the take home folder vol 127

Yesterday Todd and I celebrated 17 years of marriage. We’ve been through many ups and downs but continue to love + support one another and be a team in all that we do. I’m grateful every day for the life we have worked hard to build.

Heads up that there will be no Take Home Folder next Sunday. It’ll be back in your inbox on Sunday, August 9th.

What is something I can do for our home?

What is something I can do for/with our family?

What is something I can do for myself?

Today for me it’s tidying up and vacuuming, cheering on my son’s baseball team in their final tournament of the season, and getting out for a long walk.

here’s this week’s take home folder, enjoy!

Something I did twice this week? Added an item to the note in my phone titled Gift Ideas. This idea list helps me be more thoughtful and intentional with gift giving. When I see something that someone in my life might enjoy and/or think of something practical that will be a future need, I jot it down. When the holiday season comes, I have a starting place and ideas to share with family members.

I am not a cleaning expert by any stretch of the imagination but I know that maintaining the things in our home extends their life and keeps the home looking and feeling cared for. Here’s how I deep clean our shower:

1. remove everything from the shower.

2. dust from top to bottom - I use a dry microfiber cloth to dust the shower head, the top of the shower doors, the high tile, etc.

3. scrub tile walls - I use Scrubbing Bubbles and a brush (grout brush, dish brush). First I get the tile wet, then I spray the cleaner and let it sit a moment. Then I scrub and rinse. Repeat for each wall.

4. scrub the shower floor. We have marble tile on our shower floor and I’ve read the harsh cleaners can be hard on marble. So I scrub with Dawn dish soap.

5. clean interior shower glass - get wet, spray with scrubbing bubbles, use a brush to scrub in a circular motion from top to bottom. Rinse. Repeat for each glass panel. Squeegee when done.

6. clean exterior shower glass - I use glass cleaner.

7. put everything back and enjoy getting clean in a clean shower!

For daily shower maintenance, we use a drain hair catcher and squeegee (love this one!) the glass after each shower.

It’s been so hot that I haven't wanted to heat up the house with a bunch of oven use. But, we got a little reprieve this week and I made zucchini bread - what a delight. I like Paige ~ OurHomePaige recipe:

Paige’s reel is linked here on her IG page.

I have been learning everything I can about using points and miles to cover family travel. It is fascinating to me that some people have figured this out and I want to give it a whirl for our family.

After listening to a bunch of podcasts and reading whatever I can get my hands on, there’s one thing that pains me the most about the last 20 years of my life when it comes to acquiring points:

I put every single purchase on our debit card for the last ~20 years. Sigh.

Even if I just had a single credit card and used that instead (paying off in full every month), it would have amounted to a lot of points. Points that could have covered flights, hotel stays, etc.

But…know better, do better. I am starting small with this - I opened one credit card in 2025 and added another this month. Having two cards feels manageable and I’m seeing the points add up without changing anything about our spending habits. Now to figure out the best way to make use of the points.

The cards I’ve started with:

CSP - perfect starter card! 3x points on restaurants, gas, and AirBnb/VRBO. Best in class travel protections. 100k point welcome bonus with my customer referral link.

AmEx Gold - 4x points on groceries and restaurants, points transfer to Delta + several other airlines, lots of other perks/monthly credits, 100k point welcome bonus with my customer referral link. But higher annual fee.

My son joined the Mountain Biking team. (RIP to us not having a fall sport.) It’s super cool that he’s trying something new - a co-ed sport for 6th-12th graders. At the same time, this is a whole. new. world. for our family.

One thing that has surprised me about parenting is how much our kids have expanded our experience. We’ve met many friends/people in our daily village via our kids’ school and their sports teams. We’ve volunteered our time to support our beloved elementary school and our sons’ activities. I never thought I’d become a pro at tying skates or enjoy cheering at the sidelines of the baseball field or know any of the rules to chess but here we are.

And now, Mountain Biking. Maybe it’ll stick and maybe it won’t. But we’ll learn all that we can, meet new people, explore new places, and be along for the ride.

Because when our kids try new things, it isn’t only their world and skillset that expands.

see you right back here in two weeks,

recent favorites

Our new entryway runner! Today is the last day of Ruggable’s sitewide sale. I like the ‘tufted all in one’ style - we have 5 in our home.

Classic games - just this week we’ve played Sorry, Uno No Mercy, and the boys played an epic game of Monopoly on their own (new parenting milestone unlocked!). We love a variety of games but don’t sleep on the classics.

Megababe Thigh Rescue keeps me perfectly comfortable at the pool for hours even as a person with thighs that touch. I am bringing their new Blister + Heel Rescue Stick to Chicago with us as we’ll be walking a ton.

Giving things away in my Buy Nothing group. From small (outgrown golf glove) to big (outgrown backyard playhouse). Feels amazing to pass things along to neighbors.

Everything at Old Navy is 50% off! Favorites in our family include my boys’ daily wear shorts and my favorite t-shirt. Great sale to grab anything your kid needs for the new school year.

breakfast for dinner - an easy, quick crowdpleaser!

Some of the links in this newsletter are affiliate links which means that I receive a small kickback from the retailer at no cost to you. Thank you for using them, it keeps the lights on around here and allows me to continue sharing free content each week.