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Staying Home Sawyer

Real Life Living on a Real Life Budget

Birthday's, DIY, Lifestyle

Paying it Forward

5.15.2014

Be Who You AreThe day is finally here! I am turning 30 today! It seems like such a milestone, but in the same breath, it feels exactly the same. I had so many ideas of who I would be at this point in my life, all of which I am not. However, one thing I think that has stayed consistent would be my somewhat crazy personality. I haven’t always known who I am, but when I figured it out finally, I embraced it! Watch out world! Here I come!

If you had asked me fifteen years ago where I’d be in 15 years, nothing I would have said would have come to be. I think when we are young, we have all these preconceived notions of who we will be as adults, and all the ‘accomplishments’ we will have checked off our lists. We also think 30 is old.

Now I think 60 is young! I feel great, and I know I’m in my prime! Nothing that I thought was important at 20 is important today, and the things that are, mean everything to me. I feel blessed every day of my life to have everything I have, and my birthday is no exception. I’ve had 30 wonderful years, and I hope for 30 even more wonderful more. Well…I hope for at least 60 more. Hey, my great grandma was 99 when she took her last breath. That gives me 66 more to go.Blessing Bags What to Put InsideI wanted to pay it forward a little on my birthday, so I contemplated a few different things. Thirty one dollar bills to thirty people who could use it? Or Thirty Acts of Kindness? Or maybe 3 Blessing Bags with 10 items each for homeless? Because I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time today, I went with the Blessing Bags. I’ve made them before, and they’re super easy.

I went to the Dollar Tree and picked up a few things for each bag. Here are my ideas for each:

Toothbrush/Case (DT has packs of three brushes and three cases for $1!)

Toothpaste

Soap

Deodorant

Tissues

Hand Wipes/Hand Sanitizer

Peanuts (Protein!)

Cookies

Crackers

WaterBlessing Bags // What to Put Inside

I put one of each in a sealable freezer bag (should have had larger bags, couldn’t fit the water inside). Now my mission: I need to find three individuals in need of a Blessing Bag! I’m hoping that I see a few on my way home from work today, or before my birthday dinner tonight. I’ve been way too spoiled today not to give something. I hope that it puts a smile on three faces today, it’s the least I could do.Blessing Bags // What to Put Inside

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About Me

About Me

Hi Mamas! My name is Shauna, a 30-something (big emphasis on the 'something') new mama and wife living in Southern California. I've become a Stay At Home Mom to Sawyer, and I would do it forever if I could! I'm originally from Wisconsin and am a total Cheesehead! I'm here to share DIY's, travel tips, and baby stuff I'm sure!

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stayinghomesawyer

Save for later. PS: This is my husbands rendition Save for later.

PS: This is my husbands rendition of a “Sexy Willy Wonka.” You know, because being Aladdin, Flynn Ryder, Prince Charming…he couldn’t just be a regular guy for one year. 🤣🤣
Don’t spend today wishing for tomorrow. Find five Don’t spend today wishing for tomorrow. Find five things every night that you’re thankful for, and BE thankful for them. So much of our lives are spent waiting for the next best thing when in reality, it’s sitting right in front of us.
If there’s anything I’ve learned in this life, it’ If there’s anything I’ve learned in this life, it’s to SLOW DOWN.

So much of life is spent going, going, going. Waiting for the next stage. Telling ourselves, “Once we get through this, things will be easier.” Once the kids are older. Once life settles down. Once we have more time. But what if we’re missing the whole point? Because the moments we’re so eager to get through ARE the moments.

Today is the important stuff. The ordinary days. The messy days. The little conversations, the giggles, the routines, the chaos, the moments that don’t feel significant while we’re living them. We spend so much time wishing for the next chapter that we forget we’re already living one we’ll someday wish we could go back to.

So slow down.

Be here.
Pay attention.
Let the moment take as long as it needs to.

Because someday, these will be the days we miss.

**And if you know us personally, you know why I had to jump on this social media trend**
This is your permission slip to let the crafts be This is your permission slip to let the crafts be messy. 

They don’t need to match your house. They don’t need to be Pinterest-worthy. They don’t need to be made with a neutral color palette and a Cricut. They just need to be theirs.

Because someday I’m probably going to miss the paper scraps, the glue everywhere, the questionable color combinations, and the little masterpieces I had no idea what to do with. Let them make the ugly craft. Let them make a mess. Let them create something that looks nothing like what you had in mind.

Childhood doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing to be beautiful.
When you stop to think about the fact that one day When you stop to think about the fact that one day all of her toys will be someone else’s toys, she’ll be heading off to college, and all I’ll be left with are these videos…
This is NOT a post to bash moms that are happy the This is NOT a post to bash moms that are happy their kids are going back to school. My neighbors and I commiserate all summer long about how long the days are, how frustrating the kids can be, how much they’re fighting, etc. 

But my days are always like that, and even though it’s exhausting and overwhelming at times, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Even if I only have ONE moment like this a day, it’s one moment a day I could miss out on if they were in a traditional school. 

So here’s to whatever choice you are making in regards to your kids education. What’s best for YOU is most important. And what’s best for us is this.
I honestly never thought I’d be the mom saying yes I honestly never thought I’d be the mom saying yes
 to slime... but here we are.

The difference? This isn’t just a container of slime
 to squish around. The Slime Prank Lab by @CrunchLabs
turns it into an activity. We spent the afternoon mixing the slime, experimenting with different textures, and (of course) testing out the ridiculously funny booger and fart pranks. 🤣

My girls were completely entertained, and I loved watching them create, experiment, and laugh together. It feels like pure fun for the kids, but there’s actually some pretty cool science and engineering behind it all, plus Mark Rober walks you through even more with the QR code inside the kit.

Who in your family would be the first prank target? 
#sponsored #crunchlabs @moosetoys_
I’m about as outdoorsy as an overwater bungalow in I’m about as outdoorsy as an overwater bungalow in Tahiti can be.

#tahiti
A core memory I didn’t know I’d be making… This w A core memory I didn’t know I’d be making…

This weekend at church, my daughter got to light the candles for the first time. At the end of the service, when she went up on her own to extinguish them, proud tears dropped from my eyes. And as I looked around at others, I noticed I wasn’t the only one. 

If you had asked me in my early to mid twenties, I wouldn’t have imagined how much this community, this faith, and these little traditions would come to mean to our family. There was a season of my life, long before I became a mom, where I drifted away from actively going to church. Now, getting to watch my girls grow up surrounded by faith, love, and a church family who knows them and celebrates them feels like such a gift.
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