Tuesday, November 4, 2014

For all your Christmas Card needs-Use Minted!

It's that time of year again! The holiday music has started playing, the Christmas decorations are up at every store you go and  the Christmas movie marathon has begun on the hallmark channel. Toy catalog's have been mailed out and prepping for Christmas have officially begun. One of my favorite things to do in preparation for Christmas is to schedule a family picture session so we can have some new family photo's to put on our yearly Christmas card. Since we live so far away from our families I feel like Christmas cards are a way to connect with those we don't see on a daily basis. It's more than just a Christmas card. It's a way of keeping in touch with our family and friends and connecting with them. I love receiving cards from other's and I display them all around the house as part of our Christmas décor. I always keep a copy of our Christmas card as well and display our collection of cards from years passed. What a fun way to look back on family memories!

A few weeks ago I scheduled our family photo session and as I started planning our  session I also started trying to decide where to get my Christmas cards from this year. Then an email from Minted popped into my news feed and it was fate. A few friends had used Minted last year for their Christmas Cards and Birthday invitations and I was impressed by the quality. They have a great line of Holiday Photo Cards that can be totally customized by you. You can choose whether you want your card to have one photo on it or multiple. You can also choose the shape of the card, the quality or design of paper, the colors, etc. It's awesome. And you can choose a variety of cards, customize them and then receive a proof of your card before you officially order it. That option is perfect for indecisive people like me.

Here are some of my favorite designs I found while browsing the Minted site

This card design totally makes me want to plan Baby number 3 for a December arrival. This card would make the perfect Christmas card/baby announcement. Too cute
Santa for the Stork Holiday Photo Cards
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Painted With Joy Holiday Photo Cards
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Bright Snowflake Spirits Holiday Photo Cards
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Festive Reindeer Christmas Photo Cards
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A Family Affair Christmas Photo Cards
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Love Tree Christmas Photo Cards
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As you can see  I customized this card with pictures of my kiddo's. The caption on this card totally fits my kids!


 
Merry & Bright Hand Lettered Holiday Photo Cards
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I also love that there is a variety of options of Christian Christmas cards as well. Santa Claus,  reindeer and funny Christmas movies are a great addition to the season but we don't want to forget the real meaning of the season. This one I customized as well. Love it



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Christmas Pop Christmas Photo Cards

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Counting Blessings Christmas Photo Cards
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I love this card in lieu of a Christmas letter. What a great way to share and commemorate memories

Countdown List Christmas Photo Cards
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Book of Isaiah Christmas Photo Cards
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Santa's Little Helper Christmas Photo Cards

I could keep sharing all of my favorite's but I will let you go to the website and see all the cute options for yourself

On top of having cards to choose from they have party décor, personalized stationary, gifts  and planners to choose from! And don't forget their coupon codes. They had a holiday sale on cards going on that I noticed while browsing the site. Now I'm counting down the days until I get our pictures taken so I can order my Christmas cards from minted. At least I have a few weeks to narrow down my selection. This will prove to be difficult
 

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Fall fun

October just flew by. I can't believe it's already the 2nd of November and that we are less than 8 weeks away from Christmas!

Fall is my favorite time of year. The change of weather, all the fun activities and of course the holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas

This October the kids and I had no shortage of activities to keep us occupied. We went to numerous pumpkin patches, trunk or treating, Boo at the zoo, and celebrated Ethan's 2nd bday. Whew I'm tired from typing all of that! 

I thought I'd share a few pictures with you all to document all the fun we've had this past month 



I loved creating memories with my kiddos and carrying on traditions that have been started since they were babies. Every year my heart gets more and more full

Although I'm not going to lie, I'm looking forward to a little break from all the fun fall  festivities. Today was the first day in forever we had nothing planned. So we spent the day in our christmas pajamas watching the Christmas movie marathon on the hallmark channel and josh relaxing together. I have no intention on taking down any of our fall/Halloween decor till thanksgiving where we will then just swap out one set of decorations for Christmas decorations. 

I am also enjoying finally having cool weather here in Florida and am envisioning nights spent curled up in bed with a good book. I finally jumped on the bandwagon and started Gone Girl. I've heard mixed reviews and was hesitant to start it due to disliking the author's other books. But I'm giving it a chance. Any other books I should add to my to read list?

I guess that wraps this post up. For those of you still reading, thanks for still being here after a long blogging break!


Monday, October 6, 2014

Here Kitty

Growing up my family were strictly dog people. Despite going through a phase where I wanted a black cat named Salem due to my loving the show Sabrina the Teenage witch I was cured of that desire when my friends fat cat bite me during a sleepover in high school. I swear that cat was evil. 

So when the hubby and I got married we quickly got a dog to add to the mix with a mutual agreement that we would never be cat people. Flash forward 6 years and 2 kids later and things changed

A few weeks ago a friends cat had kittens. She invited the kids and I over to see them and seeing how much Gianna loved them she asked if we wanted one. She also then may have mentioned that if she couldn't find home for them they'd have to go to the shelter. Immediately I said yes. You can ask my husband, he has to keep me away from pet stores or parks during animal adoption day. I would take them all home with me

I asked the hubby who at first was reluctant but seeing a pic of the kids with the kittens he changed his mind. And when she asked if we wanted two we quickly agreed

So Friday we became cat owners to two little sisters. One a cute gray tabby and the other a black tabby. Luna and Salem!
And for the most part they are super easy. They play, sleep and require hardly any litter box training

I'm still eating used to the meowing and claws. My puppies were always wet little things and having never had a car before I can't tell when there playing or irritated!but they love the kids. Ethan walks around hugging them yelling Mine Kittie and gianna holds them like a baby while walking around saying Shh, Shh, Shh.  It's seriously the cutest thing ever
I guess now we are both dog and cat people 

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

What I'm Loving!

It has been awhile since I blogged! I will come back soon and fill you all in on what we've been up to but until then I thought I'd share with you all the things I have been loving lately

1. The fact that today is the first day of October. Time to finally bust out my Halloween decorations. Who am I kidding. I've had them out for a few weeks now. I love Halloween.
This weekend will be full of Fall related festivities. Hayrides, pumpkin patches, Halloween pajamas, spooky movies and apple cider. Bring it on Fall!

2. These cookies. I bought them for the first time today after having a few had to hide them away. Eater be warned! You will consume the whole pack shortly after opening. Nom Nom
3. This Book
When I first read the synopsis I was immediately disinterested. (A nurse from the 1940's while on vacation with her husband falls back in time to the 1700's and falls in love with another man.)
So not my type of book. I am not a huge fan of fluffy romance novels but after hearing rave reviews about it I bought it on my nook. And I can't put it down! It's that good.
 
4. Cooler weather!
It's finally cooling down here in Fl. Well if you consider 80 degrees cool. But at least it's a break from the stifling 90's
 
5. My Sam's Club Membership
With the hubby home now our grocery bill has increased a ton. My husband is a garbage pit. He consumes and consumes and consumes(without gaining weight of course) and Ethan takes after him. Half our grocery budget alone goes toward snack foods, whether it be fruit, veggies, crackers, popcorn, etc. So I decided we were going to get a Sam's club membership. And I'm so glad we did. We've saved so much money in the month we've had it its' not even funny. Plus I'm not going to the grocery store as much any more to get last minute odds and ends which is a major perk. Yay Sam's
 
6. Teaching
I am loving teaching. The kids in my class are so funny and sweet. And I couldn't ask for a better place to work. I am so glad I made the decision to go back to work this year. And although I miss my kids they are loving being in school and I think are enjoying the break away from me

Monday, August 25, 2014

What We've Been Up To

Especially during the summer months...one day you're rocking them the next day they're hitting home runs.
Tomorrow I head back to work. It's been a little more than 3 years since I've worked and I'm nervous sad and excited all at the same time. Excited to do something I love, earn a little extra money for the family and for the mini-mommy break. Nervous that I won't do a good job and sad that I won't be a full time SAHM anymore. I have loved every second of these last 3 years and while I know that  taking this job is the best thing for our entire family, I also hate the thought of having to push my babies out of the nest a little. The above saying is so true. Can't they stay little forever.

Gianna started dance at her new dance studio last weekend. We loved her last studio but didn't love the drive so we made a switch. This teacher I was told takes dance very seriously and is very disciplined. Just what Gianna needs. So we signed her up and in addition to ballet she gets to start tap. She loves walking around the house in her tap shoes and enjoyed her first class.

Aren't they so cute standing in line waiting to go in?

Since I will be a first time teacher in exactly one day I've been searching and reading every teacher blog, instagram account, book and article on pinterest  that I can find. And of course as any teacher can tell you  spending all my time and money on Teacher's pay Teacher's. My nights are now spent printing, laminating, cutting and gluing to make signs, decorations or center activities for my classroom. And don't get me started on book order's. I cannot wait to get my first book order in  for my classroom!!

I've also been party planning. I can't believe that my little guy turns 2 in a few months.

 Every party we throw for the kids we realize that we want the next one to be even simpler and smaller than the last. Don't get me wrong, we love throwing parties for our kids but we'd rather spend the money doing fun activities with them than throwing it all away on food and extravagant decorations that are mostly for the adults to enjoy while the kids are this age. But today I finally decided what I wanted to do. A circus theme. I stayed away from it because my good friend threw her son a circus themed party last year and I didn't want to copy. But I came across this super cute party from one of my favorite bloggers and decided that I could keep it simple enough for my liking.

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How cute is that? I plan on making everything myself down to the cake and cupcakes. I figure we can get a piñata, play some corn hole and just let the kids run around and have fun. Easy Peasy!


And finally I've been trying to soak in as much relaxation time as I can. Currently I am hooked on Liane Moriarty's new book Big Little Lies. I love it.

And that's about it. I'll try to get back into a regular blogging routine soon

Thursday, August 21, 2014

What happens in Target stays in target

I saw this video about back to school and died laughing. This is so something my friends and I would do. Not to mention that shopping without your kids is truly a vacation. And target. Need I say more.

http://youtu.be/OKD2kzXSX-k

Friday, August 15, 2014

The Next Chapter

It's crazy to think that in a few short weeks I will be heading back to work. Teaching no less! When I met my husband I was working on my masters in special education. When I moved to NC the nearby colleges didn't have a program similar to the one I had been in in Wi.  When I got hired doing behavioral therapy I needed to go to school for applied behavior analysis. So I never finished my masters program. I always intended to go back but then we moved to fl and I had two kids back to back. So here we are now

I finally decided to put my background to good use and applied for a job teaching K-4 or VpK as it's called here on fl. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. And a little heartbroken about not being with my kids 24/7. However I know it's the best solution for my family

I've been in crazy teacher planning mode these last few weeks. Since I've never taught in a classroom setting before I've been stalking Pinterest, Instagram, reading every teaching books I can and hitting up all my teacher friends for advice 

Next week I get to head into my classroom and start setting it up! It's all
Becoming so real. I'm excited to see where this next chapter takes us

Thursday, August 14, 2014

I'm Back

It's been awhile since I visited this little
Blog of mine. These past few months have been crazy busy. We celebrated the hubby coming home, Gianna turning 3 and then we escaped for a much needed family vacation to Sanibel Island, Fl. Now we are all battling a nasty stomach bug and I have started preparing for going back to work! I'm going to be a teacher. Can you believe it?
But now I've started to ramble. I'll back it up to our amazing vacation.

Sanibel is one of my favorite places on earth. It's so peaceful and beautiful and makes you feel as though you've left the states and are secluded on an island. I am so blessed to be able to take my kids to someplace that holds such a special place in my heart. If my husband wasn't in the army we would pack up our house and move there in a heartbeat. However we have till wait till he retires before that happens. 9 more years to go. Until then we will settle on vacationing there every year

This vacation was eye opening in many ways. I slept like a baby, stressed less and really got to the heart about what was  important in my life and what things needed to change once we got home. Funny how vacation does that to you. 

It was so hard to come back, trying to get back into our routine and getting ready for school to start. It's been a crazy week of ordering things for the kids school, signing G up for her new dance class at a new studio, buying dance shoes and figuring out how I want to decorate my first classroom. So many new changes are coming our way. I'm so excited for this new chapter in our life. More on that tomm. Until then I'll share some vacation pics
Until next year Sanibel