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Staying Home Sawyer

Real Life Living on a Real Life Budget

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Valentine’s Countdown

2.05.2020

There’s something fun about the holiday of love, even if it is a Hallmark holiday. In my humble opinion, there’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of the day to tell those close to us how much we love them. And since I’m frugal (that’s the new, nice way of saying I’m a cheapskate, and I love it), I don’t go all out with expensive gifts and such. Basically if I can make someone’s day for $9.99 or less, it is my kind of gift.

Since I met my husband, I’ve been doing little acts of love for him. I wish I could go back to my pre-married self to tell her to calm down a bit (because once you set a standard you’ve gotta keep up with it). But that’s when a project like this comes in handy. You can use it year after year.

First, I found an envelope template online and used scrapbook paper to make 14 envelopes. I used my Cricut to make the numbers, but you could use stickers or even just hand write them on each envelope.

Next, I print out 14 photos (or let’s face it, more like 20 because I can’t decide on only 14) from my top 14 memories of the year. Sometimes it was the event that was my favorite, sometimes it was just the photo. I write on the back of each one why it was special for me/him, and then I arrange them from 1-14 best. I put them in their corresponding envelopes (So basically 14 is in 1, 13 is in 2, etc), and each day from the 1st of February through the 14th, he gets to open one. He actually really loves this tradition, it’s been going on now for seven years.

Side Note: This is actually how Brendan found out we were having a baby. In envelope number 9 that year, I put in a photo of the positive pregnancy test. He definitely wasn’t expecting that! Needless to say, they’ve never been that eventful before or since.

Sawyer has also been showing an interest in this, so I think when she’s a tad older I might do one for her too. She would love to open an envelope every day!

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Elf on the Shelf (Again)
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Comments

  1. Krystle says

    2.06.2020 at 11:02 am

    Love this! Such a cool idea. 🙂

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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