Monday, January 31, 2011

christmas is over, but valentine's is coming


And so, my wonderful hubby, I would like to put this on my wish list! (Minus the light fixtures though...do not like those!!)

Photo credit here.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

one more organization idea



Remember those calling cards I ordered a while back from Lemonade Paperie? Well, I ordered them thinking I would use them for gifts. However, after finishing my closet "project," I decided to do one more.
The little boys, Noah and Bryson, share a room. So, they also share a bookcase. Each one has a basket on the shelf for all of their smaller "trinkets and treasures." To help Bryson (and eventually Noah too) know which basket is which, I tied those cute little calling cards on each one. Again, super easy (it took two minutes!), but saves time in the long run for me and the little ones!

winter organizing...




I LOVE to organize! Yes, I am an organization addict, I admit it. And, usually, around this time of the year, I start getting that "itch" to organize something and do some early "spring cleaning."

So, I spent some time last week copying a Martha Stewart idea I saw some time ago. It was very easy and very inexpensive, but VERY helpful (at least for my household!)

Since I have three little boys sleeping upstairs in our house, I have three sets of bed linens to organize. Since I love crisp white sheets, they all have those for their beds. However, I found myself always fumbling through the folded sheet sets trying to figure out who gets what when I change the bed linens. So.... as you can guess, I just took baskets and labeled each one with the correct linens and done! Now, I just go straight to the closet and the basket. And, better yet, when I tell a little person to help me they can see their name and know which basket to pick from! Perfect!

a little taste of summer....in january!!!!





What a crazy weekend here in NC in terms of the weather! We were in winter coats and boots three days ago and today the boys were in shorts and sweatshirts playing outside! Ah... the fun of North Carolina winter weather!

So, while we were outside playing this afternoon, Noah shard a popsicle with his brothers. It was popsicle versus white shirt.... i think the photos tell the story of who won!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011


Sorry for the three Valentine's Day posts in a row when it is not even February! I am just in Valentine's Day mode right now because I am finalizing our Valentine's!

This little photo idea is just precious! If I had not already planned our treats, I would so be doing this. So, I will "file it away" for next year!

Check out the "how to" here.

Sunday, January 23, 2011



Still in search of a sweet little Valentine's Day card for someone special? Check these out.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

"love" this idea too


Speaking of Valentine's Day treats..... I love this sweet and very simple little idea for Valentine's Day pizza courtesy of One Charming Party.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

love is in the air......


Well, I have to admit, I have never been a huge fan of Valentine's Day. But, having children has changed that over the years. I make the most of all holidays now because of those tiny humans!

Hard to believe that Valentine's day will be here in less than a month. I took the boys outside today and snapped a few photos to do a Valentine's Day (or "love day" as we call it sometimes in our house) photo card. We'll see how that turns out soon enough!

For now, thought I would share this sweet little card I found here on Etsy.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

back to massanutten!

Over the weekend our family celebrated a BIG milestone! Doug.... aka..... "Daddy" around our house, turned the big 4 - 0! Wow! So, the boys and I surprised him on his birthday morning with a surprise trip Virginia to the Massanutten Ski Resort for a weekend of skiing! He had three hours to pack his bags and be ready!




























We visited Massanutten two years ago as a family and loved it. (Last year we stayed in the NC mountains) Massanutten is located right outside Harrisonburg, Virginia and is the perfect ski resort because it has a great "kiddie" slope, snow tubing and a HUGE indoor water park! The boys were so excited we were going back this year.

Our trip to Virginia took a bit longer than anticipated on Friday.... about an hour longer to be exact! Ugh!!! We ended up driving through a blizzard! It was snowing so hard, we called the resort to see what the forecast was there for the night. It was not snowing there and everything sounded good. So, we ventured on and arrived.

We woke Saturday morning to about an inch of snow in Virginia! It was beautiful.. and made for extra good ski weather! Skiing Saturday was so much fun for the boys.... well.... all except Noah! We decided to put Noah up on skis and "just see." He was not at all happy to have ski boots on his little chubby feet. He kept saying "off...off." When we put him up on the skis. he was just too unsteady on his feet and did not like it! So, don't let these photos fool you. He did ski about two times down a small hill with Doug behind him the whole time. But then the crying started and that was it! So, he wore his skis for about five minutes, probably five minutes too long in his opinion! We will wait and try him again in a year or so.

Noah did enjoy himself when he figured out he could throw snowballs at me while I was taking photos of the boys skiing. Too cute!

And... then there was the snow tubing! This was the first time any of us had been tubing. I have only one word... FUN! Absolute fun! Cameron and I went down first and just laughed and laughed at the bottom of the mountain. I took Bryson the second time and he LOVED it! The second we were at the bottom he said, "let's do that again!!!!!!!" But, along with the word fun, I have one other word to summarize Sunday in Virginia.. COLD! Bitter COLD!



Happy Birthday Doug!!!!!! We hope you enjoyed your birthday celebration weekend!

We are looking forward to skiing again next season.... hopefully when it is a bit warmer one weekend!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

it's all about the mouse.....

To say Noah is "into" Mickey Mouse would be the greatest of understatements. Noah is all about some Mickey Mouse clubhouse right now!!! It is so funny how different kids are into different television shows and characters. Bryson was also into Mickey Mouse and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse series, but I think Noah is a bit more of an obsessed fan! He will wake up and immediately go downstairs and say "I watch Mickey Mouse... I watch Mickey Mouse... watch Mickey..... Mickey Mouse.... Mickey Mouse clubhouse...." It is the cutest thing I have heard a little one say! The way he says Mickey Mouse is too sweet. And then he will say "Mickey Mouse clubhouse.. come "side", fun "side." Which translated is "come inside, it's fun inside." It's part of the theme song for those non Mickey followers out there.

So, maybe it was our trip to Disney last fall, or maybe "inherited" from his older brother, or maybe a result of the in home daycare he was in as an infant (Dianne's husband loved Mickey too!)...... whatever it is.... Noah loves Mickey Mouse!



Thursday, January 6, 2011

look what we have again!





Doug and I are very proud parents today! We have a terrific kid... again! Well, we feel we have three terrific kids, but the oldest one was recognized this morning at his school's Terrific Kid Program Award breakfast! This month's character traits were trustworthiness and integrity. Very proud mom this morning!!!! Cameron has received this honor two other times, both for being "respectful." His teacher nominated him and had some extremely complimentary things to say during his recognition.

We are very proud of you Cameron, our truly terrific kid!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, January 3, 2011

winterfest






















In years past I have always tried to do something a little "special" with the boys around New Year's. I am not a huge "New Year's Eve party person," so, I guess I feel I have to make-up for it to my children??????

Anyway, this year on New Year's Eve we ventured right into our backyard - Raleigh, NC. We decided to go downtown and explore Raleigh Winterfest. I am not sure how long the city of Raleigh has been doing this, but it is really a cute idea. Downtown is all decorated and there is an outdoor ice skating rink! The boys love to go ice skating, so it was "game on" for them!

The weather was really nice that day, so there was a bit of melting taking place, but it was still great! I have never seen such determination on a five year old's face as I did on Bryson's! He must have gone around that rink 112 times! Literally!!!! It was also a nice bonus that Krispy Kreme doughnuts was right across the street so we could enjoy a snack of chocolate peppermint doughnuts!!! Yum!