Weekend Wedding

I'm so sorry it took me so long to make this post about our weekend in Chesapeake and Peanut's Flower Girl venture...it's been a bit busy on the home front as well as me nursing a pretty bad burn on my back. All in all it was nice to get out of town for a bit and escape the craziness of the week before.

Our first stop after our 4 hour car trip was to Virginia Beach. We had to kill some time before we could check in to the hotel so we knew the kids would enjoy cooling off in the water a bit. This beach was not like the one I am used to in Wilmington and was way too sandy for my liking, but the kids enjoyed it so it made all the sand (that I'm still washing out of clothes, hair, ears, etc) all worth it.

After about an hour of the hot sun and surf we decided to make our way to the hotel and see if we could get an early check-in since we still had a rehearsal dinner to attend and we were in serious need of a nap. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our hotel was right next door to the Dollar Tree factory....it's one of my favorite stores when it comes to home organization....man, I'd love to take a tour of that place ( & some inventory!). 

We stayed at the Hyatt and our room was AMAZING, probably one of my favorite hotel rooms of all time...and we have stayed in many. I was a little sad we would only be staying one night here, but we will definitely be keeping this hotel in mind for future reference. This room was any parents dream who is traveling with kids...without a doubt ♥

The Rehearsal dinner was lovely and it was so great to see my friend from back home and honored that Peanut was able to be apart of her wedding. Some might find it odd that I went considering she was one of my brother's ex girlfriends, but she was like a little sister to me and so helpful when the twins were born, I couldn't say no. Peanut was given the most adorable bracelet with her name on it as her flower girl gift and has yet to take it off. I think she will keep it on until she grows out of it :) 

Flower Power

Today Peanut is rehearsing for her role as flower girl for our friends wedding this weekend. With a 4 year old, anything can happen....so we are getting in as much practice as possible. To help her get ready, I took an Easter basket and crumpled up some pieces of newspaper to pose as flowers. She has been walking up and down the hallway all morning practicing :)

Oh.... and we have power back! It was a long few days but we made it through OK...sadly our food did not. BUT, we are all safe & healthy and that's what matters most so I will try not to dwell on it. There are still thousands without power, and as the days get hotter, my heart goes out to them. You all are in my thoughts, please stay safe & cool ♥.

We are preparing to leave for the wedding so I will not be back to blogging until after the weekend. Lots of pics to come, so stay tuned :) I hope you all have a great weekend! xoxo

Digging for Dino's!

After seeing the forecast for the next week, I realized our outside fun was over...for awhile anyways. 90-100 degree temps are here, and that equals some pretty antsy kiddo's! I searched Pinterest for some fun inside activities & I think I found the perfect one as it involves something that will keeping them cool...ice!

This activity involves digging in a big block of ice for Dinosaurs...and of course we have plenty of those on hand.(I also threw in a couple of zoo animals too...why not?!) ^^

Once Bobo found out what our activity was for the day, he got out one of his Dinosaur books that was about digging for dinosaur bones and started studying...I really ♥ my little "Ross" ^^ 

I knew yesterday that we would be working on this project, so I started preparing it last night since it involves layering the dinosaurs in ice. If you put everything in at once, then the dino's would sink all the way to the bottom and what fun is that?! I started off with a big freezer safe food container (Rubbermaid) and added about an inch of water and let that freeze before putting in any of the dino's. Once the first layer was frozen, I added 3 dino's and then another layer of water and let it sit overnight. First thing this morning I added 3 more dino's with another layer of water, and then a couple hours later, one more layer of everything. It's now 3:30 in the afternoon and 103 degrees out, so this is a perfect time for them to start digging! The last layer wasn't 100% frozen but it was close enough, so I set the container into a bowl of cold water so I'd be able to get the big ice cube out easily and then put it into another large container to catch all the water and ice chips...because let's face it, this is going to get messy! So once everything was ready,I put on their craft aprons,  gave them some spoons and let them have at it!

They spent a couple of hours on this project and we still didn't get all the dino's & animals out before dinner, so we put the rest back in the freezer so they can finish it up tomorrow. We will definitely be doing this activity again, the kids both said that this was their most favorite thing in the whole world! That right there makes this a total success ^^

**Some additional suggestions that I have gotten from friends was to add sand so they can't see what they are digging out, and also keeping some salt handy to help loosen the ice. These are both great ideas I will try next time we do this outside! 

I hope you all have a great weekend! Stay cool ♥

Hello Kitty Eggs

A couple of weeks ago I was able to snag a free Hello Kitty Silicone Ice Tray from BizarkDeal.com. It arrived yesterday and I couldn't be more excited! I am not only impressed with the speedy delivery (from China!) but also the quality. I love it so much I may have to order a couple more of them since they can be used as more then just an ice tray. Because it is made out of silicone, it can withstand temps up to 500F, so I can also use it for baking...whether it be muffins or crayons!

This morning I was already boiling some eggs for egg salad, so I threw in a couple of extra eggs to try them out in our new ice tray! After the eggs were done boiling, I let them cool down just a bit before peeling them. I took 2 of the peeled eggs and promptly put them into the ice try molds while they were still very warm so they would be easier to shape. Since we always buy large eggs, I knew they wouldn't fit all the way into the mold, so I stuffed in what I could and placed a heavy bowl on top of the tray to hold them firmly in place and let them set for about 10-15 minutes.

I was really happy with the way they came out! The detail in the face and bow are pretty good considering this is not an actual egg mold. Next I took just a tiny dab of red food coloring and painted the bow with it using a Q-tip, and then did the same with the yellow food coloring for the nose. As you can see, the kids were pretty excited about their Hello Kitty eggs, so I will definitely be incorporating this in future Bento lunches for them :)

**please note: when you are using any kind of mold for your eggs, make sure the eggs are cooked so that the yolk stays in the middle, otherwise you will get some breakage when you try to fit your eggs into the molds. You can keep the yolks in the center by turning your eggs every few minutes -very carefully- with a spoon while they are cooking. 

Peanut Adventures: Washingtonian Center

Today was my day out with Peanut, so I took her to one of my favorite places in the area, Washingtonian Center! I think I am so fond of this place because I grew up by the water and this is the closest thing we have to it here. That & it's just a fun place to walk around for awhile, or sit and watch the birds...and there are a lot of great shops here as well! We started our day off at Barnes & Noble for their Saturday morning Story Time. They have it on Wednesdays too, but on Saturday our favorite lady is there reading books. She always interacts with the kids while she is reading them stories and she is just really fun and expressive. After that we walked around the Boardwalk for a bit, watched the ducks & geese swim around, and had a snack under the Gazebo. We didn't get to stay outside too long since it turned out to be a hotter day then I had originally thought it would be, so we ended our little adventure with some shopping at Target ♥

This is where they hold concerts in the Spring/Summer! She looks like she is ready for a show ^^

This is the Gazebo we always sit in to have a snack...sometimes the geese will come up and try to steal our food!

Uhhhh....Mom, are you SURE this thing isn't real?!?!

I hope you enjoy your weekend everyone!

Friday I'm in Love ♥

We don't have much on the docket today as it's another skorcha outside...so I broke out the play-doh!

Could they BE anymore excited???

It's been a super long & hot week and I am just really happy for the weekend to be here....so happy in fact that I may just print this out and wear it :) TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you all have planned for the weekend??? I plan on eating some yummy food, enjoying the cooler weather outside with the kiddo's, curling up with A Gentlemen's Dignity, painting my nails, and counting down til the return on Army Wives on Sunday! ♥

Making Memories

For the past couple of months I have had this humungo pickle jar sitting next to my sink, just waiting to be used for something creative. It even served as a vase for my Mother's Day flowers...but I knew that this awesome glass pickle jar had a greater purpose. And then suddenly there it was...on Pinterest of course! I had been looking through my thousands of pins & likes,  i'm a complete pin hoarder, and found a pin I had saved ages ago, the Memory Jar!

This was the perfect activity for us to do this week as we have been hiding inside from the 90+ degree temps with the AC on full blast. I gathered a few magazines I had around the house, a bag of ribbons, glue, & scissors...that's it! I told the kids we would be spelling out MEMORIES, so we needed to find those letters so I could cut them out to use on the jar. It was a fun learning activity as well as a craft activity since it involved recognizing letters in the alphabet. Normally I would let them use their safety scissors to cut things out for the project but the letters were so small that I decided to do it myself while they used their scissors to practice cutting shapes out of old newspapers. After I finished cutting all the letters out, we glued them onto the glass and picked out a pretty ribbon to represent summer, and we were done! The great thing about the ribbon is that we can change it to match whatever season it is. They have already picked out which ribbons to use for each season! You can really decorate this jar in a million different ways...glitter, paint, or mod podge. The ideas are ENDLESS! 

Our goal for our memory jar is to write down things that made us happy throughout the year and on New Year's eve (or day) we will read through each memory so we can remember what a great year we had and appreciate the little things even more. I would like to make this into a tradition that they will carry on with their own kids someday.

When I asked them to write their favorite memory of the year so far to add to the jar, this is what they each wrote:

• Bobo,"going to the beach"
• Peanut, "visiting with Grandpa & Grandma"

I love that they both picked moments from our trip to North Carolina as their favorite memory, mine will also be from this trip as well ♥

Have you made your own Memory Jar??? If so, I'd love to see it...please post a link in the comments section of this post ^^


*here is the original pin where I got my inspiration >> http://pinterest.com/pin/166492517444456063

Today's Project: Recycling Crayons!

I have been wanting to do this project for awhile since seeing it on Pinterest, but after eyeing that tin of broken crayons for the 100th time this morning, I knew today was the day....WE ARE RECYCLING CRAYONS! I really dislike throwing away things they are still very much in use, so I was really happy to stumble upon this idea ^^

I dumped out the big tin of crayons on the the floor and separated the broken ones from the good ones and put them in this pretty little pile.

 At this point the kids were thinking I had gone crazy ...I kept getting that sideways puppy head tilt from them. I didn't tell them right away what our project was cause it's fun to keep them guessing for awhile. I then told them to pick a color and start peeling! They were more then happy to oblige and they spent the next hour or so REALLY super focused while peeling and separating the colors.

While they were peeling and sorting I preheated the oven to 275 degrees. Once they were done, I popped the muffin tin into the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes (as several sites suggested). I think it was probably about 15 minutes before they were all melted at this temp though. If you decide to make these, I would still set the timer for 10 but keep checking after that to see if everything is melted since all ovens are different. After I pulled them out I let the crayons set for 10 minutes & then put them in the freezer for 20 minutes. I was a little worried that they wouldn't come out since I had not sprayed or lined the pan, but it ended up being just fine....those crayons popped out like ice cubes! The kids were sooooo excited and wanted to use them right away even though they were still frozen :D 

We had soooooooo much fun with this project and I'm really looking fwd to doing it again in the future, maybe with some fun shaped pans next time! We may never have to buy another new crayon again ^^

Daydreaming ~ NC Trip

 A few months ago we made a road trip to the beach in North Carolina to see my family...I am daydreaming about being back there today as I am sitting here in the miserable muggy weather ...too hot inside, too hot outside >.<  This trip was the last time I remember really relaxing in a long time since it was the day after I returned home that I had that dreadful Doctor's appt and all hell broke lose in my world. The trip was really perfect...the weather, the beach, and the company. My Father and my Grandmother (she just turned 91!) are the 2 people that I am closest too in my family, maybe even in my whole world...and we were way overdue for a visit. We had such a great time talking & laughing for HOURS and looking through old family photos. The kids had a lot of firsts on this trip which also made it extra special....the first time to meet my Grandma, the first time at the beach playing in the sand & waves, collecting seas shells, the first time on a swing, & the first time coming face to face with a cat. Soooo many great memories on this trip that we will never forget ♥

*RIP Nikki the cat, we will miss you!

The Twinkies & Grandma ♥

#photodayjune - days 5 & 6

I have been so busy the past couple of days I have not been able to blog or post my photos for the photo challenge, eeek! This weekend is the last free junk drop off day of the year, so we have been combing through the gazillions of boxes in our basement & sorting out things that we really don't NEED. All the "junk" will be donated to help out the Lupus Foundation...how cool is that!? Couldn't think of a better way to get rid of some things! We will also be moving AGAIN within the next year,  so we would really like to have as little stuff as possible since we will be moving ourselves this time around.

I also went to the hospital yesterday to get my lab work done & make an appointment with the Hematologist , *crossing fingers* that everything will turn out fine but I would like to know why all this bleeding has been happening. I should have some answers by the end of the month!

now, onto my photos......


#5 Sign -  Take a photo of a street sign, a shop sign, someone doing sign language, any sign!

this is a pic of my Hubs "Evo Parking Only" sign 

#6 Hat - Take a photo of you wearing a hat, someone else wearing a hat, a hat in a shop - and yes those in cooler months - beanies count!

My little Peanut modeling her favorite hat ♥

*in case you are just tuning in, these photos are for Fat Mum Slim's June Photo Challenge, if you'd like to find out more, please visit her site >> fatmumslim.com.au

Lazy Sunday

Today is an unusually sunny & breezy day here in Maryland. Normally you can't even go outside for more then 5 minutes this time of year, at least where we live! So, Peanut & I totally took advantage of this gorgeous day and sat outside with some coffee & juice while the Hubs & Bobo went out & did some guy errands together. This was also a rare day because usually Peanut is the one who goes out with the Hubs, not Bobo ...she is a Daddy's girl & he is 100% Momma's boy . It was soooo nice to have some one on one bonding time with her ♥

photo by Peanut ♥

Memorial Weekend Adventure

This weekend (pre-bedrest!) we attended the Memorial Day Tribute to Wounded Warriors event in The Plains, VA. It was a super hot day but we doused ourselves in sunblock, took a ton of water, and made the best of it! The event was held at the gorgeous Great Meadow Event Center and there ended up being a bit of a breeze once we arrived so that made it more bearable. Our goal was to not only help out with the wounded warriors charity but let the kids have a fun time since we have been cooped up inside so much lately while I have been recovering. I think the highlight for them was the bouncy house...can you believe they have never been in one?

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