This year I thought it would be fun to do a few themed Christmas Movie Nights as a part of our BUDGET FRIENDLY HOLIDAY BUCKET LIST. A way to not only watch some of our favorite holiday movies, but also eat a food or have an activity related to the movie. I came up with 16 SIMPLE, easy to plan ideas among 3 holiday movie categories. Each can be used as a[...]
It has been one year since we moved into our new home. One year since we dug up our deep DEEP roots, moved across the country and traded our dream home for our dream life. You can read our full moving story HERE. In a way, it seems like we have been here forever. Or maybe we were just forever longing for a life like this. A fixer upper, a commun[...]
School is officially out and we are attempting to find a new rhythm with all 4 kids at home + both my husband and I working from home. . We decided to attempt summer break without putting the kids in camps or hiring a nanny. OY! It has been an interesting! Even with a daily google calendar schedule for them and UPDATED CHORE CHARTS the first few weeks we[...]
On April 30th we had our first 100 degree day in Phoenix. Which means pool season is officially upon us and the school days are coming dangerously close to hitting single digits. The boys celebrated with our NEW POOLSIDE BASKETBALL HOOP. Here is what we were up to in the month of April: Another Soccer season wrapped for Maks (7) and Sloan([...]
If you have been following over on social you know that the past 6 weeks or so have been a bit chaotic for us. February/March always seem to be when the storm of solo parenting fully takes over and I'm literally just surviving. Not to mention all 4 kids were in full on sports seasons at the same time so our evenings AND weekend were jam packed. Have[...]
The start of a new year always brings a lot of mixed feelings for me. I am grateful for a fresh start, yet quietly anxious because the hardest part of our entire year hits like wildfire. If you are new around here, my husband is a Federally Licensed Enrolled Agent with the IRS, which means TAX SEASON is his craziest time of year. 16 hour work days fo[...]
This is our 2022 Holiday Wish List. 100+ gift ideas for adults, kids & families, compiled in partnership with, you guessed it, MY FAMILY!! I don't like to share random things on gift guides. Id rather share things we already own and love. OR the items that are on our current wish lists for the upcoming holiday season! I hope these lists are[...]
Our favorite holiday (and winter) tradition has officially commenced! It's our holiday hot cocoa bar and it has been a family and fan favorite for the past 4 years. This year (now that we have downsized our home by half) our cocoa bar needed to downsize a bit too. SEE OUR HOT COCOA BARS FROM YEARS PAST I decided to bring the same[...]
We have officially been Arizona residents for 8 weeks! It's crazy to look back on how much has changed since we decided to give up our dream home for our dream life just a few short months ago. We have taken the kids on several new adventures. celebrated a few birthdays, learned that we hit the jackpot with neighbors, and are finally settling into a[...]
Large family travel isn't for the faint at heart. Read my simple tips and tricks for making packing easier for our family of 6.