• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Meet Jen
    • About Me
    • Contact Me
    • Disclosure & Privacy Policy
  • Blog Menu
    • Homeschool
    • Lifestyle
    • Family
  • Resources
    • FREE Subscriber Resources
    • My Favorite Resources
  • Shop
    • My Shop
    • Homeschool Planner
    • My Favorite Resources

Jen Merckling

life.unimaginable

Family

Get Organized — Homeschool Planner

  I’m sharing organization tools and my **Free Home + Homeschool Planner–created to help homeschool moms get organized!  I hope this comprehensive planner will help you tackle your “to-do” lists and keep your homeschool planning simple, flexible, and organized! Grab yours when you subscribe to my email newsletter… Organization and Mental Health For me—keeping organized…

Read More

Filed Under: Encouragement, Family, Homeschooling, Lifestyle, Organization Tagged With: Affiliate, get organized, homeschool planner, Simple Habits

Samples of Free Christmas Planner Printables

Free Christmas Planner Printables (+ 5 Top Planning Tips)

I’m so excited to share 5 of My Top Holiday Planning Tips with you! And I’ve created the cutest FREE Christmas Planner (UPDATED for 2025) to help us prepare with less stress! I hope you love it & are blessed by it too! By tackling just a few tasks daily, we can be sure our…

Read More

Filed Under: Family, Holidays, Homeschooling, Lifestyle Tagged With: Affiliate, Christmas, Free Planner, Holidays, Planning, Thanksgiving

20 Lessons After 20 Years of Motherhood

This year I’ll be celebrating my 24th Mother’s Day as a mom…My oldest child is 23 years old–I became a mother at age 22! I’ve spent more of my life as a mom than not. But no matter how long you’ve been a mom, entering motherhood is a defining moment.  A bridge, that once crossed,…

Read More

Filed Under: Family, Lifestyle Tagged With: Affiliate, Faith, Motherhood

The Wise Men Journey Searching for The King is a perfect new Christmas tradition for your family! Countdown to Christmas with this exciting new devotional!

The Wise Men Journey — A New Advent Tradition

You know when God puts someone on your path and they just ooze Jesus–and you are flat out humbled and amazed by the whole thing to your core?  Well that is exactly what happened to me when I met my friend, Lynette Meintjes, while waiting around for my kids at ballet class!  She is amazing….

Read More

Filed Under: Family, Holidays, Homeschooling, Lifestyle Tagged With: Advent, Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Countdown to Christmas, Faith, Family Traditions, Gifts, Wise Men Journey

Jesse Tree Post Image

Jesse Tree Christmas Tradition

Preparing for Christmas **Updated from the original 2017 post… I love Christmas–all the decorating, the baking, the entertaining, all of the things… We start preparing 2 weekends before Thanksgiving…that way I have time to put all the boxes away before the weekend of Thanksgiving preparations. For years, getting our Christmas decor out before Thanksgiving felt…

Read More

Filed Under: Family, Holidays Tagged With: Advent, Affiliate, Christmas, Christmas tradtitions, Jesse Tree

12 Favorite Christmas Books for Kids (and kids at heart)

I love everything about Christmas. All the traditions…all the food…all the music…movies, decorations, lights, parties…All. Of. It.  And of course–all the books! Like the smell of Christmas trees or sugar cookies, Christmas books have an amazing way of whisking us back to childhood–the vivid pictures and words bring it all rushing back. And of course…

Read More

Filed Under: Family, Holidays, Homeschooling Tagged With: Advent, Affiliate, Christmas, Favorite Books

Get ready for Thanksgiving with this super sweet Gratitude Bingo Game! Help your little ones build the habit of gratitude and thankfulness!

Gratitude Bingo Game {FREEBIE!}

As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, it’s a great time to focus on gratitude with our kiddos! I’ve got a super cute Gratitude Bingo Game for your little ones!  It will help them see there’s so much to be thankful for–everyday blessings! I’ve found that even small children can get into bad habits of…

Read More

Filed Under: Early Learning, Family, Holidays, Homeschooling Tagged With: Character, Free Resource, Freebie, Gratitude, Parenting, Preschool Games, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving

4th of July for Kids (FREE Printable)!

Aren’t we all a bit of a kid on the 4th of July?  Give me all the streamers, popsicles, black snakes, and hot dogs! The 4th of July is just plain fun–it isn’t fancy or stressful! (Except when 20 children are all doing arm circles with sparklers within inches of each other’s faces…) It will…

Read More

Filed Under: Family, Holidays, Lifestyle Tagged With: 4th of July, Affiliate, Free Printable, kid activities

Why Sensory Play is Important!

Welcome to my house–don’t mind the tub of pinecones, collection of rocks, and the bowl brimming with water and toy frogs!  It’s all part of play–which as you know, is where kiddos learn best!  There’s a fancy term for letting our kids collect, pour, mix, sniff, and generally make a mess…It’s called Sensory Play!  And…

Read More

Filed Under: Early Learning, Family, Homeschooling Tagged With: Affiliate, Homeschool, Importance of Play, Parenting, Preschool, Sensory Play, Toddlers

The laundry piles are not going away! With 6 kids--I've learned some tricks for keeping it simple! Sharing My 5 Tips for Tackling the Laundry! #laundry #laundrytips #cleaning #homeorganization

5 Tips for Tackling the Laundry

Oh, the laundry!  There is literally no end in sight.  For years, I lived in denial of this fact.  I thought I could somehow get it all done. Visions of empty laundry baskets and spotless closet floors danced in my head…Until I accepted the truth.  Laundry is a constant work-in-progress. And that is okay–it’s just part…

Read More

Filed Under: Family, Lifestyle, Organization Tagged With: FlyLady, Housekeeping, Laundry

Here are 3 Amazing Apps for Preschoolers that seamlessly weave together open-ended play, preschool skills, and technology!

3 Amazing Apps for Preschoolers That You Won’t Feel Guilty About

Often I get asked how I keep my littles (4 year old twins) busy while I’m homeschooling my daughter in high school and first grade son. (Honestly, it sounds harder than it actually is…twins have a way of entertaining each other!) But even if you’re not a homeschool mom, I’m guessing sometimes you could use…

Read More

Filed Under: Early Learning, Family, Homeschooling, Lifestyle Tagged With: Activities for Young Kids, Affiliate, Apps for Kids, Homeschool Preschool, iPad, My PlayHome, Thinkrolls, Toca Boca, Using Technology With Kids

We are all looking for ways to keep Christmas stressfree and joyful! Here are 3 Simple Christmas Traditions to enjoy with your family throughout Advent!

3 Simple Christmas Traditions

  The Holidays.  Why is it that those two words can stir two completely opposite emotions: Joy and Stress? Oh how I want to grab all the joy and leave all the stress behind.  As kids–the holidays were all joy.   It was cousins and cookies and toy catalogs and Christmas carols.  As adults–I think…

Read More

Filed Under: Family, Holidays, Homeschooling, Lifestyle Tagged With: Advent, Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Faith

How old is too old for trick-or-treating? Here's why I let my teens go, and some thoughts about being kind to all trick-or-treaters this Halloween!

Aren’t You Too Old to be Trick-or-Treating?

I have three teenagers.  They all loved trick-or-treating with friends well into their teenage years–and I happily let them!  Initially, I questioned my judgement…Aren’t you too old to be trick-or-treating?  But I quickly realized, there are MUCH BIGGER FISH to fry with teenagers…this is not a battle worth fighting.  In fact, now I celebrate their…

Read More

Filed Under: Family, Lifestyle Tagged With: Halloween, Parenting, Teens

Stop feeling overwhelmed by your housework and gain peace of mind with the Flylady! I've been following her routines for years--here's how to get started!

FlyLady Routines — Bless Your Home and Family!

Here’s the truth.  I’m a very messy person at heart.  I was the kid in elementary school who stuffed bent folders, stubby pencils, broken crayons, and crumpled notes into her desk.  Oh how I envied my friends who kept their desks meticulous–shiny folders all in a row, neat pencil boxes (actually filled with pencils and…

Read More

Filed Under: Encouragement, Family, Homeschooling, Lifestyle, Most Shared, Organization Tagged With: Affiliate, Cleaning, FlyLady, FlyLady routines, getting organized, Housekeeping, Housework, Organization

Sharing my favorite easy family recipes that make every day special! These are 14 of my Go-To recipes, perfect for weeknights or special occasions!

Easy Family Recipes — make every day special

These days I don’t always have much time for cooking (maybe it’s not so much the cooking, but the clean-up)!  As a homeschool mom, I feel like I am.always.in.the.kitchen!  So when I do take the time to make something for my family (beyond peanut butter and grilled cheese), I want it to be something they…

Read More

Filed Under: Family, Lifestyle Tagged With: Affiliate, Easy Recipes, Homemaking, Recipes, Subscriber Free Resource, What's For Dinner

Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Hello! Welcome--I'm Jen! I've got 6 kiddos (including sweet twins) --lots of laundry and always dirty dishes! I've been Jason's wife for 26 years, a mommy for 24 years, and a homeschooler for 20+ years...I'd love to be friends. ♡

Read my story→

SEARCH MY WEBSITE!

Follow Me!

All About Learning Press

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM!

Audrey graduated from KU over the weekend!! We’r Audrey graduated from KU over the weekend!! We’re so proud of her!! ❤️💙🥰🎉
Everything’s bigger in Texas…🤠❤️ Includ Everything’s bigger in Texas…🤠❤️
Including the love & hospitality of my husband’s brother & sister-in-law! 🥰
I’m so thankful for the time together…They even got me in the water!! 🌊🚤❤️
Had so much fun showing our Chiefs Love in Disney…We got a lot of love back—but also some haters…
😂❤️💛😏 #chiefskingdom in the #magickingdom 🏰
My sweet sister & I just created this adorable Fal My sweet sister & I just created this adorable Fall Coloring & Activity Book for Kids!🍁🎉
Just sweet—no Halloween references…Your kids will love all the whimsical details & fun activities!!🧡 

Link in bio…🥰
🍁Quick Tip: I love planning for the next school 🍁Quick Tip: I love planning for the next school week on Fridays! After we wrap up each  subject, I write out next week’s plan…

🤓I used to plan on Sunday night—but this routine has been so helpful because…
🍁Where we are & what we’re doing is fresh in my head.
🍁It feels faster because it’s broken into small chunks—I plan as we finish each subject & before I put away those materials for the weekend.
🍁I don’t have to drag things out on Sunday—because the planning is already done! 🎉
🍁 I know if I need to grab any supplies over the weekend! 

 #homeschoolplanning #homeschoolorganization
Created a sweet little notebook… Matches my Home Created a sweet little notebook…
Matches my Homeschool Lesson Planner! 👯‍♀️
Perfect for journaling & reflecting…🥰💗 

Details:
7x10 inches, 110 pages, lined notebook 
Available as a matte paperback or hardcover! 
(I like to use hardcover notebooks for Bible study.)💗

Copyright© 2026 · Brunch Pro Theme by Shay Bocks

AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES