y’all know brett is bigggg into gardening.

our backyard is on the smaller side, and Brett has taken probably 60-70% of it for his garden.

which is fine, but it does mean we have to be very intentional about what we offer in our backyard for playing.

we do love to play outside. and since we’re in Texas, we’re able to play outside pretty much all year. (yes, we do hit a point around July where that outdoor play needs to involve a pool, but you get the picture.)

so investing in some very specific outdoor play things for our home that we can grow into - both as KK gets older and as we potentially grow our family - is 1000% worth it. especially since Brett loves to be in his garden, and he likes for KK to have other things to play with, other than “helping” him.

but also? now that weather warmer is upon us and KK is more active, I reevaluated our rhythms and routines and realized I want more outdoor time and more outdoor play.

we have three of these tables in our backyard. one for sand, one for water, and one for soil.

yes, this may seem excessive to some. but it has been THE BEST investment for us.

remember how I mentioned reevaluating our rhythms and routines now that the weather is warmer and KK is more active? and how I wanted more outdoor time and outdoor play, but needed ways to make that organically happen in ways that I would personally enjoy, too?

enter these tables.

it happens.

rhythms, systems, and routines that were once amazing assets for us no longer work.

and that’s okay! our needs change. therefore, our rhythms, systems, and routines should totally change, too.

because yeah, so much of motherhood is unpredictable - recently KK had a nastyyy double ear infection and I unexpectedly had to cancel my whole life for a few days. but so much of motherhood is…pretty mundane and repetitive. (and I say that with the utmost affection.) and that’s where I love to think to rhythms, systems, and routines from which we’d benefit in this current season. sure, they bring us some calming structure, but there’s so much more: rhythms, systems, and routines automate what’s important to us, they take care of us, and they prioritize what brings us joy.

so whenever I start to feel consistently meh or notice that we’re running into the same frustration over and over again, I evaluate our current needs and priorities. and oftentimes I discover that we’d benefit from a few tweaks (or maybe a complete overhaul!) in our daily life, in our rhythms, systems, and routines.

it’s so much fun - the assessing and brainstorming and dreaming.

let me think aloud through a current example of ours!

i’m working on a blogpost about things that benefit our marriage the most.

and in there I mention our monthly dinner dates.

and while this system doesn’t work for everyone, it works so well for us:

we recently joined a gym with gooood childcare, an incredible swimming set-up, and spa-like locker rooms.

here’s more on why this choice is working really well for us this season.

and here’s a few of my favorite things I bring with us when KK and I head to the gym:

remember in January I voiced feeling burnt out and just kind of meh?

i never mind feeling this way - it pushes me to pause and reflect on what I need in this current season of mine.

since our traumatic pregnancy loss, I especially make sure to take care of myself - I carefully listen to what I need and I unapologetically prioritize it. (see the big list of ways I love to take care of myself for more.)

and this time, I realized I missed swimming and I missed reading.

so I signed up for two nearby libraries, I fell back in love with my Libby app, and I resubscribed to Audible, pinpointing that I was specifically craving more audiobooks in this season.

and we made room room in our budget to join a nearby Lifetime gym.

many years ago, I was a teacher.

and one of the parts I miss most about teaching is the need to pack a lunch.

I loved meal prepping things for the week, I loved packing lunches at night, I loved perusing blogs for lunchbox (and snack!) ideas, I loved peeking in the aisles of TJMaxx for fun containers, I loved it all.

so I’m thrilled that KK and I have started packing lunches. thrilled.

after dinner each night, I pack lunches for us to take on our morning outing, as oftentimes we prefer to eat while out and about. (and if we decide to instead eat at home, we just eat our lunchbox there, no big deal!)

and packing good food for Future Haley (and KK!) is one of my absolute ways to take care of myself.

here are our favorite things!

you’ve been warned. we love bathtime (and water in general!) and we keep it pretty basic.

y’all know I love to freeze food.

because one, we’re just a family of three and we often have plenty of leftovers. so a lot of times, while some people like to halve the recipe to better meet their smaller family’s needs, I prefer to freeze whatever we realistically won’t be able to eat.