Chattanooga Quickie

We have been graced with another school break.  This one...a four day weekend for President's Day.  Still coming off our high from our Arizona vacation and in the works of planning another for Spring Break, we decided to lay semi-low.  

We spent the first few days playing with friends, hanging around the house, and just plain relaxing.  By Sunday we were ramped up and ready to get going somewhere.  We opted for a quickie Mommy & Kids trip to Chattanooga.  For being nearly in the middle of nowhere, that city has a lot to offer.

We packed up with our neighborhood friends, the Weiners, and were supposed to be joined by the Miccas as well.  Unfortunately the flu hit their house the night before departure and it was a no go.  We were all disappointed, but none like Jack.  He adores his BFF from babyhood and was absolutely devastated. 

We made arrangements to get the BFFs together the following weekend and somehow, with that, I was able to talk Jack into still going to Chattanooga {with a smile}.  It was a close one though.

We hit the city running on Sunday morning.  We parked the car downtown while we waited for hotel check-in and started our Chattanooga adventure.

We had grandiose plans for the Children's Museum to be our first stop.  However, the kiddos had so much fun just running around, climbing rock scupltures, and playing by the river, that we decided to postpone our original plan.  The weather was incredible and there were no complaints from me.  Cheapest fun ever!

After lunch, we decided it was time to hit the much anticipated Museum.  But again, spontaneity got put that to a quick halt.  While walking the city streets {on our way to the Children's Museum mind you}, the kiddos spotted a brand new rock wall climbing facility.  And that's just so happens to be where we ended up...{literally up}

The facility even offered outdoor climbing, where the kids basically scaled the building on this gorgeous February day.

I'm totally digging Maggie rock climbing in a skirt!

We were all excited to see that it was finally check in time at the hotel.  The kids made a mad dash to change into their swimsuits and drag their tired mamas down to the indoor pool.  Seriously, how can they just keep on going?  The pool was a much anticipated part of the vaca.

We topped off day one with a pizza dinner downtown and a trip to the candy shop.  Craziness!!  The kids were wiped out by his point and I wasn't far behind them.  

We hit the sack for an early bed time and waited in anticipation for day two.  Will we ever make it to the Children's Museum????  Stay tuned...

A Day Of Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

We woke the littles up this morning with lots of love.  They each came into the hall to find their "We Love" doors.  Always a favorite Valentines tradition.

This is Lucy's....

I'm always intrigued to hear which heart touched them the most.  Lucy's favorite was "when you sing you very own songs".  Which she does often and which I get a giant kick out of.

Here is Maggie's {complete with her knock code}...

Her fave was "how you are learning to be a dancer".  Makes me smile to hear that especially after it took weeks of persuasion to get my closet dancer to sign up.

And this is Jack's...

His fave was "how you spin in circles".  A running joke around here.  It actually drives me crazy.  i.e. trying to cook dinner and a nine year old boy spinning around the kitchen.

I totally get all tingly inside each year when I'm preparing these on Valentine's eve.  I can't deny, sometimes one kid is harder than the others...thankfully that varies from year to year.  But, it's a sweet reminder to me of what a lucky mama I am.  We all need that on occasion.

The love didn't stop there.  My trio raced downstairs, nearly as excited as Christmas morning, to get their goodies.  Amazing how a basket of dollar store and Target finds can elicit so much love and excitement.

Also, two beautiful bouquets were waiting for the girls from their admiring Daddy.  And a dozen gorgeous roses for me.  Such a sweet surprise for us gals.

Once I sent the bigs off to school, full of Valentines to share with their classmates and teachers, it was Lucy's turn.  I am thanking my lucky stars that I still have a pre-schooler because this was the only Valentine celebration I was invited to attend.

I was in charge of the craft.  Trying to come up with something festive, engaging and feasible for three and four year olds can have it's challenges.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how much they loved this easy peasy craft of friendship bracelets.

They each strung beads on a pipe cleaner to make a bracelet for themselves and someone they love.  I had a variety of pink, red, and purple pony beads available.  I also added some cute lettered beads from the Dollar Store.  So easy and it completely kept their attention.  Not bad for the fine motor skills either.

After a Valentine story time, the tots headed to the table for a Valentine feast.  The table was decorated absolutely darling.  But, nothing was more darling than watching Lucy say her blessing.  {loudest one of the group too}

The sweet treats got Lucy's seal of approval.

And just because it's Valentines Day and there is nothing better than loving friendships, I had to share these...

💗Such sweet friends! 💗

And with that, I'll leave it to Lucy to send me off with a LoViNg GoOdByE!

Happy Valentine's Day!  Hope yours was filled with lots of love!

I {Heart} My Kiddos

We had a mini Valentine photo shoot today.

I came home with these festive dresses for the girls...straight from Target.  Maggie is getting harder and harder to clothe {I knew this day would come}.  Lucy will still wear anything she sees.  So, if I want the girls to match on special occasions, oh say like Valentine's Day, there is a lot of compromise.

This particular dress was a compromise on my part.  If I had it my way they would both be dolled up in some monogrammed or smocked number.  But, I'm learning to let go inch by inch.  Oh, the drama of being a girl mommy.

Compromise or not, I think these little Valentines of mine looked absolutely darling. {and I imagine you will be seeing a lot more of these dresses this month so hopefully you agree}

It's plain to see both girls were hamming it up for the camera.  Don't ever let them fool you...they LOVE a photo shoot.  Follow it up with a picture viewing party and they are happy gals.

I even managed to drag Jack out there since he was sporting a red shirt and all.  He really wasn't digging it, rightfully so.  One and done.  I completely couldn't blame him.

But, take a look over his right shoulder...someone {named Lucy} was itching for another turn.  Never a dull moment with that little super star.

Mmmmm...sure do love those kiddos💗💗💗.

Sharing The Love

Happy February!  I could hardly wait for the 1st to get here so I could don my lovely Valentine's decor.  Nothing too overboard...just a little reminder that it's the month of LOVE.  Hoping it will rub off on the three littles around here.

One of my fave activities of February is getting all those Valentines goodies together so we can share the love.  Creativity, crafting and sharing at it's best.  

This year the girls opted for something a little KrAzY {and easy} per my persuasion.  I just so happened to have totally stocked up on these straws this summer on our way to the beach.  Embarrassing confession...I am obsessed with Dollar General.  And if you've ever taken a ride to the Gulf Coast there are about a million along the way.  My poor hubby cringes every time I beg to stop.

So on one of our many stops this summer, I found these straws clearanced for like 29 cents a package.    I could not resist and knew I would use them somehow someway.  They've already served purpose for Maggie's Mad Scientist party and now for V Day!

I made tags on Pages {for you Mac users}.  If you are anything like me, I'm always looking for an easy program for things such as this.  And then tied them up with some red and white bakers twine.  Super easy and I think they turned out pretty darn cute.

As for Jack, I had to steer my brain to "not pretty darn cute".  It's not always easy to think like a nine year old boy.  So I solicited some help from my fave blog, Dixie Delights.  These nose pencil sharpeners can be found on Amazon.  Who knew such a thing existed?

Add Dollar Store Valentine's pencils and...Hilarious!

Jack even let me make cutsie tags for them...I imagine the nastiness of picking a nose evens it all out.

And you know, I never forget the teachers.  They deserve LOVE all year round, but most especially on Valentines.

I am an absolute sucker for the Dollar Spot at Target...so many goodies to be found.  I snagged up 4 of these adorable heart totes for a whopping $3 each.  They are super cute with sparkle hearts in pink and gold.

What is Valentine's Day without a sweet treat too?  So I added a bag of this delish cupcake popcorn and tied it all up with a festive tag.

Our teachers "tote-ally" make our hearts POP, hope this does the same for them.

I mean how can you not just LOVE this month?  Off to basket up the littles sweet treats...