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Life Lately: Sales, Silliness & MEA Weekend

October 20, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

Happy Friday, friends! We have a packed ahead with errands, appointments and oh yes–my in-laws visiting too. This morning I’m off to the doctor’s for a blood test and then it’s time to clean (I love a clean house on Friday evenings), get outside, and then prepare for family pizza night with Grandma & Grandpa tonight.

This is MEA Weekend here in MN–basically teacher in-service days for most of the week–so there was no preschool on Wednesday or Thursday. We’ve played all the games, done all the crafts, read all the books and so much more. Mama is definitely ready for the weekend 😛

But let’s chat about life lately!… Read More »

What I Ate Wednesday {10.17.2023}

October 18, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

If that’s not a throwback title, I don’t know what is 😛 #bloggersgonnablog #ifyouknowyouknow

Lately I’m enjoying Instagrammers and bloggers who are posting old school stuff… simple unfiltered snippets of days in their lives, random thoughts and really just anything that’s “in the moment.” I don’t want to see a synopsis of your child’s NICU journey in 30 seconds with inspiring background music or “useful” content that’s 10 slides long (with the last slide selling your book/product/whatever). Or sponsored content on blogs that’s just one long ad with no personal touches.

I’m craving real, authentic connection. And since I don’t have much time for social media/blogs anyways, I’ve become pretty ruthless about paring down what I consume!

Anyways–back to this post. I’m taking things old school for the day and sharing my meals and snacks from yesterday! I’m always curious about what other people eat, so here’s a peek into my life for you :)… Read More »

25 Toddler-Friendly Advent Calendar Activities

October 16, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

Christmas is just over two months away, which means it’s time for holiday blog content! I have a couple of gift guides planned, but this year I’m steering away from shopping-focused content. The holiday posts you’ll see this fall and winter are more about doing and less about having.

This year I’m incredibly excited for December because we’ve planned a month full of Christmas-y activities to do with the kids. All of the advent calendar ideas below are ones we plan on doing with our toddlers (and 13-month-old)–so no late nights or two-hour concerts here!… Read More »

Life Lately: A Day in the Life…

October 13, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

This was one of those weeks over here. Eric had Monday off and we were super productive, and then… life. Take Tuesday for example.

Everyone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. We literally ran part of the way to preschool because it was one of those constantly-running-late days. We had to shorten/skip naps because I had a doctor’s appointment for a persistent cough. And I had to update my chest x-ray because I had pneumonia last year, so the appointment took forever.

I quickly picked Oldest up from preschool after my appointment and took him to his early childhood screening (required here before kindergarten). He was tired and not into it–I can’t blame him–and I forgot his registration papers and development questionnaire so I had to do them again there.

Kids weren’t interested in listening to their grandparents read over video call before dinner. Baby was so tired he almost fell asleep in his food, and Child #2 was so exhausted from skipping his nap that he couldn’t help clean up his disastrous bedroom afterwards.

Once everyone was down for the night, I was so excited for my hot, quiet shower… only to remember that I couldn’t take a shower because we’d had a handyman out to fix some bathroom plumbing earlier in the day, and the caulk hadn’t set yet.

So instead I baked muffins to pack in Oldest’s lunch the next day. I made almond flour pumpkin walnut muffins–only to remember that there’s a nut allergy in the school and no nuts are allowed (nice move, Claire, making nut flour muffins with nuts in them -.-). So I made another batch of pumpkin muffins, allergy-friendly, and then put on my pajamas and called it quits for the night!

Phew, that probably could have been a post all on its own. Let’s talk about the good things that happened this week though!… Read More »

Our Screen Time Routine (+ What I’m Holding Off On)

October 9, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

People often assume that because I’m a crunchy parent, my kids have never seen a TV show or held a smartphone before. But, this isn’t the case at all. I believe in holding off on screen time as long as it works for you–but I also understand that there are situations when you might need a bit of quiet time, or perhaps your kids need a bit of down time. Screen time can be a great solution in moderation.… Read More »