Sunday, 9 January 2022
2021: Looking Back
Thursday, 2 September 2021
Simple Living: Entryway Organization
Getting out the door isn't always an easy task. I try my best to give myself enough time before I have to be somewhere. With all of the moving parts that come with being a Mom, one of the simplest solutions for getting out of the door on time is to make your entryway work for you. I love all the beautiful pictures online of people's mudrooms and giant foyer closets, but that is not my reality. My home's entryway is quite small. It has a small closet area (we removed the red accordion doors from the closet) and very little wall space. I know that others have smaller entryways than mine, so I hope that some of these solutions will be useful to you. My entryway organization is neat, tidy and functional. It really isn't beautiful, but I would choose function over beauty any day.
I came up with a few solutions for the entryway before summer. They have served us well. I needed to clean up the area and make sure that everything in the entryway was necessary and seasonally appropriate.
Before:
My husband installed three hooks for me. This gives my daughters a place to hang their jackets. They can both reach the hooks and be responsible for their own things. (Yay!)
Before:
- Ask yourself if the items in your entryway truly belong there. Can off-season shoes be stored somewhere else? Does your summer gear need to be taking up precious space when your kids are back to school in the fall?
- Worry less about whether something looks pretty and worry more about function. The shoe organizer isn't my favourite thing to look at but it is super functional and allows my kids to be independent.
- Make a habit (and help your kids make a habit) of putting things in their place. Give essential items a designated spot. My three-year old knows exactly where to find her hat, coat, and shoes. My keys are always in the same spot and so are my sunglasses. Getting out the door is much easier when you know exactly where your things are.
Thursday, 26 August 2021
Simple Living: Playroom
Tuesday, 24 August 2021
Wardrobe Wednesday- Summer Outfits
I was aiming to have a capsule wardrobe this summer, but I am having trouble maintaining a smaller capsule wardrobe with this pregnancy. I have had to purchase a few items because a lot of what I owned didn't fit anymore or it didn't feel good on me. I will get back to capsule wardrobes after Baby is born, I am sure. Until then, I am going to wear whatever feels comfortable. I wanted to share a few of my summer outfits with you. I found some great items at Mama Bear Maternity and Motherhood Maternity. I am also wearing a few items that I have had in previous pregnancies or that I swiped from my husband's side of the closet.
Sunday, 22 August 2021
Motherhood Monday: Back to School Prep
- Going to bed on time and getting up early. To be honest, this one will be hardest on me. I love to sleep, especially at 32 weeks pregnant. Getting back into proper bedtime routines and getting up at regular times will help smooth the transition so that we are used to the routine before it hits again.
- Meal prep. I plan to make some muffins and easy meals to have in the freezer for when the frenzy starts. Having lunch kit items ready to go and planning some easy meal items will help us all feel prepared.
- Get the entryway ready. We have a tiny entrance to our home and it always looks a little different depending on the season. I want to get the entryway organized so that it is easy for us to find the things that we need as we head to school in the morning.
- Put together the backpack and school supplies. I need to label all of my daughter's school supplies and get it all packed up in her backpack. We are doing our shopping this week, so I hope that I can still get everything I need!
Monday, 5 April 2021
Quarter 1 Goal Updates
It has certainly been a while since I popped on here. Life has been full of both wonderful and frustrating things and I haven't had the energy to come to the blog. I can't believe that the first quarter of the year is over. A lot has happened and the next three months seem like they are going to be an adventure!
Before I share my goal updates, I have some news! My husband and I were very excited to learn that we are expecting. Our new little one will join our family in October. Our daughters are very excited to have another child in the family. They have already started giving name suggestions which are, at the very least, creative. I have also enrolled full-time in school to finish off my program. I am excited to be done, but I have a lot of work ahead of me in the next three months. Our oldest daughter is still doing virtual school from home and my 3 year old likes to keep me on my toes. I am going to need to rely more on the habits that I have put in place to keep me on track.
I had 2 main goals for the year. I had workout goals and the goal to implement a morning routine. My workout goal was to complete 4 strength workouts, 4 cardio workouts and 2 stretching/yoga workouts per week. I have met or exceeded my goal consistently this quarter, with the exception of 2 weeks where I fell short on my strength training goals. I have noticed such a difference in my life because I feel strong, my mental health has been good and I feel like I am doing a good job of taking caring of myself. I am so happy with how things are going.
My morning routine has been much slower to develop, but I have made progress. I have been consistently getting up in the morning before my kids, meditating and working out. I love having a few moments to myself in the morning. It helps me to start the day feeling calm and ready, rather than frazzled. I will need to start pushing my mornings to start earlier this quarter because I have to build in extra time for my school work in the morning.
I hope to be back soon with my capsule wardrobe. I am still figuring out what I will need and what I can make work. Until then, take care!
Sunday, 10 January 2021
Life Organization Series- Meal Planning
For the month of January I will be running a life organization series that will give you simple ideas to keep your life running smoothly. I know that even with a pandemic happening, life goes on and sometimes things can feel out of control or disorganized. I am hoping that this series will help with that. I want to share some of the things that work well for me to keep my household running smoothly.
The first thing I am going to talk about is meal planning. Meal planning has been an extremely impactful part of my life. In general, I don't feel particularly energetic at the end of my day. During the week I don't have to spend time or energy choosing what we are going to eat for dinner. I have already done that work and it really makes my evenings run smoothly. Planning is easy and only takes me 15-20 minutes a week.
Step 1:
I take a look at what I have on hand. It is important to me to use up anything that may be expiring soon or going off. I like to reduce food waste. At this point, however, I don't usually have much left in the fridge. I have learned what we use and I pretty good at purchasing only what we need.
Step 2:
I make my grocery list. I try to only purchase things when they are on sale, with the odd exception. I look at the grocery flyer and find out what is on sale. I write out my grocery list by category. I used to write my list by aisle, but they have recently changed things up on me!
Step 3:
I decide on meals according to the ingredients that I will have on hand. It can help if you have a master list of the meals that your family enjoys. I do try new meals, but for the most part I pick from our family's master list.
Step 4:
Decide which days to put the meals on. I always look at our calendar in case we have something going on that will make it difficult to do meal prep that is more involved. For example, I host a Zoom book club on Monday evenings. This means that I need to get my kids to be early. On Mondays, I choose quick and easy meals so that I can serve dinner early.
Meal planning is so simple and it really takes the pressure off of me during the week. It is a 15 minute investment of time that can really change how you feel about feeding yourself and your family. There are a few simple things that you can do to help make this process even easier:
- Make a master meal list. Write down meals that your family enjoys. Ask your family what their favourite meals are. Use the list to help you plan when you are feeling stuck.
- Plan a theme night. On Fridays we always have chicken fingers and fries for supper. It isn't a culinary masterpiece, but by Friday I am so sick of cooking. It gives me a break and my kids love it. Saturday mornings are for cereal which is something I don't serve during the week.
- Feel free to swap your meals around if you need to. If you forgot to take out meat for supper, swap it with another meal on your list. There are no hard and fast rules to meal planning. It is simply framework for you to work with.