Easy DIY Kid’s Room Decor

When my little one was born, a wonderfully sweet lady at my church quilted him the most beautiful piece – a toddler-sized bedspread that matched our nursey theme of woodland animals.

The original nursery, in my home when I was still married, was in soft pastel colors with woodland animals, and this blanket had brighter fabric. I intended to use it, at first, when my son transitioned into a toddler or twin bed. When the separation and then divorce took place, I didn’t ask for much of the nursery items but I asked for the sentimental stuff – the artwork my sister had done, the rocking chair that had been in my own nursery as a baby, and the quilt made by my church family member.

When the divorce finalized and I got into my rental home, I used the brightly colored woodland animals as my son’s new nursery theme and now as his big boy room theme.

Over time, I’ve added to the theme and to the room, and I imagine we’ll be adapting the theme as needed for the next several years.

This week, I have added some DIY touches that I think turned out SO cute! Using affordable crafting items from Walmart, I’ve put together matching toy bins and a new bedroom door sign.

If you’re doing something similar for your child’s room, here’s what you’ll need:

  • Fabric Bins (I already had 3 in red, but you can find a lot of color or pattern options at Walmart, Target, Amazon, or even Dollar General or Dollar Tree)
  • Wooden Decals (I used 3 for the bins and 1 for the door sign, $0.62 each at Walmart & I think Hobby Lobby has a good selection too)
  • Wood or MDF Initials (or letters for a name/nickname – $1.08 each at Walmart)
  • 1 Wood Plank (Mine is from Walmart with the twine already assembled for easy hanging, $10.97)
  • A hot glue gun & glue sticks

When I bought my decals for the woodland nursery, I snagged some pictures so you all could see what else Walmart offers. I laid a few options out on the dowel rod display nearby so you could see some other theme options, too!

Decorated Door Sign

Here’s what I did to assemble the door sign.

I removed the stickers, as possible, from the back of the wooden animal decal and the initials, as my hot glue gun was heating up. Then, I quickly outlined the back of the decal and the initials with hot glue and placed them on my board. (It’ll be helpful to lay them on the board without glue first so you get an idea of your ideal placement.)

If you’re doing a full name or using multiple decals, you’ll likely want to use a larger premade sign piece, build your own (cut a board to preferred size, stain or paint, and drill holes and attach twine to hang), or use this same size with smaller letters.

I think this turned out so cute! And, as you’ll see at the end of this post, I just used a clear command hook placed where I wanted on the door to hang it.

Themed Storage Bins

To make my already existing red storage bins match even better with my son’s room theme, I took just a few simple steps.

First, I removed any stickers off of the back of the decals. My hot glue gun was already heated up from working on the sign, so I was all set and ready to start!

I did pre-determined the placement of the decals under the bin handles so that I had some idea where I was going to glue them – because once they’re glued on, ripping them off again will damage the bin fabric. I put glue on the back of the first decal (essentially going around the shape) and then quickly stuck it to the fabric. To make sure it stuck as desired, I had one hand inside of the bin pushing the bin wall forward and one hand outside, pushing the wooden decal on. I did hold for a few seconds to ensure that it stayed. I repeated the process for all three decals and bins.

These look even better than I envisioned! As you’ll see at the end of this post, my son’s are on a new cube shelf from Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart, but you could put these anywhere – on regular shelves, in a closet, under the bed for additional storage, or by themselves.

The End Result

Here’s how they look in a room! I really couldn’t be more pleased with this quick little DIY that matches perfectly.

Where would you put decorated bins or door décor? What theme is in your child’s room? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

3 Must-Know Microsoft Office Tips

Every young professional – or student or stay-at-home-mom who is managing a household with bills and groceries – should know some important Microsoft Office skills! Whether it’s managing your kids’ after-school activities, paying your household bills or sending work invoices, or organizing your study schedule, Microsoft Office has some amazing features that are incredibly beneficial to know.

Today, I’m going to focus on 3 basic tips that I think are particularly beneficial to all young professionals or students.

#1: Use out-of-office replies – and make them work FOR you.

You’ve gotten the auto responses from other professionals before: Thanks for your email. I’m out of the office but will reply when I return to my desk on Monday.

You should be using these too – but there are ways to make your out of office reply more than a placeholder.

First and foremost, if you haven’t used these before, they’re actually much easier than you think.

Here’s the step-by-step: In Outlook, simply click “File” in the top left corner. Then select “Automatic Replies,” which should be right under “Account Settings.” Click “send automatic replies” and select your time range. This is my biggest tip in this area:  give yourself at least TWO HOURS after you return to work for your auto reply to turn off. That means if you are back in on Monday at 8 AM, select 10 AM. These two hours will let you check your inbox, respond to anything urgent, and prioritize the resto f your catch-up tasks before you start having to reply at your usual in-office response rate.

You can also have a different message for inside and outside of your organization, if that’s helpful to you.

Additional Pro-Tip: Always put your signature in your out of office reply! It looks much more professional, and it reminds them who they emailed, from what company, and likely why they reached out to you. Plus, if it has your office contact info, they’ll know how to get in touch with someone else if it’s urgent.

Another Pro-Tip: You can add a PS and encourage your emailers to check out an upcoming event, your company website, or other important information. This redirect to helpful information can sometimes even answer their inquiry!

#2: Utilize pivot tables for data summaries and specific lists.

If you haven’t yet discovered pivot tables in Excel, your life is about to be CHANGED.

Pretend you are a car dealer. You sold ten cars this week, and you’re about to purchase some more cars from a factory, but you have to determine make and color preferences of your clients. What you want to do is see what your customers like best overall using the data from this week’s sales.

(If you’re not digging the car sales metaphor, don’t worry. Replace with wedding guests with a chicken or beef preference or bills under categories like entertainment, house, and auto.)

In your excel, make sure each line is a “record” – in this case, a sale (in the financial example, a bill or the wedding example, a guest). Then, select all of the data. With the data selected, click “insert” at the top of the window. Then, select “pivot table,” and then “okay.”

This is going to allow you to create a custom pivot table. If I want to see how many cars total were sold, I’ll use the unique identifier (vin number for cars; bill name for bills; guest name for wedding) in the “values category.” Then, to see how many of each make of the car (or category in bills or which side – groom or bride – in the wedding example), put the “make” in the rows section. To see which color choice is best (or beef/chicken, for example), select that and move it to columns.

Now I can quickly see that the grand total of cars sold is 10, that 5 were Chevys, and that white is the most common color sold. (In the wedding example, I might see that of my 50 guests, 38 were choosing chicken and 25 of those were on the bride’s side.)

Even better tip: Double click on any number in the pivot table to get a list of all of those individual items. So I can double click on the number “5” for Chevys to see which 5 cars were sold in that make.

This will CHANGE your life when you’re organizing a lot of data!

#3: Mail merge your large emails for personalized effects.

If you have projects where you are emailing a lot of people with the same message, you should be using mail merges!  They will do your work so much faster if you have Outlook!

What you need is a complete list of the people you are contacting in excel. Each row should be a person, and each column is a data point. You absolutely need name (one column for first name and one for last) and email address – but you can add other points too.

For this example, let’s pretend I am using mail merges for my Avon business. My excel spreadsheet might have columns for first name, last name, email, last date of order, and last ordered product.

Make sure your excel list is saved on your computer. Close the window.

Then, open a word document. Write your email, but remember that the same email is going to various people. Leave spaces for their information to be merged in so it appears unique and personalized to each of them.

Once your message is written, go to “Mailings” on the top of the window. Click “Start Mail Merge” and then “Email Messages.” Then, go to “Select Recipients” and “Use an Existing List.” Then, find your saved list, and select it. Then, hit “okay.”

Go to each place where you want to put in a unique field for that person (name, for example). Select that space or placeholder word, and then hit “insert merge field.” You will see the column headers from your initial saved Excel list. Select the appropriate one (see my second picture below).

Once all of your merged fields are input, you can hit “preview results” to see what one of your emails might look like.

When it’s all ready and you’re pleased with the email, go to “Finish & Merge” and then make sure that your column header for email appears in the “to” section. Also, you can write your unique subject line in that field.

When you press “okay,” it will send emails (with merged fields) to each address on your list!

If the recipient replies, it’ll come to your Outlook account.

What other Office tips and tricks do you use most? Comment below! Also, if you try any of these tips and need help, don’t hesitate to email me at katewithatwang@gmail.com – always happy to help!

Beef & Cheddar Rolls

Today, I’m sharing a recipe I’ve been making for over a year – and one that my boyfriend absolutely loves. They are so easy – but so good! Jake, my dad, and my brother-in-law all enjoy these.

These are roast beef and cheddar rolls – and they are the perfect finger-food item for watching a big game, having an at-home movie night, or going to an event (after COVID, that is).

Here’s what you need:

  • Thin-sliced deli roast beef
  • Cheddar cheese slices
  • Canned crescent rolls (however many you have is going to equate to how many rolls you make)

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Slice your cheese slices into strips – I typically try to get about 5 strips out of each slice. Open your roast beef and your crescent rolls, and go ahead and spray your baking sheet.

Roll your crescent dough out into flat triangles. Add 1-2 slices of roast beef, laying it flat, and then 1-2 strips of cheddar cheese. (Your choice here just changes the ratio of meat & cheese to bread, so do 1-2 pieces per roll as you think you’ll prefer.) Then roll up into traditional crescent shape.

Lay the rolls on your baking sheet, leaving room for them to puff up as they bake. Bake for 11-13 minutes until the dough looks cooked, the cheese is melting and bubbling, and the edges of the roll are a nice golden color.

My dad says he’d like these with a nice spicy mustard or a horse radish to dip – so I’ll probably add that to my next finger food assortment, too!

Enjoy! I hope these can be used and enjoyed for your New Years Eve plans or other upcoming events!

And from me & mine to you & yours – Happy 2021!

3 Last Minute Sweet Holiday Gifts

Christmas is THIS WEEK! It’s my favorite holiday, and I couldn’t be more excited.

When I was a kid, my parents hosted a Christmas Eve open house, and all of our family on my mom’s side, that lived in-state, would come over for dinner, dessert, and presents. We always got to stay up really late, play with cousins, and have a ton of fun!

I remember that my uncles would sometimes bring a date – and my parents never really knew if they should expect someone or not, so they decided to keep some gifts on hand. One year, they decided to go to the Lennox Store after Christmas and buy several Christmas ornaments, which ended up lasting a handful of years thereafter. They were glass trees, sleds, Santa figures, and other holiday symbols. Mom kept them in a closet and would wrap one or two up in case a date was brought – it was important to her as a hostess to have a gift for everyone to open.

As I thought about those Christmas Eve parties, I realized it’s really a very gracious step to take as a hostess to have an extra gift or two on hand. And if you’re going somewhere else for Christmas, it might be good to take a little “thank you” gift to your host as well.

So, whether you just forgot a neighbor or coworker on your shopping list, need a hostess gift for the dinner you’re attending, or want to have an extra gift stashed in case your family member brings a new beau, here are three easy, sweet, & affordable gift ideas! (And yes, all of these can be accomplished at Dollar Tree or Walmart.)

#1: Festive Mug & Cake

It’s easy to grab a festive mug or two at your local dollar store or big-box store. They’re affordable and often have fun holiday sayings or images! If you’re out and about for your last-minute shopping, these can be a great gift to give.

If you add a dessert with it, even better! Dollar Tree has single-serving mug cake packets in various flavors, which makes a fun addition to your gifted mug – and a little different than the typical coffee or cocoa.

#2: Rudolph Candy-Filled Canes

This is a perfect gift for a candy-lover or kid on your Christmas list! All you need is two candy-filled plastic canes, scissors, tape, glue, a marker, and red & brown construction paper.

You’ll want to tape your candy canes together, with the rounded tops pointing out, by wrapping a piece of clear tape around the labels. Then cut a strip of brown craft paper. Fasten the strip of paper on to the labels, too, to hide the nutritional facts (or non-nutritional facts?) and glue it down. Then add on a red circle for Rudolph’s nose, and draw on two eyes! The candy canes should make his antlers, giving you a complete Rudolph treat!

I think these are perfect gifts for the children in your neighborhood, for your kids’ friends at church or school, or for your extended family’s children at any holiday get-together.

#3: Baked Goods in a Festive Container

Of course, there is always old faithful – homemade goodies! If you don’t have a favorite recipe, I have tons of easy dessert recipes here: Rudolph’s Red Noses, Butterscotch Walnut Cookies, M&M Cookies, & Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I found this cuter-than-can-be festive mailbox container at Dollar Tree, and I think this makes a neat giftbox for any baked goods you might giveaway! Of course, you can always get seasonal tins, baskets, or bags, too.

Enjoy – and Merry Christmas to you & yours!

Rudolph’s Red Noses – Candy Recipe

During the holidays, I love to bake – but as a single and working mom, sometimes baking can be a little overwhelming! I tend to really like to make simple recipes that can be fun and delicious without taking up too much time, making too much mess, or causing too much expense.

Today’s recipe is world’s easiest Christmas candy! You may have seen something similar on Pinterest or from a family member, but I have a slightly different take on these pretzel candies that I’ve seen my mom make for years now.

Here’s a hint: instead of square pretzels, I use the traditional pretzels and ONLY red M&Ms to make my candies look like little reindeer!

Here’s what you need:

  • Mini Pretzels
  • Red M&Ms
  • Rolos

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Lay your pretzels out on a baking sheet spaced out enough so that you can get a small spatula between them later when they’re done.

Set an unwrapped Rolo candy on the middle of each pretzel. Place in the oven and bake until the chocolate just starts to melt.

When the chocolate has just started to melt, they’re ready to pull out of the oven. Then you’re going to place a red M&M in the center of each Rolo. As you push down, the chocolate and caramel Rolo will squish down just a little too.

The pretzel should make a set of antlers, the chocolate a little snout, and the M&M a perfect Rudolph nose!

Before you take them off of the pan, you’ll need them to harden. Place the pan in the fridge for about 7-10 minutes. Then, use a spatula to pry them off of the pan. You can wrap them in a cute tin, as pictured, or bag them up in a treat bag for a nice gift for your neighbor, coworker, or holiday hostess!

Enjoy – and Merry Christmas!

Santa Terra Cotta Treat Pots

With the holidays right around the corner, it can be really challenging to give something meaningful to every person you care about. If you work in an office, for example, you may have a lot of coworkers and while you may want to do something special for them, your budget may not let you buy them each an individual gift. There are tons of solutions to making someone feel thought of during the holidays without spending a lot of money, so that you can save the more individualized (and potentially expensive) purchases for your family and closest friends. As a single mom, I know my list gets prioritized and my budget is something that’s important for me to stick to.

Today, I’m going to share my Santa Terra Cotta Treat Pots! These are so simple to put together, but they are really a cute little gift in this festive time of year.

Here’s what you need:

  • Terra cotta pots (I used these mini 1.5” clay pots but you could use any size you like)
  • Red craft paint (I used a deeper red, almost maroon)
  • White craft paint
  • Gold or silver sharpie paint pen
  • Sponge brushes
  • Fillers (I suggested themed candy – I used mini Hershey Santas and peppermints)

First, I always put down a napkin or paper towel beneath my craft paint projects, just so I don’t have to scrape paint off of a countertop or table – it comes off super easily, but better safe than sorry! I use a paper plate or bowl for my paint as well.

Using the larger of my two sponge brushes, I swept on the red paint onto the bottom of the terracotta pots. The paint should go all the way up to the rim under the top, as pictured below.

Then, once that craft paint has dried (and if you’re doing several of these, the first will likely be dry by the time you finish the red paint on the last), you’re going to get cracking with your white paint. I used my smaller sponge brush to paint on the unpainted rim. This should essentially make a belt for “Santa!”

After all of the paint is dry, use your gold or silver smaller-tipped paint marker to draw on a open square, making Santa’s belt buckle.

After all of your terra cotta pots dry, you can begin filling them with your treats! This year, since my terra cotta pots are small, I decided to use peppermints and mini Hershey Santas in each pot. I think my work team members are going to love this little festive Christmas treat this year!

What are some small thinking-of-you holiday gifts you assemble for your colleagues, church friends, kids’ teachers, or other friends? Comment below – I’d love to hear your ideas, too!

Holiday Home Décor Tour

It’s CHRISTMAS TIME, y’all! Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I am always so excited to get this season going. From the music to the decorations to the worship aspects of the season, I love it ALL.

Today’s blog is really just to show you all how I’ve decorated my home for this special time of year. 2020 has been wild, but it can’t steal my holiday-loving heart. So, without further ado, welcome to my home and enjoy!

We’re going to focus on the main living space in this blog, so my open concept dining and living room in my rental home.

Between my kitchen and my dining space, there is a long countertop with storage on each side (closed storage facing the kitchen and open shelving facing the dining nook and living room).

If you’ll recall from my Fall Décor post, I did purchase this tiered tray from Amazon. For Christmas, I used a lot of what I already had as décor in previous years to make it festive – the twig snowman my mom had purchased for me years ago at Kirklands, two little wrapped presents that are roughly 1×1 inches, a red house that was actually an ornament from Old Time Pottery purchased last year (I just ripped the hanger off), and a wooden heart ornament from Cracker Barrel last year. I purchased the standing fabric tree and the bird from Walmart (their Holiday Time collection has grown a lot in terms of quality and cuteness in the last few years, in my opinion).  Once I had those items placed where I liked, I back filled with pinecones I already had from many years previous. I added a festive cookie tin from Dollar General and a holiday countdown sign gifted to me from my mom to round out this little décor spot.

For my dining table, I took a fairly simple approach. I left my usual gingham tablecloth and the jute placemat I purchased this summer or fall at Walmart, then layered on a red plastic poinsettia tablecloth on top for a pop of Christmas color. I used a white pitcher I already had from Old Time Pottery, filled it with gold-glittered pinecones and red leaves, and then placed it in front of two wooden and gold angel stands that hold votives. Last holiday season, my boyfriend Jake purchased these for me at a craft fair.

My corner chair has a “Merry & Bright” pillow on it from Target last holiday season. For window décor, I simply draped a strand of red wooden beads at the top and added wooden heart ornaments from Cracker Barrel a few years ago at either side.

As you continue to look around the open concept living space, you turn to the big picture window. I love this window – and the view is incredible: just acres of rolling farmland (with cows!), a church, and mountains in the distance. I live in a beautiful part of East Tennessee.

Because the window is placed to see the gorgeous landscape but also the two-lane highway from a distance, I place my tree in the center. This lets me see the lit tree as I come over the crest of the hill on my way home each evening. (I also have two light-up holly leaves in each of the top corners of the window for effect as well, but you can only see them from the outside.)

I used to have a larger, wider 6-foot tree, but it was prelit and last year it really got me riled up when my lights didn’t work. I made due by stringing up separate lights over the nonworking lights, but this year I didn’t want to fool with that nonsense, so I used a 6 foot alpine tree I had ordered for front porch décor last year.

This skinnier tree actually looks great in my space and ties in nicely with my Christmas motif, which is sort of self-described as “country charm.” The fact that the branches start higher up actually allows for taller giftbags and wrapped boxes, too.

I used a brown burlap bow with red lacing (bought at Walmart last year), red wooden beads, and lots of wooden and metal ornaments.  The star on the top of my tree has a stained-glass look without the weight or expense of actual stained glass, and I found it at a local thrift shop a few seasons ago.

Flash the dog (who is, I’ve found out, both basset hound and beagle) seems to like it fairly well – and he hasn’t even eaten an ornament or bow yet!

You may remember in my fall post that I got new shelves for my living room. These made decorating the living room even easier this year! (Please ignore that my toddler was watching Planes: Fire & Rescue while I photographed everything…!)

I found a festive red bead looped garland at Walmart and had a brown poinsettia pin from years past that I hung on my mirror. On the repainted sofa table that I use for my television (see my fall blog for details), I added a golden and brown woodland Santa that had been passed down from my gram before she passed with an amber vase (only $4 at my local TJ Maxx) holding a few red berry springs I had on hand.

On the left shelf, I staged a mini tree on the top shelf. The tree features a rustic bow, mini pinecone ornaments, and mini wooden forest animals – all of these items were from Walmart last year, and the tree itself was from Old Time Pottery several seasons ago. The second shelf features a 2019 holiday photo of my little man in a Rae Dunn frame from my friend Kayla, a “noel” wooden star from Walmart last year, a ceramic angel from some youth students a few years’ back, and a hand-carved wooden nativity from a church family member gifted to me two seasons ago. I have a love of nativity scenes, and this was the most thoughtful gift, so I am so honored to display it in my home each year. On the final two shelves, I have my Christmas village (last year I completely started over on collecting it after my divorce, when I didn’t get the pieces I had found for several years) and then another nativity scene and a picture of my son, myself, and Santa from 2018.

On the right shelf, I have the wisemen on top. I attended a Christian college for my BA degree, and my New Testament professor, Chad, shared with us that the wisemen actually didn’t visit Jesus until long after he was born – he was likely crawling or even walking before they arrived. Chad shared that he often moved his mother’s wisemen away from the manager scene during Christmas visits, and the funny image has always stayed with me. To honor the reality that Jesus was visited (and worshipped and acknowledged) beyond Christmas morning, I put my wisemen on a different shelf than the manager scene. The next shelf down, though, is the nativity set. This set is precious to me – it was my paternal grandparents’ holy family display for all of the years of their marriage. It’s a Fontanini nativity set, and my papa built the actual stable himself. This year it was especially meaningful to put it on display, as my papa passed in early November. The final shelf features an angel mother holding a baby (a gift from my sister the year I was expecting my son), and two family photos of my toddler, myself, and Jake.

On the far left of the shelving display, I hung up a stocking holder. I found this shelf and hanging display a year or two ago at Old Time Pottery, along with the “let it snow” sign. The stockings are from Walmart, as are the stocking initial tags. My mom gifted me the woodland garland and the gold reindeer, so I added them into my existing basket, along with Flash’s red mini-stocking and the red bow to add pops of festive color.

As you can see, my Christmas décor theme is traditional with a little bit of rustic or country charm. Have you already decorated for the holiday? How would you describe your style? Comment below – I’d love to hear from you!

Easy Sweet Potato Dish

Its Thanksgiving week! That means good food is just TWO DAYS AWAY. Are y’all as excited as I am?

I know that this holiday looks a lot different than it has in years’ past, thanks to the pandemic. However, I still think that Thanksgiving is an amazing opportunity for us to focus on the silver linings – despite COVID-19 and the many hardships that it has brought along with it, we each have things we can be grateful for – so my challenge to you (and to myself) is to spend Thanksgiving day focusing on those blessings and bright spots!

This year, I’m hosting Thanksgiving for my family. Don’t worry – we’re sticking to the rules and keeping it small. Just my little guy, my parents, and my sister and brother-in-law.

We have to do our dinner a little late, since my son spends Wednesday night and the first part of Thanksgiving Thursday with his dad, so he gets to me at 4 PM. So dinner is going to be closer to 5:30 or 6 PM at my place.

I’ve already been thinking about my table set up and my dishes. My sister and mom are each bringing some sides, so I’m preparing a few sides and the main dish – the crockpot turkey breast.

Today, I want to share my favorite easy dish: sweet potatoes! If you’re hosting this year, just having your immediate family eat together, or are going to another home and need to take a dish, this is a must have – and it’s SO easy.

This is sort of a mixture of sweet potato casserole and straight up sweet potatoes. It’s not mashed or whipped like most casseroles and it doesn’t have marshmallows, but it’s also not whole or individual baked sweet potatoes.

Here’s what you need:

  • 1 40-ounce can of yams/sweet potatoes
  • 1/3 cup of brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup of raw walnuts
  • 2 tbsp of butter, cut into slices or cubes

Don’t forget – on a holiday when you’re feeding more than 2-4 folks, you’ll need to double or even triple this recipe. I’m sharing what I did for dinner last week, which was about 1/3 of my usual for holiday get togethers.

First and foremost, preheat your oven to 375F.

Then, open your can of yams, drain the liquid, and rinse lightly, re-draining. Then, spray a glass baking dish with non-stick spray, and pour your sweet potatoes into the dish, covering the bottom completely.  Drop your walnuts on top of the yams, spreading them about evenly. Add in butter in the various sections of the dish – I usually add two in the middle and one on each end. Finally, sprinkle on your brown sugar fairly evenly over the entire top of the dish.

Bake at 375F for about 25-30 minutes. If you’re doing a LOT more – like 2 or 3 times this – you’ll want to up it to like 35-40 minutes, but keep an eye on it. You want your sweet potatoes to be soft, the butter and brown sugar to be melted, and the dish to be visibly steamy when you pull it from the oven.

Enjoy!

As you’ll see below, we enjoyed this dish last week at dinner – along with some of the Avengers assembled at the table. (#BoyMom, amiright?)

Baby & Toddler Books You Can’t Go Without

When I was growing up, we read all of the time.

As a kid, I used to sneak books into bed and read in the dark after bedtime. I guess reading Babysitters Club really was a thrilling experience. My parents found out and extended bedtime so I could read later into the night with a light on, so that they didn’t have to pay for glasses later on top of the braces I already had. Ha!

I really think my love for books and for academia started with board books. I attribute my vocabulary and my schoolwork to my parents never saying no when we wanted to read another story before bed or when we wanted to visit the library in the summers.

My goal with my son is to make sure he has access to books all the time, and I’m really fortunate to have family and friends that support that too as they buy birthday and Christmas gifts for him.

I’ve got two lists for you this week: 5 classics that you shouldn’t go without on your kiddo’s bookshelf, and 3 modern additions that you should purchase for their collections, too!

5 Classics

#1: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

I completely attribute my son’s early ability to name more than primary colors to this book by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle.

We have the board book, and we read this every single night that I had custody for nearly six months straight – and we practiced both our colors and our animals by letting him go through each animal’s name and color on the final page. This one is absolutely a must-have for any toddler.

#2: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This is another Eric Carle board book that we have in our reading corner, and my little LOVES the colors. It was a gift at one of my baby showers, and it was a perfect addition to the bookshelf. Not only does combine an understanding of nature and science, but also the colors and artwork that are charming and compelling for my son’s age range.

#3: The Little Engine That Could

My son LOVES trains, so this book by Watty Piper is perfect for him! The can-do message is motivational and inspiring, and now that we’ve transitioned from Brown Bear (listed above), we’re reading this book most nights before bed.

We received this as one of our Imagination Library mailings. If you’re not from East Tennessee, you might not be familiar with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Let me just say that Dolly Parton is a gift to East Tennessee, and her efforts to promote education are absolutely admirable. We’re so thankful that my kiddo can be a recipient for books from Dolly’s program. To find out more, check out her program here.

#4: The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit is an absolutely classic. I found this modern children’s adaptation at my local Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, and I couldn’t pass it up. It’s a sweet story, and this version has warm images in kid’s colors to stay visually engaging for your toddler audience.

#5: The Monster at the End of This Book

My favorite Sesame Street monster as a kid was Grover – and this book was one we had on our own shelves! When I found it at a local store, I had to get for my son, and he loves it just as much as I did.

Spoiler: the monster is silly old Grover himself – but we have all kinds of fun discovering that when I use my own silly Grover voice throughout the book. My son recalls the pages and says some of the phrasing along with me, so it’s extra fun as he continues to grow older!

3 Modern Additions

#1: Truck Party

I grabbed this book at a local Goodwill, and it was one of the best $.99 purchases I’ve made! Before he was even two years old, my son could repeat whole lines. If your little one is a truck or transportation fan, they will LOVE this book by Tammi Salzano!

#2: Mama Loves You So

Terry Pierce’s newborn board book was sitting on a TJ Maxx shelf when I was shopping for my son’s first Christmas; it was meant to be. This book is so sweet. It highlights animals and their mamas, and the illustrations by Simone Shin are absolutely gorgeous. If you are having a new baby – or if a friend is – this is a must have.

#3: Hands Are Not for Hitting

My son’s sitter shared that he was using his hands to hit or push some, and he had begun to hit me on our custody switch days, so I was concerned. I brought up the issue with the pediatrician at a previously-scheduled appointment, and she suggested this book by Martine Agassi.

I didn’t know how much it would help, but I am SO thankful I purchased it on Amazon! This book details how hands are not for hitting, but they are for high-fives, for playing, for building… It follows the little boy on the cover through lots of activities you CAN do with your hands. Now, on the way to the sitter’s on every morning I have custody, my son and I talk about how are hands are NOT for hitting, pushing, pinching, or taking, but ARE for high-fives, hand-holding, clapping, and playing kindly.

What books would you add to the list? I’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments below!

Simple Crockpot Roast Beef

If there’s one dinner that is always going to be well received in my house but takes minimal work, it’s a roast beef dinner – made easy by the crockpot!  With the evenings getting cooler and fall weather really settling in, I thought this was the perfect dish to share with you this week.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 2-3 lb chuck roast, thawed
  • 1 bag of small yellow potatoes
  • ½ bag of baby carrots
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Italian seasonings
  • 1 can of brown beef gravy
  • Dinner rolls of your choice

To start, plug in your crockpot and fill it with the beef, potatoes, and carrots. I have a smaller crockpot (I caught it on sale at my local Bargain Hunt for $11 last year, so I’m not complaining!), but that I means my roast is always a Jenga-kind of game to get all of the ingredients in.

Once they’re in, add a steady drizzle of olive oil. Then salt and pepper and add in Italian seasonings. A few shakes will do!

Turn your crockpot on high for about 4 hours.

At the four hour mark, you should be almost done. Turn the heat dial to low for 1-2 more hours.

After another 1-2 hours on low, you’re ready to serve! Your kitchen will be smelling like dinner already, so you’ll know it’s time. You can also cut into the meat to make sure you’re content with how cooked it is.

Before I serve, I like to warm rolls in the oven (I used Sister Schubert’s yeast rolls this time around) and heat up my gravy.

I like to serve it on the table, so I put my roast – including carrots and potatoes – in a serving dish and set the table. Now you’re ready to enjoy!