Getting Ready for Baby on a Budget: Budget Nursery Ideas

When I found out Little Man was a boy, I decided to pick a nursery theme that would age well. As much as I love safari animals, pastel blues, or Winnie the Pooh, those things would only last 3-4 years at the most before he wanted a change to fit his growing personality. I am so glad I did this! It has saved me so much money over the years! His nursery was Marvel Superheroes themed, that morphed into solely Spiderman over the years. Him preferring Spiderman (his dad may have had something to do with this 😄) meant I kept the same color scheme, and most of the same decor. 

With Baby Girl I thought she would be my only girl, since we felt certain she was our last. I decided to go with what I absolutely love-Disney Princesses. My hope here was that again, it was age with her. I realized that she might not be a 'girly-girl' so I decided to make the Disney Princess theme subtle with a few decor and accent pieces, instead of over the top princessy-ness. The colors were grey and pink, that I thought could easily adopt different decor later. So, with that all being said, my first tip for a Nursery on a budget is:

Use a Theme and Color Scheme that Grows with Baby

This way you are only having to change out bedding and a few things here and there, rather than having to re-do the entire room, every couple of years. 

Think outside the Nursery Box

For us that was letting Baby Girl share our bedroom for the first couple of years. We have a large bedroom that I portioned off for her, and let that be the nursery space. If you have a smaller master bedroom, you could easily make a nursery nook. This means less decor and equipment that needs to be bought, as well as being able to keep it simple for the first little bit as you discover your baby's personality. 

We devoted a bedroom to Little Man (that he still uses, so no regrets really) but he didn't sleep in there for the first 2 years of his life. It's actually recommended to room share with a newborn, and with me nursing up until 2 with little man, and 15 months for Baby Girl (had to stop sooner due to being pregnant), it makes sense for them to sleep in our room until they are weaned. This time around I let Baby Girl stay in our room and it allowed a couple of years to save up money to redo our guest room now into a beautiful little girl's room. 

Our newest addition will still be sleeping with us for a while, but I won't be decorating a separate space for her. The bassinet, then crib will be in our room until time to transition, and the remainder of her nursery things will be with Baby Girl. This is also saving us money, as we aren't buying for a new theme. 

DIY's 

This is one of those 'no-brainers' but for a non-crafty person, it might seem daunting to create decor, paint furniture, or sew curtains. You definitely don't want to buy supplies for something you are unable to do (thus wasting money), but as you scour Pinterest, Etsy, or wherever, be thinking about ways you could recreate something on a budget! I found this mobile on Etsy and decided to recreate it. I saved about $20-$30 and it's now very special to me, since I made it. Sometimes more creative people in your life will create things as shower gifts. I have a very talented aunt who painted these canvases to go with the Disney Princess theme, and my husband's grandmother made beautiful quilts for both kids. My husband's aunt not only has created canvases, but also made beautiful clothes for my kids. I am surrounded by wonderful, talented people! 

 

I also looked up how to best paint furniture (for me it was chalk paint. I am not super talented, and it was an easy choice. Be sure to look up methods and materials for painting with chalk paint, to help it hold up. I've had no problems so far!). I was able to transform a free changing table, and an entertainment center that had been my in-law's into pieces that would hold Baby's girl's things!

The best advice I can give on DIYing things for baby, is to be honest with your creativity level (and it may surprise you how creative you actually can be!), find what it is you are aiming for and research, research, research. Pinterest and YouTube are my favorite places to learn how to do things. Be sure you look at several websites and YouTube videos before attempting, as it will help your confidence level and success!

Next week, I'll be sharing budget saving tips on a room redo! We are transforming our guest room into a little girls' room on a small budget. New paint, flooring, rugs, mattress...you name it! Be sure you follow my Instagram and Facebook page to see when that post is live!

Summer at Home: Outdoor Activities

In my childhood summers, we spent a lot of time outside. In fact, I feel like 90% of our day was spent outdoors playing with the neighborhood kids, cousins or friends, and somehow I didn't feel like the heat quite like I do today! ha! Knowing how important outside time is for the kids, I am trying to make sure they spend a good amount of time out, even if here in the south we have to go out at 8am to get temperatures lower than 90F! 

These 'activities' may feel like no brainers, but I wanted to share what we've been doing and enjoying outdoors. Hopefully this will be an encouragement and inspiration for your outdoor excursions. 

Water Play

My kids love anything to do with water. In the above picture we set out a bucket of water for them to fill their water guns, and they spent more time paying in the bucket than actually shooting the water guns! I've used buckets before for water play. Here are a few ideas:

Wash station-I had some dirty rocks I let the kids clean one day and they spent so much time, and had so much fun, just washing the rocks off in cold water.  You could use dirty toys, or whatever you have on hand.

 

Car Wash Station-Put a little dawn or baby soap to make it bubbly, and let the 'work' begin! My son has done this for several years and loves cleaning all his plastic toys. He can't wait to get them dirty again, so he can clean them. I set aside old rags and sponges for his budding business. Here is another waterplay idea:

DIY Splash pad- Our splash pad isn't open yet, but you can create one at home! I like this kind of splash mat- ours is a bit different, but this one seems the most like it. Ours has held up for over 4 years! Little Man is 5 and still enjoys splashing around on it. I like to set out a big tarp (we have stickers at the house), set the splashmat up, add the water table (check out here for water table ideas), and maybe other water toys or sprinklers. Let the kids splash around as long as they want and get ready for some wet lovin's when they want to get momma wet too!

Our Favorite Lawn Games

We've become big fans of lawn games over the past couple of years. My hubby introduced us to a game called Kubb and made his own set for us to play. It can have up to 6 players per side (12 total) so this can turn into a fun group game if you are having a get together at your house. I'll include links here for an about the game, and a link here for a set you can buy. 

We also enjoyed making a ladder ball set last year (Instructions to make one here), and have already gotten it out a few times to play with friends. 

Corn hole and frisbee golf are other games we enjoy playing as a family. We try to let Little Man have it easier, but also try to include him as much as possible, so we can enjoy them together as a family. I love games like this promote a lot of good conversations...and often times those 'fails' make the best memories!

Outdoor Treats

There's nothing like a cold treat on a hot summer day. Popsicles are a go to, but they can often be full of sugar and dyes. I am linking some 100% juice ones here. We've been enjoying Mott's juice pops, but this is something pretty comparable.  You could also make your own if you are less lazy than me. I'll add some fun recipes to my Pinterest summer board that you can check out here!

If you have a fire pit, you can enjoy a warm treat as well! I have so many good memories of hot dog roasts and s'mores. There are so many more fire pit recipes out there you can use these days. Unfortunately we are unable to use one due to my husband's allergies. I am seriously considering investing in a grill, since we will be so much at home. My kids love eating outdoors and grills and fire pits make it even more fun for the adults!

I will be sharing more summer treats next week! What activities have you been enjoying outdoors?

Summer at Home: Fun Learning Activities

If you follow a traditional school year and are off for the summer, then you know that summer is a great opportunity for your kids to forget absolutely everything! This is why most textbooks spend the first week or so catching your kid up on the things they forgot during the summer. Knowing this to be the case, I have tried to come up with ways to keep Little Man learning, while not overwhelming him with too much 'school'. 

My original plan was to use this book to work in a little. Someone had given it to me, and unfortunately I didn't look closely inside and see that half the pages were already worked through! This meant I needed to get creative! Here are a few things that I am doing/going to do (we are getting a slow start to our summer. We are also working on getting some house projects done before baby #3 shows up in August!) during the summer to help keep the things Little Man has learned, fresh in his mind. 

Reading

My sister has created this adorable prize system for Little Man to get stickers for reading. Just like the library, every 10 minutes he colors or puts a sticker on a little picture, 3 pictures = a box, 3 boxes= a prize you draw from a box. She created prizes like a free sno cone from our local sno cone place, free shake from Sonic, free frosty from Wendy's etc. Unfortunately, unlike the library I have to pay for these prizes 😄 but it gives Little Man the Library summer club experience when he can't actually go to the library! 

During our reading time, I am encouraging him to pick one book to read himself, while I read for the remainder of the time. The older your kids are, the more books they can read on their own. I am hoping this helps him keep up his phonics and reading, without having to do any workbooks. I can still help him with new words and concepts, but organically while sitting down and reading with him. 

In my Amazon recommendations below, I am sharing some of my favorite books per level!

Summer baskets

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I did these last year. You can look and still find all the ones I did last year in my stories. For this I take a 'boredom basket' and fill it with themed books and activities. I normally added Science and picture books, puzzles, dry erase activity books, and any other item that would keep Little Man busy, but learning at the same time. I haven't put one together for this year yet (as I said, summer has come a little later for us this year) but I plan to for the new week. I'll share what I put together on Facebook and Instagram, so be sure and follow me there!

I am also adding some math activities, since I don't have a workbook for him to do. Activities will include adding a measuring tape for him to help us measure things in the areas we are working in the house, and perhaps even a measuring scavenger hunt to measure things around the house or outside. It can include games that promote adding and subtracting, as well as free worksheets I find online. 

In my Amazon recommendations below I am sharing my favorite books and activities to add to a boredom basket!

Journals

I haven't used these yet, but I've heard great things about these Thinking Tree journals. My siblings have used these as supplemental work or extra curricular work and have loved the inter-activeness of them. I think these would make great summer learning activities for both younger and older grades. You can get anything that fits your child's interest. It covers art, reading, thinking skills, etc.! They even make these things for Mom, so you can use it during your kids' downtime to get a little 'mother culture' learning yourself. 

Along these lines, lapbooks are a great way to make learning fun. You could pick a theme a week and make a lapbook to go along with that theme. It's one of those things that you can make as complicated or as simple as you want, and kids love exploring topics on their own. 

What will you be using to promote learning  this summer?

Home for the Summer: Routine and Schedule

This summer is looking a lot different from previous ones. Our library is doing a packet that you pick up rather than summer activities, several camps have closed, no vacation planned, and no youth conference. We are still on the fence about VBS, but needless to say, our calendar looks a lot emptier than before. After several weeks of staying at home, how do you differentiate this time and make it as 'summery' as possible? 

This month I am planning several posts on this topic. Today I am sharing my non-schedule schedule, and over the next few weeks I'll be sharing learning tips at home, fun foods to make at home, and outdoor activities. All of this will be on a budget and with the idea that things need to be mostly found at home. 

If you would like to check out my blog posts that I did last summer, you can check them out here:

9 Summer Activities

Having an Unplugged Summer

Unplugged Road Trip 

Now to get to the schedule and routine portion of the post! 

If you've scoured Pinterest any, you know there are several little summer schedules with things like Make it Monday, Thinking Tuesday, and so on. I've tried these in the past, but I've never been able to do it for more than a couple of weeks. I simply don't like having to plan things out during the summer, ha! 

While for some, well structured schedules may make for a productive and fun summer, I have found that for our family, having a loose routine brings the most enjoyment and productivity. This means I don't have a fancy schedule to share with you today. For us the routine is a simple breakfast, outside time, lunch, indoor learning and play, dinner, and I want to implement family games in the evening. There's no set activity or schedule, but I plan to have several things at the ready that we can choose from for each day. I'll be sharing the list of things I have planned for Outdoor time, Indoor learning, and Foods I would like to have prepared easy enough that my son can join in. Right now you can click on the links and find other posts I've made on these topics. I am looking forward to sharing lots of fun summer ideas this month!

Our Routine

Wake up and Breakfast

Outside time

Lunch 

Learning time (about 30 minutes)

Indoor Activities

Help mom with Supper

Games and Family time

 Bedtime

Note: Amazon links are affiliated

Homeschool: Frequently Asked Questions

If you've been curious about homeschooling but don't know where to start or whether it's the right choice, today I am sharing some frequently asked Homeschool questions. I am no expert, but I am a homeschool graduate (K-12) as well as a homeschool mom (1st grade and toddler). These answers will be from my own experiences and research, which I hope helps you as you do your own research!

Question 1. Where to start?

As you google 'what to use for homeschool' you may be bombarded with all sorts of curriculum choices and methods. You have no idea how to homeschool, much less what method you prefer! Take a deep breath, give yourself some grace, and let me reassure you that there isn't much of a right/wrong answer to this. 

When starting to think about homeschool/methods/curriculum, my first suggestion is this:

Visit your local homeschool group/co-op

Get some information from those been there, done that homeschool moms who can let you know what has worked for them and what hasn't. They can also tell you what sort of co-ops and clubs they offer to help you decide what you need. 

Start off semi-traditional and go from there

This recommendation is more for those who are pulling their kids out of school. While you can use a boxed curriculum set like Abeka or Lifepacks, I would suggest using Timberdoodle's curriculum sets. They can be tailored to fit the kid, price is comparable, and it will be much more enjoyable than some of the other textbooks. This is great if you have a kid who is use to the stricter structure of public school, but it allows you to tailor to their needs at the same time. My cousin uses Easy Peasy which can be a free resource if you need something more frugal. From what I've gathered it's more traditional, but very well put together, and her kids have done well! If you are just starting out with preschool or Kindergarten:

Use an all-in-one curriculum that plans your year out for you

I have used The Peaceful Press for this, and I loved it! It is a less traditional method that still allows all subjects to be covered.  This can also be used for older grades as well, but be ready to enter the world of non-traditional where sometimes subjects aren't merely a read and answer questions format, but exploration and hands on experience. 

Also, there's the mix and match approach that I do. This may take a year or two to figure out, as you gather how your child learns and use the curriculum that best fits them at the time. 

Question 2. Am I qualified?

Even though I was homeschooled and had enjoyed my preschool year with my son, I was terrified of teaching Little Man important concepts like phonics and math. What if I failed? Can I tell you something? Most people approach this subject out of love and a yearning to give their children the best education possible. (not saying the opposite is true for those public schooling, not at all! Just that the decision to homeschool is such a thought out decision) That love will be turned into a passion for educating your children to the best of your ability (if you don't believe me, go to a homeschool meeting...those people are passionate!!) This means turning to outside sources (this can be tutors, online learning, co-op, etc) when something goes beyond your knowledge. What you may find, however, that you are learning and growing, right along with your children, and able to teach them those important concepts, just fine! Something that goes along with that is:

Question 3. What about upper levels?

Algebra, chemistry, physics and other such subjects can be rather daunting, especially if you don't remember anything you learned from high school. My mom actually didn't take Algebra in school! Thankfully, I was able to use the textbooks and learn, and once my siblings got older, there were amazing programs like Teaching Textbooks that helped with those difficult subjects! (also there were older siblings at that point, who could help out as well) Mom also relied on curriculum like Apologia, and Chemistry 101 to help take the load off of her. As I stated before, if your kids is simply not grasping the subject, ask for help! You don't have to have a Chemistry degree to teach chemistry, just a good curriculum and a community to help. 

Question 4. But What about SOCIALIZATION!!! 

No joke, this is what gets asked the most. Not are you qualified to teach your kid?, not what extra curricular things are they involved in? no! it's How does your kid socialize if they aren't in public school?!!

Believe it or not, it was socialization that really was the deciding factor on whether or not I homeschooled. Even though I had been homeschooled, I was open minded about public and private school. My husband teaches in an amazing district, with so many godly teachers that the thought of my son being taught there didn't bother me. What bothered me was the innocence being taken away by the child's own peers. Even in Kindergarten, they can be bullied, taught bad language, and be told too many intimate details on what they are allowed to watch or what they see at home. I wanted to teach my child Biblical principals, and surround him with people who love the Lord (I don't live in a bubble. We are going to be in the world, but it was important to me to give him the best possible environment). I also liked how I was raised. We could just as easily talk to an adult as to someone our own age. This actually helped us more as we entered the 'real world' than if we had been raised to mostly talk to people our own age. 

With that all said, you have every opportunity to make sure your child gets the socialization they need. Homeschool groups, sports, Co-ops, ballet, gymnastics can all be a sources of interaction. 

Do you have other questions or concerns? Be sure to leave a comment or follow me on Facebook or Instagram. Feel free to ask away!

Note: Amazon links are affiliated. I tried to include some curriculum from different methods on my recommendations this time!

Tot School Supplies and Activities

Last week I shared what I will be doing with my almost 2 year old. Today I want to share with you some of the activities and supplies you can use that go with the themes I mentioned last week. Here are some of my favorite supplies for little ones:

Stickers

Water beads

Dot a Dot Markers

Animal Bingo Game

Pom poms

Playdoh (this may not happen quite yet with Baby Girl, as she it still bad about trying to eat things!)

Large crayons

Chunky and peg puzzles

Finger Paint 

Normal Art Supplies (construction paper, glue, etc)

Books and Activities:

Farm Theme

With this theme I want focus on animal vocabulary and the sounds the animals make. 

Books: Little Blue Truck, Going to Sleep on the Farm, Touch and Feel Farm Animals, The Very Busy Spider

Activities: farm animal puzzle,  farm animal Little People play, animal stickers (along with other art supplies for motor skill activities, farm sensory play, farm animal part of the Animal Bingo Game

Colors

I will teach what the colors are, but my main focus is for Baby girl to recognize like colored items.

Books: Usborne Colors Play book, A Color of His Own

Activities

Pom pom sort, Finger paint, Construction paper art (cut paper into pieces and let toddler glue them where they like), make a fruit loop necklace, Dot a Dot painting page

Zoo

The reason this one is here, is that I believe this will be about the time we do a field trip at a zoo. I would love for her to know some of the animal names and sounds they make. 

Books: Goodnight Gorilla, Sesame Street At the Zoo, Animal Sound Treasury Book

Activities:

Zoo play with stuffed animals, Construction paper/paper plate animal craft, Animal from Dot a Dot painting page, Animal sensory play, zoo animal part of the Animal Bingo Game

Pumpkins

Little Man will probably do some pumpkin science and learning during this time, as well, so this is a great time for them to get to learn together!

Books: I have several little Autumn time books with Winnie the Pooh, Clifford, and such. I bring them out during this time up until Thanksgiving, so we will probably read some of those. I don't have a specific pumpkin book, so we might borrow one from the library. 

Activities: Explore a pumpkin (sensory play with seeds and guts. You can also put this in a ziplock bag for those little ones too grossed out, or if you want to keep it less messy), Paint a pumpkin, Pumpkin craft

Fall/Thanksgiving

November is often busy with gearing up for the upcoming holidays that I wanted to make this time as simple as possible. I want to focus on the thought of saying 'thank-you' for things. 

Books: Similar to Pumpkin Theme, Bear Says Thanks

Activities: Nature walk to gather leaves, leaf rubbings, make a turkey place mat, Fall sticker activity ( I have Thanksgiving themed stickers that Baby Girl will use on construction paper). 

Christmas

Again, this is a busy time! It's at this time I will be pulling out the Shepherd on the Search and both Little Man and Baby Girl will be doing activities with him. The focus this month will be on the reason for the season-Jesus!

Books: Who's Coming to Our House? ( I love this book!), Little Truck's Christmas, Story books of the first Christmas

Activities: Gingerbread house, Christmas tree sticker activity , Little People Manger play, handmade Christmas crafts for Grandparents

Body Parts and Getting Dressed

The focus here will be on vocabulary (arms, legs, belly, nose, eyes, etc.) also learning some independent skills, like putting clothes on herself

Books: My First Body Book (Little Man will be going through this at the same time, so they can look at this book together), Sesame Street I can Dress Myself, What will you wear today?

Activities: Identify body parts using stickers, sing 'head shoulders knees and toes', Work on dressing herself, Mellissa and Doug dress up magnet activity

Fairy Tales and Dress-up

Purely fun, but I thought this would be a great time to read classic fairy tales, watch Beauty and the Beast (for the 100th time) and let her play dress up. It will be winter time, so it will be fun to have some movie days and indoor play! 

Books: Fairy Tale Treasury Book (we have a version that I can't find a link to), She also has some Disney Princess Board Books, That's not my Princess

Activities, Melissa and Doug Dress up magnet activity, play dress up with scarves, shoes, and tiara (this may be some Christmas gifts!), movie day with Fairy Tale movie, and help mom with a snack to go with it!

Hearts/Love

There are so many cute valentine crafts for this age! Talk about love and not only how much I as a parent love her, but also how much Jesus Loves her. Motor skills and knowing a heart shape is the focus for this theme. 

Books: I Love You

Activities: Heart googly eye craft, heart sticker activity, learn 'Jesus loves me'

Grocery Store

Simple counting, sorting, and vocabulary building will be this themes focus. I am sure Little Man will want to join in, and we can add some adding/subtracting and counting money to this for him. 

Books: Toddler Counting books (I may have one or two of these. May need to do a library run for this theme!)

Activities: Set up play kitchen to be a grocery store, make a simple 'grocery list' and see if toddler can find the objects, do some fun counting activities with both food items and other items in the toy room

Rainbows

Colors is our focus here. Even though it was covered earlier in the year, it will be good to focus on it again.

Books: Noah's Ark story in Bible Book, look at weather section in Nature Anatomy

Activities: Dot A Dot page, Pom pom rainbow, Fruit loop Rainbow, Finger paint, rainbow in a bag

Weather

We will most likely be focusing on this with Little Man as well. Things like water cycle and cloud formation will be above her head, but she can still participate in some of the activities.

Books: Magic School Bus Weather, How do you say it today, Jessie Bear (seasons book), Nature Anatomy

Activities: Handprint Seasons craft, shaving cream cloud play, cotton ball cloud craft

Bugs

Again, we are getting to the point where Little Man's nature studies and Baby Girl's themes collide (less work on mom, right?!). Vocabulary building and sensory play are the focus for this week

Books: Usborne lift a flap bug book, A very hungry caterpillar, Bug nature books that Little Man has

Activities: Bug counter sensory play, nature walk to look for bugs, bug craft, butterfly craft, Bug part of the Animal Bingo game

Gardening

This is about the time I should be planting my garden, and there won't be many activities this time around, outside of being outside and helping mom plant, water, and weed the garden. 

Books: Springtime board books

Ocean and the Beach

Lord willing, we will be planning a trip to the beach for the summer, so I thought this would be the perfect way to end our Tot School. Sensory play, vocabulary building, learning about fish and ocean creatures will be the main focus for this theme

Books: Shine a Light ocean book (Little Man will need to help with this), Under the Sea with Me

Activities: cupcake liner fish craft, Dot a Dot picture, sea shell and water bead sensory play, Blue ocean salt painting

Follow me on Pinterest to see more Tot School activities! Be sure to tag me on Instagram if you wind up following my Tot School Schedule this year. I would love to see your learning at home journey!

Note: Amazon Links are affiliated. 

Tot School For an Almost 2 Year Old

I know what you're thinking - '2 is too little to be thinking about school!' and you would be correct! The toddler years are for exploring, vocabulary building, fun. So while this is true, it doesn't mean you can't have some fun, focused play time where you focus on vocabulary building, motor and practical skills. As many of you know, I am pregnant right now, and will give birth right before school starts, so let me reassure you, we will be doing simple easy-to-do activities and crafts. There may also be days (or weeks) where I simply am overwhelmed with what I need to do that I simply bring out chunky puzzles, finger paint, or building blocks. Those things, while maybe not in 'theme' will still help instill the motor skills she needs to succeed!

Just like I did for Little Man, when he started preschool, I started out by jotting down some goals for Baby Girl.

• fine and gross motor skill building
• ability to sort by like colors
• increased vocabulary
• learn skills for independence (learning to dress herself, get things for herself, etc. )

These are simple skills that can be applied to almost any theme, and that's where the fun begins! Here are my themes for the year. I am doing 2 weeks per theme, so that if something comes up, shes just not feeling the activity, or anything else that might happen, we can still have extra days for that theme. 

September

Farm Animals

Colors

October

Zoo

Pumpkins

November

Fall (leaves, harvest, Thanksgiving)

December

Christmas

January

Body Parts and Getting Dressed

Fairy tales and dress up

February

Hearts/Love

Grocery Store

March

Rainbows

Weather

April

Bugs

Gardening

May:

Ocean and beach 

Next Week I'll be sharing activities to go with each theme, and supplies that I always keep at the house, as well as things I plan to add to this year!

If you are planning out your own tot school for your toddler, remember that each kid is different and go at their own pace. I try to keep the goals as simple as possible. Learning her colors and shapes will hopefully be a result as we do these activities, but I don't want to feel defeated if she doesn't have them all down. There's plenty of time in preschool for that, or even tot school 2.0! Next year I plan to do another year of tot school, but perhaps with some more advanced goals in mind. Do you have a toddler you would like to do some 'school' with? You can follow me on Pinterest, where I'll be adding activities throughout the year!