Order Balance Being Well

  The previous year our daughter had a big party with her friends, so we did something a little different for our daughter's 9th birthday. Her birthday landed on a Saturday so we deemed the entire weekend Color Fun.  It started Friday where I was able to be a virtual mystery reader for her 4th grade class. I read "The Day the Crayons Quit" to her class via zoom. This was a fun surprise for her, and she was gifted the book by me with a nice inscription. (I uploaded a copy of me reading the book to YouTube incase I ran into connection issues day of. You can watch that here  if you're interested). She came home from school that day to a cookie treat made by a local baker. We had them individually wrapped to give out to family joining us for the run. Saturday was Color run day. It was her first 5k. The rainbow skirt gave her all the motivation she needed. The day of her Birthday was spend doing whatever she wanted to do in the moment. For cake she chose cheese cake with...

When my daughter turned 8 she wanted to have her friends over to watch a movie. She had never had a big party with all her friends, so I was very excited to make this happen for her. The Dollar Tree came in handy for popcorn buckets and a variety of movie theater candy.  Amazon also has paper buckets. Amazon had a great selection of themed décor. We even used leftover table runners to line the walkway. ( Banner ,  Hanging Decor , Balloons ) We prefilled buckets with popped popcorn, and lined up the many popcorn salt varieties. Something that never occurred to me before the day, not all kids like popcorn. I would have had a backup up of chips and pretzels if I could do it again. There was also plenty of mini waters with all that salty food. We set up every seating option we could think of, so everyone could have a cozy spot. For a take home treat we sent popcorn, candy, and popcorn bucket’s. ( Clea...

Our three older children are only a little over a year apart, so they wanted to share a bedroom (even when space allowed them not to). Then we got to the age where it was clear our son needed his own room. The need coincidentally coincided with a time when we did not have a room. That's when we bought our townhouse. The girls still shared a room. A few years in, when we asked what each child would like to make the house more enjoyable for them, our oldest daughter said her own room. We were unable to accommodate this request. However, when I asked why, she said she wanted a place to have some time for herself. That was a request I could make work. We started with cleaning the girl's room. Clothes were first. We did this Marie Kondo style by pulling everything out and putting the items on our kitchen table so the girls could understand the volume of what they had. Until now, the girls shared clothes as they were the same size and interested in the same style. My oldest daughter ...

After living in our townhome for almost 3 years, we discussed if we wanted something with more room, or to invest in our current home. We opted to invest. When it was time to work on the kids' rooms, we asked them to pick any one thing for their space. Our oldest son, 10 at the time, requested a desk. He said he would like a space to sit other than his bed, to draw, and to do homework. We looked together on Amazon. He wanted something minimal, but with an upper shelf. It was up to me to think through the coordination, such as size, and a way to hide cords.  We decided on the VIPEK Computer Desk 42 Inch Study Writing Desk PC Laptop Table for Home Office, School Student Desk with Hutch & Storage Shelves, Corner Table for Small Space Bedroom, Easy Assemble, Oak . This desk no longer is available, but if we had to pick now, we would do the Aquzee Computer Desk with Hutch & Bookshelf, Home Office Desk with Space Saving Design, Metal Legs Industrial Table with Upper Storage Shel...

When you live in a small space storage solutions are key. We did not use our one car garage for parking, it was our main storage room. It was also, my husband's work shop, where the kids kept their outdoor stuff, the home for our lawn mower, and our main entrance. I knew we needed to get it under control. I started small with the kids bikes. There was no clear home for them, so naturally, they left them wherever. Even worse, some days they were buried in the back on the garage, and they wouldn't bother riding them at all. My solution was to get a small shed for the side of our home. We were lucky enough to be in and end unit townhome, which meant we had the tiniest bit more yard compared to the others. When I say tiny bit I mean tiny. Our home was 1872 sqft, and our land, 2615 sqft. Luckily we had some "green space" owned by the HOA next to our property, so we got to enjoy more room, even if we didn't own it. When it came to the shed however, it would have to be c...

I miss those wee little baby hands. Now we're approaching 3, but it seems like his appetite is the same.  We try to stick with a Main Course, Fruit, Grain or Vegetables, and Dessert. When it's a busy week, and I need quick fixes here is the current list. Toddler Lunches:   -Freeze dried fruit (pictured here) -Cheese (pictured here) -Ham cubes (pictured here) -Harvest Snaps (pictured here) -Mini Crackers (pictured here) -Yogurt -Danimals -Go-Gurt -Cereal  -Nutri-Grain Bar -Teddy Grahams -Chicken Nuggets -Goldfish -Ritz Bits -Tortilla and Cheese -Crackers -Fish Sticks -Hotdogs -Bananas -Mini Muffins -Mandarin Oranges -Smile Fries -Animal Crackers -Lunch Meat -Chicken Rice -Corn Dogs -Macaroni and Cheese -Meatballs -Applesauce Pouches -Noodles -Bologna Cheese Sandwich  -Rice Cake -Fruit Snacks -Pretzels -Toast -Spaghetti O's -Mini Ravioli -Shape Chicken Noodle -Leftovers

We have 4 kids, and we both work full time. Organization is key to our house running smoothly and everyone's personal wellness. If you have small children, you know getting them out the door in the morning is stressful. My brain is already checking off all the things that need to happen before we head out the door. Forgetting a lunch is not accounted for in my morning commute time. We always pack lunches the night before. If it doesn't need to be cold it goes right in, no reminder needed. If part of the lunch needs stored in the refrigerator or freezer, we add a clothes pin with the corresponding word on them. We just keep these cheap clothes pins in a jar on the counter. They have fridge, freezer, and sandwich written on them in sharpie. (Sandwich for back when a few of them would only eat uncrushable. Even though it is a freezer item, they were located in a different spot). They get clipped to the bag at night and put back in the jar in the morning, on...

Unlike when I was a kid, most schools have an approved snack list for birthday treats. Non-food items and also encourage by our school. The goal is to help our kids make healthier choices. The only negative is healthy options aren't as fun or as simple as cupcakes. The first time I had to bring a healthy option, I was at a loss. After some creative thinking, these are what I came up with, and has been my go to ever since. Applesauce pouches, pencils, and custom avery labels. For a class of 22 students two boxes of Applesauce Pouches  were $12 total. We always have lots of fun pencils on hand, so my daughter enjoyed picking her favorites. If this isn't the case in your home, stopping at the store or searching "party favor pencils" will find good options. Avery address labels  are another item we always have on hand. Label templates can be made and printed at  www.avery.com . From the websites home page, click the three lines in the top right cor...

Here is a list if things my toddler (15 months) will actually eat in his lunch. Packed in Kinsho Bento Boxes I got from amazon. Cupcake liners when extra separation is needed.   -Yogurt -Go-Gurt -Cheerios -Nutri-Grain Bar -Teddy Grahams -Cheese - Chicken Nuggets -Eggs Bites -Harvest Snaps -Goldfish -Ritz Bits -Tortilla and Cheese - Crackers -Fish Sticks -Hotdogs -Freeze Dried Strawberries -Bananas -Mini Muffins -Mandarin Oranges -Smile Fries -Animal Crackers -Carved Deli Lunch Meat -Chicken Rice

I try to prepare for holidays well in advance, but once I see something on our 4-week calendar I know I need to put it on my to-do list. This week I got everything for Easter baskets. I always take Easter baskets as a chance to get some practical things for spring and summer. Some of the stuff I would’ve bought either way, but adding them to their baskets helps the kids appreciate the items vs them just magically showing up for use every year. Our kids are age 10, 10, 8, and 1.5. They do still believe in the Easter Bunny (or they pretend to because it’s more fun that way).   This year I opted for storage totes as baskets. I know these will get used when we do our spring cleaning/organizing. I also went with specific favorites for candy, instead of one mixed bag like usual. A chocolate bunny is also a must! For some reason my kids prefer solid to hallow, so I always get a hallow bunny for mysel...