valentine’s day crafts ’21

Posted on January 31, 2021 by tandem in love

when it’s the holidays, you’ve got to do a craft, non?! well at least in this household you do! january is such a long month and then, typically, valentine’s day sneaks up on you and then it’s over! so i always try to be proactive and get my ducks in a row to get some crafts ready and lead into the holiday with some fun stuff under our belt! i’d rather be that way then rush or not do anything! who’s with me?!

one of the crafts i concocted was the infamous toilet paper roll craft! endless possibilities and ohh so much fun! the best part about this? i have alllllllll the supplies at home and i don’t need to purchase anything! yeahhhhhhhh! perks of being a craft hoarder. LOL

typically olive is SO into crafting and ellie is not interested but for the first time, ellie wanted to create and not just one but two! she didn’t lose interest within a few minutes and was 100% engaged in creating her little creatures. be still my heart!

in typical fashion, olive created and created and created until all the toilet paper rolls were gone and by golly, she did a marvelous job! they painted, glued, drew, and cut their way to the finish. this sweet girl also asked me if she could give away each craft to a friend as a valentine’s day gift. she’s so sweet and thoughtful!

well, there you have it! one of our fun little crafts to get us in the mood for valentine’s day!

via tandeminlove.com — the girls showing off their awesome creations

snow day ’21

Posted on January 26, 2021 by tandem in love

the first BIG snow happened at the end of january.

we had a really quiet and warm winter. and with that, you knew something big was going to happen! then it snowed and the first accumulation was about 9-12 inches. then it kept on snowing and snowing and snowing. it pretty much snowed every day for almost three weeks and the snow banks kept getting higher and higher.

i was super amazed at how much it snowed. it really did feel like it was never going to stop. so many people were annoyed at the snow but i found the beauty in it. and honestly, it doesn’t snow forever, so why not appreciate it while it’s here? also, it’s not winter forever and the changing of the seasons is what makes each chapter so delightful.

so with that, the girls were sooooo excited to play outside! unfortunately the first big snowfall was not snowman worthy but a week later, it was the perfect recipe to build one {see picture below!}!

first things first, we played outside, we pulled sleds, and we threw snowballs! i knew the big snow was coming so a week or two before, i ran out to target and bought sleds. i learned my lesson last year when we were trapped at home and the girls asked me if they could go sledding and here i was empty handed with no sleds. not this year!

we were having a blast but being outside in the snow and cold does reach it’s limits, so we called it quits and came inside. only one person was not having it. ellie. she was super duper upset and gave us all the cutest pout face you ever did see. {see the last picture}

sorry baby ellie! all in all, the first big snow day was a success! the ground was covered in fluffy white snow, it was a winter wonderland, everyone had fun, and now hot cocoa for the girls was next in line!

valentine’s day class cards ’21

Posted on January 10, 2021 by tandem in love

every year, i always have the girls create valentine’s day cards for their class. typically i will take a photograph and do something creatively but this year i was like…nope. let’s just put together some bags and call it a day. LOL mama ain’t got time for that shiznit.

i gathered all the supplies and the girls assembled their bags with determination and delight! i’m a do it super early kind of gal, like check check check it off the list and never look back! so we made these in early january. yup, you read that right. i mean, target already had everything on the shelves, so why not? the early bird gets the worm…although that’s a bad analogy cause i love sleeping in and miss the morning life cause i’d rather sleep. but you get me right?! hahaha!

so here we are, making valentine’s day cards in january cause honestly…this holiday creeps up on you much faster than you realize and you have to save any spare time for creative treats, food, and crafts!

each bag contained a valentine’s day card, eraser, bubbles, stickers, tattoo, and candy! so extra but if you know me…it comes with the territory! the girls didn’t do mailboxes this year…boo! that’s a whole other project – which olive is all about, so i was a bit sad we didn’t get to create one! ellie is only in preschool this year, so with school opening up next year, both girls will get to make vday mailboxes and that will be so much fun!

side note: i know this post is so flippin’ delayed! i couldn’t explain to you why i stopped posting regularly but here’s to hoping that slump has gone away and i get back to my regularly scheduled program!

jojo’s shake bar

Posted on January 3, 2021 by tandem in love

we heard so much about jojo’s shake bar, we had to give it a try!

it was a few days after new year’s and we decided to head to the city for some fun! olive received some gifts that wasn’t just right for her american girl doll and we headed downtown to exchange a few pieces and just. get. out.

obviously, thanksgiving and christmas has been really low key and we hadn’t seen much of anyone and just wanted to go somewhere and walk around and act like socializing human beings. LOL

we first hit up american girl place and olive looked around and around and around at allllllll the things and could not make a decision on what she wanted to exchange her gifts for. after perusing the shelves and aisles for a bit, she finally settled on a few things for her doll and we were on our merry way to grab some shakes from jojo’s!

this was a last minute excursion as we did not plan to hit up this place for lunch or anything of that sort…just grabbing their yummy shakes. although, i do want to eventually make reservations to eat there and just experience the madness it has to offer.

we lucked out! when we walked up to the restaurant, there were only three people waiting in line! yes! as we waited to go inside and order…the line grew tremendously long and ij was super happy we walked up when we did. it wasn’t freezing out but not warm and when you have two little kids, you need time on your side! LOL

we ordered, we conquered and we ate! it was so good! i truly enjoyed the shakes! the girls were amazed and so excited to have the most sugariffic shakes in their lives! i highly recommend jojo’s. it was so good and definitely a fun experience for the kiddos!

nye ’20

Posted on January 1, 2021 by tandem in love

covid. covid. covid.

everything revolved around how to celebrate with covid literally in the air. LOL

we decided to keep our guests to the people we hung out with at christmas – family. unfortunately my parents didn’t come over because it was too cold and too much for them but that’s ok!

for new year’s we like to make heavy apps and have yummy drinks! i created a photo booth, like i do every year and try to make it festive inside. i also love making little favor boxes for the kids! i usually fill them with candy, chocolates, glow sticks, poppers, noise makers, and hats. sometimes they get crackers too!

my sister kim made a delicious shrimp and dip and chicken buffalo dip. thuy made two yummy quiches. i made brie and cranberry tarts, a charcuterie board, and jalapeño poppers. i didn’t think we would have enough food and we had more than enough! we were stuffed and it was alllllll soooooo delicious!

we usually have everyone over late, since ringing in the new year feels like an eternity away and we try not to fall asleep by midnight! LOL the strange part about this year was how we made it to midnight. every year, we can barely make it to new york’s ball drop. it’s hard. but this year, we were more energized than usual and the kids stayed up wayyyyy past midnight. we all rang in the real {time} new year’s together and that was awesome!

there were less people this year and it was very relaxing…plus after the year we had…we were so ready to say hello to 2021!