January 3, 2015

Happy New Year…….and Blogiversary!!!!

Stephanie Blog Information, Holiday 1 Comment

Happy New year everyone! Yesterday marked my 4 year blogiversary! Wow that is such a big milestone and I have to say I am blessed to have been a part of our lives for these past years! They have changed me for the better and I love being able to share my thoughts and ideas with all of you! I have been sadly too busy to hang out here with you and that makes me pretty sad. I spent alot of time this year making gifts for Christmas and then we had a flu that just wouldn’t end. However, it is a new year and everything is fresh and ready for new adventures! Ready for new blog posts, ready for new learning, ready for new business ventures, and ready for more family fun! I dont know about you, but I love this time of year. There is something so magical about new beginnings and about starting fresh. A whole year is just laying before us and ready. This year I have plans for this glorious stretch of time! Plans to learn with and teach my girls as we continue our homeschool journey. Plans to love my husband as we hit 10 years of married life together (GASP! That is a LONG time)! And plans to continue learning just about everything about making amazing photography! Maybe, just maybe, I will even get good enough to start my very own little business! Who knows! What I do know is that there will be love, there will be joy, and there will be faith. I wish the same for all of you too! Happy New Year Everyone!

November 10, 2014

Happy Halloween….A Million Days Late

Stephanie Family moments, Holiday, Homeschooling, Photography, thoughts 0 Comments

Life….am I right?! I took these photos on the Wednesday before Halloween and it has taken me that long to just to get them edited and a looking nice! Yikes! It took that long because the wind and the sun were just not allowing me to take pictures that were worth a crap. On top of that…….well life happens! Things have been busy and with some attitudes here that needed adjusting, and lots of fun stuff going on, it just hasn’t happened! But I know that you my fellow humans of our insane world, will understand and not think its totally nuts to post these a million days late! I took alot of pics of our homeschool group for Halloween and they were all just adorable all dressed up! But I will spare you the hundred pictures of everyone…….wait…….no I wont! 😉 You know me better then that right?! Well I will start with my own girls so you see then first before you get board……lol Bunny was Nancy Clancy (in case you are unaware of who that is, it is Fancy Nancy all grown up. Click here to see). Pup was Strawberry Shortcake! We made all the costumes and had fun doing it! I think that the wigs really make it all work! So……I proudly unveil…….Halloween pictures:

October 15, 2014

Halloween-y Fun

Stephanie Holiday, projects 0 Comments

Well I had grand plans of writing a beautiful post yesterday evening, but a migraine kind of changed that plan pretty quickly! So I figure that I will let those thoughts percolate and instead share a fun little craft the girls did today! They have embraced the season of Halloween and I thought that finding a fun project would be good! So after browsing pintrest together, they found a sweet little witch made out of a tiny flower pot. Well, Bunny was so enthralled, she ran around the house checking to see if we happened to have all the materials…..and low and behold we did (those are the benefits of living with a craft obsessed momma). She collect everything and the girls got to work. I helped here and there, but they did all of it on their own. The only thing I had to help with was making the hats out of felt! It just amazes me how big my girls are getting. It seems like just yesterday we were finger painting and making leaf collages out of contact paper. Now they can paint, cut, and use the glue gun all by themselves! The results are awesome too! I guess I taught them well! 😉 I love that creativity is such a part of everything we do here. All this creativity seems to build their ability to think, and problem solve quicker then when they don’t spend as much time making things. I think it is such an important things…..plus its fun for all of us!

What about you? Does creativity make it on your list of daily fun?

April 21, 2014

Happy Easter 2014

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Happy Easter Everyone! I hope that the blessings of the Lord Jesus are with you all this year and that he gives you the desires of your heart! We had a wonderful day that started early with Mass and was followed by egg hunts, yummy food, and lots of family fun! As always we spent the day with lots of family! Our holidays may be a bit busy, but they are oh so much fun. Plus we have lots of candy to keep the fun going to tomorrow! 😉 Happy Easter!

February 15, 2014

Happy Valentine’s Day

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Valentine’s Day. It is one of those holidays that people either do or don’t do. I love it. There is something so magical about a bunch of pink and happy hearts in the middle of cold dank February! However, this year I was a little bit off! We didn’t decorate until yeaterday. I did mange to get some things together for the girls because I think they love the holiday as much as I do! For each of the girls I made an animal valentine out of hearts and left them to find when they woke up. I also blew up a bunch of red balloons and left them all over the floor! They LOVED it! I also made sure that we had a fun breakfast. Whole wheat pink pancakes with sprinkles and strawberry smoothies were the menu for breakfast! It seems like the simple things are the ones that mean the most to the girls. It was a good reminder that acts of love are sometimes so simple. And it seems like these simple ones are the best! I hope you all got a chance to celebrate with someone you love! Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!!

December 26, 2013

Merry Christmas

Stephanie Family moments, Holiday 2 Comments

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope and pray that the Baby Jesus fills your life with joy and happiness! Our day was fill with joy, excitement, and of course lots of gifts! We started with checking the stockings to see if Santa made it to our house (which he did) and then it was off to Mass to celebrate the true gift of this day! Then we got to spend the rest of our day with our family! There was lots of playtime with cousins and laughter of silliness! Here are a few pictures of our day!

So there you have it! We are all really tired after all this fun and tomorrow we are going to sit around and just be! Bunny has plans to build the Lego Friends High School that she got from Grandma and Grandpa! And Pup is ready to ride her new scooter outside! Frankly, I will be reevaluating our school plan and making it ready for the new year! What about you? Did you have a good holiday? What are your plans to relax after all the fun?

December 25, 2013

Christmas Eve Happiness

Stephanie Family moments, Holiday 0 Comments

As per our usual traditions, we spent the day at my mom’s house! It was a day of wonderful gifts, happy playtime, and yummy food! 🙂 I really don’t know what else to say about it! There was teasing, laughing, good times, a few fireworks, and family. It is such a blessing to have everyone together for the holiday, and I thank God that I am that lucky.

So there you have it! Lots of fun and Christmas happiness! When we got home it was time to put our cookies for Santa. The girls are sleeping in their beds right now awaiting sleigh bells! I hope that you are all having a fabulous holiday too! Merry (early) Christmas!

December 24, 2013

Our Merry Christmas

Stephanie Family moments, Holiday 0 Comments

If you have been following me for the last few years, you know that we do our own little family Christmas on the day before Christmas Eve. Why? Well because thenw e have some relaxed time to play together, eat together, and just be! Tomorrow we are at my moms and the next day we are at my in laws! Everyone gets lots of time and happiness together! Today we were able to start our day early ( I really thought Pup would explode into a million pieces if we didn’t)! The girls were so excited to open their gifts! So once breakfast was over, and kitchen was cleaned, we jumped into opening gifts! This year we got Bunny Olivia’s House from the Lego Friends collection. She was over the moon excited! The only thing Pup asked for was a pink scooter. So she got it and boy was she happy! She also got some Duplos. The girls got daddy some tickets to go to the movies together, and I got him a few pre-planed date nights through the year. Finally I got some books to read, some coffee, and beautiful copper earrings!

After that it was play time! Bunny built her whole house and Pup rode her scooter all over the house! Pup and I also built some houses out of her duplos. It was a great time. The play was interrupted only by a surprise box of happiness from our friends in Puetro Rico! Karen and her Princesses from Mi Esculita Montessori sent some amazing gifts for the girls. Big Princess sent Bunny a new lego set that she didn’t have and a lego picture frame! She SOOOO happy! Pup got an animal version of Guess Who, and next to her scooter it was her favorite gift! Karen got me a sweet monthly planner! It is like she knew I was planning on organizing my time after Christmas!

Every year we also head out to a fancy family dinner together! So out came Christmas dresses, the curling iron, and high heeled shoes. Bunny got an updo that she loved. She looked so pretty! Pup got curls and asked if this is how princesses got dressed! Then off we went! Yes, I really did make the girls stand for a picture! 😉 They looked so pretty I had to!

We ended our evening with a trip to the new frozen yogurt place! You fill your cup with frozen yogurt, and add your toppings! Fun and yummy….and now so close to home! Then we drove out to see a house that has singing lights!! This house has lights everywhere and they blink to music that they broadcast on their own radio station! It is amazing and so much fun to watch! After that though, it was home to bed! There is more fun for the morning! Be sure to stop by and see!

So there you have it! I hope you are ready for all the holiday fun of the season! Sorry for the blurry pictures! Honestly, they were so excited they wouldn’t stay still enough to get clear pictures! 😉 Merry Early Christmas Everyone!

December 23, 2013

Christmas Cookie

Stephanie cooking, Family moments, Holiday 2 Comments

Today was our annual Chirstmas cookie baking day at my moms house! We made lots of different kinds and lots of different sizes! 🙂 Everyone was able to be there, even my brother who lives in San Diego. We made Spritz, Gingerbread, Snowballs, Double Chocolate Chip, Nutterbutter Santas, Sugar Cookie cut outs, Turtle Cookies, and Lemon Shortbread. Whew! It was a lot, but boys are they going to be good to eat on Christmas! Another bit of fun we had was giving my mom her gift early! We bought her a new Kitchen Aid mixer. The big professional grade one! So it was decided that she had to have it for cookie day of course! My sister created a Clue like game to make her find it before she unwrapped it. Everyone had a great time with that too!

Tomorrow is our own mini Christmas! The girls are SOOOO excited because they get to open gifts and go to a fancy dinner with mom and dad! I hope you are all ready and excited about the holidays at your house too! I cant wait!!!!! 🙂

December 17, 2013

Christmas at the Zoo

Stephanie Family moments, Holiday, Uncategorized 2 Comments

Yes….the zoo! I know, I know, we are there a lot, but this was something special! They had an event that included dinner, dessert, crafts, and story time with Mrs. Clause! The girls were so excited and so was I! 😉 When we got there, we got a Golden Ticket to get a free picture with Santa. Then we were led to our seats in the banquet hall. We got some cookies and hot cocoa to start the meal (santa style of course). Then we were introduced to Captain Joe the Opossom and Willa the Wallabey. Only Pup was brave enough to pet Captain Joe! Then we had some amazing dinner of Roast beef, green beans, mashed potatos, salad, and pasta. It was so yummy! While we were eating, Mrs. Clause and Ellie the Elf came by and talked with the girls. It turns out, according to Mrs. Cluse’s electronic list database, both girls made the nice lists (Daddy didn’t)! After that, Mrs. Cluse told stories from the north pole and even have a sing along! Bunny and Pup got to do on stage to help! They said it was lots of fun! It was really too cute! Finally, we headed out to see a few of the lights on display and to get a picture with Santa! The girls had an amazing time and I think that we may have to do this another year too! Here are some of the pictures!

So there you have it! It was a ton of Christmas fun and the girls will be talking about it for a long time! I love this time of year with all the fun and excitement! How about you?