Valentine Decor

Been doing a little decorating. Had originally decorated with the snowflakes after taking down the Christmas Decorations but I realized the house needed some warmth, especially with the cold temps and snow.

The lanterns are from IKEA.




The framed subway art is from Dittle Dattle Blog (free printable). I added the hearts at the bottom. The 5x7 framed quote, "Love One Another" is from Becky Higgins (free printable).





The "Be Mine" garland is something I saw on a blog last year and didn't get the time to do it. I apologize that I can't give credit to the appropriate Blog.

The decorations are up and Love is in the air.

WOW!!!

Has it been that long....my last post was November 1st!!! We were definitely busy with Christmas and all the holiday activities. Hope every one's Holidays were filled with family and wonderful memories. Can you believe we have arrived at 2011. Seems like just yesterday everyone was worried about the arrival of Y2K. Here we are 11 years later.
Seems like time just goes by so fast lately. Not sure if it is because I am getting older or because life is just so full of activity. Spending time with the girls is our number one priority but sometimes the craziness of life interrupts.
We definitely enjoyed Christmas and made lots of memories. We are hoping 2011 brings lots of new memories, quality family time and good health and happiness. I wish the same to you and your family.

BOO!!!

Can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. September and October were extremely busy with parties, weddings, soccer and fall activites.

We had a Halloween celebration week with several parties, a book character parade, ZooBoo and of course Trick or Treating. Here are some pictures.

Back to School

Yes, I am still trying to catch up with all the recent happenings.

School started for the girls on August 30th. Abby started Kindergarten and Emma is in 1st grade. Abby had a gradual entrance week and didn't have a full day until Friday. Emma had a great first week. I can't get over how serious 1st grade is and how much she will learn. There are several kids in her class that she knows from Kindergarten and her teacher seems really nice. Hoping she has a great year.

Abby got to ride the bus for the first time on Friday (her 1st full day). She was so excited. I did better this year then a last...if you are a regular reader you will remember that I followed the school bus last year on Emma's 1st day and watched for her to get off (click here to read that blog post). This year I DID NOT follow the school bus. I felt more comfortable about her riding the bus: her big sister was there with her, she knew several other kids, we know the bus driver and I know the routine when she gets off the bus. What I did do was drive to the school and park out front. I waited for the bus to arrive and wanted to make sure she made it to the correct line. Shortly after I pulled up Sean pulled up behind me....BUSTED. Then as the bus pulled into the driveway Emma and Abby both spotted us and started waving...BUSTED AGAIN!!!! I am happy to report Abby made it safely into school.

The hardest part was the realization that my "baby" is growing up. What I also realized is that having two children so close in age, they will be doing everything back to back and time is going to fly by. I held myself together as Abby got on the bus but as soon as I got in the car I cried. Where has the time gone, she looked so big getting on that bus, I can't see the baby in her anymore...all of these thoughts were going through my head and as the tears ran down my face.

I am very proud of how well she has done so far. I know it will be a busy year and hope I can keep up with them.

Summer To-Do List

So at the beginning of summer we made of list of activities we wanted to do over the summer. When I first proposed this to the girls I was afraid their wishes would be outrageous (ex. Disney). But I was shocked....most of what they wanted to do was FREE. Some of their ideas were going to the playground, playing in the back yard and playing with friends. I was glad they were happy with the cheap and day-to-day activities.

So as a family we came up with our Summer To-Do-List. I put it in a picture frame to display and so we could use a dry-erase marker to check off the activities as we did them. Here are some of the activities we came up with and actually did this summer:

* have a picnic

* see Toy Story 3

* go to a street concert

* go to a beach

* family movie night

* join the library summer reading program

* visit a new playground

* visit the zoo

* visit Aunt Gail

* watch fireworks

* go to the 4th of July Parade

* complete the summer challenge from school

...and a few others. If you notice most are free or very cheap.

As you can see we had a busy summer including a 2 day trip to Hershey Park (that's why I didn't blog much over the summer). We completed everything on the to-do list except for ice skating...hoping to do that soon.

Now that summer vacation is officially over and we are back in school we are planning our fall activities.

Frugal but Fun Fourth of July

Having fun with your family doesn't have to be expensive. With many people including us trying to spend less these days finding fun but cheap activities are a must. This past weekend the four of us managed to have a fun filled weekend by just spending.......Let me show you what we did first.

Friday (the girls' daycare was closed so we had a 4 day weekend)

***Zoo - including a ride on the new Jones Falls Zephyr Train

Saturday
***4th of July Parade

Local beach

Sunday

***Toy Story 3

Swimming at the pool

4th of July Fireworks

Monday

***Eclipse (movie time just for Me)

Pool (Sean and the girls)

Much needed rest

We were exhausted after the weekend but not broke. So how much do you think we spent????

So here is the breakdown:

Zoo - have a membership (paid for itself after 1 1/2 visits) = $0 out of pocket on Friday for admission

Train ride $2 per person = $6

Parade - FREE

Beach - $3 per person (kids in safety seats FREE) = $6

Movies - more expensive than I had expected; had to go to a more expensive theater for an early showing = $32

Pool - have a membership (will explain this in another post) = FREE

Fireworks = FREE

Movies (Eclipse) - $6 admission + $8 popcorn and soda = $14

Pool = FREE

Rest = FREE

GRAND TOTAL = $58

Not too bad for a 4 day weekend for 4 people!!!!! We are good about packing lunches when we go to the pool, beach and zoo.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Indepenence weekend...we did!!!!

Checking in...

So Abby's Birthday week continued with her Pre-School Graduation. There is nothing cuter than 20 some kids with a cap and tassel singing their little hearts out. I hadn't really thought about it much until I was sitting there realizing she has accomplished another milestone and is moving onto a new chapter of her life...that is when Mommy started crying. My baby is becoming such a little lady.

Then on Saturday we continued to celebrate Abby's Birthday with a Fancy Nancy party for her friends followed by a family get together (pictures are in reverse order).

As Abby says, "I'm all the fingers on my hand!!!"

Lots more to update on you....like the leak in the upstairs bathroom that has created havoc on our life the past week and a half. Will be back soon with lots of pictures.