Recipes

Closing out the month of love with a little remind

Closing out the month of love with a little reminder from @shapermint that self love is the best love ya'll! You can't pour from an empty cup. I love partnering with Shapermint because of how much their company focuses on body positivity and because their selection of products is amazing! I love my postpartum mom bod, and I also love getting a little extra hug from shapewear and leggings. It makes me feel even more confident in loving the skin I'm in. These Empetua High-Waisted Control Leggings are my favorite! Not only do they keep everything under control in my midsection, but they are buttery soft! Also wearing my TrueKind Daily Comfort Wireless Shaper Bra, which provides the right balance of comfort and support. Use my code SPICE to get 15% off all of their products right now! #ShapermintSelfLove #ad
#mamahood #mamalifestyle #mamalife #mombunlife #motherhoodinspired #beautifulmotherhood #beautifulmother #selfloveisthebestlove #selfloveisselfcare #momlife #twinmama #twinmamalife #mamahoodinthemaking #motherhoodafterinfertility #momssupportingmoms #momclub #mombodlove

𝕆𝕦𝕣 𝔽𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝔾𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕪 𝟚𝟚 𝔽𝕖𝕖𝕥!

Ya'll we've been keeping a secret! (And no not *that* kind of secret) We missed our camper van so much that we decided to convert another one. Meet Yeti! 🚐 Rescued from a pile of snow and ice in Pennsylvania 😂. Yeti is a 2020 170" wb Crew Sprinter Van who we will be building out to fit our family of 5. We are excited for van build 2.0 and adventures to come!

We will be sharing a lot more details as we plan out and execute this build (Brad made me promise he could take his time on this one 🤪), so let me know any questions you would like us to answer below. ⬇️

#raisingwildflowers #vanlife #sprintercampervans
#campervans #conversionvan #vantravels #vanlifeideas #projectvanlife
#vanbuild #sprinterconversion #sprintervanconversion #camperconversion
#campervanconversion #vanlifewithkids #diycampervan #vanconversion #vanlifedreams #vanlifeculture #familyvanconversion #vanfamilies #vanlifewithkids #runwildmychild #vanlifefamily #kidswhoexplore #childrenwhoadventure #1000hoursoutside #kidswhohike #adventurefamilies #adventureswithkids

❤️ ℍ𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕪 𝕍𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕪 ❤️
Totally acceptable to observe on the 22nd right? 🤪
Well even if we are behind, I couldn't let this holiday tradition pass us by.
Swipe to see our Valentine's Day photos through the years. The girls love that the tradition has always included lollipops as well.

#raisingwildflowers #girlsquad #girlmama #girlgang #twinsplusone #threesisters #twinmama #momtographer #thesedarlingdays #darlingdaughters #sweetmoments #motherhoodisdarling #ivfmama #holdthemoments #momtogcommunity #mamarazzi #documentourdays #motherhooddiaries #sweetchildhood #sweetchildofmine #twingirls #tripleting #raisingdaughters #childhoodunplugged #beautyofchildhood #knoxvillemoms

𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 Happy Wednesday ever

𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖

Happy Wednesday everyone and welcome to my little tiny corner of Insta! If you're new here, welcome!! If you've been here for a bit, thanks for sticking around friend!

Here you'll find a mix of regular mom life and out of the ordinary. Or as my husband says, "Samantha can you just be normal for once?" 😜 But I refuse to let life just happen to us even if we do have regular 9-5 jobs and a house in the suburbs (dreaming big for our own homestead in the next 5 years). I'm always making something of it, whether that is tackling infertility head on, researching and making obscure parenting decisions, unschooling my kids and trading flashcards and workbooks and screens for outdoor play, family board games, and read alouds, doing a million DIY projects with my handy husband, adding yet another side hustle, or packing everyone up for a big adventure like visiting all 50 states on maternity leave or hiking by myself with 3 little girls.

I'm excited to share our crazy adventure of life with you and hope it inspires you to think a little outside the box as well!

So what out of that list excites you the most? Let me know below!

#raisingwildflowers #girlsquad #girlmama #childhoodunplugged
#readaloudfamily
#lifeoutside
#lifeoutsidethebox #unschoolingmom #unsettledown #mamahood #twinsplusone #mamasofinstagram #lifeasamama #mombunlife #1000hoursoutside #raisingwilds #rootedchildhood #knoxvillemoms #adventurousparenting #littleadventurer #travelfamilies #raisingawildchild #raisingtinyhumans #minimalistmom #motherhoodsimplified #beautifulmotherhood #montessoriinspired #hikeitbaby

Can't believe it's been over 3 years since we firs

Can't believe it's been over 3 years since we first moved the girls onto their house floor bed! I've had a lot of new followers since then, and I think our girls sleeping situation is pretty special (mainly because it's just super cute 💕), so I wanted to reshare.

All three girls share this floor bed that their uncle built for the them (plans are on my blog). It's a queen bed turned sideways and fits then perfectly. It reminds me of the night before Christmas poem with all the children lined up a snug in one bed. It's so sweet to see them sleeping all cuddled together.

We transitioned all the girls to a floor bed at one. For the twins it went really smooth. They still to this day at four have never got off the bed at nighttime. We love establishing that routine early before they know any different.

Heidi's floor bed experience was a bit different. We started her on the crib mattress on the floor in her own room but she never slept on it. She'd always make her way to the door and sleep on the floor behind it. Until one day when we felt she was old enough to hold her own in the big bed we let her join her sisters. When she gets to sleep with her sisters, she stays put on the bed. But even still on naps when the big girls aren't sleeping she goes to sleep on the floor behind the door. FOMO 😅

Also wanted to update ya'll on nighttime potty training. Blakely and I have figured out a routine that works. I come wake her once at night at 3 and she can hold it until then and then for the rest of the night (until 10 am). She's kept the bed dry that way for a whole week so she got to rejoin the girls in the big bed (I'd made a cot for her out front that was easier to clean when we first started). Heidi's 18 mo check up is today, and I plan to ask their Dr. what he thinks next steps are. I'll let you know what he says. I'm wondering whether it'd be better to start shifting the one wake up earlier instead of later since that's the closer or the two.

#montessorihome
#raisingwildflowers #girlsquad #girlmama #girlgang #twinsplusone #mamasofinstagram #lifeasamama #montesssoriathome #montessoritoddler #montessoribaby #montessorimom #floorbed
#housebed #raisingtinyhumans

𝟛𝕣𝕕 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕕 ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕤

Let me dump some honesty on ya'll today. Sometimes I feel like Heidi is getting the shaft end of the parenting. I shared in my stories about how we are big proponents of respecting the child and giving them the space to flourish in their own independence in a "yes space." But having two older siblings, the house has been in many ways adapted to fit their independence levels leaving Heidi with more opportunities to poke holes in our yes environment.

Like oh yes we have markers out because we wanted the twins to be able to use them but oh no Heidi you cannot. She's definitely heard no a lot more than the twins ever did, and it's left me scratching my head how I give the twins free reign while keeping Heidi out of trouble, especially since she can open doors and scale tables.

Or hey it's read aloud time or we're playing a board game, but Heidi you need to figure out something else to do since you can't sit still through this. Mama has a hard time choosing 18 mo old activities over 4 year old activities because I'll just admit I prefer the latter. I need to do better about making time for her activities.

Thankfully Heidi just rolls with the punches and even though we joke around and call her Trouble (she really does have knack for poking holes in our prepared environment 😂) I hope she knows that we love her to pieces and wouldn't change her for the world.

Any mamas with different aged kids have tips for setting up a successful prepared environment at home?

#raisingwildflowers #raisingtinyhumans #lifewithlittles #thirdkidproblems #thirdchild #respectfulparenting #montesssoriathome #montessoriparenting #montessoritoddler #montessorimom #twinsplusone #mamasofinstagram #lifeasamama #mombunlife #3kidsmama #preparedenvironment #montessorihome #1000hoursoutside

I am so excited to see so many new families embrac

I am so excited to see so many new families embracing the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge this year! I wanted to go ahead and put this thought on your mind in January as you are forming this new habit.

So much of our kid's childhood has become rushing from one structured activity to the next. Even things presented as "play" aren't really free play, but a parents carefully crafted way of teaching something in a fun way and constantly providing entertainment to your kid. And if you are busy, then screen time can fill that void with more educational, constant entertainment. So as you are embracing this new challenge, you may find that outside time is foreign territory. You stare at each other on the green lawn and wonder, what are we supposed to do? What are all the outdoor activities to constantly provide enrichment opportunities for my kids? Aren't they supposed to be matching colors in the leaves and doing math with rocks? (not that these aren't great things in moderation after the skill of independent play is learned)

I invite you to stop for a moment and just embrace this boredom. Embrace it! Cling to it like your life depends on it. Because letting your children learn to entertain themselves is valuable! Oh so valuable and a lost art. And it'll be much easier for you to teach this new skill in a new territory than to try and rethink all your indoor habits. It's not going to happen overnight. Your kids are going to be confused, bored, and whiny, but let them sit in that boredom for a bit and see what emerges. Use your outside time as a launching point for something new.

And remember it takes time to move from boredom to free play (I once saw a stat that said 30 minutes of boredom before free play emerges) and develop new habits (28 days), so don't get discouraged when it doesn't happen overnight. When we started in 2020 our girls stood at the door asking how long until they could come in. Now in 2021, they stand at the door asking if they can go out.

#theoutdoorkids #staywildlittleone #childreninnature #1000hoursoutside #natureplay #raiseawildchild #slowchildhood #letthembelittle #childhoodunplugged #raisingwilds #raisingwildflowers #naturebasedlearning

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕤 📚 It's no

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕤 📚

It's no secret that we love books over here, so I figured it was about time we hit up our local library instead of constantly adding to my Amazon cart. Planning on making this a new routine. I'm excited because
a) I know the girls are going to love the library just as much as I did when I was a kid. Thank goodness our library has 50 book limit. 😂
b) It's a great way for us to discover and "try out" new books before contemplating adding to our home library.
c) Got my pin number for using the Libby app!
d) Creative juices are flowing in regards to bookish content. Sharing more about that on my stories later today.

Now tell me, do you still visit the library, or is this a thing of the past?

#libraryvibes#atthelibrary
#librarybooks #librarylife #readaloudfamily #readaloudrevival #readaloud #readalouds #readaloudchallenge #readingismagic #readingmatters #readingtogether #readingtokids #childhoodunplugged #raisingwildflowers #readinggoals #motherhoodsimplified #slowchildhood #homeeducation #unschoolingmom #bookwormsofinstagram #bookwormbaby

𝕆𝕙 ℍ𝕖𝕪 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝟛𝟘

𝕆𝕙 ℍ𝕖𝕪 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝟛𝟘!

Today's my 30th birthday ya'll! Graduating college at 20 and getting married and starting my career at 21, I have always felt closer to 30 than 20 anyways, but now that it's here, I'm not going to lie it's a little surreal. Like how did this happen so fast?! But ya'll I think your 30s is where it's at, and I'm super excited to see what this next decade has in store!

#30thbirthday
#thisis30 #turning30 #hikergirls #hikingmama #hikingmom #raisingwildflowers #outdoormama#outdoorsy #maxpatch
#supposedtobeonacruiserightnow

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