A Simpler Motherhood

Category: A Simpler Motherhood

Vanessa

A Simpler Christmas

A Simpler Home, A Simpler Motherhood

December is a day away and Christmas is close. It truly is a magical time of year. As I continue to learn and grow as a mom, my heart consistently longs for A Simpler Christmas. Our family snuggled in Christmas jammies watching The Polar Express. Delivering handmade gifts to neighbors. Reading the Christmas story with hot cocoa and cookies. Embracing both the rush of holiday gatherings and the slowness of nights at home. A Simpler Christmas allows for all of it.

What seems like just yesterday (and which was actually five years ago), I was met with the dilemma of being very pregnant with two babes, little energy, and the same four weeks in front of me.  I decided to simplify our Christmas season while holding tight to the joy and magic.  Friends, it was one of the best things I have done as a mom and is still one of my most favorite Christmases. I learned a lot that year about how I wanted Christmas to look and feel and have tweaked it each Christmas.

A Simpler Christmas will look different for all of us depending on our preferences and desires for the season. For example: I enjoy having my Christmas shopping done before December. You might love the hustle and bustle of shopping during the weeks leading up to Christmas. I keep decorations simple and limit the pretty things I get out each year. Decorating might be one of your favorite things and so you go all out. Neither is right or wrong. My hope is this list of ways our family has simplified Christmas will inspire you to find your own ways to A Simpler Christmas.

Here are some ways our family does A Simpler Christmas…

A Simpler Christmas

Simpler Gifting

If you’ve been following along with the Christmas Gift Challenge, you know I am done Christmas shopping. I had a goal of being done by Thanksgiving and I (thought) I made it this year. However, over Thanksgiving my husband and I changed lanes with a few of our kids’ gifts and made a last minute detour. All the gifts are now purchased and accounted for. I’m learning: It’s okay to break my own rules. I am excited to have gifts done and have more space to enjoy this month with my people.

Batch shopping, less gifts, shopping early, and purchasing gifts locally and online is one way I simplified Christmas gifts this year.

Simpler Wardrobes

I love for our family to look festive when we are out and about enjoying holiday events. However, dressing four kids and myself is no joke. To simplify our wardrobes, I first subtract some non-holiday clothing from closets and then add in a few pieces for the month.

The boys each have 2 festive shirts for December and Lily has some hand-me-down Christmas dresses to wear for the next several weeks. I have a dress and a festive top to wear to fun Christmas things this month. We will wear these items over and over to alllll the things. The kids also have matching Christmas jammies they will wear on repeat because matching jammies make me so happy.

Dressing our families for Christmas doesn’t have to be complicated. If we have 1-3 outfits per person, we know there is always something we can pull out to wear to see Santa or to deliver Christmas gifts.

Simpler Decorating

I want a festive, cozy house at Christmas time. But I want it with less stuff. Myquillyn Smith gave me permission to create a cozy minimalist home at Christmas.

Before I do any decorating, I subtract things around our home, exactly the way I do in our closets. I tuck away some of the decorative things I have out year round to make room for all the Christmas things.

If everything is special, nothing is special. Over the years I have slowly let go of the filler stuff and simply kept the meaningful decorations that bring us joy. The nativity from my husband’s grandma, a candy dish from my grandma, the Christmas plates and mugs, meaningful ornaments from Christmases past.

I also utilize consumable things for decorations: fresh flowers, Christmas candles, cut greenery. These things get used up during December and I don’t have to store them 11 months out of the year.

Using fewer, more meaningful decorations at Christmas time allows our homes to feel special and cozy without the stress of getting bin after bin of decorations out of the garage.

Simpler Advent Calendar

When I was a young mom with littles, many days I would forget about the Advent Calendar. This year there will be no forgetting because I have a nine and seven year old to remember for me. If you’re a mom of littles, give yourself grace with the advent calendar or simply save it for another year.

Our advent calendar is simple with activities for each day of the month. We will do three random acts of kindness for our gifts to Jesus and the rest of the days are filled with simple things like: eat popcorn and watch a Christmas movie, make s’mores, or read Christmas books by the tree. The week of Thanksgiving I planned our countdown to Christmas activities by looking at things we already had on the calendar and then planning the activities around those commitments.

I use this super simple Advent calendar to help us remember the reason for the season.

Counting down to Christmas can be both special and simple. Our kids don’t need to do all the activities and crafts and see every Santa in town, unless, of course, that matters to you. Make the Advent Calendar work for you and your family.

Home Days

This year I decided to designate Home Days on our calendar. I have one day each week we will spend at home as a family. Now of course there are other days we could be at home as well, but these days are nonnegotiable. I decided on our Home Days based on clusters of activities. For example, we have three days in a row where we will be doing fun, holiday things. On the day after those activities, I designated a Home Day. I know my crew will need a day to rest and recharge before moving on to other fun things.

I think Home Days are valuable for everyone. Deciding how many home days and how often to put them on the calendar will vary family to family. But, I don’t think any of us will regret making time and space to spend with one another at home during this season.

Simple Mealtimes

I know it’s shocking, but our families still have to eat in December. Meal planning will save me this month.  Even though it’s tempting to put planning dinner on the back burner, I know I will pay for it if I don’t.  Soups, crock pot meals, and snack trays are my go to during this Christmas season.  And no leftovers go to waste. A few hacks that will help me this month: Hack #1: Double the meat for taco night and use the leftover meat in chili the next day. Hack #2: Use leftover rotisserie chicken for chicken noodle soup or chicken pot pie later in the week. Hack #3: One night a week clean out the fridge and the snack cabinet and make up a big snack tray for dinner.

Some of my favorite meals I will be making this month: chili, change your life chicken, chicken noodle soup, chicken pot pie, butternut squash soup, and tacos (always tacos).

Giving Myself and My Family Grace

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year and I want to take in as much as possible and enjoy the magic and wonder that fills December.  The God of the Universe coming to earth is reason to savor, enjoy, and celebrate.

I love to read a Christmas book and watch Christmas movies on the couch cuddled under a blanket with a cup of peppermint hot cocoa.  I am giving myself permission and grace to do this the next few weeks during quiet time or at night after the kids go to bed.  

Over the course of the next month there are bound to be let downs and meltdowns: both from me and my kids. I know there will be times I feel rushed, anxious or disappointed. There will be times my kids feel the same. I want to give my kids and myself space to acknowledge and feel these things and then help each other move forward to enjoy the season.

Grace upon grace upon grace for us all.

As one of the best seasons comes to life around us, I want to slow down, take it in, and make as many memories as possible.  They may not be picture perfect and there might be tears and disappointments intertwined with those memories because #life, but I’m thankful for this Christmas season with my people nonetheless. Keeping it simple can keep the focus on the real reason for the season: the baby born to save the world.

Merry Christmas to you and your family! My prayer is your Christmas is magical, full of grace, and simple!

Vanessa

Everyday Gratitude

A Simpler Motherhood

Gratitude comes from realizing what you have is actually what you want and need. I tell my kids all the time we have so much to be grateful for: a warm house, good food to eat, each other. But like a prayer memorized, I can sometimes lose the meaning and power behind those words and everyday gratitude.

Sometimes real gratitude appears when tragedy happens. We hug our kids tighter or watch them sleep a little longer. Sometimes gratitude comes to the surface when we see a friend or neighbor walk through something hard. Those are good wake up calls and resets: worthy times to be grateful. I think it’s also worthwhile and powerful to find gratitude in the everyday. It’s powerful to find a few seconds each day to be grateful for a small or big thing. It’s worthy to watch our kids sleep a little longer or hug our spouse a little tighter even when nothing traumatic has happened.

Everyday Gratitude

Everyday gratitude isn’t fancy or Instagram worthy or something exciting we share with our friends. But it’s a worthy pursuit. It’s looking around at our messy, chaotic, beautiful lives and finding that what we want and need is right in front of us. Everyday gratitude requires intentionality because most people aren’t thankful for the dirty dishes in the sink or the mountain of laundry on the floor or the hard relationships.

Being grateful for our messy lives doesn’t take a lot of time, but it does take thought and on-purpose living to go from complaining to gratefulness. The reason I know this is because there are days and moments I’ve been ungrateful or haven’t practiced everyday gratitude. Many moments. And from experience, it’s not a great place to be. I’ve grumbled about the dirty dishes and the laundry and the hard relationships: sometimes in my head and sometimes to anyone who will listen. And it usually doesn’t make me feel any better. But gratitude does.

I have a lot to be grateful for and I’m sure you do, too. My husband, our kids, the roof that keeps the rain and snow out, the yard and land where my kids run and play, friends and family who love me, a Jesus loving community, food and clothes and transportation. And so much more like walks and yummy coffee drinks and curbside pick up. When I practice everyday gratitude (and trust me, I don’t practice it everyday), my attitude is positive and loving, my perspective is kinder, and my actions reflect those things.

My world and sphere of influence is much brighter when I practice Everyday Gratitude. My attitude, perspective, and actions point to Jesus, the giver of all I have to be grateful for. That’s the way I want to live.

Tell me: How do you practice Everyday Gratitude?

Vanessa

What I’m Loving in November

A Simpler Motherhood

As I write this, I’m not sure the view around the farm could be any prettier. Vibrant yellows, fiery oranges and reds, burnt browns, and perfect purples litter my view. By the time this post goes live, there is a good chance all that color will be on the ground. For everything there is a season and I am making sure to savor the color and beauty around me, even if it’s just for a moment longer. Here is What I’m Loving in November.

What I’m Loving in November

Change of scenery

I already mentioned it, but this time of year is pure magic. The changing of the seasons is something I look forward to each and every year. Walks around the farm may be colder, but they sure are beautiful.

Celebrating

We party in November. Our two bigs’ had birthdays this month along with my mom and father-in-law. It’s a month long birthday celebration and it’s one of my favorite things. I love celebrating my people and November is all about just that.

Cozy sweats

I found the coziest sweats at T.J. Maxx back in September and have been living in them. (I’m sorry, I couldn’t find them online.) They are so cozy that I have been breaking all the rules and wearing them out of the house on errands around town, to playdates, even to my once a month Cooking Club. I would argue they don’t look like pajamas, but they kind of do.

Butternut Squash and Bacon Soup

There is no better soup than this one. Creamy, savory, and with goat cheese spooned in, it’s a little piece of heaven on earth. My kids aren’t big fans, but Kevin and I let it go because that leaves more for us. I serve it with homemade bread and on cold nights it’s simply the best thing I can eat.

Preparing for Christmas

I am a big fan of Thanksgiving and we don’t skip it at our house. We have so much to be grateful for. So much. However, I have been planning and preparing for Christmas this month in a big way and I love it. I am planning our calendar, purchasing gifts (are you doing the Christmas Gift Challenge?), and mapping out all the little things we will do during the month of December. We are living our best fall lives right now, but will be ready when the calendar turns to December.

What are you loving in November?

Vanessa

5 Clutter Free Gifts

A Simpler Motherhood

Are you in on the Christmas Gift Challenge? Whether you are or not, chances are you are thinking about gifts for December 25. Today I want to share some gifts that won’t create more clutter for your loved ones. Gifts that are meaningful, thoughtful, and make the recipient feel loved. Here are 5 Clutter Free Gifts.

5 Clutter Free Gifts

Something the person actually wants

I know this is obvious, but sometimes it’s overlooked. Pay attention to what your loved ones talk about and mention in conversation. This works best when done all year long, but can absolutely be accomplished leading up to Christmas. Notice if there is something a loved one is needing or wanting. Emily Ley from Simplified keeps a running list of gift ideas in the Notes app on her phone. When she needs to buy a gift, she simply opens up the Note and has a list of ideas.

It’s easy to get caught up in trying to surprise or wow the recipient, but many times it’s best to get the loved one something he/she actually wants.

A consumable gift card

Coffee, ice cream, donuts, dinner. Gifting a gift card that is used for consumable items creates 0 clutter while gifting an experience for a friend or family member. If you want to make it extra meaningful, tailor it to your loved one’s favorite restaurant or local coffee shop.

Tickets to an event

As things continue to open back up, tickets to an event is an option again. All the praise hands! It’s easy to get creative with this one. Online wine tasting events, tickets to an upcoming concert or game or play, passes to a local festival or farm to table dinner. Tickets to an event gifts an experience in a creative way.

Fresh flowers, plants, candles

Who doesn’t love a bouquet of fresh flowers…especially in the winter? Send a wreath or some greenery to a family member who lives far away. Show up to Grandma’s house with a bouquet of white and red roses. Gift a plant to a green thumbed friend. Give a local candle to your sister in law. Fresh flowers, plants, and candles give joy without cluttering up a space.

Memberships and Subscriptions

We’ve all heard this one before, but it’s still a good one. Zoo memberships, museum memberships, season passes to the symphony, a magazine subscription or meal prep service. Gift a membership you know your loved one will find value in and use. A few favorites: The Durham Museum, Highlights Magazine, The Magnolia Journal. We live in a world where there is a service, membership, or subscription for just about anything we can think of. Let’s use that to our advantage and give a gift that keeps on giving long after Christmas morning is over.

What can you give this year that will create more joy and less clutter? I would love to hear your ideas for clutter free gifts!

Vanessa

Christmas Gift Challenge

A Simpler Motherhood

The calendar has turned over to November, which means Christmas is sneaking up on us. Last year I did a Christmas Gift Challenge and I’m back for another round.

The Christmas Gift Challenge is this: Purchase all Christmas gifts before Thanksgiving. Last year I completed my shopping before December 1 and this year I am hoping to wrap it up before Thanksgiving.

One thing I have learned the past nine years of being a mom: Do things today that will make life easier tomorrow. My why for the Christmas Gift Challenge is this: If I purchase my Christmas gifts early, my December self is less stressed and more able to rest and savor the Christmas season.

The Christmas Gift Challenge simply means setting a goal for when you would like to be done Christmas shopping. Maybe it’s before Thanksgiving like me. Maybe it’s by December 1. Or maybe you like going to the stores in December and want to have your shopping all wrapped up the week before Christmas. We all have different preferences and life situations and finding what works for us specifically is important.

Here are the steps I’m walking through for my Christmas Gift Challenge:

Christmas Gift Challenge

Make a list

We need to make a list before we can start purchasing Christmas gifts. Make it and check it twice. I use an Excel spreadsheet every year, but a notebook or the Notes app will work, too. Include everyone you will purchase a gift for: grandparents, nieces, nephews, the mailman, your Starbucks barista. Leave no one out.

Set a budget

Setting a budget is important if we don’t want to go into debt during the holidays. If you’ve never set a budget, now is the time to do it. I set a budget for the whole of Christmas, but also on individual gifts. These boundaries help me shop and make sure I know how much I have to spend and where I want to spend it.

Shop

Once we have done the work of making the list and setting the budget, it’s time to shop. I do most of my shopping online, but will pick up some things in the stores in mid November. I utilize Amazon, of course, but I also like to shop small when I can. Charli Dean Designs, Doe a Deer, and Wax Buffalo are a few of my favorite spots to find special Christmas gifts.

Store the goods

Since many of us are shopping early, we need a place to store the goods. We don’t want to have to turn the house upside down in search of Great Grandma’s gift when we start wrapping gifts. My master bedroom closet is where I keep all the gifts. I will be real and say the closet gets a bit stuffed in November, but I make it work and I’m grateful gifts aren’t scattered throughout the house, especially when it’s time to wrap.

Don’t forget the wrapping

It’s easy to overlook the wrapping. One of my favorite things is wrapping gifts on December afternoons with a Hallmark Christmas movie playing in the background. I will save the wrapping for December, but I will make sure I have my wrapping supplies ahead of time.

The Christmas Gift Challenge can be tailored to meet your goals, preferences, and holiday life. If getting finished by Thanksgiving isn’t your thing, don’t do it. Set your own goal that makes sense for you and will make life easier for your Christmas self.

If we make a plan now for Christmas gifts, we will be more able to be present and enjoy the season with the ones we love. Will you join me in the Christmas Gift Challenge this year?

Vanessa

Christmas Prep

A Simpler Home, A Simpler Motherhood

You’re reading that right. It’s October and we are talking Christmas Prep. I know we haven’t stalked the neighbors for trick or treat candy, yet, but the holidays always always sneak up on us. Today I’m sharing some ways to Christmas Prep the next few weeks so we can experience more joy and less stress this Christmas season.

I’m on Year 3 of prepping and planning early for Christmas. (See Year 1 and Year 2) And friends, it’s probably one of the best things I do for my December self. I usually begin Christmas Prep in September, sometimes August. Starting early has allowed me to have some of the best Decembers of my adult life. Starting Christmas Prep early allows me to be intentional with how I want to spend December and how much stress I allow to enter our home during the most magical time of the year.

Some of these ideas could work for you and some won’t make sense for your family. Take what works and leave the rest.

Here are a few ways I Christmas Prep:

Christmas Prep

Gifts

Gifts are one of the first things that come to mind when thinking about Christmas. The biggest thing we can do right now to Christmas Prep in the area of gifts is to make a list, set a budget, and brainstorm ideas for loved ones. I use the same excel spreadsheet year to year, simply adding a new tab for each new year. If Excel isn’t your thing, a notebook or even the Notes app will do the job. In the spreadsheet I list the people to buy for, the budget for the gift, and the idea for the gift.

There are a few things I have found helpful when brainstorming and purchasing Christmas gifts.

Begin Early

We don’t have to stand in long lines in December if we don’t want to. The first year I shopped early, I was floored by how much more time I had in December. Did you know the average woman spends 20 hours Christmas shopping each year? If we save all that shopping for December, that’s a part time job for a whole week. By beginning Christmas shopping early, we are able to spread out the shopping and have more time for what matters in December.

Batch Shop

I don’t know if this is an actual term or if I just made it up. Batch shopping is buying a similar gift or genre of gift for a specific group of people. There are a couple ways to do this.

One way to batch shop is to gift the same gift to a group of people. For example, all the kids’ teachers receive a Starbucks gift card and a plate of homemade cookies or all the cousins receive a book and a pair of cozy slippers.

Another way to batch shop is to give the same genre of gift to a group of people. For example, every child receives a book, but the book reflects their passions or preferences. Another example is gifting a dinner out to your siblings and parents, tailoring it to their favorite restaurant.

Batch shopping reduces decision fatigue, simplifies shopping, while still making friends and family members feel loved.

Buy less gifts

I’m hesitant to mention this one, but here I go. If you want a little less stress this Christmas, think about having conversations now about opting out of exchanges or changing them up. Consider foregoing exchanges between adult sibling groups or doing a ‘favorite things’ exchange with a friend group instead of buying gifts for everyone. Most of us have what we need and want and a lot of these gift exchanges turn into returns on January 2nd. I think it’s safe to say many of us have returned a gift from a well intentioned family member.

If we want a little less stress this Christmas, let’s begin a conversation now about opting out or simplifying gift exchanges this Christmas.

Readying the Pantry and Freezer

For the next few weeks, I am readying our pantry and freezer by using up food items currently housed on the shelves. I am buying less groceries and using what we have so we can stock up on all the holiday goodies when the time comes.

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I will stock up on all the baking supplies I usually use during the holidays: flour, sugar, chocolate chips, sprinkles, pie crusts, peanut butter, vanilla. I also stock up on ingredients for comfort food: butternut squash, bacon, chicken stock, and yeast for bread.

Readying our home now takes one thing off my plate later.

The Christmas Calendar

I know it seems premature to start making Christmas plans in October. However, I would argue that if we don’t set our priorities as a family and make our plans now, someone else could do it for us come December. This past weekend, Kevin and I sat down and talked through our family’s holiday priorities. We put those priorities on the calendar. In October.

One thing I am going to test out this year is writing REST on the calendar. I wrote REST on 7 days in December and I am hopeful this will help us be intentional with not trying to do alllll the things. Even though Instagram and Facebook tempt and tease us with the possibility of doing the next fun, festive thing, it’s impossible to do it all. Impossible. Rest is imperative all the time, but especially during the holidays. It allows us to be more present with the ones we love and supplies us with energy for all the fun Christmas things.

Traditions

Anyone else love Christmas traditions? I love a good tradition, especially a Christmas one. I am a sucker for window shopping traditions and then trying them out to see if they fit. However, this usually ends poorly, in the manner of an over-stressed mom (me) juggling too many advent calendar activities or cookie recipes.

Last year I decided to make a will and will not list for traditions. These are traditions our family will and will not do together. For me, there is definitely power in the will not list.

Our family will…

Go to a tree farm to pick out our tree and decorate it together.

Deliver gifts to our neighbors.

Host our annual gingerbread party.

Read a Christmas book each day.

Go to the Durham Museum to look at the big tree.

Make a birthday cake for Jesus.

Our family will not…

Do elf on the shelf.

Wrap a book up for each day in December.

Visit every Santa sighting.

Let Facebook and Instagram talk me into more traditions.

This will not list will help with my inevitable FOMO during the Christmas season. My lists will be different from your lists and that’s the way it should be. There is no right way to do Christmas.

I yearn for a little more joy and a lot less stress this Christmas season. I want to be present for my people and have time and space to celebrate the reason for the season: the baby born to save the world. My hope is some Christmas Prep now will help get me there.

Will you Christmas Prep this year?

Vanessa

Intentional Birthdays

A Simpler Childhood, A Simpler Motherhood

Birthday month is coming up for our family. My two bigs have birthdays in November along with my mom and father in law. We like a reason to celebrate at our house, so the next month is going to be good. Although we celebrate big, we are intentional with how we celebrate. Today I’m sharing a few ways to have Intentional Birthdays.

Intentional Birthdays

Fewer Gifts, More Experiences

Every family has different values. For us, we value experiences over stuff. That is not right or wrong, it’s just what our family prioritizes. This year, we asked our two big kids if they would rather have gifts from us or go on a mini getaway to Great Wolf Lodge. Luke and Lily chose the latter and so we are headed to swim for a few days to celebrate.

They will still receive gifts from grandparents and a few other close, loved ones. We will celebrate them, it will just look a little different. The gifts will be in the form of time together instead of something wrapped in a package.

Birthdays at your house don’t have to look like our’s, but I think it’s helpful to get clear on what you do want them to look like. Big party? Fun gifts? Family experiences? What do you want your family culture to be surrounding birthday celebrations?

Intentional Time

One thing we make sure happens during kid birthdays is spending one on one time with the birthday kid. A date with Mom and Dad is on the calendar and we are sure to give the birthday kid our undivided time and attention. Believe it or not, this is semi-hard to make happen, but it’s always worth it.

How can you set aside intentional time for the human whose birthday you are celebrating?

Celebration Journals

Several years back I found keeping track of birthday cards to be difficult. Kevin and I started using celebration journals instead of getting each other cards and it has expanded to our kids. Every person in our family has a celebration journal (similar to this). We write a note in their journal when their special day comes around. The journal keeps everything from past years together and it’s fun to go back and read old entries from birthdays and other celebrations. We also use these for anniversaries, holidays, or when we just want to write a note to our kids on a random Tuesday. Celebration Journals give us a simplified way to tell the people we love that we love them.

Are celebration journals a tool that makes sense for your family?

Celebrating another year of life is special and sacred and worthy. How can you be intentional with birthday celebrations at your house?

Vanessa

What I’m Loving in October

A Simpler Motherhood

Fall is all around us. I’m not sure where September went, but October is here and it’s pretty nice, too. There is so much to love about this time of year. Today I’m sharing What I’m Loving in October.

What I’m Loving in October

Cozy Clothes

Fall is pretty pleasant when it comes to weather and so what I put on my body also seems pretty pleasant. Leggings and snug tops are my go to right now. Soft sweatshirts and sharpa pull overs are my favorite. I pair them with either rain boots or tennis shoes and I am cozy all day long.

The Anticipation of Halloween

Halloween is a fun holiday at our house. Although we don’t get into all the gore, our family looks forward to dressing up each year together. It is a highlight of our fall and I’m excited for our costumes this year. Stay tuned.

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin muffins are my favorite fall food. The ones I make are more like a cupcake, but I’m okay with it. I make these year round, but they are especially delicious in the fall. This is the only pumpkin muffin recipe you will ever need: Pumpkin Muffins

Preparing for Christmas

I know it’s only October, but I’ve been prepping and planning for the holiday season. I am not someone who listens to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, but I have been shopping and planning for the most wonderful time of year the past month. In the next few weeks I will share more about how I prepare for Christmas.

October is the beginning of all the fun, festive days. What are you loving in October?

Vanessa

Mins Game Recap

A Simpler Motherhood

Well, friends, I made it through the Mins Game and this is my Mins Game Recap. I decluttered 465+ things from our home. That doesn’t include all the stuff my kids and husband decluttered. While they didn’t make it as long as I did, it was a team effort and a lot of stuff left our home in September. We all feel lighter.

It seemed fitting to wrap up the Mins Game on my husband’s birthday: September 30. We celebrated him big and I made a semi-corny toast to my family for the way they love me and roll with my crazy ideas. They’re the best.

Mins Game Takeaway

While I could analyze and synthesize the things I learned the past month, it all boils down to this:

Our family is blessed with more than enough.

Our family has what we need to live a full life. We have enough clothes for our bodies and food for our bellies. We have a warm, cozy home to enjoy dinners around the table and restful sleep at night. Unlike many, we have toilet paper and running water and dishes and toys and computers and pillows and books and…each other. Most importantly, we have each other.

While I slowly let go of a lot this past month, when I really think about it, none of it matters. None of it matters as much as the people amongst the stuff. The Minimalists say: Love people, use things. And if I re-learned anything this month, it’s that mantra.

I could play the Mins Game every month for the next year and still have enough. Because I would still be with my people and we would still have clothes and a home and food. And that is enough.

While I absolutely am not going to do that (Kevin cheers), I gain comfort knowing my value, my future, my hope, my life is not found in the stuff in my home. It’s in my faith and the people I love. My people.

We are blessed with enough.

Vanessa

Simple Ways to Enjoy Fall

A Simpler Motherhood

Here in the midwest, fall is a time when rhythms return and the weather becomes pleasantly perfect for a small window of time. It’s my favorite. Let’s talk some Simple Ways to Enjoy Fall.

Simple Ways to Enjoy Fall

Fall Food

One way I savor each season is with food. The Nester talks about welcoming the seasons with our senses and food is one way to do that. Also, we love to eat at our house. I recently made a list of all the fall meals I like to make this time of year. Change your life chicken, butternut squash soup, chicken pot pie, chili, roasted chicken and veggies, and tacos (always tacos) are a few on the list. Zucchini bread, pumpkin muffins, and apple crisp are a few more fall foods that are coming out of our oven often in the fall.

What are some foods that feel like fall to you? Make a list of your favorite fall meals and stock your fridge, freezer, and pantry with items to make those foods all season long.

Outings

The beautiful weather this time of year is reason enough to put some outings on the calendar. Apple orchards, pumpkin patches, a bike ride on a crisp Saturday morning, a coffee and park date, a fall themed Trader Joe’s run, a drive or hike to look at pretty autumn leaves. These are some of the outings we are planning to enjoy this fall.

Let each family member choose somewhere they want to go this fall and put it on the calendar. We all know this time of year can fill up fast, so getting it on the calendar will ensure it happens.

Books

Anytime of the year is a good time to snuggle up with a good book, but fall is a special one. We love to read books that go along with the seasons. Some of my favorite children’s books for this time of year are: Goodbye Summer Hello Autumn, Applesauce Day, The Apple Pie that Papa Baked, and The Legend of Spookly the Square Pumpkin.

Check out Read Aloud Revival for some books lists for September, October, and November. Pull out some of your long time favorite fall books to read as a family. Or head to the library and ask your librarian for some recommendations. Books are a great way to savor this season.

Get cozy

Soft, thick blankets, textured pillows, a yummy smelling candle, cozy socks. In our home, I slowly change pillows, throws, and candles out as the days get cooler. My rhythms change as I light a candle in the morning before the sun rises and in the evening when the sun sets. I switch from iced coffee to a hot cup.

Think about what makes you feel cozy this time of year and make it come alive in your home and your days.

There are so many simple ways to enjoy fall. How will you celebrate the everyday this season?