Valentine’s Day ’21

every year, we usually have a very small party with just the fam aaaannd this year was no different! we usually invite my sisters, brother, and mom and dad to come by to celebrate vday in the most festive way possible.

this year it was about breakable chocolate hearts and gifts galore. we always think we’re getting something small for the kids but we end up giving them so much stuff it’s kind of ridiculous. LOL funny but not funny. heh.

the big trend this year for valentine’s day were breakable hearts. the idea was big for christmas in a chocolate bomb version. everyone was making them and no one could get them as they were selling out so fast! so, i connected with a local girl who made them and got four breakable chocolate hearts filled with goodies for each kiddo!

we did our usual dinner of heart pizza but this year, instead of making them, we purchased heart pizzas through our school’s fundraiser. win win! the kids played, the adults chatted and ate as we whipped together an easy dinner for everyone.

once we were done eating, we decided to have the kids break the hearts. it was hilarious! they pounded and pounded on the hearts but no one could break them. LOL the only person making progress was olive! she cracked it and then they realized it was bottomless so all efforts ceased and they flipped their hearts to find their prizes. after they had fun with the hearts, we all gave the kids their presents and it felt like it was christmas day. LOL we really do think we’re keeping it simple when it never is.

as usual, it was a fun valentine’s day for us and the kids!

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a little love decor in olive’s room
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olive’s bookshelves
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ellie’s shelf
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their little kitchen in the play room
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sweet olive
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chocolate breakable hearts
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table setting
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painting their cookies
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they’re so cute
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tic tac toe cookie game
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heart pizza
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the kids in America
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tin of goodies

fourth of july 2019

i feel that the 4th of july is the height of the summer season and then it goes downhill from there. not in a bad way but it’s real chill afterwards and then august hits and it’s back to school! eep!

we did our usual the morning of the 4th. we {as in me and the girls} scrambled to get up, ready, and out the door early enough to nab a parking spot at madison school and traipse our way to the usual spot. a spot my sister and brother in law reserve every year with lawn chairs the night before. the girls were excited for the parade and even more excited to see their cousins.

we greeted some familiar faces, particularly helen, and chatted up with a few people already there and waiting. bit by bit, terry showed up, the boys, kim, and then thuy. we were all excitedly waiting for the parade to start and soon, we heard the sirens…signifying that the parade was on its way!

the girls were ecstatic! they shrieked and laughed as they saw cool and funny things walking/driving by! when it was time for the soldiers to walk by and fire their guns…the girl’s reactions completely define them. BOOM! it was so loud and there’s ellie…not jolted by the noise but curious and walks forward to see what it is and where it’s coming from. now here’s olive, running the opposite direction screaming in fear. LOL. yup, that’s them!

folks threw candy, random items, flyers and more candy! the girls walked away with quite the stash! olive’s philosophy on it was, if they’re giving to me…i must eat it now. i had to stop her after her second lollipop! she was like, what? they’re giving it to me??? nice reasoning cutie pie.

after the parade, we ran into hc’s friend max and chatted with him for a bit, while thuy swept the girls away once more. i wanted to stay and hang with max but we needed to get home because we had guests coming over.

we drove home in the jeep and hc dropped me off to get the party started while he grabbed ice and any other random items we might have needed. our guests slowly arrived {my family each brought over an item or two} and our gathering was in full swing. we had apps and drinks going and then finally kicked off the grill and cooked hotdogs, burgers, corn, with pasta salad, all the fixings {grilled onions, avocado slices, tomato, condiments}, potato salads, fruit, etc.

the evening began to cool off while the kids played with some ‘fire’works outside {really just some snappers and sparklers}. we served desserts and then all the kiddos had a water balloon fight! it was so cute to see how they all interacted…the boys chased each other, ellie did a little chasing, but mostly threw water balloons onto the grass to watch them pop and olive cried. uh huh. that’s what they did. hahaha!

our day was super lovely and fun. as always, we had the best time celebrating america’s birthday with our family!

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[they’re so sweet]

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[we saw this lab as a puppy last year!]

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[with uncle terry]

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[she’s such a ham]

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[they hear the sirens! waiting for the trucks!]

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[old school firetruck]

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[here come the fire trucks!]

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[with dada]

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[he’s been walking in the parade for years!]

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[helen, kim, me, thuy, and olive]

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[i love the way ellie is holding onto olive for the picture…she has no idea her hand is on her face! LOL]

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[with their super auntie…they always love being with her]

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[fourth of july desserts]

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[barbara and terry]

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[dan and olive]

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[festive cupcakes]

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[happy fourth!]

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[thuy, barbara, agata, lynne, and kim]

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[walsh family]

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[grand  kids]

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[the cheeky ones]

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[apps]

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[red velvet cake]

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[red, white, blue and stars ice cubes!]

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xoxo

easter egg bunnies

i am most creative at night. my mind doesn’t wind down easily and i am always thinking of ideas – what to do, what to create, what to anything. the other night, as it was nearing midnight, like right now, i had an urge to finish the easter egg project that i had barely even started. all i had were empty egg shells {i tapped each egg gently on top, peeled a hole about an inch big and broke the egg white and yolk out and washed each shell with water} but i felt completing the rest of it would be so easy!

i ran downstairs to my craft stash and rummaged around for construction paper. i picked a  dark tan and white color for the ears, brought up two flat wooden sticks to hold the ears. i stole some crayola markers from my girl’s art closet {i chose some fun colors and definitely pink for the cheeks}. i rummaged our easter decor box and found shredded paper grass. i already had flowers to pick from our vase and the ceramic egg holder, an old buy from anthropologie or you can always use an egg carton from the store that the eggs come in {cut it to fit the amount of eggs you make} .

i folded the paper into fours and cut out 4 sets of dark tan ears and two sets of white bunny ears. i then used different colored markers to color in the ears. i did leave one set blank to mix it up.

i then cut the 1/4 inch wide flat wooden sticks the length of the eggs with scissors {1 1/2 to 2 inches}. i used scotch tape to affix the ears onto the sticks, wrapping the tape around the back to secure it into place.

i then drew fun and different faces onto each egg with a fine point sharpie and used a pink marker to flush their cheeks.

i placed the green shredded grass into the egg holder. i placed each egg and ears into their nests and then snipped little bunches of flowers and place them inside the top of each bunny egg.

ta da! easter egg bunnies! it was quick, easy, and fun to make! the best part?? seeing olive’s face and excitement when she discovered them! she looooooved them so much! now that is the part that i love most: seeing the joy in her face!

currently, she’s taking care of them. she’s fed them. she’s checked their health like a doctor. she loves playing with them and creating vivid stories. to be able to enhance her imagination, promote creativity, and bring her joy is the best type of gift i can give!

happy easter week my friends!

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[our little bunny friends]

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[sleeping little bunnies]

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[besties]

xoxo

valentine’s day ’19

i was quite excited for valentine’s day! we had a fun filled day planned out and although it was the only day that was warm that week {50 degrees amongst the 20 degree other days}, we were pretty much spending the day indoors. our morning started with olive’s parent teacher conference {the teacher had such great things to say about olive!} and we cruised back home to cook a late breakfast and surprise the gals with valentine’s day gifts!

after a delicious heart shaped pancake, bacon, and hash brown meal, we just went about our day finishing up cleaning, the girls played with their new trinkets, and getting random errands done.

as the day wore on, thuy stopped by to spend the afternoon and evening with us, i started to set up the girl’s dessert table for some festive treats. we then decided it was time to start dinner, so while hc prepped the pizza dough, sauce, and cheese, olive cut out the heart shaped pepperonis! she also helped place all the pieces onto the pie before it went into the oven.

dinner was savory {the pizza was sooooooo good hc and olive!] and desserts were even sweeter! soon our day was coming to an end. it started out so great with wonderful feedback for olive at school, hc whipped up a decadent heart themed breakfast, we had fun shooting cute pics for the kiddie dessert table for two, and creating heart shaped pizzas for dinner! it was such a relaxing, slow, peaceful all day celebration. i couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend valentine’s day! it was perfection!

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[i gave these pink pails filled with goodies to the girls for valentine’s day]

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[they were loving their surprises]

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[she’s so sweet]

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[she loved her gift!]

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[she loved the magic marker]

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[yummy heart pancakes, and bacon and hash browns, for breakfast]

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[i had so much fun setting this up for the kids!]

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[sweet vanilla cupcakes for the girls]

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[my favorite]

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[pink milk]

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[that face of should i touch the frosting or not?!]

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[mmmm, got it!]

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[delicious raspberry bars…my favorite!]

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[she was throughly enjoying the frosting]

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* *** *** *** *

H E A R T  S H A P E D  P I Z Z A

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[olive cutting heart shaped pepperoni’s]

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[she’s like POW, heart shaped pepperoni…booyahhh! hahaha!]

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[now for the toppings! we made cheese, pepperoni, bacon, and mushrooms]

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[hc hard at work! always the consummate cook]

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[it’s done!]

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[ellie checking out my sister’s phone. you’ll love the next pic!]

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[a picture with the pizza and ellie showing us a picture of the pizza! LOL]

xoxo

holiday downtown

we did our annual holiday trip to macy’s on state this past weekend! we did our usual routine of eating up on the 7th floor, shopping for ornaments, and just shopping around the store.

we love to buy ornaments from here every year, grab a little candy from the shop downstairs, and just take in the hustle and bustle of the season. dan, agata, kim, terry, the boys, thuy, mom and dad came out this year. we stayed at the department store for several hours and then headed home to our house to decorate gingerbread houses! before we left, we were able to admire one of their animated windows at macy’s. olive was so enamored with all the trumpets and christmas lights and wonderment all around her! her and ellie were so amazed as we walked the streets!

once home, we tidied up a bit and then kim and fam and agata and dan came over. kim brought over wine, cheese, and paté to nibble on. the boys brought food over to the house and the kids ate dinner. we had ordered pizza for everyone else and once all the consuming of food was done, we set up the gingerbread houses for the kiddos!

the kids had a blast! olive looooooved decorating her house. she was so excited and looking forward to it for days! olive did such a great job decorating her house – she didn’t even get frosting on her fingers! a big thank you to dan for being her structural engineer and making sure her roof didn’t fall down. thanks for holding the house together while olive decorated around you!

overall it was a great, fun festive day with the family! i love being able to spend the time with them during the busiest season of the year. that is what matters most during this crazy month! we soaked in the holiday mood and created some good memories together.

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[she’s so funny]

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[hey grace! i’m only going to take a pic of you while you’re eating. oops]

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[olive is so silly!]

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[she loooooooved riding the escalators!]

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[picking out candy]

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[olive’s stash]

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[my sweet girls]

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[ready to assemble her house!]

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[all the goodies to decorate with]

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[the cutest cousins]

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[olive’s house]

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[reagan’s house]

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[putting on her adornments]

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[reagan’s house looking good!]

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[olive was sooooo dang careful with her decor and she didn’t even get frosting on her fingers!]

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[reagan and his masterpiece]

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[she did such a great job!!]

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xoxo

christmas concert

olive’s holiday concert day had arrived. she had been practicing all season! it was too cute when she would give us a sneak peek into one of her songs. i was so excited to see her perform.

we arrived barely on time for the drop off. the morning started off easy and with plenty of time but, honestly, i don’t know what happened. i thought i had all the time in the world and then before i knew it, we were going to be late! gosh…mama brain! i felt bad…it was totally my fault for losing track of time and i totally snapped at olive. i asked her to put on her shoes and she completely mixed the shoes up and was standing there with the wrong shoes on her feet and didn’t recognize it. i yelled and she cried and i felt bad. i didn’t want her feeling this, so i apologized and she smiled, which was better but darn it. i hate it when i have a failing moment like that. it hurts my heart that i hurt her feelings.

once we dropped olive off at her classroom, i scurried upstairs to grab a seat. oh, it was full. i scanned the room and spotted a couple open spots in front and dove in. i nabbed third row, which wasn’t too bad since i was so late. i blanked out and forgot to ask the teacher which side olive was on {due to my tardiness…i forgot}. i sat there for a second and debated on going over to the other side but gut told me to stay and i was right! olive was on the right side and i had a great view of her!

my favorite moment {after the concert} was during the rudolph song, i noticed olive not doing the antler gesture with her hands every time they said reindeer. i just thought she was blanking out or getting tired. she did all the other moves throughout the song but the antler one. after the concert, she said to me, “kiki, did you see? i didn’t make the antlers because i am already a reindeer!” oh my gosh…this girl melts my heart! i should have known better! she’s so clever! i loved that she knew that she was already a reindeer and it was unnecessary to make the gesture! she’s too cute!

the kiddos did such a great job singing. it was so cute and so fun to watch! olive did so well. she knew all the words, i could hear her voice, and she did all the gestures. it was such a fun time watching her with ellie! what a great job olive! you practiced and your hard work showed through your concert great performance! way to go!

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[had to blur out the other kids…so don’t mind the odd pics]

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[she saw us and waved! they were getting ready to perform!]

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[after the concert and the sly poses she was giving me]

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[this one is my favorite…she was going for the vogue, pouty, drama look. hahaha!]

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[other parents were probably like, “what up with the poses?!” ha!]

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[walking down the stage to and getting a reindeer candy cane]

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[so cute!]

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[my sweeties]

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xoxo

thanksgiving ’18

preparations for thanksgiving this year was feeling good.

olive’s birthday party was done and done. we were gearing up for turkey day and black friday weekend. food was purchased, plans were finalized, desserts were bought {sheesh…who has time to bake?? not i said the cat}.

we did our usual, in the morning we go to aunt wendy’s house for an early turkey treat and then we head on over to my parent’s house for another gobble gobble dinner.

i am quite thankful my sister kim basically does all the prep and cooking. like seriously…without her, i’m not sure who would do it. we have hc’s family obligations during the day and i always feel bad i can’t be there to help out more. once we arrive, though, i jump right in to help with whatever i can. she’s such a good cook anyways, no one would want me in the kitchen full time. hahaha!

well, both sides of the family get togethers were wonderful, fulfilling, yummy, and so good. life is great when you’re with family. another beautiful thanksgiving on the books. we are so incredibly thankful.

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[three out of four looking at the camera is good enough]

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[ellie loving aunt wendy’s couch]

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[jump, jump, jump]

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[aunt vicki and jane]

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[sisters eating together]

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[plate o food]

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[uncle eddie and jane]

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[i’ll be sad when i can’t put her hair up like this anymore]

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[olive and hannah]

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[uncle steve and danielle]

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[some sorta shot]

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[hc and grace]

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[she’s so fun!]

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PART DEUX

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[the cutest cousins]

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[hc, ba, and terry]

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[sisters]

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[the family that buffalo checks together, stays together]

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[mom in her element]

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[we’re getting more photo time as a family of 5]

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[beautiful arrangement by kim]

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[agata and dan]

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[i kept screaming, ‘cheek to cheek!!!’…this was as close as they got to ellie]

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[so delicious]

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[cookie decorating]

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[i said, ‘olive, show me your cookie’. she picked it up aaaaand…]

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[her face…too cute when her decorations started falling off! she was like, ‘ohhhhhh no’]

xoxo

happy 4th 2018

boy oh boy, it was a hot one!

we draaaaaagged ourselves out of bed {at least us girls, hc gets up early every day} and quickly got ready to head to the 4th of july hinsdale parade. i knew it was going to be a warm day but dang!!! the humidity was BRUTAL. we just sweated and sweated at 9 o’clock in the morning.

we parked hc’s jeep and walked our way to our usual meeting spot. hc had made ‘special’ beverages for us but little did he know, i am not a rum kind of gal. eep! i wish i was ’cause it was so warm and i needed a cool drink! it was a little bit miserable for the girls. i don’t know if it was too hot, they were not feeling good {because they were very sick the days prior}, or whatever it was, they were grumpy. ellie wanted to be held the entire time {holy hotness} and olive was super whiney {she kind of is in general but we won’t stress that part}. so, before the parade ended, we left. it was just too much. the heat, the sweat, the crying…it was time to go. although i still had a great time watching the parade, as i do every year!

once we got home, we wiped off, we cooled off, and everyone felt so much better. phew! hc and i started prepping a few things. we didn’t have to do much with everyone coming over, because our 4th parties are usually: everyone bring something, so it’s less stressful and so much easier!

i made festive ice cubes, frosé, and a mozzarella salad. we had a lot of salads on the menu. we had potato, mixed greens, coleslaw, pasta salad and i am sure i am forgetting another salad of some sort! hc had the fun task of grilling the burgers, corn, and dogs on the hot, hot grill. yay! what a trooper!

we stayed inside to stay cool, we hung out, and eventually the kids lit some ‘fireworks’ outside. olive was not a fan. she’s so sensitive! she was so afraid and worried someone would get hurt! she ran around screaming.

despite the high temps, it was a wonderful day! it started out hot and stressful but ended up being relaxing, fun, and very enjoyable. plus, it’s always fun to be with family! it was another great 4th on the books!

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[waiting for the parade]

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[ohmergawd i was sweating soooooo much]

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[we ran into this cute little family]

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[sister sister]

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[summer loving]

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[go cubs go!]

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[my sweet, spunky girl]

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[she loves dogs…animals]

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[checking out the parade]

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[my festive babes!]

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[festive ice cubes]

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[frosé]

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[tomato basil and mozzarella in balsamic oil]

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[cousins]

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[aren’t they sweet?!]

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[french macaron thief]

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[i love, love, love these two]

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[so much love]

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xoxo

easter baskets

i try to be creatively proactive with the holidays because if i don’t make a conscious effort, it seriously slaps me in the face unexpectedly. hahaha! then, honestly, i get disappointed i didn’t fair better. innately, i have always loved holidays.

growing up catholic vietnamese, my parents were very religious. so, holidays were all about church, jesus, mary, and celebrating the life of. absolutely nothing wrong with that because i am all about being catholic, respecting my religion, my faith, and the idea of just doing/being a better person and preaching the word of the Lord. easter is all about jesus being resurrected and that is it in a nutshell.

buuuuuuuttttt, i have always looooooved the frilly aspect of it. the commercial, american way of celebrating religious holidays. i love it for the fun, whimsical notions. i like easter baskets, the easter bunny {i adored the easter bunny as a kid!}, and the cute, fun decorations that come with it!

so, with that being said…i had the best time creating easter baskets for the girls. it’s definitely hard to shop for them when they are with me! i had to hide stuff or tell them that they don’t get what they did see until easter. olive was like, “okaaayyyyy”. i am so blessed olive is so compliant and sooo freakin’ well behaved. she just plain listens to me!

i created their baskets the other day and was so pleased with how they turned out! i wanted to limit the candy {although they still get a few treats!}…because i tend to go overboard every year with that and focused more on fun things they would use or like.

voila! useful, fun, pretty, reusable easter baskets! i’m in love. i can’t wait to give these baskets to the girls!

happy creating my friends!

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counter clockwise: garland: hooray everyday // book: little owl’s colors // bunny: target // unicorn horn chalk {not online but in stores}: nordstroms // mini melissa’s unicorn shoes {they’re not available online but similar ones here}: nordstrom // macaron bath bombs: nordstrom

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https://www.target.com

xoxo

valentine’s day ’18

one day, maybe a month or so before valentine’s day, olive asked me if we could have a valentine’s day party. well, ok! i thought it was so cute that she asked! i then inquired who she would like to come to this party, and she, without hesitation, said, “reagan, bennett, and terry!”. alrighty then. i thought it was hilarious! so i text my sisters and let them know what olive had asked and who she wanted to come to the party. my sister kim said, “well, i didn’t want to come anyways!” hahaha!

so, we had our family over for a fun little party! of course we kept it simple. wink. wink. in all seriousness, it really was a simple and easy party to get ready for! olive and i did some food prep before everyone came over. we cut up some ingredients for the apps and olive helped me cut out heart shaped pepperoni for the heart shaped pizzas hc was going to make!

i decorated the kitchen area and we waited for hc to come home from work. he started pizzas while i started apps. we had mozzarella sticks, jalapeños filled with cream cheese, and guac dip. the heart shaped pizzas turned out so cute and delicious and after dinner, we served a yummy cake!

after dessert, we gave the kids their valentine’s day gifts and the kids played and had a ton of fun. olive is always excited to hang with her cousins! our evening was short for it was a school night. so after a couple hours of visiting, we wrapped up our evening and said our farewells.

the party turned out so cute {if i do say so myself} and a good time was had by all! it was definitely a day of love indeed!

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[kid’s table]

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[she’s such a ham!]

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[heart pepperoni]

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[hc and terry]

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[my girls]

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[cousins]

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[hc and kim twinning]

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[look at that pout face]

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[present time!]

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xoxo