I'm not sure you'll remember, but I caught a little flack for the contents of our Easter baskets last year. I've never thought I was going overboard and I try really hard not to fall victim to comparison when it comes to how we provide for our children. Making everybody happy is too difficult, so I try to make sure my children are happy and that Josh & I are comfortable with the level of giving for Easter and Christmas. I do not want to instill a sense of entitlement in my children and we definitely say no when it comes to the "gimmes", but I do want them to know how to receive and enjoy good gifts, how to experience gratitude and real joy over getting something that you really wanted! In Sophie's basket this year, there was: a gardening bag with accessories, athletic shorts, a new ...
the eggs
Can somebody please tell me that I'm not the only one who seems to dye eggs at 9 o'clock the night before Easter? K texted me early in the morning to say she felt like a terrible mom -- like we should have something planned for the day to celebrate I laughed and told her that Josh was working at the baseball field, my girls were spending the day with Nana and I was spring cleaning. Not exactly festive, right?! What I thought would be a half-day of cleaning house and folding laundry, turned into ten hours of scrubbing floors and moving furniture. Josh was home by lunch and we ate BBQ at the tiny table in the playroom. He helped me finish up the housework and I was finally on my way to the grocery store by 4 o'clock, praying there were still white eggs to be found. We had plans to dye ...
Easter + Labor Day
This is a sponsored post. I hosted a Labor Day viewing party with my friends and family in exchange for a free copy of the movie on Digital HD. I am in no way affiliated with Paramount or its partners and all opinions expressed are my own. Labor Day is available for digital release on Paramount's website. Have I mentioned lately how unbelievably amazing my extended family is? I love Easter for so many reasons, but being able to spend the day with this bunch certainly ranks near the top. We had a superb pot-luck lunch and spent the afternoon outside enjoying the gorgeous weather. My mom says she remembers playing a family game of softball after Easter lunch when she was a little girl. She told me earlier in the week that everyone participated -- young and old -- and that they played in the ...
a weekend recap.
I'm not sure if I told you about our weekend that you would believe we squeezed it all in. I knew by mid-week that it was going to be crazy, but I'm not sure I realized just how little time between events we would have. Because of the rain, Josh & Cory's baseball team had cram in a ton of area games last week to qualify for the state playoffs. We had been looking forward to a date night for weeks, but they ended up playing a doubleheader on Friday night instead. I rushed home from work after running some last minute birthday errands and got the girls dressed and packed for their first birthday slumber party. We have such a great group of friends and it worked out great that they would both be invited to the same party. They were super excited and I was kind of thrilled for a few hours ...
Taz turns FOUR.
FOUR years ago this little whirlwind blew into our lives. I think back on what our life was like before she was here. It was calmer, more quiet and far less work. I guess I always thought Sophie would be a carbon copy of Ella. I thought they would look alike and have the same personalities. I never expected them to be so different and four years later, it's hard to think about what life would be like without this little Taz. Sophie is always happy. Always. Every time someone asks me what she'd like for her birthday, I just smile. It doesn't matter what you get her, she is over the moon excited and loves everything about it. She is quite possibly the easiest child to please. She is overly enthusiastic. Her facial expressions are the best and the inflection in her voice when she asks ...
Ummmm.
I knew April would be rough. We have Easter to celebrate, Ella had two dance competitions on the calendar, Josh's baseball team was finishing up games before the playoffs and we had to fit a pretty sweet birthday celebration in there somewhere. We're trying to get the yard ready for spring, plan summer camps and vacations and somehow manage to actually speak to each other this month. Not only am I funding said birthday party, field trips, an out of town dance competition, dance pictures and Easter baskets, but our tag renewal is this month, too. I'm exhausted just thinking about all of that. I don't know why I start to panic the week before a birthday party. I know that I work better under pressure. I kept saying this party wasn't going to require much work, but then of course I fell ...
Spring Break | Part Two
Our last two days on the coast were decidedly different than the first two. We saw the sun shine and there was LOTS of shenanigans going on in the camper. Kids wanted pictures of themselves, they took silly pictures of us, made weird faces and generally traumatized their parents. When we got up on Saturday, the sun was shining and it felt great outside. I had on shorts and a tank and the kids were in short sleeves. We hung out around camp for a few hours, ate Arby's for lunch (we laugh that this has somehow been designated as "beach food" since we never eat it at home) and packed all of our gear. Imagine our surprise when we pulled into "our beach", as the girls like to call it (the Gulf State Park Beach Pavilion), and it was closed to the public. We later asked a guard at the ...
Spring Break | Part One
This is the first time since Kamin & I went to Disney World in 2004 that I can remember going somewhere for Spring Break. The girls are usually with my mom for the week and we operate on a normal schedule. How boring?! This year Josh & I were both having serious withdrawals and it seemed like a pretty good excuse to "take the camper down so we can get there quicker in June". Because spending money on two vacations inside three months makes PERFECT sense. Our girls had been counting down the days for weeks. We left on Wednesday after lunch and made the five hour drive (it takes an extra hour with the camper in tow), hoping to get there by dinner. We were super impressed with the girls, who traveled so well. There were several movies, lots of books and very few potty breaks. Sophie ...