Easter Eggstravaganza 2012

Our church hosts an annual Easter Egg Hunt for preschoolers and we are NUTS for holiday activities!! Bailey and the other older siblings helped hide the eggs and by "hide," I mean throw them randomly in the front yard of the church in full view of everyone within a mile radius!! Morgan enjoyed exploring the premises, dragging her basket around, and checking out the competition, but once the actual hunt began, she could not have cared less! Oh, well, hopefully by next year she'll be more interested in the actual "eggstravaganza" but we sure did get some cute pictures this year!!

See you soon!!

The Magic of Cacao Atlanta

So, as I mentioned in my last post, Chris and I went to Atlanta for the weekend to celebrate our 17th anniversary. The kids stayed with my parents and did well. Well enough that my mom actually said that they might keep the kids overnight again at some point in the far future! :D One of the place I wanted to visit was Cacao Atlanta, an award-winning chocolate shop that makes its products in-house from the purest ingredients. I chose several of their truffles, two macarons, a bag of homemade vanilla marshmallows (for Bailey), and a cup of Azteca Aphrodisiac Sipping Chocolate (voted best hot chocolate in America!) which is rich dark chocolate cocoa infused with six different chiles and spices. It was amazing!! Unique and thick and rich and unlike anything I have ever tried. Chris and I shared an 8 oz. cup, which is petite by my typical drink standards, but we sat together and sipped it for a while. De-lish! So, I have posted a few pics to show you how my truffles were packaged. This is no pop-in-your-mouth-as-you're-walking-out-the-door piece of chocolate, as evidenced by the care taken in packaging them. It takes a few minutes to properly unpackage them, as well. Here's the procedure:

1.) untie carefully tied grosgrain ribbon

2.) remove lid of box

3.) gingerly lift sticker from glassine paper

4.) unfold glassine paper and remove paper liner

5.) take a nap after this exhaustive procedure!

I would post more pics, but it has taken me forever to post these in order. See you soon!!

A Month in Review

I'm the first to admit that I really suck at this blogging thing. Bloggers who post every single day, especially those who post cards or other projects every single day, AMAZE me! I take a LOT of pictures, but the whole uploading/editing/writing thoughtful words/posting on my blogs thing really slows me down. So, here are a few pictures of what we've been doing this month. It's been a busy month - a field trip, a chorus concert, a consignment sale, birthdays (my daddy's), an anniversary (Chris & I have been married for 17 years!), and lots of other photo opportunities. Thanks for stopping by!

we have chickens who are FINALLY laying eggs and Morgan is OBSESSED with the egg-collecting buckets, which just happen to be vintage; Chris used them to pick blackberries as a kid!

a little St. Patty's Day fashion show at Old Navy!!

Bailey and her buddy, Kevin, after their exceptionally awesome chorus concert at school!

Bailey and her friend, Sarah, at the Challenger Center, a cool place I'd never heard of that was just up the road in Chattanooga!

More space fun!

Morgan's St. Patrick's Day frock from Smockadot Kids, my latest addiction (besides Pinterest!). Isn't she the cutest little leprechaun you've EVER seen!

registering Morgan for preschool at our church - she LOVED opening the cabinets because she never gets to at home

Morgan's $5 consignment sale outfit that she looks completely adorable in and her $5 next-to-new Nike sneakers

no winter to speak of and warm March temps mean pretty flowers earlier than usual

Chris and I celebrated our 17th anniversary a week early with a weekend trip to Atlanta, our first weekend trip in, like, FOREVER!! We enjoyed a delicious meal at Maggiano's - I LOVE their lemon cookies.

See you soon!!

Choosy Mothers Choose Jif!

Chris went to Sam's Club by himself today (BIG MISTAKE!) and bought 4 ginormous jars of peanut butter and now, all of a sudden, everyone is into peanut butter!! Even though we ALWAYS have a jar in the pantry and whenever I offer it, noses wrinkle in disgust! Maybe he can get them to eat vegetables, too!! Anyway, we decided to let Morgan try some today and she really liked it. It didn't hurt that Bailey fed it to her - that kid will do anything her biggie wants her to!! Such precious sister memories! And an easy protein to add to the old diet. Win win!

See you soon!!

Birthday Blessings

Yesterday, we went as a family to a dear, sweet friend's 90th birthday party. It was precious! She was beautiful and so excited to be surrounded by friends and family! Our girls were dressed to the nines; Bailey in her prettiest red sweater dress and Morgan in a new blue & white gingham bubble with smocked gumball machines. She even wore her red flowered headband for awhile - so adorable, I could hardly stand it!! What a blessing to celebrate a life richly lived with those people who richly bless my life.

See you soon!!

Valentine's Day Post-Game

We had a fantastic Valentine's Day! Lots of treats, some flowers, GIANT cards, tiny cards, a delicious meal, and a few surprises! Bailey had doughnut holes with a note that read "DONUT you know that we love you a HOLE bunch!" and Morgan had a heart-shaped waffle. I made their cards and Morgan's was a little owl and Bailey's was inspired by a book I read her over and over and over again as a kid, "The Day it Rained Hearts." And the best part? Before her bedtime, Bailey asked me to read the book to her!!! I was completely elated that my sweet 11-year-old had the time in her day and her heart for her mama to read her a story! It's a memory I will hold dear forever!
Chris decided at the last minute that we were going out to dinner at a restaurant that's not my favorite but that's close to home since Bailey was babysitting. Morgan is going through a bit of a whiny phase so, by the time Chris got home from work, I was DELIGHTED that we were going out. The wait was an hour, but we had reservations (thanks, hon!!) so we only waited about 15 minutes, so the night was already off to a magical start!! We had a sweet little table for two near the fireplace and I was sipping a mojito. Ahhhhhhh, exhale!! We had a delicious dinner and dessert and got the chance to really talk & enjoy each other's company. It was wonderful and so desperately needed!!

See you soon!!

Valentine's Dance & Playing Catch-up

Last night was our church's annual Father/Daughter Valentine's Dance, one of the most magical nights of MY year!! Fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other special men, young & old, put on their finery and bring their sweet girls out for a night of dancing, gorging on more cookies than most of these kids see in a whole year, and memory-making. Bailey & Chris have been going since the beginning, about eight years ago, I believe. I have many precious pictures of the two of them dressed to the nines for this one special night. One of the best parts of dance prep for me is buying Bailey's corsage! When she was younger, I would trek to the florist with her party dress in tow, and discuss at length the flower/ribbon/embellishment combo that would coordinate perfectly with her dress. There's just something about beautiful baby girls wearing tiny little wrist corsages that puts a memory in my heart that lasts the whole year! I am so proud of my sweet little family!

We have been busy these past few weeks and Morgan has been growing & changing at a record pace. I think the sheer number of photos I have intimidates me to the point that I can't formulate a blog entry! I mean, I can easily take 50 pics of Morgan eating breakfast, so I'm definitely not falling into the trap of *NOT* having much evidence of a second child! Ah, the magic of digital photography! I hope to catch up a little this week - Morgan is doing so much now and I'm sure you want to know all about it!

See you soon!!