Family Videos: Each year we stitch all the video clips that we’ve taken into one long video. We are then able to play the video on our TV and it provides a little screen time that we love. It also keeps our videos from disappearing into the digital abyss. NOTE: the videos are loooong - it’s crazy that you can easily make an 8 hour video made mostly of 20 second clips. We personally use Adobe Premier to make our video. We drop the clips in chronologically and just do a quick edit to take out duplicates or videos we don't need to keep.

Family Photos: Each year I make a simple Shutterfly book of our favorite family photos from the year. I have one from every year we’ve been married…but I didn’t start this until we had been married 6 years, so the first year was a bit brutal. Buuuut I would encourage you to just start now! Also, wait until Shutterfly has a coupon for free extra pages - that is the best savings!

One Second Everyday: This is just fun. I started this about a month before I had Caleb. This app saves a one second clip each day and then stitches it together. It is crazy the memories that will be unearthed by just a 1 second clip!

Journal Cards: I am not much of a journal gal - more of an archivist, so this method is perfect for me. I started my cards in September 2012 and each day I write a few lines to remember the events of the day. I am on my second set of cards and the first set is now scanned in a file on my phone, so I can easily recount what happened on this day from 2012 and beyond! I do wish I had started this earlier, but so glad I dove in when I did!

My kids love art, so muc, so, so much. I'm grateful for it as it's creative, tactile, and has all kinds of developmental benefits. But, I'm not going to lie...as much as I love and cherish each piece, it's A LOT. I'm guessing many other parents are in the same boat, so here is the strategy I've used for the last several years to both honor the work they've done and keep the beast tamed.

When artwork is first created, it feels too special to throw out or give away, but I've found if I give it time and photograph the work I can more easily let go of some of the physical evidence of their journey as artists. Here's the procedure:

• Get a decently large bin or basket

• Put it somewhere near where the art enters your home

• When the art arrives, ooh and aah and maybe even display a few pieces - we use these frames, they are amazing for a quick display change.

• Place the art in the basket and don't worry about it for a while.

• After a period of time (I try to do this every3-4 months) the bin will be full of treasures. At this point I lay down a piece of white poster board in a spot with decent lighting and snap a picture of each piece of art (ok...maybe not EVERY piece, but quite a few, use your judgement).

• After each photo the art is categorized: keep, give away, or throw away (NOTE: if you choose to throw some items away, do it in the dead of night and be sure to take the trash out to the dumpster immediately;)

• I have a keepsake box for each of the kids to store items that I can't bear to part with. The giveaway pile is sent out to friends and family, usually via mail (so fun!). The other pieces are never spoken of again.

• Finally, many of these digital art pieces live on our hard drive. Which is great, but I also want to do a little more to celebrate what the kids have accomplished. See the next step!

When Caleb started preschool I decided to make him a quick (relatively) "scrapbook" on Shutterfly so the artwork can still be enjoyed along with a few memories from the year. I have continued this trend each year and the collection brings us all joy! It is a small item to store but still honors all the work and creativity that the kids displayed that year. My boys absolutely treasure these books and we all look at them often.

The process is pretty simple. All the artwork is already photographed and easily uploaded to Shutterfly. I add in a few top events from the year as well, i.e. photos of Christmas concerts, sporting events, etc. I then compile a book to highlight their artwork and accomplishments from the year. The book has minimal text and I use the same template each year (8"x8" book) for a quick drag and drop system. 

Finally...I wait for Shutterfly to have a sale! These books can add up, but Shutterfly has really good sales often, so a little patience there goes a long way. 

These books are a treasure to us, however if you're not the scrapbook type, no worries! I'd love to hear how you handle all the treasure that enter your home! 

I hate clutter, so I have never been the type to have all the specialty cooking gadgets. But...these items are worth the cost and the space!

COOKING OIL SPRAYER - I recently learned about the horrors of seed oils...yikes, so I ditched the traditional cooking oil spray for this. I can fill it with my own olive or avocado oil and it's refillable so much less wasted over time. I love it!

HAND FROTHER - I have mentioned this one a few times...because it's awesome! If you ever have to mix powder into liquid or just want a little froth in your hot drink, this thing is amazing.

FOOD PROCESSOR - I love this tool, and oddly don't use the traditional food processing mode all that much...but the slicer and shredder are gold! I use it to slice sweet potatoes to perfection, shred carrots, shred beets, and now that I am buying cheese in bulk (from Azure) I can shred and freeze 12 lbs. of raw cheddar like a champ! Haha!

BREAD TOOLS - I've gotten pretty into baking bread and these tools have been a huge help. Sticky dough can get really frustrating without the right tools. I am thankful for this set.

If your life can be significantly impacted by a cleaning device...this one has done it for me. Haha! We have dark, smooth, shiny floors throughout most of the high traffic areas in our home. While they are beautiful, I've always kind of wished I'd made an easier to maintain choice. However, I recently discovered THIS GEM and have never enjoyed our floors, or cleaning them more. Seriously, I may never shut up about this.

This device effectively vacuums and mops simultaneously, with pretty incredible power. There is an occasional need for a a quick fingernail scrape if something is really dried on, but to me that seems completely reasonable. After cleaning the floors, the machine is then docked in it's charging station, where a clean cycle can be completed. The cleaning cycle not only cleans the roller brushes, but also completely dries them. The only daily maintenance that I have to do is empty and rinse the dirty water tank. There have been no bad odors since the brushes are always cleaned and dried. I love it, clearly. I can't yet speak to longevity yet, but will update this post when I know more.

We recently had a friend discover, VERY close to the international departure date, that their passport was expired...This is not the first time I've heard this from friends and though there are ways to remedy this issue, WOW is it stressful. 

I have an easy system to (hopefully) avoid this situation in our family. Take a few minutes today to look at everyone's passport. Put a reminder in your phone calendar 6 months before the expiration date. Be sure to add a few alerts (it's easy to see the alert and put it off, annoy yourself a little). When you see that alert, download the forms you need (you can find them HERE) and get it done! Some of these alerts may be years out, but when they pop up you'll be glad.

NOTE: passports for children expire more often (every 5 years) and you have to do a full passport application, not just the renewal form...so take that into consideration as well!

We all know the overwhelm of doing laundry for the family. Especially in this season of cloth diapering I find myself often overwhelmed or like I'm failing. BUT, I think I've landed on a routine that allows for some "failure" (as some days it's just not possible to do laundry) without ruining the routine! This room for a missed day or two is crucial for my personality. My other routines were too rigid and if I missed a day it felt like I may as well give up. Here it is!

• Each room that produces laundry or stores laundry regularly needs a laundry basket.

• Each basket is assigned a day of the week, for example: Monday = nursery, Tuesday = bunk room, Wednesday = master bedroom.

• On the assigned day of the week, do that room's laundry from start to finish. This will usually be one load of laundry per week per area. I find that the best part of this method is the push to fold and put clothes away the same day (normally the WORST). It is less overwhelming when everything for the day is going to be put away in the same room. Also, putting away their own folded clothes has been a great chore for our guys.

• Finally, if you miss a day, NO BIG DEAL! You just have a little extra when you get back to that area next week. There is no feeling of failure, you will catch up with that room next week.

My personality loves a good system and even better if the system is posted somewhere so anyone in our house can implement if. Here is the sign I made for the laundry room and a link to the Canva template so you can make your own or create one from scratch!

The above routine worked for us for a long time, but as our kids have gotten older, I wanted them to participate in laundry more and take a little of the pressure off of me! As our family changes the routine changes and this is a great thing. So here is the updated routine.

• Habit stack your laundry - When I am about to start making dinner I gather all the laundry from around the house and start a load. I try to do this every day (except Tuesday - date night), but you can adjust depending on the amount of laundry you have. For our family this is usually one load per day.

• When we are finished with dinner I throw everything into the dryer or hang it up to dry. Then we commence with what ever evening activity we have.

• When we are getting close to bedtime, while the laundry is still warm, the boys work on getting ready for bed and I quickly sort everyone's laundry into their own basket. I fold and put away Isaiah's (he's currently 1) and fold or lay out Noah and my laundry so it doesn't wrinkle (we can quickly put ours away before bed as well).

• Baskets then go into the boys room for them to fold and put away before bed. Since we do this 4-6 days a week, it's very manageable for them. I also made them these cardboard folding contraptions (see photos below and there is a video on my IG Highlights under HOME of this in action) that allows them to fold their clothes really well! I am a big fan of file folding laundry so they can see what they have...everyday they get better at maintaining their drawers. I also have to be fine with slightly messy drawers, this is a good practice for me to let go and not worry about such a small thing.

This is working great for us right now! I'd love to hear what laundry tips work for you - message me on IG @megancouser

I love to go into the Christmas season with gifts already purchased and wrapped so I can relax and enjoy the beauty of the season. I also like to take my time choosing gifts for loved one, so I really do Christmas shopping throughout the year. But... inevitably, I forget something or someone and then have to go back out to get that last minute gift. Not this year!

I created a checklist that I can use year after year to prompt my brain to remember all the things that the Christmas season holds. This way, my husband's work gift exchange, or the gift for our mailman won't be a last minute thought.

You can click the image to download your own. Happy giving!

P.S. I also really try to buy and wrap Christmas gifts to deliver to family that we will see in person on Thanksgiving, this way I can skip the post office lines and fees!