ALL. THE. THINGS. Thursday

Sometimes I want to talk about ALL. THE. THINGS! You know a post that is random conglomeration of my thoughts, musings, things I need to tell you, but really aren’t going to take up an individual blog post. 

When I first started reading blogs, a lot of the bloggers would publish posts every Thursday called “Things I love, Thursday.” Those were some of my favorite posts and made me feel like we were besties even though they didn’t know it!

In attempts to share a little more into our life, I am going to bring to life ALL. THE. THINGS. Thursdays here on this blog. Hopefully, you will find something new to love, get inspiration, laugh at our crazy family life, or learn a new tip!

This is casual… So grab yourself a sparkling grapefruit water (off brand most likely) and take a few minutes to relax!

What is this new life with no kids?

School has begun and for the first time in 11 years….. I don’t have little kids at home during the week. Last year doesn’t count because the girls preschool was only half days and they were home by 11:15!  

I will be completely honest and tell you that most of the first few days of the kids being in school I have crawled into bed and taken a LONG nap! My body apparently needs it. I have been struggling with insomnia lately and the naps over the past few days have been GLORIOUS!!

Weekly Schedule, Planners, & Meal Plans

If you follow me on Instagram and watch my stories, you may have seen the weekly schedule I created for myself and my new planner! 

Now that the kids are in school, I am also able to put more time into my business, our home, and all the projects I have been itching to do. (Let’s be real… I hate doing projects with the kids around. Especially the twins who are as mischievous as toddler monkeys!)

I have been working from home for 9 years. And know that if I don’t set a schedule or have a way to keep track of all the tasks I need to do, our families schedules & appointments, and everything else…. My brain will shut down and I will stare at the computer with a jumble of overwhelm and accomplish nothing.

I found this Tri-Coastal Designs planner (That even says, “Stay Focused” on the front! HA!) on Amazon for under $18. Last year I used two planners, one for business stuff and one for personal stuff and a notebook for “To-Do” lists and it was way too much to manage. This planner is meeting all my needs and has lots of space to write notes, schedules, and due dates. 

Consistent Meal Planning is also a goal for this fall. I can get wrapped up in working in my office and forget all about dinner way too easily! And I am also working on tightening up our grocery budget by creating a goal of only going to the grocery store once a week. (This summer I sometimes went 3 times a week! Eeeekkkk! 6 kids eat a LOT!)

The plan is to write out a meal plan every Sunday and grocery shop on Wednesday. This means I need to use my pantry and freezer on Monday & Tuesday for the meals I plan. I love that I am working through our pantry and keeping from things expiring because I forgot about them.

Fresh Flowers & Letter Boards

Usually, I talk myself out of buying fresh flowers for myself. And I have instructed my husband who loves to shower me with gifts that I would prefer dark chocolate over flowers. But I couldn’t resist $5 Carnations from Sams Club or $5 Alstroemeria from Trader Joes!

Having flowers on my desk has made me so happy the past two weeks!

I have a couple of letter boards in my office and I completely missed that my husband changed one of my letter boards to something COMPLETELY inappropriate! It’s the letter board hanging right behind my head on the wall. I had a panic moment and had to check all the videos I recorded from my desk last week to make sure it wasn’t showing in the videos! He is such a man!

My letter board now has a new awesome quote that cracks me up when I walk in the room and reminds me “I can be ANYTHING!”

If you don’t have a Letter Board, you should get one! They are so fun! Walmart has a bunch of different styles that are all great deals.

YouTube Channel

We published three big videos on our YouTube channel this summer and I am working on creating a plan for content that would be helpful to other mom & families. 

I would love it if you have any ideas or suggestions for our channel! Comment below or shoot me an email.

And we would be forever grateful if you subscribed too!

Red Robin Hack

I am in no way getting paid to talk about Red Robin here. And they actually may not want me to share this… But did you know that kids meals at Red Robin are UNLIMITED Entrees AND sides??? That means they can order every entree on the menu, every side on the menu, eat way too much and be VERY Happy! 

We have learned that you can ask for a side of fries as soon as your server comes. BEFORE you even order any food, they will bring out a round of fries! No need for appetizers! 

*Side note: Their ranch dressing is amazing and we love dipping our fries in ranch! 

So, I think that is all for this first ALL. THE. THINGS. Thursday post. 

Thank you for following along and showing up to read all these words. YOU are the BEST!!!

Happy Thursday!

Ps. Do you have any meal planning tips you must share????