'Twas the month before Christmas, and all through the North End, all creatures were stirring to get out of the house. It's the holiday season, and there is so much to do; the children are excited, and the parents are, too.
It's true; December is full of seasonal activities and events. Here are a few local events to add to your holiday list:
Read MoreFall is coming up and is official on September 22nd. We’re preparing to bring in the window A/C units and break-out the pumpkin recipes. Of course, we’re also ready to grab all the pumpkin lattes out there in town. My husband proposed get a new pumpkin latte every Friday. Ha!
Fall is my favorite season. The flavors, the colors, the smell, and even the weather is usually pretty great—yup, sweater weather! Do you love this season? Either way, this bucket list will get you in the fall spirit. See the download button below to get your own PDF.
Read MoreI’m going to whisper a word in your ear: nerf. Did your kid hear it? Because I think my kid heard, he is in the other room. I kid…but nerf is like the real-deal big kid thing - they love it. So imagine the thrill of nerf plus a huge arena where the imagination can run free. Yup, that’s Gotcha Arena.
While I enjoy a good game, I thought Gotcha would make the perfect dad and son fun day out. They invited two other dad and son friends, and it was game on. They had a total blast. In fact, they went a few weeks ago, and all the boys (and dads, haha) are still talking about it and want to go back. They had a blast. My son is planning his next birthday there, which is over six months away. Needless to say, this place is a great time. Let me tell you all about it!
Read MoreWhen it comes to the LeMay Car Museum, have you asked yourself these questions…
I wonder if my kid is old enough for the LeMay Car Museum?
I am not much of a fan of cars. Will I like the LeMay Car Museum?
Is it worth a visit to the LeMay Car Museum?
What is inside the LeMay Car Museum besides just cars?
I sure did. I don't know why I was so unsure about it. I worried my toddler would want to touch all the cars, and some museum employee would come up to me and say, "excuse me, ma'am, your child is touching everything; you need to leave. We'll escort you out."
Then one blustery day, while my in-laws were visiting, we didn't know what to do with the poor weather, so we just went for it. If we didn't like it, eh, no big deal. And guess what: we all loved it!!
Read MoreWho else is glad to see the spring weather arrive? I love all the blooming flowers and green sprouting everywhere (except for those allergies!). Here’s a list of things to welcome spring. Let’s see how much we can get done!
Read MoreThey are similar indeed, but not the same. Differences between the two animals include the face, size, ears, hair, and even personality. But don’t go envisioning Emperor Kuzco when you head to Firwood Farms. Well, okay, to me they looked about the same, but I’m not a llama and alpaca expert.
A main difference between them is their hair actually. Alpacas have a much finer fiber than the llamas hence the loveliness of alpacas made clothes and accessories.
Read MoreMy son was convinced that it would snow on Christmas. He kept going on about it even after I explained many times that it was likely not going to snow since we didn’t live in an area where it snowed often. Luckily he was too preoccupied with gifts on Christmas to worry about it not snowing. But, the desire for snow still persisted.
With my younger son having just turned two, I figured this year could be the year we went out for a snow and sledding adventure. So we geared up to head to the mountains this winter.
Read MoreI think I say the same thing to my husband every night: Can you believe this is still happening? I’m so tired of it all! How are you holding up?
Yup, we’re still trudging through this whole COVID-19 thing. It’s weird to think back to the beginning of the year and how things have changed and we’ve adapted. I started out with a burst of energy and ideas. Every day we had morning learning time, we took walks sometimes twice a day around the neighborhood, maybe a bike ride, and endless with magnatile creations.
Now, it’s summer so we only do learning time a couple of times a week (Caleb can put up such a fuss sometimes!), we take walks but often at different places, and we’ve moved onto DUPLOS. It’s the same, but not the same. Ahh, the ebb and flow of life during COVID.
Lately, more things have opened up allowing us to do a few more things…with caution, of course. Mainly, we are sticking to outdoor activities.
Read MoreHonestly, I’m not sure how I feel about bucket lists. Are they like New Years Resolutions? We all know how resolutions go — you are all gun-ho on it for like two weeks and then peter out. However, I like to look at bucket lists as just some ideas on what to do when you’re standing in the kitchen thinking (or, freaking out because the kids are running wild in circles and it’s only 8 am), “what the heck should we do today?!?”
Now, there is one problem: I’m a completionist. The type of person who commits, for better or worse, to the “I AM GOING TO FINISH IT” motto. You give me a list, I’m going to check all those boxes. I have to be careful with these bucket lists. I already made a promise to myself that I will not freak out if not all the boxes are checked. Repeat. I will not freak out if I don’t check all the boxes. Good pep-talk.
Now to the summer bucket list. While summer officially started June 21st on the calendar, we all know summer officially starts the day after July 4th in the Pacific Northwest. The sun is out consistently and the rain stops. We actually have to turn on sprinklers to keep the grass green. So that’s why I waited on my list until this week. I also tried to make it “stay at home” and “socially distant” acceptable. And here’s the list:
Read MoreWhat day is it? How many weeks have we been quarantined at home? When will school start again…if ever this year? This has been rough…are you with me?
Luckily, both my boys are still rather young, so school is more about socialization and learning is more through play, asking questions, doing experiments…basically happening all day. However, spending time on some age-appropriate topics each day helps the day move along is beneficial for my son as it provides some structure, focuses him, and exercises his mind and creativity on other ways. My focus right now is numbers, the alphabet, and learning to spell and write his name. I’ve been using a couple of resources to come up with fun ways for him to learn. First, I use groups on Facebook like 253 Parents Get Resourceful and Too Cool for School. Then there are two awesome Instagram accounts: Busy Toddler and Happy Tot Shelf.
Read MoreI imagine you’re at home right now like me trying to figure out what the heck to do to keep your kids busy since school is closed (and everything else we do is closed like the zoo, YMCA, Children’s Museum, etc). UGH! I feel so much anxiety about what I’m going to do to keep my little guys entertained and learning. And social media is overwhelming me. In fact, I almost feel more anxious after going online - it’s like all this information is being tossed out into the world but I can’t seem to keep track of it all, and not to mention how to deceiver what will actually work for my kid’s age and temperament. On top of that, I’m thinking I need some sort of schedule since everyone is doing it. AHHH.
….. DEEP BREATHE ….
So I started a list since that makes me feel better usually. Below what I’ve gathered. Then as we were on a walk yesterday, I came up with a schedule. It needed to be pretty relaxed and flexible given weather and moods.
Read MoreDo you ever read a description of a product or service and still wonder what the heck it is? I hate that! Sometimes I feel companies get too much into trending or key words and forget to give just a straight forward description of what they provide. Ugh!
I wanted to share my experience with KiwiCo and went to their “About Us” to get their official description and I feel like it was all fluff and didn’t actually give much “about” the service….which, by the way, is AWESOME. In my own words, I’d say it is a subscription based craft box service that delivers age appropriate projects to your door. (Okay, end of rant now)
I first heard about KiwiCo from my friend/neighbor, but never really went any further than talking about it. Then I got an email that offered a free trial. With it being summer still, I really need things to entertain my 3-1/2 year old son and this seemed just the ticket, so I signed up (while during Wesley at 10pm one night, haha).
You select the age of your child when you sign-up for your crate, so what you get will fit your kid. We landed with the Koala crate which focus on play & learn. Perfect! Then, when our crate arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see three crafts for us. When my son came out of quiet time, I delivered the news: he got a box in the mail. He LOVES getting boxes and letters in the mail (although I think he knows that boxes are better, hehe). He’s even happy with the box is as simple as a new cup. Easy to please, love it.
Of course, as soon as the box was open, we had to start a craft immediately. The box theme was Rainbows. Ahh, cute! I should have looked in the box out before letting him know about the box because I was scrambling a bit to get a closer look at what we had to do. This mom is just living and learning.
Once I had the box back in my hands, and a moment to see everything, I realized they provide all the materials and some great instructions.
Read MoreCan you believe it? Thanksgiving has past and December is here in just a few days. We’re already starting to get into the Christmas spirit. The music has definitely started and will continue until Christmas day! Even though I’m super pregnant right now and excepting a baby any day, I still want to do all things Christmas, so I decided to put together a Holiday Bucket list. Do you want to join me in making one? Then I thought this PDF from Rochester MN Moms Blog was a cute template to make the bucket list festive and printable.
Here’s my Holiday Bucket List…
Read MoreAt the beginning of each month, I try and take a look through my calendar and see what to expect that month. Is there a friend or family member's birthday? A holiday? Somewhere we're expected to be (fingers crossed that this place is a vacation spot)? Really anything I need to plan for in advance. Mainly, I do this because Josh and I sit down (or at least discuss) at the start of each month to discuss that particular month's budget. By looking at a calendar, I know what items I want to bring into our budget planning discussion.
The other reason I do this is to see if I need to do any research for a project - art, baking, cooking, etc. For example, in February for Valentine's Day, I did a little art project with Caleb to make Valentine's Day cards for the grandparents. Then I also made brownies as a special Valentine's Day treat. So I had to do some research on Valentine's Day projects that you can do with a toddler. I also needed to secure budget for art supplies.
Being prepared and organized is tough! I am not perfect, no sir ye. I wish I were, though, and I keep trying.
I just went through my calendar and here are some things I thought you might want to be aware of as well.
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