Mom Hacks, Tips & Tricks

Last summer I agreed to chair the Father / Daughter Dance at our kid's school. I have a background in wedding / party planning and coordinating so it kind of fits. I didn't realize what I had gotten myself into, but it ended up being a lot of fun. So, I would like to share some tricks and tips I learned to save you money and still have a theme filled event. 1.  The first thing I did was research past themes used so I could make sure I was not duplicating. Once I eliminated previous themes, I wanted to have something that I could easily decorate a room with. I wanted to have a theme that I could easily...

I’ll be the first to say that birthday parties for kids have gone completely off the deep end these days. And I’ll go so far as to admit that I have fallen into that trap a time or two, even when I thought I’d learned my lesson. But there has been one new party trend to come out of the make-everything-magical Pinterest explosion that is actually less stressful than its original version. The Late-over Party! A few months ago, my oldest was turning seven years old and asked to have a slumber party. My first sleepover party was my seventh birthday, so I told her I would consider it. That’s when another mom clued me in on the “late-over” party trend....

The temperatures have dropped ... some. The leaves are falling, not the beautifully colored kind but we’ll take it. All things pumpkin spice are in stores. And all of that could only mean one thing - fall is here and we are HERE FOR IT! The first holiday in fall is Halloween and although my family and I are not huge Halloween fans, we do dress up and participate. One of the main activities I use to introduce the current holiday to my kids is sensory bins. If you read that and you’re thinking to yourself, “what the heck is a sensory bin?” I’ll fill you in real quick before we dig in! Sensory play, in my opinion, is one...

Unless you are a complete introvert and don’t like to see or speak to people for extended lengths of time, working from home or being a remote employee can be a bit of a challenge. I’ve been a remote employee for 8 plus months. I’m still adjusting but wanted to give you some tips and tricks I follow to make the best of working from home. Have a dedicated workspace Make it YOUR workspace and find functional decor that will help you feel AMAZING each day when you sit down at your workspace. Get inspired by taking a look at these amazing home office ideas! I love shopping the organization and office supply aisles at Home Goods and Target for cute desk...

It was any other Wednesday. I went to my therapist, was on my way to a day date with the husband, and we made a stop at the tractor supply. That's when I saw them. They called to me. I imagined chasing them around the yard and helping cultivate my garden. My husband saw it in my eyes. He knew, we were about to be a chicken family. We picked my daughter up from school and back we went, four chickens were now part of the Andrus nest. Now before you all get, "THINK THIS THROUGH!" Know this, I had been thinking about it. I knew the benefits of having a garden, livestock, and more. Ultimately creating a little homestead...