I {Big Puffy Heart} Love Valentine's Day!

I admit, I am a HUGE romantic.  I love all things pink and think surprises are just the best.  But, I have NEVER decorated for Valentine's Day.  Can you believe it???!!!  After browsing blogland and seeing some of the most amazing decorations, I knew I had to make a change.  So, one Sunday (on a date night, no less) my sweet, sweet hubby accompanied me to Joann's, Target and the Dollar Tree.  Yep, he's a keeper.  I was on a mission.  As I mentioned, I am a lover of all things pink.  However, this day, it was red on my list.  I came up with this little mantle idea.  I am in L.O.V.E with it!  Very simple, but still exactly what I was looking for.  And it doesn't look like a 14 year old threw up in my living room.  

 I made some of the cute little ruffle balls you find all over the "Land of Blog" to put on my entry table.  I just popped them on a cake plate and it added just the right bit of color.  I also have a candy jar on that table filled with foil wrapped chocolate hearts.  No picture of that, as i am having difficulty keeping the "not me's" hands out of it.

I am officially addicted to making these ruffle balls.  They are so adorable and super fun to make!  


I am working on some other projects this week, so be sure to stop back by.  Have a wonderful day!

So....We Meet Again

Here I am again.  There are so many things to say about the reason I stopped blogging here.  It was a conscious decision for sure.  I felt like when I started my homeschool blog, I wouldn't need this one any longer.  But, if I'm being really honest (which I always try to be), I never felt like that blog was the whole "me".  Does that make sense?  I am more than "just a homeschooler".  The same way I am more than a mom, wife, homemaker extraordinaire (giggle, giggle,snort), etc.  I need a place I can blog about everything I am interested in.  While that will include glimpses into our school life, it will also be about what we do as a family as well as things I love.  Decorating, shopping, volunteering, cooking, baking, etc.   I think I am beginning to find myself and what I love.  Now that the kids are slightly older (8 and 7) and aren't SO dependent on me, I have time to craft and blog and host parties and clean and shop...you get the idea. 

I hope you find this a place where you can get some ideas, share some of your own and learn a little about me and my family.  I will eventually import my other blog over here.  For now, I will be using it primarily as a place for any reviews I do.  I am so excited to see where this blog takes me and so happy to have you along for the journey!

Our Summer (So Far)

We have been having SO much fun this summer!  Unfortunately, I haven't taken any pictures.  :(  My plan was to do at least one "fun" thing each week.  Sometimes I feel like I get so caught up in things I have to do because we are out of school and I have extra time, that I just forget to make time for the fun stuff.  Not this summer, though!  So far, we have went camping, to Fernbank, swimming, swimming and more swimming.  Next week is VBS, then it's off to Panama City for the 4th of July week.  Hoping the oil stays away, but if not, there is a fabulous pool at the resort. I spent A LOT of time researching resorts to find the one that would offer us many other things to do in case the beach was unavailable.  I hope that's not the case though.  That whole situation saddens me.  We had reservations to camp on Santa Rosa Island, but unfortunately the oil has already touched the beaches there.  Anyway, we are staying at Edgewater Beach Resort which is where we will be in October for one of Brynn's meets.  We thought it would be nice to check it out before then too.

                                         picture courtesy of 4 panama city beach condo

I have no idea what we will be doing when we get back, but it will soon be time to order curriculum for next year and Brynn's meet season will be starting.  Parker is going to be playing soccer again, so that will start soon as well.  So many things to look forward to!

Fernbank Museum

Thursday Nana and I decided to take the kids to the Fernbank Museum.  Greg and I bought a membership in January and haven't used it in a while.  They have a new Gecko exhibit that the kids thought was super cool.  So did I.  Who knew there we so many different types of Geckos?  Very neat.  If you have never been here, it truly it an exceptional place. So many things to see and learn about and really keeps the kids attention. Plus, it's inside, and when it's 900 degrees outside like it is here in Georgia, that's a good thing.

  Seeing how much bigger a dinosaur footprint is than their hands.  Much, is the answer. 
























In front of the Stegosaurus.  Parker brought "Stomp"  on this field trip.  Appropriate, I thought.

We watched the Imax movie "Bugs" before we left.  Very cool. And educational.  Love that! 

We had a really great day and will have to go back very soon.  It always seems like we don't have time to do quite everything there.  Next time we will have to take a trip to the Planetarium also.  It has been a while since we took them there.

I hope we can make time to go on many more trips this summer.  Sometimes it feels like we have to many other things to do, but maybe we can use one day each week to do something different.

By the way, Brynn isn't crying, the sun is in her eyes.  :)

We're Back!

We had so much fun on our camping trip this past weekend!  It was a little wet, but having the camper helped out tremendously.  Not so much on laundry though.  Friday evening we just ate some hamburgers and hot dogs and relaxed after setting up.  Saturday we decided we would go to the Laser Show but went with the reserved seating since it was going to be CRAZY packed that night.  Well worth the money and no chairs to carry. 

Sunday we went for a drive to feed the ducks at the covered bridge.  It is such a special place for us since that's where Greg asked me to marry him.  We try to visit each time we go.  We hiked through the trails that were there  all along the lake. The kids really enjoyed that.  I think they investigated every hole on every tree and every rock they came across.  So cute! We stopped at the Mill and the kids played in the water for quite a while.  I normally would have had them in bathing suits, but it was a spur of the moment idea. Those are always the best.  :)

Parker thinking this is pretty cool.

Brynn getting completely pummeled by the waterfall.  She loved it!

All done and ready to go.  They had a fantastic time.  We are going to have to make time to do this often during the summer. 

We packed up to come home Monday, but made some amazing memories over the weekend.  I can't wait to go again!