But first!

• Read Our Monthly Themes for Play for our full list of themes

  • and to learn five reasons why we love monthly themes.

• We keep our toys the same, but we rotate monthly activities + monthly books.

  • See a quick tour of our playroom (and how we store our toys) in this reel.

  • We always have out these animal toys, these building toys, these vehicle toys, and these play kitchen toys.

• June’s theme is insects, bugs, butterflies, bees, spiders, etc.

But first!

• Read Our Monthly Themes for Play for our full list of themes

  • and to learn five reasons why we love monthly themes.

• We keep our toys the same, but we rotate monthly activities + monthly books.

  • See a quick tour of our playroom (and how we store our toys) in this reel.

  • We always have out these animal toys, these building toys, these vehicle toys, and these play kitchen toys.

• May’s theme is flowers!

But first!

• Read Our Monthly Themes for Play for our full list of themes

  • and to learn five reasons why we love monthly themes.

• We keep our toys the same, but we rotate monthly activities + monthly books.

  • See a quick tour of our playroom (and how we store our toys) in this reel.

  • We always have out these animal toys, these building toys, these vehicle toys, and these play kitchen toys.

• April’s theme is birds!

But first!

• Read Our Monthly Themes for Play for our full list of themes

  • and to learn five reasons why we love monthly themes.

• We keep our toys the same, but we rotate monthly activities + monthly books.

  • See a quick tour of our playroom (and how we store our toys) in this reel.

  • We always have out these animal toys, these building toys, these vehicle toys, and these play kitchen toys.

• March’s theme is farms!

But first!

• Read Our Monthly Themes for Play for our full list of themes

  • and to learn five reasons why we love monthly themes.

• We keep our toys the same, but we rotate monthly activities + monthly books.

  • See a quick tour of our playroom (and how we store our toys) in this reel.

  • We always have out these animal toys, these building toys, these vehicle toys, and these play kitchen toys.

• February’s theme is Valentine’s Day!

But first!

• Read Our Monthly Themes for Play for our full list of themes

  • and to learn five reasons why we love monthly themes.

• We keep our toys the same, but we rotate monthly activities + monthly books.

  • See a quick tour of our playroom (and how we store our toys) in this reel.

  • We always have out these animal toys, these building toys, these vehicle toys, and these play kitchen toys.

• January’s theme is winter!

I’ve learned I need quiet movement several times a week.
No earbuds, no instructors, no music, no conversation, no audiobooks, no podcasts, no noise.
Prioritizing this several times a week changed my life.

This quiet movement time is when I:
✨ brainstorm ideas
✨ work through problems
✨ sit with feelings
✨ think of solutions
✨ sort through priorities
✨ let thoughts bubble up.

Prioritizing this quiet, distraction-free time to move my body in a way that brings me joy is one of my favorite ways to take care of myself, one of my favorite ways to recharge.

I swear by this time for my creativity, my productivity, and my overall well-being. And one of my favorite ways is to take an early morning walk around the neighborhood in a weighted vest.

Let me back up.

in doing our weekly menu plan, I noticed we have two upcoming days we see family, the day we see my family for Christmas, and the day we see Brett’s - aka two days where I really don’t know what time we’re getting home, how hungry we’ll be, if we’ll have leftovers gifted to us, etc.

so I wanted to take care of Future Haley by planning an easy dinner that’s not too heavy, but could be filling. a dinner that felt festive and special, but that also could be saved for another time if we end up not needing it.

and since one of these days in question is a Saturday, I naturally leaned towards doing something along the lines of our weekly Snack Dinner Saturday.

and then it dawned on me: could we do a special hybrid of a Hot Cocoa Bar meets a Snack Dinner?

it checked all my boxes: easy, festive, filling, repurpose-able.

perfect!

mmmm, I love New Years. the blank slate, the possibility of a new year, the reflection upon the old year.

but most importantly, I love the opportunity for another food tradition.

here are our new year traditions!