Last year we got tired of the obsession with presents the kids developed every November and December. Moving our family gift giving to Epiphany helped quite a bit, but there was still an unhealthy preoccupation with getting more STUFF and focusing on that and that alone, much to the detriment of all the rich traditions that accompany the seasons of Advent & Christmastide. My husband wanted to quit giving presents altogether!

Before resorting to that, though, we decided to try something different...

Edith is 3!

Cyber Week HUGE Deals!

Every year Black Friday/Cyber Week rolls around and many, many of my friends lament the consumerism that has engrossed us as a culture. And I get it! I do! But... I love giving gifts, and I'm the one responsible for all the gift purchasing in our family... So I appreciate gift guides and deals that my friends share!

On that note, I'll be updating this post throughout the week/weekend with deals so that you can find them all in one place! Hopefully you can support some small shops (many in that post have coupon codes and will be having huge Small Business Saturday sales), and also find some good deals on items you can't "shop small" for.

First! Before you start shopping, make sure you're signed up for Rakuten (formerly Ebates) - you'll earn cash back on your purchases and a lot of stores will be running higher percentage cash-back deals, so it's really worth your time to click through Rakuten first before shopping.

 This post contains affiliate links

Our 2019 Advent Books {Book Stacks + Giveaway}

 

This year is one of those years when Advent begins on December 1 and syncs up with the secular Christmas countdown, and I kind of love it! Last year I put together a calendar of our Christmas and Advent books and coordinating activities, so feel free to use that as a basic guide for yourself this year. I couldn't help adding a few more to our list, though - here are some we're adding to our collection this year:

Kitchen Simplicity: How We Handle Large Family Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

About a year and a half ago, I got serious about menu planning—it made a huge difference in streamlining grocery shopping and eliminating stress from a normal day, but people often asked why I didn't "plan" breakfasts and lunches.

The reason?

We eat the same thing every day.

Does it get boring? Honestly, no. The kids appreciate the stability, it eliminates decision fatigue, cleanup is a breeze, and it's all stuff the *kids* can make themselves if/when I'm otherwise occupied.

It seems so obvious to me that this would be a reasonable solution, but every time I mention it, multiple moms *cannot believe* what a huge difference this makes!

So what do we eat?