Today, I'm reviewing three popular 2024 summer romance novels (spoiler: I strongly disliked two of them):

1. Funny Story by Emily Henry
2. The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
3. Just for the Summer by Abby Jiminez

These are the cleared zipper pouches I use.

And here is the Tote Savvy Bag.

Starting a 75 Hard / 75 Soft / 75 Mom / 75 Pregnancy Challenge is the perfect way to focus your mind, body, and spirit. And that's exactly what I'm looking forward to during these last few weeks of my fourth pregnancy. Here's my *super* adapted version of the 75 Pregnancy Challenge:

1. Drink a gallon of water every day (128-ounces = 1 gallon) — this will include a mix of water and coconut water for the electrolytes.
2. Exercise 2-3 times per week for 45 minutes -- this will include an upper and lower body workout + a walk
3. Read 10 pages of a book everyday
4. No screens past 9pm — this is for my mental health more than anything. It’s so easy to find myself scrolling on X until 10 / 1030 / 11pm when the best thing to do is to unplug, and not have the last thing I look at be a blue screen.
5. Gratitude journal — because the days are long and hard with three kids, and it just keeps a healthy spirit.
6. Take a picture everyday, I like this idea, mainly because I’ve gotten really terrible with taking photos. I hardly take them anymore, yet I know I’ll be thrilled to have them. Especially during this sweet time as a family of 5 for just a few more weeks.

And continuing on in the Toddler Books We Currently Love Series, today we have installment number 4. My three children are 5 and under, and that's the target audience for most of these books:

1. Piranahas Don’t Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey
2. Eat Pete by Michael Rex
3. Snail Crossing by Corey Tabor
4. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
5. Alice ’s Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
6. Ten in a Hurry by Lo Cole
7. Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson
8. Don’t Worry Little Crab by Chris Haughton
9. I Know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello by Barbara Garriel
10. 999 Frogs and a Little Brother by Ken Kimura
11. How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? By Jane Yolen
12. The Dinos on the Bus by Peter Millett
13. Spot Goes to the Farm by Eric Hill
14. Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet by Kelly DiPucchio
15. Bad Dog by Mike Boldt

Also, be sure to listen to Parts 1-3!

• Episode #13: Toddler Books We Currently Love, Part 1
• Episode #46: Toddler Books We Currently Love, Part 2
• Episode #81: Toddler Books We Currently Love, Part 3

Welcome back to another episode of What We Ate This Week, How I Prepped, & What I Spent in a Week as a family of 5!

• Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
• Pasta Bolognese
• Lemon-Berry Crumb Cake

And the beloved cherry pitter!

Using paper plates on Friday nights and when we host our family & friends has simplified my life so much.

And here other ways I've made my life easier as a SAHM to 3 kids 5 and under:

1. In busy parking lots, having my kids all get in and out of the car through the same door
2. Making an afternoon snack plate
3. Rotisserie chicken for dinner, and hot dogs for lunch on Costco Run days
4. Dedicate one day for running errands, or batch them with appointments or other commitments (episode #106)
5. Small load of laundry every morning (episode #45)
6. Scheduling my workouts and sticking with it
7. Keeping approved snacks on a shelf where my kids can reach
8. Having a weekly meal plan (episode #36)
9. A simple and do-able cleaning schedule (episode #37)
10. Different to-go pouches for throwing together a bag (future episode to come!)

PS. the set of disposable party plates we use

Today, we’re going to talk about keeping the playroom clean, tidy, and organized for a more peaceful home.

As for the clean and tidy portion of our episode, I wanted to say again how much I really loved the book How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis, the best thing I took from her book is the 5 Step Cleaning method. The basics of the method is that there are only ever 5 kinds of items found in any cluttered or messy room:

1. trash
2. dishes
3. laundry
4. things out of place and
5. things that DON'T have a place (yet)....