free

 

 

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

Ronald Reagan



day at the zoo



 

 

On a whim we took a trip to our local (little) zoo this weekend with the kids. It was fun to watch the kids squeal at the animals and zoom on to the next. It was fun spending sometime together enjoying the beautiful weather. Look forward to another family outing soon.

black & white and glitter all over // sending out valentine's

As my kids get older they are more aware of the simple joys in life. Lately its been celebrating holidays for us. My daughter is always asking "What are we celebrating next!?" I think that makes those special days that much more- special!

I was super excited when one of my Instagram Mommy friends contacted me and a few other mommies via the social media site to see if we all wanted to participate in a Valentine's Day exchange. We (our kids) send each other cards from all over the country that we would house in little boxes until the BIG day! I was so on board with this awesome idea and couldn't wait to get started.

 

I am not a huge red and pink fan- in small amounts is usually ok. But I usually gravitate towards more neutral colors. So these black, white and gold cards from Tiny Prints made my heart jump for joy! Plus it meant I could use some pretty gold glitter somewhere (because glitter makes the world go around). I browsed Pinterest for some goodie ideas that would be small enough to mail but still fun- BUBBLES! Package it all up and put a bow on it- or a really cute sticker.

 



 

I picked up a bag of these cute bubble wands from Target. Add a little modge podge and sprinkle some gold dust. Voila!


 



I found these Wrap-Around Address Labels on Tiny Prints, which you can fully customize the text. I added "Bubbling with Excitement! Happy Valentine's Day!" Wrapped them around the tops of the wands and clipped the ends to give it a cute flag effect.

 

 

 

I had some left over gift bags from a previous project that became the gift bags. Embellished with some fun washi tape and sealed with a cute gift tag sticker.

I picked up these white mailbox from Target in their Valentine's section. They gave you some options to dress it up there but I wanted it all to go together- because I'm OCD like that. I used the same washi tape and just simply wrapped it around to mine and my kids liking- let me just say that this was totally their deal they just decided to show zero interest when it came to putting it all together, but they did help test drive the bubbles and I am glad to report that they work GREAT! I then added some cut out hearts that I dusted with more gold glitter.

 

Placed our already received goodies in our cute little box to keep until the 14th.

 



I am super excited to send these out. And more thrilled for my kids to open theirs. The amazing Mommy who helped organized all of this invited us to all join-in in a monthly Snail Mail group. Sending bits from our town to share with every one- a fun way to see where everyone is sending from and get to know them a little better.

 

Hope you all are having fun getting ready for Valentine's Day. How are you getting ready to celebrate??

childhood unplugged

I normally don't post any blog type stuff on the weekends, but I just witnessed something so amazing- my kids doing what they do best, being kids! It was quite magical and heartwarming. While wanted to cringe from the thought all this dirt, I couldn't help but laugh right along with them.

As it was happening I grabbed my phone to snap a quick picture, but stopped myself and thought "no, this needs to be captured the real way with a real camera!" And I am so glad that I did!!