It’s officially been 6 months since my last Peek Into Our Week post… I’m due for an update!
Today I’m sharing several recent mini house/organizing projects, our menu from last week, updates on the kids, and cute Clara pictures 🙂





One of the more common requests I get from readers is to share a detailed list of my regular cleaning schedules. However, I’m often leery of sharing my “cleaning routine” because it is always changing and evolving.
Plus, more often than not, I usually only clean when something is dirty enough to bother me!


Although I’m not one to overly romanticize the holiday season, I will admit that flipping the calendar over to November makes me smile every year — I just love this time of year!
This month, we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving, Clara’s baptism, and Nora’s birthday (all in 1 week!), we’ll decorate our house for the holiday season, and we’ll hopefully make lots of holiday baked goods — all of which are my favorite things. I’m sharing a few more favorites in today’s post!


For the last 3 weeks since Clara was born, I’ve forced myself to take it easy as much as possible as I physically can’t (and shouldn’t) do as much while I recover.
If you’ve ever found yourself in a situation where you physically can’t do as much, I hope today’s posts offers a few very simple ideas of ways you can keep up with your house cleaning with minimal effort and energy.

If you are looking for a super quick weeknight meal, a fun appetizer for an upcoming party, or just a really easy way to make grilled cheese for a crowd, this recipe should work well for you!
It’s so soft, cheesy, gooey, and delicious — not to mention it takes less than 30 minutes from the time I pull the ingredients out of the fridge until food is on the table!Â

Fall is (and always has been) my favorite season — seriously, if you live in West Michigan, you most likely understand why Fall is one of my favorite things. Another one of my favorite things is the fact that I’m no longer pregnant — Clara is 1 week old today!Â
Keep reading for a few more of my favorite things…

If you’ve ever wondered how on earth I’m able to work from home with my kids, I hope these 6 reasons help to clear up any confusion.
I promise that I’m no “better” than any other working parent; I just have different skills and I’ve figured out a way to use those skills in a way that works best for me, for my personality, and for my family.Â

I’m often asked if there are certain things I do on a regular basis that are little “treats” for myself — something to pamper myself or something to look forward to after the kids are in bed.
I suspect my answers are not what you’d expect, but… there are definitely 3 really simple (frugal) self-care rituals I do every single day that make a world of difference for me!

Pizza and pasta are 2 of our kids’ most favorite foods — so any time I can combine the ingredients from pizza and pasta, I know it will be a huge hit!
Today’s recipe for pizza stuffed shells is very basic, very tasty, and super easy to make ahead or freeze. It’s such a great weeknight meal when you just want to shove something in the oven and eat 20-30 minutes later!Â

I am SO hoping this will be the last Week In Review post I write for a while as I said I would write them until the baby arrives… I figure she HAS to arrive before the end of NEXT week!
Honestly, though, I feel like I’m living in “the calm before the storm”… and I’m doing my best to just enjoy it instead of feeling anxious for the baby to arrive!Â

I get so many requests for parenting advice… but I often shy away from giving “advice” versus just sharing what works for me and my children.
So today, in hopes of offering encouragement to those of you who feel like you’re failing, I’m sharing many of the things I apparently did “wrong” (according to the experts and books) and how little those things actually mattered in the bigger scheme of my children’s lives!


I’m still here… the baby is still NOT here 🙂 All is well though, and I’m really not anxious for her to arrive sooner than she’s ready. I know labor and delivery will be so much easier when everyone is truly ready!
I hope to have some exciting baby news to share with you all soon… but in the meantime, here’s what I blogged about this week in previous years.
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