This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you click through and make purchases through those links, I can earn a commission. For more information, feel free to see our full disclosure.
Whew. Three posts in one week. Who even am I over here?
But,
HAPPY FEBRUARY!
This week has been a whirlwind, y’all. A good one, but non-stop. Anyone else have a week like that? We had two trips to the dentist this week – one for me and one for Little (both good visits, so no complaints), a trip to Target, friends over for dinner last night, and we’re taking a trip to Trader Joe’s today.
Little has started taking naps – sometimes – again, but then goes to bed super late, the Littlest has been sleeping like a champion this week, and I even made it out to the gym.
Did you catch all that?
Overall, it was a really great week and we are excited for a fun weekend.
Here are the top 5 from this week:
This post contains affiliate links. For more info, see disclosure.
Leaving My Phone at Home
Tuesday morning as we were getting everyone out of the house for Little’s dentist appointment, I accidentally forgot my phone at home on the charger. Not a huge deal – but it definitely feels strange not to have it nearby.
At any rate, we were just on time so I decided not to turn around and get it. [side note: When I mentioned that I forgot my phone to Little, he sweetly responded, “Oh no. But did you get your water bottle?” He knows his mama…always have my water bottle with me, too. Also, he is the sweetest.]
We went to the dentist and Target all without my phone and to be honest, it was SO NICE. I didn’t have to answer to anyone. I didn’t buy random things at Target because I couldn’t check cartwheel to see if anything was on deal or compare things with other stores. It was wild and really refreshing. When we got home, I decided to leave the phone on the charger and was really intentional about being present with the boys.
I don’t unplug enough and this was a really great reminder to me that I need to do it way more often.
Valentine’s Day Crafts
If you’ve seen our earlier posts this week, you know we have started getting ready for Valentine’s Day with all the crafts over here.
On Monday, I shared this fun Valentine’s Resist Art Painting that Little made and on Wednesday, we shared 14 Bible verses about love that you can use leading up to Valentine’s Day (There’s a FREE download that will let you print your own set of Bible verse cards, too!)
Lindsey over at Fueling Mamahood shared a really fun watercolor and salt painting idea with her Toddler Tuesday series this week that we can’t wait to try, and we’ve got a few more crafts of our own we’ll be doing.
All these projects are simple to put together and I love being able to create with the boys. If you’re looking for some fun and easy Valentine’s Day crafts this year, I’ve got you covered.
My Favorite Dangle Earrings
Okay, this one is really exciting to me! I’ve shared on Instagram before, how much I LOVE the leather earrings from Sisters and I Designs. I have really sensitive ears and just can’t wear heavy earrings, so for a long time – like years, I have worn almost exclusively studs in my ears.
Now, I wear my Sisters and I earrings probably just as much if not more than my old stud earrings. They are hands down the best dangle earring I’ve had before. The leather makes them SO lightweight, they come in so many different colors, and different sizes, and I cannot get enough. I can hardly even tell I’m wearing earrings when I wear them.
And I always get so many compliments on them. I’ve bought them for gifts for my own sisters and mom and they also rave about them.
I have the tear drop earrings, the mini, and small sized signature earrings.
The next ones on my list are these simple studs and possibly one of their leather cuff bracelets.
They’ve also got hair bows and bow ties for kids!
And, because I love them so much, they were kind enough to give me a discount code for my readers!
You can get 10% off any of the items in their shop with the code: mary10
The best part? Each weekend, they have a weekend flash sale featuring one of their styles – which is a REALLY great way to get your hands on them for less!
Reorganizing the Playroom
One of my goals this year is to create space in our home for things that we love. Specifically, to update some of the rooms and organization systems in our home to make them more functional for our current season…aka handle the toys and creativity and mess that comes with having small children. It’s lots of fun, and I want to create spaces that encourage play, but also empower the boys to learn to care for (and put away) their own things.
One of the big projects I want to tackle is our office/playroom. I snapped these photos of the unusually tidy version of the “before”.
It’s not a very big room, and it’s the first one you come to when you come into our home. And, I like it mostly.
But, the fact is, the tall bookshelf doesn’t get used to it’s fullest potential, those awesome chairs are from the Dean Dome at UNC, our alma mater, but they are too big for the boys to use currently and take up valuable play space.
So, we took those out and added these IKEA Kallax shelves under the window and I already love the space more. Hoping to get some “progress” photos and share some updates soon!
Meal Planning
Lastly, meal planning. It’s something that I’ve always tried to do (and have been pretty good about since we’ve been married), but with the new year (and a few seemingly very high grocery months), I’ve made a renewed commitment to it.
And for the second month in a row, I’m happy to report that I’ve planned out our meals for the month. Something I have NEVER done before this year. And it is incredible.
I’m working on a full post to share some of my tips on this, but suffice it to say, my afternoons are WAY simpler when we already know what’s for dinner!
And that’s it for this week! We don’t have a ton on the agenda for the weekend – hoping that we can spend some time relaxing and recharging!
Hopefully y’all will do the same! Let me know if you have any fun plans for the weekend or if you’re just trying to rest and recharge like us!
I really need to start meal planning. I normally end up buying too much at the grocery store because I’m trying to anticipate all the things I might make, and then I end up not using it all before it goes bad.
I understand that! We’ve done that more times than I’d like to admit! I’m working on writing down my process for meal planning to share here soon – it sounds overwhelming at first, but it really doesn’t have to be! You can totally do it!