he loves. It’s what brought us the adventure of moving from Florida to New York! But that career change brought a lot of financial challenges as well. We stayed tight to our budget and have remained out of debt. #wearenevergoingback <– Haha, I just heard Rapunzel’s voice in my head as she leaves her tower for the first time. #momlife But, I digress.

As time has gone on, we’ve gotten a little bit sleepy when it comes to saving. We’ve been squeezing by and haven’t made much progress on saving and giving since becoming debt-free. This year, our church in New York is offering the Financial Peace University class and my husband and I are so excited to be coordinating it. But I’m also excited for the opportunity to TAKE the class again. To recommit to the principles, to reexamine where we are financially, and to move forward with the baby steps afresh.

On top of that, I’d like to be able to give our family more experiences. I’d like to be able to afford Martial Arts classes for Liam, horseback riding and dance classes for Evelyn, and travel to new places, and heck, I’d like to be able to afford to pay a babysitter so I can go on dates with my husband again. (The drawbacks of not living near family.)

Goal Number 6: Be present. Allow for imperfection, because as much as I’ve aimed for perfect in the past, I’ve never hit it. And I never will.

Why –> My husband would probably tell you that I am always stressed out, that I am always worried, about something, anything. And I think he’s probably right. –> #kids #weather #snow #scheduling #routines #blogging #business #money #health #diet #weight #appearance #makeup #hair #cleanhouse #autism #marriage #organization #motherhood Btw, none of that was in any order of importance. Obvs.

This year I’m aiming to be more present with my family and my friends. To be a better listener. To slow down. And even, to edit myself less. To open up more. I tend to proofread and check myself constantly, in every area of my life. I’ve always been the “silent until spoken to” or “don’t speak unless you have something astounding to say” or “I don’t want to offend anyone” or “better to let them think you’re a fool than open your mouth and prove them right” kind of person. I’m going to try to speak more and worry less. #newmantra

I’m going to try to practice meditating more, and reading my bible more, and journaling my prayers more. #somanygoals I’m getting overwhelmed just thinking about how I’m going to do all of these things. #notenoughhoursintheday #butplentyofhashtagsinthispost

To sum up “all the things.”

I have other goals, too. I’ll be setting smaller, more achievable goals throughout the year to help me achieve all of the goals above. But for now, this is a start. #startsomewhere

Happy New Year, friends.

Connect with Stephanie on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

5 Tips for an Easy Family Road Trip

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

Our family is about to embark on an amazing adventure. It’s going to be nine days of relaxation, fun with family, and new exploration. But this adventure is also going to be bookended by 20-hour drives.

We will be driving from New York to Florida, approximately 1200 miles. Luckily, this is not our first rodeo, I mean road trip. In November of 2015, we took a major road trip from Florida up to Indiana and back down, stopping at several places along the way. My kids were 2 & 3 at the time. They did an amazing job on the trip. My favorite stop? The Biltmore Estate. My husband’s favorite stop? The Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I learned a lot from that experience and I’m prepping for our next one! Here are my 5 Tips for an Easy Family Road Trip.

#1 An Organized Car with Fun Activities

Free up space in the car, keep your kids busy, and keep the car tidy with an over-the-seat activity organizer (one for each child if you can.) You can DIY these (check out my Pinterest Board for ideas). I found a few on Amazon and Target, but there are so many to choose from that you may want to search for yourself. Fill them with crayons, markers, coloring books, and activity books filled with word searches, puzzles, and more. My son especially loves Melissa and Doug’s Water Wow books.

#2 Prep Music and Audio Books

We don’t have any movie-playing abilities in our car, so that’s a no-go. I’ll make sure to get some audio books from the library for my husband and I, and then I’ll load up on some music for the kiddos to sing along with, too. I know we’ll be belting out some Moana along the way.

#3 Food

Yum. Fuel keeps you and the car chugging along. Avoid stopping for a long time and overpaying at restaurants by packing a cooler and making it easily accessible the whole ride.

Items we love to pack:

Muffins: I love to bake some SCD-friendly Lemon Blueberry Muffins. Perfect road trip breakfast. Freeze them and let them thaw out for a few minutes before you eat. They’re gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and blueberries have those delicious antioxidants. Can’t go wrong. I’ve been using an SCD recipe for a few years, but can’t remember where I got it from. When I figure out where I found this recipe I will update you all.
LaraBars: a BIG favorite in our house, especially the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip flavor. They are Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, GMO-Free… and that makes them friendly to us!
Frozen Fruit: a fresh pick me up throughout the day, and it’s usually thawed by the end of the day, and still good!
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches for an easy, fast lunch. Avoid greasy fast food and enjoy pure peanuts instead. We use Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter. 100% Peanuts. That means no added salt, sugar, or hydrogenated oils. Woot woot!
Reusable Water Bottles that can be washed at your hotel, and a gallon or two of water to refill them as needed.

#4 Be prepared for messes

Keep a roll of paper towels, napkins, and/or wipes in the car, maybe even some extra bags. There are bound to be spills, runny noses, and hopefully not, but possibly car-sickness, too. Hand-sanitizer is handy, too.

#5 Pack Strategically

Last, but not least at all. Pack strategically. My old inclination was to pack one bag for each person. Uh-uh. For our upcoming adventure, I am packing by the day.

What does that mean? It goes like this: instead of packing all of my clothes in one suitcase, my husband’s clothes in another suitcase, and so on for each child, I’m going to pack a car bag, a Disney bag, and a cruise bag.

During our drive to Florida, we will only need access to the “car bag.” That bag will contain a set of backup clothes for the kids, pajamas for all of us, and the next day’s clothes, plus any essential toiletries we may need (comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc).

Then I will pack a “Disney bag,” for our one day at Disney World, which will include a set of backup clothes for the kids, Evelyn’s princess dresses, ponchos (tip for Disney traveler’s: always take a poncho: $1 at the Dollar Tree or $10 at the park, and necessary almost every day in the summer), sunscreen, snacks, and our reusable water bottles.

Lastly, I’m packing our clothes for our cruise adventure in a suitcase separately. Packing with this strategy means I’m only grabbing one bag or suitcase at a time. If the kids get sick in the car and I need a backup outfit for them, the bag is right there and ready to go. When we get to our hotel, the pajamas we need for that night will be easily accessible. We won’t have to rummage through four different suitcases for pajamas when we’re exhausted!

Extra Tip: pack a couple extra trash bags to toss dirty clothes in throughout the trip. This keeps them separate from your clean clothes, and when you get home just empty the bag right into the washing machine!

Liam’s First Day of Preschool

My little man went off to preschool today. I haven’t cried like I planned to, but I’m not ruling it out yet, the day is still young. What a surreal feeling to have both the kids in school.
Liam was very anxious and nervous this morning, though the pictures won’t show that. Once he was in front of a camera he turned on the sunshine. Lol. He seemed to get upset about every little thing this morning… he even tried on at least three different outfits before he was finally comfortable (they were too itchy or too cold or too long or too short.) He finally decided on his favorite cream colored sweater. It’s my favorite, too. I think I bought it for him when he was 2 years old, way over-sized so he could grow into it. He’s almost grown out of it now, but I’m glad he had it today, almost like a security blanket.

He really does love being in front of a camera. As soon as we went out onto the front porch and he saw his “preschool” banner his whole mood changed and he started posing. “Mom, I’m going to be an alligator because they’re my favorite animal…”

He went through a series of animal poses, showing me each of his favorites, lol!

Then, in true mom-fashion, I asked him to pose like a prince and the result was hilarious.

Can you imagine Prince George posing like this? Haha. I wonder what the Duchess of Cambridge says to George during photo shoots? Lol.

After we finished taking all the photos and were looking through them, Liam saw the last one above and said, “Mommy, it looks like a penis picture!” “What?!” I said, laughing to myself because I couldn’t help but notice it, too. Then he says, “Yeah, it looks like I’m trying to hide my penis! Hahaha. But I wasn’t trying to!” So many giggles over this one.

Of course, my little “Charming,” turned on the charm and busted out these sweet smiles, too.

After we took the photos, we sat down to spend a few quiet minutes together and look through the photos and I attempted to get some photos of the two of us, rather unsuccessfully. Definitely wished that my hubby could’ve been here today to take pictures with us and see his little man off to school, but we did get to FaceTime before we left for school, so thank goodness for today’s technology. (The hubs is in Houston working (insurance claims) for the foreseeable future.)

Before I could process everything, Liam was standing in line, ready to go to class. He took his Paw Patrol water bottle and the Mickey Mouse backpack that his Aunt Sammy gave him and marched off to class, proud as can be. And mommy couldn’t be prouder!

To my charming, Liam:

You’re an amazing boy, and you’re going to do amazing things. This is just the beginning of a wonderful journey. Have courage, be faithful and kind, and have fun!

5 Tips for an Easy Family Road Trip

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

I learned a lot from that experience and I’m prepping for our next one! Here are my 5 Tips for an Easy Family Road Trip.

#1 An Organized Car with Fun Activities

#2 Prep Music and Audio Books

#3 Food

Yum. Fuel keeps you and the car chugging along. Avoid stopping for a long time and overpaying at restaurants by packing a cooler and making it easily accessible the whole ride.

Items we love to pack:

Muffins: I love to bake some SCD-friendly Lemon Blueberry Muffins. Perfect road trip breakfast. Freeze them and let them thaw out for a few minutes before you eat. They’re gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and blueberries have those delicious antioxidants. Can’t go wrong. I’ve been using an SCD recipe for a few years, but can’t remember where I got it from. When I figure out where I found this recipe I will update you all.
LaraBars: a BIG favorite in our house, especially the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip flavor. They are Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, GMO-Free… and that makes them friendly to us!
Frozen Fruit: a fresh pick me up throughout the day, and it’s usually thawed by the end of the day, and still good!
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches for an easy, fast lunch. Avoid greasy fast food and enjoy pure peanuts instead. We use Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter. 100% Peanuts. That means no added salt, sugar, or hydrogenated oils. Woot woot!
Reusable Water Bottles that can be washed at your hotel, and a gallon or two of water to refill them as needed.

#4 Be prepared for messes

#5 Pack Strategically

Last, but not least at all. Pack strategically. My old inclination was to pack one bag for each person. Uh-uh. For our upcoming adventure, I am packing by the day.

Organizing: Kids’ Artwork & Keepsakes

My kids are starting preschool and kindergarten this year, so they’re not coming home with homework just yet, but they will be bringing home lots of adorable crafts/keepsakes. I will, of course, in true Mom-fashion, be keeping every-little-thing.

I did this one organization trick last year and it really helped. I made two folders for Evelyn: one for Fall and one for Spring. Every time she came home with artwork or certificates I put them in the folder. At the end of the semester I put that folder in a plastic bin to keep it safe for eternity.

Even though Liam was not in school last year I made folders for him, too. He does tons of artwork at home and at church. I even ended up making a separate folder for Evelyn’s home and church stuff, too, because there is just sooo much stuff to keep.

I’m thinking about taking a day and scanning everything into the computer, because I’m crazy like that. I know that while I want to keep these things forever, they could get damaged or lost, and eventually my little ones will grow up and spread their wings and I’ll be left sitting in the basement looking through bins full of their childhood artwork with a box of tissues. I can see it now. But maybe if I put the images on the computer I can scroll through a slideshow instead.

So, anyway, folders are awesome and not just for bills and grown up stuff. Although, organizing medical bills, receipts, and other grown up stuff I’ll save for another post soon.

The Ultimate Back to School Checklist

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

Guys, I got kind of silly here and made an ultimate checklist of everything to think of before school starts. I’m really taking this “mental load” idea to heart. Haha.
Enjoy!

Now, you’ll see that I list “Purchase School Supplies” as one of the first things to-do. That’s a given, yes? Chances are your school/teacher has given you a list of specific items your child will need to bring in to school. Therefore, I didn’t include a list of school supplies. But I do want to pose a question, have you ever thought about ordering your school supplies online? Why leave the house with cranky kids in the hot summer when you can just order exactly what you need online and have it delivered to your door? Genius.

Amazon has an entire “Back to School” section on their website. This could also cut down on the amount of time it takes your six-year-old to decide which folders/notebooks/backpacks/lunch boxes they want. I’d like to think I know my kids pretty well and sometimes I think I know them even better than they know themselves.

Does this ever happen to you? You walk into a store knowing that your child has been obsessed with watching Paw Patrol at home every single day, and then they are asked to choose which item they want: the Paw Patrol cup or the Star Wars cup (you know, that movie they’ve never seen) and they choose the item they don’t know anything about!!! My kids do this to me, a lot. But if I just come home with a magical Paw Patrol cup they’ll love it forever and ever. But if I deny them that Star Wars cup in the store, they’ll be bitter with me forever, j/k. I hope not.

Anyway, cut out the decision making for your kids and get them something they’ll like on Amazon, without ever having to show them the other options. Just wait til they get to school and tell you how so-and-so has an awesome Star Wars folder and they don’t. Ha.

Other things to do on the mother-of-all-lists:

Write your child’s name on their belongings.
Make sure your kids’ immunizations and physicals are up to date and that the school has all the records.
Plan a few healthy lunch box ideas that you know your kids will eat and hopefully not trade with other kids at school. Check with the school to see if there are any allergy restrictions.
Confirm Bus Details – Make sure you know when and where your kids will be picked up and dropped off each day. You can ask for the route that the bus will take. Also, a really helpful idea for first-time bus riders, is to request a trial ride around the neighborhood. Our daughter, Evelyn, rode the bus for the first time last year and that trial ride was very helpful. Probably more so for mommy than Evelyn. It was also an opportunity for me to see the booster seats that they used. (Obviously, that doesn’t apply if you have older children on a bus without seat belts.)
Organize! School supplies, homework stations, calendars, and keepsake folders; which will be on the blog next week 😉 You can even make an All About Me printable for your kids’ teachers and a special Back-to-School Time Capsule.
Practice your morning, afternoon, and evening routines, if you can. Not easy to do, especially when you’re savoring those last few days of summer, but it’ll help get you in the groove if you can at least start setting up the morning routine one week before school begins.

Liam's Haircut Before & After — Before & After Liam’s Haircut this week

Haircuts! Turn those summer wildlings into preppy academics with a haircut one to two weeks before school. Make an appointment, because the salons will be booked leading up to back-to-school, and waiting at hair salons is the worst.
Charge your camera! AND clear up the memory space! I am constantly swiping through photos on my phone and trying to delete the fuzzies and blurries in my haste to free up space so I can take more photos of my children in the moment. Then I miss the moment completely! (Please raise your hand if you do this, too, so I’m not alone!) So anyway, I make sure, way in advance–not the morning of–to clear off that memory card (storing the other 1,000 beautiful photos of my children on my computer) and charge the camera/phone (whichever you’re using.)
Take those precious First Day of School Photos and post them on social media so everyone can ooh and aah over your adorable children.

That’s it, folks! Unless I missed something, in which case, comment below and I’ll add it to the list!

Download the pretty, check-able pdf version here: Ultimate Back to School Checklist

Or right-click and save the jpeg below. Have fun getting ready for school!

Oh, and feel free to take Second Day of School pictures, too!

Back to School: Time Capsule Book

Okay, this technically isn’t a true “time capsule,” but it’s pretty close. Only instead of putting items in a box and burying it for twenty years, you see how your kid changes over the course of one school year. I thought Time Capsule was the closest way to describe it.

Evelyn came home from the last day of preschool with a “book” that she had made at school. It was just sheets of paper folded and stapled together. Each page was divided in half, the top half had September 2016 written on it and the bottom half had June 2017 written on it. In each half was the same question, and my daughter’s answers almost a year apart.

It was simple and I loved it. So I’m borrowing the idea and making our own at home this year. Of course, I made it way harder on myself, mostly because I really don’t like my own handwriting so I created everything on the computer. Yay for pretty fonts.

Here’s how I did it:

I bought these super-simple books from Target 🎯 (8 for $3, yo). It’s paper, folded in half and stapled, with a cover.

You could just use 8.5×11 paper to make an 8.5×5.5 book or you could use 8.5×14 to make an 8.5×7 book. Or just use 8.5×11 paper and make it a notebook with a three hole punch. So many options!

I took out the staples, made the templates, printed it out, and then stapled it back together. Boom, book done.

Then I asked my kids all the fun questions, filled in their answers, and helped them draw their handprint.

Tip: when you ask them the questions, write their answers down on a separate piece of paper. Go back and write them in the book when you are prepared to focus on pretty handwriting and spelling.

Then let them loose on their Self-Portrait.

Evelyn used a red crayon to show her curls and a brown crayon to show her eyes. ❤️

Liam was very specific that instead of having two hands, one hand was just the shape of an L for Liam. Lol.

Now I just have to store the books in a safe place until the end of the school year and try to remember where I put them so we can fill out the other half next summer.

Without further ado, here all the images you’ll need to create your very own Time Capsule Book! (They are 8″ x 8″, just right click to save them to your computer and then re-size them however you like.)

Back to School: All About Me

The school year is fast approaching! I can’t believe I’m going to have two kids in school! Liam is starting a preschool program and Evelyn will be transferring schools and attending an all-day Kindergarten program. We’re hoping she will receive PT, OT, and Speech, and fingers crossed, she’ll have a 1:1 aide to help her through the day and to practice ABA skills. (Side point: I’ve been thinking about doing an IEP lingo/glossary post, if you’d be interested in a post like that let me know!)

There are a few things that I’m doing to get ready for the school year, (besides looking at pictures of my babies and wondering how they’re old enough for school already.) The first thing I’m making are these “All About Me” printables.

Next week I’ll be sharing even more “Back to School” stuff including a Time Capsule Book and the Ultimate Back to School Checklist to help you get organized! Bring on the Mental Load!

First Things First: The “All About Me” Printable

One of the first things I did when Evelyn started preschool last year was make a little About Me Book that she could take to school. It was cute, simple, and Evelyn loved it, but I’m not sure if her teachers ever read it. This year, I took cues from Pinterest (want to follow my Pinterest board? You’d be helping a mom out 😉) and created a one-page All About Me for both of my kids.

These are kind of like a quick fact-check to tell your child’s new teacher all about your awesome little one. Because my daughter has Autism, it’s kind of like a mini-glance at her IEP. There’s less on here about their favorite things and such, because I’m saving that for our Time Capsule to keep forever and ever at home. This printable is really a way to communicate your child’s needs with their teacher right from the start.

Download your own All About Me Printable here! You can add text boxes in Adobe to customize it on your computer or simply print it and write it out by hand. If your kids are old enough and able, you could even get them to help you fill it out!

Here’s how my kids’ All About Me pages turned out.

What do you think? What else would you put on an All About Me page?

Memory Game for Kids

Waiting. It’s hard to do, for grown ups and kids alike. Our favorite neighbor, Daniel Tiger, even sings an entire song on his show about waiting. We sing it a lot at home, too. “While you wait, you can sing, play, or imagine anything.” It’s catchy but sometimes my kids just look at me like 👀 What do we sing? What do we play? What do we imagine? Ah!

Well, I personally recommend singing Moana songs. As for play, this Memory Game is great if you are at a restaurant waiting for food. We play it practically everywhere we go. (And you don’t have to fill your purse with crayons, books, tablets, etc… the restaurant provides everything you need.)

How to Play

Set Up: At most restaurants you’ll find a similar selection of items on the table: salt, pepper, napkins, forks, spoons, ketchup, creamer, sugar, etc. Pick a few items to start and line them up on the table. Review with your kids what the line-up is.

Two Ways to Play

1. What’s Missing?

Great For Littles: Ask them to close their eyes while you make a change. You can take one or two items away, hiding them in your hands or on the seat next to you. When they open their eyes they have to figure out what’s missing!

2. What’s Different?

For more advanced (4+): Ask them to close their eyes while you rearrange the items on the table. When they open their eyes, they have to find the differences AND arrange them back to their starting place.

I’ve been amazed at how quickly my kids picked up this game. We make it harder and harder each time, (confession: sometimes I’m not even sure what the difference is!) My hubby likes to switch out items from the line-up to make it even more challenging, for instance, exchanging a fork for a spoon or strawberry jelly instead of raspberry jelly!

Want to see how it’s played? Here’s the link to my brand-new YouTube channel! Click this link to see the video of my son playing the game: While You Wait Memory Game

Now you can keep your hungry kids happy and help their brains grow at the same time! Parenting win.

Then chow down! Yum!

Can you think of any other ways to play this? Share your ideas in the comments below!

As always, thanks for reading!

Stephanie

5 Great Books for Moms

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Oftentimes, the fast answers for parenting come from a quick google search, but sometimes you just need an entire book on a subject.

An author named Timothy Ferriss writes in his book The 4-Hour Workweek that to be an expert on something you have to read three books on that subject. So if you read these five books that means you’ll be an expert on motherhood, right? If only it were that simple! It sure sounds a bit better than Malcolm Gladwell’s theory in his book Outliers: The Story of Success which suggests you need 10,000 hours devoted to anything before you become an expert. Pardon me while I do the math… Okay, I’m back. Here’s what I figured out:

10,000 hours = 1.142 years. Since parenthood is a 24/7 job, you could say you’re an expert by the time your baby is 14 months old!

I’m getting away from my point here, which is that no matter how much you read or how old your kids are, there’s always more to learn and room to grow. So from one mom-in-progress to another here are my favorite books. You’ll find that they’re not all alike, not just about one subject because motherhood is so much more than just the simple label of “mom.” I’ve been hearing about a new concept called “the mental load” a lot lately. The concept that moms’ brains are constantly running a “load” of information to manage our children, our home, and our relationships–be it with spouses or friends. We are secretaries, activity coordinators, event planners, cleaners, nurses, teachers, meal planners, chefs, bakers, personal shoppers, fashion designers, bodyguards, game inventors, researchers, accountants, chauffeurs, caretakers… the list goes on.

The books below have helped me learn how to better nurture my children, create principles that I feel are important for their growth, grow personally, and help take care of our home.

I wanted to share these with you because these five books have been worth the read to me. Worth staying up late to devour/fall asleep to them even after an exhausting day chasing kiddos. Worth holding them awkwardly on the treadmill, because my treadmill really doesn’t want me to read books while walking (I proved that stinker wrong, this mama has to multitask at all times!) Worth taking a few minutes of “me” time to try and be a better “me” for myself, my husband, and my kids. So without further ado here are my 5 favorite books for moms!

#1 – The Sleep Easy Solution

I love The SleepEasy Solution so much that it’s always my go-to baby shower gift and the first thing I recommend when friends ask about getting their kids to sleep. I won’t go on and on too much about it here because I’ve already written an entire blog about just this ONE book. I love it that much. You can read it here! Sleep training absolutely changed my life as a mom. We went from being constantly fatigued (the whole family) to learning more about our daughter’s overall health and wellness, simply through the process of getting her to sleep better. Sleep is so important. For everyone. It’s the best. I love sleeping. Get the best book ever here.

Anyway, moving on.

# 2 – The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers

I read The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers by Meg Meeker a few years ago when I was really struggling with my value as a mom, and even as a woman. There is so much pressure from our culture to do it all and do it perfectly, and I just felt like I was falling apart. If you are struggling with the pressure of motherhood, I highly recommend this book. It gave me some great perspective on my role as a mom, my value, and the best part about the book is that it gives you ten proactive ways to apply the lessons to your life. Here is my blog from a few years ago when I was first reading this book! Hopefully, you can see the transition I’ve gone through since reading it! I am a much more confident mom now. Sure, there are still days where I feel like I’m completely missing the mark, but I know that underneath it all my efforts are valued by my family and myself. Get the book here.

#3 – If I Have to Tell You One More Time

I came across If I Have To Tell You One More Time just a few weeks ago. I was in search of help and google gave me this! Our four-year-old son, Liam, has been struggling as he becomes more aware of things around him, mostly that his older sister, who has Autism and Hypotonia, gets treated differently than he does.

Liam is capable of dressing himself, putting on his shoes, independently using the bathroom and washing his hands, and most other basic tasks for a four-year-old. But, his sister who is just one year older than him still struggles with these things and requires a good deal of assistance at home. In addition, in his eyes, she gets to ride a school bus, and go to a school where she even gets to play on indoor swings and crawl through ball-pits and do puzzles and play games all day long. She gets praise when she works hard and masters something he did long ago, for instance: taking off her pants by herself, using her fork, drinking from an open cup. When was the last time someone applauded you for getting dressed in the morning? I totally get where my son is coming from. But it doesn’t change that his sister needs help.

He is feeling very envious of her and because of this he’s been acting out more, purposely not being responsible or independent, in his search for more attention. He doesn’t yet understand that his strengths can be struggles for Evelyn and that school is hard work for her, and those swings and ball-pits are challenging therapy!

I like this book because it is current! It’s working from how to raise and relate to kids in today’s world. It’s not some antiquated concept of child rearing from twenty years ago. I’ve often wondered why I was much more willing as a child to be “told” what to do, while my kids seem to resist me at every turn. “Because I said so,” just isn’t an option these days. This book answers that and so much more. It gave me some succinct ways to better help Liam understand his responsibilities and get the right kind of attention.

Amy McCready writes in a very positive, uplifting way that makes you feel like parenting could be easy! Well, easier than it feels most days.

#4 – The Child Whisperer

As a reader, I err on the side of skeptic most often. I’m adding this book because I think it offers many great points and you can take what you want from it. I took away a lot that related to my son, but very little about my daughter.

Carol Tuttle’s premise is that we each have an innate personality built-in and that when we honor our innate nature (or in this case, our child’s nature) then we can live more harmoniously.

She breaks children up into four “types.” Knowing your child’s type will help you to relate to them. I was able to quickly identify my very social, funny, emotional son as a Type 1 child, and the information helped me quickly understand him and make changes so that he and I can communicate better and have more fun. But, to be honest, my daughter has been a harder diagnosis.

That said, I do think it’s a helpful read and that many moms might find clues about relating to their children from this book. If you read it, let me know what you think!

#5 – The Honest Life

This one was very eye-opening for me. As a consumer, I had always been pretty trusting of the products I purchased. It never occurred to me that anyone, anywhere in the world would manufacture a product that could be harmful to humans. Boy, was I naive!

Jessica Alba delivers the information in this book effortlessly, sharing her personal story of how she became aware of the harmful products in our lives, and what she did to fix it. It’s not just about how she created her company (The Honest Co.) to provide home, baby, and beauty products that are safe and effective. I was worried that the book would be one big plug for her products, but it wasn’t. It was informative and empowering. If you’ve been looking to get away from harmful chemicals in your household goods and foods, then this book is a great starting place. A must-have for Household Engineers or you know, moms carrying a huge “mental load!”

That’s it! What books have made an impact on you as a mom? Were there any that helped you through or that you feel helped you be a better mom? Leave me a comment below! I’d love more recommendations for books to read myself!

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