I’m not going to lie, I’ve been feeling a bit like a party pooper when it comes to summer this year – I haven’t been in the mood to do a thing. I’m not sure if it has to do with Covid restrictions or just what, but I need to get over it otherwise we will completely miss out on a fun summer.
We had so much fun last year (you can read about it here) and I’m determined that we can still make this one great too. I have added some new things this year, but I am also keeping some things on the list from last year as well.
Also, in case you’re new here, I have a 3 year old little boy. I wanted to point that out in case you’re wondering why a grown adult would want to do some of these things, haha.
Food & Drink
Make homemade salsa
Bake a pie
Make peach cobbler
Make homemade lemonade
Buy a treat from the ice cream truck
The last one here is a maybe. There’s usually a cute ice cream truck that goes by, but the ones driving by this year are a little sketch. Buying ice cream from someone’s mini van isn’t quite what I had in mind…
Out & About
Feed the ducks
Check out books at the library (via curbside pickup this year)
Go to a farmers market
Visit a new park
Try a new restaurant
Fun in the Sun
Run through the sprinklers
Have a picnic
Play T-ball
Decorate our deck
Paint rocks
Rain or Shine
Go puddle jumping
Pajama movie night
Hand-write a letter and mail it
Play a new board game
Make a summer scrapbook
For those who want to create your own, you can print a blank list here:
Now that my life feels consumed by our new schedule, I thought I would share my daily routines that help me keep up with it all. I love “day in the life” posts, so here’s a little mini half version of mine.
After having a baby, I always wondered how other full-time working moms handled life. How do they get it all done? How do they balance it all? How do they keep from going crazy? This is going to sound dramatic, but I was afraid I was going to absolutely hate life and/or die, if not from the heartbreak from leaving my baby, then from sheer exhaustion of trying to do it all.
I had to take it one day and one week at a time. Every day got a little easier and slowly, but surely, I finally developed a routine and we sunk into a new normal. And guess what…I didn’t (and don’t) hate life. :)
Routines help make sanity possible.
While I don’t have a nursing baby now, I do have a different kind of challenge where I have an active toddler and my husband, who is now going to school full-time and works graveyard, isn’t able to help out nearly as much. All I can say is, preparation is key!
For a quick glance, I have a short run down of my routine. Feel free to keep scrolling for the full detail of my evening, from the moment I get off work to the time I go to bed.
Here’s the quick run down:
5:00 – 5:30: Get off work and pick up Gryffin from daycare
5:45-6:00: Get mail / eat snack
6:00-6:45: 30 minute work out/warm dinner (I batch cook on the Sunday so I don’t have to cook nearly as much during the week. Funny story – I always hated the thought of batch cooking and now I can’t imagine doing it any other way!)/Gryffin watches a show/plays while I work out
6:45 – 7:30: Eat dinner (Gryffin takes forever to eat!)
7:30: Wake Mikey up
7:30 – 7:45: Playtime with Gryffin until bath time
7:45 – 8:15: Gryffin’s bath and bedtime routine
8:15: Gryffin’s bedtime (more on this below)
9:30 – 10:00: Wash dishes/ pack lunch/ pick out clothes and shoes for next day/ jammies/wash face/brush teeth, etc.
10:00 – 10:30: Quiet time (read bible, journal, pray)
10:30: lights out
**Now for the long explanation with all the juicy details!
5:00 – 5:45/6:00
Get off work and go pick Gryffin up. I have a 20-30 minute commute from work to daycare and we’re usually home around 5:45 (sometimes 6:00 if I stay and talk at daycare).
I love that it’s light when I get off work now!
While I don’t like the drive time (I know, I’m lucky compared to some of you!), I find that it at least gives me time to decompress after work. I usually listen to a podcast on my way home. My go-to podcasts are “Happier” with Gretchen Rubin and “What Should I Read Next” with Anne Bogel.
I’ve been a bit behind on the Happier podcast
5:45 – 6:00
Both Gryffin and I are pretty hungry by the time we get home, so we’ll eat a snack to hold us over until dinner. Usually I’ll make a half peanut butter and jelly sandwich or we just have some crackers.
During snack time we usually sit together and I ask Gryffin how his day was and just hang out with each other.
Being silly :P
6:00 – 6:30
I let Gryffin watch a show during this time – usually Blippi or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. For me, this part varies a little depending on what day it is.
I have started incorporating workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so if it’s one of those days, I will start heating up dinner and workout while it cooks or I’ll throw it together after I’m done working out.
I got some new dvd workouts over Christmas. I switch my workouts between these, Blogilates, and Kathryn Morgan’s ballet barre’s
If it’s not a workout night, I save the more time-consuming meals for those days and I sit and play with Gryffin for a little bit.
6:45 – 7:30 (sometimes earlier)
Taco night! He knows how to eat those olives right ;) P.S. Don’t mind his crazy hair.
Dinner time. Anyone else out there have toddlers that take FOREVER to eat?? Gryffin can take up to 45 minutes sometimes. It’s also hard to know when he’s done because he will say “all done” and then immediately start shoveling more food in his mouth the second I go to wipe his hands *sigh*.
Anyway, dinner time ends usually anywhere between 7:15-7:30
7:30 – Wake Mikey Up (sometimes earlier, it just depends)
7:30 – 7:45
Dirty Kitchen / Clean Kitchen
Clean up the kitchen while Gryffin plays. Sometimes I’ll wait to clean the kitchen after Gryffin goes down to bed, but it’s always nice when I get it done early.
7:45 – 8:15
Gryffin’s bedtime routine. Bath, jammies, brush teeth, pick up toys, read a book. Pretty simple.
8:15 – 9:30
Gryffin goes down to bed around 8:15. This part of my night also varies depending on if I’m the one putting Gryffin down to bed. He is very afraid of the dark and has separation anxiety, so bedtime is rough and we usually have to stay with him until he falls asleep (there’s no crying it out, because he gets so worked up that he throws up). Unfortunately he can take forever to fall asleep.
If Mikey’s the one putting Gryffin to bed, I’m up and usually watching a show. Lately I’ve been watching either The Office, or When Calls The Heart on Netflix.
9:30 – 10:00
This is when I start getting ready for bed and Mikey gets ready and goes to work. I wash my face, get my jammies on, pick out my clothes for the next day, and get my lunch ready to go.
I keep my products pretty simple and I’m perfectly satisfied with drugstore brands. The bottle that looks like olive oil is actually jojoba oil. I use it in place of eye cream. It keeps the eye area moisturized and I feel like it helps with dark circles as well.
I am not a morning person at all, so I would much rather do it all at night rather than the morning.
10:00 – 10:30
Quiet time. I do my best to head downstairs right at 10:00 and read my Bible, but occasionally the above routine might take me a bit longer or I get sidetracked with my phone and start scrolling through social media. I’m working on being better disciplined, but for the most part I’m able to stick with this.
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So that’s what our evenings look like. I plan on also do a really short morning routine, and a weekend or Sunday routine as well.
I had debated on whether or not I was going to create a fall bucket list this year, but after pinning things to my “Fall” Pinterest board (which, if you haven’t already, you can read more about these pins here) I decided I would go ahead and make one after all.
So here it is!
We had such a fun time with our summer bucket list this past summer, and although we didn’t finish everything on our list, the fact we even created one helped us to make an effort to get out and do more. I’m looking forward to having some fun this fall!
I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far!
I have mentioned it before, but I like seeing what other people carry in their bag. Here’s what’s in mine!
Bag
I love a good deal. I bought this Nine West purse at Ross for $24.00. No, it’s not super fancy, but it works and I love it! It has the perfect amount of pockets and I find the size to be just right. It’s very easy to keep organized
Cell Phone
Can’t go anywhere without it! Especially while my little one is at daycare. I bought my phone case at Walmart and it’s done its job!
Keys
Again, can’t go anywhere without them…
Wallet
My wallet is also a Nine West brand that I bought on sale during the last cruise we went on. I love it!
Some people buy refrigerator magnets as souvenirs, others buy Christmas ornaments…I like to buy accessories!
Hand Sanitizer
Any hand sanitizer will do, but Victoria’s Secret PINK Fresh & Clean is my favorite!
Lip Gloss
I rotate between different brands and shades, but NYX Lingerie gloss in Honeymoon is the current lip gloss in my bag.
Coupons
Have you ever been out shopping to one of your favorite stores and then realized you left your coupons at home? I do this all the time! My purse has a zipper divider pocket right in the middle and it’s the perfect spot for these coupons. I go through often and throw out any that have expired.
Dog Waste Bags
Ok, what?! This actually makes a great ” mom hack”.
1 – I have a kid who gets car sick and these have come in handy.
2 – unexpected stinky diaper you had to change? Throw it in the bag and tie it up until you can throw it away in a garbage can without smelling up your whole car.
3 – you can use these for small wet clothing items
Feminine products
Not much explanation needed there. These go in the small peachy pink pouch. The pouch is one of my favorites that I got from Mary Kay back in the day when I used to sell it.
** What you will NOT find in my purse – Opened packaged snacks.
This became an official rule after I cleaned out my last purse. It’s hard when you have a small child who doesn’t always finish his snack but you don’t want to throw it out. My last purse was disgusting with all the crumbs. No more!!
I’m taking a break from my Summer themed posts to give a shout to…that’s right…Cookie Monster!
There is a lot of problem solving you have to do on a day-to-day basis with a toddler. A lot of times you have to get creative and think outside the box. On more than one occasion I have used Cookie Monster to help me out.
I would seriously love to know how you have gotten creative with your kids and helped make a frustrating situation better!
Here’s how Cookie Monster has come to the rescue!
Cookie Monster Saves Diaper Change Meltdown!
Like most toddlers, Gryffin does not enjoy diaper changes. Smelling Gryffin a mile away I knew he needed a diaper change and I really didn’t want to chase him all over our house and struggle to get him to cooperate.
I look over and there is Cookie Monster with his big excited face just sitting there on the couch.
“Look Gryffin!, Cookie Monster is going to get his diaper changed too!”. I took Cookie Monster by the hand, put him on the changing mat, and put a diaper on him. Gryffin stared at him with a smile on his face and laughed. Sure enough, seconds later and Gryffin comes running over to the mat to get his diaper on too.
Phew, it worked!
Cookie Monster Saves Bedtime!
Gryffin is still going through a hard phase where he is afraid to be by himself in his room and it makes bedtime really difficult. He usually has a hard time falling asleep, and tosses and turns. While I’m there he would rather sit up in bed and talk and play.
At some point in time we brought Cookie Monster down to Gryffin’s room where he stays most of the time. I was having a really hard time getting Gryffin to settle down one night. I saw Cookie Monster sitting at the end of the bed and I pick him up.
“Hey Gryffin! Cookie Monster is up past his bedtime. Can you put him to bed? He needs to be under the blanket.” Gryffin laughed (ok, so it was more like a snort) but he thought it was pretty silly putting him to bed under the blanket.
“See how Cookie Monster is in bed? You need to be in bed too”. Sure enough, he crawled under the blanket too. He still took some time to fall asleep, but it was enough to calm him down and get him to lay in his own bed. Ha!
Cookie Monster Saves Drive Time!
Ok, so this doesn’t exactly have to do with Cookie Monster himself, but, have you heard to the Waze app? (This is totally not sponsored by the way!) It’s a navigation application and it will tell you the quickest route to your destination based on current traffic and any incidents that may have occurred on your way.
The best part about this app, is that it just so happens to have Cookie Monster’s voice as an option. He even celebrates with a cookie once you reach your destination. Gryffin loves it!
So, Cookie Monster, this post was for you! Thanks for having my back dude.
Simply Blissful 