It is no secret that mornings with kiddos can be hectic. If you don't start your day off right, it can feel like a herd of bulls ran through your house; leaving you feeling overwhelmed and tired before the AM turns to the PM. After having two kids in two years, I discovered that there were a lot of smaller chores that had to be done in the mornings to just get the day going for everyone. It really seems like there are a thousand things to accomplish in just the small amount of time we call morning. If you're like me, a makeup wearing, hair- doing, praying mama, you know that you have to schedule time for yourself and the Lord each morning BEFORE your squad awakens! That sounds pretty simple...until your alarm goes off at 6AM (or before), and you haven't gotten enough sleep (in years). 
When I started homeschooling my oldest daughter in Pre-K 3, I knew I HAD to be on top of things in the morning if I wanted a smoothly running school day, so I learned to do these 5 things at night so that my mornings could be less tedious and more successful. 

As a stay at home mom, I find myself out in public with my little one and think that we can potentially be an easy target. I try to get out of the house daily. Most of the time we go to the park that's right down the road from us. It's in walking distance, so I strap my little one into the stroller and head out for some exercise/playtime. Every mom knows that getting the incredible amount of energy out of your little one is crucial! 
More often than not, its just us and a few other woman with their children. I am a pretty cautious person. I always carry some kind of protection with me, and I am determined to use it if need be. I think you have to set your mind to protecting yourself and your child. My husband often reminds me to bring something along for safety purposes. It's easy to make comments about the mama bear instinct coming out when your babies are in danger, but when it comes to keeping yourself along with your little ones safe in public, I believe the best thing you can arm yourself with is knowledge. Knowing exactly what to do in a potential dangerous situation can be just as effective as carrying a weapon of some kind. If you do not know how or when to use it, it will remain useless. 
​After hearing several stories about strangers preying on moms with  children, I felt like it was important to learn more about this topic of protecting myself if I was ever in a dangerous situation. So, I went straight to the professionals and interviewed a friend of mine who is also a deputy sheriff, and he gave me some great advice which I want to share with you! 
​Below is our Q&A! I hope it gives you some insight on how important it is to stay alert and do what you need to protect yourself and your children!

Hello fellow parents who are tired of the bath toy messes!
I have a solution for you! 
I want to share a quick, easy and cheap way to fix the bath toy chaos that can create a huge mess! If your child’s bath time is anything like my toddler’s, to them it’s more about having fun splish- splashing than it is about getting clean. Bath time is a great way to help your little one wind down at the end of the day or get some energy out on a rainy afternoon when there’s not many indoor play options! There are so many unique and fun bath toys out there, it's hard to pass up another bath toy purchase when I see something I know my little one would love which is why we have a very large toy accumulation in our tub! Whatever your using bath time for, you’re most likely collecting a lot of toys and other bath utensils to keep your tiny tot entertained. From big green frogs to bathtub paint, our bathtub can get pretty messy which makes it difficult to clean and use especially when your child’s bathroom doubles as a guest loo also.
We bought one of the nets that suction to the side of the tub, but that only partially solved the problem and over time grew nasty mildew! Yuck! 
We needed something that would keep the toys organized while allowing them the thoroughly dry after each use, and something that didn’t cost very much!

This past fall I was working on a wreath for our door, and I noticed something was missing. I needed something extra to complete the look I was going for. I thought about all the things we see during fall- orange leaves, crunchy pine cones, big acorns!
Acorns!
That’s what I needed for my wreath. I remembered that, as Elliot and I were walking at the park a few weeks before, he picked up this huge, beautiful acorn! Probably the biggest one I had seen. Those are the ones I needed! So this morning, Lydia and I set out to find our treasure and hopefully bring home big, over-sized acorns. I went towards the trees I knew or thought I knew would have the ones I was looking for. To my surprise and disappointment, Lydia and I could not find them! We were looking everywhere on the ground but could only find the ones that squirrels or other creatures had already gotten to.