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The Way it Really Is Mom Blog

I help moms through sharing honest personal experiences, practical tips, and helpful printables through my blog, The Way it Really Is.com. I’m a stay-at-home homeschool mom of 6-year-old identical twin boys and a 8-year-old boy. My mission in life is to help others, as I did in my former career as a school psychologist, and now do with my blog. Join me and see what The Way it Really Is, is all about!

How to Prepare to Become a One-Income Family, Plus Tools to Help!
Featured Post

How to Prep to be a One-Income Family

. Hi Reader, I hope you're having a good week so far! Have you ever considered becoming a one-income family? We made the leap over 8 years ago and there was a lot that went into it, to make sure that we could sustain life on my husband's salary alone. This week, I saw a mom on a local mom's group ask about what to consider before leaving her career, so I finally sat down and wrote it all out over on my other blog Easy Family Budgeting. If you've ever considered becoming a one-income family...

Gift Ideas for Kids, Parents, and More!

. Hi Reader, I hope you're having a good week so far! After my email last week, I ordered 4x6 Christmas card photos and got 45 of them for just $14. It was awesome. If you missed it, here is the link to learn how plus some pre-designed cards you can use. The link will take you to my budgeting blog, Easy Family Budgeting. Free Step-by-Step Low Cost Photo Christmas Cards Gift Ideas I don't know about you, but we're working on buying gifts for the kids and each other already. I've been updating...

How to Make Low Cost Photo Christmas Cards, Step-by-Step, No Design Experience Needed

. Hi Reader, I hope you're having a good week so far! Cheaper Holiday Card Tip If you send out holiday cards to family and friends every year but don't want to pay the rising prices, consider designing them on your own in Canva, and printing them through a service like Shutterfly or Walgreens as 4x6 photos. It's significantly cheaper to do it this way. I'm actually trying this out for the first time this year instead of buying the pre-designed ones. There are different designs you can choose...

Free Halloween Word Search Plus Opportunity to Get More!

. Hi Reader, I hope you're having a great week so far! Quick update on my cat...so...she seems to be all better! She gave us quite the scare but it seems that she's on the mend! I'm counting my lucky stars and kind of calling her a zombie cat at the moment, due to the season, but I'll take it! Thanks for sticking with me through that, I appreciate you! Now on to more fun things! Today I'm sharing a Halloween Word Search with you that you can download and print for free! My kids have loved...

My cat Suzie 16 years ago soon after she found me

. Hi Reader, I hope your week has started out better than ours. I don't mean to be a downer but my blog is "The Way it Really Is" and it isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Trigger warning: death is discussed. A week ago was the 9 year anniversary of when my dear grandpa died, whom I was really close to all my life. Saturday was the 10 year anniversary of when my father-in-law died of cancer at the young age of 65. He never got to meet our kids, which is so sad for all. He would have had so much...

My First Children's Book! Woodland Fall Friends for Ages 3-6

. Hi Reader, I hope your week is going well so far! This week I finally did something that I've been wanting to do for decades, I wrote a children's book! It's full of cute fall graphics, rhyming words, and is perfect for ages 3-6. Though I have to admit, I read it to my kids last night (7yo twins and 9yo) and they loved it too! It's an eBook that you can purchase on Etsy or Teachers Pay Teachers. You can use it digitally or print it out. Now that I've written and published one eBook I'm...

Prime Big Deal Days Deals...In Case You're Shopping...

. Hi Reader, I hope you had a great week and that you were able to get some decluttering done! I know we need to do a lot more, that's for sure. It's been oddly hot here in MN, it reached 90 the other day...that is not typical for October in Minnesota. Typically it's in the 60s or cooler by now. It's been weird, but I also know that soon enough it'll be super cold and I'll be longing for these hot days. :) As you probably know by all the ads and whatnot, today is the start of Amazon Prime Big...

How to Declutter Kids Toys without Fights

. Hi Reader, We've all heard of Spring cleaning but what about Fall decluttering? I'm honestly not sure if it's a 'thing' but it's something we tend to do. Here in MN, along with many other places, the Fall is the start of spending more time inside and though it's not cold here yet, we started thinking ahead that getting rid of some of the toys the kids don't play with anymore would be a good idea. With this in mind, we worked on the toys in our living room last Saturday. We got all three...

Fall Printables for kids and adults!

. Hi Reader, How's your week going so far? Are you excited about the change of seasons like I am? Though it means cooler weather, I love the season of Fall. The pretty leaves, the Fall activities, sweater weather, it's all great! Well, other than the allergies, my allergies are horrible in the fall, but it is what it is. With my love of Fall, over the years I've made a few Fall / Autumn printables I'll share with you below that you can buy at my Etsy shop! Use code Newsletter20 to get 20% off...

Finding it Hard to Celebrate Birthdays with a Traumatic Birth Story

. Hi Reader, Today is my twins' 7th birthday! We celebrated them this weekend with a birthday party and are celebrating their actual birthday today after school. While I know I should be all happy for them, and I am overall, I also find myself feeling so much pressure to make everything perfect all day for them and ignore the lingering birth trauma that I relive for up to a week before, after, and during their birthday. Regardless of how I feel, because I know this isn't about me, it's about...