My Favorite Finds of 2025 So Far: Home & Kids

I had a draft of this post started in June but summer craziness and travel happened so here we are… in August. Not exactly the “halfway through 2025” post I planned to share but hey, these are some fantastic finds that deserve to be highlighted anyway!

At the end of every year, I share your top favorite finds based on what items were most popular when I take the time to go through my analytics but this post is a little different. I thought a little check-in halfway through the year where I highlighted my very favorite finds organized by category might be of interest because I personally love this kind of stuff. (I’d truly LOVE to hear about any of your favorite finds of the year so far below!)

To qualify in this list, the items must be new-t0-me finds I discovered in this year. You guys know by now that I can be a little longwinded when I really love something, so I am dividing this post into a mini series. Up first: My top 5 favorite home + kid finds! Note: The “home” category is also more or less an “everyday life” category!

Top 5 Favorite Home Finds of 2025 (So Far)

• Hatch Restore

I mentioned on my blog a year or so ago that I plug my phone in way across our room before getting into bed at night. I don’t look at it in the morning until after I let Pepper out, make coffee and read my devotional. At the risk of sounding dramatic, the difference it made in the way I felt going into the day was massive. For a while I was still using my phone as my alarm but wanted to shift away from that as well and, thanks to Gina‘s recommendation, I opted for a Hatch Restore.

I’ve used Hatch lights for our boys for years (even still!) and a Hatch Rest has been a go-to gift for me for new moms because it’s usable for years. It works wonderfully as a noise machine and then, when they’re bigger, it’s a great okay-to-wake clock or alarm clock you can operate from your phone. Anyway, back to the Hatch Restore! What sold me is the “sunrise alarm for gentler wakeups.” I cannot tell you just how lovely it is to wake up to a gradually warming glow in your room that imitates the sunrise along with birds chirping (this is what I selected — it’s customizable!) versus a beeping or loud musical alarm. This feature alone makes this clock worth it to me but it’s truly so much more than an alarm clock, as it’s customizable with sleep routines to help you relax at night and can be a bedside light with a dimmable clock during nighttime hours.

• BruMate Resa Leakproof Tumbler

Another cup!? Yeeeep. Like so many of you out there, I feel like I’m a bit of a cup/water bottle/tumbler connoisseur at this point. Though I am all-in on my ridiculous 64-ounce glass jug for daily hydration, it’s so large that it is not practical for travel or for lugging into certain places/on certain adventures. After the top of my Owala water bottle broke, I ordered a BruMate during Amazon Prime Day for a few main reasons: It has a straw but it’s LEAK-PROOF. The straw is silicone on the top (soft!) but stainless steel inside of the cup (love this as opposed to plastic). It’s dishwasher safe and keeps beverages cold for 24-hours. And I can happily say it does all of these things! I have the 35-ounce size in Prickly Pear and have been so impressed. I didn’t want a handle on this one because I was mainly buying it for travel/activities and wanted a slimmer profile that would more easily fit into a bag but there is an option with a handle as well as kid-friendly options available.

• Blueland Dishwasher Detergent Tablets

These sustainable (but actually effective!) Blueland dishwasher detergent cleaning tablets are super clean, 100% microplastic free and work so, so well. They easily cut through grease and grime and leave our plates and glassware sparkling with zero soapy taste/residue on flatware and silverware. We use the fragrance-free option and I initially ordered the set with the cute tin (I’m a sucker for stuff like this) but have since reordered the dishwasher detergent refills and been so happy with this product for our daily dishwashing!

• Biom Wipes

With all of our kids officially out of diapers, we were ready for the next phase of wipes. (I will never not have wipes available in my car again after having kids. They’re one of those items I found useful for a bazillion things beyond diaper changes.) I initially got these Biom wipes because they’re non-toxic, plant-based and scented with plant-derived essential oils (or totally unscented if you prefer) but I LOVE them for the sleek little dispenser! I never knew how annoying I found crinkly wipes packaging until I began using these Biom wipes. The dispenser makes grabbing a single wipe easy and also helps them retain moisture which is especially helpful for me now that we’re not flying through wipes like we were during the baby days. I loved the Biom wipes dispenser I had in my car so much I ordered one for Ryan’s car and to keep in the bathroom off our kitchen for the boys to easily grab when needed, too. (FYI for any Target shoppers, the Biom wipes dispenser and wipes are part of the current Target Circle deal: If you spend $50 on any home products you get a $15 Target gift card.)

• Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones

I will be the first to say I was incredibly lucky to receive Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones in a PR box from the company several months ago. (I was not obligated to share and this is not sponsored. I still wanted to disclose the gifting but also include them in this list because they’re truly fantastic.) I know these headphones are a huge luxury splurge item and I was very grateful to be included in their gifting list. I was even more grateful once I started using them because they are truly a dream.

I’ve worn traditional earbuds in my ears for years but after about 60 minutes of wear, my ears always get sore. This wasn’t a big deal at the gym or on a walk, but it was annoying to me as I love to listen to music for hours when I work from a coffee shop and I also listen to audiobooks for extended periods of time. These headphones could not be more comfortable on my head and over my ears. They’re like little pillows over my ears and their ability to cancel out noise is amazing. I also love that, unlike my ear buds, I feel like you can cancel out noise but still listen at a lower volume which I appreciate since I don’t want music/audiobooks/podcasts blasting in my ears. I also really love the “aware mode” and use this mode a lot at home (especially when I’m listening to an audiobook and doing chores when the boys are home) and also during my outdoor walks for safety reasons. It also connects easily to my phone and my laptop which I appreciate so I’m not always toggling back and forth between the two. And the battery life is fantastic! They’re an item I use daily and absolutely love. Note: If you’re considering these headphones, they’re going on sale (down to $229 from $359 — $130 off!) on Friday, August 22, so hold off until then and keep an eye out.

Top 5 Favorite Kid Finds of 2025 (So Far)

• Brain Flakes

My absolute favorites toys for the boys are toys that encourage open-ended play. They’re the kind of toys they use for years because creativity is limitless. (Examples: Magnetic tiles, Foamnasium play couch, costumes, MegaBlocks, race tracks, etc.) Brain Flakes are a new-to-us toy that fits perfectly in this category. They’re one of those unicorn toys that all three of our boys (ages 10, 7 and 4.5) enjoy playing with equally. They’re incredibly entertaining and allow the boys to come up with a million and one different creations. The boys have thoroughly enjoyed copying the patterns that came in the container as well as this Beginner Brain Flakes book but equally enjoy coming up with their own creations, characters and even games using the Brain Flakes. This container of wheels and axels gets a lot of use as well, as our boys love making various transportation-related creations.

• Walk the Dogs Game

Walk the Dogs has been the biggest hit with our family! It was a gift for Chase from my parents and though it says it’s for kids 8+, Ryder (age 7) very quickly picked it up and Rhett (almost 5) can play himself, too, with a few little reminders. The game comes with a bunch of little dogs (which in and of itself is fun for kids) that you line up in one giant line. The objective is then to create your own line of dogs with as many of the same breed together as possible. You draw cards to add dogs to your row only and to the front or back of your line. Cards pop up to shake things up as you play and we all get so into this one! This game also attracts the attention of other kids like crazy! I brought it to the pool to play with Rhett during the big kids’ swim practices this summer and we had no less than 5 kids want to join in the fun at our table

Tip: Lately when we’ve been learning new games together as a family, we’ve been into streaming YouTube video explanations of games as it makes it a million times easier to visually watch someone explain the rules rather than listen to one person read instructions. Here’s the video we watched to learn how to play this one: How to Play Walk the Dogs.

• Rhett’s Dirt Bike

This maaay be a selfish one to include on this list because I am pretty sure Ryan and I love this dirt bike just as much as Rhett. Not only has Rhett’s dirt bike been a blast for him to ride on himself, but, as the youngest child of 3 boys, it allows him to keep up with his big brothers when they’re pedaling away on their traditional bikes. Ryan and I love this as it allows us to go on longer walks and catch up with each other while the boys bike ahead. (Our big kids’ dirt bikes are FOR SURE a huge hit, too! But this one gets a special call-out as it has positively impacted our whole family.) The battery life on Rhett’s little dirt bike is also fantastic as it’s easily covered 3+ miles (or 1 hour of walking time for me and Ryan). It also has two speed modes though I’m pretty positive Rhett has never used the “slow mode” even one time.

• Books: The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins + The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer

I know technically these books could all be separate items on this list but for the sake of brevity, I’m roping them into one category since I could talk about books for daysss.

The Land of Stories: The number of DMs I got from you guys when I mentioned we were beginning The Land of Stories series with our big kids was through the roof. People LOVE this series with a passion and I absolutely understand why! The creativity the author brings to this story is truly magical. We’re only one book in but I’ve never seen Ryder (7) care more about a book in my life and Chase (10) is all-in on this one, too. We genuinely cannot wait for bedtime each night (myself included!) because book one had us totally enamored!

Find book one here: The Wishing Spell

The Underland Chronicles: Ryan, Chase and I read this series aloud together and we were all so invested! It is filled with action and adventure (Chase always wanted to keep reading!) but also has some deeper underlying themes. (Don’t be shocked if this book has you caring about a cockroach!) The Underland Chronicles is written by the author of The Hunger Games but is more age-appropriate for children ages 8-12. If you have young readers in your house looking for a captivating and immensely imaginative series, check this one out!

Find book one here: Gregor the Overlander

• Diamond Painting

I am forever and ever on the lookout for fun little crafty projects our boys can work on and genuinely enjoy and diamond painting kits have been the biggest hit this year. We’ve done diamond stickers in the past but never ventured into full pictures until Ryder received a kit for diamond painting as a generous goodie bag treat at a birthday party. The kit ended up feeling like a gift to our whole family because the big kids and I all had so much fun working on our individual pictures over the course of several days. (My mom also got into it during my parents’ visit, too! They’re a fantastic grandparent/grandkid activity!)

To do a diamond painting, you lay the picture on a flat surface and remove the protective film which will reveal stickiness on top of the picture. Then you use a little tool that comes with the kit to select a color “diamond” to place in its corresponding spot (these are labeled  by either letters or numbers). Think if it kind of like a “paint by number” kit but with sticky little gems!

Question of the Day

Now it’s your turn!!! Any particularly awesome home or kid finds from this year so far to share?