a little j+k: 2020

Sunday, November 15, 2020

3 Year old boy Christmas gift guide

Jacks is so easy, give him some superheroes and giant monster trucks and he's happy. That is literally all he asked me for. He wanted Super Wing toys, a Spiderman, superheroes, and more superheroes.

VANS- love this color combo so much. Also like these Nikes and these Adidas.

WALKIE TALKIES- I ordered him this exact pair to put in his stocking. They have a super fun flashlight built in. Jason was pretty excited about these.

GUITAR- We have two of these and love them! They are the perfect size for little hands and such a great starter guitar if your little one is wanting to learn. Plus they come in a ton of different colors.

STRETCHY SPIDERMAN- Jacks loves these things. They are like the new version of a stretch Armstrong. Do you remember this? Another good stocking stuffer.

WOODEN BATMAN AND ROBIN- I love these peg dolls. All my kids really enjoy playing with these.

JACKET- Had to include Jacks so he can match his sisters. I will be coordinating them until they don't allow me to anymore. I got this this jacket and these patches. You can see the ones I go the girls here and here.

SOFTEE DOUGH- Dough and Toys Story? Major win!

PENNANT- I have a thing for pennants in a boys room. We started his little collection last year and can't wait to add this custom one to it. Love how simple and clean this one looks.

SHARK ROBE- His sisters love walking around the house in their unicorn robes and he is always feeling left out, little brother problems. So he is going to love this!

SLIPPERS- He is still obsessed with all things Toy Story. I came across these on an ad a few days ago and ordered them asap. They have a ton of different Disney characters from princess Belle to a few Monsters Inc. characters. I had the hardest time picking between the Woody and Buzz.

MONSTER TRUCK- He saw this at Target the other day and cried because I wouldn't but it for him. He loves the Monster truck show, Blaze and the Monster Machines.

MOUSE- If you follow us on instagram you know all about our mouse dollhouse adventures. I basically re-decorated a dollhouse for the girls and bought all these little mice for the girls. He LOVES this house just as much as the girls so I wanted to surprise him with his very own little super hero mouse!

TREE HOUSE- I am so excited about this! Call me crazy but I am going to give this cute little tree house a mini superhero makeover, so he can have his very own house to play with. I plan on painting the inside all white and adding a skyscraper scene. I even found this mini bat signal that lights up. I went back and forth on what superheroes he should use. I was set on getting all the little peg dolls that I linked above but he is starting to really love LEGO's. Then I found this set and it kind of just spiraled from there. I loved that these LEGO sets come with mini pieces of "furniture" that I can put inside the treehouse. I got this Batman set, and his grandma ordered this Spiderman set to go with it too. I AM SO EXCITED!!! This Target treehouse is also an option. This was my first pick but it was sold out and I thought it was sold out for good. I ended up finding the Crate & Kids one and fell in love with it. It is bigger so there's more play space for his guys and the lego sets. I also like that the roof comes off. Plus it reminds me more of a Little Rascals treehouse that I think just screams rugged, wild, boy. Which is so Jacks.

LEGO SUPERHEROES- Here are the lego guys I ordered him, Spider man, Flash, Superman, and this Batman set comes with Batman, his boat, and the Penguin. I also ordered this Duplo set that comes with Robin, The Joker, and a Lego Bat mobile. The Duplo sets are perfect for three year olds. It some with less pieces to assemble and pieces are larger and easier for little hands to put together.

Here are a few more savories

Thursday, November 12, 2020

little girl Christmas gift guide

s h o p b e l o w :

Kourtney is five and this is the first year that she actually gave me a real list of things that she wanted. She is a little sassy, super girly and things she is a teenager. She of course asked for things that she heard Jules asking for because she always likes to be like her big sister.

BLIND BAGS- By far my kids favorite kinda gifts. Jules bought a mix of these for Kourt's birthday and the look on her face when she opened a box full of blind bags was the best thing ever. Really excited to do this again for both girls this time. The 5 surprise ones are actually super cool. They are mini versions of real foods and treats, like tiny spam boxes and soy sauce. Jules uses these in the dollhouse as the mice food. The color reveal Barbies are probably their most favorite. They collected all the little mermaids and want some Chelsea dolls this time. LOL' s are still a big hit around here and so are the cute little Doorables.

HOVERBOARD- Only Kourt would ask for this. Her cousins have one and she absolutely loves it! We got her this helmet to go with it.

PURSE - I found this purse on amazon and think she is going to love it. She is really into pay money right now and loves pretending she is a mommy. It comes with some cute accessories like, play makeup, keys, a credit card, and a pretend phone.

NECK PILLOW- unicorn neck pillow. One of the things on Jules list that she also had to have, except she really wants a rainbow unicorn one.

FLYING FAIRY- This fairy is something she saw on a commercial and she really loved it. It's actually super fun and I think all kids of all ages would have fun playing with it.

BALLERINA- This ballerina! I love a good heirloom doll. The quality and details on these are even better in person. I got them a few weeks ago when they were on sale and they are so pretty and such a good size. Fyi, just checked and they are still on sale! Jules is getting the red head.

HIGH HEELS- This girl loves her high heels. She wears a variation of these every single day. She loves to get herself ready and pick out a pair of heels to match her outfit. This time she is asking for some else ones that she can use with her Elsa dress.

JACKET- I have been wanting to make my kids one of these for a while just haven't gotten around to it. I am getting the girls these jean jackets in a size or two up so they can get good wear out of them. These Jackets are my favorite. They are super comfy and not too stiff/thick. There are quite a few places to get patches for them and I am still unsure where I am getting theirs. I really love these Stoney Clover Lane ones but they're a bit pricy when add up 10 of them. I really love their color variety and the quality of their patches. Their sparkling cider color is my favorite. I also found these on Etsy but they don't have all the letters I need. I can always go with good old Amazon for these classic ones that I have used in the past many times and they hold up very well.

MATCHING DOLL AND ME PAJAMAS I shared these in my stories a few days ago. The star pjs are so soft and cute. they come in toddler and big girl sizes so I grabbed them for both girls. then I found these doll pjs , or their American Girl dolls, that come in a set with a few different fun accessories. She also asked for this doll vanity which is so adorable and looks like a mini version of hers.

UNICORN- Jules got this unicorn in a rainbow version for her birthday. Ireally love this rainbow purse one with the little tiny unicorn babies and this light up one to sleep with at night. Too many cute options.

SNACKEEZ- Have you heard of these? My kids saw these advertised on a commercial once and tell me how cool they are because they can have snacks and a drink at the same time. It's a cup that has a little compartment on the top that you can fill with snacks. I was surprised at how hard these were to get a hold of in the colors I wanted. I was able to find the pink and the blue here.

BEAN BAG- So fun! I think I am just as excited about these as my girls. Both girls asked for one. I Snagged these super fluffy ones. I grabbed then the second I saw them go on sale.

PRINCESS LAPTOP- She got this for her birthday and loves it so much! Highy recommend We like to use it for homeschool too for letter recognition which also helps her learn the keyboard as well.

DINKUM DOLL- another birthday gift that was the biggest hit! Both girls absolutely love this doll and fight over her all day long. She's just too adorable and comes with a ton of really cute accessories. Kourt got the brush and bottle plus this mini suitcase for her birthday and will be getting this tutu dress for Christmas.

UGG SLIPPERS- Jules and Kourt both asked for slippers like mine because they are always walking around trying to steal mine. I have these exact ones in a leopard version. I got both girls a size up so they can last them a little longer.

BARBIE CAMPER- My girls love playing Barbies together. I think they have every Barbie available but really wanted to add this to their collection.

m o r e t h i n g s w e l o v e :

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

big girl Christmas gift guide

s h o p b e l o w :

Eight is proving to be so fun to shop for. Most of the things on Jules' list are things I wanted as a kid. I still tried to get similar or the same things for both girls because umm, sisters! I just switched up a few things to suit what each girl is really into. Jules loves dolls still but is super into doing arts and crafts and really expressing her creativity which I love! She is just like I was as a kid.

Nikes- aren't these the cutest? She has grown so much the past few months and is in need of shoes. These are similar to a pair of Nikes that I have that she loves and has been asking for.

rainbow lights- Jules' big cousin has these lights in her room and Jules has been hooked since their last dance party. I think these attached to the top of her bunk are going to be so fun and make such a cool night light. At least that's what I am telling myself. Im trying so hard to be a cool mom with these. They come on an adhesive strip so setting up is super easy. Plus you can control them through the app, Alexa and the remote it comes with. You can also sync the lights to music (so fun), there's a timer where you can set them to turn off at a specified bedtime and you can set a timer to turn them on as "wake up" call.

Jacket- I have been wanting to make my kids one of these for a while just haven't gotten around to it. I am getting the girls these jean jackets in a size or two up so they can get good wear out of them. These Jackets are my favorite. They are super comfy and not too stiff/thick. There are quite a few places to get patches for them and I am still unsure where I am getting theirs. I really love these Stoney Clover Lane ones but they're a bit pricy when add up 10 of them. I really love their color variety and the quality of their patches. Their sparkling cider color is my favorite. I also found these on Etsy but they don't have all the letters I need. I can always go with good old Amazon for these classic ones that I have used in the past many times and they hold up very well.

Princess LEGOS- These are so adorable and one of Jules favorite lego sets. I love how they are similar to a Polly Pocket and you can keep all the pieces in one place. She is also very into the LEGO friends collection. She put the rv and the hospital on her list.

Electronic piggy bank- Jules is my little saver and has officially filled her very first, very big, biggie bank. She's been saving her money in a little baggie and is in need of something bigger. This unicorn one is also really adorable!

Ballerina doll- I love a good heirloom doll. The quality and details on these are even better in person. I got them a few weeks ago when they were on sale and they are so pretty and such a good size. Jules is getting the red head and I got Kourt the brunette one.

Video camera- Both my girls (5&8) love recording fake videos tutorials. I had a few other moms recommend this and said it's super user friendly and something that kids in this age group can easily navigate. I really love that their fake videos can turn into real videos that I can easily save on my laptop. I think both girls will have lots of fun using this. I got her an extra memory card and this cute pink case.

neck pillow- I will probably regret this one but Jules has been begging for one of these for the longest time. She really loves pillows and has a whole bunch of different ones from, cookies to unicorns.

Blind bags- By far my kids favorite kinda gifts. Jules bought a mix of these for Kourt's birthday and the look on her face when she opened a box full of blind bags was the best thing ever. Really excited to do this again for both girls this time. The 5 surprise ones are actually super cool. They are mini versions of real foods and treats, like tiny spam boxes and soy sauce. Jules uses these in the dollhouse as the mice food. The color reveal Barbies are probably their most favorite. They collected all the little mermaids and want some Chelsea dolls this time. LOL' s are still a big hit around here and so are the cute little Doorables.

Snackeez- Have you heard of these? My kids saw these advertised on a commercial once and tell me how cool they are because they can have snacks and a drink at the same time. It's a cup that has a little compartment on the top that you can fill with snacks. I was surprised at how hard these were to get a hold of in the colors I wanted. I was able to find the pink and the blue here.

Arts and crafts box- There are a few of these around but I loved this one because of the amount of tings you get in it. Theres little wooden pieces they can use to paint, all the pipe cleaners in every color and so much more. Perfect addition to her art cart. You can see the art cart here.

Ugg slippers- Jules and Kourt both asked for slippers like mine because they are always walking around trying to steal mine. I have these exact ones in a leopard version. I got both girls a size up so they can last them a little longer.

Just Dance- Jules got the Nintendo switch for her birthday last year. We all love it. We have some serious Mario Kart races around here. The kids have played this with their cousins and really had a good time. This version comes with some frozen 2 songs.

Doll Jeep- My girls favorite things to play together is house, Barbies and American girl dolls. I love that Jules is really into this kind of stuff still. They have both asked for this for the past three Christmas but we had no room for this. We recently donated so many toys and I promised them a new car for their dolls.

Paris house coloring book - This Paris house is a coloring/sticker book. Each page is Paris themed and looks like the inside of a house, or library, and it comes with stickers that you can use to decorate the space.

rhinestone headphones- these are so fun. Love that they're wireless and have bluetooth. Jules' cousins have these air pod dupes that are so cool but Jules doesn't like things in her ears. She is so sensitive to that Kida stuff and quickly said no when I asked her if she'd like something like that. When I showed her these she was all in! Perfect for virtual school.

Bean bag- So fun! I think I am just as excited about these as my girls. Both girls asked for one. I Snagged these super fluffy ones. I grabbed then the second I saw them go on sale.

Matching doll and me pajamas - I shared these in my stories a few days ago. The star pjs are so soft and cute. they come in toddler and big girl sizes so I grabbed them for both girls. then I found these doll pjs , or their American Girl dolls, that come in a set with a few different fun accessories.

Here are a few things that Jules already owns and loves plus a few other options to the things I listed above.

8 yr old birthday gift guide

EIGHT! How? Why? I thought for sure I wasn't fit to shop fir a big, eight year old but these gifts were a hit! By far, my little artists favorite gift was the art cart my sister and I put together for her. You can see more of it here. Art supplies were at the top of her list. This was the first year that she didn't ask for too many toys other than a few that she asked her grandparents for. I'll share them all below.

Bike- The cutest big girl bike. She learned how to ride a bike without training wheels this summer and was in need of the next size. She had this bike and we loved it so much. It was awesome and we will save it for Kourtney. The only request Jules had for a new bike was that it was pink and had a basket. I love the color and stye of the new one. We have it set on the lowest seat setting and she reaches the floor with her tippy toes. We went with the 20 inch and it's the perfect size for her to grow with.

unicorn onesie - She is so into these. I got her this one and later found this white one so ordered that for Christmas. Her grandma also got her the matching robe.

iPad case- I just got a new phone case in that exact print and she wanted the same for her iPad. I would link the one we got but the photo quality was terrible and I don't recommend.

beanie - loved this one and might have gotten the girls every color as Christmas gifts. You can't beat $5!

Mouse- If you're following us on instagram you know we are mouse house obsessed. Jules and I decided to tackle the project of revamping her dollhouse and went on the hut for some cute "people" to live in there. She ended up stumbling upon these mice and it has proven to be the most expensive little obsession ever. But they so cute! These little guys add up so we have been gifting her and Kourtney one each birthday and plan on adding more as Christmas gifts so they can have a little family of mice.

slippers- So cute and come in a ton of different colors.

Easel- LOVE this table top easel. I had a hard time finding full standing easels because they were all sold out and not available until after Christmas. I wanted something with storage on the bottom for paper and supplies and couldn't find exactly what I liked. My sister is the one that suggested just getting this one and getting a rolling cart to go with it. It was the perfect idea and it all kinda spiraled from there. This easel is made from metal and surprisingly heavy. Its super sturdy and the perfect size to store away when we need. I really love that we can also put it on our dining table or move it to our back patio. We ended up spray painting it pink to match the cart. Biggest hit! Kourt is 5 and loves it just as much as Jules. So good for any age.

Dress- We always gift the girls a "fancy" dress on their birthday that they wake up to. This one is still 40% off!

Locket- I didn't include this on the image above but this is a gift that she really loved. I added a picture of our dogs in it and she almost cried when she opened it up. I shared how I added the picture on my instagram.

L.O.L dolls- Not on her list but Kourt wanted to go shopping for Jules and picked these out. They are perfect for birthday girls! Jules loved them.

Disable your ad blocking software to view this content.

Here are a few other gifts that she got from her aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas that she really loved.

Monday, November 2, 2020

Birthday art cart

At the top of Juliannes birthday list was art supplies like her grandpa and uncle have. They are artist so they have all the super cool things that they let her use when she visits. She really wanted was an easel and canvases. Who knew easels were so hard to find. All the ones that I liked had some sort of built in storage but they were all on backorder until after Christmas. I ended up finding a table top one made with a metal frame that I really liked. I loved that it was easier to store away if we needed and something that we could fit on our dining table or easily pull outside to do some art. From there it kinda all spiraled like all my ideas usually do. I knew I wanted something to store all her supplies in so I found the cutest pink cart, decked it out with some glittery stickers, and filled it with all the girly art supplies from scented markers, to rainbow washiest tape and canvas aprons that we are going to deck out in tie dye and iron on patches. I also added a few things that we already had like paints. I love the little target acrylic paints. She loved it all! This would make such a cute gift for kids of all ages. Jules is 8, Kourt just turned 5 and she has really enjoyed using it with her sister, and I'm 34 and I dug into that cart with her. You could be never too old or too young to love some good art supplies.

Shop the links below:

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

free homeschool printables

Enjoy! Be sure to tag me on instagram so I can see these in action.

P I N M E

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

virtual school must haves

We are in our second full week of virtual school and finally getting into he groove of things. Wanted to share a few things that are making things run smoothly for us and allowing Jules, my 2nd grader, to easily navigate virtual school on her own.

Touch screen chrome book - I asked a few weeks ago on my instagram account for chrome book suggestions. Top answer was a touch screen! We ended up going with this one and highly recommend it. At first I wasn't too sure how a touch screen would be helpful but it's been so convenient for Jules. She is only 7 and hasn't had too much experience on a laptop, so using the track pad and clicking, highlighting, dragging, was difficult for her. She is comfortable with her iPad and this mimics just that.

Headphones - We love these. All she asked for were some unicorn headphones when she started Kindergarten. We have had these since she was 5 and they have held up so well plus they're pretty cute.

Clear caddy - I've shared this in a previous post (here). It's slowly changed and got filled with things that are needed on the daily. She filled it with markers, colored pencils, glue sticks and highlighters. The larger section holds her white board, the weekly class work schedule her teacher provides that she can easily see and check off as the day goes, she also keeps her chapter book that she reads for the week, along with her login and password sheet. Super easy and convenient to see and grab so she isn't always getting up and looking for things or asking for help.

Stylus pen -Didn't think we needed this too much but she works on a website where she needs to type out sentences or she has the option to write them out. Again, she's 7 so she isn't the best at typing and she was falling behind while the class was moving on. So we clicked the write option but her finger was giving us super giant letters. This pen is so handy and allows her to have better control of the answers she is writing on the computer. It makes writing easy, just as if she were doing it on a piece of paper. Also another way the touch screen comes in handy, we just fold it in half, it turns into a iPad type of thing and she can lay it flat on the table and write her answers.

Laptop stand - okay, I shared this exact pink one in my stories last week and it was sold out by the end of the day. I linked a few similar ones down below. We are working at our dining room table and don't have room for an actual comfy desk chair. I love that this has a ton of different heights it can be set at. She is sitting for long periods of time and obviously gets tired. This allows her to stand up and do her work! I also love that it brings the computer screen to her eye level. Before we got this we were stacking books to bring it up.

Mouse - Another super handy thing to have. This is my mouse but ended up giving it to Jules to use on one of the websites that her class uses. Just something that makes things easier for her so she's not getting frustrated and falling behind trying to figure it out.

Fun water bottle - She loves having her very own special cup. I fill it with water and set it in her clear caddy every morning. another thing that makes things simple. No need for her to get up and ask for water and miss something.

Tall basket - I got our basket last Christmas. We needed something to keep her school books in. She's got lots! I was looking around the house and this one worked perfectly! She keeps it next to her chair and can easily grab her books when needed.

Blue light glasses - must have! We have these clear ones from target. They are from the big girl section but fit Jules (7) and Kourt (4) great!

Collapsable crates - These are so cute and I love that this color matches out little school set up so perfectly. I've shared these before but we love that so much! We use these for anything and everything you can think of and stack them up in our hall closet. We have stickers in one, paints, markers, glue, glitter, you can literally use them for everything.

School schedule - Not pictured but something that has been extremely helpful for Jules. I printed out the daily hourly schedule that she can see and cross off items as the hours pass. She is a visual person and loves lists just like me so seeing how much she's gotten done and how much she has left is super encouraging to her.

Hope this was helpful in your virtual school learning. You've got this, mama!

Friday, August 14, 2020

first day of school surprise

c o d e s a t t h e e n d !

What a strange time we are living in right? We live in Southern California so all schools will be doing virtual learning this fall. Jules (7) will doing virtual through her school and Kourt and Jacks will be doing tk/preschool with me. Jules was excited up until she saw all the fun learning tools I started buying for her little brother and sister. She is so bummed that she will have to be doing school while we are having fun.

I never do school gifts but I decided that I wanted to make this time as special and memorable as possible, especially for Jules. I ended up grabbing these make up caddies and stocked them with some cute school supplies, all things that I would be buying anyways. I've mentioned before that we live in a super small house so these actually will work perfectly to give use little more storage.

I get the kids new water bottles every year. Since they're staying home I knew I wanted to make its fun cup! Created these with the awesome, Sunshine and Smile Box! I originally ordered myself a cup but after I saw how cute it turned out I knew I needed some for the girls. I got a plain black one for Jacks and added stickers of his favorite things.

The flags are by Whimsical Darling co. She's got the cutest shop with flags for every occasion. She was ablate work with me on creating these to match the cups. I last minute decided to get Jacks one so I made him one on my phone and printed it at home.