Ideas for Intentionality 28/52: Creating HOME, Prime Deals, and Spicy Breastfeeding Tips

Happy Friday!

Baseball is over in my house for awhile and I am starting to get the itch to start dreaming about what the second half of the year could look like.

Do you feel this way at this point in summer? I don’t want it to be over, but my mind starts to drift to…

How I want to organize, reset, and even do some projects around the house to create a certain kind of environment for my family and all those who come in and out of our home this fall and winter.

This week’s YouTube video is all about how we can begin the work of creating a home that our people actually want to be in.

The kind of home our kids hopefully want to come back to, a tangible feel to the environment that goes beyond decor or how “nice” our home is.

Ideas for Intentionality:

Since it’s Amazon Prime Week I thought I would share some of my favorites that are on sale this week:

Around the House:

Artisan Sourdough: I can’t say enough about this sourdough cookbook! It makes sourdough way easier and this author really knows her stuff on baking! This cookbook is majorly on sale!

Kids Knife Set: These knives have been used over and over when the kids want to help me in the kitchen. They will sit beside me with their own cutting board and cut celery and other softer veggies to help me.

White Parchment Paper: While I normally stay away from anything bleached for food, I have enjoyed this paper for wrapping up bread to share with friends and family. I got it around Christmas, and it is still going strong.

Amber Cleaning Bottles: I have been using these bottles for years. It just makes the cleaning routine feel more beautiful for me. And when you are mixing up your own stuff with some essential oils it can help preserve the oils in the cleaner.

Rockin’ Green Diaper and Active Wear Detergent: Ok this stuff is not EWG approved, BUT let me tell you how I use it. When the cloth diapers (I use clothe for the first 6 months half the time because I already own them) get extra stinky I use this stuff to help strip them and get the funk out of them. And the active wear is for my pre-teens’ body odor when their clothes need some extra help.

Self-Closing Hinges: If you have any doors that you need to keep shut for the safety of littles (my stairs’ door) this hinge will automatically shut the door behind you. Yes, it may create slamming doors, but it literally gave me back my sanity when I was scared my baby was going to fall down the stairs.

Pregnancy/Baby Items:

Owlet Baby Monitor: At this moment this sock monitor is $100 off. 2 of my babies have worn these the first six months. When a gal from my bible study’s nephew died from SIDS, her sister started a foundation called Knox Blocks and gifted me this sock monitor. It isn’t perfect, but it lets you know if your baby is getting low oxygen. The key is to put a baby sock on top of the sock monitor to keep it in place.

Haakaa: This is great if you want to collect some extra milk for the freezer without actually pumping. You suction it to the breast you are not feeding on while you nurse on the other side, and it naturally collects a fair amount of milk.

My Breast Friend Nursing Pillow: I talk about this pillow in my recent breastfeeding video, but this gal will save your back like no other while nursing.

Maternity Tank Tops: I am all about getting as little maternity clothes as possible, but a good maternity tank top is just nice to be around the house in and even sleep in.

Homeschool:

Pencil Sharpener: It isn’t a homeschool without one of these babies.

Yoto Player: We love the bigger Yoto for around the house and then the mini Yoto for on the go. These are wonderful even for as young as 3 years old. And my 10-year-old still uses his to listen to chapter books.

Watercolor Paint Set: I have enjoyed this set so much, and I even use the paints to color my homemade playdough.

Watercolor Paper: It makes a difference if you have some good paper when you watercolor, and you can always cut pages into smaller pieces to stretch a book of paper.

Monkey String: Such a fun activity for littles to do. It is string that is dipped in wax and can make lots of shapes. There are sooo many activities you can do with monkey string.

Woven Basket Trays: Having little trays for homeschool is a great way to have an activity set out and ready to go for stations. I learned about this from my expert teacher friend Whitney in this painfully old video I made. You can see how far the channel has come haha, but there is certainly some golden wisdom Whitney shares.