Playing Catch Up-Where Have I Been?!

Wow! It’s been 5 months since my last post….really?! Maybe you’ve wondered where I’ve been, but probably you didn’t realize I was even gone, but that’s okay.  In limbo; that’s where I’ve been.  Should I continue to blog or should I stop? It took 5 long months to figure out the answer to that question-and here I am.

My last post was an internal debate over the educational future of my twins. To home school, private school (not that we have any viable options in that arena), or to public school-that was the current hot topic. After much soul searching, praying, and just pondering in general, we decided to give public school a shot!

I have to admit, I was so torn that I actually acquired a home school kindergarten curriculum “just in case” as well as enrolled them in public school. I thought this way I’d be good to go no matter what we ultimately decided ;) (Yes, I was a Girl Scout, and yes, one of my many mottos is “always be prepared”.)

With the girls in school, and loving it, I now have a few minutes here and there to spare and writing is what I love, so I kind of think it’s only fair to myself to go for it. So here I am, going for it!

Now how to catch up on all that’s went on in 5 months?!

IDK, but I’m going to try!

Parenting Four Year Olds-Great Education Debate

Just to think that DH and I are now parenting four year olds blows my mind. It seems like such a short time ago that I was happily growing our identical baby girls inside me and here I sit now facing the fact that they’re FOUR………..how did this happen?!

I’ve enjoyed them more than I could ever express with simple words and up to this point each birthday has left me feeling energized and like a conqueror, however, the 4^th birthday was a bit of a different story. At 4 years old, its official, they’re not “babies” anymore. They’re, *gasp*, PRESCHOOLERS! Holy smokes! And again I shout, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?! 

I’ve been so blessed to have been able to stay at home with our little darlings this whole time and now suddenly that they’re FOUR I’m having to face the music that school, of some sort, is right around the corner. 

Yes, we’ve discussed school plans here and there and thought we knew what we’d do, but now that the time is actually here, I’m sick to my stomach, and we’re totally stumped! We live in an area of very limited educational opportunities. We’re pretty much faced with entrusting the public school system-of which ours fair “so-so” at best-or homeschooling, and just thinking about that scares the jeepers out of me! The closest private option is an hour’s drive away and tuition is sky high, so that’s not an ideal solution either. Can you say “major case of heartburn” brewing?!

At four years old the girls could start pre-kindergarten at the public school just blocks from our house. Registration is only about a month away and I have no clue what to do!

One side of my brain is saying, “hold to your babies as long as you can, they’ll have to start next year-in some form or another” but the other side says, “send them to school-they’ll enjoy it, you’ll have time to reclaim your sanity after 4 years at home with two little ones”, so what is a body to do?!

I’m in serious need of counseling here! Opinions?! I need to hear both sides, the “keep them at homes” and the “send them to schools”……….please, help a sister out!

Favorite Disney Cruise Keepsake-Signed Photo Mat

Before our first family Disney cruise I did tons of research looking for the best tips and secrets of DCL passengers. I compiled a list here-Disney Cruise Insider Tips and Secrets-and this post is dedicated to my favorite one, taking items to guest services for signing!

Before we left I had several different ideas of things for the characters to sign. I had a hard time deciding between t-shirts, autograph bears, pillow cases, and a photo frame/mat. I ultimately chose the photo mat and I’m SO glad I did! 

Here’s my thinking: t-shirts would be too small in no time and I really didn’t want them to wear and possibly ruin them, autograph bears would take up too much room in our luggage, a pillow case would get dirty because I’m sure mine would want to sleep on it and I’m afraid of it ruining after several washes, and I never found an actual signable photo frame that I liked-so, photo mat it was!

The photo mat was virtually flat and weightless which made packing it a piece of cake, it’s not something that we’ll outgrow, will wear out, or take up too much room, so for us, it was the perfect choice!

Along with the photo frame I took a Ziplock bag full of brightly colored Sharpie markers and a little “thank you” gift for the crew to guest services the first night on board. They gave me a slip of paper to fill out which just asked our basic information including cabin number so it could be returned to us the last night of our trip.

This is what we got back! We LOVE it!

I printed out pictures of us with the different characters and will change the photo out from time to time. It’s hands down our favorite keepsake from our Disney cruise and will be treasured forever!

Valentine’s Day Cards to Make with Children

Nothing says “I love you” like a homemade gift or card, so this year for Valentine’s Day we’re going as “homemade” as possible.

While cruising around Pinterest I saw the cutest Valentine’s Day cards to make and knew immediately that these would be the ones we’d put together for our favorite people this year! (Check out my Valentine’s Day board here!)

All I needed was:

*Cardstock

*Construction paper

*Scissors

*Glue stick

*Printer

*Markers and stickers to decorate

I started by simply tracing the girls’ hands onto the cardstock and then cutting them out.

Next, I printed out the words “We love you this much!” I used a cute font from the Pinterest board :o)

I cut out the words “We love you….” and glued them to the front of a hand.

I glued the words “this much!” on strips of construction paper, folded them accordion style and glued the ends to the inside of the hands.

To finish them off I let the girls decorate them with markers and stickers.

If you’ve been looking for adorable Valentine’s Day cards to make these couldn’t be more sweet or easy!

I’d love to see your creations so feel free to link up in the comment section!

Most Meaningful Valentine Gift-Heart Attacks!

Not only is “heart attacking” super meaningful ; it’s also free of charge, sugar, fat, and calories! Sound too good to be true? It’s not, I promise! You’ll want to start “heart attacking” someone special today!

I browse Pinterest all the time (follow me here) and am constantly finding ideas that I LOVE! Heart attacking totally came from Pinterest, I’ve just put my own spin on it as usual :o)

“Heart attacking” is simply telling a loved one something different you love about them every day (or most days) of February! See, I told you it was easy and free! It’s HOW you go about telling them that lets you personalize it.

This year I decided to “heart attack” my children, husband, and mother!

 My girls can’t read well yet (cut ‘em some slack, they’re only 4) so no matter what I wanted to do, I’d have to read it to them. Since theirs’ would have to be verbal anyway, I’m simply writing a “love note” a day on the dry erase board in the breakfast nook and read it to them during breakfast. I LOVE watching them light up as I confess my favorite things about them <3

My husband is attached to his cell phone 24-7 (partly for work and partly because he’s a phone addict :oP) so texting him his “heart attacks” just makes sense. He’s not impressed by time spent on “silly things” like paper hearts, so I chose to cut right to the chase and simply text him my daily dotes. I like the fact that these little reminders are actually in his pocket all day, every day, and if he has a less than stellar moment he can whip out his phone and read some encouragement from me.

My mom is getting a FULL BLOWN heart attack! I used my Cricut machine to cut out paper hearts and hand wrote things that we love about her on each one. She lives in the same town as us, so we’re sneaking over while she’s at work and sticking a new heart on her door each day. I haven’t witnessed her finding them, but I have no doubt it brings a HUGE smile to her face!

Everyone loves to know they’re loved and sometimes it’s hard to verbalize all the things we enjoy about someone. Over the 28 days of February my closest loved ones will truly see what they mean to me!

And if you like this idea, it’s not too late! You can start “heart attacking” someone today, or even just the week of Valentine’s Day. Don’t wait around-you never know how much time you have to love!