Presidents Day

We came back from our vacation early - those posts to come as soon as I sort photos. Having an extra day as a family was so nice. We made a zoo trip before lunch at Chuys. I love having a zoo membership - I don't worry about the cost, and I don't fuss if we just go for a short visit and don't see everything on every trip. After about an hour Allison got hungry so we headed out for lunch. We sat outside at lunch and just had fun as a family. I think Allison ate more salsa than I did. She makes e smile watching her scoop up big bites of spicy salsa and creamy jalepeno dip. Allison an Kevin had a daddy-daughter afternoon while I had a dr appt and then ran some errands. It's funny that going to Target by myself is a treat now. I took advantage of the opportunity to do some Easter shopping. Now back to our regularly scheduled routine.

Valentine Hugs

Another Pinterest inspiration - valentine hugs.  I measured Allison's arm span and cut that onto ribbon, traced her hand prints onto craft paper, and used some heart shaped cookie cutters to trace hearts onto more craft paper.  Total project cost under: $3 ($1 ribbon on sale at hobby lobby, $.59 each 3 sheets of craft paper with heart themes.  I made one for each set of grandparents, Aunt Stacey and a keepsake for us.  On the center heart I wrote "A Valentine Hug from Allison, 2013".

Here is the original Pin I based mine from: http://thepartyevent.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/valentines-crafts-for-kids-a-long-distance-hug-a-beautiful-present-for-someone-special-diy/

Oreo valentines

I wanted to make homemade valentines for Allison's preschool party.  Yes, we are missing the party during our trip, but its a chance to be creative and make the kids a treat.  I saw something similar on Pinterest, but with no link.

I used ziploc snack bags which were a little small, but the quart sized ones had big logos on them.  Next time I'll get some from the dollar store.  I had the straws and striped paper (cut to 5 inches tall by 6.5 wide), and picked up a 12 pack of mini oreos for under $5 at Target.  For the label I googled 'free cookie monster clipart' for my cookie monster and found a valentine one.  I printed the label on cardstock, used double stick tape to attach to the striped paper then stapled the label onto the bags.  Total time: less than 1 hour.

Michael's 6th birthday

Last night we attended an impromptu party to celebrate Michael's 6th birthday. His dad has a last minute trip to help his sick dad and won't be here Wednesday for the actual birthday. After a quick stop to pick up some Cars books for the birthday boy we had a great party at the Warrens house. I think Michael had fun and we all got to celebrate with pizza, homemade cake topped with M&Ms and lots of running around. Here's a photo of Michael, Allison and Kaitlyn enjoying cake.

New furniture

kitchen table and chairs

Kitchen chair

Over the last couple months we've gone through the process of replacing our kitchen and dining room tables.    First we sold our kitchen table to some friends, and used our craft table from upstairs as an interim for awhile.  Kevin and i picked out two tables from Pottery Barn and watched for sales.  In December I was able to get the price I wanted on a new dining room table and matching china cabinet - replacing the set my parents got before I was born (they passed it on to me during college).  In January we used rewards from the dining set to purchase a beautiful round kitchen table. We hadn't ordered chairs for either table - we couldn't find anything we agreed on.  Over Christmas I went to an unfinished furniture store with Stacey and Cathy and we picked out kitchen chairs and benches for the dining room.  They were then stained to match the tables and I'm so happy with how they turned out.

dining table & bench

bench close-up

dining table details

My sweet girl

Yesterday as I was eating breakfast Allison ran over to hug my legs. She said "I'm so proud of you mommy". What a precious girl.

On the way to church

Toddler birthdays

Over the las two days I've talked to Allison extensively about how you get treats on your birthday (cake, presents) and when it's someone else's birthday they get the treats. This morning we had Abby's 2nd birthday party and Allison did not do well. It's hard being 2 I think. We ended up leaving early but Allison got to take a cupcake home so everything ended well. I'm sad I didn't get a photo of Allison with the birthday girl but there was a lot going on. Here is Allison enjoying her cupcake: